Joshua 8:30-35 MEETING ON THE MOUNTAINS The Israelites advanced thirty miles to the Valley of Schehem and were taught there the way they would be blessed and the way they would be cursed. There are no alternatives; no middle ground. Here was where God promised Canaan to Abraham. Jacob’s well was here. This is where Jesus talked with the woman at the well. There with Mt. Ebal on the north and Mt. Gerezim two miles south, they gathered to do what Moses had commanded before he died [De.27]. It is a natural amphitheater where voices can easily be heard from one mountain to the other. Joshua built an altar to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings there on top of Mt. Ebal. Between the two mountains was the Ark of the Covenant. The altar was built here as a place of communion, worship, discipline and obedience. It was built out of uncut stones to prevent people worshiping the craftsmanship of the workers rather than the great works of God, the Creator. Victory does not mean that we can ignore the claims of God upon us. It is in fact, quite the opposite. In view of all God has done for us, we need to stop and consider the Great Cause of all our blessing - and remember our obligations are not done. Restoration leads us back to God where we again experience His grace and love.
We should never think we do not need to hear the truths of God again because we have heard them once. Truth needs to be at the forefront of every day's activities so we can avoid whatever deceit comes against us and every challenge we have to face. The law of liberty by which we conduct life is not something we can take or leave as we choose. The written truths of God's Word are given to us to practice in our Christian life to keep us from being "disqualified" as the apostle Paul so aptly stated. He submitted to personal discipline constantly "lest .... I myself be a castaway." When Israel reached the valley of Shechem they stopped to attend to something more important than to enjoy victory. There in full view of any who may have been watching, Israel was publicly placed under the authority of God's Word in a way that all could hear as well as see.
On top of the rugged, rocky Mt. Ebal, an altar of uncut stones was raised. There was no tool used to make each stone fit the next one. This was an altar raised to worship the Creator. This altar was unpolluted by the sin-stained hands of human endeavor. This was an altar that would identify the Israelites as true worshippers who were in fellowship with God. This first altar built after the nation entered the promised land, was a declaration of their communion with God and submission to His word. Discipline had produced "the peaceable fruits of righteousness," and they were again acting in accordance with God's will. They had buried the king of Ai before the sun went down in obedience to God's law. Now they gathered to hear the word of God read and to see it written upon that rocky hill. The smoke of the burnt offering and the peace offering would be seen for miles around, and the inhabitants of the land would know Israel was publicly acknowledging their dependence on God.
We may never know the impact of our collective worship has on others who look on with questions unasked. It is enough that we do not "forsake the assembling of ourselves together," and we leave the effects of our obedience to the Lord to use as He chooses. One thing we do know, doing God's things in God's way is not going to be understood by those who do not submit to the discipline of God's word or obey it. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another." The failure of a past generation does not mean the new generation is doomed to failure. New Testament holiness is the same as Old Testament holiness because the Holy God is the same as He has always been. The difference between the Old and New is the motivation for holiness under the law of liberty is higher and greater because of God's grace and love rather than the fear of consequences when the law was broken. When we understand the blessings of this new liberty, we are glad to live holy, righteously and godly. That is one of our highest desires - to please God.
The ark of the covenant was placed in the valley between the two mountains. Half of Israel was on the side of Mt. Ebal and the other half on the side of Mr. Gerezim. The altar on Mt. Ebal was plastered over so that the law would not only be read in the hearing of all the people as Moses commanded, but was written when Joshua wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law, not with a graving tool on the stones but on the plaster. He wrote them in the presence of the children of Israel, and he read all the words of the law out loud before all the congregation --- men, women, little ones, strangers. The curses when read, were answered with loud "Amens." It doesn't seem like "Amens" were given when the blessings were read. The altar on Mt. Ebal was a reminder of the punishment for sin and forgiveness. The altar was a type of Christ who suffered for sin in our place of the curse. "Cursed is everyone who hangeth on a tree." Finally, after forty years Israel was gathered in this way to hear the word of the Lord in the presence of the ark.
Christian liberty does not free us from obligations and responsibilities to God’s word and God’s will. We have freedom from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The law, weak through the flesh, was condemned by God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and fulfilling its claims. To us who are Christians, the law of Moses is not an obligation to fulfill but a delight so we can know the will of God and do it "heartily as unto the Lord and not unto man." Christ has fulfilled the law on our behalf and God's justice is satisfied because the curse of the law is now gone. All the questions about should I do this or should I go there, and such like, are all answered when we go to the cross and learn, and remember, all that took place there. Our whole life as Christians is to be lived to glorify our Savior. That is what life is all about. We are finished with the law and its sentence, but we cannot avoid its standards. The new law of liberty we live by is not fulfilled in the energy of the flesh but by the Holy Spirit operating in us and through us. Holiness is not optional. Without it no man can see the Lord.
There is a price to pay for a holy, dynamic Christian life. There is more to being a Christian than having beliefs. Beliefs have to become actions. The law was written on the altar and the altar is the place where blood was shed, communion restored, and worship was given. Our blessings are greater than those of Israel, so our responsibility is greater. Because of them we act in holiness and find our joy in pleasing our Lord and Savior. The freed Christian desires to do the will of God. There is no neutral position for believers. We are either on Mount Gerizim or Mount Ebal. Now our sacrifices are more personal as we worship and serve Him. We don't bring animals or material things, but the things from our hearts that God cannot create. "The fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." That is the sacrifice of praise. There is the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart that God does not despise. There are other sacrifices that are in our capacity to give. Perhaps the most important one is that we "Present our bodies, a living sacrifice; holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable (priestly) service."