Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
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Deuteronomy 11:26-28 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Therefore you shall keep the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess; and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them; and Yahweh’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you. Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates; that your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him— then Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border. No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you. Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. It shall happen, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you go to possess, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal. Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it. You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.
Parallel Translations
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Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today;
and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
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Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
Show all 3 translations
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Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:
the blessing, if ye shall hearken unto the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day;
and the curse, if ye shall not hearken unto the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
Cross-references (25)
- Isaiah 1:19 (v27) If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land;
- Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (v27) It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you…
- Isaiah 3:10 (v27) Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Luke 11:28 (v27) But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”
- Leviticus 26:3-13 (v27) “ ‘If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments, and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall…
Show all 24 cross-references
- John 13:17 (v27) If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
- John 14:21-23 (v27) One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love…
- Psalms 19:11 (v27) Moreover your servant is warned by them. In keeping them there is great reward.
- Romans 2:7 (v27) to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;
- James 1:25 (v27) But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be…
- Revelation 22:14 (v27) Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
- Matthew 5:3-12 (v27) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are…
- Matthew 25:31-46 (v27) “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all…
- Deuteronomy 30:1 (v26) It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them…
- Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (v26) Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil. For I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in…
- Galatians 3:10 (vv26, 28) For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things…
- Deuteronomy 28:15-68 (v28) But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which…
- Romans 2:8-9 (v28) but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, oppression, and anguish…
- Galatians 3:13-14 (v26) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”…
- Leviticus 26:14-32 (v28) “ ‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments, and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors…
- Deuteronomy 29:19-28 (v28) and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the…
- Isaiah 1:20 (v28) but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Isaiah 3:11 (v28) Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
- Matthew 25:41 (v28) Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his…
24 distinct cross-references across this passage (25 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v28 He reproveth the malice of men which leave that…
He reproveth the malice of men which leave that which is certain to follow that which is uncertain.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v26 Deu 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day…
Deu 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
Ver. 26. A blessing and a curse.] With the way to either, that if ye miscarry ye may have none to blame but yourselves. For oft it falls out, that whereas "the foolishness of man perverteth his way, his heart fretteth against the Lord." {Pro 19:3}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv26, 28 I propose them to your minds and to your…
I propose them to your minds and to your choice.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v26 Here Moses concludes his general exhortations to obedience; and…
Here Moses concludes his general exhortations to obedience; and his management is very affecting, and such as, one would think, should have engaged them for ever to God, and should have left impressions upon them never to be worn out.
I. He sums up all his arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse (Deu 11:26), that is, the rewards and the punishments, as they stand in the promises and the threatenings, which are the great sanctions of the law, taking hold of hope and fear, those two handles of the soul, by which it is caught, held, and managed. These two, the blessing and the curse, he set before them, that is, 1. He explained them, that they might know them; he enumerated the particulars contained both in the blessing and in the curse, that they might see the more fully how desirable the blessing was, and how dreadful the curse. 2. He confirmed them, that they might believe them, made it evident to them, by the proofs he produced of his own commission, that the blessing was not a fool's paradise, nor the curse a bugbear, but that both were real declarations of the purpose of God concerning them. 3. He charged them to choose which of these they would have, so fairly does he deal with them, and so far is he from putting out the eyes of these men, as he was charged, Num 16:14. They and we are plainly told on what terms we stand with Almighty God. (1.) If we be obedient to his laws, we may be sure of a blessing, Deu 11:27. But, (2.) If we be disobedient, we may be as sure of a curse, Deu 11:28. Say you to the righteous (for God has said it, and all the world cannot unsay it) that it shall be well with them: but woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with them.
