2/26 Deuteronomy 28 - True Blessings & False Worship

Lots of people want God's blessings, and for good reason. Yet in today's study of Deuteronomy 27 & 28, we'll see that God gave specific promises for blessings and curses to His covenantal people. Yet later on, well-intentioned people took those promises to the Jews and appropriated them for themselves only to find that God was not pleased with their self-motivated false worship. Join us for an important study in God's Word!  DISCUSSION AND STUDY QUESTIONS: 1.    Deuteronomy 28 is a summary of God's blessings that He will give to His people when they are in covenant with Him. According to verse 2, what was their role in this covenant? What kinds of blessings would God bestow on them in verses 1 to 13?  2.    How does verse 47 characterize the proper heart attitude that was needed for their covenant with God? 3.    Were these promises for all people, or specifically for those who entered into the Mosaic Covenant with the Lord? How does the fact that this is God's Covenant with the Jews help us understand why we might still have trials and difficulties in our lives today?  4.    Looking over verses 16-68, what kinds of things would happen to the people if they did not follow God's Covenant? If you were making this covenant with the Lord back then, do you think this long list would have helped motivate you to keep your end of the agreement? 5.    Deuteronomy 27 gives specific instructions about how these blessings and curses were to be communicated to the people once they entered the Promised Land. What were they to do in Deuteronomy 27:5? What were they to do with the tribes in 27:12 and 27:13? Which tribe went on which mountain?  6.    These instructions were later fulfilled in Joshua 8. How did their obedience, in Joshua 8, reflect their heart towards this covenant? 7.    The podcast mentioned that many centuries later, the Samaritans appropriated God's promises to the Jews for His blessing on His covenantal people; and the Samaritans applied those promises to themselves. According to the podcast, what were they doing? Was it right to appropriate God's promises to someone else, and make it their own? 8.    The podcast mentioned that the Samaritans sought to be particularly exuberant in their worship. Why do you think they were so ecstatic in their worship? Was this the kind of worship the Lord sought? 9.    This whole issue came up when Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman in John 4. While it is not specifically mentioned, it's the basis of their whole conversation about true worship. What did Jesus teach the woman in John 4:22-23? How would this have been at odds with what the Samaritans had been doing? 10.    As we wrap up our study of Deuteronomy 27 & 28, what principles do we see from these passages about trusting and obeying the Lord? 11.    If we're ever seeing something in our life that seems to reflect the warnings of Deuteronomy 28:16-68, how might these verses help us prayerfully determine if we're living out of sorts with God?  12.    Finally, is there any area of your life where you're not worshipping the Lord in your spirit according to His truth? What are some ways for how you can bring that into submission to the Lord? Check out our Bible Study Guide on the Key Chapters of Genesis! Available on Amazon just in time for the Genesis relaunch in January! To see our dedicated podcast website with access to all our episodes and other resources, visit us at: www.keychapters.org. Find us on all major platforms, or use these direct links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6OqbnDRrfuyHRmkpUSyoHv Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/366-key-chapters-in-the-bible/id1493571819 YouTube: Key Chapters of the Bible on YouTube. As always, we are grateful to be included in the "Top 100 Bible Podcasts to Follow" from Feedspot.com. Also for regularly being awarded "Podcast of the Day" from PlayerFM. Special thanks to Joseph McDade for providing our theme music.