Deuteronomy 27:5

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 27:5-10, “And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.[6] Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:[7] And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God.[8] And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.[9] And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God.[10] Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.” God required that Israelites have an altar. The altar was where the sacrifices were killed. Christians do not have an altar for such sacrifices because Jesus was our sacrifice. Jesus was offered once for all time for every believer. Think of all the sacrifices that the Israelites made over a period of centuries, and yet none of their sacrifices could take away sin. That is one reason that they needed to keep making offerings day after day and year after year. We have a Savior who satisfied the righteous demands for justice against sin, and Jesus did it once forever.

In Deuteronomy 27V8 God required that certain words be written upon the altar. It says, “And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” God wants His people to have the Word of God. Even before the printing press was invented, there were ways for people to have access to the written Word of God. Everyone came to the altar, and thus everyone was able to read the words of the law for himself or herself. It is obvious that God wants us to read His Word. That is why He gave His Word and had it put in written form. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

On the day that the altar was built Moses said to the people in Deuteronomy 27:9, “this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God.” They built an altar for their sacrifices and wrote upon it the Word of God, and then God told them in verse 10 that they were supposed to obey His commandments. Christians have Jesus as their sacrifice, we have the complete written Word of God, and Jesus also wants us to obey His commandments. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

But we must remember that while we study the Old Testament, we are reading about the time of the law and not the age of grace. That fact will help us understand more completely the verses that follow. It says to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 27:11-13, “And Moses charged the people the same day, saying,[12] These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin:[13] And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.” There were blessings and curses. That is the way the law worked. You either got a blessing, or you got a curse. Since the blessings were dependent upon obedience and the curses came as a result of sinning and disobedience, everyone ended up being cursed. By the way, the only curse in the New Testament fell upon Jesus. It says in Galatians 3:11-14, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.[12] And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.[13] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:[14] That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

What a great Savior we have. Only one curse exists in the New Testament, and it fell upon Jesus. Notice all the curses listed in the Old Testament for those who break any part of the law. It says in Deuteronomy 27:14-26, “And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,[15] Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.[16] Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.[17] Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.[18] Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.[19] Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.[20] Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.[21] Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.[22] Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.[23] Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen.[24] Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.[25] Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.[26] Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.” The problem is that everyone sins. That is why the law cannot save. We need grace in order to be saved, and that is where Jesus comes in. The Bible says in John 1:17, “For the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 28:1-6, “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:[2] And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.[3] Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.[4] Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.[5] Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.[6] Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” Once again God reminds the nation of Israel that one of the blessings for obeying God will be that they will be the greatest nation on the earth. Christians who follow Christ are the greatest people on the earth, and we also are part of the greatest of all kingdoms: the kingdom of Christ. Unlike all the nations of the world that are only temporary, the Kingdom of God will abide forever. You can become a citizen of the greatest of all kingdoms by trusting in Christ.

Concerning the blessings that God promised for the children of Israel, God said in Deuteronomy 28:3, “Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.” And God promised in verse 6, “Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” In other words wherever you go and wherever you find yourself, the Lord will bless you. One reason for this is that God is always with you. Jesus promised His disciples, “Lo I am with you always even to the end of the world.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 28:7-13, “The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.[8] The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.[9] The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.[10] And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.[11] And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.[12] The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.[13] And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:” You will have enemies, and the question is: how will you defeat those enemies? The most important thing to do is to trust in the Lord. The Lord will fight for you. The Lord will give the victory. The Lord will defeat your enemies. That is exactly the message of the New Testament also. It says in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Of course, Ephesians chapter 6 also tells how to be strong in the Lord by listing the Christians’ armor. You are not ready for battle unless you have put on the armor with the shield, and the sword, and the helmet, and the breastplate, and the rest of the armor.

I like the way that Deuteronomy 28:8 is written. It says, “The LORD shall command the blessing.” How do blessings come to your life from heaven? They come the same way that God does everything else: He speaks and then it happens. God spoke and the world was created. “He said, Let there be light. And there was light.” Remember the incident of Jesus and the centurion’s servant. The Roman centurion understood all that needed to happen for his servant to be healed. It says in Matthew 8:5-10, “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,[6] And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.[7] And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.[8] The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.[9] For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.[10] When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

The last part of Deuteronomy 28:13 tells us the condition under which the blessings were given in the Old Testament for the people who were under the law. It says, “if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.” Notice the word “if.” If you are under the law, then the key requirement to receiving blessings was obedience: how well you obeyed the law. But in the New Testament there is a different emphasis. If you live in the times of the age of grace, and we do live in this age of grace, then the way to inherit the blessings is to believe: and not to just believe anything, but to believe on Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, some people get law and grace mixed up. If it is of grace through faith, then it is not of law at all. If you go about thinking that God is going to bless you because of how good you have been or God is going to bless you because you did this or that good work for Him, then you are living under law and not under grace. But the New Testament tells Christians, “Ye are not under law, but under grace.” It also says in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” It says in Luke 8:49-50, “While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.[50] But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.” Notice that Jesus said, “believe only.” For what reason do you expect blessings from God? Are you relying upon your good works to merit the blessings? If so, then you are acting like one under the law. If you are trusting in Jesus in order to receive the blessings without merit, then you are living like one should live in the age of grace.

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