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Deuteronomy Chapter
Twenty-seven
Deuteronomy 27
Chapter Contents
The law to be written on stones in the promised land. (1-10)
The curses to be pronounced on mount Ebal. (11-26)
Commentary on Deuteronomy 27:1-10
(Read Deuteronomy 27:1-10)
As soon as they were come into Canaan
they must set up a
monument
on which they must write the words of this law. They must set up an
altar. The word and prayer must go together. Though they might not
of their
own heads
set up any altar besides that at the tabernacle; yet
by the
appointment of God
they might
upon special occasion. This altar must be made
of unhewn stones
such as they found upon the field. Christ
our Altar
is a
stone cut out of the mountain without hands
refused by the builders
as having
no form or comeliness
but accepted of God the Father
and made the Head of the
corner. In the Old Testament the words of the law are written
with the curse
annexed; which would overcome us with horror
if we had not
in the New
Testament
an altar erected close by
which gives consolation. Blessed be God
the printed copies of the Scriptures among us
do away the necessity of such
methods as were presented to Israel. The end of the gospel ministry is
and the
end of preachers ought to be
to make the word of God as plain as possible.
Yet
unless the Spirit of God prosper such labours with Divine power
we shall
not
even by these means
be made wise unto salvation: for this blessing we
should therefore daily and earnestly pray.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 27:11-26
(Read Deuteronomy 27:11-26)
The six tribes appointed for blessing
were all children
of the free women
for to such the promise belongs
Galatians 4:31. Levi is here among the rest.
Ministers should apply to themselves the blessing and curse they preach to
others
and by faith set their own Amen to it. And they must not only allure
people to their duty with the promises of a blessing
but awe them with the
threatenings of a curse
by declaring that a curse would be upon those who do
such things. To each of the curses the people were to say
Amen. It professed
their faith
that these
and the like curses
were real declarations of the
wrath of God against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
not one jot of
which shall fall to the ground. It was acknowledging the equity of these
curses. Those who do such things deserve to fall
and lie under the curse. Lest
those who were guilty of other sins
not here mentioned
should think
themselves safe from the curse
the last reaches all. Not only those who do the
evil which the law forbids
but those also who omit the good which the law
requires. Without the atoning blood of Christ
sinners can neither have
communion with a holy God
nor do any thing acceptable to him; his righteous
law condemns every one who
at any time
or in any thing
transgresses it.
Under its awful curse we remain as transgressors
until the redemption of
Christ is applied to our hearts. Wherever the grace of God brings salvation
it
teaches the believer to deny ungodliness and wordly lusts
to live soberly
righteously
and godly in this present world
consenting to
and delighting in
the words of God's law
after the inward man. In this holy walk
true peace and
solid joy are to be found.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy》
Deuteronomy 27
Verse 2
[2] And
it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee
that thou shalt set thee up great stones
and
plaister them with plaister:
On that day —
About that time
for it was not done 'till some days after their passing over.
Verse 3
[3] And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law
when thou art
passed over
that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee
a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers
hath promised thee.
This law —
The law properly so called
that is
the sum and substance of the precepts or laws
of Moses
especially such as were moral
particularly the decalogue.
Write it
that thou mayest go in — As the condition of thy entering into the land. For since Canaan is
given only by promise
it must be held by obedience.
Verse 4
[4]
Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan
that ye shall set up these
stones
which I command you this day
in mount Ebal
and thou shalt plaister
them with plaister.
Mount Ebal —
The mount of cursing. Here the law is written
to signify that a curse was due
to the violators of it
and that no man could expect justification from the
works of the law
by the sentence whereof all men are justly accused
as being
all guilty of the transgression of it in one kind and degree or other. Here the
sacrifices are to be offered
to shew that there is no way to be delivered from
this curse
but by the blood of Christ
which all these sacrifices did typify
and by Christ's being made a curse for us.
Verse 6
[6] Thou
shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer
burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:
Whole stones —
Rough
not hewed or polished. By the law written on the stones
God spake to
them: by the altar and sacrifices upon it
they spake to God: and thus was
communion kept up between them and God.
