In Part 1, we left off reminding ourselves that:

the location was so significant for the reason that it was where Joshua, a type of Mashiach/Messiah, had brought the children of Israel to reaffirm their covenant now they had entered into the promised land; the same covenant that Moses originally made with God for the Israelites on Sinai.

Joshua separated the tribes onto the mountains of blessing and curses.

These blessings and curses would follow their obedience or disobedience to the statutes and requirements of that covenant.

According to tradition the Mountains represented Good and Evil, Mount Gerizim was lush and fertile, while Mount Ebal was rocky and barren, clearly portraying the ramifications of our choices. We may choose the good path, cleaving to God and following in His ways, leading to a rich, fruitful life. Alternatively, we can embrace evil and negativity, which leads to an empty and barren life, devoid of all things good.

The higher portions of Mount Ebal are barren rock—the name means: bald stone, where only thistles and shrubs grow.

Gerizim’s lower slopes are abundant in fountains and are beautifully cultivated with much olive and fig trees. 

So here we step back in time…

to the days following the children of Israels arrival in the promised land – they had crossed over the Jordan River and had had their first victory at Ai. 

Then, Joshua took the people to Ebal and Gerizim.

He placed the Ark of the Covenant between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. The people then divided themselves on the two mountains and listened to Joshua.

After Joshua gathered the people together he read the Book of the Law to them.

Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 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. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them. – Joshua 8:30-35

Mt. Ebal

It is often easy for us as believers to get proud at what marvelous people we have become. Joshua gives us all a good reminder: Remember where you’ve come from. God would later tell King David:

“I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be ruler over My people Israel” (2 Sam. 7:8).

In the New Testament Paul writes:

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth” (1 Cor. 1:26).

What made the difference?

God’s grace.

Joshua goes on to say, whatever good there is in us now, remember who is doing it. It is not ours, but God working in and through us. Joshua does not just remind them of Israel’s history but also of God’s grace in Israel’s history.

As the 6 tribes were on Mt. Gerazim and the other 6 tribes were on Mt. Ebal – standing in the valley between the 2 mountains were the elders, the kohanites/priests, the priests assistants.

He placed the Ark of the Covenant between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.

The people then divided themselves on the two mountains and listened to Joshua.

Hebrew: אָרוֹן הַבְּרִית ‎, Modern: Arōn Ha’brēt, 

Joshua stood beside the ark.

The 12 tribes were present and also the High Priest and the priesthood, who stood in the valley with the container of that marriage agreement – ark of the covenant.

Located between Mt. Gerizim (left) and Mt. Ebal (right), Shechem

Given the history that the Israelites had with this area, as well as the geographical features that allowed for a large group of people to be gathered… 

with this in mind..it is no wonder that Joshua chose this location to remind the people of the Law with God had given to them.

The 6 tribes on Mount Ebal 

listened to God’s curses for disobedience;

the remaining 6 tribes on Mount Gerizim 

listened to God’s blessings for obedience.

In the hearing of all the people, together with all sojourners, Joshua and the Levites read the whole Book of the Covenant “with a loud voice” (Deut 27:14), and the people responded with their vows.

Mt. Gerizim, the modern Jebel et-Tur, stands on the South, Mt. Ebal on the North, of the narrow pass which cuts through the mountain range, opening a way from the sea to the Jordan.  In the throat of this pass to the West, on the South of the vale, and close to the foot of Gerizim, lies the town of Nablus, the ancient Shechem.

Mt. Gerizim was the other mountain on the south and its top was 1 2/3 miles distant from that of Ebal. Ebal is 3077 ft. and Gerizim 2849 ft. above the sea. The valley between them is about 1900 ft. above the sea and in this valley is the town of Shechem which is 5/8 of a mile in length.

