Bible Studies

The curses of Deuteronomy 28 part 1

by lee thriepland
08/18/18
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The curses of Deuteronomy 28

The Curses outlined in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28 are used by many Hebrew Israelite groups or camps as they are often referred to and individuals to prove that the true Israelites are black. They claim that the ONLY people that can be shown to fulfill the curses outlined in the chapter are the Black people in America whose ancestors were brought there via the Trans Atlantic Slave trade. It must be noted that some groups and individuals also include in their teachings the Native Americans and Hispanics as fellow Israelites. The black people of America being of the tribe of Judah in this understanding. Although they will say the “real” Israelites fit all the curses, which of course they would have to in their doctrine,  they will often specifically go to certain verses that they believe best support their claim, while offering their evidence for the said claim. These verses are as follows.

Deuteronomy 28-16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

This they claim is fulfilled during the slavery in America when they were forced to work in the fields picking cotton., and today in the poverty of “their” cities.

Deuteronomy 28- 37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

This is claimed to be fulfilled by the fact that  their true name, the Israelites, has been removed from them and they are now called , Nigger, Nigga, African American, Coon, Black and any other term that has been applied to them.

Deuteronomy 28-  48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

This curse it is claimed was again fulfilled during the transatlantic slave trade where the slaves had yokes of Iron placed around their necks and were forced to work without being provided adequate food, water or clothing.

Deuteronomy 28- 49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

Again claimed to have been fulfilled as part of the Transatlantic slave trade. This would obviously be a reference to the languages of the peoples that enslaved the Israelites. For example English. A language that the Israelites did not understand. The eagle being the symbol that represented many of the countries that took the Israelites captive. And of course is the symbol of America.

Deuteronomy 28-64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

The claim here is that the Israelites were scattered throughout the world during the Transatlantic slave trade. Not ALL claim this. The ones that state only the blacks taken to America are Israel do not adhere to this claim regarding all the captives taken in the transAtlantic Slave trade.

Deuteronomy 28-  68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

This verse is used to show that the Israelites would be taken into Egypt which also means slavery and would not see their homeland, the promised land anymore.  They were sold unto their enemies, the white man, as slaves, both men and woman, and that nobody could redeemed/save them.

At face value, there is,  at least it would seem, to be some support for their claim. However it is, as it always is, important that we analyze the claim and not simply take it on face value, and see if it holds up under scrutiny of analysis of the claim.

First and foremost let’s first start with some basic understanding regarding the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28. These basic understandings need to be kept in sight at all times when we analyze the curses, as, without these understandings, false or incorrect interpretations can easily be read into the curses. As we will see, is exactly what has been done.

The blessings and curses were declared unto Israel BEFORE they had entered into the promised land. They were blessings and curses that would be bestowed upon or would befall Israel by God, should they follow God and obey him, re the blessings, or fall away from God and disobey him, and thus the curses.  They would either mean life in abundance, via God’s blessings or death and destruction, via God’s curses. We see that in verse 45 Moses reminded the people of the covenant that they had made with the Lord.

Deuteronomy 28-45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

The covenant that the Israelites themselves, had agreed to adhere to, back at mount Sinai.

Exodus 24- 3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.

Before Moses outlined the curses he stated that the curses would come upon them if they did not follow God as they had agreed to do.

Deuteronomy 28- 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

Just as he had told the the blessings would come about through following God and obedience.

Deuteronomy 28- 1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe andto do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

It’s important, ney it's actually fundamental to understand these blessings and curses were for Israel, ONLY while they were IN THE PROMISED LAND. This fact I simply must reiterate is paramount to correctly understanding the curses and their fulfillment.

The Israelites were given many commands by God regarding when they came into the land, this was repeatedly stated before they arrived in the land.

Deuteronomy 18-9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.

Deuteronomy 26-1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;

The covenant required their obedience and obedience is what they agreed to. Obedience in the promised land, which the Lord God would give them. This would lead to the Israelites possession of the land, living in abundance and under the protection of God. Disobedience  the exact opposite, expulsion from the land, living in need and under no protection from God. The terms of the covenant simple with both parties in agreement.

E should also note that God didn’t give Israel the land because of anything they had done, but because he had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 9-5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So let’s look at the curses. The curses start in verse 16.

Deuteronomy 28-16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

As we already saw the Hebrew Israelites claim this is fulfilled during the slavery of the “black Americans” when the slaves were forced to pick cotton in the field.

