“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
(Psalm 100:1-5 ESV)
Holland Patent NY Presbyterian Church
Deuteronomy 27
Curses for Violation
0 Moses now gets the people ready to set up an altar and memorial stones in the Promised Land on top of Mount Ebal. Mount Ebal was in Shechem and was the place where Abraham built his first altar in the Promised Land.
0 Moses, having been banned from the Promised Land, would never get the chance to see this altar and memorial stones built.
0 The priests are instructed to pronounce 12 acts that would bring curses on anyone that did them and in a way they correspond to the Ten Commandments and sort of sum up the various laws of the book of Deuteronomy.
0 Here’s a summary of the 12 acts that will bring curses on a man:
0 Moses now gets the people ready to set up an altar and memorial stones in the Promised Land on top of Mount Ebal. Mount Ebal was in Shechem and was the place where Abraham built his first altar in the Promised Land.
0 Moses, having been banned from the Promised Land, would never get the chance to see this altar and memorial stones built.
0 The priests are instructed to pronounce 12 acts that would bring curses on anyone that did them and in a way they correspond to the Ten Commandments and sort of sum up the various laws of the book of Deuteronomy.
0 Here’s a summary of the 12 acts that will bring curses on a man:
Curses for Violation
01. Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image.
02. Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.
03. Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor's landmark.
04. Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.
05. Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
06. Cursed be anyone who lies with his father's wife.
07. Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.
08. Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister.
09. Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.
010. Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.
011. Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.
012. Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.
0 And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
01. Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image.
02. Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.
03. Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor's landmark.
04. Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.
05. Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
06. Cursed be anyone who lies with his father's wife.
07. Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.
08. Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister.
09. Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.
010. Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.
011. Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.
012. Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.
0 And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
Deuteronomy 28
Juxtaposition
0 In Chapter 28 a common theme is laid out and that is blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Notice that the blessings for obedience section is a lot shorter than the curses for disobedience section. Some of the blessings:
0 Blessed in the city, in the field, the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle.
0 Your herds and the young of your flock will be increased.
0 Your basket and your kneading bowl, when you come in, and when you go out.
0 The Lord will cause your enemies to be defeated.
0 The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake
0 The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you.
0 Next come the curses for disobedience and as already been pointed out this section is much larger than the blessings for obedience.
0 The curses start out as the exact opposite of the blessings- Cursed shall you be in the city, in the field, your basket and your kneading bowl, the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
0 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
0 Next it goes into much more detail- detail about losing in war and about children being taken away in slavery (which happens later on in the history of Israel).
It also mentions foreign kings ruling over the nation which is also something that happens later on.
0 In Chapter 28 a common theme is laid out and that is blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Notice that the blessings for obedience section is a lot shorter than the curses for disobedience section. Some of the blessings:
0 Blessed in the city, in the field, the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle.
0 Your herds and the young of your flock will be increased.
0 Your basket and your kneading bowl, when you come in, and when you go out.
0 The Lord will cause your enemies to be defeated.
0 The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake
0 The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you.
0 Next come the curses for disobedience and as already been pointed out this section is much larger than the blessings for obedience.
0 The curses start out as the exact opposite of the blessings- Cursed shall you be in the city, in the field, your basket and your kneading bowl, the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
0 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
0 Next it goes into much more detail- detail about losing in war and about children being taken away in slavery (which happens later on in the history of Israel).
It also mentions foreign kings ruling over the nation which is also something that happens later on.
Deuteronomy 29 (overview), 30
Life (good), Death (evil)
0 Chapter 29 is a brief overview of how the Israelites got to where they were.
0 There is a brief reminder of the plagues that were brought on Pharaoh and all of Egypt that brought on the Exodus. Then the forty years in the Wilderness are revisited with the two kings that the Israelites defeated along the way.
0 As the Israelites got ready to enter the Land, Moses reminded them of the idols that they lived alongside in Egypt and how this idol worship and detestable living brought about the downfall of the nations that the Israelites were going to replace in Canaan.
0 Here is a reminder that Yahweh gives us what we need:
0 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deut 29:29 ESV)
0 The first part of Chapter 30 is a promise that if the Israelites change their ways after they’ve had the curses called on them, that the Lord will always take them back. This stands no matter how far they’ve been scattered, the Lord always is willing to forgive.
0 And I’ve waited for almost all of the book to tell you that Deuteronomy 30:11-20 is one of my favorite passages of the Old Testament. The sound of it is inspirational.
0 Chapter 29 is a brief overview of how the Israelites got to where they were.
0 There is a brief reminder of the plagues that were brought on Pharaoh and all of Egypt that brought on the Exodus. Then the forty years in the Wilderness are revisited with the two kings that the Israelites defeated along the way.
0 As the Israelites got ready to enter the Land, Moses reminded them of the idols that they lived alongside in Egypt and how this idol worship and detestable living brought about the downfall of the nations that the Israelites were going to replace in Canaan.
0 Here is a reminder that Yahweh gives us what we need:
0 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deut 29:29 ESV)
0 The first part of Chapter 30 is a promise that if the Israelites change their ways after they’ve had the curses called on them, that the Lord will always take them back. This stands no matter how far they’ve been scattered, the Lord always is willing to forgive.
0 And I’ve waited for almost all of the book to tell you that Deuteronomy 30:11-20 is one of my favorite passages of the Old Testament. The sound of it is inspirational.
Life (good), Death (evil) continued
0 The “command” that is not far off is not a tangible one so traveling to far off mountains or down into the depths of Hell is not necessary. The command lives inside each of God’s children.
0 The choice is between life and death, and obeying the word will bring you life and blessings.
0 The “command” that is not far off is not a tangible one so traveling to far off mountains or down into the depths of Hell is not necessary. The command lives inside each of God’s children.
0 The choice is between life and death, and obeying the word will bring you life and blessings.