Mt. Gerizim – Jebel et-Tur. Deut. 11. 29; 27. 12; Josh. 8. 33; Judg. 9. 7. See also Ebal, Mt. Gerizim was later the holy mountain of the Samaritans, John 4. 20)

Deuteronomy 11:29 – And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.
Deuteronomy 27:12 – These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin:

Joshua 8:33 – And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal;

This ceremony was like a second Mattan Torah ( a second giving and acceptance of Torah). Before these two mountains, they are to renew their vows to God, because now they were physically in the promised land and because they, as a generation, had not known anything but the wilderness and had not experienced Sinai as had the previous generation.

Now they had become IVRI the ones who had crossed over the Jordan, recall this as the meaning of Hebrew and according to:

Deut. 27:12. These will stand upon Mt Gerazim to bless the people when YOU CROSS OVER THE JORDAN. Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph=(Ephraim + Manasseh) and Benjamin

Mt. Ebal to speak out the curses Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebukun, Dan, Naphtali and the Levites will speak and say to all Israel.

The list of tribes is in Deuteronomy 27:12-13 

Those on Mount Ebal, the mount of cursing, are the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, slave women of Jacob’s two lawful wives.

Those on Mount Gerizim are Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Those on Gerizim, the mount of blessing, are children of Jacob’s lawful wives, Leah and Rachel (Gen 35:23-26). Reuben is the exception—though he was one of Leah’s legitimate sons, he was cursed because he had forbidden relations with Bilhah, his father’s concubine 
(Gen 35:22; 1 Chron 5:1).

In Deuteronomy 11, God gives His people the choice to obey or disobey his commands. To obey brings about the blessing while disobedience brings on the curse.

The two mountain peaks of Gerizim and Ebal represent the fundamental consequence of fallen human nature; the struggle between what we should do and what we should not do.

Nablus, which is the site of ancient Shechem, lies in the valley between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal. These two peaks represent our moral dilemmas. God commanded Joshua upon taking possession of the Promised Land to set the blessing on Mt. Gerizim and the curse on Mt. Ebal  (Deut. 11:29). After conquering Ai, Joshua built an altar on Mt. Ebal; the mountain of the curse (Josh. 8:30).

Located in the Hill Country of Ephraim, the city of Shechem played a vital role in the history of Israel. This location, in the middle of the nation, provided the most important crossroads in central Israel. The city lay along the northern end of “The Way of the Patriarchs.” This road, also called the “Ridge Route” (because it followed a key mountain ridge stretching 50 miles south), traveled from Shechem through Shiloh, Bethel/Ai, Ramah, Gibeah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron. This route appears continuously in the Biblical text.

After they arrive at Mount Ebal, Joshua was to build an altar for burnt and peace offerings to the Lord to atone for their sins and to thank God for his blessings. But God added a command about the building of the altar,

“You shall wield no iron tool on them; you shall build an altar to the Lord your God of uncut stones” (Deut 27:5-6).

Why uncut stones?

God is saying that the Israelites should not think that they could make the worship of God better by making an elaborate altar and even one mark of a cutting tool would corrupt the worship of God. Further meaning to the stone the builders would reject would become the cornerstone and that His promise that His gospel shall be as the stone cut out of the mountains without hands; the Rock of our salvation.

In the history and drama of redemption, these places and the ceremony itself are significant in their symbolism. Shechem is the place where God first repeated His promises to Abraham when he arrived in Canaan (Gen 12:6-7). Under the leadership of Moses and Joshua, God again makes His promises of blessing to Israel, Abraham’s descendants.

Gerizim is also the site of the temple that the Samaritans built as their counterpart to the Jerusalem temple. They believed that Joshua built the altar on Gerizim and not on Ebal.

When the Samaritan woman mentioned that her people worshiped on this mountain, she was probably including Abraham and Jacob who built altars in the same region.

But Jesus/Yeshua countered by declaring that:

the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. (John 4:21-24).

But what does Mt. Ebal represent?

It represents our disobedience.

Obedience to the commands of the Lord, then, is to give up our disobedience; for it is the disobedient heart that brings on the curse.  