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II. He appoints a public and solemn proclamation to be made of the blessing and curse which he had set before them, upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, Deu 11:29, Deu 11:30. We have more particular directions for this solemnity in Deu 27:11, etc., and an account of the performance of it, Jos 8:33, etc. It was to be done, and was done, immediately upon their coming into Canaan, that when they first took possession of that land they might know upon what terms they stood. The place where this was to be done is particularly described by Moses, though he never saw it, which is one circumstance among many that evidences his divine instructions. It is said be near the plain, or oaks, or meadows, of Moreh, which was one of the first places that Abraham came to in Canaan; so that in sending them thither, to hear the blessing and the curse, God reminded them of the promise he made to Abraham in that very place, Gen 12:6, Gen 12:7. The mention of this appointment here serves, 1. For the encouragement of their faith in the promise of God, that they should be masters of Canaan quickly. Do it (says Moses) on the other side Jordan (Deu 11:30), for you may be confident you shall pass over Jordan, Deu 11:31. The institution of this service to be done in Canaan was an assurance to them that they should be brought into possession of it, and a token like that which God gave to Moses (Exo 3:12): You shall serve God upon this mountain. And, 2. It serves for an engagement upon them to be obedient, that they might escape that curse, and obtain that blessing, which, besides what they had already heard, they must shortly be witnesses to the solemn publication of (Deu 11:32): "You shall observe to do the statutes and judgements, that you may not in that solemnity be witnesses against yourselves."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv26–28 Are they not on the other side Jordan,.... Opposite…
Are they not on the other side Jordan,.... Opposite to that where Moses now was in the plains of Moab, even in Samaria; so in the Misnah (t) it is said,"as soon as Israel passed over Jordan, they came to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, which are in Samaria;''but those mountains were not near Jordan nor Jericho, to which the people of Israel came first, but sixty miles from thence; though they were, as Moses says, on the other side from the place they now were:
by the way wherewith the sun goeth down; or, as the Targum of Jonathan,"after the way of the sun setting;''following that, or taking their direction from thence, signifying that they lay to the west of Jordan:
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in the land of the Canaanites; of that particular tribe or nation which were eminently called Canaanites, for these dwelt by the sea by the coast of Jordan, Num 13:29 or as further described:
that dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal; in the plain open champaign country opposite to Gilgal; not that Gilgal Joshua encamped at before he came to Jericho, which in Moses's time was not known by that name, but another, as Dr. Lightfoot (u) observes, and he thinks Galilee is meant:
beside the plains of Moreh; near to Shechem, Gen 12:6 and that Gerizim, one of these mountains, was not far from Shechem, is evident from Jdg 9:6 and so in the Misnah (w) it is said, that these mountains were on the side of Shechem, which is in the plains of Moreh, as in Deu 11:30 as the plains of Moreh here denote Shechem, so there: Benjamin of Tudela says (x) there is a valley between them, in which lies Shechem; and in his time there were on Mount Gerizim fountains and orchards, but Mount Ebal was dry like stones and rocks. The Targum of Jonathan here, instead of Moreh, reads Mamre; see Gen 13:18.
(t) Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5. (u) Chorograph. Cent. c. 48. (w) Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5. (x) Itinerarium, p. 38, 40.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv26, 28 I set before you - I propose them to…
I set before you - I propose them to your choice.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v26 Verse 26. Behold, I set before you - a…
Verse 26. Behold, I set before you - a blessing and a curse] If God had not put it in the power of this people either to obey or disobey; if they had not had a free will, over which they had complete authority, to use it either in the way of willing or nilling; could God, with any propriety, have given such precepts as these, sanctioned with such promises and threatenings? If they were not free agents, they could not be punished for disobedience, nor could they, in any sense of the word, have been rewardable for obedience. A STONE is not rewardable because, in obedience to the laws of gravitation, it always tends to the centre; nor is it punishable be cause, in being removed from that centre, in its tending or falling towards it again it takes away the life of a man.
That God has given man a free, self - determining WILL, which cannot be forced by any power but that which is omnipotent, and which God himself never will force, is declared in the most formal manner through the whole of the sacred writings. No argument can affect this, while the Bible is considered as a Divine revelation; no sophistry can explain away its evidence, as long as the accountableness of man for his conduct is admitted, and as long as the eternal bounds of moral good and evil remain, and the essential distinctions between vice and virtue exist. If ye will obey, (for God is ever ready to assist,) ye shall live; if ye will disobey and refuse that help, ye shall die. So hath Jehovah spoken, and man cannot reverse it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv26, 28 Deu 11:26. I set before you — I propose…
Deu 11:26. I set before you — I propose them to your consideration and your choice. So that if a curse should be your portion, instead of a blessing, and you should be in a calamitous and miserable, and not in a prosperous and happy condition, you must thank yourselves for it. This he explains more at large in the 28th chapter. And the whole historical part of the Old Testament bears witness that God caused a blessing or a curse to attend them, according as they observed or broke his laws.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v26 Curse. Their respective effects you shall experience, according to…
Curse. Their respective effects you shall experience, according to your behaviour. (Calmet) --- God helps our free will to do good. (St. Augustine, q. 15.) (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing…
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse--(See on Deu 27:11).
Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 12
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v26 26. Behold, I set before you this day a…
26. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse — A blessing, if they obey and have Jehovah for their God; a curse, if they are disobedient and go after other gods.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v26 26–28. The summing up and clinching of the whole…
26–28. The summing up and clinching of the whole discourse, Deu_11:5-11 : a blessing to Israel if they obey the commandments of God, a curse if they do not obey but turn after other gods. Cp. Deu_30:1, as here, blessing and curse; Deu_11:15; Deu_11:19, life and death, good and evil.
27. if ye shall hearken, etc.] See Deu_7:12, Pl.; Deu_15:5, Deu_28:13, Sg.