Verse 9
[9] And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel
saying
Take
heed
and hearken
O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD
thy God.
The people of the Lord — By thy solemn renewing of thy covenant with him.
Verse 12
[12]
These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people
when ye are come over
Jordan; Simeon
and Levi
and Judah
and Issachar
and Joseph
and Benjamin:
Upon mount Gerizzim —
These words may be rendered beside or near to mount Gerizzim. There were in
Canaan two mountains that lay near together
with a valley between
one called
Gerizzim
the other Ebal. On the sides of these which faced each other
all the
tribes were to be drawn up
six on a side
so that in the valley they came near
each other
so near that the priests standing between them
might be heard by
them that were next them on both sides. Then one of the priests
or perhaps
more
at some distance from each other
pronounced with a loud voice
one of
the curses following. And all the people who stood on the foot and side of
mount Ebal
(those farther off taking the signal from those who were nearer)
said Amen! Then the contrary blessing was pronounced
"Blessed is he that
doth so or so:" To which all who stood on the foot and side of mount
Gerizzim
said
Amen! Simeon - All these were the children of the free-women
Leah and Rachel
to shew both the dignity of the blessings above the curses
and that the blessings belong only to those who are evangelically such
as this
is expounded and applied
Galatians 4:22
even to those that receive the
Spirit of adoption and liberty. Joseph is here put for both his sons and tribes
Manasseh and Ephraim
which are reckoned as one tribe
because Levi is here
numbered; but when Levi is omitted
as it is where the division of the land is
made
there Manasseh and Ephraim pass for two tribes.
Verse 13
[13] And
these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben
Gad
and Asher
and
Zebulun
Dan
and Naphtali.
To curse — Of
the former tribes
'tis said
they stood to bless the people: of these
that
they stood to curse. Perhaps the different way of speaking intimates
That
Israel in general were an happy people
and should ever be so
if they were
obedient. And to that blessing
they on mount Gerizzim said
Amen! But the
curses come in
only as exceptions to the general rule: "Israel is a
blessed people: but if there be any even among them
that do such and such
things
they have no part or lot in this matter
but are under a curse."
This shews how ready God is to bestow the blessing: if any fall under the
curse
they bring it on their own head. Four of these are children of the
bond-woman
to shew that the curse belongs to those of servile and disingenuous
spirits. With these are joined Reuben
who by his shameful sin fell from his
dignity
and Zebulun
the youngest of Leah's children
that the numbers might
be equal.
Verse 14
[14] And
the Levites shall speak
and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice
The Levites —
Some of the Levites
namely
the priests
who bare the ark
as it is expressed Joshua 8:33
for the body of the Levites stood
upon mount Gerizzim
Deuteronomy 27:12. But these stood in the valley
between Gerizzim and Ebal
looking towards the one or the other mountain as
they pronounced either the blessings or the curses.
Verse 15
[15]
Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image
an abomination unto
the LORD
the work of the hands of the craftsman
and putteth it in a secret
place. And all the people shall answer and say
Amen.
Cursed —
The curses are expressed
but not the blessings. For as many as were under the
law
were under the curse. But it was an honour reserved for Christ to bless
us; to do that which the law could not do. So in his sermon on the mount
the
true mount Gerizzim
we have blessings only.
The man —
Under this particular he understands all the gross violations of the first
table
as under the following branches he comprehends all other sins against
the second table.
Amen —
'Tis easy to understand the meaning of Amen to the blessings. But how could
they say it to the curses? It was both a profession of their faith in the truth
of it
and an acknowledgment of the equity of these curses. So that when they
said Amen
they did in effect Say
not only
it is certain it shall be so
but
it is just it should be so.
Verse 16
[16]
Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people
shall say
Amen.
Light —
Or
despiseth in his heart: or reproacheth or curseth
secretly: for if the
fact was notorious
it was punished with death.
Verse 17
[17]
Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall
say
Amen.
Out of the way —
That misleadeth simple souls
giving them pernicious counsel
either for this
life
or for the next.
Verse 24
[24]
Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say
Amen.