But the terror and misery of the curses on Israel as a result of God’s wrath for their disobedience was just a foretaste of the terror and anguish of hell that our Lord Jesus Christ/Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach suffered in His life and death on the cross.

On Mount Ebal, Israel sacrificed burnt offerings for their sins, a foreshadow of the final sacrifice that God Himself in Messiah has offered for our sins: Christ/Mashiachs’ death on the cross.

We are an accursed people because of our disobedience. Like the tribes on Mount Ebal, we are children of slaves, and we ourselves are slaves of sin. The altar of good works that we build is not a sacrifice that rises as a pleasing aroma to God, because without faith in God’s final sacrifice of His only-begotten Son, our good works are filthy rags, a bad taste, and a repulsive stench before God.

BUT

Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus Christ’s

sacrifice removes the curse from us:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Gal 3:13), a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2).

Our own Mount Ebal is the hill of Calvary in Jerusalem where our sacrifice was offered once for all, hanged on the cross for our disobedience.

So how shall we escape from these curses and receive God’s blessings when we can never perfectly obey God’s law?

We are to -(spiritually)- walk the narrow WAY

through the valley from Ebal, the Mount of Cursing

to Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing,

through the perfect obedience of another Man-

through Jesus/Yeshua – the Dalet/the door –

the mediator of the renewed covenant and our ark of salvation;

paid for in His Blood.

We pass through the valley

Shechem

-(Ps. 23 of the shadow of death-the wages of sin) –

through His Blood on the Mercy seat of the ark/Messiah –

and to the Mount of Blessing

where the children become His stewards/servants/priests –

now a royal nation – 1Pet.2:9 – called out of darkness into His marvelous Light. 

At Mount Gerizim, the blessings are introduced in Deuteronomy 28:1-2:

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Obedience is really the nature with which God has created us. This is our true state and thus what we truly desire. True spiritual healing is not so much to cultivate a life of striving to follow God’s commands, but to put to death our disobedient nature.

Jesus/Yeshua preached repentance not morality:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matt 4:17”

Thus to repent –

to turn from disobedience –

is to come naturally into obedience.

It is in a WAY, to build an altar of sacrifice on Mt. Ebal.

Ariel view of Joshuas Altar.

In the new Mount Gerizim where Jesus/Yeshua preached a long sermon on another Mount – in Matthew 5-7, Jesus/Yeshua pronounced His blessings on kingdom citizens as long as they were:

poor in spirit,

mourn over sins,

meek, righteous,

merciful, pure in heart,

had peace with God, and

persevere in persecution for righteousness’ sake.

Our reward is not earthly, but heavenly (Matt 5:2-12).

These are commands that even the holiest of believers can only begin to obey as they are very difficult words.

But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus/Yeshua challenges us with practical ethics to live by in our life in this imperfect world; while we await the perfect one that He will give us when He returns.

Without the Law, they will not comprehend their sin and misery and their absolute need for a Savior.

And without Christ/Mashiach being sacrificed on the Mount of Calvary to remove the curse from us, we can never receive any blessing from God…

Why?

Because in ourselves, we can never obey God’s law perfectly and be righteous before God, our only hope for blessing is through Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach, who gives His perfect obedience to us- obedience all the way to an accursed death.

Only by trusting Christ/Messiah can we be redeemed from the curse of the Law and then receive blessings from God.

At Shechem in the valley between the two mountains,

Joshua brought the Ark of the Covenant,

which represented the Presence of the Lord Himself.

Here also after the conquest of Canaan Joshua took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord (Josh. 24:24).

While the altar on Mt. Ebal represented a sacrifice – a relinquishing – of their disobedience,

the altar at Shechem was a witness to their obedience to the commands of the Lord.

Shechem means shoulder probably because the city was built mainly on the slope or shoulder, of Mt. Ebal. Some scholars say it means saddleback.

A saddleback is curved in 2 directions – indicating a place of decision.

