Introduction
Deuteronomy 11:26-29Joshua 8:33-34The curses of disobedience
Did this really happen? Yes!
Folded lead tablet from Mt. EbalA folded lead sheetFound on Mt. EbalDebris to late bronze age (1400-1200 BC)Inscribed on the insideWritten in paleo HebrewOldest Hebrew inscriptionIt is a “curse amulet”Writing on the tablet: “Cursed, cursed, cursed – cursed by the God YHW. You will die cursed. Cursed you will surely die. Cursed by YHW – cursed, cursed, cursed.”Writing is a poetic form called chiastic parallelism, where the sentence structure is palindromic.Did the curses come true? Yes!
II Chronicles 34:24-25Babylonian invasion of 586 BCLarge Israelite cities were all destroyedThe land was emptiedThe people carried away to captivityWhat do we learn?
The curses of Deuteronomy 27Cursed is the man who makes a carved idolCursed is he who dishonors his father or motherCursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stoneCursed is he who lets a blind man wander in the roadCursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widowCursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wifeCursed is he who lies with any animalCursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secretCursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent personCursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practiceThat it matters how we honor GodThat social justice, moral purity, and doing right by others is essentialThat there are consequences for disobeying GodThat sin brings a curseIt still doesThe seven woes pronounced by ChristWoe to those who shut the door to the kingdomWoe to hypocrites who make other hypocritesWoe to blind guides who swear dishonestlyWoe to nit pickers who ignore justice and mercyWoe to those clean on outside but full of greedWoe to the whitewashed full of wickednessWoe to those who laud martyrs and murder themThat is why we need ChristGalatians 3:13Conclusion
Turning our heart from God brings curses in this life and in the life to come.These woes are real and certain.We should hate the disobedience as fervently as we fear these curses.
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