Upon entering the Promised Land, the Levites were to proclaim to all the men of Israel twelve curses. Upon each pronouncement the people would say “Amen” indicating their agreement with and application of these curses. The final curse in Deut 27:26 reads, “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.”
Everything depended on the keeping of the Law under the Old Covenant. Keeping of the Law brought life and blessing (5:33). Keeping of the Law earned righteousness before God (6:25). However, the breaking of the Law resulted in death (27:26). The curse was the curse of death. So you see, everything depended on the keeping of the Law!
Now this is not an outlandish demand from God upon his people! After all, the Lord of heaven and earth had chosen them, delivered them from Egypt, and was giving them a land of inheritance! Not only this, but he declared them to be his treasured possession, a people holy to the Lord! If you are going to be the people of the Lord who is holy, you must be a holy people.
This is how it must be. God’s people must be a holy, separate, righteous people! The problem is that we are by nature sinners! And no amount of threats or promises or self-determination will ever change our sinful, dead hearts. God knew that when he gave the Law! The Law was never meant to save. It was given to show us God’s standard so that we would realize we could never live up to it on our own! It was given to lead us to Christ! Only grace can change our hearts! Only in Christ can we be found righteous! Only in Christ can we escape eternal death and find life eternal! The answer to the curse of the Law is Christ Jesus our Lord!
There is something I truly enjoy about the "early Israelite creed" of Deut. 26:5-10. Those few verses sum up all of God's mercies to Israel, from wandering to afflicted to delivered to settled, prosperous and grateful! I can picture fathers and mothers teaching this passage to their children, practicing reciting the lines over and over, so that when the family brought the very first vegetables and fruit from a year's crops (and the firstborn of their livestock) to Jerusalem the whole family could offer these gifts to the priest to set before God's altar, and together recite all their history of God's blessing and watch-care. Even the youngest child could hold up his basket with the first olives or garlic in it and say, "...and behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which You, O LORD, have given me."
ReplyDeleteI wonder, if I was to compose a paragraph summarizing the history of what God has done for our family, something I would teach my own children (maybe grandchildren SOMEDAY)--which parts would I be certain to put in? How would I pare all those stories of His goodness and lessons learned down to one succinct paragraph?! It's an interesting thought--and would be a good exercise in gratitude! "Remembrance leads to obedience." (note from ESV Deut.16:3)