And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
Moses ends the list of Israel's blessings with a picture of rank. The nation is set at the top and not the bottom — but the whole promise hangs on one small word: "if."
The place God assigned Israel
The language of head and tail is about position among the nations of the world. One writer traces this place back to the way the nations first spread out:
W. W. FeredayWhen the descendants of Noah, with their different languages, scattered abroad and seized lands here and there as it pleased them, the invisible hand of God guided them to where He would need them when Israel came on the scene.
A promise resting on obedience
Everything in this chapter comes on terms. One writer also notes how far these blessings reached — and where they stopped:
The Christian's FriendRead Deuteronomy 28:1-13, for instance, and you will see at once that the blessings promised on condition of obedience were limited to the earth.
Commentators warn against taking these promises from Israel and giving them to the church:
C. H. MackintoshSome interpreters follow a method that spiritualises the covenant blessings of Israel and hands them over to the church of God. This is a most fatal mistake.
Briefly tasted, then reversed
The promise was not empty words. Under Solomon it was visibly true — the people, and not only the king, held the top place, lending and not borrowing, feared by those around them. But later in the same chapter Moses describes the exact reverse falling on a disobedient people:
Leslie M. GrantAliens would gain the upper hand over Israel. They would have to borrow from aliens instead of the other way around (v.44). So the foreigner would be the head and Israel the tail — the reverse of what would be true if Israel obeyed (vv.12-13).
The purpose still stands
Failure did not cancel God's purpose. The nation is low now, and yet the end is settled.
C. H. MackintoshThis, no doubt, refers to Israel as a nation. They are destined to be the head of all the nations of the earth. This is the sure and settled purpose and counsel of God concerning them. They are sunk very low now, scattered and lost among the nations, suffering the terrible results of their long disobedience... Yet as a nation they will rise and shine in far brighter glory than Solomon's.
But there is only one road to that place:
A. J. PollockIsrael can never be the head of the nations (see Deut. 28:13) unless she reaches that goal by the hard road of repentance, and recognises as her Sovereign and Lord the One whom they crucified.
The promise in one person's hands
The verse had its most striking use in Israel's darkest days. Some people still took the promise as their own:
C. H. MackintoshLooking through the history of Israel, we find some very striking cases of people whom infinite grace allowed and enabled to make the precious promise of verse 13 their own. They did this in very dark and depressing periods of the nation's history, when Israel, as a nation, was the tail and not the head.
One writer points to Daniel, an exile whose faithfulness brought a king to his feet:
C. H. MackintoshHere we have earth's proudest and most powerful monarch at the feet of the captive exile. Magnificent fruit of faithfulness! Here is precious proof that God will always honour faith that rises, even a little, to the height of His thoughts!... "And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down." (Deut. 28:10, 13)
Summary
- Position — head and tail are about rank among nations. God settled the nations with Israel's place already in view.
- Condition — the promise turns on "if you obey." These earthly blessings are tied to obedience, and commentators warn against handing them to the church.
- Reversal — later in the chapter the picture flips. The foreigner becomes the head and Israel the tail, borrowing instead of lending.
- Certainty — God's purpose still stands. A repentant Israel will own the One they crucified and shine brighter than in Solomon's day.
- One person — when the nation was the tail, Daniel still made this promise his own, and the world's proudest king ended up at the feet of an exile.