Deuteronomy 28:31-44: a reflection

31Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. 32Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. 33A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, 34so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. 35The LORD will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. 37You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. 38You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. 39You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. 40You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. 41You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. 42Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. 44He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

This passage describes the futility that would come upon God's people if they turned from him: they would plant vineyards but not drink the wine, have olive trees but not use the oil, sow much seed but gather little, labor hard but see their work eaten by others and their harvest fail. Their labor would be fruitless, their work yielding nothing they could enjoy; a life of effort without fruit, when God's blessing was withdrawn.

Notice the theme of futile labor: planting but not harvesting, working but not enjoying the fruit. The people would not be idle; they would labor, plant, sow, tend. But their labor would come to nothing they could enjoy; the fruit would be taken, the harvest would fail, their work would be in vain. This futility, labor without fruit, is pictured as what comes when God's blessing is withdrawn; without his blessing, even hard work yields emptiness.

That picture of futile labor points, by contrast, to the true fruitfulness that comes only with God's blessing. We can labor hard, plant and sow and tend, and yet, without God's blessing, find our work yielding emptiness, the fruit somehow slipping away, the labor coming to nothing that satisfies. For it is God's blessing that makes labor truly fruitful; without it, even hard work can be futile. Do not imagine that your own labor alone, however hard, can secure the fruitfulness you seek; it is God's blessing that makes labor fruitful. Seek God's blessing on your work, walking with him, rather than laboring apart from him and finding your work yielding emptiness. The futility described here came when God's blessing was withdrawn; true fruitfulness comes with his blessing. Labor, but seek God's blessing on your labor; for without his blessing, even hard work can be futile, while with it, your labor bears fruit you can enjoy. Do not labor apart from God, but walk with him, seeking his blessing on your work, that it may be truly fruitful and not futile.

Lord, this passage describes the futility that would come upon your people if they turned from you: planting vineyards but not drinking the wine, sowing much but gathering little, laboring hard but seeing their work come to nothing; a life of effort without fruit, when your blessing was withdrawn. Show me the theme of futile labor, and let it point me, by contrast, to the true fruitfulness that comes only with your blessing. I can labor hard, plant and sow and tend, and yet, without your blessing, find my work yielding emptiness, the fruit somehow slipping away, the labor coming to nothing that satisfies. For it is your blessing that makes labor truly fruitful; without it, even hard work can be futile. Keep me from imagining that my own labor alone, however hard, can secure the fruitfulness I seek; it is your blessing that makes labor fruitful. Help me seek your blessing on my work, walking with you, rather than laboring apart from you and finding my work yielding emptiness. The futility described here came when your blessing was withdrawn; true fruitfulness comes with your blessing. Help me labor, but seek your blessing on my labor, Lord; for without your blessing, even hard work can be futile, while with it, my labor bears fruit I can enjoy. Bless my work, that it may be fruitful and not futile.