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Well, howdy? Please turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 27. Deuteronomy chapter 27. I'm picking up from the spring series, looking at our glorious tutor. If you remember that Paul refers in Galatians to the law as a tutor, schoolmaster, with the purpose of teaching and leading. So tonight I want to pick up really where we left off in the spring, and I'll continue that.

As I go into the fall, I want to the next book that I intend to go into is the book of Hebrews. And so Paul in Galatians spends time referring to the law and establishing what is the basis of righteousness and the purpose of the law and pointing us to that righteousness.

Hebrews will spend a lot of time dealing with the Levitical law, and so it'll be a good way for us to think, relate to the Torah, the Old Testament, as we go through. And so I intend to do some of that in the evening series. Where I left off back in the spring was we were looking at The beauty and the wisdom of the lawgiver by looking at that which he curses.

So I figure if you can see the beauty and the wisdom of the God of Scripture in the curses, it should be pretty easy for you to start seeing his beauty and wisdom everywhere else in the law. But there is a beauty that we can see in the lawgiver, his beauty and his wisdom, even in that which he curses.

And so I just want to pick up there. I'm looking at 27, beginning in verse 15. There's 12 curses. Now, this is in that, that this is telling the Israelites what they are to do when they first get into the land. They are to stand on the Mount Ebol, Mount Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing, and the Mount of Curses, and they're to shout back to each other as a big congregation, as a nation, of what it is that God curses and that which He has blessed, and what He blesses.

And so it's in this context, He's telling Him what God is going to curse. Let me just read those. We got through about half of the curses last time, so I'll just reread them just to bring you up to speed where we are, and then we'll move forward.

But verse 15: Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molded image, an abomination. To the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret, and all the people shall answer and say, Amen. Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother, and all the people shall say amen.

Cursed is he who moves his neighbor's boundary mark, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, an orphan, and a widow, and all of the people shall say amen.

Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife because he has uncovered his father's skirt, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed is he who lies with any animal, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother, and all the people shall say amen.

Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person, and all the people shall say amen.

Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them, and all the people shall say amen. Now, as we study the law, we are recognizing that we are not trying to be justified by the law. Paul makes that very clear. Nor are we under the law as Christians.

Not under the law of Moses. But we are free to study the lawgiver as revealed in the law. The law is our tutor. It shows us our emptiness. The law shows us a righteousness, the righteousness of God, what he expects, perfect righteousness. It's there. And it shows us that we are not there.

The law takes us to the end of ourselves and it reveals to us the perfection of righteousness of the lawgiver himself. And so the law is our tutor. Paul makes that very clear. Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ. The Torah, the first five books, Moses, what God revealed to him, was intended to take people to the end of their selves, expose their unrighteousness and the righteousness of the God they serve, and the way to come to him.

And specifically, Christ. It's there. The law has been come our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith. And in these curses, the curse tells us something about. God. Valid implications can be drawn from each precept, each ordinance, and each statutes, and they give us a window into the heart of the lawgiver.

So even in that which he curses, we can draw some valid implications about who he is, what he expects of a society, his vision for society, and how we are to respond. He says, cursed is the man. It's a passive verb that's ongoing. The idea is it's a man who is being cursed by God.

And to be cursed is to come under God's displeasure, to be actively opposed by God. It's the opposite of being blessed by God. And it really speaks of a life of withering. To be cursed, to be under the frown of God is to live a life of withering, which ultimately is reduced to inoperation.

That's what it means to be cursed, is to come under that frown of God. And it's something you're either right now at the moment, you're either under the frown of God or you're under the smile of God. You're under the curse of God, the withering of God, or you're under his blessing.

Deuteronomy, that we just read, in chapter 27, verse 15, 26, show us the people that were in the land. It shows us what God was doing when he was bringing people in. It shows us the people who are there in Canaan and the societies that they create. And God shows us that these are the kinds of things that were happening in the land of Canaan.

And he makes it very clear that this is a kind of people and societies that are withering under his curse and are not going to endure. And so it's because of the evilness, because the evil things that they were doing in the land that God was bringing in another people.

