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Deuteronomy Chapter 27 "Sacred
Places [1-10]." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location In review of the book of Deuteronomy that we have covered so far, we have seen that the messages have been given directly to the people. The book of Deuteronomy is the law, statutes and ordinances recorded in a plain language that the people can relate to and understand, whereby the laws and instructions that were given in the book of Leviticus were directed to the priests. The word Deuteronomy in the Hebrew means "words" which were rules to the congregation. This chapter starts with the third meeting or message that Moses is giving God's set of instructions to the people. In this third message Moses is going to sum up a lot of loose ends, get into specific blessings and cursings, and even get into some prophecy. Deuteronomy 27:1 "And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandments which I command you this day." We are now going to hear the third message that Moses gave to the people. Deuteronomy 27:2 "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:" So this is the second time that Moses had prepared the children of Israel to enter into the promise land. Forty years prior Moses had given the fathers and mothers of these people standing before him a similar set of instructions, only they rebelled and refused to go in. The monuments that Moses is instructing be made to God are to be "made with rough and unhewn stones", and set in a hard white cement, called gypsum. Deuteronomy 27:3 "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," Then when you have crossed over the river Jordan, you are to write on those stones and set them in hard white cement as record of all these things that I am telling you. We will see later that this set of instructions is to be carried even to our nation and our laws in this end time generation. Even though man in the flesh simply can't keep all of the law, it is the school master that guides us and directs our lives as we try to please our Heavenly Father. When we fall short of those laws, there is forgiveness by our faith in Jesus Christ, when we repent them to the Father in Jesus name. Deuteronomy 27:4 "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 was discussed in Deuteronomy eleven for was "the mount of cursing". So the question to this verse is, "Why would you put the law as written on these stones on the mount that is cursed?" The answer of course, is that they are the laws that are written for those that curse God and His Words. If you are following the Lord and His ways, you don't need the laws of cursing when you are living the natural ways of God. The cursings only come when the law is broken. Deuteronomy 27:5 "And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them." God is instructing that an altar to God be build on this mount of cursings. within this altar, God did not want any stones that had been altered with a tool of iron. God's altar will not be structured or changed by man's hands so that any form of idolatry can come from this altar. Man messes up everything that he touches, and God simply does not want any man fooling with His altar. So the instructions is that you take the stones as they were formed in their natural existence, and you stack them up to form My altar. So why is this altar of God placed on the mountain of cursings? The people that are in trouble need an altar to go to, and they must place their sacrifice on that altar for their violation of God's law. This is a type in which mankind is looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. Deuteronomy 27:6 "Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stone: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God:" These blood sacrifice burnt offerings were replaced by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus' sacrifice fulfilled the blood ordinance requirements of God under the law for one and all times. After the cross, God said He does not what our blood sacrifices, but he wants our love. Our love is what is given to Christ in the Millennium age, for there will be no more flesh and blood. When you tell the Lord that you love Him, He gives you His blessings. It doesn't matter where you are, for He hears your words when He reads your heart [mind]. Deuteronomy 27:7 "And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God." Though this is talking about peace offerings offered on mount Ebal a long time ago, today we don't have to go to any location when we offer our love [peace offerings] to our Heavenly Father. When we are in God's will and striving to please Him, we can tell Him that we love Him and He will bless us for it. When we use a little common sense, God will protect and take care of our needs. There are some places that you just don't go. Deuteronomy 27:8 "And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly." The first thing to remember is that the time which this message is given by Moses is about 1450 B.C. It was about four hundred years before king David threw out the Jebusites, and cleansed Jerusalem to be the place for God's house to be established. In verse four, we were told that this altar made with these stones and the record of this message to be established "When ye be gone over Jordan". That is the time that the Israelites went in to take the land. This then is the establishment of the place for the altar of God where the blood sacrifices were to take place, before the other locations of Shiloh, and later Jerusalem became God's holy place. However, looking far into the future, fifteen centuries later the Christ child would be born, and the requirement for the altar of animal sacrifice would be done away with at His death and resurrection. Moses is giving instructions here that when you write these laws out on those whole stones, make the words very easy to read and understand. Make sure there can be no confusion over the instructions that it is giving you. Make those words