Gold for the heart - Deuteronomy 27-28

Deuteronomy 27

1 And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments that I command you this day. 2 And on the day you pass over Jordan to the land that the LORD your God gives you, you are to set up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: 3 And write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over to go in unto the land that the LORD your God gives you, a land that flows with milk and honey; as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you. 4 So it will be when you have gone over Jordan, that you will set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and you will plaster them with plaster. 5 And build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones: do lift up any iron tool on them. 6 You are to build the altar of the LORD your God of whole stones: and offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God: 7 And offer peace offerings, and eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God. 8 And write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.

God gave His people a ceremony of obedience for entering the promised land.
This would be like placing two huge marble pillars at the entrance to all of America’s harbors.
Then carving on them the constitution of the United States.
Ezekiel 20:6 tells us that the Promised Land is the glory of all lands.
God gives His people the best.
God’s land is entered by faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of God.
The altar was the place of approaching God.
It pictures His Son’s death for our sin.
God has promised us an eternal inheritance that is beyond imagining.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

9 And Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel saying, Pay attention, and listen, O Israel; this day you have become the people of the LORD your God. 10 So you are to obey the voice of the LORD your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day.

We are God’s.
He purchased us at the greatest price ever paid for anything.

1 Peter 1:18 you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

11 And Moses charged the people the same day saying, 12 These will stand on mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over Jordan; Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin: 13 And these will stand on mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 And the Levites will speak, and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice, 15 Cursed is the man that makes any carved or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and puts it in a secret place. And all the people will answer and say, Amen.

God created us in His image; He created most of the things we enjoy; To worship any other thing is high insult to God.
He created life itself.
He deserves the most and best of our attention.

Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD he is God: it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.

16 Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother. And all the people will say, Amen. 17 Cursed is he that removes his neighbor’s landmark. And all the people will say, Amen. 18 Cursed is he that makes the blind wander out of the way. And all the people will say, Amen. 19 Cursed is he that perverts the judgment of the foreigner, fatherless, and widow. And all the people will say, Amen. 20 Cursed is he that has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife because he uncovered his father’s skirt. And all the people will say, Amen. 21 Cursed is he that has sexual intercourse with any kind of animal. And all the people will say, Amen. 22 Cursed is he that has sexual intercourse with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people will say, Amen. 23 Cursed is he that has sexual intercourse with his mother in law. And all the people will say, Amen. 24 Cursed is he that strikes his neighbor secretly. And all the people will say, Amen. 25 Cursed is he that takes reward to kill an innocent person. And all the people will say, Amen. 26 Cursed be is that does not confirm all the words of this law to do them. And all the people will say, Amen.

We cannot ignore God’s holiness and expect our lives to be blessed.
Christ fulfilled God’s law perfectly and then places all who believe IN Christ so that we also have fulfilled the law IN HIM.
Of ourselves we cannot do it, without the Holy Spirit we cannot fulfill God’s perfect standard.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

1Corinthians 1:30 But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

Deuteronomy 28

God sets the obedient on high above all nations

1 And it will come to pass, if you listen diligently to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe and to do all his commandments that I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings will come on you, and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of the LORD your God. 3 You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field. 4 You will be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your herd, and the flocks of your sheep. 5 You will be blessed in your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 You will be blessed when you come in, and you will be blessed when you go out. 7 The LORD will cause your enemies that rise up against you to be struck down before your face: they will come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. 8 The LORD will command blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you set your hand to do; and he will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

The obedience God requires is believing (Hebrews 11:6).
God desires to bless mightily.

1Corinthians 2:9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love him.

9 The LORD will establish you a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you will keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD; and they will be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain to your land in season, and to bless all the work of your hand: you will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; and you will be above only; you will not be beneath. If you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And not go aside from any of the words that I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

God makes us holy to Himself. He gives abundance to the obedient.

15 But if you will not listen to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you this day all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed be in the field. 17 Your basket and your storage bins will be cursed. 18 You will be cursed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep. 19 You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. 20 The LORD will send on you cursing, uproar, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the wickedness of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. 21 The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go to possess it. 22 The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with extreme burning, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew; and they will pursue you until you perish. 23 Your heaven that is over your head will be brass, and the earth that is under you will be iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust: it will come down upon you from heaven until you are destroyed.

