Ki-Tavo
When you enter in
“Blessing and Curse Declarations”
Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8
Isaiah 60:1-22
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
As the annual reading of the Torah begins to wind down this week, and with the month of Elul waning as personal introspection increases, in anticipation of the first of Tishri and the Ten Days of Awe which culminate with Yom Kippur—the text continues to emphasize the Almighty’s desire for intimate relationship with the children of Israel. In order to instill a semblance of communion, the instructions found in our parashah range from tithing the first fruits of the Promised Land, to constant reminders about not only what the Holy One had done for Israel—but how they were to listen intently to His voice, in order to seek and maintain dependence on Him for all things:
“It shall be, when you have come in to the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, possess it, and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, ‘I profess today to the LORD your God, that I have come to the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the LORD your God’s altar. You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, ‘My father was a Syrian ready to perish. He went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number. There he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers. The LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs, and with wonders; and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:1-9, WMB).
In order to become that treasured possession among the nations of the world, promised to the Patriarchs with all of the attendant blessings—the Holy One reminded Israel of the imperative to follow His commands without reservation:
“You shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them. I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor given of it for the dead. I have listened to the LORD my God’s voice. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Today the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you would walk in his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice. The LORD has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments. He will make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, as he has spoken” (Deuteronomy 26:13-19, WMB).
However, because there is a wide gulf between just thinking about, and talking about, keeping God’s commandments—versus actually doing them—the Lord commanded some physical actions upon entering the Promised Land, which would allow the people of Israel to intently contemplate the vast differences between choosing to be blessed, or falling into situations which would warrant curses and penalties. So, upon entering into the Land, Joshua would be instructed to march the people up to the area around Shechem, where Mount Ebal is located across the valley from Mount Gerizim, and actually set up large lime-coated stones with the words of the Law inscribed upon them. Then, on an altar constructed of uncut stones, the Ancient Israelites were to sacrifice peace offerings and listen to the reading of the Torah:
“Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, ‘Keep all the commandment which I command you today. It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and coat them with plaster. You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over, that you may go in to the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. It shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall coat them with plaster. There you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall not use any iron tool on them. You shall build the LORD your God’s altar of uncut stones. You shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God. You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there. You shall rejoice before the LORD your God. You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.’ Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, ‘Be silent and listen, Israel! Today you have become the people of the LORD your God. You shall therefore obey the LORD your God’s voice, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today’” (Deuteronomy 27:1-10, WMB).
Then, in a demonstration of what could be termed the first “Amen chorus,” the Twelve Tribes of Israel were divided into two six-tribe groups, with six standing on Mount Gerizim (mount of blessing) to the south, and six standing on Mount Ebal (mount of cursing). Once in place, the Levites shouted out a series of twelve curses, which mirror many of the already-noted commands of the Lord, eliciting a resounding “Amen” from the people of Israel divided according to inconclusive groups of tribes. While theories abound about the different groupings, suffice it to say that the more important aspect was the universal affirmation from all of the Israelites, with a collective “Amen” of agreement:
“Moses commanded the people the same day, saying, ‘These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. With a loud voice, the Levites shall say to all the men of Israel, ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who leads the blind astray on the road.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he dishonors his father’s bed.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who secretly kills his neighbor.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by doing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen’” (Deuteronomy 27:11-26, WMB).
By the end of this ceremony, the children of Israel would have not only physically participated in what must have been an incredible display of interaction, in the natural amphitheater which the two mountains create overlooking Shechem—but the fact that they were in one accord with their unanimous “Amens,” essentially locked them into a verbal vow and oath regarding what was being declared. Of course, it is understood from the previous instructions given in last week’s parashah, that the God of Israel is absolutely concerned about what is uttered from the lips of His followers:
“When you vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you. You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to the LORD your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do” (Deuteronomy 23:21-23, WMB).
Therefore, by declaring “Amen” after each of these curses were declared, the Ancient Israelites would be now responsible to avoid performing any of the transgressions which would usher in curses, penalties, and an exaction of punishments.
To counterbalance the listing and affirmations of the curses due to deviant behavior, the message immediately turns to describing the blessings of obedience to the Word of the Lord, which will ultimately place Israel high above the nations of the Earth. In reading the following passage, it is notable that the hand of the Almighty was intimately involved in making sure that Israel received His blessings—not only because of obedience to His commands—but also because of the promises extended to the Patriarchs, years before the anticipated crossing of the Jordan into the Land of Promise:
“It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the LORD your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to the LORD your God’s voice. You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. The LORD will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the LORD’s name, and they will be afraid of you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. The LORD will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today, to observe and to do, and shall not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them” (Deuteronomy 28:1-14, WMB).
Absolute obedience to the commands of the Holy One was required, especially when it came to the temptations of turning to the other gods which were present in and among the Cannanites, who were to be displaced. Lamentably, the listing of blessing now returns to the consequences of disobedience, because despite all of the verbal declarations and actions taken to try and insure compliance with the Word of God, there would continue to be the human propensity to wander away from His ways.
Readers see an additional, lengthy listing of curses, which further articulates the extent of curses relative to rebellious disobedience. Since the graphic details of these curses should be known and understood by all who read and study the Torah, the entire list is as follows:
“But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the LORD your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you and overtake you. You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go in to possess it. The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed. The LORD will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away. The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. The LORD will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. The LORD will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to the LORD your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. Because you didn’t serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore you will serve your enemies whom the LORD sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD your God, then the LORD will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring them on you until you are destroyed. You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to the LORD your God’s voice. It will happen that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. The LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, ‘I wish it were evening!’ and at evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. The LORD will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you” (Deuteronomy 28:15-68, WMB).
It is difficult to read these curses with all of the explicit details, especially with the knowledge of the history of Israel—and not be overwhelmed with the fact that the Holy One allowed every curse to have its way throughout the years, since these words were uttered. There is no need to go into the minutiae of what each of these curses entail. Simply reading about them and noting that they have each had an impact on Israel down through the ages—and that final resolution to the corporate disobedience will not come until the Second Coming of Yeshua—should be absolutely sobering to all who read them today. The simple fact that the judgments of God are just and sure, with not only the veracity of the exile of Israel into the nations as punishment for disobedience—but the gruesome reality that at some point in time, many had to literally eat their offspring—is almost beyond comprehension. And yet, the annals of Israel’s history record that these punishments did occur. Should we as modern-day followers of the Messiah of Israel be reminded of how God’s character is the same today, as He was yesterday, and that He will remain consistent to His Word? How much more should we humble ourselves and learn from these words the preference of receiving His blessings, and avoid the curses which are so gut-wrenching to even contemplate?
Our Torah portion closes with a simple summation of what had transpired. Once again, the repetition of what had taken place and the mercy extended to Israel, despite the disobedience, should remind all who follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that His mercies are new every morning. No one should take anything for granted, given the challenge that all continue to look through a “mirror, dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12, WMB) when it comes to understanding all of the ways of the Eternal One:
“These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But the LORD has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet. You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them. We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites” (Deuteronomy 29:1-8, WMB).
May we each, therefore, cling to Him who is life eternal. May we be about constantly confessing our sins, turning away from them with reckless abandon, as we receive His longsuffering mercy and grace!
To Him be all glory, honor, and power, as we seek His face in this season of personal reflection and meditation about our own obedient walk with Him—while attempting to advance His Kingdom, until the restoration of all things…
