Deuteronomy 27:11-26 "Covenant Curses"

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11 That day Moses charged the people, saying, 12 “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice: 15 “‘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.’ 16 “‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17 “‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor's landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18 “‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19 “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20 “‘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.’ 21 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 22 “‘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.’ 23 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 24 “‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 25 “‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 26 “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Text Explained

Now a couple weeks ago we left the Israelites at Mt Horeb where Moses had given them a command that when they entered the Land of Promise, they were to build a monument of stone covered in plaster, and upon that monument they were to write all the Law of Moses. They were then to build an altar and sacrifice and rejoice. This would be the prologue to the renewal of their covenant with God. Then, after having built the monument with the words of the Law plainly written and an altar to the Lord built, we come to the next step. 11 That day Moses charged the people, saying, 12 “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice: So Moses continues with the commands for the Israelites once they entered the Promised Land. They were to separate into two groups. On the one side we had six tribes and on the other we have the other six tribes. One side to represent the Covenant Blessings and the Other to represent the Covenant Curses. We know from Joshua 8:30-35 that the Israelites also had the Ark of the Covenant which contained the two tablets of the Ten Commandments and the Levitical Priests in the middle of the two Mountains, Mt Gerizim (Blessing) & Mt Ebal (Cursing). Then the Levitical Priests in the Middle of the twelve tribes would call out each of the twelve curses and the Israelites would respond with an Amen (indicating agreement). The Imagery of this is clear. With the Ark of God in the Middle, the Israelites were being called to either be obedient to the Lord and receive the blessing of the Lord, or they would be disobedient to the Lord and be Cursed (under divine judgment) by the Lord. Now different scholars have noted that these curses seem to feel somewhat eclectic. In fact one scholar notes: “The matters taken up are not a neat, ordered collection; they deal with fundamental aspects of the order of Israel’s existence: the exclusive worship of the Lord, honor of parents, protection of life and property, justice for the weak and powerless, and sexual relations. These curses have often been regarded as a kind of ancient collection of laws analogous to the Ten Commandments, which have no curse expressions attached but do seem to have a sense of absoluteness implied and in other contexts are given the penalty of death.” In other words, these 12 curses/things under divine judgment are to emphasize fundamental/foundational aspects of the Nation of Israel before God.

15 “‘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.’ This is analogous to the First commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. God is to be the Highest in the loves of His people. He is to be above all family, all friends, all things, He is to be above all. Jesus would later reiterate this truth in when He said Luke 14:26 ““If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” God has always claimed the highest fealty from His people and it is a timeless truth that has never changed.

16 “‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ Next we find the requirement to honor one’s own parents. God has established the home and He has given authority and a position of honor upon the role of parents. Now you may say, “Well my parents don’t deserve my respect or honor.” That may be absolutely true. In fact Ephesians 6:4 actually puts that into a command for fathers (& I would argue by extension mothers) “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Yet the command to honor one’s parents and the curse on anyone who dishonors them does not go away just because they don’t deserve it. The command to children to Ephesians 6:1–3“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Does not hinge on whether the parent is a good person. Side note: If you are someone who has/had a parent that is easy to honor, then you need to be thankful to God that you had that parent. It makes honoring them easy. Regardless, your parent is worthy of honor from you simply because of their position as your parent.

17 “‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor's landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ This curse is for anyone who attempts to steal his neighbors property by moving the property lines. This was especially evil in the Land of Israel because the Land was the thing that was to be in your family for generation after generation and it is what tied an Israelite to the Promises of God. To move a landmark/property marker was to attempt to steal land not only from your neighbor but also from his descendants. Even more than this it was an attempt to steal any of God’s blessings for them through the land.

18 “‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ Now we have a curse on anyone who would attempt to defraud or cause harm to one who is crippled and powerless. The curse of God was on those who would purposely cause harm to fellow image bearers who depended upon them for something. And this ties in with the next curse.

19 “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ Where verse 18 deals with taking advantage of a handicapped person, verse 19 deals with the perversion of justice upon those who have weak legal standing. In our country, the idea of justice as blind. This is the same idea here for the Israelites. Do not show favoritism by crushing the weak simply because you can get away with it.