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28. turn aside] See Deu_11:16, Deu_9:12; Deu_9:16, Deu_13:5, Deu_31:29.
to go after other gods] Deu_6:14.
which ye have not known] See above on Deu_7:9, Deu_8:3.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v26 (26) Behold.—Another of the Jewish divisions of Deuteronomy begins…
(26) Behold.—Another of the Jewish divisions of Deuteronomy begins here.
A blessing and a curse.—Literally, blessing and cursing—the blessing if ye obey, and the curse if ye do not.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv26, 28 Vers. 26-32. Moses, in conclusion, refers to the blessing…
Vers. 26-32. Moses, in conclusion, refers to the blessing and the curse consequent on the observance or the transgression of the Law, and prescribes that when they had entered on possession of the land the blessing should be proclaimed from Mount Gerizim, and the curse from Mount Ebal.
Behold, I set before you; place for your consideration, (Deu_4:8 Deu_30:15) so that you may see whither tends obedience on the one hand, and disobedience on the other.
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Vers. 26-28. The dread alternative before every man.
Perhaps, strictly speaking, the final paragraph of this chapter includes vers. 26-32. The reader thereof will, however, observe that, while in its entirety it deals with the blessing and curse, yet the first three verses deal with them as resting on the people, the remaining verses regard them as pronounced by the people. The theme indicated by the latter half is treated on at Deuteronomy 27. We therefore confine our remarks to the former section of these words. They present to us the dread alternative which is before every man, as our theme for consideration. Lest any should seek to blunt the edge of our words by saying, "We don"t like the word "curse;" it belongs to an older dispensation," we would observe at the outset that the same alternative is presented to us, though it may be in other words, by the Lord Jesus Christ, in Joh_3:18-21. We do not say that there is no difference in meaning beyond the varied phraseology, but simply point out just now, that, under Christ, as under Moses, there is set forth the sharp contrast, in one case of blessing and curse, in the other case of acceptance and condemnation. One or other of these belongs to every man. Here is a mighty theme, in which the preacher has "by manifestation of the truth to commend himself to every man"s conscience in the sight of God.
I MAN HAS A MORAL NATURE. The denial of this by some, and the baseness of the lives of others, no more interfere with the general truth of this, than cases which are abnormal in the physical world do with well-ascertained truth in the physical departments. Man has a suneidhsiv, a power of discerning moral distinctions. If he fails to give proof of that, he is a perishing man.
II THE POSSESSION OF A MORAL NATURE INDICATES THE EXISTENCE OF MORAL LAW. This is, in fact, the objectivity which is before the moral sense, and perceived by it.
III THE EXISTENCE OF A LAW IMPLIES THAT OF A LAWGIVER; the existence of a moral law, that of a moral Lawgiver, who is himself the Lord of right, the God, "with whom is our account." The moral sense of man postulates this; the all but universal conviction of mankind affirms it; the sense of sin is its constant demonstration. The experience of men like Enoch, who in the olden time "walked with God," is proof that at any rate some human spirits lean on the Eternal One, as really as the body depends on air and food.
IV THE MORAL LAWGIVER REVEALS HIMSELF. Not only do previously mentioned facts show that he is, but we know also what he is. The Law given by Moses, and the proclamation of Jehovah"s Name to him, disclose the greatness of the Divine being; the fuller word of prophet and psalmist likewise. The Incarnate Son revealed him. The Holy Ghost unveils him to the watchful eye and yearning heart. "The Lord your God.
V THE GREAT LAWGIVER HAS GIVEN DEFINITE COMMANDS. Chiefly, as Lawgiver, in the Law. Chiefly, as also a great Benefactor, in the gospel. In the one aspect his Law is "do;" in the other his Law is "receive." In the former a course of life is marked out in detail; in the latter, a redemption by infinite grace is made known for "the obedience of faith" So that, as it speaks to us, Law says (for we are under Law to Christ), "Receive in loving faith the redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, and then, by the renewed energies of a God-inspired life, walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.
VI THE DIVINE LAWGIVER REGARDS MEN ACCORDING TO THEIR MEASURE OF LOYALTY TO THE RIGHT AND THE TRUE, i.e. as far as they have the opportunity of knowing what is right and true; for some nations may even as yet not have any written law. In such case Peter"s words apply. (Act_10:34, Act_10:35) We can suppose others who have the Law only. We have the revelation of God both in Law and in gospel; to us is the word of salvation sent (cf. Joh_6:29) According as we receive it or no, God approves or disapproves, accepts or disowns. Is it possible to suppose it otherwise? Can any one think that a holy Lawgiver should give forth a perfect Law, and then be unconcerned as to whether men obey it? Can it be imagined that he should send his only begotten Son into the world, and then leave it optional with men as to how they should treat him to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth? There is indeed (see Homily on Deu_10:17-22; Deu_11:1) no respect of persons as to rank, or caste, or color, or clime. The wide world over, right and equity are the Divine delight; but since right is right, and God is God, there must eternally remain the great gulf fixed between the loyalty of heart which he approves, and the disloyalty of soul which the Most High cannot but condemn. The throne of the Eternal is established in righteousness.
VII THIS APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF GOD IS THE BLESSING OR CURSE. (cf. Psa_1:6) And it would be well could it be impressed on every conscience that, even if there were no certainty of any visitation or punishment from God in token of his displeasure, yet that displeasure itself is so awful a curse, that to be conscious of it is the germ of hell; while, quite apart from aught that he may send to us, the consciousness of having his approval is a sufficient, a heavenly, an "exceeding great" reward! The light in which God views us is of infinitely more moment than the gifts he sends or the chastisements he inflicts. Take an illustration from a lower sphere. Let it be supposed that a man whose life and writings are corrupting the morals and helping to blight the faith of his countrymen, is admitted, in course of events, to the assembly of British senators. He is there as one of its members. But he knows that the grandest, purest, most philanthropic and self-sacrificing of human-kind regard him and his views with unutterable loathing, not because of any vindictive feeling against him, but because of the solemn interests which in his hands are imperiled and shamed. Nothing is done to him; but he knows that this is how he and his views are regarded by those whose esteem is most worth having. Would not such a state of things be intolerable torture to him? Or supposing him "past feeling," would his case be the less pitiable? Or supposing him so puffed up with pride and conceit as to regard the rest of his fellows as kept virtuous by a superstition whose elevating power he does not desire to know, would not the disapproval of the mass of the people too deep for any words to express be as a blighting curse upon him, even though no other penalty were imposed; and would not that disownment be a heavier penalty than any outward punishment could be? But oh! what, what is the disapproval of man, or of men, compared with the frown of God?
VIII THIS APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL WILL, SOONER OR LATER, BE MANIFEST. It is true, in more senses than one, "Thou art a God that hidest thyself" (cf. Psa_50:21) But "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." The curse will show itself in nations, by their humiliation and destruction. So Egypt, Tyre, Chaldea, Jerusalem, etc. It will reveal itself in families by a "sword in the house" for many a long year (1Sa_3:13, 1Sa_3:14; 2Sa_7:14) It will be manifest in the individual. This krima yea, katakrima of God has three stages.
1. A present, though it may be a comparatively silent one, either in a stinging conscience, or one "seared as with a hot iron.
2. A further one, on the exchange of worlds, when earth and sense are thrown off, and the Great Invisible is near. "Now, Mr. T," said a departing sinner to the missionary who was by his bedside, "my judgment has just begun!
3. A future one, at the day of judgment, when God shall judge the secrets of men (cf. Mat_25:31-46) Disobedient hearts are but treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, to be disapproved, finally, by him from whose sentence there can be no appeal. Is not a heavy curse, indeed, involved in all that?
IX HERE IS GROUND ENOUGH FOR SOLEMN APPEAL TO MEN. "I set before you this day a blessing and a curse." Oh! if men would but take the pains to quit a while in thought this busy scene in which they live and move almost in perpetual whirl; if they would but anticipate by earnest reflection that usherment into the presence of God which their departure hence must bring; if they would but set the judgment scene, as sketched by Christ, before their view, methinks they would see the deep and solemn reason why the preacher now even now says, "Flee from the wrath to come." For the wrath will come, i.e. it will manifest itself. It exists now. The eternal antagonism of a holy God to ill of every kind necessitates it. And as surely as God is ever on the side of right, so surely will he have it shown, ere long, that such is the case. Then let the sinner, condemned even now by his own conscience how much more by God! flee for refuge from the coming storm. There is a refuge; it is ours the moment that we flee to it. But if when the storm comes we are not found there, we must perish perish with the double disapproval of Heaven on our heads: disapproved as breakers of law; disapproved as neglecters of grace.
Vers. 26-29. The great alternative.
I GOD SUMMONS US TO DECISION.
1. His revelations lay the ground for it. "Light is come into the world". (Joh_3:19)
2. They demand it. Men would trifle, but God says, "Now". (2Co_6:2) Men would put off, but God urges to decision. (Jos_24:15)
3. They shut men up to it. When light comes, decision is inevitable. We must settle what our attitude towards it will be. In decreeing not to choose, we in reality do choose.
II THE DECISION TO WHICH GOD SUMMONS US TURNS ON A SINGLE POINT. The point is obedience. Will we obey or will we not (ver. 27)? It was so under the Law, and it is so under the gospel. What the gospel asks from us is" the obedience of faith". (Rom_16:26) This tests our disposition thoroughly. True faith carries with it the surrender of the will to God and Christ. It is the root and principle of all holy obedience. Men will not come to Christ; why? The reason is that they cannot bring themselves to yield up their wills to him as he requires. They "love the darkness rather than the light". (Joh_3:19-22) Refusal to decide for Christ is equivalent, for the time being, to deciding against him. (Mat_12:30)
III THE DECISION TO WHICH GOD SUMMONS US INVOLVES THE ALTERNATIVE OF A BLESSING AND A CURSE. That was what it came to then, and it is the same still. Blessing or curse; life or death. Whether God is to be our God, blessing us, renewing our inward life, enriching us with his Spirit, bestowing on us grace here and glory hereafter; or whether we are to live beneath his frown, withering up under it in body and soul, and vanishing at last into outer darkness. It is an old question whether a man can voluntarily choose what is for his hurt. Possibly he cannot without first listening to the tempter who bids him believe that the course he pursues will not be for his hurt. But none the less is every sinner taking the path which ends in destruction. (Mat_7:13) His interest, did he but see it, or would he but believe it, is entirely in the line which God wishes him to follow. The terminus of the one road is, (Rom_6:21) of the other life everlasting. J.O. (Rom_11:22)
Vers. 26-32. Startling alternatives.
Our life is hourly a choice of alternatives. We can go to the right or to the left. Choice is incessantly demanded, and the issues of our choice are momentous.
I THE REVELATION OF GOD"S WILL MAY BE A SOURCE OF ABSOLUTE BLESSING. Such revelation is the disclosure of man"s true paradise. It is the opening of the door of God"s own palace; and, unworthy though we are, we may enter and find rest. To do God"s will is to be Christ-like is to be a true son, and to possess a son"s joy. Every step we take along that way of obedience is a step nearer God, from whose smile we obtain exquisite pleasure, and in whose society we find our heaven.
II WE CANNOT REMAIN THE SAME, AFTER OBTAINING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD"S WILL, AS WE WERE BEFORE. Necessity requires that we should be either better or worse. You cannot dwell for an hour in the society of a good man, and continue in the former state of feeling. The fire that does not melt, hardens. To know God"s will, and not to do it, inflicts unspeakable mischief upon the soul. Resistance of inward convictions begets callosity of heart, and blasts the budding life of conscience. Wanton treason against God is incipient hell. It is the darkening of the understanding, and the enslavement of the will. No blacker curse can enwrap a man than this.
III MATERIAL NATURE FORECASTS THE ALTERNATIVES OF BLESSING OR WOE. The visible universe is a projection of God"s thought, and all the forces of nature are the agents of God. We find upon this globe elements that minister to our development and strength and joy. We find also elements that are repulsive, menacing, and destructive. The cloud-capped peaks may draw around us the lightnings of vengeance, or may melt the laden cloud and distil showers of blessing. The twin mountains of Ebal and Gerizim were baptized as perpetual preachers of life and death. We may find "sermons in stones," lessons in leaves, counsels in running brooks.
IV MATERIAL POSSESSIONS ARE NOT ABSOLUTE BLESSINGS. God here distinctly assures the Hebrews that they shall enter Canaan; but whether they should dwell under the frowning peaks of Ebal, or on the sunny slopes of Gerizim, was suspended on their loyal obedience. Even to the possessors of the Promised Land, there stood the dark possibility of the curse. Neither money nor learning makes a man; it is the power to use it. D.
Vers. 26-32. Life"s solemn alternative.
Moses here sums up his exhortation with the alternative of a blessing or a curse. Obedience secures the blessing; disobedience the curse. He also directs them to go through a solemn service when they reach Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, by pronouncing the blessings and the curses from these mountains respectively. By the law of association, the very landscape was to witness to the truth of God. We are here reminded of such lessons as these
I GOD"S MINISTERS, LIKE MOSES, ARE CONSTANTLY TO SET BEFORE THE PEOPLE THE SOLEMN ALTERNATIVE OF A BLESSING OR A CURSE. The gospel is the offer of a blessing to those who are willing to trust God as he asks them to do; while, on the other hand, it is of necessity backed up by a threatened curse, if men refuse to trust him, and will not humble themselves before him. Each one chooses for himself either the blessing or the curse, and there is no use in laying the blame on others.
II THE REJECTION OF THE GOSPEL IS AFTER ALL A PREFERENCE OF OTHER GODS TO THE ONLY LIVING AND TRUE GOD. The idolatry which was the danger and temptation of Israel is reproduced in all who reject the mercy manifested in Christ. Some other object of worship has really been selected; the "world, or wealth, or self, or power is expected to do for the unbelieving soul what God alone can. His attributes are made over to these creatures, and a false confidence takes the place which the true should occupy. Unbelief is really idolatry at bottom.
III THE SOCIAL STUDY OF GOD"S PROMISES AND THREATENINGS IS MOST IMPORTANT. Moses, to impress the people more, directs them to assemble at Gerizim and Ebal, and there, dividing into two congregations, to go through the blessings and the curses publicly. The solemnities of that occasion would doubtless be greatly sanctified. In the very same way, the private study of God"s Word is not sufficient. "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob". (Psa_87:2) The solemn and leisurely study of God"s Word in public is owned more than any private study of the Word can be. Both are needful, but our expectation should be highest in connection with the public preaching of God"s Word. When a minister takes the people in an interesting manner through the truth contained in a paragraph, or even in a verse, there is much more realized than in the more hurried private reading. The sanctions of social worship are most important, and he is not in a safe way who despises them.
IV NATURAL ASSOCIATIONS MAY OFTEN BE HELPFUL TO THE CAUSE OF TRUTH. Scenes of great historic deeds become in a measure sanctified. They are "holy places" to the human race. Battle-fields, birthplaces, senates, forums, as well as churches, become hallowed to the historic mind. The laws of association secure a perennial influence. The soul must be dead indeed who can visit such scenes unmoved.
It was this law of association which Moss brought, into play in connection with Gerizim and Ebal. Never afterwards would they be visited by the descendants of these Israelites without a solemn feeling, and a recall of some at least of the blessings and the curses uttered there. Without any sympathy, therefore, with the consecration" of places as generally understood, which may savor largely of superstition, we cannot but admit that natural associations should not be disregarded. Indeed, it is in this way the world is becoming richer with the years. Places are becoming every year associated with noble deeds Gerizims are being multiplied as scenes of blessing; on the other hand, Ebals are also increasing, like beacons, on the dangerous places of human experience; but both undoubtedly meant by Providence to influence for good, and, through the law of association, our race. And some souls have "the place of mercy" marked clearly in their experience, and can sing
Oh, sacred hour I oh, hallowed spot, Where love Divine first found me! Wherever falls my distant lot, My heart will linger round thee.
And when from earth I rise to soar Up to my home in heaven, Down will I cast my eyes once morn Where I was first forgiven. R.M.E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v26 A blessing and a curse.
Deu_11:26-29
A blessing and a curse.
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Two mountains
Mount Ebal, we are told, is a barren, stony, and arid crag; so would God smite the apostates with barrenness, hunger, and misery. Gerizim was covered with luxuriant verdure, streams of running water and cool and shady groves; so would God bless the faithful Israelites with abundance, beauty and peace. It is a grand prophecy in landscape of the judgments of Gods eternal providence. Henceforth their future, in the country they conquer and colonise, is in their own hands. The two ways of national and individual life, to ruin or to glory, part plainly before their eyes. The things shown in that early age of symbols were only outward patterns of what goes on in facts and decisions within us. Gerizim and Ebal raise their significant and speaking summits before every life.
I. For, in other words, life is overspread, permeated, and bound in, by Gods law. That law occupies every inch of its extent and every fibre of its organisation. Obey and be blessed, disobey and be accursed; here is the sharp alternative imprinted on every department of our being. Your body, your business, your appetites, your affections, your intellect, your memory, your judgment, your imagination, your household manners, your talk at the table and in the street, your practice of your profession or performance at your trade, your levity or sobriety, your temper and your tongue, your bargains and your salutations, your correspondence and your meditation, your action and your reveries, your hands, heart, and brain, all are penetrated and encircled by this law.
II. This law is permanent and unchangeable, as its Author is, being the uniform will of an unchangeable mind; not one thing for preachers and communicants, but for persons who never chose to confess themselves Christians another and easier thing; not strict for one seventh of your time and lax for six sevenths; not varying with situations and fluctuating with opportunities for concealment or degrees of temptation; not satisfied to be respected in the dwellings at one end of a city while it is despised in the warehouses and offices at the other end.
III. Again, the consequences of this law which we are born and live under, in its two-fold working, whether as visiting penalties upon its violators or peace and strength upon its servants--are not to be prevented though they should be apparently obscured or postponed. This truth requires something more than a theoretic admission. How many of us realise it--that every offence against the Divine Will is certain to bring on, at last, its penal pain ant: sorrow--even its delay aggravating its torment; that every faithful or religious act or feeling must yield its infallible return of joy--the very hindrance enhancing its richness and depth; that Gerizim is sure of the fulfilment of its promise, and Ebal sure of the execution of its warning?
