In Deuteronomy 11:19 the Israelites were told that after they cross into the promised land they are to pronounce blessings from Mount Gerizim and curses from Mount Ebal. Today we look at the curses.
"Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, 'Be silent, Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God. Obey the Lord your God and follow His commands and decrees that I give you today.' On the same day Moses commanded the people: When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali." (Deuteronomy 27:9-13) This landscape of this location creates a natural amphitheater. With the congregation standing in the space between the two mountains, everyone will be able to hear everything that is said. The instructions from today's passage will be obeyed in Joshua 8.
"The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice: 'Cursed is anyone who makes an idol---a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of skilled hands---and sets it up in secret.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:14-15) The people are to have no gods other than the one true God. This is one of the ten commandments---the first commandment upon which all the others hinge. God is to be the God of the nation of Israel, both publicly and privately. Committing a sin in secret may hide a person's wickedness from their fellow man but it doesn't hide it from God. Committing an act of idolatry in secret is as much of a sin as committing it out in the open.
The Levites continue on down the list of curses. "'Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:16) Honoring one's father and mother is another of the ten commandments.
"'Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor's boundary stone.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:17) An action like this amounts to theft. A prohibition against stealing is one of the ten commandments.
These next two curses don't involve the breaking of specific laws outlined in the ten commandments but they do involve the breaking of the laws to love your neighbor as yourself and to treat others as you want to be treated. "'Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:19-20) The Lord has already made it clear, by the laws He's set forth in our study of the Old Testament, that He defends the cause of the helpless and needy. He will hear them when they cry out against their oppressors.
The next set of curses involve sexual sins. "'Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father's wife, for he dishonors his father's bed.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who has sexual relations with any animal.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his mother-in-law.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:20-23) We studied a list of sexual prohibitions earlier in the Bible. These things are prohibited due to being unnatural (humans mating with animals) or due to being incestuous in nature and therefore detrimental to the health of the family/the community (a man having an affair with his step-mother, for example, causing a family rift) and detrimental to the health of any resulting offspring (a sexual relationship between a brother and a sister, for example, causing birth defects in a child born to them).
Next we see that a person is cursed even when he appears to have gotten away with murder. "'Cursed is anyone who kills their neighbor secretly.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:24) The community may not know the identity of the perpetrator of this crime. The murderer may never be brought into a human court and judged guilty, but the Lord knows his identity and will judge his crime. The guilty man will pay sooner or later.
The person who perverts justice is under a curse, as we've already learned earlier in the Bible, but the one who performs a "contract killing" is under an even greater curse. Let's say, for example, a court case is coming up in which an innocent person will give testimony that proves the guilt of a wicked person. The wicked person may decide, prior to the trial, to pay someone to kill the one who is going to testify against him. Both the wicked person and the one he paid to perform this dirty deed have brought a curse upon themselves. "'Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:25)
The congregation is to say, 'Amen!' to each individual statement in this list of curses. Then, at the conclusion of the list, they are to say, 'Amen!' to the list as a whole. "'Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:26) They agree to keep these laws individually and as a whole.
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