In his farewell message, Moses writes 11 curses he wants the Israelites to vocalize 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, and we’ll see if we can identify a common thread.
The 11 curses are as follows (Deuteronomy 27:15-25):
- Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image . . . and sets it up in secret.
- Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.
- Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.
- Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.
- Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
- Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife…
- Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.
- Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister...
- Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.
- Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.
- Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.
If you were Moses, are these the curses you’d tell the Israelites to speak? I suppose you would if God commanded it. But still, why does God specify these curses? They seem odd, right?
Perhaps a clue can be gleaned if we understand their common thread. Their commonality is here: all 11 curses involve secret sins, sins done in private, sins done against the voiceless, sins hidden from public knowledge. 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, not even the blind man sees it. When you mistreat a sojourner, orphan, or widow, there is no one to speak out in their defense and expose you for your actions. When you commit sexual immorality with a family member or an animal, you do it behind closed doors. When you take a bribe to shed innocent blood, you do it discreetly.
The 11 curses involve secret sins, and here emerges an interesting question: Which sin is more evil? A sin committed in public or private? The answer to this question has been debated. One party says a sin committed in public is worse because it leads others astray. The opposing party says a sin committed in private is worse because it means the sinner fears man more than God.
Both have a valid point, but it’s the latter that offers insight into the topic at hand. Sins done in secret reveal something about the sinner: the sinner knows right from wrong as evidenced by their hiding the sin, yet the sin is still committed. The sin is hidden because their fear of man dominates their fear of God. In other words, the immediate world is more real than the eternal.
There’s a reason Moses wants the Israelites to work through this community exercise as soon as they enter the promised land. The promised land is a land of maturity. To graduate to maturity, the people need to sink a truth down deep. Samuel puts it well: “…God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). This is clutch. This is the key that unlocks Level 2. Consider: Eve fell prey to appearances when she ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Moses was tested when his staff transformed into a serpent and God told him to pick it up by the tail. If Moses couldn’t get past appearances, he would’ve been disqualified.
Then there’s Jesus speaking to the masses during His Sermon on the Mount. He sees an audience about to enter promises of their own. He wants them to come into maturity and blessing. But based on appearances, 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 to advance their influence to the ends of the earth. It seems like the Pharisees are blessed because their prayers so impress our most intelligent friends. Judging by appearances, it seems like the Pharisees are the gatekeepers of Heaven and we ought to do as they do in order to gain stature in God’s eyes.
But nah, appearances are deceiving and that’s just it. The Pharisees fear man more than God. People like them sin in secret. While they may keep appearances, in truth their hearts are estranged from their Creator. So when 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 longevity. He realizes that those closest to Him––His church––must overcome outward appearances because we shoulder the presence of God through the world like the Levites did all those years ago, the Levites standing around Joshua between Gerizim and Ebal, the Levites following their leader’s direction and amplifying his voice to listeners all around.
