Can You Declare That You're the Head And Not The Tail?
/Joel Osteen and other wildly popular preachers tell their mega million audiences that their words create their futures and that if they want their best lives now they need to learn how to declare faith filled positive affirmations over their lives. One affirmation in particular these preachers teach their audiences to declare over their lives is that they're "the head and not the tail". They claim that this affirmation is found in Deut. 28:13 and that their teaching is Biblical. But is it? Does Deut. 28:13 teach Christians to declare and affirm that they're "the head and not the tail" and that by doing so they will create positive futures for themselves?
Answer: NO! One merely needs to look at the context of this passage to see what it is really teaching.
Context, Context, Context
The context necessary to properly understanding Deut. 28:13 begins in chapter 27. Below, I've posted all of the relevant context necessary to understand this passage. One does not need to be an Old Testament scholar in order to understand what this text is teaching. (I've bolded and underlined the phrase "head and not the tail" so that you can identify its place and roll in this text.)
“Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today. And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them; you shall build an altar to the LORD your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God, and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”
Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the LORD your God. You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”
That day Moses charged the people, saying, “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice:
“‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 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, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
“But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
“The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
“The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind, and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but you shall be helpless. A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see. The LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.” (Deuteronomy 27:1–28:35)
This passage does not teach Christians to declare and affirm that they are the head and not the tail! There isn't a single word mentioned about standing in front of a mirror and decreeing and declaring anything. All of the blessings recorded in this passage are contingent upon obedience to the Mosaic Covenant. If you want to be the head and not the tail then you must first obey all of God's commandments. These blessings are not promised to decreers and declarers they are only promised to obeyers of the Mosaic covenant!
“you shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”” (Deut. 27:10)
“if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD” (Deut. 28:1)
“if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today” (Deut. 28:14)
“But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you” (Deut. 28:15)
By ripping Deut. 28:13 from its context, men like Joel Osteen and others have fabricated a man-made mythological doctrine (Mark 7:6–13) that says that people can create positive futures for themselves by decreeing and declaring positive faith filled words over their lives. But, what is painfully clear when you put Deut. 28:13 back in its proper context is that these preachers have twisted God's Word and are deceiving their followers.
Also, by ripping this passage out of context these false teachers are ignoring the very important historical context of this passage and are not properly distinguishing between the Mosaic Covenant (which Christians are NOT under) and the New Covenant (which Christians ARE under).
This passage is a retelling of the Mosaic Covenant and was spoken to The Children of Israel after they had spent 40 years wandering through the wilderness because of their unbelief (Jude 1:5). Moses, in this passage, is recalling the covenant Israel made with the LORD and reminding them of both its curses, if they disobey, and its blessings, if they obey. Again, the covenant being discussed here is the Mosaic Covenant it is NOT the New Covenant that Christians are under. (For a more complete explanation of the different Biblical covenants take some time to listen to the lecture by Dr. Michael Horton on the covenants in this episode of Fighting for the Faith).
So the next time you hear an über popular preacher, teacher or author tell you that you need to declare that you're "the head and not the tail", you know that they're twisting God's word and teaching false doctrine. Don't listen to them and don't send them any money (because that's what they're really after.)
