A Mountain of Blessing and Curses

A Sermon Preached on August 19, 2012.  Edited by Steve Fountain.

In Joshua 8, we read about how God gave His people a victory over the city of Ai. The victory came on the heels of a loss to Ai due to the sin of Achan. But now, Ai's inhabitants have been killed and its valuables collected. The city is set on fire. As the smoke rises, a caravan of women, children, supplies and cattle travel along the ridge route toward the ancient town of Shechem. They moved from Ai about 25 miles to the north and a few miles west, to a valley situated between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.

These two mountains aren't random.

In Deuteronomy 27, Moses had commanded the people that once they reached the other side of the Jordan they were to make their way to Ebal and Gerizim.  On mount Gerizim, they were told to set up large stones and plaster them.  In the plaster they were to inscribe all the words of the law “very plainly” (27:8). 

The two mountains converge to form a valley with a natural amphitheater. It was between the two mountains that Moses ordered the Ark of the Covenant to be placed (27:11-14), with the tribes of Israel taking positions on the natural seating on the sides of each mountain.

As the Levites read through 12 curses (27:15-26), the people stationed on Mount Ebal replied “Amen,” which means, “Surely, Verily, or Truthfully.”  It was a statement of affirmation, a statement of agreement. 

Then, as the Levites read through the blessings (28:1-8), the people station on Mount Gerizim would reply “Amen.”

Like acid etched in stone, the memorial and witness of the oath would never be lost, and even if it should fade, the burden of obligation of their vow would be theirs and their children’s forever.

And now, Joshua gathers God's people.

In Joshua 8:35 we read, “There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.”

Let’s stand for a moment with them between the two mountains.

As they are listening to the curses and the blessings, some begin to have within them the overwhelming anxiety that there is no possible way they can keep these commands on their own.  In fact, that is exactly the feeling they are supposed to have. 

As they hear cursing, they also see smoke rising, not from Ai, but from an altar. 

As they look at the Altar they notice that the Altar is located on Mount Ebal, not in the middle, and not on Gerizim.  It is located on the mountain of curses.  It is as if God said, “I know you can’t keep the law perfectly, that’s why I have made provision for you.”  As the thunder of “Thou shalt not…” echoes in their ears, an immediate “But I know you will, and so here is the way to escape condemnation.”

In other words, the altar was for those who acknowledge their sin and who come, not as the righteous, but as sinners, to the place of sacrifice.

Which mountain are you resting in? Are you living by faith, are you loving the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?

If you cannot admit that you are a sinner, you cannot come to God, and God will not hear you until you admit that you need Him.  And this is true of people who have come to faith in Christ, too.  We continually need to come to Christ and admit our need for his righteousness. 

1 John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”