Deuteronomy 28, Pros and Cons

Deuteronomy 28 as Covenant Blessings and Curses

So deuteronomy chapter 28. Hear the word of the lord. And if you faithfully obey the voice of the lord your god being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today The lord your god will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you obey the voice of the lord your god. Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle and The increase of your herds and the young of your flock.

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. The lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you.

They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the lord your god is giving you.

The lord will establish you as a people holy to himself As he has sworn to you. If you keep the commandments of the lord your god and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the lord and they shall be Afraid of you and the lord will make you abound in prosperity In the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground.

Within the land that the lord swore to your fathers to give you. The lord will open to you his good treasury The heavens to give the rain to your land and its season and to bless All the work of your hands and you shall lend to many nations and you shall not borrow.

Then the lord will make you the head and not the tail and you shall only go up and not down. If you obey the commandments of the lord your god, which I command you today being careful to do them. And if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today To the right hand or to the left to go after other gods to serve them but if You will not obey the voice of the lord your god or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command You today then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you cursed.

Shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your baskets and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.

Cursed shall you be when you come in and cursed shall you be when you go out. The lord will send on you curses Confusion and frustration and all that you undertake to do Until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds because you have forsaken me.

The lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land That you are entering to take possession of it. The lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever inflammation and fiery heat.

And with drought and with blight and with mildew they shall pursue you until you perish. And the heavens over your head shall be bronze and the earth Under you shall be iron. The lord will make the rain of your land powder from heaven.

Dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed. The lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

And your dead body shall be food for all the birds of the air and for the beasts of the field. And there shall be no one to frighten them away. The lord will strike you with the boils of egypt and with the tumors and the scabs and the itch Of which you cannot be healed.

The lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind. And you shall grope at noonday as the blind grope in darkness and you shall not prosper in your ways and you shall Be only oppressed and robbed continually and there shall be no one to help you.

You shall betroth the wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes But you shall not eat any of it.

Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. Your sons and your daughters Shall be given to another people while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long.

But you shall be helpless a nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground And of all your labors and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually So that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see.

The lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils Of which you cannot be healed. From the sole of your foot to the crown of your head the lord will bring you and your king before whom You sat over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known.

And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone and you shall become a horror a proverb and a byword Among all the peoples where the lord will send you away. You shall carry much seed into the field and you shall gather in little for the locusts shall consume it.

You shall plant vineyards and dress them. But you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes for the worms shall eat them. You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil for your olives shall drop off.

You shall father sons and daughters. But they shall not be yours for they shall go into captivity. The cricket will possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher than you.

And you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you. And you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head and you shall be the tail. All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed.

Because you did not obey the voice of the lord your god to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the lord your god with joyfulness and gladness of heart because of the abundance of all things.

Therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the lord will send against you In hunger and thirst and nakedness and lacking everything and he will put a yoke of iron on your neck. Until he has destroyed you the lord will bring a nation against you from far away from the end of the earth.

Swooping down like the eagle a nation whose language you do not understand. A hard-faced nation. Who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young? It shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed.

It shall also not leave you Grain or wine or oil the increase of your herds or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. They shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted.

Come down throughout all your land and they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land Which the lord your god has given you and you shall eat the fruit of your womb. The flesh of your sons and daughters whom the lord your god has given you in this siege and in the distress.

With which your enemies shall distress you. The man who is the most tender and refined among you Will begrudge food to his brother to the wife. He embraces and to the last of the children whom he has left.

So that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating. Because he has nothing else left in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns.

The most tender and refined woman among you who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground Because she is so delicate and tender will begrudge to the husband. She embraces to her son and to her daughter her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears.

Because lacking everything she will eat them secretly in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns. If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book That you may fear this glorious and awesome name the lord your god then the lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions afflictions severe and lasting and sicknesses Grievous and lasting.

And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of egypt of which you were afraid. And they shall cling to you every sickness also and every affliction That is not recorded in the book of this law the lord will bring upon you until you are destroyed Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven.

You shall be left few in number because you did not obey the voice of the lord your god. And as the lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you. So the lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you.

And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. And the lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other and there you will serve other gods Of wood and stone which neither you nor your fathers have known and among these nations You shall find no respite and there shall be no resting place for the soul of your foot.

But the lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life.

And the morning you shall say if only it were evening and at evening you shall say if only it were morning. Because of the dread that your heart shall feel and the sights that your eyes shall see. And the lord will bring you back in ships to egypt a journey that I promise that you should never make again.

