Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 27-28.

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When I read this passage I was struck by the curses which Moses warned the children of Israel they would suffer if they did not obey the voice of God.  Now part of that was because the curses came after the blessings, so that the words of the curses stuck with me as I finished reading.  Moses told them that God would send curses, confusion, and frustration on them in everything that they attempt to do if they forsake Him and do not obey His voice.  I realized that of course those who do not listen to God’s voice will be confused and frustrated.  They will be confused and frustrated because they are denying reality.  God’s voice gives us instructions which will lead us to act in ways which lead to what is best for us.  When we act as if God’s commands do not describe the correct way to interact with reality, we become confused and frustrated because we do not obtain the results we desire.

This is where I struggle with articulating my understanding of Scripture.  I believe that the blessings which are described in this passage result directly from doing as God commands and the curses described result directly from going against His commands.  Neither requires God to act for the results, blessing or curse.  However, I also believe that God does act.  That those who do as God commands experience blessings which God adds on above and beyond what “just happens” when they take the actions He directs.  And those who disobey His commands may experience curses above and beyond what “just happens” when you take actions contrary to God’s commands.  In both cases, God does this to encourage us to do His will.  He punishes us for turning away from Him so that perhaps we will turn back to Him before we become unable to do so, so that we might turn away from our self-destructive behaviors before we destroy ourselves.  On the plus side, He rewards us above and beyond the “natural” results of doing as He commands so as to make us see how doing His will has positive results.

He does both of these just as a good parent gives rewards and punishments to their children for obeying rules which are in the best interest of their child.  A parent will punish a child for running into the middle of the street without looking before the child gets hit by a car in order to teach the child not to do that without the suffering which comes from getting hit by a car.  A parent will reward a child for studying and acquiring knowledge before the child benefits from what that knowledge will give them so that they learn that acquiring knowledge has benefits.  Both of these examples illustrate how what God does with blessings and curses works.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 27-28.

Moses told the Israelites that if they obeyed God they would be blessed, if they did not obey God they would be cursed.  The blessings, or curse, would come upon them in the city and in the country.  They would happen when they came in and when they went out.  If we obey God and act as He desires, the land we live in will be verdant and bountiful.  On the other hand if we disobey Him and act counter to His desires, the land we live in will suffer drought and blight.  Obeying God leads to good health and to prosperity, disobeying God leads to poverty and disease.  The ideas of these blessings and curses as laid out here apply to groups of people, not so much to individuals.  Although the principle applies to individuals as well.  Individuals who seek to follow God’s will, will be blessed.  Those who refuse to do God’s will, will be cursed.  While this sounds like God judging people, which He does, it is actually about natural consequences.  Actions have consequences.  The actions which God commands have positive outcomes, actions which violate God’s commands have negative outcomes. God gives us the commands which He gives us because doing the good things He commands have positive consequence while doing the things He commands us not to do have negative consequences.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 27-28.

Moses told the Israelites that when they crossed over the Jordan they should build an altar on Mount Ebal and write God’s commands on the altar.  Then, half of the tribes should stand on Mount Gerizim to pronounce blessings on the people, and the other half should stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curses that would occur if the Israelites failed to keep God’s laws.  What struck me first was that the tribes were listed according to the sons of Jacob.  Manasseh and Ephraim were not mentioned as tribes.  They were lumped together under their father Joseph.

Once the tribes were in position, the Levites were to call out a list of commands which would bring curses on people and the people would affirm theses commands as binding.  Then Moses lists the blessings which will come from obeying God’s commands, followed by the reciprocal curses for disobedience.  The blessings, or the curses, would come whether they were in the city or in the country, when they came home and when they travelled.   If they obeyed God’s commands. their families and livestock would reproduce healthily.  If they disobeyed, their families and their livestock would be sickly and diminish.  If they obeyed, all of their economic activity would prosper.  If they disobeyed everything to which they turned their hand would fail.  If they obeyed God’s commands, their enemies would scatter before them.  If they disobeyed, they would scatter before their enemies.   Now, as I read these blessings and curses, Moses goes into more detail on the curses.  The curses include disease and plague, inflammation and fever, drought and heat, sores, madness, and confusion.  As I read this, the curses seem to me to be those which fall on a society which honors self-indulgence, greed, envy, and sexual immorality.  On the other hand, the blessings look like those experienced by a society which practices honor, self-discipline, and generosity.  Look around, where you see the first of those, you see the curses described here, where you see the latter, you see the blessings.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 27-28.

