Chapters 26-28

 

LITV

Deu 26:1  And it shall be, when you have come into the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you as an inheritance, and you have possessed it, and live in it; 

Deu 26:2  then you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground which you shall bring in from your land which Jehovah your God is giving to you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there. 

Deu 26:3  And you shall come to the priest who is in those days, and shall say to him, I declare today to Jehovah your God that I have come into the land which Jehovah has sworn to our fathers to give to us. 

Deu 26:4  And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and place it before the altar of Jehovah your God. 

Deu 26:5  And you shall speak and say before Jehovah your God, My father was a perishing Aramean! And he went down to Egypt with few men, and lived there, and became a nation there, great, mighty and many. 

Deu 26:6  And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and put hard labor on us. 

Deu 26:7  And we cried to Jehovah, the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression. 

Deu 26:8  And Jehovah brought us out from Egypt by a mighty hand, and by an arm stretched out, and by great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders. 

Deu 26:9  And He has brought us to this place, and has given to us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 

Deu 26:10  And now, behold, I have brought in the first of the fruits of the ground which You have given me, O Jehovah. And you shall place it before Jehovah your God, and bow yourself before Jehovah your God, 

Deu 26:11  and rejoice in all the good which Jehovah your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the alien who is in your midst. 

Deu 26:12  When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the orphan, and the widow, that they may eat inside your gates, and be filled, 

Deu 26:13  then you shall say before Jehovah your God, I have consumed the devoted things from the house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, according to all Your command which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commands, and I have not forgotten. 

Deu 26:14  I have not eaten of it in my mourning; nor have I put any of it away for uncleanness; nor have I given of it for the dead. I have listened to the voice of Jehovah my God. I have done according to all that You have commanded me. 

Deu 26:15  Look down from Your holy habitation, from Heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the land which You have given to us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. 

Deu 26:16  Today Jehovah your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall take heed to do them with all your heart, and with all your soul. 

Deu 26:17  You have today declared Jehovah to be your God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes and His commands, and His judgments, and to pay attention to His voice. 

Deu 26:18  And Jehovah has declared you today to be His people, a special treasure as He has spoken to you, and to keep all His commands. 

Deu 26:19  And He will make you high above all nations that He has made, in praise, and in name, and in glory; and that you may be a holy people to Jehovah your God, as He has spoken. 

Deu 27:1  And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commands which I am commanding you today, 

Deu 27:2  and it shall be in the day you cross over the Jordan to the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you, that you shall raise up for yourself great stones, and plaster them with plaster. 

Deu 27:3  And you shall write on them all the Words of this Law when you have crossed over, so that you may go into the land which Jehovah your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Jehovah the God of your fathers has promised you. 

Deu 27:4  And it shall be when you have crossed over the Jordan, that you shall raise up these stones as to which I am commanding you today, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. 

Deu 27:5  And you shall build an altar there to Jehovah your God, an altar of stones. You shall not wield any iron tool on them. 

Deu 27:6  You shall build the altar of Jehovah your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to Jehovah your God. 

Deu 27:7  And you shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there. And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God. 

Deu 27:8  And you shall write on the stones all the Words of the Law very plainly. 

Deu 27:9  And Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, Keep silence, and hear, O Israel: Today you have become the people of Jehovah your God. 

Deu 27:10  Therefore you shall obey the voice of Jehovah your God and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today. 

Deu 27:11  And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, 

Deu 27:12  These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. 

Deu 27:13  And these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 

Deu 27:14  And the Levites shall answer, and shall say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice: 

Deu 27:15  Cursed is the man who makes a carved and molten image, an abomination to Jehovah, the work of a craftsman's hands, and who sets it up in a secret place! And all the people shall answer and say, Amen! 

Deu 27:16  Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:17  Cursed is he who removes his neighbor's landmark! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:18  Cursed is he who makes the blind to wander out of the way! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:19  Cursed is he who perverts the judgment of the alien, the fatherless, and widow! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:20  Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife, because he uncovers his father's skirt! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:21  Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:22  Cursed is he who lies with his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:23  Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:24  Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor secretly! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:25  Cursed is he who takes a bribe to strike a life, to shed innocent blood! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 27:26  Cursed is he who does not rise to all the Words of this Law, to do them! And all the people shall say, Amen! 

