READING THE BLESSINGS AND CURSES AT MOUNT GERIZIM AND MOUNT EBAL

DEUTERONOMY 27–29; JOSHUA 8:30–35

The defeat of Jericho opened the gate for the Israelites to enter Canaan’s hill country. The second battle at Ai brought another victory and allowed them to begin the conquest of the entire region. Before continuing the military campaign, however, Joshua did something quite remarkable and unexpected from a military perspective: he ceased all military operations and led the Israelites to Mounts Ebal and Gerizim for a reason.

After the battles at Jericho and Ai, Joshua led the people of Israel north on the Ridge Route some twenty miles to the city of Shechem. This city, nestled in a pass between Mount Ebal (3,084 ft.) and Mount Gerizim (2,891 ft.), would host the rededication to the law given to Moses, a rededication that happened at God’s direction (Josh. 8:30–35; Deut. 11:29; 27:1–28:68).

Here the Israelites built an altar of uncut stones on Mount Ebal. Joshua then had stones erected, coated them with plaster, and inscribed into them the words the Lord gave to Moses. Next he directed that the Word of God be read out loud so that everyone of that generation might hear the blessings the Lord had promised to those who heed his Word and the curses for those who do not.

Replica of the Ten Commandments inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew in stone. Joshua instructed that the words the Lord gave Moses be inscribed on a plastered stone.

Mount Ebal. The Israelites built an altar of uncut stones on Mount Ebal.

The design for this event and the selection of Shechem come to us from the time of Moses. While still east of the Jordan River, Moses spoke of blessings and curses that would naturally follow the obedience or disobedience of Israel. Moses directed that after they had entered Canaan, the Israelites were to speak to each other those words of blessings and curses, and they were to do so between the faces of Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim (Deut. 11:29). He also told them to inscribe the words on stone monuments and to build an altar (Deut. 27:1–9).4

By placing the altar on Mount Ebal and by using the natural amphitheater provided by the valley between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, the region of Shechem became the arena accommodating thousands of people where they could see, hear, and participate in the event Moses had commanded. But there was something even more important about this location than the topographical assistance it offered. Location can enhance the power of words and experiences when the setting recalls what had happened there before. That is true of Shechem as it is of many other biblical locations.

The central hill country

When Abram had first entered Canaan, the Lord appeared to him at Shechem and affirmed that he had reached the land he and his descendants would inherit. So Abram built a memorial altar at Shechem to commemorate that momentous event (Gen. 12:6–7). Years later, Abraham’s grandson Jacob purchased land in Shechem, dug a well, and built another memorial altar there (Gen. 33:18–20). Jacob then directed his entire family to rid themselves of their foreign idols at Shechem (Gen. 35:2–4).

Reading the blessings and curses at Mounts Ebal and Gerizim happened there for a reason. If there was any location in Canaan that connected the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to the Lord, the region of Shechem was it. So at the Lord’s direction, Joshua brought Jacob’s descendants and others among them to this area as Moses had instructed (Josh. 8:30–35). There Joshua reminded them in detail of God’s promises to Abraham and Jacob. Before Israel moved forward in the difficult days ahead, taking over the land and resisting the temptations of idolatry, Shechem, located between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, was the place to pause and be reminded of the Lord’s purpose in bringing them back home.

View looking west toward Mount Gerizim (left) and Mount Ebal (right).