Our Daily Scripture – 4/8/23

SCRIPTURE:  DEUTERONOMY 27

BIBLE VERSES:

“Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool on them.  Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.  Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God.  And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up.” (Deuteronomy 27:5-8)

THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL (vs. 18)

MOSES AND THE ELDERS GAVE THE ISRAELITES THE COMMANDS OF THE LORD:

  1. Keep all the commands of the Lord (v. 1)
  2. Set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. (v. 2)
  3. Write on them the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the promised land. (v. 3)
  4. When you have crossed the Jordan, set up large stones on Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster. (v. 4)
  5. Build an altar of stones to the Lord without using iron tool upon them. (v. 5)
  6. Build the altar of the Lord with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord. (v. 6)
  7. Sacrifice fellowship offerings and eat them in the presence of the Lord. (v.7 )
  8. Write all the words clearly on the stones (v. 8)

CURSES FROM MOUNT EBAL (vs. 9-26)

  1. The man who carves an image or casts an idol (v. 15)
  2. The man who dishonors his father or his mother. (*v. 16)
  3. The man who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone. (v. 17)
  4. The man who leads the blind astray on the road. (v. 18)
  5. The man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow. (v. 19)
  6. The man who sleeps with his father’s wife. (v. 20)
  7. The man who has sexual relations with any animal. (v. 21)
  8. The man who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of hismother. (v. 22)
  9. The man who sleeps with his mother-in-law. (v. 24)
  10. The man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person. (v. 25)
  11. The man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out. (v. 26)

THOUGHTS:

The elders of the tribes had to set up ?great stones: on Mt. Ebal and write the 10 commandments on them.  They had to erect an altar at the foot of the mountain with sacrifices of burnt offerings and peace offerings.  The law brings condemnation but the altar met the need of the condemned sinner.

The burnt offering speaks of Christ’s complete sacrifice on our behalf and the peace offering reminds us that God brought us peace so that today’s generation must believe in God and follow His way.

Curses were enumerated so that the people could stay away from wrong actions.  It was a loving warnings for us to stay away from dangerous actions so that we won’t have tragic consequences.