How does this event connect to Deuteronomy's instructions on blessings and curses? Setting the Scene at Shechem • Joshua 8:33 sets Israel in the narrow valley between Mount Gerizim (to the south) and Mount Ebal (to the north). • “All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD … Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded for blessing the people of Israel.” (Joshua 8:33) • In this spot, Joshua is carrying out Moses’ precise instructions from Deuteronomy—turning a geographical landmark into a living sermon on obedience and faithfulness. Moses’ Blueprint for Blessings and Curses Deuteronomy 11:26-29 laid out the plan centuries earlier: “See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse … you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.” Key preparatory details: • Deuteronomy 27 assigns six tribes to each mountain (vv. 12-13). • Deuteronomy 27:14-26 supplies twelve specific curses, each capped with “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’” • Deuteronomy 28 expands both sides with vivid detail—14 verses of blessing (vv. 1-14) and 54 verses of curse (vv. 15-68). Blessings on Mount Gerizim (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) If Israel obeyed: – “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you…” – National exaltation: “the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth” (v. 1). – Fruitfulness: “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your land” (v. 4). – Victory: “The LORD will cause your enemies … to be defeated before you” (v. 7). – Abundant provision: “The LORD will open His good treasure, the heavens, to give rain” (v. 12). – Leadership: “You will lend to many nations but borrow from none” (v. 12). – Enduring headship: “The LORD will make you the head and not the tail” (v. 13). Curses on Mount Ebal (Deuteronomy 28:15-68) If Israel disobeyed: – “All these curses will come upon you and overtake you…” – Reversal of every blessing: scarcity, defeat, disease, drought (vv. 20-24). – Foreign oppression: “The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away” (v. 49). – Exile: “You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess” (v. 63). – Unrelenting sorrow: “You will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot” (v. 65). Why the Ark Stood in the Middle • The ark—sign of God’s presence and covenant—sat between the two mountains, underscoring that blessing or curse flows from relationship with the LORD. • Levitical priests faced the people, mediating the Word just as they later mediated sacrifice. • The scene dramatized Deuteronomy 30:19: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life…” Echoes Through Scripture • Joshua’s obedience shows continuity with Moses (cf. Joshua 1:7-8). • Later prophets—especially Jeremiah (chs. 11, 17) and Daniel (9:11-14)—cite these very curses to explain Israel’s exile. • The New Testament frames redemption as the reversal of the curse: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:13) Living Application • Joshua 8:33 proves that God’s Word is not theory; it is enacted history. • Israel’s physical positioning models the spiritual fork in every generation: obedience opens heaven’s storehouse; rebellion opens heaven’s judgment. • The same Lord who offered blessing at Gerizim still offers it today through covenant faithfulness in Christ—the One who bore Ebal’s curse to secure Gerizim’s blessing for all who trust Him. |
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