Moses gives instructions for a ceremony to be held once Israel is in the land: six tribes on Mount Gerizim to speak the blessing, six on Mount Ebal for the curse, the Levites reciting each line, and the whole nation shouting Amen after every one. Then chapter 28 spells out, at length, what obedience and rebellion each bring — and the list of curses is far longer than the list of blessings.
A study in Deuteronomy 27-28 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 9 min read
This Day Thou Art Become The People Of The LORD
“Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes.”
Deuteronomy 27:9-10
The ceremony is designed so that no Israelite can later say the covenant was made over his head. It is spoken from two facing mountains, in the hearing of everyone, and each clause requires a spoken “Amen” — let it be so, and let it fall on me if I break it. Obedience follows from identity: “this day thou art become the people of the LORD… therefore obey.”
“The spot chosen was one of the most beautiful in all Palestine, and worthy to be the theater where this grand and impressive scene was to be enacted… Ebal and Gerizim, upon opposite sides of the valley, nearly approach each other.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 500
Cursed Be He That Confirmeth Not All The Words
“Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.”
Deuteronomy 27:26
The twelve curses recited at Ebal end with a summary that catches everyone: cursed is the man who does not keep all of it. Paul quotes this verse to make a hard point — “as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse” (Galatians 3:10) — because no one keeps all of it. The Amen the nation shouted at Ebal is the verdict the whole law pronounces, and it drives straight to the need for a Redeemer who would stand under that curse in their place.
They Shall Come On Thee, And Overtake Thee
“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God… But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken… that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.”
Deuteronomy 28:2, 15
The blessings are drawn in about fourteen verses; the curses run to fifty-four. The imbalance is deliberate and unsparing — siege, famine, madness, a scattering “among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other” (28:64). By the time of the Babylonian exile, and again in A.D. 70, readers recognised chapter 28 as prophecy that had come true to the word.
Because Thou Servedst Not With Joyfulness
“Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things.”
Deuteronomy 28:47
Set in the middle of the curses is the diagnosis, and it is not merely “you disobeyed.” It is “you did not serve Him with joy — while you had everything.” Grudging, resentful obedience is already a kind of covenant-breaking. God is not honoured by service given through clenched teeth; He looks for “a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7), a people glad to be His. The last chapters make the choice explicit — life and death, set before them.