1. Helps enough are given to enable us to realise it. Can we pretend the law is not made plain?
2. We let our short-sightedness be deceived by the slowness of its operation; and, because sentence against our evil works is not executed speedily, suffer our hearts to get set in us to do evil. But the majestic order of nature is not really so stable as the moral results of moral choice, from greatest to least.
IV. With every right-minded Christian it must be a very earnest and very constant prayer, that he may gain larger and larger apprehensions of the extent and the sanctity of this law--the law that puts him on a perpetual choosing between holiness and worldliness, at between blessing and cursing.
V. Another step in the doctrine is to trace up this commandment to its conscious and personal infinite source. The law has its seat in the heart of God. No rigid, unfeeling abstraction is it, but the living Will of a living Father. Choose the right and scorn the wrong; and there will be growing within you a sense of His Almighty Presence, without whom no right could be, and all would be wrong. But remember that moral obedience can never be religious till it has God for its object, Gods Will for its guide, and communion with God for its daily inspiration.
VI. And thus we are led up by this order of our subject to discover, finally, the positive grandeur of allegiance to the Divine law. That grandeur is witnessed both by its nature and its effects.
1. In its nature. For obedience to the commandment is of itself a noble and valiant element in character. It is no paradox to affirm that the obedient mind is a commanding mind. The law that carries blessings in its right hand and curses in its left appeals to a deeper principle than selfishness. The blessings are not earthly advantages, but those spiritual gifts and honours, like confidence and holiness, love and faith, power and peace, which exclude all thought of self, and are kindred with the glory and purity of heaven. The curses are those elements of spiritual ruin--fear, hatred, passion, jealousy, despair, which impoverish the whole moral creation. The law does not reveal its encouragements and threatenings from Gerizim and Ebal, to make a rich or famous people, but a holy people.
2. So the effect is holiness of life. The commandment is holy, just, and good; and so must its fruit be. (Bp. F. D. Huntington.)
Practical alternatives
Moses does not divide the people into two classes: he sets before them alternative courses:--proceed upon the line of obedience, and you come to blessing; proceed along the line of disobedience, and a curse is the inevitable necessity--not a threatening, not an exhibition of fretful vengeance, but a spiritual necessity; a curse follows evil-doing, not as an arbitrary punishment, but as the effect, which can never be changed, of a certain, positive, operating cause. What if everything round about us be confirming the testimony of Moses? What if the Decalogue be written every day of the week? What if in the operation of moral influence it can be distinctly proved that the Bible is true, that the Word of the Lord abideth forever, and that, whatever changes may have occurred, obedience still leads to blessing, disobedience still leads to cursing, and it is not within the wit or the strength of man to change that outgoing of law and consequence? A very precious thing it is that we have only to obey. At first it looks as if we were humbled by this course of service, but further inquest into the spiritual meaning of the matter shows us that in the definition of right and wrong, law and righteousness, God has been most tenderly pitiful towards us, and law is but the practical and more visible and measurable aspect of love. One who knows the universe, because He made it, and all eternity, because He inhabits it, has condescended to tell us what is good, what is true, what is pure, what is right. If we were inspired by the right spirit we would instantly stand up in thankfulness and bless the Givers name, and ask but one other favour--that we might have eyes to see the innermost meaning of the law, and hearts trained, disciplined, and sanctified to accept and obey it, and express it in noble behaviour. Is it true, within limits that we know, that obedience leads to blessing and disobedience to cursing? Sometimes we have to interrupt the Divine reasoning that we may assist ourselves in its comprehension by the study of analogy upon lower ground. Is it true that there is a seed time, which, if neglected, will be followed by desolation and death?. . .If all these little outside Bibles are true and can challenge facts to prove their truth, it is not difficult to rise to the higher level, and to say, There may be a Bible meant for the soul; there may be a revelation addressed to the reason, and to the higher reason called faith, and to the higher self called the spirit. This higher revelation has not the immediate advantage of the lower Bibles, because they deal with earth, body, space, time, measurable quantities; but the higher Bible deals with soul, spirit, thought, will, eternity. He who operates within a radius of a few inches can be, apparently, quicker in his movements, more precise and determined in his decisions, than the man who claims the globe as the theatre of his actions. So the Bible, having the disadvantage of dealing with spiritual quantities, must be judged, so far as we can approach it, by the spirit of the lower laws, or the laws applying to the lower economy The argument is this: seeing that in the field, in the body, in the social economy, there is a law of blessing and a law of cursing, who shall say that this same reasoning does not culminate in a great revelation of heaven, hell; the right hand, the left hand; eternal life, everlasting penalty? If the analogies had been dead against that construction, we might by so much have stood in doubt and excused ourselves from completeness of service; but every analogy becomes a preacher: all nature take up her parable and speaks the revelations of her God: all life beats with a pulse below a pulse, the physical throb being but an indication of a growing immortality. We stand in a solemn sanctuary. We cannot get rid of law. The spiritual is a present blessing or a present curse. We cannot be happy with a bad conscience: it hardens the pillow when we need sleep most, it upsets all our arrangements, or makes our hand so tremble that we cannot clutch our own property; and we cannot be unhappy with a good conscience: without bread we are still in fulness, without employment we are still inspired by hope, without much earthly charity or largeness of construction of our motive and force we still retire within the sanctuary of an approved judgment and conscience. Blessing is not a question of posthumous realisation, nor is cursing. Heaven is here, and hell in germ, in outline, in hint, in quick, burning suggestion. Even now sometimes men know not whether they are in the body or out of the body by reason of religious entrancement and ecstasy; and there are men who, if they dare put their feeling into words, would say, The pains of hell gat hold upon me. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked; Though hand join in band, the wicked shall not be unpunished; Be sure your sin will find you out. Who can fight God and win the battle? (J. Parker, D. D.)
