Verse 27:9 opened up a question:
Keep silent, and listen, Israel!
Today you’ve become the Eternal’s very own people, and He’s become your God;
I though Abraham was told this from the very start? The
story of Abraham brings Isaac to sacrifice in Genesis 22 talks about his
children getting His blessings. So why does Moses say they are God’s very own
people at that time? They were from Adam, so why did he say this? Was he just
reaffirming God’s covenant with the people?
Verse 27:15 starts the curses for not following God:
A curse on anyone who carves or casts
an idol, something so horrifying to the Eternal, and secretly worships what
human craftsmen have made!
This starts the list of curses and initially I thought it
would loosely follow the Ten Commandments, but by verse 18 it slightly diverges
to specifics that do not directly match just one of the commandments. I notice
there is a bunch of sexual sins which include incest and bestiality, but NOT
homosexuality. Interesting!
In chapter 28 he explains the blessings one will receive if
they continue to follow and verse 28:13 holds the key for them:
He will make you the head, not the
tail; you’ll always be on top and never on the bottom—if you’ll just listen to
the commands I’m giving you today from the Eternal your God, and obey them
carefully.
Everyone seems to think the Law is some impossible thing to
follow and therefore with that mentality they fail. God did not make the Law
for the people to fail; no He made the standard to which he expects his
followers to live. It has built into it simple redemption methods in order to
remain Holy before God if you slip yet the people still “fell off the wagon”
and lost the blessings. The people were not set up to fail, but rather gave up
and failed. Today there is no way to be holy before God, but a simple confession
based on the sacrifice of Jesus and we are redeemed. Don’t let Satan fool you
otherwise and keep on the straight and narrow path!
Verse 29:4 is one that is repeated often and brings a smile
to my face:
But to this day, He hasn’t given
you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.
“Open up your eyes to see and your ears to hear” was a
canned prayer Pastor Michael Martin use to open every service with, so when I
see it in scripture I think back to our early days at Suwanee United Methodist
church up on the hill.
One final note on Verse 29:13 that contradicts a previous
statement from Moses:
He’ll establish
you as His people; and He’ll become your God, just as He told you He would, and
just as He promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God promised they would have a home flowing in milk
and honey. God did not give it to them until many generations later. So maybe
Moses was right since their moving into the Promised Land completed God’s
promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.