But the people, the Jewish people that were coming in, were not to do the very same things, or the very same curse that came upon the land of Canaan would come upon them. But these verses tell us a lot about the lawgiver. Basic questions. And you can really ask this as you think about you're free to study the Old Testament, and it's very relevant to us today.

Same God, revealing who He is. But some basic questions to ask each text as you're going through any portion of the law, really, is to. Just ask, what does this text say about God? What does this text say about the society God envisions? And what does this say about how we are to relate to Him, to creation, and to each other?

And if you ask these questions, they may help us and guide us to see the beauty and wisdom of the lawgiver in the things that he curses. And we want to look at these things so that we will know how to promote the things he blesses. And so, just by way of quick review, we looked at the first five already.

Idols, cursed is the man who makes an idol, verse 15. What God is saying is that no one is to reimagine God, define God, or worship anything but God. God recognizes his own uniqueness, and every member of the society is to recognize God's uniqueness. So, there is not to be any idols.

Parents, he says, parents paying proper respect to parents. Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother. God values family, he values respect, he establishes authorities, and he despises those who do not give respect where respect is due. Of course, that has implications outside of The family, but it certainly starts there.

Property, verse 17. Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's boundary mark. This says that God values individual property rights. You can see how this impacts how a society is to be governed. God has something to say about the blind, the disadvantaged. 18, verse 18, cursed is he who misleads the blind person.

How awful is that? Somebody who's vulnerable to lead them into a ditch. What does this say about God? Well, he hates deception. He despises the cruelness of taking advantage of somebody else, leading them to their harm. Justice, verse 19, cursed is he who distorts the justice due to an alien, an orphan, or a widow.

What does this say about God? Well, he champions justice, and especially justice due to the weakest and most vulnerable in society. Yeah, no, God's got a really good vision for what society should be like. What a wonderful world that is. Then we're going to go on. And look at the next several curses.

We'll look at curses 6 through 9 next. And these deal with inappropriate relationships. And I'm just going to lump them all in together. Verse 20: Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife. Cursed is he who lies with any animal. Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.

Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say, Amen. I mean, you'd think that these things could have gone without saying. But these were the things and the kinds of things that were happening in the land. Incest, bestiality, may very well have been associated with some of the pagan worships.

But what does this say about God? Just look at these inappropriate relationships. This isn't the full catalog of sexual sins. It certainly involves sexual sins, of course. But there seems to be something about boundaries and relationships here. What does it say about God? Well, he is holy, he is faithful, he loves faithfulness, and he always relates in a holy and appropriate manner to everyone.

He always relates. In a holy and appropriate manner. He expects appropriate relationships. You can think about the society that this, what does this say about the society that God envisions? Well, he values family relationships. There's appropriate relationships within a family. There's boundaries. They are important. Family relations are unique.

The family unit is that base unit of society. There is to be a sanctity in the home where children can grow up without being harmed. There's implications that go beyond this. Certainly, a world without sexual harassment. You think about much of what God envisions, society. It's not where the certain ones are using their position to take advantage of somebody in a lesser situation.

Notice it's he. Cursed is he who lies. Cursed is he who lies. Cursed is he who lies. Cursed is he who lies. But what does this say about how we are to relate to him, to creation, to each other? Well, first of all, as we think about God, we can be sure.

That he will never act inappropriately or take advantage of anyone. He will always relate as God, holy. But it also gives us an indication he expects us to relate to creation appropriately. I remember going to the San Diego Zoo, and every time we went, there was this lady who had this, she was known as the tiger lady, and she would go over to the tiger section, where the tigers and the big cats were, and she would sit there and try to connect with them.

She was really bizarre. It's so much bizarre, everybody knew her, or a lot of people knew her, certainly the workers there, and they say, well, there's the tiger lady. And she would sit there. We would tell her, look, she was sitting there, and she would try to enter in this mental union, the spiritual union with the beast.

This is what a lot of the pagans were doing in some of their worship. No, we are to relate appropriately to creation. We are not to seek some kind of spiritual union or some kind of inappropriate union. We are to relate appropriately to one another. Fathers are to be.

