Deuteronomy 27:1-26
The Law Inscribed on Stones
1 Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. 2 And it shall be, on the day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime. 3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey,’ just as the LORD God of your fathers promised you. 4 Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime. 5 And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them. 6 You shall build with whole stones the altar of the LORD your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God. 7 You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God. 8 And you shall write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.”
9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of the LORD your God. 10 Therefore you shall obey the voice of the LORD your God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”
Curses Pronounced from Mount Ebal
11 And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, 12 “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; 13 and these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 “And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: 15 ‘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!’
16 ‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
18 ‘Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
20 ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
21 ‘Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
22 ‘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!’
23 ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
24 ‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’”
The commandments of God’s Word to His people was inscribed on stone before it was written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10, 10:16) as we read here. Then the consequences of disobedience were spelled out in this chapter and later blessings of following that word be given in the same one. They were first reminded to keep all of His law according to the word given on these tablets of stone on the mountain through Moses and then told to inscribe them by their own hands on stones set up as a remembrance when they crossed the Jordan into the land promised to them. There they were to also make a stone altar by their own hands without tools of their own and offer sacrifices with burnt and peace offerings to rejoice in His deliverance and words as they ate (Jeremiah 15:16) of both the offering and His grace while meditatively reading and taking the words of His hand into their hearts. That day they became people of the LORD, called to hear and follow His word, just as we are in Christ by the same grace according to His word written in the scriptures and by His Spirit’s hand on our tablets (2 Corinthians 3:3) of flesh. The consequences of disobedience under that covenant of works to earn righteousness (which of course was impossible to do as we read in Romans 3:23 and James 2:10) was severe without the covering of sin by the lifeblood of God’s Son under the covenant of grace. We see how these curses of disobedience were given as warnings of the consequences of disbelief leading to disobedience. These summed up various laws of the Ten Commandments and the results of not following them in disregard to both God and their neighbors. This is why Jesus summed up the law as two overarching commandments in Mark 12:29, 30, 31 as love in obedient action to the Lord and others. This then is God’s word to us in our hearts and minds to be followed by His enabling Spirit from the heart where the words of God now are inscribed by grace for obedience (Romans 1:5, 1 Peter 1:2) by faith in the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8) because His obedience (Romans 5:19) makes us righteous (Romans 10:3-4) and acceptable in his sight, accepted in the Beloved by grace through repentance and faith. There are consequences of disobedience to those who are His, but these are losses of rewards to His glory (1 Corinthians 3:12-13, 14-15) and not for our (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9, Romans 8:1, 33) condemnation because we are safe in His grace from that fate we were born under (Romans 6:23) and saved from by Him who wrote these laws on our hearts and minds as living testimonies to that grace which are not found on cold stone tablets. The consequences of disobedience to believe the gospel are the only ones which endure for eternity.
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