And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,
After the crossing of the Jordan God's commands were to be written on plastered stones, and then the outcomes of obedience and disobedience were to be repeatedly proclaimed in a loud voice from two prominent positions so that the advantage of blessing and the disadvantage of cursing were made clear. The blessings upon the obedient were to be pronounced from Mount Gerizim and the curses upon the disobedient from Mount Ebal, with the Levites speaking each specification with a loud voice to all the men of Israel and the congregation assenting to each declaration. As Moses had commanded, Joshua assembled the people and rehearsed the blessings that follow obedience and the curses that follow disregard of God's law. The mountains witnessed the vows Israel made on entering Canaan, and the people later gathered at Shechem to renew those vows before Joshua's death.
The loud voice speaking to all Israel is not the voice of man but the voice of Christ from the enfolding pillar of cloud, uttered with His own voice lest the people forget. The directions express the principles of the law of the kingdom of God made specific so that minds are not left in ignorance and uncertainty, showing how particular God was to make His law familiar and impressive to forgetful Israel. Together with Deuteronomy 26 and 28, the verse belongs to a plain statement of the blessings of obedience and the curse of disobedience, commanding Israel to keep and do God's statutes and judgments with all the heart and soul, avouching the Lord to be their God and walking in His ways and hearkening to His voice, with obedience bringing prosperity for present and future good.
The verse lays a never-ceasing obligation on all whom God has blessed with life and health and temporal and spiritual advantages to publicly acknowledge His special favor so His name is glorified as a testimony that His Word is verity and truth, and by accepting the conditions Israel placed itself under solemn responsibility to fulfill them under a government of personal responsibility where each must stand for himself. God gave the ceremony to deter from transgression and encourage obedience, for He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but takes greatest pleasure in those who turn from sin. The message has not grown weak because of age; God's claims are just as binding now and just as fresh in importance as God's gifts are fresh and continual.
After the crossing of the Jordan God's commands were to be written on plastered stones, and then the outcomes of obedience and disobedience were to be repeatedly proclaimed in a loud voice from two prominent positions so that the advantage of blessing and the disadvantage of cursing were made clear. The blessings upon the obedient were to be pronounced from Mount Gerizim and the curses upon the disobedient from Mount Ebal, with the Levites speaking each specification with a loud voice to all the men of Israel and the congregation assenting to each declaration. As Moses had commanded, Joshua assembled the people and rehearsed the blessings that follow obedience and the curses that follow disregard of God's law. The mountains witnessed the vows Israel made on entering Canaan, and the people later gathered at Shechem to renew those vows before Joshua's death.
The loud voice speaking to all Israel is not the voice of man but the voice of Christ from the enfolding pillar of cloud, uttered with His own voice lest the people forget. The directions express the principles of the law of the kingdom of God made specific so that minds are not left in ignorance and uncertainty, showing how particular God was to make His law familiar and impressive to forgetful Israel. Together with Deuteronomy 26 and 28, the verse belongs to a plain statement of the blessings of obedience and the curse of disobedience, commanding Israel to keep and do God's statutes and judgments with all the heart and soul, avouching the Lord to be their God and walking in His ways and hearkening to His voice, with obedience bringing prosperity for present and future good.
The verse lays a never-ceasing obligation on all whom God has blessed with life and health and temporal and spiritual advantages to publicly acknowledge His special favor so His name is glorified as a testimony that His Word is verity and truth, and by accepting the conditions Israel placed itself under solemn responsibility to fulfill them under a government of personal responsibility where each must stand for himself. God gave the ceremony to deter from transgression and encourage obedience, for He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but takes greatest pleasure in those who turn from sin. The message has not grown weak because of age; God's claims are just as binding now and just as fresh in importance as God's gifts are fresh and continual.