Observation: This section is one of the saddest in the Old Testament. Amidst the excitement of preparing to enter the promised land, Moses delivers curses. The curses are brutal and terrible. They are also conditional - IF they turn away from Yahweh these will happen - however he also declares it is a certainty they will turn away. We know they do, and all these terrible curses come to pass.
However, these curses are not about the nation of Israel. Rather, they are about the people of the Jews, the descendants of Jacob. As a result, the curses are not (just) about how their nation will be overthrown and destroyed. They also discuss what will happen to them as individuals once Israel is overthrown. As an ethnic people-group, they will be "an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule." They will be persecuted and oppressed by every other people-group to where they are scattered, and they will be scattered ... to so many other nations. Even as they lose the identity that made them a special people - they will lose their focus on Yahweh, effectively ceasing as his nation of priests, and will worship other gods - they will still be repressed to the point of continual worry and fear.
God's blessing and curse is not upon a nation ... it is not upon the government that Israel will create. Instead, it applies to people. Yes, those people are a group, and their fate is intertwined with each other as an entity. However, it extends beyond that concept, to people who either do or don't obey the Lord's commands and precepts and instructions.
Application: Many in our age believe that our nation cannot survive given the current direction of our culture. However, God is likely not directly opposed to the "United States" or any other country. He is likely opposed to the people who have come to drive the downward spiral of our culture, and everyone who is complicit is that spiral. And yes, all that may be intertwined with both government structure and political manipulation, requiring the country to be deconstructed as part of the correction, but the Lord's correction will be about people's hearts, not national rhetoric.
The U.S. is NOT the chosen nation of priests, as Israel was. Thus we have never been part of their same covenant, and therefore not likely cursed in the same manner. That isn't to say, however, that as a people-group we haven't failed to comply with the Lord, and thus are subject to retribution.
I don't want to be destroyed personally. Yet I expect my country to be destroyed someday, and I do not find any promise for Christians to be spared from the earthly repercussions of God's nationwide correction. My greatest hope is that my children may find God's grace and mercy, with a fruitful path forward, regardless of how this all plays out.
Prayer: Lord, you are right in your judgment. You are merciful and patient, but certainly your patience and mercy are near an end regarding our rebellious generation. In Jesus' name, thy will be done. Amen.
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