Deu 28:1  And it shall be if listening you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, taking heed to do all His commandments which I command you this day, Jehovah your God shall give you to be on high above all nations of the earth. 

Deu 28:2  And all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you if you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God. 

Deu 28:3  You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. 

Deu 28:4  The fruit of your body shall be blessed, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, the offspring of your oxen, and the young ones of your flock. 

Deu 28:5  Your basket and your kneadingtrough shall be blessed. 

Deu 28:6  You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. 

Deu 28:7  Jehovah shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be stricken before your face. They shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. 

Deu 28:8  Jehovah shall command the blessing on you in your storehouses and all that you set your hand to. And He shall bless you in the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you. 

Deu 28:9  Jehovah shall establish you a holy people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commands of Jehovah your God and welcome His ways. 

Deu 28:10  And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Jehovah, and they shall fear you. 

Deu 28:11  And Jehovah shall prosper you in goods, and in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers to give it to you. 

Deu 28:12  Jehovah shall open to you His good treasure, the heavens to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 

Deu 28:13  And Jehovah shall make you the head, and not the tail. And you shall be only above, and you shall not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I am commanding you today, to be careful to do them. 

Deu 28:14  And you shall not turn away from all the Words which I am commanding you today, right or left, to go after other gods, to serve them. 

Deu 28:15  And it shall be, if you will not heed the voice of your God, to take heed to do all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, even all these curses shall come on you and overtake you: 

Deu 28:16  You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field. 

Deu 28:17  Your basket and your kneading-trough shall be cursed. 

Deu 28:18  The fruit of your body shall be cursed, and the fruit of your land, the offspring of your oxen, and the young ones of your sheep. 

Deu 28:19  You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out. 

Deu 28:20  Jehovah shall send cursing on you, trouble and rebuke in all that you set your hand, all which you will do, until you are destroyed, or until you quickly perish, because of the badness of your doings by which you have forsaken Me. 

Deu 28:21  Jehovah shall make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from off the land where you are going, to possess it. 

Deu 28:22  Jehovah shall strike you with lung disease and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting and mildew. And they shall pursue you until you perish. 

Deu 28:23  And your heavens over your head shall become bronze, and the earth under you iron. 

Deu 28:24  Jehovah shall make the rain of your land be dust and ashes. It shall come down on you from the heavens until you are destroyed. 

Deu 28:25  Jehovah shall cause you to be stricken before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a trembling to all the kingdoms of the earth. 

Deu 28:26  And your body shall be food to all the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to cause them to tremble. 

Deu 28:27  Jehovah shall strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with hemorrhoids, and with the scab, and with itch, of which you cannot be healed. 

Deu 28:28  Jehovah shall strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. 

Deu 28:29  And you shall grope at noonday as the blind grope in darkness. And you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be always oppressed and plundered all the days; and there will be no one to save. 

Deu 28:30  You shall betroth a wife, and another shall lie with her. You shall build a house, and you shall not live in it. You shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit. 

Deu 28:31  Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it. Your ass shall be violently taken away from before you, and it will not be given back. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no deliverer. 

Deu 28:32  Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look and fail for them all the day. And no power shall be in your hand. 

Deu 28:33  The fruit of your ground, and all your labor, shall be eaten up by a nation which you do not know. And you shall always be oppressed and crushed. 

Deu 28:34  And you shall be maddened because of that which you shall see with the sight of your eyes. 

Deu 28:35  Jehovah shall strike you with an evil ulcer on the knees, and on the legs, of which you cannot be healed from the sole of your foot even to your crown. 

Deu 28:36  Jehovah shall cause you and your king whom you shall raise up over you, to go to a nation which you have not known, you and your fathers. And you shall serve other gods there, wood and stone. 

