In his farewell message, Moses writes 11 curses he wants the Israelites to recite when they enter the promised land. There is a twelfth curse listed (27:26), but it works more like a catch-all that curses indifference toward God’s commandments. We’ll leave it aside to focus on the first 11 curses, identifying their common thread.
The 11 curses (Deuteronomy 27:15-25) curse the following parties:
- The man who makes a carved or cast metal image . . . and sets it up in secret.
- Anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.
- Anyone who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.
- Anyone who leads a blind man astray on the road.
- Anyone who withholds justice from the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow.
- Anyone who lies with his father’s wife, dishonoring his father’s bed.
- Anyone who lies with an animal.
- Anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or mother.
- Anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.
- Anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.
- Anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.
Of all things, why does God (through Moses) specify these curses?
Perhaps a clue can be found in their commonality: all 11 curses involve secret sins. These are sins done in private, violations hidden in some form or manner. For instance, when you dishonor your parents, you do it behind their back. When you move your neighbor’s boundary stone, you do it when he’s not looking. When you mislead a blind man on the road, the blind man doesn’t see you doing it. When you mistreat a sojourner, an orphan or a widow, there is no one to speak out in their defense and expose you for your actions. When you commit sexual immorality like the kind listed here, you do it behind closed doors. When you take a bribe to shed innocent blood, you do it discreetly.
Again, the 11 curses involve secret sins, and here emerges an interesting question. In your view, which sin is the greater evil: a sin committed in public or in private?
The answer has been debated in Jewish circles. One party says a sin committed in public is more offensive because it causes others to stumble. The second party says a sin committed in private is more offensive because it means the sinner fears man more than God.
Both have a valid point, but it’s the latter that relates here. Sins done in secret reveal something about the sinner: The sinner knows right from wrong as evidenced by their effort to hide the sin. Nevertheless, the sin is still committed. The sin is hidden because their fear of man exceeds their fear of God. The immediate world is more real to them than the eternal.
Now back to Moses. Moses wants the Israelites (together, as one people, before they go their separate ways) to recite these curses because they must understand a truth that will make or break their success in this new land. That truth is put succinctly by Samuel writing years later, as he writes: “…God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Moses knows that man is tethered to the material world; his physical senses are so loud they dominate his natural thinking. Without any spiritual sensitivity, the outward appearance of a thing tends to drive man’s judgement. Consider: Eve fell prey to appearances at the Tree of Knowledge. Lot ended up in Sodom because he looked and saw a paradise. Moses himself was tested by appearances: When his staff transformed into a serpent, God told him to pick it up by the tail. If he couldn’t get past appearances, could he go on to lead God’s people?
Jesus is in a position not unlike Moses’. Preaching His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sees an audience about to enter promises of their own. He wants them to come into maturity and blessing, but if they make choices based on outward appearances, they will go astray long before they experience full maturity and blessing. Because, to the natural eye, it doesn’t seem like the meek will inherit the earth. It doesn’t seem like the persecuted are blessed, nor that the poor in spirit harbor the richest kingdom in all existence. Quite the contrary, it seems like the Pharisees will inherit the earth since they work so hard to advance their influence to the ends of it. It seems like the Pharisees are blessed because their prayers are always so impressive and intelligent. Judging by appearances, it seems like the Pharisees are the gatekeepers of Heaven, and the layperson ought to do as they do to gain stature in God’s eyes.
But no, appearances are deceiving and that’s just it! The Pharisees fear man more than God. The Pharisees sin in secret. Despite their whitewashed appearances, their spiritual life is a corpse. And Jesus is going to tell them as much.
Jesus stands center stage as the way, the truth, and the life. He is concerned not with one’s earthly appearance but with one’s eternal trajectory, and a quality of life that begins in the here and now. He knows that His students, especially, must see past outward appearances if they are to shoulder the presence of God through the world like the Levites did all those years ago, those Levites standing around Joshua between Gerizim and Ebal, those Levites amplifying Joshua’s voice to the listeners around them.
