Deuteronomy 27:11-26

Good morning, good morning. Yes, Deuteronomy chapter 27 verses 11 through 26. So, good morning, good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. Today, we get to read something super fun. The curses of Mount Gerizim. All right, let's have some coffee. We'll pray. We'll get into God's word. Coffee? She says, "No, thank you." All right, let's pray. God, thank you so much for your word. Help us to understand it. Work in our hearts that we would know who you are. And know how to walk in your ways in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, why don't we do it this way? You can read the first half verses 11 through 19 and I'll read 20 through 26. Okay. And Moses commanded the people on the same day saying, "These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have crossed over Jordan, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel, 'Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.' 'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 'Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 'Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 'Cursed is the one who perver perverts justice due to the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife because he has uncovered uncovered his father's bed. And all the people shall say, "Amen." Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal. And all the people shall say, "Amen." Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, "Amen." Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say, "Amen." Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly. And all the people shall say, "Amen." Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, "Amen." Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them. And all the people shall say, "Amen." All right. Well, last time when Nathan and I were together, we talked about how on Mount Ebal they were to put this this stone that was painted white and on it they wrote all of God's laws. And now, actually when I went over with this with Nathan, I got it backwards in my mind. These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people. And so it lists all the people, right? Half of them. And then verse 13, "And these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse, right?" And then you get Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, right? And so, what is this section A about? Um where you'll uh who's cursed if they do something. Okay, yes. So, there's this this pronouncement of cursing. Uh and how are the people to respond? Amen. Amen. What does that mean? Yep. Good, they're in agreement. Right-o. Right? Uh so, what do you think's going on here? What is this What is this doing? Cursing the people who do these things. Okay. You know what I think is going on here? What? I think this is like if we wanted to write an amendment in our Constitution, our lawmakers have to pass it in Congress. And it has to go to all the states. And the people in the states have to vote for it and say whether they want that amendment or not. Mm. So, they have to agree that yes, yes, that's that we want that. And there has to be a certain percentage of the states who agree to it. It's a high percentage. I forget what it is right now. of them said, "Yep." Yeah. And so, you have all the 12 tribes. Here's Here's the law, right? This is a This is kind of like a summary of of the different types of law, right? So, starts off right away with the second commandment, right? Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of craftsmen, and sets it up in secret. Mm. And the people enter into that type of covenant agreement like they agree with that? Yep. Yep. What about the one who breaks the fifth commandment? Uh Cursed is he. Yeah, that's a Yeah. What about the one who is right, God gives somebody a piece of land and you go and you move the landmark. So, you steal their land. But the land This is the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey. Their in their inheritance from generation to generation. The person who does that. Cursed. Cursed. What about the person uh who doesn't love their neighbor and and instead there's a blind person and they make them wander off the road? Cursed. What about the person who is uh sees the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, somebody who's easily uh taken advantage of or easily manipulated or easily kind of brushed off to the corners of society and you steal justice from them? Cursed. What about the person who is so filled with their own sensuality that they would sleep with their mother? Cursed. What about the person who's so filled with sexual immorality and this this lust that they would sleep with their sister? Cursed. What about the person who's so filled with this sensuality and this this desire that this sexual desire that they would sleep with an animal? Cursed. What about the person who would attack his neighbor secretly? Cursed. What about the person who would take a bribe or kill someone? Totally cursed. Do you get the point here? Mhm. What's the point? Uh the ones who do wrong are cursed. Yeah, the wages of sin is death. death. All right, so end it there, right? That's all this was about. There's no more talking. It It's just if you break this, you're cursed. That's it. Yep. That Is that all this is about or is there a sea calling? Mm. We're called to um to not do this. Okay, yeah. So, we're taught not to do these things. You're right about that. Is there any hope? Mhm. What's the hope? Jesus came. Yeah. Because you want to know something? What? Jesus says, "You think that you're a a lawkeeper because you've heard that it was said, 'You shall not to commit adultery.' But Jesus is like he looks into their hearts and he says, 'I tell you that even if you have lusted after a woman in your heart, you've already committed adultery.' All right, I Yeah, lusted after a woman with your eyes, you've already committed adultery in your heart. All right, so he says, "It's deeper than you think. You think that the command was, right, uh not to take a bribe and slay an innocent person, but I'm telling you if you've seen your brother and you've called him Raca, you've gotten so mad at him that you've said, 'You fool.' You've had that type of seething anger in your heart. You've already committed murder. The law is even that that much more cursed or damning. Mm. So, what's our only hope is that's the if that's true? Mm, that we um that God died on the cross for us. Yeah, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Right, that we sin daily in thought, word, and deed, but God but God forgives us of our sin. Mm. He's ransomed us from sin and death. Redeemed us by the blood of Jesus. Mm. So, we're those who deserve the curses being spoken about. We're the covenant breakers. The law was given to lead us to Christ. And to teach us how to live like Christ. What do you think about that? Uh wow. I think it's pretty good news. Right, the curse. Do you Do you know what it says about Jesus in the Bible? What? He who knew no sin became a curse for us. Mm. As it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree. Mhm. Yeah. That's the cool thing. We deserve the curse instead we get life. Eternal life. You ready to pray? Mhm. Do you want to pray or do you want me to pray? You can. Okay. Lord, thank you so much for the gift of life in Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would please let us put to death the sinful desires of our own flesh. The passions and the lusts. Lord, we pray that you would please teach us to throw off those sins that so easily ensnare us. Entangle us. Lord, we pray that you would not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Our Father, most of all, we thank you that you sent Jesus Christ to free us from the curse of sin and death. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to walk in the newness of life that you've given us in him. Help us, Lord, to walk as sojourners in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may God bless you. And may you walk in the holiness that Jesus Christ gives you because you are free from sin. I'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.