And there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves. But there shall be no buyer. May the lord has add his blessings to the reading of his holy word. And quite a word it is, isn't it?

The Professionalization of Human Relationships

Well, one of the developments of our modern world is the professionalization of roles that previously were done by volunteers usually out of charity or compassion because They had a relationship with the people that they were serving nursing for example.

Nursing was first an informal amateur task done by mostly women to care for the practical needs of the sick or the injured. She was usually doing it because she had some relationship with the sick. Maybe they were her family or they were the troops from her hometown from her nation or she just wanted to do good.

She's an amateur the word amateur literally from the french for lover of. If you love the patient you are in a relationship with him or her and so you would nurse Him or her to the best of your ability, of course, there's pros and cons to that.

The pro was that she really cared. The con of course was that she's an amateur also in the worst sense of the word someone without training or expertise. Then along came florence nightingale who pursued excellence in nursing.

Especially as she nursed british soldiers in the crimean war. And used her family's wealth to found a school of nursing and she raised the standards of nursing so that it began to be a True profession with its own pledge the nightingale pledge in which nurses agree.

To quote do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession. So over time similar developments have overtaken other. Used to be just roles people would play things like counseling social work care of the elderly.

The mentally retarded or now we call them challenged or with special needs the insane police work Firefighters and so on all kinds of roles that used to be done by people because they just wanted to Serve other people that they love the people who were afflicted with those conditions.

By amateurs are now done by professionals. The pros of course are that the standards of performance now are much higher. The nurses know what they are doing. They don't accidentally kill patients because they just do sloppy dumb things like forget to wash their hands or foam.

Their hands. The con of course is that many people are doing these jobs for the money. And so there is at least sometimes a lack of that quality that originally drove people to care for the poor. Or the sick or the old that one quality that no college can impart or state license can regulate.

Love. But that means. Does it does that mean we're stuck? Is it our choice between professionals who are experts who know what they are doing on the one hand or between Amateurs who don't know what they're doing.

But who love us professionals who who are experts who won't accidentally kill us but who just really don't care about us are amateurs who. Who really love us, but who might accidentally kill us because they don't know what they're doing.

The nurse who could expertly give injections But really doesn't care if we're suffering or just die on the one hand. Or the amateur who really does care But doesn't know what he's doing. Who is incompetent who would accidentally kill us if trying to be our surgeon?

Is that our choice. Would you would you rather have an amateur or a professional? If you had to have brain surgery, would you rather have an amateur who really loved you? Just this surgeon just really loved you.

He was passionate to do his best for you. But he had fingers like hot dogs and really didn't know what he was doing. Now sure if you died on the operating table, he would just give us all with a passion to revive you.

He would weep at your funeral now. Would you rather have that or would you rather have an expert who is just he's he's skilled. He's scholarly who he is not and he's never going to Cause your death. You might die for other things, but he's not going to cause it.

But if you happen to die on the operating table he'll. Okay, he's dead. He'll check his watch and think oh that clears up some time this afternoon. I might be able to get in a round of golf. We'd probably choose the professional but still.

Don't we sense? The cons the the coldness of our professionalized society. Some people think we can professionalize every relationship. Need a friend who will listen to you. Psychologists will do that.

Billing you of course any part of an hour accounting is a whole hour. Need someone who will come to your bedside if you're sick in the hospital. A nurse will do that. If your insurance covers it. Need someone to help you if your car is broken down by the side of the road.

Well triple a will be there for you. If you pay your bill. Need someone to look after decrepit grandpa. That's what nursing homes are for so you don't have to be burdened if if grandma can't handle it need sex.

Well, we have people who will do that for money, too. Need someone to preach the bible. Is that any more moral than the previous example? If done just for money. It's all very professional and efficient and cold and empty and soulless.

And horrible. If that's all there is. If there's there if there are no relationships no literal amateurs behind all that. Professionalization. That's why people today are yearning for even more yearning for real relationships now increasingly it seems that our society driven over the edge of Sanity with bizarre fights breaking out in airports and airplanes and amusement parks because I think they're starved for relationships and frustrated by cold professionalism.

People yearn for relationships. So this should be a golden opportunity for the church if we don't respond with our own brand of professionalization. But we're also dealing with people who are yearning for something that they don't know what it is.

They're yearning for. They're used to professionals. They're used to going into a restaurant ordering the food giving it professionally. Paying their bill and then wished a nice day from someone who really doesn't care.

Whether or not you have a nice day and leaving them unattached such people might think they that a relationship is when I get the food for free. Because that person is a relationship with me right and the server really wishes that I have a nice day.