Deu 28:37  And you shall be an astonishment, a proverb and a byword among all the peoples where Jehovah shall lead you. 

Deu 28:38  You shall carry much seed out to the field, and you shall gather in little; for the locusts will devour it. 

Deu 28:39  You shall plant vineyards, and shall labor, and you shall not gather, nor drink wine; for the worm will devour it. 

Deu 28:40  You shall have olive trees in all your border, and you shall not anoint with oil; for your olive shall fall off. 

Deu 28:41  You shall father sons and daughters, and they shall not be with you; for they shall go into captivity. 

Deu 28:42  The locust shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 

Deu 28:43  The alien in your midst shall go above you, higher and higher; and you shall come down, lower and lower. 

Deu 28:44  He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 

Deu 28:45  And all these curses shall come on you and shall pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed; for you did not heed the voice of Jehovah your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 

Deu 28:46  And they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever, 

Deu 28:47  because you did not serve Jehovah your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things, 

Deu 28:48  and you shall serve your enemies whom Jehovah shall send on you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in lack of all things. And He shall put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. 

Deu 28:49  Jehovah shall raise a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you will not understand, 

Deu 28:50  a nation fierce of face, who will not regard the person of the aged, nor show favor to the young. 

Deu 28:51  And he shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your land, until you are destroyed. He shall not leave to you grain, new wine, and oil, offspring of your oxen, or young ones of your flock, until he has destroyed you. 

Deu 28:52  And he shall distress you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls in which you are trusting come down, in all your land; yea, he shall distress you in all your gates, in all your land which Jehovah your God has given to you. 

Deu 28:53  And you shall eat the fruit of your body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom Jehovah your God has given to you, in the siege, and in the anguish with which your enemies shall distress you. 

Deu 28:54  The man who is tender and very delicate among you, his eye shall be evil against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his sons which he leaves, 

Deu 28:55  so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his sons that he shall eat, because he has nothing left to him in the siege, and in the anguish with which your enemies shall distress you in all your gates. 

Deu 28:56  The soft and delicate woman among you, who would not have ventured to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter; 

Deu 28:57  and against her fetus which comes out from between her feet, even against her sons whom she shall bear. For she shall eat them in secret, for the lack of everything in the siege and in the anguish with which the enemy shall distress you within your gates. 

Deu 28:58  If you will not take heed to do all the Words of this Law written in this book, to fear this glorious and fearful Name, Jehovah your God, 

Deu 28:59  then Jehovah will make your plagues remarkable, and the plagues of your children shall be great and persistent plagues with evil and long lasting sicknesses. 

Deu 28:60  He shall also bring on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid; and they shall cling to you. 

Deu 28:61  Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this Law, Jehovah shall cause them to come on you until you are destroyed. 

Deu 28:62  And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the heavens for multitude, because you would not obey the voice of Jehovah your God. 

Deu 28:63  And it shall be, as Jehovah rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Jehovah shall rejoice over you to destroy you, and to lay you waste. And you shall be plucked from the land you are going to possess. 

Deu 28:64  And Jehovah shall scatter you among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other, and you shall serve other gods there, wood and stone, which you have not known, nor your fathers. 

Deu 28:65  And among these nations you shall find no ease, nor shall the sole of your foot have rest. But Jehovah shall give you there a trembling heart and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. 

Deu 28:66  And your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear day and night, and shall have no assurance of your life. 

Deu 28:67  In the morning you shall say, Oh that it were evening! And in the evening you shall say, Oh that it were morning! For the fear of your heart with which you fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 

Deu 28:68  And Jehovah shall bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall never see it again. And you shall be sold to your enemies there, for male slaves and slave-girls; and there shall be no buyer. 

 

Main points: The tithing ritual established through action and words. Set up at Mt Gerzim to declare blessings, and at Mt Ebal for curses. Blessings, curses are declared.

1.   What repetition is found in 26:1-4 that the Lord wanted the people to remember? Tithing is brought up again to expand on the ceremony. Tithing was not merely a sacrifice to God. It was a ceremony where the Israelites would eat before God (giving Him the glory for the harvest).

