http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 1 Answers to Questions on Deuteronomy 27:1-26 1. According to Hamilton, of what three parts does Deuteronomy 27 consist? A) An injunction to keep the Torah (verses 1-8). B) Introduction to a brief code (verses 9-14). C) The curses code (verses 15-26). 2. Commentators are generally agreed that Moses third speech is recorded in Deuteronomy 27-30 and consists of what three topics? 1) Covenant renewal. 2) Blessings and curses. 3) The threat of captivity.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 2 3. Hall viewed Deuteronomy as consisting of what four sections? 1) Verses 1-8, B) Verses 9-10, C) Verses 11-13, D) Verses 14-26. 4. Smith observed that Moses, the elders of Israel and the Levitical priests stood together to do what? To urge Israel to obey God s will and to remind them that obedience would be blessed and disobedience would be cursed. 5. What important functions did the elders of Israel perform? 1) Deliver murderers to the blood avenger. 2) Judge charges against a son who has disrespected his parents. 3) Adjudicate accusations against a new wife s virginity. 4) Hear cases against a brother-in-law who will not marry his brother s widow. 5) Decide jurisdiction in cases of murder outside the city limits.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 3 6. Repeatedly, in keeping with Hebrew literary style, Israel was told they were to forever, permanently remember to keep the covenant law not to forget their obligations after entering the promised land. Commandments the Lord God had given Israel had to be obeyed. 7. Once Israel had entered Canaan, what were they to do? They were to erect great stones and cover them with plaster as a covenant renewal ceremony. 8. How many stones were to be erected? Describe these stones. With what were the stones to be covered? Why were the stoves to be covered with this material? Neither the number of stones nor the size is known. The stones were to be covered in plaster to facilitate inscribing the words of the law on them. 9. Exactly what was to be inscribed on these stones? How could so much be written on these stones? All of the words of the law, i.e., all of Deuteronomy, were to be inscribed on the stones. Archaeological excavations in the middle east have uncovered complex lengthy writings on stone
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 4 monoliths. An example is the code of Hammurabi, 284 laws being carved on an eight foot slate. 10. Israelite s entering Canaan, defeating their enemies and their remaining there were dependent on their keeping all the words of the law. 11. Give all the information you can about Mount Ebal including what was to be done there. The mountains are 40 miles north of Jerusalem and 20 miles west of Jordan. Mt. Ebal is north of Shechem, on the north side of the valley, and is 3,075 feet above sea level. The principal trade route passed between Ebal and Gerizim. The curses were pronounced from Ebal, and appropriately, it is a barren rock. 12. Give all the information you can about Mount Gerizim including what was to be done there? Mount Gerizim is about two (2) miles south of Ebal, and is 2,850 feet above sea level. Is is the mountain of blessings and in contrast to Mt. Ebal, the barren mountain of curses, Gerizim is a lush,
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 5 verdant area abounding with springs, gardens and orchards all symbols of God s blessings. 13. What was to be done in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim? The Israelites were divided equally, six tribes to stand before Mt. Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. Six tribes stood before Mt. Ebal to curse the people: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. 14. Give all the information you can about burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. How were they alike and how were they different? Both offerings were given on the altar. The difference is what was consumed by the fire and what was not. Burnt offerings were totally consumed by fire on the altar. In contrast only the fat and entrails were burned and the meat was eaten by the worshipers in the fellowship offering.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 6 15. How and of what materials was the altar to be built? The altar was to be constructed of natural, uncut stones that had not been shaped with an iron tool. 16. Hall observed that fellowship lost by sin could be restored by repentance. 17. All the words of this law were to be clearly written on the stones. 18. Understanding God s will is not the problem. Obeying God s commands then and now is the problem. 19. God s law is to be read, understood and obeyed. 20. Moses and the Levitical priests joined together to urge all Israel to obey all God s commandments and to walk in the Lord s way of righteousness. 21. Israel was told to be quiet and pay attention to God s word. We are also to concentrate on God s word! 22. By what process did Israel become God s people? How do we become God s people? By dedicating themselves to revere
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 7 and obey God the Israelites became his people. We must do the same thing if we want to be God s people. 23. In our noisy and all too busy world there is most definitely a great need to be quiet and pay attention to God. 24. You must obey him and keep his commandments and statutes that I am giving you today. The parties to this covenant were in no way equal. God commanded and Israel was to obey. 25. This was not a rash pledge lightly made, but a serious commitment to abide fully by the will of the Lord all their lives and to teach the will of God to their children generation after generation in perpetuity. 26. During the ceremony, which tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim? Why were these particular tribes to stand on Mount Gerizim? Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. These are the six (6) sons of Jacob s wives Leah and Rachel.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 8 27. What were these tribes to do on Mount Gerizim? They stood on Gerizim to pronounce the blessings. 28. During the ceremony, which tribes were to stand on Mount Ebal? Why were these particular tribes chosen to stand on Mount Ebal? The tribes on Mt. Ebal were Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. These were Jacob s sons by Bilhah, Rachel s handmaid and Zilpah, Leah s handmaid. Zebulun and Reuben descended from Leah and were added to those who were cursed. Reuben was cursed because of his sin against Jacob, and Zebulun was the youngest of Leah s sons. 29. What were these tribes to do on Mount Ebal? These six (6) stood on Ebal and pronounced the curse.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 9 30. How were Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim situated in relation to each other? How could all on both mountains hear what was said? Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim were close, about 1,900 feet apart, forming a natural amphitheater between them which made communication possible. 31. Who stood in the valley between the mountains? What did they do in the ceremony? The Levitres stood in the valley between the two (2) mountains and loudly recited twelve (12) curses. 32. In your own words, step by step, what was done in this ceremony on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim? (Imagine you were there and are telling a friend about what had transpired.) Moses gathered the Israelites together in the valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. He sent six (6) tribes up Mount Gerizim to stand for the blessings of the people and six (6) tribes to Mount Ebal to stand for the curses. The Levite priests called out all the blessings and the curses of the people and they answered Amen in agreement.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 10 33. As they stood in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim with the nation gathered and listening, what did the Levites say? The Levites called out in a loud voice the twelve (12) curses that the Israelites would suffer for breaking the laws of God. 34. The private sins listed in Deuteronomy 27:14-26 remind us that God sees all things, even those in the secret places of the heart. (See Watts via Coffman.) 35. What sin is named in verse 15? The sin of idolatry and worshiping a god other than Yahweh. 36. What is significant about twelve sins being named in verses 14-26? The twelve (12) sins represent all the laws of God just as the twelve (12) tribes represent all of Israel.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 11 37. What sin is named in verse 16? The sin of disrespecting one s parents. God commands us to honor our earthly parents as we honor him. 38. What does it mean to honor, respect one s parents? It means to obey them, to treat them with significance and to take care of them in their later years. 39. What sin is named in verse 17? That is the sin of moving a boundary marker which is the theft of a neighbor s land and violates the commandment against coveting and stealing.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 12 40. What sin is named in verse 18? The sin of taking advantage of the handicapped or less fortunate among us. 41. Stealing land by moving property line markers was a secretly committed sin and often committed against the poor who could not resist the more financially and politically situated thief. (See Hall.) 42. What sin is named in verse 19? The sin of perverting justice. This could be accomplished by prejudicial rulings, false testimony or through fear of retaliation. 43. What kind of person would mistreat the disabled, orphans, widows and the disadvantaged living among them? Only an evil person would do these things and because of their evil ways they would be cursed.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 13 44. Justice then and now could be withheld for various reasons including prejudice, political or financial advantage, fear of retaliation, etc. God s concern for the poor is a consistent theme in Deuteronomy, so it is no surprise that the perpetrator would be under a divine curse. 45. What sin is named in verse 20? The sin of having intercourse with the former wife of a man s father. This was not his mother but another of his father s wives. 46. In that era polygamy was a common practice. The woman in question here was a divorced wife of the man s father, but a woman who was not his mother. 47. The four sexual sins named in verses 14-26 form a short, abbreviated list. List the sexual sins condemned in Leviticus 18:6-23. Remember, even this expanded list does not mention all the sexual sins that were forbidden. Intercourse with a close relative; intercourse with your mother; or your father s wife; your sister, either your father s daughter or your mother s daughter; sex with the daughter of your son or daughter; your father s sister or your mother s sister. your aunt, your daughter-in-law; intercourse with your
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 14 brother s wife; sex with both a woman and her daughter. You must not marry a wife and then her sister to have intercourse with her; do not have sex with a menstruating woman or the wife of a fellow citizen. Do not practice homosexuality or beastiality. 48. What sin is named in verse 21? The sin of beastiality. 49. Define beastiality. Beastiality is sexual relations between a human and an animal.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 15 50. What sin is named in verse 22? The sin of sexual relations with a sister. 51. Did Abraham violate this command? Was Abraham s marriage to Sarah sinful? God s law regarding marrying a sister was not proclaimed until the days of Moses. The marriage of close relatives was an acceptable practice at that time. Also note that Abraham made it clear that Sarah was his father s daughter but not his mother s daughter. Later the Mosaic law would prohibit the marriage of close relatives. 52. What sin is named in verse 23? Engaging in sexual relations with one s mother-in-law. 53. What sin is named in verse 24? The sin of murder.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 16 54. All murders, public and private, were strictly forbidden. Why are private murders singled out for mention here? A murder committed in private would not have any witnesses. The law required two witnesses to establish guilt. Lacking witnesses guilt would be more difficult to prove. 55. What sin is named in verse 25? The sin of taking a bribe to kill an innocent person. 56. What does the Bible say about bribery? Why is bribery such a terrible thing? The Bible makes it clear that bribery is forbidden. It perverts justice, fosters false testimony and encourages evil.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 17 57. What sin is named in verse 26? The sin in verse 26 is the sin of disobedience. 58. Why were the Israelites in Bible times so often sinfully disobedient to God even after being warned time and again of the consequences of sin? Why are we so often disobedient to God? The Israelites disobeyed God s commands for the same reason that we do. Since man first sinned we have inherited sin in our spiritual DNA and it is only through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we can overcome it. 59. In your own words, summarize Deuteronomy 27:1-26. This chapter is part of the covenant renewal between God and the Israelites just as their ancestors had originally done at Mt. Sinai as recorded in Exodus chapter 20. The curses and the blessings are a reminder that strict obedience to all of God s laws are necessary to receive his blessings.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.org 18 All of the sins that are enumerated in this chapter are sins that God knows mankind will be tempted with. He is telling us, as well as the ancient Israelites that we will have temptations, some of them great temptations, but we must adhere to his law in order to be a people worthy of his blessings.