And they can still leave unattached. No cons no responsibilities. They love the idea of the benefits of a relationship. You know the kind nurse who really cares. The friend who will give them free food.

But they don't like the cons the responsibilities. Maybe that nurse that kind nurse who really cares. Well, maybe she needs help moving and being in a relationship with her means you being there. And carrying stuff for the church.

I found that many people actually prefer the professionalized ministry the efficient mall-like church. With the professional greeters at the door and the professional band and everything is so polished.

And the preacher who may be a good communicator, but who is as replaceable as my doctor the assurance plan. Assigns me a doctor and so the church assigns me a preacher. They assigned the next one the next day.

I don't care. They want the pros of relationship the chirpy. Have a nice day without the cons without the responsibilities. Without the nursing home visits without helping people move without funeral attendance without sharing time and money without real Relationships they want a relationship.

Covenant Relationship, Not Mere Religion or Rules

But they don't want a covenant. One of the things we learn Here in deuteronomy 28 about relationships is that relationships have a have a form they have rules. They have expectations. One of the popular slogans in the church business I dislike today is not religion or rules, but a relationship.

That's supposed to draw in those eager people looking for a relationship hopefully with God. But who aren't hung up on, you know wearing suits and ties and dresses and carrying the king james bible. Relationship, you know not rules.

Now try that with a spouse. Honey I just want a relationship. Not rules. That's why i'm not going to help with the dishes or help pay the bills or be faithful. That won't work. Real relationships have rules.

Sometimes they're unspoken. Sometimes like in wedding vows, they're spelled out here in this chapter the relationship is in a covenant. If this chapter is part of a Relationship that people in moses's day would have been familiar with they would have seen this.

This relationship is a covenant. This is like the covenants in their day that emperors of powerful empires would make with the kings of little kingdoms. There are these are the rules of our relationship.

Says the emperor the big king. These are the these are our rules of our relationship. You keep this law you be faithful. Don't go conspiring with other kingdoms. To undermine us you pay us so much money.

You let our armies pass through you do what we say if you do. You get these rewards these pros. We will protect you from foreign attack. We'll let you trade within our empire. We'll bless you. If you don't We'll destroy you.

Quite a quite an option, huh? That's the choice. Here the lord in deuteronomy 28. The lord is the great king. He's the emperor and israel is the little kingdom that he's making a covenant with. Now if you're learning from english sunday school, you're about to learn over the next two weeks.

Why? We Are the covenant people? Now I take this chapter deuteronomy 28 sure is first applied to israel under moses at that time. But it is now it is not just there for our. Kind of historical curiosity.

Well, that's wow. That's what happened in those days. There's no relevance to us. It is still relevant to us. You can debate. Whether we are in the same covenant is here that's debatable. I agree, but you can't really argue that.

That we are not in a covenant with the same god. You understand you can debate whether or not we're in the same covenant is here, but we are indeed in a covenant with the same god. Israel here is not to be equated to a nation today.

Not even the nation that goes by the name israel and certainly not to the usa as if we americans were the covenant people. Uh, it is ultimately for for us for the church we are israel. We are his covenant people.

You are now in a covenant with the lord like and like all covenants. There's pros and there's cons there's blessings advantages and there's responsibilities here in verse one. Faithfully obey the voice of the lord your god be careful to do all his commandments.

That's the responsibility the rule of this relationship and he says it's a relationship. He says if you do this, you are my people you're called by my name. You're you're affiliated. You're associating with me.

You're part of my family. Here in deuteronomy deuteronomy 28. We see that covenant. It's pros and it's cons after that very unusually long introduction that I just finished and after a very unusually long passage.

And before what I hope Might be an unusually short sermon. I can't guarantee that last part. And we see that covenant in two major ways two obvious parts first the blessings the pros. And second the cons the responsibilities of the covenant and the curses they bring if we don't meet those responsibilities first in the first 14 verses.

Are the blessings? Notice three things about them. I'm not going to go verse by verse through this passage like I normally if I did we would be here to like this evening. You would we'd have to take a lunch break and then come back.

But I won't do that this time because this passage is so long plus I also think most of it is pretty self-explanatory. Right. I mean it pretty much says what it means means what it says. There's not a lot of mystery to this chapter so I don't think there's as much need for me to go there, but three Uh three points to sum it up.

First the blessings are are corporate. Second. They are comprehensive and third they're god's work. First they're corporate. They are for the whole people of god throughout this chapter the you Notice that so many times you you you um is singular.

It's not you all. You all people shall faithfully obey the voice of the lord your god and as if some of you do You'll be the blessed ones. And if some of you don't You'll be the cursed ones. Whether it's you all together corporately Seen as a whole shall obey.

