The Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land!!
Through Moses, God instructs the Israelites "once you have entered the promised land and settle in it, take the first fruits of your crop and give it as an offering to God." This money shall then be used for the Levites (priests), the fatherless, and the widow "so that they may eat and be satisfied."
God truly cares about taking care of the priests (in our case, pastors, ministers, etc), the fatherless and the widow (poor, hungry, etc).
God then tells them to keep his commandments. In fact, he tells them to write the commandments on a stone. He asks them to build an alter without using iron tools! In fact, he asks them to build it out of fieldstones! Man, that's a lot more work!
Almost ominously, Moses then tells them that the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin will stand on Mount Ebal to bless the people while Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali will pronounce curses. (!)
Then the Levites will pronounce what kinds of curses will befall a member if he commits a series of sins (such as sleeping with your father's wife, setting up idols, leading the blind astray, killing your neighbor, moving a boundary stone, dishonoring parents, immoral sexual relations). He ends with
He ends with the following general statement:
“Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.”
Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
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