Moses now gave the new generation its instructions concerning fresh commitment to the covenant when Israel would enter the land.
"The ratification of the new covenant which Moses was making with the second generation was to unfold in two stages. That was customary procedure in securing the throne succession to the appointed royal heir. When death was imminent, the suzerain required his vassals to pledge obedience to his son; then, soon after the son's accession, the vassals' commitment was repeated. Similarly, Moses and Joshua formed a dynasty of mediatorial representatives of the Lord's suzerainty over Israel. Hence the succession of Joshua, which symbolized the continuing lordship of Israel's God, was ensured by the oath elicited from Israel before Moses died, and again later by a ratification ceremony after Joshua's accession. The pronouncing of curses and blessings is prominent in each of these ratification rituals."291
When the people entered the Promised Land they were to assemble at Shechem (vv. 1-8; cf. 11:29-30). This would be the second stage of the covenant renewal, to be conducted in Canaan. Moses exhorted the Israelites to obey the covenant requirements then (vv. 9-10) and prepared them to invoke the covenant sanctions there (vv. 11-13).
27:1-8 Upon entering Canaan the Israelites were to assemble at Mt. Ebal near the center of the land and set up several large stones as monuments (cf. Exod. 24:4-8). They were to plaster these with lime (or gypsum) and then write the law on the monuments. This was a common way of posting important public announcements in Canaan.292They probably copied the Ten Commandments,293but they may have copied the blessings and curses,294the legal parts of the law,295the salient parts of the laws reiterated in Deuteronomy,296or the entire Book of Deuteronomy.297The purpose of this act was to declare to all people, Canaanites as well as Israelites, that the Mosaic Law was Israel's standard of faith and practice.
"The practice of writing laws on a plastered surface was known in other lands, notably Egypt, where the texts were painted rather than engraved."298
The people were also to build an altar on Mt. Ebal at the same time (vv. 5-7). They were to fashion it of uncut stones (cf. Exod. 20:22). Then the nation was to offer burnt and peace offerings of worship to Yahweh thereby committing themselves to Him as their Lord. Abraham received God's promise of the land and built his first altar in the land at this site (Gen. 12:6-7).
27:9-10 The new generation of Israelites would become a people for Yahweh (v. 9) when they took on themselves the responsibilities and privileges of the Mosaic Law (v. 10). As their fathers had done at Mt. Horeb (Exod. 19:8), so the new generation would do at Mt. Ebal.
"The ceremonial feast was usually part of the ratification activities when suzerainty treaties were signed in countries neighboring Israel during the Mosaic era."299
"This day"(v. 9) refers to the day the people would fulfill these instructions in the land (Josh. 8; cf. Josh. 24).
27:11-13 We should read the instructions for this ceremony with Joshua 8:30-35 where God recorded the fulfillment of Moses' commands. Mt. Gerizim was the southern of the two hills and Mt. Ebal the northern. As Israel faced east, Mt. Gerizim would have been on her right hand, the traditional place of blessing, and Mt. Ebal on her left. The representatives of the six tribes who stood on Mt. Gerizim were all sons of Leah and Rachel. The tribes on Mt. Ebal were descendants of the maids of these women (Gad, Asher, Dan, and Naphtali) plus Reuben and Zebulun. Reuben was the son of Leah who had lost his birthright because of his sin, and Zebulun was the youngest son of Leah.
This is the first of two sections of curses (cf. 28:15-68) that sandwich one section of blessings (28:1-14). The present group of curses explains the consequences of disobedience to specific stipulations of the covenant whereas the second group of curses clarifies the consequences of disobedience to general stipulations of the covenant.
The twelve curses that a group of Levites was to repeat probably represented the twelve tribes. The idea was not that the practice mentioned in each curse had been a besetting sin of one of the tribes. Each tribe received a warning against disobeying the whole Mosaic Law by receiving one specific injunction. God seems to have selected the warnings somewhat at random. They dealt with idolatry (v. 15), breaches of love for one's neighbor (vv. 16-19), sexual irregularities (vv. 20-23), and bodily injuries (vv. 24-25).
"The matters taken up are not a neat, ordered collection; they deal with fundamental aspects of the order of Israel's existence: the exclusive worship of the Lord, honor of parents, protection of life and property, justice for the weak and powerless, and sexual relations. These curses have often been regarded as a kind of ancient collection of laws analogous to the Ten Commandments, which have no curse expressions attached but do seem to have a sense of absoluteness implied and in other contexts are given the penalty of death."300
The last verse includes violation of any other command in the law (v. 26). Paul used this verse to emphasize the fact that no one can obey God perfectly (Gal. 3:10-14). The unifying theme seems to be that these were all sins the Israelites could commit in secret.301
"For the purpose of impressing upon the hearts of all the people in the most emphatic manner both the blessing which Israel was to proclaim upon Gerizim, and the curse which it was to proclaim upon Ebal, Moses now unfolds the blessing of fidelity to the law and the curse of transgression in a longer address, in which he once more resumes, sums up, and expands still further the promises and threats of the law in Ex. xxiii. 20-23, and Lev. xxvi."302
Moses began positively by holding out blessings as inducements to obedience (cf. Gen. 1:28-30). He stated the greatest blessing, and the one that comprehends all those that follow, first: Israel could become the most exalted of all nations on the earth. The condition for this blessing was obedience to the Word of Yahweh. So important was this condition that Moses stated it three times in this section--at the beginning (v. 1), middle (v. 9), and end (vv. 13-14; cf. vv. 15, 45, 58, 62)--in both positive and negative terms. Specifically, he enumerated six benefits using four merisms in each of which representative extremes describe the whole. God would give His people blessing everywhere, economically, with safety, and in all their activities (vv. 3-6). Then, in the typical hortatory fashion characteristic of Moses in Deuteronomy, he elaborated on these blessings (vv. 7-14).