And if you together seen as a whole together you if you do then together. You get these blessings now that may seem unfair to american individualists, especially if you know, you're the one trying to be faithful.

And the rest of israel the church Isn't trying to be faithful if it's corrupt and so we end up getting curses and we try why are we getting the curses. Well I suppose it seemed unfair to jeremiah that that he had to suffer so much.

He was thrown down a well imprisoned in a city. It was destroyed given only bread and water to eat. When jerusalem was destroyed, it was presumably his own house was destroyed. Jeremiah could have complained.

Why lord? Why did I I was faithful? Why do I suffer along with the rest of these people? That's kind of the way life is because the rest of the people decided to break the covenant, why should I. Well god, sometimes he deals with his people corporately as a whole.

We're in this together. So you better do what you can then. To support the reform and the revival of the church if you want these blessings. So that means you can't go. Well, i'm faithful. I'm just going to go off by myself.

The church is corrupt. I'm going to stay home and Hide from it. Hide from the judgment. It won't work that way god will deal with his people corporately. So you better do what you can. To help promote reform revival in the church.

Second the blessings are comprehensive first. You're careful to do all what god has commanded comprehensively. You don't get to pick and choose. That's why we're committed to preaching through the whole council of god here in covenant.

And so hopefully we'll follow it all. That's why we just read deuteronomy chapter 28. You know instead of just sticking to our favorite few verses in the new testament. Now if we do we follow it all the blessings will be comprehensive that is over all of life.

Our covenant with god doesn't just deliver spiritual blessings, but does nothing for us physically as if we can be serene and and content. Even while we're forever poor and sick and weak. Because god blesses our hearts, you know, bless your heart.

Like what a southerner might say just before he's about to insult you. But there's nothing for our bodies. Now you might immediately react to what I just said. Depending on who you've taught by and say well.

That's exactly what it means to be spiritual to be content. Even if we're hungry and weak and afflicted, you know. We've been given a cancer diagnosis and yet I still can rejoice in the lord. Like paul who said that do all things I can do all things through christ who strengthened me which in that context means.

Uh, he could be he could be content when he went as hungry and homeless he was suffering and yet he still could go through that because christ was strengthened him or who had been a Paul had been afflicted with something and he was content with the lord's promise.

My grace is sufficient for you. Yes for now that is true we might have to be content for now hungry and weak our property confiscated. Our reputation slandered because you're a hater. You're a bigot because we believe we believe him.

We believe the lord but part of what makes us content now. Able to bear hardship now. Is that we believe the promises of god's? Comprehensive covenant. We are not Platonist. I don't know if you know what that means platonist, you know, they believe that the material world is kind of like shadows on a cave Wall, it's if not illusion is just not important.

Christians do not believe that. We don't believe the material world is like shadows on the cave wall that all the physical things are meaningless. We believe god created all things spiritual and material.

Including our bodies and that the blessings of his covenant will encompass all of it eventually. Our promise that we believe in isn't Just for a spiritual heaven but our promise is for a resurrection with a new a new earth where we have Everything good comprehensively.

So for now sure we understand for now in this day in this age in this world We might have to go Through some suffering some affliction where we're deprived particularly of some of those physical things.

Some blessings are now and some are not yet. We might have to wait on some blessings, but if we trust in god's faithfulness and we're in a covenant with him We can be confident In his blessings. So in verse 3 we'll be blessed in the city.

And blessed in cassava county. Our wombs will be blessed in verse 4. So will our work our baking will be blessed in verse 5. We won't burn the biscuits will be blessed when we go out and blessed when we come in all the time.

In everything he emphasizes that there notice that everything that you do will be blessed. We might not get now understand we might not get all of that now. We might have to wait For some of it for later.

We might have to be content waiting for some of that. Now but it but our hope is in a comprehensive Spiritual and physical blessing. Thirdly the blessings are the lord's work. This is all. This passage deuteronomy 28 is in the context of a covenant of a relationship.

These are not just laws of nature that that if you follow them, you know you do thus and so and You follow these laws. You'll be prosperous. You'll be the lender and not the borrower. Secrets to success.

Built into the universe that work whether or not you you know, or even care about the lord. No, this is what god himself promises to do to get to work giving you. If you are faithful, you are one of his covenant people you're in his relationship with him.

Notice verse 7 the lord will cause. The lord's causing it. The lord is causing blessing here your enemies to be defeated. It's not because of military strategy. You know, you can master the laws, but you don't care about the source of the laws.