20 “‘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.’ As one scholar notes: “Sexual promiscuity and perversion have characterized human behavior from the beginning but nowhere and at no time in grosser form than in ancient Canaan. Apart from its occurrence in everyday social life, sexual aberration was part and parcel of the Canaanite ideology and cultus and was therefore not only tolerated but sanctioned.” (Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 349). Broadman & Holman Publishers.) Now we come to a string of prohibited sexual relations that receive greater discussion in Leviticus 18. This first one is most likely not referring to his own mother, but rather to a step-mother. For instance, what if the father had remarried, and then died. The fact that she was married to your father is makes it wrong. In the NT, Paul condemns this act as well 1 Corinthians 5:1 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.”

21 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ The sin of bestiality has always been condemned and the word “any” is here to emphasize no exceptions. This Law stood in contrast to some of the other cultures of the day which would allow bestiality with certain animals. Side note: just because a culture says it is ok or legal, does not mean it is righteous before God.

22 “‘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.’ Now the way this is worded would actually include not only a full sister, but also a half-sister and even a foster sister. Incest in any form was an abominable practice in the Lord’s eyes (cf. Lev 18:6–18) but one widely carried on in Israel’s cultural environment, especially in Egyptian royal circles. (Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 350). Broadman & Holman Publishers.) The most prominent people in the nation they had just left carried out these practices and God was making it clear that it is wrong.

23 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ The last of the sexual prohibitions in this list of curses is the opposite of the first. Whereas verse 20 deals with one’s own father, this one deals with the wife’s side. I sometimes feel like God was talking to toddlers because I would think if it’s wrong for one side, doesn’t that mean it’s wrong on the other… then I remember that people are people and people push the envelope as far as they can. And God had to make it abundantly clear because people are sinners. Then we come to two verses regarding the prohibition of murder.

24 “‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ This curse is against those who take matters into their own hands and commit the murder themselves, and verse 25...

25 “‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ Extends to the person who would take money to murder someone. Both are condemned and to the one who would do the murder whether it was committed with malice or simply for money, both are cursed by God. This is one of those things where the intent of the heart doesn’t matter. Interestingly enough, the person who would accept the bribe to kill is under a curse, even if they fail to carry out the murder.

26 “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ Finally we come to the final curse which is a general statement. As one scholar notes, “This warning both covers any and all possible covenant infractions not spelled out in the preceding list and serves as a fitting conclusion to this series that began with an admonition to recognize and serve the Lord alone as God (v. 15). The best way one can acknowledge the Lord’s sovereignty is to carry out fully His covenant expectations.” (Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 351). Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

Text Applied

Keep His Commandments: Today we went through a list of 12 different commands that would result in being cursed by God and scripture is full of these commands to do and not to do. And we do not obey to earn salvation, for salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone. However, as Jesus said John 14:15 ““If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” So the fruit of our salvation is obedience to the commands of God. This does not mean that we keep the easy ones and ignore the hard ones. There is becoming a prevalent way of thinking that people use to excuse all sorts of sinful behavior. I hear more and more people say “God gets me and He understands”. Illustration: I heard a clip from a podcast where a young woman was being interviewed. Now she was producing adult pornographic content but believed she was perfectly right with God. Her justification was “I think He understands”. She would further justify it by stating “I am making more money than at my normal job” with the implication that God is ok with me because it is better for me financially. Another young woman who does adult content was asked, do you think God would approve of you doing Adult content. To which she replied “Yes, God loves me. God love me no matter what I do.” (She Thinks God Approves Her Doing ØnlyFans?! (HEATED Debate) (youtube.com) The truth is God does love you, but He has called you to repent to turn away and to obey Him. Just because God loves you, or you think God understands, does not mean you are free to continue in sin. In the words of the Apostle Paul Romans 6:1–2“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Dear one, if you have been born again, you do not have the freedom to continue in sin without consequence. Jesus died to pay for that sin. Dear one, if you are able to hold on to and commit sin and there is no conviction then at best, you have hardened your heart and at worst, you are not actually saved. For we know on that day Matthew 7:22–24 “On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Dear one, cursed is anyone who does not confirm the words of this Law by doing them. Meaning you cannot be a hearer only, but if your faith is true, you must be a doer. Dear one, if you are a follower, and you are struggling with a sin, do not give up. The fact that you struggle is a sign that God is working in you. And 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And how many times will God forgive, Matthew 18:21–22 “Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (in other words without end) Dear one, God has commanded us to forgive as He forgave and His forgiveness is immeasurable. Dear one, God has called each of us to complete obedience, He offers forgiveness when we fail, but He has called us to obey. Cursed is anyone who disobeys.