Deuteronomy 11:26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse — 27 the blessing, if you listen to the mitzvot of YHVH your God that I am giving you today; 28 and the curse, if you don’t listen to the mitzvot of YHVH your God, but turn aside from the way I am ordering you today and follow other gods that you have not known.
29 “When YHVH your God brings you into the land you are entering in order to take possession of it, you are to put the blessing on Mount G’rizim and the curse on Mount ‘Eival.
This statement is the first bookend outlining a seemingly odd list of random commands that culminates with a list of things we should expect to experience in our own lives based on whether or not we believe Him.
Here is a summary of what we are told in chapters 12-26 in Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 26:16 “Today YHVH your God orders you to obey these laws and rulings. Therefore, you are to observe and obey them with all your heart and all your being. 17 You are agreeing today that YHVH is your God and that you will follow his ways; observe his laws, mitzvot and rulings; and do what he says. 18 In turn YHVH is agreeing today that you are his own unique treasure, as he promised you; that you are to observe all his mitzvot; 19 and that he will raise you high above all the nations he has made, in praise, reputation and glory; and that, as he said, you will be a holy people for YHVH your God.”
We see in Deuteronomy 28 that if you listen closely, there will be blessings on you in abundance.
Deuteronomy 28:1 “If you listen closely to what Adonai your God says, observing and obeying all his mitzvot which I am giving you today, Adonai your God will raise you high above all the nations on earth; 2 and all the following blessings will be yours in abundance — if you will do what Adonai your God says:”
And if you do not listen, curses will be on you in abundance.
Deuteronomy 28:15 “But if you refuse to pay attention to what Adonai your God says, and do not observe and obey all his mitzvot and regulations which I am giving you today, then all the following curses will be yours in abundance:”
40 years before this time, the Covenant was presented to the Children of Israel. Now, just before they make their way into their inheritance, we have an expounded upon version of the same thing.
Deuteronomy 28:69 (29:1) These are the words of the covenant which YHVH ordered Moshe to make with the people of Isra’el in the land of Mo’av, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horev. (see: Exodus 20-24)
We have a decision put before us here:
Choose life and enter the Covenant. Or choose death and ignore it.
Blessings = barakah (H1293)
I. Pool: A place where one kneels down to drink. II. Gift: What is brought with bended knee. III. Bless: In the sense of bringing a gift on bended knee.
Curses (used in Deuteronomy 28:15) = qlalah (H7045)
Curse: Something that is light in stature, considered worthless.
Cursed (used in the verses following) = arar (H779)
Curse: One shows a cursing by spitting.
A choice has been set before you:
Be considered honored and full of value. Or be considered worthless and continually wipe away the spit from your face.
Deuteronomy 29:8 (9) Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and obey them; so that you can make everything you do prosper.
It’s almost as if these are natural laws, and not a wizard behind the curtain pulling levers when he feels like it. It seems as though we play a role in this whole thing.
But these are not just mechanical motions that guarantee we will live. If we turn God’s design for us to have life into a checklist, we will pervert the spirit of His Torah. Our selfishness will begin to rule and we will feel justified by our actions. But it is our intentions that matter.
Paul explains this very well:
Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who are in union with the Messiah Yeshua. 2 Why? Because the Torah of the Spirit, which produces this life in union with Messiah Yeshua, has set me free from the “Torah” of sin and death. 3 For what the Torah could not do by itself, because it lacked the power to make the old nature cooperate, God did by sending his own Son as a human being with a nature like our own sinful one [but without sin]. God did this in order to deal with sin, and in so doing he executed the punishment against sin in human nature, 4 so that the just requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us who do not run our lives according to what our old nature wants but according to what the Spirit wants. 5 For those who identify with their old nature set their minds on the things of the old nature, but those who identify with the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 Having one’s mind controlled by the old nature is death, but having one’s mind controlled by the Spirit is life and shalom. 7 For the mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah — indeed, it cannot. 8 Thus, those who identify with their old nature cannot please God.
This “old nature” is our selfishness. Selfishness does not allow for submission. Instead, it allows us to remain deceived into believing we are ok. But we aren’t ok, are we?
Unless we encounter the spirit of the Torah we will never put down this selfish person that stares back at us in the mirror.
Romans 7:7 Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, “Thou shalt not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of evil desires — for apart from Torah, sin is dead. 9 I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life, 10 and I died. The commandment that was intended to bring me life was found to be bringing me death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me; and through the commandment, sin killed me. 12 So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good.
It’s when you encounter His commands in such a way as to understand why He said what He said -- this is when true sin springs to life. You honestly see yourself as you are, not as you claim to be. That selfish person can begin to die to the flesh and be resurrected in the Spirit -- loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And also loving your neighbor as yourself.
Romans 7:25 To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God’s Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin’s “Torah.”
To which are you a slave? It’s one or the other. There are no other options presented here.
It really is up to us to decide whether we want to be honored or spat upon. Choose this day what kind of life you want for yourself.
So look at what has been set before you: blessing and curse, life and death.
What do you really want? Choose wisely.
1 John 3:7 Children, don’t let anyone deceive you — it is the person that keeps on doing what is right who is righteous, just as God is righteous. 8 The person who keeps on sinning is from the Adversary, because from the very beginning the Adversary has kept on sinning. It was for this very reason that the Son of God appeared, to destroy these doings of the Adversary. 9 No one who has God as his Father keeps on sinning, because the seed planted by God remains in him. That is, he cannot continue sinning, because he has God as his Father. 10 Here is how one can distinguish clearly between God’s children and those of the Adversary: everyone who does not continue doing what is right is not from God.
Likewise, anyone who fails to keep loving his brother is not from God. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning: that we should love each other 12 and not be like Kayin, who was from the Evil One and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Don’t be amazed, brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We, for our part, know that we have passed from death to life because we keep loving the brothers. The person who fails to keep on loving is still under the power of death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
Love Abba by doing what is right. And keep on loving your brother. These are, in fact, the greatest of the commandments. All of the law and prophets hang upon these very things.
What is set before you?
A battle between selfishness and selflessness. Prepare for war.