What did God promise Israel if they would obey all his commandments?
God promised that if Israel hearkened diligently to His voice and observed and did all His commandments, He would set them on high above all the nations of the earth. They would be the greatest nation, materially blessed, with all the listed blessings, contingent on their obedience.
Les explains that Deuteronomy 28 opens with a conditional “if,” showing God left the decision to Israel and did not make them robots. If they would hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord and observe and do all His commandments, God would set them on high above all the nations of the earth. Les says this was quite a promise: they would be the greatest nation on earth if they were just obedient. He notes that under law it was more demanding, but not impossible, and God was not asking them to live in misery. They would have been blessed to the hilt and could have been the happiest, most contented nation of people on earth. God then lists all the blessings that would come their way. Les qualifies that in the Old Testament economy, God rewarded obedience with material blessings, as seen in the wealthy patriarchs, contrasting that with today’s error of “prosperity salvation.”