These chapters cover in detail what is called the Retribution Principle. This means if you obey God He will bless you, if you do not, He will curse you. Once the children of Israel enter the promised land, they were to set up large stones and write the laws on them, then they were to build an altar and offer sacrifices and eat and rejoice before the Lord their God. Then they were to have a ceremony to represent the blessing and cursing. 1/2 of each tribe would stand on two nearby mountains. The Levites would cry out "Cursed is the man who...", and then all the people would cry out "Amen!" That means, "So Be It!" Then Moses shared the blessings of obedience looked like and then what the curses looked like. He told them that because of their disobedience, they would one day be exiled to a land they did not know, but even there, IF they cried out and turned back to the Lord, He would bring them back someday. (The Lord kept His word. Assyria took the Northern Tribes of Israel. Babylon took the Southern Tribes of Israel, and then Cyrus King of Persia allowed the Jews to come back.) Moses said the choice was before them. Life or Death. Blessings or Curses! He pleaded for them to choose life which meant they would "Love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him."