However this ISN’T what the verse means at all. Cursed in the field does not mean that the Israelites would be forced to work in fields. If this understanding was correct then the opposing  blessing of verse 3 would simply mean that they would not have to work in the field.

Deuteronomy 28-3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

This simply cannot be the correct understanding of being blessed or cursed in the field. This is NOT talking about what would happen to them while in slavery. Also remember that,  and this really is very important. It is what would happen IN the promised land. The curse that would come upon them would be the curse of the field. That in THEIR fields they would be cursed. Not in the fields of another land.

In fact in the very next verse the blessing of the field is expounded upon to understand its meaning.

Deuteronomy 28-4 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

The blessing in the field would mean the field was good for produce and we see that the next blessing is good “fruit” or produce.

The curse therefore simply the opposite. The field would not be good for produce.

And in verses 17 and 18 we see that the produce was cursed.

Deuteronomy 28- 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

Deuteronomy verse 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep

Simply put if they obeyed God in the promised land their land would be fertile and would produce much. There would be much produce available to buy and sell. If they disobeyed God in the promised land then the land would not be good for produce, and so, there would not be much produce.  

This curse has absolutely nothing to do with being forced to pick cotton in the field while in slavery.

The curse of verse 19, being cursed when they come in and when they go out

Deuteronomy 28- 19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

This is simply the opposite of the Hebrew idiom found in verse 6

Deuteronomy 28- 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

This idiom for the blessing simply meaning that their daily activities would be blessed. Obviously the curse meaning that the daily activities of the Israelites would not be blessed. Under the curse their daily activities would be a chore, they would find daily life a hard grind rather than the ease of life under the blessing.

Deuteronomy 28- 20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

Here the curse meaning that through their disobedience, the Israelites, no matter what they did, or how much they tried, their endeavours would be fruitless, and death would, be it slow or prolonged, eventually come upon them. The land not producing, every day would be a struggle for them even unto their deaths.

This being the opposite from the blessing found in verse 8, where through obedience to God their endeavours would produce plentiful results. Whatever work they did would yield much success.

Deuteronomy 28-  8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

From verse 21 until verse 44 inclusive the Israelites are told in great detail what the results of the curses that God would bring about. The curses that had previously been mentioned in verses 16 through 20.  These verses are not in themselves curses but rather a detailed description of how the curses of verses 16-20 would affect them.

Deuteronomy 28-  21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

Pestilence being the Hebrew דָּ֫בֶר deber pestilence or plagues.

The plagues that would cleave to the Israelites would consume them off the land, again the promised land.

22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

The Israelites would face death my  many different diseases,

Consumption is the hebrew  שַׁחֶ֫פֶתshachepheth which is a wasting disease
Fever is קַדַּ֫חַת qaddachath and is exactly that, a fever
Inflammation is דַּלֶּ֫קֶת dalleqeth which is inflammation or burning fever

extreme burning which is the Hebrew  חַרְחֻר charchur which means an intense violent heat, fever

Death would also come by the way of the sword, through the attacks of their enemies.

23And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

The sky would be empty of water and the ground below would be like Iron, hard, due to the lack of rain brought about by the drought. This lack of water obviously would affect the produce of the land and so we have the full explanation of cursed in the field.

24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

The rain as dry as powder and dust. A simple metaphor for the lack of rain.

The Bible depicts many different droughts and famines that came upon the children of Israel through their disbelief.

25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Here the Israelites being told that unlike in the blessing of verse 7 when they are in obedience and under God’s protection  where their enemies would not prevail against them.

Deuteronomy 28-7 7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

When the Israelites were in disobedience to God, and God’s protection removed from over them. It would be the LORD that would bring their enemies who would come against them, subsequently the Israelites would be defeated and flee from their enemies and be scattered.

26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

The Israelites dead bodies becoming food for the scavengers of the land and air. Even in death  their bodies would find no rest.

Then comes a passage detailing different problems that the Israelites would face which include some of the plagues of Egypt, produce that they themselves would not enjoy, the loss of their children through captivity,  being led themselves into captivity and having to worship other gods.

27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. 28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. 31Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them. 32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand. 33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: 34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. 36The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. 41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. 42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.43The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. 44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

These curses outlined by Moses would certainly not have come upon the Israelites as a surprise.

Moses had previously told them what would happen to those that lived in the land should they disobey God and turn away from him while in the land.

Deuteronomy 4- 25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong yourdays upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. 28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

But of course they were reminded that obedience and serving God would result in God being merciful on them, not forgetting his covenant which included the blessings.

