Solemn Dedication of the Land and of Israel on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim - The Deceit of the Gibeonites

(JOSHUA 8:30, 9:1-27)

BY the miraculous fall of Jericho God had, so to speak, given to His people the ke y to the whole land; with

the conquest of Ai they had themselves entered, in His strength, upon possession of it. The first and most

obvious duty now was, to declare, by a grand national act, in what character Israel meant to hold what it had

received of God. For, as previously explained, it could never have been the Divine object in all that had

been, or would be done, merely to substitute one nation for another in the possession of Palestine; but

rather to destroy the heathen, and to place in their room His own redeemed and sanctified people, so that on

the ruins of the hostile kingdom of this world, His own might be established. To mark the significance of the

act by which Israel was to declare this, it had before been prescribed by Moses as a first duty (Deuteronomy

27:2), and detailed directions given for it (Deuteronomy 27). The act itself was to consist of three parts. The

law - that is, the commands, "statutes," and "rights," contained in the Pentateuch - was to be written on

"great stones," previously covered with "plaster," in the manner in which inscriptions were made on the

monuments of Egypt.92 Then sacrifices were to be offered on an altar of "whole stones." The memorial

stones were to be set up, and the sacrifices offered on Mount Ebal. But the third was to be the most solemn

part of the service. The priests  93 with the Ark were to occupy the intermediate valley, and six of the tribes

(Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin) - those which had sprung from the lawful wives of

Israel - were to stand on Mount Gerizim, while the other six (of whom five had sprung from Leah's and

Rachel's maids, Reuben being added to them on account of his great sin, Genesis 49:4) were placed on

Mount Ebal.

Then, as the priests in the valley beneath read the words of blessing, the tribes on Mount Gerizim were to

respond by an Amen; and as they read the words of the curses, those on Mount Ebal were similarly to give

their solemn assent - thus expressly taking upon themselves each obligation, with its blessing in the

observance, and its curse in the breach thereof. An historical parallel here immediately recurs to our minds.

As, on his first entrance into Canaan, Abraham had formally owned Jehovah by rearing an altar unto Him

(Genesis 12:7), and as Jacob had, on his return, paid the vow which he had recorded at Bethel (Genesis 35:7),

so Israel now consecrated its possession of the land by receiving it as from the Lord, by recording His

name, and by taking upon itself all the obligations of the covenant.

A glance at the map will enable us to realize the scene. From Ai and Bethel the direct route northwards leads

by Shiloh to Shechem (Judges 21:19). The journey would occupy altogether about eleven hours. Of course,

Israel could not have realized at the time that they were just then traveling along what would become the

great highway from Galilee to Jerusalem, so memorable in after-history. Leaving the sanctuary of Shiloh a

little aside, they would climb a rocky ridge. Before them a noble prospect spread. This was the future rich

portion of Ephraim: valleys covered with corn, hills terraced to their tops, the slopes covered with vines and

olive-yards. On wards the host moved, till it reached a valley, bounded south and north by mountains,

which run from west to east. This was the exact spot on which Abram had built his first altar (Genesis 12:7);

here, also, had Jacob's first settlement been (Genesis 33:19). Not a foe molested Israel on their march right up

the middle of the land, partly, as previously explained, fro m the division of the land under so many petty

chieftains, but chiefly because God had a favor unto them and to the work to which they had set their

hands. Travelers speak in rapturous terms of the beauty of the valley of Shechem, even in the present

desolateness of the country. It is a pass which intersects the mountain -chain, that runs through Palestine

from south to north. To the south it is bounded by the range of Gerizim, to the north by that of Ebal. From

where the priests with the Ark took up their p osition on the gentle rise of the valley, both Gerizim and Ebal

appear hollowed out, forming, as it were, an amphitheater,94 while the "limestone strata, running up in a

succession of ledges to the top of the hills, have all the appearance of benches."