Smiteth —
That is
killeth. This includes murder under colour of law
which is of all
others the greatest affront to God. Cursed therefore is he that any ways
contributes to accuse
or convict
or condemn an innocent person.
Verse 26
[26]
Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all
the people shall say
Amen.
Confirmeth not —
Or
performeth not. To this we must all say
Amen! Owning ourselves to be under
the curse
and that we must have perished for ever
if Christ had not redeemed
us from the curse of the law
by being made a curse for us.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Deuteronomy》
27 Chapter 27
Verse 2-3
That thou shalt set up great stones.
Memorial pillars
On the boundary line between European and Siberian Russia there is
a square pillar of brick bearing on one side the coat-of-arms belonging to the
province of Perm in Europe
and on the other side the coat-of-arms belonging to
the province of Tobolsk in Asia. That pillar has more sorrowful associations
than any other pillar in the world. For many years the exiles to Siberia had to
pass it
and there bade a long farewell to home and country. Strong men wept;
some pressed their faces to the loved soil they were leaving
some collected a
little earth to take with them to their new abodes
and some passionately
kissed the European side of the pillar. The plaister on the bricks was covered
with inscriptions
plaintive and pathetic as the epitaphs in a graveyard. Moses
thought of pillars which were to have not a mournful
but a joyful
significance. The stones were afterwards set up by the people as memorials of
God’s work on their behalf. The stones were to be a perpetual memorial of
indebtedness to God for rescue from slavery and guidance to prosperity and
honour. The disciples of Christ have experienced a change wonderful as that
experienced by the Israelites. They have passed from bondage to liberty
from
darkness to light
from moral debasement to spiritual glory. They are not to
boast as if by their own endeavours they had wrought out the salvation in which
they rejoice
but gratefully to confess that God has made them what they are.
They are themselves to be monuments of God’s power such as all can see and
understand. Something more is needed from them than activity in setting up
great stones as abiding witnesses of the great revolution in their life. They
are to stand before the world as witnesses of God’s saving
hallowing work in
the human soul. The stones the Israelites were to set up were to be plaistered
and the law written on the plaister. There was a deep significance in the words
thus inscribed. The people would be reminded by them that though they were out
of the wilderness they had not ceased to be under the law. The horrors of Egyptian
slavery would have been better for them than luxurious life in Canaan
unrestricted by Divine precepts. The written stones were an attestation of
God’s supremacy over them
and as a restraint from the moral laxity to which
they would be tempted when at ease amid “the limpid wells and orchards green”
and all the other charms of the land “where Abraham fed his flock of yore.” The
disciples of Christ are to be as pillars inscribed with the law of the Lord.
They do not bear the words of the ceremonial law
nor are they under direct
obligation to bear those of the social law enacted in the wilderness. It is the
moral law they bear as a sacred inscription on their life. Special prominence
is to be given to the two great commandments
love to God and love to man
which
according to the teaching of Jesus
include the whole of the Decalogue.
Faith in Christ does not mean freedom from the law as a rule of life. Truth
honesty
amiability are as much required in members of the Church as if those
qualities were the sole condition of salvation: evangelical righteousness
implies practical righteousness. (J. Marrat.)
Verse 9-10
Obey the voice of the lord thy god.
Of obedience to God’s revealed will
I. What is the
rule of obedience? The written Word.
II. What are the
right ingredients in our obedience to make it acceptable?
1. Obedience must be free and cheerful
else it is penance
not
sacrifice (Isaiah 1:19). Willingness is the soul of
obedience; God sometimes accepts of willingness without the work
but never of
the work without willingness. Cheerfulness shows that there is love in the
duty; and love doth to our services
as the sun doth to the fruits
mellow and
ripen them and make them come off with a better relish.
2. Obedience must be devout and fervent: the heart must boil over
with hot affections in the service of God.
3. Obedience must be extensive
it must reach to all God’s commands (Psalms 119:6). True obedience runs
through all duties of religion
as the blood through all the veins
or the sun
through all the signs of the zodiac.
4. Obedience must be sincere--namely
we must aim at the glory of God
in it
in religion the end is all. The end of our obedience must not be to stop
the mouth of conscience
or to gain applause
but that we may grow more like
God
and bring more glory to God.
