CHAPTER 27

(1451 B.C.)

THE ALTAR

¹And Moses with the Elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the Commandments which I command you this day (possession of the land depended on obedience to the Law).

²And it shall be on the day when you shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister:

³And you shall write upon them all the words of this Law, when you are passed over, that you may go in unto the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land that flows with milk and honey; as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you (it is not actually known as to whether each and all of the legislative enactments of the Torah were to be recorded, or rather the substance and essence of the Law; but even if the whole was to be inscribed, there would be no serious difficulty in the way of carrying this into effect, seeing there is no limitation as to the number of the stones to be set up; at any rate, this Law was to be plain and clear for all to see).

⁴Therefore it shall be when you be gone over Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaister them with plaister (Mount Ebal, which was right beside Mount Gerizim, and located in the very center of Israel, was referred to as the Mount of cursing, which pertained to the Judgment of God; the stones were to be set up upon this Mount, stipulating that if the Laws were broken, the curse of the broken Law would come upon the perpetrators, even as we shall see in the latter part of this Chapter).

⁵And there shall you build an Altar unto the LORD your God, an Altar of stones: you shall not lift up any iron tool upon them.

⁶You shall build the Altar of the LORD your God of whole stones: and you shall offer Burnt Offerings thereon unto the LORD your God (the stones which made up the Altar, which was a Type of Christ and the Cross, were to be whole stones, and not stones which had been made to fit by man; this tells us that the Cross of Christ must not be altered in any way; the fact that this Altar was to be set up on Mount Ebal, the place of cursing, tells us that mans problem is sin; it was not to be set up on Mount Gerizim, which was the Mount of Blessing; but regrettably, this is where the modern Church has set her Altar, which refuses to admit that mans problem is sin; as well, the Law was kept only by Christ, hence, the Altar on Mount Ebal; and we as Believers can keep the Moral Law, which is still incumbent upon all, only by fully trusting Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross):

⁷And you shall offer Peace Offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God (Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings were commanded, but no Sin Offering; for the action of that day presupposes a redeemed people, but placed under the curse if they should break the Law; the Apostle Paul based his argument in Galatians 3 upon this Chapter Williams).

⁸And you shall write upon the stones all the words of this Law very plainly. (The blessings of Gerizim are entirely omitted here, for the subject was the judgment that would surely follow upon failure in a full obedience to the Commandments engraved upon the stones.

As stated, the Altar was erected on Ebal, not on Gerizim; and, as pointed out, Sin Offerings are not mentioned. The Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings were to be presented by those who had fulfilled the righteousness of the Law. Only one Man accomplished that; and He on the Mount of cursing erected an Altar upon which He offered up Himself as a Sin Offering for all those who by disobedience had brought upon themselves the doom of the Law, that is, death. At the same time, in thus offering up Himself, He became, on behalf of these guilty Law-breakers, the Burnt Offering and the Peace Offering, which our sin and failure made it impossible to bring to God Williams.)

⁹And Moses and the Priests the Levites spoke unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day you are become the people of the LORD your God (much responsibility was upon them).

¹⁰You shall therefore obey the Voice of the LORD your God, and do His Commandments and His Statutes, which I command you this day.

¹¹And Moses charged the people the same day, saying,

¹²These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin (these particular Tribes were to stand upon Mount Gerizim, which was very close to Mount Ebal, and pronounce blessings upon Israel, which account of Blessings is given in the next Chapter):

¹³And these shall stand upon Mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali (they were to stand for the curse; it does not say they were to curse the people; all who broke the Law were cursed).

CURSES

¹⁴And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice (they were probably situated between the two mountains, with a Levite standing a voice distance away from another, and shouting loudly the Message of the Lord, in order that all of Israel might hear),

¹⁵Cursed be the man who makes any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and puts it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen (each of the first eleven curses is directed against some particular sin already denounced in the Law).

¹⁶Cursed be he who sets light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen (the failure to honor the father and the mother).

¹⁷Cursed be he who removes his neighbours landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen (by fraud, attempts to steal anothers property by secretly moving the boundary).

¹⁸Cursed be he who makes the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen (cruel to the handicapped).

¹⁹Cursed be he who perverts the judgment of the stranger (Gentile), fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen (failure to show kindness to all, even the least among them).

²⁰Cursed be he who lies with his fathers wife; because he uncovers his fathers skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen (incest).

²¹Cursed be he who lies with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen (bestiality, which was prominent among the heathen).

²²Cursed be he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen (again, incest is mentioned).

²³Cursed be he who lies with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen (the sin of incest was prominent among the heathen, therefore, the triple admonition).

²⁴Cursed be he who smites his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen (tries to harm him behind his back).

²⁵Cursed be he who takes reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen (contract killings).

²⁶Cursed be he who confirms not all the words of this Law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen (the Law, as given by God, was to govern Israel in all that she did; in fact, Israel constituted the only people in the world who had the Law of God, which made them superior in every respect).