so that you know what is pertaining to you, and what is not. We know today that all statutes and ordinances of the law that deal with the blood sacrifices are done away with. Those blood sacrifices are finished because they have been fulfilled in the blood of Christ. Lets take a closer look at what took place to do away with blood sacrifices. I Corinthians 5:7 "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:" Paul is telling the Corinthians to get rid of that man that is taking part in evil acts, and don't let him come into your midst. When he is removed from the church body then Christ, who is our Passover can come into the congregation, and His Spirit can mend the hearts and minds of the rest of the many membered body of Christ. God will cleanse them from those old thoughts. "Passover" is the most high day in Christianity. That is the day that Christ became our Passover when He died on the cross for the sins of all those that would believe on Him and repent of their sins in Jesus name. Today most Christians call "Passover", "Easter", after the heathen feast festival of "Ishtar", and they just don't know the difference. The only time that the word "Easter" is mentioned in the Word of God is when it was mistranslated in Acts 12:4; "And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people." The number for Easter in the Strong's Greek dictionary is #3957; "Pascha, pas'-khah; The Passover, (the meal, the day, the festival or the special sacrifices connected with it): Passover." We read from secular history books that Easter is a heathen term, "derived from the Saxon goddess Eastre, the same as Astarte, the Syrian Venus, and also called Ashtoreth in Baal worship of the Old Testament." "Ashtoreth" was the female part of Baal worship, that was nothing short of a sex orgy in the groves in the name of religion. Christians today take the things of God's most holy days and bring in heathen parts of Baal worship. They mix the two in with other things that God finds an abomination, and they have the gull to throw it back in God's face in the form of Easter. In their ignorance of self-gratification, they put on their bonnets, and the men and women go to the field for their bowing to the east as they did not Baal worship, and pretend that they are doing something holy because our Lord's name is mentioned. God instructed Moses back in Egypt, to have the children of Israel place the blood of an innocent lamb over the door post of their home, and roast and eat the rest of the lamb for strength. For the next day the children of Israel would be freed from their bonds of the Egyptians, and be set free. Passover was remembered from that day forth because it also was a promise of a coming Messiah that would come and free them from their bonds of sin, and their need of animal sacrifices. When Jesus Christ went to the cross on the day of Passover, He was in the tomb for exactly three days, as this would be the only sign that Jesus would give the Jews of His resurrection. This is why we are to remember the Passover, for on that day God's people not only were freed from the bonds of Egypt, but also the bonds of sin that Satan had all mankind bound in. It is the blood of Christ that each of us must place over the door posts of our minds and hearts. We do this when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the promised Messiah that was born of the Virgin Mary. The blood of Christ brings us out of darkness and into the light. I John 1:6 "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:" I John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." I Corinthians 5:8 "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." There is only one way that that Christians celebrate Passover and that is in the taking of Communion. The breaking of the bread and the taking of the cup started with Jesus Christ Himself, when he took it with his disciples after Judas had left to betray Him. Christ became our "Passover", and His body was the bread. The "Holy Communion" is that which we partake of on the highest of all holy days of Christianity, the Passover. We keep the Passover not with the old leaven, that of sacrificing animals on altars, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth for the love of our Lord in our hearts. The breaking of the bread, is to remind us of His broken body and the stripes that He took for us. The cup represents and calls to our memory His blood shed on the cross for our sins. So keep in mind that these altars that were built on mount Ebal were a type of the coming of the true sacrifice that would be offered once and for all time. Deuteronomy 27:9 "And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, "Take hee, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God." When they follow God's instructions and entered into the Promise land they would be the people of God. This refers to all twelve tribes and the Levites, not just the tribe of Judah, mixed with their Kenites, as believed by many ignorant of today. Judah and Israel are both present here, and this is a time of the end of their wandering without a home. It will be some five centuries later that Israel will split into two separate nations; the house [nation] of Israel, and the house [nation] of Judah. However, there is a lot of growing that must be done first. There will be the time of the Judges for some four hundred years, where Israel would be ruled by God through their Judges. Then when they call out to God to be ruled like their neighboring nations, God anoints a monarchy for them, and Saul, David and Solomon rule as kings before the kingdom splits into two nations. It is important that we try to follow the migration that have taken place, all the way to our present generation. We can still see the brotherhood between the house of Judah, and the house of Israel. When the house of Israel fell after God divorced her, she never returned to Judaea, however after the Jews were freed from their captivity many of them returned to reestablish Jerusalem, and