Relate to children as fathers. Children are to relate to their parents as children. In-laws are to relate to each other as in-laws. In-laws are to relate as in-laws. Bosses are to relate as bosses. Employees are to relate as employers, coaches, pastors, counselors, teachers, and not to relate in a way that is inappropriate.

Much more could be said on this, but I'll leave it at that. Even there is to be an appropriate relationship between angels and people and celestial beings and how we relate to them and how we relate to God. There is boundaries and inappropriate relationships that God wants us to avoid.

Then we come to number 10, 10th curse, verse 24. Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret, and all the people shall say, Amen. This is interesting. The one being cursed by God is the one who is striking his neighbor or causes his neighbor to. To be striked.

The word for striked involves the idea to be battered, to be beaten down, to be ruined, to be killed. And it's targeting the individual who is causing someone to be struck, whether they themselves are lying in wait to strike, or they are causing somebody else to carry it out.

Cursed, the one who is being cursed by God, the one who is withering, who will become no more unless there is a repentance, is the one who strikes his neighbor, his friend, his countryman, anyone close to him, but especially those in close physical proximity or somebody in close relational proximity, someone who is striking, trying to cut down, beat down his neighbor.

Cursed is the one who strikes his neighbor in secret. A secret is the idea of being hidden without notice, to strike without notice. It's deception. It could mean being outside of the public view. I want to strike this person down outside of the public view, or it could involve striking the person down to where the victim doesn't even know it's coming.

Coming. But either way, it is a premeditated crime. It is an action of hostility that somebody has given thought to. Cursed is he who is striking down his neighbor in secret. What is the nature of someone who assassinates somebody? Well, it's secrecy. It's to bring somebody down. It's basically the idea behind it.

Well, help me for just a moment. What does this say about God? Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret. What does it say about God? Talk to me. You're going to know what's coming. What's that? Yeah, God speaks in truth. Yeah, he's not going to do anything in secret.

He's going to tell you. Certainly in this kind of manner. What else? Did somebody say something? He hates those who shed innocent blood. He does not. Yeah, he is not a murderer, is he? What else? He values personal safety. He values personal safety. What does this think about this?

Does God lie in wait? Sometimes I think our view about God is something like, God, you just wanted to catch me in this, didn't you? God, we got this view of God that he's just, aha, gotcha, didn't I? I was sitting here waiting. I knew you were going to put your hand in that cookie jar.

Ah, gotcha. Put your hand in the cookie jar. We've got that view of God. But what Kevin said, he's truthful. He does not keep things in secret, not in this kind of thing. What does it say about the society that he envisions? Safe. Yes. What else? Free from what?

From fear? Yes, a society that's, you're not wondering where the next person is going to come out. That you're living in a society where you constantly have to defend your integrity. Does this have implications for gossip, by the way? Very much so, doesn't it? Slander. We can cut people down in secret.

We can reduce them. We can batter them. We can first we've got to assassinate their character before we can hire somebody to take them out. And so there's very much a, he envisions a society where there are no slanders. Intentions, no character assassination. It's a safe place. This is the exact opposite of loving your neighbor.

Loving your neighbor is about building them up, not destroying them in secret. What does it say about how we're to relate to Him or creation or to each other? Thoughts. Anybody? Be open. Be truthful. Maybe instead of causing people to be cut down and battered or despised or shrink them down or destroy them or assassinate them, God envisions a society where people will be causing other people to be valued and loved.

Who perfectly did this? Do any of us perfectly do this? No, but who perfectly did? Yes. He could just see how he's the exact opposite. He doesn't strike down his neighbor in secret. He loves his neighbor as himself, so much so that at the End of Jesus' life, he's able to say, now I want you to go.

I'm giving you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you. I have shown you what loving your neighbor as yourself looks like, but I have shown you even more. Lay down your life for your neighbor. Yes, sir. Yes. Yes. Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.

Look at the whole trial of Christ. It's a mockery of justice, wasn't it? Stealth. Well, number 11 is the bribes. Look at verse 27:25. Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person. And all of the people shall say, Amen. So the one who is being cursed, is under the curse, is the one who is receiving, who is willingly taking compensation to strike down an innocent person.