(Think multitudes in the valley of decision עֵ֖מֶק הֶֽחָר֑וּץ, valley of strict decision or judgment, in Joel 3:14 )

Understanding Hebrew Language:

OBEY OR DISOBEY

The words KEEP and BREAK are usually interpreted as:

OBEDIENCE and DISOBEDIENCE

The Hebrew word for KEEP is: SHAMAR

רמש

ש מ ר

RESH MEM SHEEN

R – MA – SHA

Literally means: GUARD, PROTECT/PRESERVE and CHERISH

Strong’s Hebrew: 8104. שָׁמַר (shamar) — to keep, watch .

 It’s the same verb that described Adam in Eden: to cultivate it and keep it.

KJV: of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 

Genesis 3:24

Malachi 2:7 Guard – The Hebrew verb šāmar means to watch over, to guard, to keep, to preserve and to care for.

It is from the word SHEMA

שְׁמַע

A Hebrew word meaning:

To listen intently with willing anticipation and readiness to DO what is heard.

It is used in the most important statement of the Hebraic faith…

Shema Inscription on the Knesset Menorah Jerusalem, Israel.

SHEMA YISRAEL

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל

Strongs #8086 shema: to hear

Original Word: שְׁמַע
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: shema
Phonetic Spelling: (shem-ah’)
Definition: to hear

Here in Deut. 27:9 is the one line prayer called:

the SHEMA – Listen/Hear O Israel and obey!

It is the directive for them to Keep the words of the covenant and do them.

Shema Israel or Sh’ma Yisrael; 

Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ‎;

Hear, O Israel

 Shema (hear/listen) is the Hebrew word that begins the most important prayer in Judaism.

It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4, which begins with the command to Hear.

The whole Shema prayer, which includes verses 4-9, is spoken daily in the Jewish tradition: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

The Complete Shema – Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is One LORD.

Shema: the First Passage.

In the recitation of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, special emphasis is given to the first six Hebrew words of this passage:

Shema Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad

and a six-word response is said in an undertone

barukh shem kevod malkhuto le’olam va’ed.

and focus is on the meaning:

HEAR – LISTEN and DO

It was the answer Jesus /Yeshua gave in Mark 12:29-30 to the question as to which of the commandments is the most important of all….

“The most important one,”

answered Jesus, “is this:

‘Hear, O Israel:

The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 

Further reiterated by Jesus/Yeshua many times, when He spoke with the Hebrew understanding of 

HEAR – LISTEN also means to DO

James 1:22 reminds us to:

פָּרַר PARAR

 

The Hebrew verb here is פרר – parar,

Strong’s #6565 and means:

to trample underfoot.

Literally means: TO TRAMPLE UNDERFOOT

Hence the meaning behind Hebrews 10:29 trample underfoot is break and disobedience

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath

trodden underfoot 

the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing

κοινὸν, a word commonly denoting things unclean; Mark 7:2; Acts 10:14, 28; Acts 11:8; Romans 14:14; and Hebrews 9:13

 

How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)?

verse 29: they have trampled under foot the Son of God. The Son of God laid his life down for them to receive as their substitute, and instead of receiving him as their life and hope, they paused, got some religion, and then stepped on him and went on to other things. Verse 29b: they regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant.

The ancient Hebrew understanding of these words:

The keeping or breaking of the commandments of God…

is not about mechanical obedience and disobedience of His commands

but rather

our attitude towards them.

Will we cherish His commands or will we throw them on the ground and walk on them?

Heavenly Father/Avinu in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name may we have a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear.

Conclusion coming in part 3..

Shalom shalom mishpachah/family and cheverim/friends!

Time is running out please don’t leave this page…until you

Know for certain you are His…

You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts. If they have been a blessing and if you haven’t already, please sign up for free email notification, like, share and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with His Truths.

Meanwhile let’s remember to stay alert and ready, be in prayer and in His Word for in an hour we think not He is coming… and…

it’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

NOT SURE?

YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen