Lessons from Mount Gerizim and Ebal
One lesson in the Book of Deuteronomy is that God blessed the obedient
and punished the disobedient. Before Moses death, he prepared the nation of
Israel
for their conquest of the
land
of
Canaan
.
Deuteronomy 27 gives us an illustration of the great lengths God went to
in order to remind the children of
Israel
of their need for obedience. Once they entered Canaan, half the tribes of
Israel
were to gather on
Mount
Gerizim
. They were to pronounce blessings on those that kept the word of God. Fifteen
times in Deuteronomy one will read the word “blessed.” Each is in connection
with obeying the word of God.
At the same time, the other half of
Israel
was to gather on
Mount
Ebal
. There the Levites were to build an altar of stones and they were to be white
washed. Burnt offerings and peace offerings were to be offered to the Lord. They
were then to pronounce curses on those who disobeyed God’s law. The curses are
listed in Deuteronomy 27.26. Among the cursed were those that took bribes,
dishonored their mother or father, committed incest, the adulterers, idolaters,
etc. One could say the cursed were those that broke the 10 commandments and
their application. At the end of the process, the people were to say,
“Amen!” Amen means so be it, or so let it be. In other words, they were to
acknowledge that God would punish the sinners and the nation of
Israel
. Later we read of Assyria and
Babylon
defeating
Israel
and
Judah
. This punishment was in fulfillment of what was said on
Mount
Gerizim
and
Mount
Ebal
.
“And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the
cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.”
(Josh
8:34
) There are numerous lessons to be learn from this occasion.
First, God blesses the obedient. The Hebrew writer says God is a rewarder
of those that diligently seek Him. To diligently seek God one must know the Word
of God and then obey His word. Jesus
is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, Hebrews 5.9.
Second, God curses the disobedient. On the Judgment Day those that did
not know and those that did not obey will be condemned for eternity, 2
Thessalonians 1.7-9. A righteous and just God must punish the unrighteous and
unjust.
Third, we must acknowledge
and accept the punishment of God as being just. As Paul stated while standing
before Festus, “11 ”For if I am an offender, or have committed anything
deserving of death, I do not object to dying;” (Acts 25). God is a just God
and we must accept His punishment if we are found guilty of not being obedient.
Fourth, one must keep all of the Law, not just bits and parts.
Israel
was good at keeping parts of the law, part of the time, but they ultimately
were punished by God. Sometimes we speak of keeping all of the law of God, but
we are just as guilty of keeping parts, part of the time. Keep in mind the
writing of James, 10 “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in
one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, "Do not commit
adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit
adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”
(James 2)
We will not stand on the literal
Mount
Gerizim
or
Mount
Ebal
, but we will stand before God in judgment and will either be blessed or cursed
for eternity. Let us live so as to be blessed. D. T.
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