[8.30] Joshua builds an altar on this mountain, Mt Ebal. The Hebrew word for altar means, place of sacrifice. [and they had to be UNCUT stones - Ex. 20:25 “If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it.”] - On this they’re offering burnt offerings - sacrifices for sin (which make the relationship whole), and peace offerings (which celebrate that the relationship is whole) [Ex. 32:5-6 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.]. And it’s a feast! All the people are here: women, kids, strangers. Everyone is participating. And the location is perfect - these two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal form a huge natural amphitheater [you should take a peak on google]. And Joshua builds this altar on the one mountain, but then the rest of the focus - the Ark, the priests - is in the valley in-between the two mountains. But where are we? The town is called Shechem. It's 30 miles north of Camp Gilgal, so at least a 2 day march on foot. What are they doing way up here? Let’s rewind a few days.
Camp Gilgal. The army has just returned from Ai. The Ruins. They just got a do-over. The promise of a Re-Do. Cuz at Jericho, one guy kept for himself something that should have been given to God, the whole nation fell out of favor with the Lord and then got owned by the Ai-ites [ch 7]. But the God of the Re-do made a way for them to have a 2nd chance. They made things right and God just gave them a sweet victory over Ai. So all 500k fighting men have returned to Camp Gilgal and the whole nation is celebrating. They’re back on track. And out of the blue Joshua announces, pack your bags, get your kids and your animals ready, cuz there’s something we have to do. And they gotta move all their stuff - cuz they’re not gonna leave anything behind for any locals to steal. But so they push pause on the conquest, and go way out of their way to carry out something Moses had charged them to do. Rewind a few months: Deut. 27:11-14,4 Moses also charged the people on that day, saying, “When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. The Levites shall then answer to all the men of Israel with a loud voice… So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.” So, this detour is not a total surprise, but suffice it to say, at this point it’s a major inconvenience.
For the record, it is always good to do the right thing. Even if it means pausing something you’re right in the middle of. Even if it’s inconvenient. In fact, doing the right thing is often inconvenient. Matt. 3:15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
So, they head to Shechem. What do we know about Shechem? Rewind a few (7) centuries: Gen. 12:5-7 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their household, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. Later Jacob built a well right here, same spot, kept flocks here. And now, 700 years later, Joshua is building an altar in the same place! The children of Abraham have returned to renew their covenant with the Lord here in Shechem. The promise to Abraham has now come fully full circle!
The placement here is interesting. Mt Ebal, to the north, is the mountain of the curse. Check out the tribes that are assigned to Mt Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali. These tribes wind up settling more north (or else on the other - i.e. the wrong side of the Jordan). Of course the northern tribes all wind up on the wrong side when God’s People split up after Solomon dies. To the south, on Mt Gerizim, the mountain of blessing, we have Levi, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Joseph, and Issachar. These tribes mostly did settle further south, closer to the seat of worship, and more of them stay more loyal to the line of David/Messiah. Just curious. Which mountain do you think you would rather be on? And where does Joshua build this altar and write all the words of the law? Mt Ebal. The mountain of the curse. Don't miss this - the curse is tied to the law.
There’s a beautiful distinction drawn here between the two covenants which God has enacted over the years. The basis of the first covenant which He enacts with Israel (Old Covenant), and which Israel affirms as they are sprawled out across these two mountains is a religion of works. If you obey, you will be blessed. If you disobey, you will be cursed. And God has given them hundreds of commands to obey (613). The Law. Written down on Mt Ebal, the mountain of the curse. There’s no way on earth they (or anyone) can obey all these commands. I.e. the curse is inevitable. Which is why we need the other mountain, Mt Gerizim, the mountain of blessing. And God is preparing yet another picture of His plan to bless the nations. Fast forward…
700 years later, the northern tribes, those in this area of Shechem (aka Samaria) have rebelled against God AND against David’s throne. As promised, they get the curse. Here come the Assyrians, who carry some of them away, and replace them with conquered Gentiles. That’s how the Assyrians controlled people they conquered: they intermingled them and diluted the cultures. But what it meant for the people of Samaria - they became half-Jewish. Half-breeds. NOT pure Jews. Pure Jews looked down on these Samaritans. They shunned them, went out of their way to avoid them. Samaritans were UNwelcome in the temple when Ezra rebuilt it. So at one point they built their own - on Mt Gerazim! Maybe they weren’t certain about how to be included in the promises of God, but they wanted to be included, and they at least knew for certain that Mt Gerizim was the mountain of blessing. Fast forward to ~120 BC, Jewish zealots (heard of the Maccabees?), they destroy this Samaritan temple in the area of Shechem. They couldn’t stand the thought of anyone other than pure Jews worshipping the God of Israel.
Fast forward ~150yrs, a young Jewish rabbi wanders into Sychar (i.e. Shechem), and sits down by Jacob’s well, in the shadow of Mt Gerizim and that Samaritan temple which now lies in ruins. And He does the unthinkable - asks this unmarried unclean, Samaritan woman He finds there for a drink from the well. When she figures out He is a prophet, she says, [Jn 4.19-20 “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”]
Jerusalem is not far Shechem/Mt Gerizim. 40mi south. There there’s another, slightly smaller mountain. More like a hill? NOT far away. Where long ago a father went with his beloved only son. Had his son carry the load of wood on which, as it turns out, his son was to be sacrificed. At the final hour, God provided a grown male lamb, his head all wrapped up by some thorns, as a substitute. And God played out that scene TWICE in fact, on that same mountain, also known as Moriah. God sent Abraham there to offer up his only son. And Moriah happens to be the same mountain where Solomon built the original temple. But later, God’s own Son, His beloved only Son, climbs that same hill, (aka Golgotha, Calvary). Like Isaac also carrying a "load of wood", a rugged Roman cross, head wrapped up in thorns, and in that glorious moment the Father laid all the curses of Mt Ebal, all of our sins, on His Son Jesus, Who freely laid down His life as the once-and-for-all perfect sacrifice for all our sins [Gal. 3:13-14 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE” — in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.]. And in so doing, He unleashed the blessing of Mt Gerazim, the promise of God, to all the families of the earth. That’s what God was up to, way back in Genesis: Gen. 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” Deut. 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.”
[v35] Let’s not miss the priority Joshua gives to God’s Word [Deut. 11:18-19 “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.] [v31] But at the same time, note the elements of food and celebration as God’s people gather around His Word [peace offerings: Deut. 27:7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God.].
Meanwhile, back by that Samaritan well, the rabbi replies, [Jn 4.21,23 “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.”]. For us, our mountainous climb is a journey of the heart…
Like Moses urged the people of God to choose life, to choose the blessing instead of the curse, we also have a choice, choosing to trust in this One Who took the curse for us. Jesus Christ our Lord. Everything you and I do becomes grounded in choosing Him, choosing this state of wholeness before the Lord, in our relationship with Him. Trusting in Jesus, that HE is the Blessed Lamb Who alone can remove the curse of sin from us. And nothing is more important. Nothing comes before this. We ought not delay. We do not wait until we’ve finished our conquest. Or finished our degree. Or finished having kids. Or whatever thing might seem more important or urgent. There is nothing more important to living a whole life, a life of shalom, of overall well-being and blessing, than being whole in our relationship with the Lord. Of making peace with Him. Of choosing the peace, the blessing that comes only from Him. So, let us choose life...