When I read today’s passage the first thing I am first struck by the idea that the curses sound like what happens when people pollute their environment, but, as I read more closely, I realize that oversimplifies things.  That being said, God told the Israelites that if they kept His commands He would bless them with a land where the environment prospered and if they did not keep His commands their land would suffer environmental devastation.   However, the blessings and the curses would be more than environmental.  Those peoples who keep God’s commands will live at peace with freedom in a land where everything prospers, their enemies will fear them.  Those who disobey God’s commands will live in a land where living things are blighted and crime is rampant, they will suffer invasion and live in constant fear of their enemies.  If a society lives according to God’s commands, its lands and its people will prosper.  If a society lives in defiance of God’s commands, its lands and its people will experience great suffering.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 27-28.

Today’s passage describes the first of several altars which Moses instructed the Israelites to set up in the land to remind them of what God had done in giving them the land.  They were to build an altar on Mount Ebal and write the words of the Law on it.  After they had built the altar half of the Israelite were to stand on Mount Gerizim and half on Mount Ebal.  Those on Mount Gerizim were to speak the blessings which come from following God’s Law while those on Mount Ebal were to speak the curses which would come upon those who disobeyed God’s Law.  Reading the blessings and curses described here I get the same sense that I got when I read Deuteronomy 11-13: the blessings and curses are built into the way in which God created the world to work.  Those who obey God’s commands will be blessed because that is how He created the world to work.  Those who disobey God’s commands will be cursed because they have done things which result in those bad things happening to them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 27-28.

This passage contains blessings and curses for the people of Israel: blessings if they obey the Laws God gave them through Moses, curses if they do not.  While I believe the specific blessings and curses contained in this passage specifically apply to the Israelites, I believe the general principle of them applies to all people.  If we follow God’s commands and desires, we will be blessed.  If we violate God’s commands and desires, we will be cursed.  Moses instructed the people to divide into two parts, one half of the people to stand on Mt Gerizim to pronounce the blessings, one half to stand on Mt Ebal to pronounce the curses.  The purpose of this exercise was to reinforce the laws to the people and to give them a feeling of unity.  If you have ever been part of a large group which has done such a responsive reading you will understand how powerful such a thing is.

I really get two things out of this passage.  First, the closer a society keeps God’s commands, the more powerful and wealthy they will be.  To me this means that the majority holds to values which reflect God’s will (even when many of those people may not actually worship God) and that those who rebel against God’s will are ostracized to one degree or another, such that they hide their rebellion from general knowledge.  On the other hand, a society which openly embraces rebelling against God will become progressively weaker and poorer and will experience ever increasing suffering.  To the greatest extent I believe this results from natural forces.  I also believe that if we as individuals follow God’s will, we will be blessed, although not necessarily in ways which the world at large will recognize.

Every time I write about a passage like this, I come away feeling like I have failed to adequately communicate what it says to me.  Today is no different.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 27-28.

Moses instructed the Israelites that once they entered into the Promised Land they should assemble in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.  Then the Levites would call out blessings for obedience from Mount Gerizim and curses for disobedience from Mount Ebal.  The people would acknowledge each blessing and each curse the Levites called out.  One can read the things which would lead to a curse and learn important lessons about our behavior.  However, I want to focus on what this exercise meant for the Israelites and for us today.  The things which the Levites called out and of which the people acknowledged acceptance represented a basic set of values which everyone accepted and agreed to live by.  In order for a society to be functional it must have such a set of values by which everyone agrees to abide if they wish to be part of that society.  The idea that a country needed such a set of common values was rejected during my childhood and early adult years, but today I see an attempt to establish a new set of values to which everyone is required to abide.  This new set of values appears to me to be contrary to those laid out for the people of Israel and to be those which will result in the curses described later in this passage.