Deuteronomy 4- 29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

Before we move on I would like to specifically address verse 37, which, as already highlighted at the beginning of this study, is often used by the Hebrew Israelites as part of their evidence that the curses apply to them.

Deuteronomy 28-  37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

Byword is the Hebrew word שְׁנִינָה sheninah which means a cutting word or a taunt

And as already stated the Hebrew Israelites claim that their true name, which is  Israelites, has been replaced with many different terms. Many of which are very distasteful and rather derogatory. They are a slur unto the person that they are directed at or a people as a whole. On this last statement I regarding the words used being a slur and very derogatory I most certainly would agree.

But the problem with this claim regarding the name , is that this obviously already assumes that they are in fact the Israelites. Of course, IF they are Israelites then calling them anything other than Israelites could be deemed as a byword, if those words which are used are used in the derogatory manner as many of the words aimed at black people so obviously are.

However if they are not Israelites then the name Israelite has NOT been removed at all, as it would never have been their name in the first place. The argument therefore, relies on an appeal to circle reasoning.  One must already be assumed in order to prove the other.

Bywords are not only associated with “black Americans”. Native Americans have been labelled as (Red) Indians, the Inuit people as Eskimos, Asian people as chinks, and people from the middle east as Paki’s to name just a few.

We must also note that the term “Jew”, which today applies to anyone that is considered an Israelite, can in fact itself, be considered a byword. Jew is not the correct term or name for the children of Israel. Jew would only represent the southern Kingdom of the tribes of Judah, which is where we get the term Jew from, Benjamin and Levi. Jew would not apply to the tribes of the  Northern Kingdom. The correct term for the children of Israel is Israelite and not Jew. Jew is often today used in a negative manner.

We also have to address the words “astonishment” and “proverb”, which are also stated in this verse that the Israelites would become.

Astonishment is the Hebrew word שַׁמָּה shammah and means a horror, appalling.

Proverb is the Hebrew word מָשָׁל mashal meaning proverb, or parable or in other words a story.

When we look at the verse in full what we get is that the story of the Israelites through their disobedience would become a thing of astonishment, a horror to the other nations. Rather than being a light unto them, the nations seeing the blessings bestowed upon them would see their being brought to nothing. Their name being something to use against them,  being used to taunt them amongst the other nations.

And we see that at the end of the verse it is made very clear that it is God that is in control even over the enemies that are brought against them.

“among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.”

We then have 3 verses that are used by the Hebrew Israelites to show that the curses would be upon them forever, the curses are still in effect today. Thus is why they happened so recently with the Transatlantic Slave Trade (TAST) and why they still affect “Black” people in America today.

Deuteronomy 28- 45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

They happen because the Israelites are still in disobedience and not serving the LORD. The curses still in full effect through the disobedience of the Israelites.  

If we simply look at these verse without any application of context or understanding, they may very well seem to support the claim. However, we do have context and we do have understanding.We must apply what we already know about the curses. We already know that “all these curses (the curses outlined in the chapter) that shall come upon thee,  and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed” would apply to the Israelites while they were in the promised land. Anytime that the Israelites were in the promised land the curses would apply should they fall into disobedience. This would be forever. Forever here being the Hebrew עוֹלָם Olam. Olam while it can mean a literal forever does not necessarily mean as such. Olam simply means the fulness of any specific time.

Jonah stated he was in the belly of the whale forever

Jonah 2-6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars wasabout me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

Forever being Olam. Jonah was in the belly of the whale the fulness of the 3 days and 3 nights.

But this is a separate side issue that actually centers around the first and 2nd covenants.

Back to the curses. The curses of the chapter applied ONLY when the Israelites disobeyed God while they were in the promised land. The curses did not. and do not apply while the Israelites were or are outside of the promised land. The curses would come upon the people while inside the promised land and would eventually destroy them as a people, or they would be driven from the land itself, either through desperation and need, or through captivity. Once the curses had been inflicted the Israelites would then have to deal with the consequences of the curses having befallen them. It did not mean that they would continue to be taken into captivity once in captivity. That would make no sense whatsoever. Neither did it mean that they would be driven out of the land and scattered and keep getting scattered once out of the land. Again this is just nonsense. Once the curse had been enacted upon them the curse was fulfilled. It would only then reapply if they came into obedience unto God again and were brought back into the promised land. After having returned to the promised land the curses would then be reenacted upon them should they again fall into disobedience to God. And it is this that would happen forever. This having been fulfilled in the Assyrian captivity of 772 BC where they were taken from the land. They returned again only to full into disobedience and then removed from the land under the Babylonian captivity of 597 BC and finally through the Roman wars and captivity. To try and input the scattering of the “Israelites” through the TAST into this simply fails to understand the curses and how, when and why they would come upon the Israelites. The Israelites had been scattered from their land in 70AD. The curses had been enacted. The Israelites had not returned to the land by the time of the TAST and neither did the TAST take anyone from the promised land. The TAST in no way can be understood to biblically fulfill the curses of Deuteronomy 28 even if some of the curses would seem to have similarities to the events of the TAST.

Now having said that we come to verses 48-51 which I personally would consider the strongest supporting evidence that the Hebrew Israelites have for their position.

Deuteronomy 28- 48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.49The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 50A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

It is historically documented and undeniable that the people taken during the TAST had yokes of Iron placed upon their necks. They most certainly did serve in hunger, thirst and nakedness and with a want for all things. The nation(S) plural and NOT nation as per the curse, that took the people captive certainly spoke a language that the people did not know. And they had little to no regard for age. The TAST was nothing less than vile. I do not say it lightly but I do not actually think that the English language has a word capable of accurately describing the abominable and repugnant, barbaric atrocity that was the TAST. The words I used do  an injustice to its true horror. However regardless of this fact the TAST does NOT fulfill the curses of Deuteronomy 28 as I already have partly demonstrated.

Remember these curses were for the Israelites in their own land. This is again reiterated in verse 52.

Deuteronomy 28- 52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee   

The enemy, the nation that would be brought against the Israelites, where they would place yokes of Iron around their necks, they would serve in hunger, thirst and nakedness and with a want for all things. A nation whose language they did not know. All of this would come upon the Israelites while they trusted in their gates, their high and fenced walls throughout their land, THE LAND THE LORD THY GOD HATH GIVEN THEE….This without any doubt whatsoever is a reference to the Israelites own land, the promised land. They would therefore, see that the protection that they relied so heavily on, the gates and walls of their own land, were not sufficient to protect them on their own. It was in fact, the protection that God gave them that was the true reason that their enemies were unable to hurt them, while the Israelites were in obedience to God as per the blessing of verse 7.

Deuteronomy 28- 7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

The Israelites would be besieged by the nation that would come upon them in their own land. Those nations that took the people captive during the TAST took them from Africa. This was NOT the promised land, the land that was theirs, the land that God had given them. They were not trusting in their own gates and high and fenced walls. They had already been removed from their land. This happened as already stated during the Roman-Jewish wars. Where the Jews WERE in their land trusting in their gates and high fenced walls. The nation, the Romans, whose language was latin, a language the Israelites would not have understood, took many many Israelites captive during these wars. While the yokes of Iron are actually very likely to be figurative and simply representing the fact they would be enslaved, the Bible often uses the word yoke to mean having dominion as it was used in the blessing of Esau that when he had dominion over Jacob, who he was told he would serve. Esau would break the yolk from his neck.

Genesis 27- 40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

It is also a historical fact that the Romans did in fact use yokes around the neck of their captives (as did the Egyptians). The captors of the TAST were not the first and only captors to use yokes around the necks of their captees.  

Josephus wrote

# Because the soldiers were now growing weary of bloodshed, and survivors appeared constantly, Caesar orders to kill only those who offered armed resistance and to take alive all the rest. (415) The troops, in addition to those covered by their orders, slaughtered the aged and infirm; people to their prime who might be useful they herded into the Temple area and shut up in the Court of the Women (lcl. (416) Caesar appointed one of his freedmen as their guard, his friend Fronto, to decide the fate appropriate to each. (417) All those who had taken part in sedition and brigandage (they informed against other) he executed. He picked out the tallest and handsomest of the lot and reserved them for the Triumph (418). Of the rest, those who were over seventeen he put in chains and sent to hard labor in Egypt while greet numbers were presented by Titus to the provinces to perish in the theaters by sword or by wild beasts; those under seventeen were sold. #

Josephus, “The Jewish Wars”; Book vi 9:2.

The Romans also had the Eagle as their symbol,should we require, as many Hebrew Israelites do assert, the “as swift as the eagle flieth” to refer to the symbol of the nation, rather than the very obvious and correct understanding regarding the speed on which the nation would come upon them.

However it must also be stated that America, which is the country that the Hebrew Israelites associate with the eagle, is not the only country to have the Eagle as its emblem, including but not limited to, Austria, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia and Indonesia.