The blessing and the curse
1. What is the blessing set before us? The blessing of him whose sins are forgiven, who lives in Gods favour and dies in peace.
2. What is the curse? Just this, The soul that sins shall die. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written, etc.
3. What is the way to escape the curse? By the death of Christ we are delivered from sin, redeemed from the curse, and by His obedience entitled to a blessing.
4. Which will you choose? Some people think they can make a compromise; that they need not be intensely Christian, as they are not, and will not be intensely worldly. If they do so, it is not really an alteration of their state, but a deception of themselves. You must take the sunshine or the shadow--the evil or the good--the Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom; or the withering sentence, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. (J. C. Cumming, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v26 The Blessing and the Curse
The Blessing and the Curse
v. 26. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse, having told them what the result of obedience and of disobedience would be, he gives them their own choice, he wants them to make their own decision;
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v. 27. a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I command you this day, Deu 4:1;
v. 28. and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, but turn aside out of (deliberately leave) the way which I command you this day to go after other gods which ye have not known. Disobedience of God is a species of idolatry and invariably leads to other sins of idolatry, other transgressions of the First Commandment.
v. 29. And it shall come to pass, when the Lord, thy God, hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal. By pronouncing the Lord’s blessing and curse while standing on these two mountains, the children of Israel would charge the very land with carrying out the blessing and the curse of the Lord. The land would thereby be placed under the solemn obligation of carrying out Jehovah’s decrees.
v. 30. Are they, the two mountains, not on the other side, the west side, Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign, in the great steppes, over against Gilgal, from which the mountains, the plains, and the sea were visible, beside the Plains of Moreh? near the groves of terebinths where the patriarchs had lived, Gen 12:6; Gen 35:4. The two mountains are almost in the center of what was later Samaria, Ebal being on the north, and Gerizim on the south, of a fertile valley, where the city of Shechem was situated.
v. 31. For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord, your God, giveth you, and ye shall possess it and dwell therein. This definite assurance was to encourage them in the struggles which were before them.
v. 32. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day. The remembrance of all the mercies of the Lord in the past and the certainty of receiving still more evidences of His loving-kindness in the future should serve as a steady inducement to all Christians to continue in sanctification according to His will.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v26 General Information:
General Information:
Here Moses summarizes the two options the people of Israel could choose. They could choose to obey and receive God's blessing or they could choose to disobey and receive God's punishment.
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Look
"Pay attention"
I set before you today a blessing and a curse
Allowing the people to choose whether they want God to bless them or curse them is spoken of as if a blessing and a curse were objects that Moses is setting in front of them. AT: "Today you must choose whether God will bless you or curse you" (See: Metaphor)
the blessing, if you ... the curse, if you
The abstract nouns "blessings" and "curse" can be translated with verbs. AT: "God will bless you if you ... God will curse you if you" (See: Abstract Nouns)
but turn aside from the way that I command you today, to go after other gods
The commands of Yahweh that Moses is telling the people are spoken of as if they were God's way or road. To not obey God's commands is spoken of as if people physically were to turn in another direction away from Yahweh to follow other gods. AT: "but stop obeying what I command you today, in order to worship other gods" (See: Metaphor)
other gods that you have not known
This refers to the gods that other people groups worship. The Israelites know Yahweh because he has revealed himself to them and they have experienced his power.
translationWords
bless
curse
command
turn
false god
know
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v26 11:26 In covenant contexts, a blessing is the outcome…
11:26 In covenant contexts, a blessing is the outcome of obedience, while a curse is the result of disobedience (see chs 27–28).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.