What has God REALLY warned us about?

So much of the last half of Exodus and all of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy have so many of God's do-be's and don't-be's that it's hard to know what's the most important thing to remember out of all of it. I mean, the Lord kept them planted at Mt. Sinai for seemingly forever before letting them move out - about a year, in fact! - and then we get the glaze over thirty-six years of wandering in the middle, and finally, we get to the last book and get to go over ALL the rules AGAIN just before we cross the Jordan River. (Admittedly, this was now an entirely different group of people now; God made sure to kill the originals off in the Wilderness since they balked at His instructions. But WE have to read it both times!)

And, what's the most important thing or things God wants those travelers to remember when He let them into the Promised Land?

Most people would immediately say "The Ten Commandments".

Nope. That was for the original adults. 

What did the Lord want the kids to remember? What sticks out in their memories?

Well, in Deuteronomy 27, He has Moses lead the congregation through a verbal assent of the things that apparently He most wanted them to make sure they agreed to. 

Wanna take a look? This is Deuteronomy 27:14-26...

14And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice:

15“‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’  (This is Commandment 2, and it sort of implies #1 and 3 as well.)

16“‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’  (This is Commandment 5. So far, so good.)

17“‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (This would be a special - and very important - case of Commandment 9, Do not bear false witness against your neighbor. Interesting, but still on point. Next.)

18“‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (This is the first "Huh?" in the list. God, You needed to make this one this important? Hmm. Well, maybe they'd been kicking the blind kid. OK, moving on...)

19“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’  (This has been one of the most important ones in Christ's teaching, so even though it isn't one of the biggies before this, it's pretty important. OK.)

20“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.’^bAnd all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’  (This is another version of 5, isn't it? Step-mother, maybe, if you're allowing divorce, which Moses did, but still...)

21“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’  (OK, this one is like "Warning, coffee is HOT." For those who need this, you scare me - but then, SOMEONE had to have done it or God wouldn't have needed to say it. And if it needs to be said, then it NEEDS to be said, y'know what I mean?)

22“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’  (This probably needed to be said. And it came up a couple of times along the way - all the versions of this one. OK, important. Go on...)

23“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (A close relative of verses 16 and 20. There have no been FIVE 'don't put your thingy in this!' rules already. There must not have been much to do in the desert...and yet, none of them outlaw homosexuality.)

24“‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (OK, now we're hitting the "Love your neighbor as yourself" commandment which Christ told us was one of the two most important rules of all, with a good helping of Commandment 6 on the side.)

25“‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’  (This is a combination of Commandments 6, 8, and 9, and bribery was one of those topics that God harped on a LOT. That's a good one.)

26“‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’  (And finally, this is a great 'concluding' rule: Do What I Told You To Do By Living It! That's really the ultimate rule of Christianity, isn't it? Don't say you're a Christian - SHOW you're a Christian!)

So, what's the deal? Are those the rules you expected God to hammer home at His last and most vital opportunity? 

When asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”37And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40). As described above, Moses covered both of these, though not in so many words, to some extent.

If you're using the Ten Commandments as your guide (Exodus 20:1-17), then most of them are covered - there's nothing about coveting, or the Sabbath, but the other eight are at least touched upon.

But if you're going off your own priorities, there are a couple that might be conspicuous in their absence:

• Nothing about mediums, who God wants stoned to death on sight several times in the Torah.
• Nothing about homosexuality, which gets more press today than God ever gave it - He did condemn the act, but He was much more concerned about various forms of adultery and (as shown above) incest than that.
• None of the health concerns are here - leprosy, blood issues, food, etc. - and I would suggest that most of those will be LESS critical once His People spread out throughout even the 30,000 square miles they would eventually inhabit (but did you realize that God actually GAVE them ten times that area to populate? And they were never able to populate it - in large part because, as Joshua documented, the clans never finished purging their own regions of the previous residents, as God had commanded.
• None of the ones about Levites, or procedures, or worship practices outside the first few commandments, or anything along those lines. These are all "don't"s, not "do"s. 
• And the one thing I'm personally surprised in retrospect about: Nothing about completely wiping out the Canaanites who then resided in the Promised Land, and especially nothing about cross-pollenating with the other tribes, either through marriage or by adopting the false gods of the competing nations. Especially since THIS is what God knew would be the constant and ultimate undoing of His People in Israel until He allowed them to be exiled a millennium later.

So, what are YOUR thoughts about this? Is this an accurate reflection of God's priorities for them, and is it an accurate reflection of God's priorities for US?