the temple worship. It was never the same though, for the Kenites had taken over the duties for the Levites, and the Kenite tradition became the law of the land, and what was taught in the Temple. Deuteronomy 27:10 "Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do His commandments and His statutes, which I command thee this day." The laws and commandments that Moses commanded that our forefather follow are the same set of instructions that we are to live by today, except those ordinances dealing with blood sacrifices are fulfilled in the blood of Christ. Moses is now going to summarize in this third message, or discourse. Deuteronomy 27:11 "And Moses charged the people the same day, saying," Deuteronomy 27:12 "These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan;" Mount Gerizim was to be the mount of blessings. These are the tribes that would be located near mount Gerizim. Page thirty six of this volume of Deuteronomy has a map showing the boundaries of these tribes and were they are located with respect to mount Gerizim. Deuteronomy 27:12 "Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin:" There are only six tribes that were to stand on mount Gerizim, and this is only half the tribes. Deuteronomy 27:13 "And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali." So we have six of the tribes that are on the mount of cursings and six on the mount of blessings. Pay attention now to how and why these tribes are named as such. The first six tribes that are on the mount of blessings are from the wives of Jacob, and the second six are from cursed sons of Jacob mixed in with the sons by the hand maidens. All of the tribes are still the sons of Jacob. Reuben was assigned to this group of the cursed because he practiced incest with his father's wife. I don't know why Zebulun was assigned to this group, only that Moses had appointed them here by the instruction of God. "Six" of course is the number for man in biblical numerics, and these twelve were divided into two parts, one for blessings and one for curses. In the overall plan of God the blessings are just as important as the cursings, and both must be pronounced. Blessings are payment for faithfulness, and the cursings are for those things that deal with correcting. After the land has been taken all the tribes will be gathered on these two mounts, Ebal and Gerizim, with six tribes on the mounts that are designated, with Levi in the valley and scattered amongst them all. At this time they would sing out the blessings and the cursings. Deuteronomy 27:14 "And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice," The Levites were the ones that gave out the message to the people. Deuteronomy 27:15 " 'Curse 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' " This would be quite a seen, with all the tribes gathered there, and the Levites shouting out these curses, and after they have all been read, all the people from both mountains giving a loud "Amen". The point made here is that when you have made something and placed it in a sacred place, it become an idol, and you are committing idolatry. Remember that nothing is secret from God, and He can even read your mind as you think your thoughts. The word "Amen", means that they heard and understood and acknowledged the command by the Lord. Deuteronomy 27:16 " 'Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother.' and all the people shall say, 'Amen' " This verse is referring to the word "Corban", which means "given to God with nothing expected in return". What this curse is referring to is when people give the money that is to support their own parents and that which belongs to their parents to God, and then turn their back on the welfare and needs of their parents. When you turn your back on mom and dad in their old age, no matter what you give to God will be a curse right back on your own head. This is what the Kenites taught and were doing, and Jesus called them down on this wicked practice. Mark 7:10 "For Moses said, 'Honor thy father and thy mother;' and 'Whoso ever curseth father or mother, let him die the death:' " Mark 7:11 "But ye say, 'If a man shall say to his father or mother, 'It is Corban, (that is to say, a gift), by whatsoever they mightest be profited by me;' he shall be free.' " Mark 7:12 "And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;" Mark 7:13 "Making the word of God of none effect through your traditions, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye." God gave us the law through Moses, and that is what we are reading here in Deuteronomy. So what this verse sixteen is stating is exactly what Jesus is addressing in verse ten. However Jesus is pointing out that his law is but one of the laws that the Kenites have made void, by their traditions. When God commanded that we are to care for the needs of our elderly parents, the money grabbing Kenite Jewish leaders have changed that law with the traditions of their own. The Kenites said that you can take what rightfully belongs to your parents and give it freely to the religious leaders, and God will bless you for that gift. Jesus is in turn telling these Kenite Jews that if you do it, God will not bless you, in fact He will curse you and all that you do. Jesus pointed out that "Corban" is just one of their many traditions that have voided the laws and commandments of God through such non-sense. Many Christians today still do not know the difference between what is God's laws and the traditions of men taught them by these Kenite religious leaders. As the thousands upon thousands of the children stood on their hill sides, listening to their Levite priests read this law, in unison they shouted 'Amen' I hear, I acknowledge and understand it to be true. Deuteronomy 27:17 " 'Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'. " It is quite obvious that this third meeting and message is a summary of the other two meetings, and the laws that have already been given. However Moses is requiring that all the people give a response