2.   What are the people then to do in 26:5-11? This was a unifying ceremony where all participants rejoiced before God. They were to remember and proclaim where they came from and give God glory/praise for what He has done for them. (Note that after one generation, the proclamation would have to become symbolic. People who never saw (lived in) Egypt would still need to identify as one coming out of that slavery).

3.   What then do the people declare 26: 12-15? This was the third year tithing which was also a gift to the less fortunate. The declaration made by the giver suggests they have obeyed God in very specific actions. This would help them remember what those actions were to be. If a person spoke these words untruthfully, they would convict themselves before God.

4.   What do the people promise to do in 26:16-19? What does God promise to do? The people were to be obedient to God and declare Him as their God. For this, Jehovah would make Israel His people and would elevate them above all other nations.

5.   What are the people instructed to do in 27:1-8? What is the purpose? At Mt Ebal: They were to set up a monument with the law written on it, and a sacrificial altar. From there curses would be declared.

6.   Describe the curses listed in 27:9-26. What is the message? Collectively, these sins address idolatry, disrespect, injustice, impurity, deceit. At the end of the pronouncements, the people were to say amen! In other words “we are in agreement.” Remember this is a contract (covenant). Throughout these chapters what is commissioned is what GOD will do, and what the PEOPLE will do.

7.   Look at the curse in 27:26. What must the people do? Look at Gal. 3:10-14. How does Paul use this idea in his message to the Galatians? Those under this covenant were to join themselves to it and DO them (practice them). More importantly, Paul indicates that relying on the law for acceptance before God was futile. God was looking for His people to be faithful (then and now). This points to what the law was to generate within His people…faith. Obedience was necessary, but obedience without faith is useless. The law ultimately will convict. THAT is why we have Jesus today. He removes the conviction of the law for the believer. 

8.   What did God expect of His people (28:1-14)? What does God say he will do? Listen and take heed to what God is saying (concerning these commands). Do that and He will bless every aspect of Israel’s life. (the blessings will overtake you) The body, crops, livestock, everyday life, rains. Power over enemies. The surrounding nations will see a people “called by the name of Jehovah.”
The promise here is an abundant life.

9.   What did God expect the people not to do (28:15-68)? What does God say He will do? Why is this section longer than the blessings section? If they do not listen to God (evidenced by disobedience): Then every aspect of their life will become arduous and unfruitful. Also: Plagues, diseases, defeat at the hands of enemies, God will give them into the hands of idolatrous nations. They will become a cautionary proverb in the land. Eventually, God will prefer them to be destroyed at the same level He sought their protection and abundance. This section is longer to emphasize the destruction with specifics as a warning.

10.                Look at 28:47.  Why would the people be condemned? What does God expect of us? “because you did not serve Jehovah your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things”. Joyfulness: śimchâh sim-khaw' blithesomeness or glee – Gladness: ṭûb toob - good (as a noun), in the widest sense, especially goodness
These emotions are an indication of a broader spectrum of actions and mindset(s) of the people. In order to get to this place, a person need first understand who God is as creator and our place before Him. We are here to serve God, borne out of our understanding of His goodness, mercy and loving kindness. God makes us His children. His biggest warning in this book is not to FORGET His love for us. We do not make our way in this world. He does it for us. Understanding this requires the constant discipline of keeping Him at the forefront of our minds and the things we do.

 

Additional:

Gal 3:10  For as many as are out of works of Law, these are under a curse. For it has been written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things having been written in the book of the Law, to do them." Deut. 27:26 

Gal 3:11  And that no one is justified by Law before God is clear because, "The just shall live by faith." Hab. 2:4 

Gal 3:12  But the Law is not of faith, but, "The man doing these things shall live in them." Lev. 18:5 

Gal 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us; for it has been written, "Cursed is everyone having been hung on a tree;" Deut. 21:23 

Gal 3:14  that the blessing of Abraham might be to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.