Do you see the connection between the two? There is somebody here, and it's an interesting statement. Literally, it's like the one who is being cursed, who is withering before God, is the one who is willingly receiving a bribe, a payment, present. A reward for a favor, a present for service, to strike a soul of blood pure and clean.

That's the idea. To strike down a soul, to strike a soul of his blood who is clean, innocent, pure. To hit, to strike, to injure, to beat. If you look at verse 24, there's somebody that is instigating the crime, and in verse 25, someone carrying it out. So think about this for a society.

This is a great, this is a lot of wisdom here. So when a ringleader of an organized crime orders somebody to be killed and then pays somebody to do it, and then the person goes and does it and gets caught, who's really at fault here? Because in Ford of the Law, you get this problem.

Well, I wasn't there. I didn't do it. I didn't do the crime. What does the Bible say? Yeah, the one who, who's cursed? Both. Both. The one who premeditated, the mind behind, and the scoundrel who so cheaply would take money or compensation over the dignity of human life.

Both cause, both the one who causes the assassination and the one who does it are under the curse. They're withering. It's a society where that's not going to go on. Think about the Jews and Judas. Both were involved, weren't they? There were the murderers in secret, and then there was the bribe-taker, Judas.

And you remember, there was a moment when he realized what he did. And he says this in Matthew 27, 4, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. The language is very similar to what Deuteronomy 27, 25. I have received a bribe to strike down an innocent. Innocent blood.

And that hit Judas. I believe this very concept, maybe in this very verse, certainly came into his mind. And he went out and hanged himself. What does this say about God? Talk to me. What does he love? Justice. What else does he love? What's that? His image bearer, yes.

Yes. Yes, he values life, doesn't he? He values human life. What else does it say? He loves the innocent, doesn't he? Justice. He values life. He loves innocent blood. It's interesting to just see how much this will play a large role in so much of the law. He loves innocence.

What does this say about the society God envisions? I think you hit on it. Human life is more valuable than money. Human life, there's a dignity in human life. What is this? I'm sorry? To love our neighbors? Yes. Yes. To defend one another. Someone's trying to get you to harm someone if you defend that.

Yes. And friends, this happens in a physical way, but it happens in a character way, doesn't it? This is what the devil is all about: slander, character assassination. The world he envisions isn't going to have that slanderer or those who would be willing to carry it out. Have nothing to do with the destruction of your neighbor, but have everything to do with building your neighbor up.

This is what the basic law is: love your neighbor. What does it say about how we're to relate to him, to creation, or each other? I think we should be innocent, seek innocence, be guileless. We should protect the innocent. I think this shows up to a large degree in a well-ordered court system.

Innocent until what? Proven guilty. Yeah, that was. You lift these concepts right off the pages of the law. It's a good way to value human life. To value a monetary gift over the dignity of human life is a serious offense before God. We can go on. Let me look at the 12th curse, the last one.

Deuteronomy 27:26. Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them. And all the people shall say, Amen. Confirm. Cursed is the one who is not confirming. And the idea for curving is causing to stand. Cursed is the one who isn't causing all of the words of this law to stand, to have their full effect.

Cursed is the one who is not putting these words into effect by doing them. That's how you put them into effect, is you do them. Hear over and over. Do not be just a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word. You put the truth into effect.

You cause the truth to stand by doing it, by carrying it out. And the word here involves labor. Cursed is the one who is not laboring to bring. Them about. What does this say about God? Not fond of lip service. No, he wants us to be doers. What else?

He means what he says, doesn't he? He says what he means. His instruction is good. You can expect he to do everything that he said he would do. What does this say about the society that he envisions? The society that he envisions is one that will do what?

Follow his law. One that will always do what he desires. Has the earth ever seen such a perfect society? No. But it's still what he envisions, isn't it? Society? What do you think heaven's going to be about? What do you think the new heavens, the new earth are going to be about?

A society where everyone does and continues to do perfectly all the words, full counsel of God's desire. This is the Verse that Paul cited in Galatians 3.10. He says this in Galatians 3.10, for as many are as of the works of the law are under a curse of the law.

