I awoke at that point saying out loud over and over, Deuteronomy 28:7 and 8. I remember thinking I should get up and look this up in the Bible, knowing it was important, however, I opted to stay under my warm covers and told myself to remember it and repeated it to myself – Deuteronomy 28:7-8. In the morning when I got up it was immediately on my mind and I went to look it up in the Bible. I remember thinking, I bet Deuteronomy doesn’t even have 28 chapters or something! I also thought, since I don't read Deuteronomy, that it was probable going to be some long list of "begats", and not meaningful. There were 28 chapters however and here is what it says:
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who
rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one
direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your
barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you
in the land he is giving you.
Just on the face of it, I knew it was a promise, a message
from God. I was very encouraged and I believed it was directly related to my son's case and to what we have all been through. I couldn't have conjured this from the far recesses of my memory as a Bible verse I maybe memorized in the past. I haven't, and don't, read Deuteronomy! This was absolutely God.
I did some further digging into the verses and the specific phrases and words, in context. What I found excited me even further. This all falls under the heading of “Blessings of Obedience.” Living to please God. The secret to securing the blessings of God, is to choose obedience over rebellion – every time! Humility over pride. Love over hate. Mercy over condemnation. Forgiveness over unforgiveness.
I did some further digging into the verses and the specific phrases and words, in context. What I found excited me even further. This all falls under the heading of “Blessings of Obedience.” Living to please God. The secret to securing the blessings of God, is to choose obedience over rebellion – every time! Humility over pride. Love over hate. Mercy over condemnation. Forgiveness over unforgiveness.
Enemies is a participle and is used 8 times in Chapter 28.
The word refers to the active hostility of a person or group against another
person or group. “They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in
seven” means they were united in one front and came at you in the firmest, most
united way. They will “flee from you in seven” means they will be broken,
confounded, and routed so they scatter in different direction in disarray and
confusion, totally dissipated. The phrase is expressive of an entire victory,
and of a complete rout and dispersion of an enemy. There is also significance
to the number seven: perfection, completion, total victory.
“The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on
everything you put your hand to” refers to storehouses, or more modernly, bank
accounts. Barns is only used one other place in the Bible, Prov. 3:9-10.
Everything you undertake will succeed and prosper. Success of all undertakings
and endeavors. It does not say the Lord will bless everything you WISH for…no,
he will bless the things you put your hand to.
Meaning, you’ve got to go to work and take care of your
business. You must tend to your goals, your dreams, your blessings.
I have no doubt that this was a message from God to give us
his promises for obedience and to encourage us in the struggle. The battle is
the Lords!