"The Canaanites believed that Baal had a house in the heavens with an opening in the roof from which the rains were sent. Whether this constitutes the background for the figure underlying the storehouse in the heavens here [v. 12], Moses did insist that it was the Lord who would either bless Israel with abundant rain or withhold rain because of her disobedience."303
"It was only in feeble commencement that this blessing was fulfilled upon Israel under the Old Testament; and it is not till the restoration of Israel, which is to take place in the future according to Rom. xi. 25 sqq., that its complete fulfillment will be attained."304
In this section Moses identified about four times as many curses as he had listed previous blessings (vv. 1-14). The lists of curses in other ancient Near Eastern treaty texts typically were longer than the lists of blessings.305The reason was probably to stress the seriousness of violating the covenant by describing the consequences in detail.306Israel was entering a very dangerous environment in Canaan and needed strong warnings against yielding to the temptations she would encounter (cf. Gen. 3:14-19).
28:15-19 Note that after a general statement (v. 15; cf. vv. 1-2) the six formal curses (vv. 16-19) correspond almost exactly to the six blessings (vv. 3-6). The exposition follows in verses 20-68 (cf. vv. 7-14). We can divide it into five sections of increasingly severe disciplinary measures.
28Z:20-24 In the first view of God's discipline Moses explained various forms in which Israel would suffer punishment.
28:26-37 In the second view the outlook is worse. Israel would suffer physical distresses, and her enemies would plunder and oppress her. As freedom from Egypt came to epitomize God's grace, so return to Egyptian conditions represented His judgment (v. 27).
28:38-46 In the third view Moses saw Israel's potential fate as a rejection by God from covenant fellowship (though not partnership).
28:47-57 The fourth view pictures Israel invaded, conquered, and brutalized by her enemies.
28:58-68 The fifth view shows Israel deprived of all the benefits she had formerly enjoyed (cf. 6:21-23; 26:5-9). This section deals with disease and disasters in the land (vv. 58-63) and deportation from the land (vv. 64-68). Both parts picture a reversal of Exodus blessings.
In the later history of Israel the punishments God predicted here took place very literally when the people disobeyed His law. What Moses described in verses 32-36 happened in the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. Verses 52-57 found fulfillment then as well as in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and Israel in A.D. 70. Verses 64-68 have taken place during the Roman invasion of A.D. 70, in the Middle Ages, the Russian pogroms, Nazi Germany, and the present day.
God designed these blessings and curses to persuade His people to obey His covenant with them. Stronger proof of the blessing of obedience and the blasting of disobedience is hardly imaginable. God's will was, and is, very clear and simple: obey His Word.
This section of Deuteronomy (chs. 27-28) is one of the most important ones in Scripture because it records the two options open to Israel as she entered the Promised Land. Obedience to the revealed Word of God would result in blessing, but disobedience would result in blasting. Scholars who do not believe in supernatural prophecy have said that it would have been impossible for Moses to have written these words. They say the subsequent history of Israel so accurately fulfilled these warnings that someone must have written them much later, perhaps after the Babylonian captivity. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings take pains to point out how God fulfilled what Moses said here in Israel's later history.307
"For understanding and explaining Israel's history as recorded throughout the Old Testament, there are perhaps no more important chapters than Deuteronomy 28-30."308
The purpose of the whole ceremony Moses described here was to impress the Israelites with the importance and solemnity of entering into covenant relationship with Yahweh. This ceremony was to be a formal occasion that the Canaanites as well as the Israelites would perceive as a covenant renewal ritual.
"When the Greeks invaded Palestine in 332 B.C., the Samaritans sought and obtained permission from the Greeks to build a temple on Mt. Gerizim. This temple was later destroyed and replaced by a Roman temple, but the Samaritans have observed their sacred festivals, including the Passover, on Mt. Gerizim ever since."309
Chapter 29 verse 1 is the last verse of chapter 28 in the Hebrew Bible. Moses probably intended it to be a summary statement of what precedes rather than an introduction to what follows. The renewed Mosaic covenant to which Moses now called on his hearers to commit themselves contrasts with the original Mosaic covenant to which the Israelites committed themselves at Mt. Sinai.
". . . the verse forms an inclusio with the preamble section of Deut 1:1-5. Both passages begin with the phrase these are the words . . . which Moses,' both locate the setting in Moab, and both make reference to Horeb and the earlier covenant. Thus the covenant text proper may be said to have been brought to a conclusion in 29:1. . . .
"It seems quite clear, then, that a major break occurs between 29:1 and 29:2, with the former bringing all the previous material to a close and the latter introducing at least the epilogic historical review."310
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