5. Obedience must be in and through Christ
“He made us accepted in
the Beloved.”
6. Obedience must be constant
“Blessed is he who doeth righteousness
at all times.” True obedience is not like an high colour in a fit
but it is a
right sanguine; it is like the fire on the altar which was always kept burning.
III. Whence is it
that men do not obey God?
1. The not obeying of God is for want of faith: “Who hath believed
our report?” Did men believe sin were so bitter that hell followed at the heels
of it
would they go on in sin? Did they believe there were such a reward for
the righteous that godliness were gain
would they not pursue it?
2. The not obeying God is for want of self-denial. God commands one
thing
and men’s lusts command another
and they will rather die than deny
their lusts; now
if lust cannot be denied God cannot be obeyed.
IV. What are the
great arguments or incentives to obedience?
1. Obedience makes us precious to God; we shall be His favourites (Exodus 19:5; Isaiah 43:3).
2. There is nothing lost by obedience. To obey God’s will is the way
to have our will. (T. Watson.)
Implicit obedience
Implicit obedience is our first duty to God
and one for which
nothing else will compensate. If a lad at school is bidden to cipher
and
chooses to write a copy instead
the goodness of the writing will not save him
from censure. We must obey whether we see the reason or not; for God knows
best. A guide through an unknown country must be followed without demur. A
captain
in coming up the Humber or Southampton Water
yields complete
authority to the pilot. A soldier in battle must fight when and where he is
ordered; when the conflict is over he may reflect upon and perceive the wisdom
of his commander in movements that at the time of their execution were
perplexing. The farmer must obey God’s natural laws of the seasons if he would
win a harvest; and we must all obey God’s spiritual laws if we would reap
happiness here and hereafter.
Obedience proceeding from love
The son of a poor man that hath not a penny to give or leave him
yields his father obedience as cheerfully as the son of a rich man that looks
for a great inheritance. It is
indeed
love to the father
not wages from the
father
that is the ground of a good child’s obedience. If there were no heaven
God’s children would obey Him; and though there were no hell yet would they do
their duty; so powerfully doth the love of the Father constrain them. (J.
Spencer.)
Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark.
The landmarks of faith
The landmarks of faith are just the truth which God has revealed
to men
and the duty which He requires of them. Among the sins
the criminality
of which it was the will of God should be deeply impressed on the minds of the
children of Israel
that of removing the ancient landmarks was one. The
reference manifestly is to landmarks that were set up
when the land of Canaan
was divided among the tribes and families of Israel; to determine the
boundaries of the portion belonging to each individual family
or tribe. This
is a kind of crime which is spoken of and pointedly prohibited in other parts
of Scripture as well as that quoted above. (Proverbs 22:28.) God saw meet to employ
men of high character in the division made of the land
and that division He so
sanctioned that it was His will that it should be maintained throughout the
successive generations of Israel. But however great a crime it was to remove
any of these landmarks
the criminality of the removal of such landmarks and
its evil consequences were exceedingly small compared with the guilt that has
been and is being contracted by the removal of the landmarks of faith. The
dishonour done to God
and the injury to society by the one form of wickedness
is as nothing compared with the other. Of this there is ample illustration and
confirmation furnished in the past history of our fallen world. The landmarks
of faith were set up progressively by God Himself in the special revelation which
He was pleased to give to men regarding His own character and will in relation
to doctrine and practice; to the truth to be believed and the duty to be
performed to Him and to one another. In most cases
though not in all
the
removal of those Divinely erected landmarks has been a gradual process. Of
Abraham God said
“I know him
that he will command his children and his
household after him
and they shall keep the way of the Lord
to do justice and
judgment” (Genesis 18:19). By this patriarch we can
have no doubt the landmarks of faith as to truth and duty were faithfully set
up in his household
both by precept and instruction
commended by the best
example. But except in the line of Jacob
how speedily did these come to be
removed among all the other branches of his posterity. His son Ishmael
and his
children by Keturah
as well as Isaac
were no doubt highly favoured in their
early years with the advantages of earnest paternal counsel. Reminiscences of
this behoved to follow them to their respective places of sojourn and location.