The LORD will send cursing upon the disobedient.
They do it to themselves by disobeying God and worshipping false things.

Zechariah 10:1 Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime; it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone.

25 The LORD will cause you to be struck down before your enemies: you will go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and will be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your carcasses will be food to all birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth: and no man will frighten them away. 27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with scab, and with the itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness/insanity, blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29 And you will grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways: you will be oppressed and robbed continually with none to save you. 30 You will betroth a wife and another man will lie with her: you will build a house and not dwell in it: you will plant a vineyard and not gather its grapes. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes and you will not eat of it: your ass will be violently taken away from before your face and will not be restored to you: your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have none to rescue them.

As we travel along the highways we appreciate the warning signs for ‘flashfloods’ and ‘bridges out’ so that we won’t be swept away in a flood our crash into a ravine.
The warnings God gives are like those warning signs. They are given to protect us.

God puts the disobedient under the rule of others

32 Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, and your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there will be no strength in your hand. 33 A nation that you do not know will eat up he fruit of your land, and all your labors; you will be oppressed and crushed always: 34 So that you will be insane for the sight of your eyes that you will see. 35 The LORD will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. 38 The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you will set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known; and there you will serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 And you will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the LORD will lead you. 38 You will carry much seed out to the field, and will gather in little; for the locust will consume it. 39 You will plant vineyards, and dress them, but will not drink of the wine or gather the grapes; for the worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout all your coasts, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive will cast its fruit. 41 You will beget sons and daughters, but you will not enjoy them; for they will go into captivity. 42 The locust will consume all your trees and the fruit of your land. 43 The foreigner that is within you will rise very high above you; and you will come down very low. 44 He will lend to you; you will not lend to him: he will be the head, and you will be the tail. 45 All these curses will come on you, will pursue you, and overtake you until you are destroyed because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you: 46 And they will be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever. 47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things;

Abundance here means to rise in waves.

Jeremiah 33:6 Behold, I will bring health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

48 Therefore you will serve your enemies which the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things: and he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you will not understand; 50 A nation of fierce countenance, who will not regard the person of the old, or show favor to the young: 51 And he will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your land until you are destroyed: he will not leave you any grain, wine, oil, or the increase of your cattle, or flocks of your sheep, until he has destroyed you. 52 He will besiege you in all your gates until your high, fenced walls come down, which you trusted throughout all your land: and he will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. 53 And you will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters which the LORD your God has given you, in the siege, and in the severity, with which your enemies will distress you: 54 So that the man who is tender and very delicate among you, his eye will be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children that he will leave: 55 So that he will not give them any of the flesh of his children whom he will eat: because he has nothing left in the siege, and in the severity with which your enemies will distress you in all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, that would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband of her bosom, toward her son, toward her daughter, 57 toward her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet, and toward her children which she will bear: for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and severity with which your enemy will distress you in your gates.

God is glorious and awesome

58 If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name/person, THE LORD YOUR GOD; 59 Then the LORD will allow extraordinary plagues to come upon you, and the plagues of your seed, great plagues of long continuance, and bad sicknesses of long continuance. 60 Moreover he will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid; and they will cling to you. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring them on you until you are destroyed. 62 You will be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63 And it will come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nothing; and you will be plucked from off the land where you go to possess it.

Just like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, this is our choice, life and blessing or cursing and death.
He destroys those who chose evil over Him.
God rejoices to destroy evil.

Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

64 And the LORD will scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth to the other; and there you will serve other gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone. 65 And among these nations will you find no ease; the sole of your foot will have no rest: but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, failing eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And your life will hang in doubt before you; you will fear day and night and will have no assurance of your life: 67 In the morning you will say, I wish to God that it were evening. And at evening you will say, I wish to God it were morning! because of the fear of your heart with which you will fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. 68 And the LORD will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I spoke to you, You will never see it again: and there you will be sold to your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man will buy you.

He releases them from bondage when they return to Him.

Deuteronomy 30:1 And it will come to pass, when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations, where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 And return to the LORD your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all yourheart, and with all your soul; 3 then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the LORD your God has scattered you.

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SUMMARY: Deuteronomy 27-28

The LORD wants to bless each person and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey
He set a blessing and cursing ceremony for Israel when they entered their promised land
He sets the obedient on high above all nations
He puts the disobedient under the rule of other nations
He is glorious and awesome