No, you the lord will cause it if you know him in verse 8 the lord will command. He issues the edict himself. Of your blessing your prosperity in verse 11 that does not depend on the laws of economics working impersonally the lord commands it.

That's the pros the blessings he offers in this relationship. So be faithful. Keep your responsibilities because you trust that he will keep his covenant. And he will bless you comprehensively now if you don't.

The Corporate and Comprehensive Curses of Covenant Breaking

There are cons. There are curses that come because of the relationship because of the covenant real relationships. Come with responsibilities. There's cons. This chapter dwells on the curses four times longer.

Than on the blessings, you know so much for being positive and encouraging. There are three parts to the cons the curses first but if second. It gets worse and finally God is terrible. But if in verse 15.

One of these great adversitives in the bible. They're one of these great turning points from one extreme to another. We saw a couple of them in ephesians recently. You remember we were dead in our sins.

We're following the prince of the power of the air. We're following the passage of the flesh by nature. We are children of wrath but god. In ephesians chapter 2 verse 4, but god spite all that that we are Is rich in mercy.

The great adversative the turning point from dark to light here in deuteronomy 28. It's in reverse. We have these great blessings promises for god to make us the head and not the tail to go up and not down if we serve him.

But if if we still won't obey we won't be careful. Then we're cursed. But if. Despite all that those first 14 verses. You don't keep the covenant. You say it's all about a relationship. No rules. No religion.

So i'm going to do what I please. Forsaking and assembling together seeking first more dollars counting other relationships more valuable than him living like the world. But if. Then there's curses. The curses are also corporate.

They're coming on all his people. They are comprehensive. They're in the city. They're in the rural areas in our kitchen and our work and our children and our income when we're entering and when we're exiting.

And the lord will do it notice in verse 20 the lord will send the curses. He's not as though he just lets people off, you know. They'll suffer the consequences of their own actions as he stands back. No here god is saying i'm going to do this.

He won't just send a professional to do it for him, you know like satan who would do it coolly and professionally efficiently. He'll do it himself in verse 21. The lord will make The pestilence come on us like covet.

The lord will strike us in verse 22 with diseases with pandemics. It's not just nature run amok. Be less interested whether it came or whether or not it came from a lab in wuhan. Then why the lord is doing it it will be so comprehensive in verse 23.

The sky over us and the ground under us will be cursed like bronze and iron. The lord will make it in verse 24 until you are destroyed. That's one of the refrains in this chapter. You've noticed that when we were reading it several times.

Until you are destroyed. He will keep doing it until you are destroyed. The lord will cause us to be defeated scattered until we're horrible. So we're an embarrassment until people look at us. And and don't want to be like us.

They say whatever you want whatever you turn out to be don't be like them. Insane blind confused in verse 28 these things from verses 25 to 45 the lord literally brought on israel and what he described here literally came on.

On the nation of israel and the rest of the old testament. Confusion diminishment oppression deprived. Seeing children taken away robbed helpless leaders captured impoverished reduced to the lowest. But wait felt like an inverted perverted dystopian commercial call now.

There's an offer call now to get this awful order, but wait. There's more. But wait, there's more curses because you broke the covenant in verses 45 to 57. It gets worse. The curses aren't just out there for you.

They're pursuing you like an angry bear in the woods. They will overtake you. Until you are destroyed again that refrain until you are destroyed in verse 45. These curses on you will make you an object lesson to others of verse 46.

They are he calls them a sign and a wonder. You know that term sign and wonder it's a term used of miracles in the bible displays of god's power. To impress people that god is is awesome. Like the plagues in egypt.

They're so stunning that they impress even unbelievers. A sign that points to god's holiness and makes them makes them wonder makes them go. Wow. Look what god did. And of course here it's wow. Look what he did to them.

I don't want to be cursed like those people. But wait it gets worse. The lord will bring in verse 49 a nation that will swoop down on you show no mercy. They're professionals they're professional killers.

They'll besiege you and starve you until you resort to cannibalism. So desperately hungry that you'll eat your own children. A sign and a wonder it gets worse. Things will get so bad that the refined among us.

The genteel ladies and pampered gentlemen who never went barefoot who are raised using chilled salad forks and cloth napkins politely folded in their laps will be so desperate that they'll eat placentas.

And their babies and all in secret because they don't want to share with their own families. They won't care that their families starve. Every relationship for them is a is is a professional One and so they don't care if they betray their own children.

That's what the lord himself is willing to unleash on his covenant people who thought that they could walk away From their covenant as if as if there was no relationship. As if it was just business not personal but it was all very personal to this relational god.