But the light which might thus shine for a time became gradually more and mole
obscure
till at length there was scarcely anything left to distinguish them
from the other branches of Noah’s descendants
who had at an earlier date sunk
into that state of moral debasement which is inseparable from idolatry. How
brief the time during which these landmarks stood up erect in the days of David
and the first years of the reign of his son Solomon! In the history of Judah we
see the same issues realised so far as a similar course was pursued in that
kingdom; and in the conduct of the Jews after their restoration from the
Babylonish captivity
when the landmarks of faith were set up anew among
them--by such notable instruments as Ezra and Nehemiah--and to which they bound
themselves to adhere by solemn covenant. How soon did they also fall back and
become hardened in unbelief. Again
at the era of the glorious Reformation from
Popery
God graciously interposed for a blissful restoration of the widely
obliterated landmarks of faith in a number of the nations of Europe.
Distinguished instruments were simultaneously raised up in different countries
by whom these were anew set up in a remarkable degree of conformity to the
Divine pattern. These
alas
have been
to a very lamentable extent
practically removed in all the Reformed Churches on the Continent--in France
Switzerland
Holland
and Germany. (Original Secession Magazine.)
Amen.
Amen
I. A lesson of
acquiescence in the Divine law. “Amen” is understood to denote truth or
certainty. Such
without doubt
was its signification here. The leading
principles of the moral law were then being enunciated
in the hearing of all
the people
and in token that these met with their acquiescence
they were to
superadd the emphatic “Amen.” Now
every believer knows that the God in whom we
live and move
is a God of infinite holiness
and that the Scripture is filled
with precepts which every responsible creature is bound to carry into hourly
practice. “Be ye holy
for I am holy”--“Cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things written in the book of the law to do them--“Except your
righteousness shall exceed”--such are precepts whose import may not be
misunderstood
leaving it as one of the dearest and most intelligible of Gospel
maxims that to God’s moral law the Christian is called upon to append his
sanction--his solemn “Amen.”
1. The Christian Church is not placed under the law
as a covenant of
works. An acquiescence
therefore
in the moral law
or of our saying “Amen” to
every one of its precepts
does not imply that we have elevated these to be the
conditions of our salvation
or the grounds of an acceptance before God.
2. This does not stand in the way of an acknowledging the surpassing
excellency of every such precept. The law may in itself be good and holy
although we cannot keep it--just as the light of the sun’s meridian splendour
may be pure and glorious
although there are eyes too weak to bear it. And this
we affirm.
3. We must consider the law as still the rule of our life. Our
inability to realise the lofty standard of holiness indicated in the Decalogue
no more releases us from our obligation to perform it
than the mere
declaration of bankruptcy cancels a debt
discharges the conscience from the
duty of paying it
should there be ability to do so at any future time
or
authorises a man to contract fresh obligations with the secret purpose of
getting quit of them by a similar process.
4. As Christians
we are necessarily anticipating a restoration to
that moral perfection which the law requires.
II. A lesson of
conformity to the Divine method of salvation. Momentous
of course
are the
effects which ensue upon the acceptance or rejection
but everyone who listens
to the overtures of the Gospel does so in the attitude of an independent and
rational being. There is no restraint
no compulsion. “My son
give Me thine
heart
” is
indeed
the impressive demand; but we ought to know
that if we
choose to risk the fearful consequences of embracing the alternative
there is
no constraining influence compelling us to believe against our will. The thing
indeed
is impossible. Faith is a voluntary
act; and this is the most
important principle suggested by the text
that to God’s method of salvation
our heart
in the hour of regeneration
must respond with an unreserved and
cordial “Amen.”
