Moses commanded that the people perform a ceremony after they crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land. Half the tribes were to go up to the top of one mountain and the other half to another mountain top. The Levites were to recite the law to the Israelites shouting. The Israelites were to respond, shouting "Amen!" Twelve curses were spoken. Four are about sex, two are repeats of the 10 commandments, two are about murder, three are about social responsibility, and the last one brings in all the others.
Abundance is the word I use to describe my take on what blessings await for following God's commandments and living a life reflecting His requests for us to love one another. God promises abundant blessings will flow to us if we follow the rules for living our lives as He gives them to us.
The curses for disobedience are severe and rather shocking! The detail given in chapter 28 is nothing but pain upon pain, and agony upon agony. Desolation and ruin awaited the Israelites if they would disobey God. God knew their tendency to be stubborn in their desires - to do things that would pull them away from Him. The descriptions of both the blessings and curses are very detailed. They offer a very clear image of the benefits from living in close relationship with God as well as the suffering from making choices that remove us from His presence!
This is the end of the second speech. It certainly gave them some spiritual homework to do!
Tomorrow read Deuteronomy 29-32:14
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