What is the basic summation of the law? To love God totally, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. The command, the requirement of the law is to love God totally all the time and everyone around you to the same degree that you love yourself.

That's the law in a nutshell. For as many who are of the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written. And what is that written? Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them.

So this is Paul. This is the verse, the very end of the curses. There in Deuteronomy 27, this verse is in Paul's mind, and it's a summation of what God expects. Cursed is everyone. Notice the language. Everyone, no exception made for any person. Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all.

Look at how Paul understood the Hebrew, and the nuances are there, and he pulls it. Out. Cursed everyone who does not abide by all things. No exception to any law and in the immediate context, Paul is speaking to the Jews and the Gentiles. But ultimately, the application ultimately involves everybody who would seek a relationship with God outside of Christ.

Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law. So what is the purpose of the law? Well, Paul goes on into Galatians 3 as we've spent a lot of time there. The purpose of the law is to condemn people for their sin, not justify them.

It is not to excuse them. It doesn't defend sinners. It points out sin, but also points out one who never did sin. We should be reading this law and say, this isn't me. I'm under the curse. I can look at this. I don't get a couple pages in and I can just see and forget the civil law that was under Israel.

I'm talking about just the moral things and then the sins of the people. Mission that I'm supposed to be doing and loving God with all my, I see my failure, and then I start looking. Well, then, where does this righteousness come from? If the law is like a prosecuting attorney, it's not trying to defend its target.

What the law is saying is that the notion that fallen man can live up to God's standards perfectly is short-sighted. You and I cannot do that. And yet, this is what God envisions for his people and for society. Well, now that takes us to the end of ourselves, doesn't it?

Because if the law isn't going to make people righteous, what does? And this is where Paul steps in in Galatians 3, and he makes it apparent. Faith is the means that God has ordained for us to become righteous in His sight. Faith in the right object. And so, what Paul does in Galatians 3, with this cursed condition in mind from Deuteronomy 27, the law has set the stage for us to understand the redeeming work of Christ.

Because cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them. Well, we're under that category. But then there's Christ. Galatians 3.13, Paul says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Now we can start understanding the redeeming work of Christ.

What did he redeem us from? Well, he redeemed us from the curse of the law. He redeemed, that is, he bought back, just as I talked about this morning, the gospel tells us how our Lord Jesus Christ did all that was necessary to bring us out of this cursed condition and move us into the most favorable one.

He removed us, look at it, it's right up there. Christ redeemed us from the what? From the curse of the law. From the curse of the law. Notice that he did not redeem his people from the God of the law. No, he didn't redeem us from the God of the law, but from the curse of the law.

Notice he didn't deliver them from the righteous requirements revealed in the law. No, he redeemed us from the curse of the law. The withering, the dying. The promise to be blotted out. Notice, he didn't redeem us from the edifying benefits of the law, such as the wisdom revealed, the instruction, and the revelation, but he delivered us, redeemed us from the curse of the law.

That's what he redeemed us from, was the curse. And how did he redeem us? Verse 13 goes on, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree. You see, he had to become the lightning rod of God's wrath for his people.

And so, salvation is all about how a person goes from being under God's just and settled indignation and frown to being under his delight from curse to blessing. Way back in Deuteronomy 27, 28, there's these two mountains, the mountains of curse and mountains of blessing. How does one come under the blessing?

Well, Paul is telling you, through the work there, from that little Jacob's well where he meets the woman. How does one go from blessing to curse? And from curse to blessing, it's faith in Jesus Christ. The redeeming work of Christ, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, in order that Christ Jesus, that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

So, where Paul goes with this is that the curse of the law, that very last curse in that great big ceremony that they were to come into the land, the Jews were to come into the land, and they were to rehearse back and forth. And the very last curse to be ringing in their ear is: Cursed is the one who doesn't do all this is written all the time.

That immediately should make any honest soul look to a Savior. And yet, as you look at Jesus' life, that's exactly what he did. He loved God totally all the time with all his heart, perfectly embodying the law, redeeming his neighbor instead of cutting him down. Questions?