III. A lesson of
submission to God’s providential dispensations. It is obvious to even the
natural judgment of man
that
of all methods of meeting the calamities which
flesh is heir to
the worst is to murmur and oppose. Not only does this involve
the turpitude of virtual rebellion against the authority of heaven; it
positively adds to and renders more poignant the distresses we are called upon
to endure. It were folly to imagine
for a single instant
that affliction can
be thereby either mitigated or removed. The dying soldier may cherish the
fiercest resentment against the enemy who has smitten him
but that resentment
will not heal the deadly wound. The chances are that death will be thereby
precipitated. So is it with our calamities. Whether we will or no
these will
descend upon us; and our spiritual enemies can desire no greater victory over
us than that these should crush and drive us to despair. Submission
then
is
the lesson inculcated upon us by the afflictive dispensations of God. Whatever
these may be
let the tendency of the Christian’s heart be to acknowledge them
with a cordial “Amen.” Peace will be his in the present. He will experimentally
know the meaning of that apostolic paradox
“Sorrowful
yet always rejoicing”;
in the world’s chastisements realise a pledge of his heavenly Father’s love;
and anticipate with gladness unspeakable the approval of that blissful era when
“God the Lord shall wipe away
” etc.
IV. A lesson of
confidence in the Divine promises and of assurance regarding the execution of
the Divine purposes. (James Cochrane
M. A.)
That maketh the blind to
wander out of the way.--
Against imposing on the ignorant
In this chapter
curses are pronounced against several heinous
crimes
such as idolatry
contempt of parents
murder
rapine
and the like;
and amongst these crimes is mentioned this
of causing the blind to go out of
their way; a wickedness of a singular nature
and which one would not expect to
find in this list of vicious actions. It is a crime which is seldom committed;
there are few opportunities for it; there is little temptation to it: it is
doing mischief for mischief’s sake
an enormity to which few can easily bring
themselves. We may therefore reasonably suppose that more is intended than
barely to condemn those who should lead a blind man out of his way. And what
that may be
it is not difficult to discover. Blindness in all languages is put
for error and ignorance; and
in the style of the Scriptures
ways and paths
and walking
running
going
wandering astray
stumbling
falling
mean the
actions and the behaviour of men. These obvious observations will lead us to
the moral
mystical
spiritual
and enlarged sense of the law
or commination;
and it is this: Cursed is he who imposeth upon the simple
the credulous
the
unwary
the ignorant
and the helpless; and either hurts
or defrauds
or deceives
or seduces
or misinforms
or misleads
or perverts
or corrupts and spoils
them.
1. As to the ministers of the Gospel
they may be said to mislead the
blind when
instead of endeavouring to instruct and amend their hearers
they
deal in false opinions
or unintelligible doctrines
or unprofitable disputes
or uncharitable reproofs
or personal reflections
or flattery
or in any
subjects foreign from religion and void of edification; much more when they
teach things of an evil tendency
and which may have a bad influence on the
minds and manners of the people.
2. In all our worldly affairs and intercourse with others
as we
ought to act fairly
justly towards every person
so more especially ought we
to behave towards those whom we might injure with impunity
that is
without
danger of being called to account for it in this life.
3. As nations subsist by trade
so trade subsists by integrity. In
commerce upright dealing is an indispensable duty
and defrauding is a vice.
But if it be a fault to make unreasonable advances in our dealings even with
those who are skilful as ourselves
it is far worse to impose upon the ignorant
and the necessitous
and to wrong those who have a good opinion of us
and
place an entire confidence in us.
4. Of the same bad nature is giving wrong counsel and hurtful advice
knowingly and wilfully
to those who have an opinion of our superior skill
and
apply to us for direction. As likewise all dishonesty in offices of trust and
confidence.
5. To take bad courses
to keep bad company
to be vicious amongst
the vicious
dissolute amongst the dissolute--this is confessedly a great
fault. But yet there is a greater
which is
to seek out the weak
the young
the ignorant
the unsteadfast
to instill bad principles into them
to entice
them to sin
to spoil an honest disposition
to seduce an innocent mind
to rob
an unspotted person of virtue
of honour and reputation
of peace of mind
of a
quiet conscience
and perhaps of all happiness present and future. This is not
an ordinary offence; it is to be agents and assisters to the devil
and to do
his work and imitate his example. It is a crime attended with this terrible
circumstance
that even repentance itself can be attended with no suitable
reparation to the injured person. (J. Jortin
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》