after it had been stated again to the when they had moved in and taken the land. If you want to be cursed than break one of these laws. Deuteronomy 27:18 " 'Curseth be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'. " "The blind" is in reference both to the physical and to the spiritual. Today this verse is very important as most church leaders are assisting in causing the spiritually blind to drift into all sorts of heathen ways and customs. There are many that set themselves up as biblical scholars, and yet all they teach are man's traditions. It is the blind leading the blind. If you understand say "Amen". I hear, I acknowledge and understand it to be true. Deuteronomy 27:19 " 'Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." When you pervert anything that is in the natural course of life, God's judgment will come down on you. This applies to other things beside Sodomy and whoredoms. When you see a orphan, widow or strange that needs help, God expects you to do what you can for them. That is the natural way that God created us in the flesh, we are to show compassion on those around us. The point to this verse is that the natural instinct is there in all of God's people and He expect us to take care of those problems. If you think that you can take advantage of a person of this type, the stranger, fatherless and the widow, God is going to curse you, and you can count on it. Deuteronomy 27:20 " 'Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt.' " And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." To "uncover your father's skirt" is to "uncover his nakedness". Today teachers teach in ignorance that this is in reference to Sodomy, or the seeing your father in the nude. It shows the stupidity of those that call themselves teachers. The act of "uncovering your father's skirt or his nakedness" is to have sex with your father's wife. It is incest, the taking of your own father's wife to bed, your own mother. This was Reuben's great sin against Jacob his father, and it is also Ham's great sin against Noah. Reuben took his own mother to bed, which was the same sin that Ham committed against his father Noah. Some teachers add to their stupidity by saying that when Ham took his mother to bed, the black race was started, and this tops the list of their ignorant and stupid sayings. No race was started in such a manner, but what happened when Noah heard of that incest, Noah himself cursed not Ham, but Cainan, the child that came from that union. Of course the curse lasted as long as Noah remained alive. Every time Noah laid eyes on that child it reminded him of Ham's sin against him. This is why Noah sent his own grandchild away. When two people of the same race, the Adamic race have sexual union, their offspring is always a child of the same race. Dogs don't breed sheep, monkeys don't bread sheep and one race simply doesn't breed another race at any time. Nature follows the natural course and it is something that you can count on. However the black race is and should be a very proud race, for they were part of the sixth day creation of Genesis 1:26-28. All of the races were created then except Adam, (ha-adam), [the Adam]. When Noah took two of every kind aboard the ark, the black race was also represented in that group because God said they were in His Word. He ordered two of ever kind of flesh, and all the races were there. However there were also eight adamic souls [ha-adam, ruddy complected] which was Adam and his family. When God created all of the races He looked and they were all good. Deuteronomy 27:21 " 'Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." Here again it is the going against the natural course of nature, and the natural acts. Deuteronomy 27:22 " 'Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother, ' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." This is incest, and it is still "uncovering your father's nakedness". It is going against the natural order of things that God places upon man in the flesh. Deuteronomy 27:23 " 'Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." This is the law. To be your mother-in-law she must be the mother of your wife. When two people wed, they become one flesh, and thus you have violated part of your own flesh. Deuteronomy 27:24 " 'Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." This "smiteth" is to the death, and it is premeditated and thus murder. If you have taken a life and think that you have gotten away with it, are badly mistaken. The time of Judgment is still ahead. There is a time of judgment when all crimes will be faced and God can read your very mind. God has witnessed those acts done in secrecy. There is no way on earth that you can get away with anything, for in the course of time you will stand and face the very soul of the life that you sniffed out. They are waiting for you with the big hammer of judgment, for your soul to come before the judgment seat of our heavenly Father. If you are under an illusion that there is an eternity waiting for you after such acts of secrecy, your fate is to be decided at the judgment seat before the Father, and not here on earth. Deuteronomy 27:25 " 'Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." Moses are still on mount Ebal and talking about the cursings of God. God is not that fond of mercenaries, those that hire out to kill. If you are of God and in His will, He will see that you have the victory anyway. You don't need mercenaries when God is on your side. Deuteronomy 27:26 " 'Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'." Moses now is wrapping all of these laws together in one nice package, and saying you either accept them all, every last one of them or you will be under a curse. You are required not just to know them but to make them part of your life. Can you say "Amen" to that? Can you acknowledge that you have heard these laws of cursings with understanding, and that you will abide with them. If so say "Amen".
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