These are not just a list of curses and blessings. This list was prophetic in Moses’ time and historic in ours. These things didn’t come upon the Israelites all at once, in a simultaneous fashion. These blessings and curses ebbed and flowed, came in waves through history as the people would live in obedience to God for a few generations, than slide into disobedience, then reformation would come and they would return to obedience for a while and then disobey again.

Ki Tavo starts off with instructions on to commemorate the yearly festival of First Fruits (Deut. 26:1-11), which is probably the most ignored of the LORD’s appointed times in the Torah. It also is so intertwined with the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

We are given a liturgy of what the supplicant is supposed to say to the priest when he brings the first fruits of his harvest and also what the priest is supposed to do with these gifts.

Supplicant: “I declare this day to the Lord my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.”Priest: (Receives the gift basket and sets it in front of the altar)Supplicant: “An Aramean [sought to] destroy my forefather, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a small number of people, and there, he became a great, mighty, and numerous nation. And the Egyptians treated us cruelly and afflicted us, and they imposed hard labor upon us. So we cried out to the Lord, God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, with great awe, and with signs and wonders. And He brought us to this place, and He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground which you, O Lord, have given to me.”Supplicant: (Prostrates himself before the Lord.)

Aram was in the territory we call Syria now. This is the land where Abraham’s family settled after leaving Ur of the Chaldeans. Abraham and Lot moved on but most of them stayed behind. Who are the “The Aramean” and who is the “forefather”? This line is a reference to Laban “the Aramean” and Jacob “the forefather.”

This is the only time in the Torah where we read about a military army coming after Jacob and his family to kill them. At this time, Jacob has 11 sons, all of them young. Benjamin isn’t born yet. Yet, Laban is sending a military cohort to try to kill his own nephew. The only reason Laban didn’t kill Jacob is because of God’s direct intervention. Jacob was supposed to die, but he didn’t and the only reason he didn’t die is because of God’s direct intervention.

Jacob’s flight to Egypt was also due to God’s direct intervention, following Joseph down there. The Egyptians enslaved them after the death of Joseph and the 12 patriarchs. Slaves aren’t allowed to be a nation. Slave revolts are rarely successful, so God’s liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt was truly miraculous, even more so because the Israelites did not lift a finger militarily to liberate themselves.

God is the one who should get the credit for every success and good thing that happens in our lives. We should give credit where credit is due. We like it when God sends good things, but He also warns us that He can send bad things as consequences for evil actions.

Canaanites would pass their children “through the fire” to appease the...