Joshua 8:30

"Then Joshua built an altar unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of Jehovah commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man had lifted up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto Jehovah, and sacrificed peace-offerings. And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. And all Israel, and their eiders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the home-born; half of them in front of mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded, at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners that were among them."

We are given here a brief account of the extensive ceremonies at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, the same ceremonies which had been commanded by Moses himself, and which were designed to establish the law of Moses, meaning the five books of the Pentateuch as the official law of the land of Canaan, now in the possession of Israel. There is absolutely nothing here to suggest that this ceremony was accomplished either in a single day, or in an entire week. The reading of "every word of the law of Moses" would itself have involved a number of assemblies. In this we have renewed evidence of the extremely abbreviated nature of the Book of Joshua.

Here we have a passage that the critics hate. The narrative here is denounced as misplaced, unfitting, and "impossible to be true, since Joshua had not yet conquered central Canaan."[25] What really troubles them is the proof this passage gives of the PRIOR existence of the Mosaic law. It is a vain criticism that the passage does not belong here; "Here is where it is!" Furthermore, it belongs here. As Schaeffer noted, "The victorious Israelites now controlled the northern end of the ridge highway that went south to Jerusalem and Hebron. Having defeated Ai (and probably Bethel), they could march straight to Shechem over an excellent road that had been there for generations."[26]

Some of the critics think that Joshua should have waited long afterward for this elaborate ceremony, until all of Canaan had been subdued. However, it was Joshua who was correct in his accurate decision that this great ceremony belongs early in the Conquest, just as soon as it was safe to carry it out. In view of this great ceremony coming exactly here, we must conclude that the two initial victories at Jericho and Ai were not all of the victories Israel had won, but especially important ones. There were 31 kingdoms subdued by Joshua in Canaan, and yet this book contains no account whatever of some of them, including Bethel, which, as we have seen, probably occurred almost simultaneously with the destruction of Ai. "Joshua does not profess to give an exhaustive account of the conquest of Canaan."[27]

Alfred Plummer noted that efforts to move this passage to some other part of Joshua, as in the LXX, are unsuccessful, and he also rejected out of hand the allegations of critics that Deuteronomy was a fabrication after the times of Joshua and Moses, affirming that, "On the hypothesis of the genuineness of both writings (Deuteronomy and Joshua), everything fits in naturally enough."[28] Also, in this connection, we appeal to the magnificent writings of J. W. McGarvey in his great work, "The Authorship of Deuteronomy," in which after a thorough and exhaustive examination of all the critical theories, confidently affirmed that, "Beyond all possibility of doubt, Deuteronomy came from Moses."[29] We have the same unlimited confidence with reference to Joshua as the author of the Book we are studying.

This tremendous ceremony took place at the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, as Moses had directed in Deuteronomy 27. In order to get to that place, Joshua had to lead all of Israel "past the fortress of Shechem, guarding the valley,"[30] indicating that Shechem was in friendly hands at that time. "Several of the Amarna letters declare that around 1380 B.C., the prince of Shechem was in league with some invading army, likely the Hebrews."[31] There is also the possibility that the Israelites had already subdued it.

"Ebal and Gerizim are only a mile and a half apart, and only 500 yards apart at their base."[32] Gerizim Isaiah 2,895 feet above sea level; Ebal Isaiah 3,077 feet above sea level; and they rise about 1,300 feet and 1,500 feet respectively above the surrounding valley.[33] The two great bays lying near the base of each mountain provide one of the grandest amphitheaters on earth!

"Through the years, many people have tested this. They have stood on one of the mountains and had other people stand on the other or in the valley. As they read in a loud voice, but without amplification, the other persons were able to hear all that was spoken. It is God's own amphitheater."[34]

"Then Joshua built an altar ..." Take a look at that altar. It was built exactly as Moses had commanded in Deuteronomy 27:5ff. This marvelous passage shows the close bond between the Pentateuch and Joshua. The importance of the sacrifices and the ceremonies outlined in this abbreviated paragraph is profound. "Israel's right to possess the Promised Land is tied to the proclamation of, and subjection to, God's covenant claims upon his people ... This basic lesson should not be lost."[35]

Regarding the Divine commandment for the use of plain, undecorated stones in the building of God's altar, this indicates that the true worship of God never needs to be doctored up and decorated by human "improvements." "Here is a complete negation of all humanism."[36] God's altar was not to be decorated, or have carvings of any kind, and its stones were not even to be smoothed or squared. In the light of this, can it be a mystery why such things as instruments of music do NOT belong in the worship of Jesus Christ?

It is significant that this altar was built, not on the mount of the blessings, but on the mount of the cursings, indicated, perhaps, that it is precisely mankinds sin's that require an altar to be available.

All of the blessings and cursings, as outlined in Moses' instructions for this grand ceremony were carried out exactly as Moses commanded, and for a full discussion of this ceremony, see the final chapters of Deuteronomy, above. "This whole ceremony was a symbolical setting up of the Law of Moses as the law of the land."[37] The curses were pronounced from Ebal on the north side of the valley, and the blessings from Gerizim on the south.

Cook pointed out that this is an exceedingly brief account of the observance of this grand ceremony, only the principal features of it being outlined, so that we may understand that it was completely observed.[38] Of course, most of the commentators rush in to tell us that "not the whole law" was read to the people. Dummelow limited the portion read to the people as consisting of a mere two chapters from Deuteronomy.[39] All such comments deny what is clearly stated here in Joshua 8:35, that "there was not a word that Moses spoke, that was not read to the people." As noted above, there is no reason whatever to limit this tremendous ritual to a single day, or even to a single week. It has not been too long since Biblical enemies were affirming that "writing did not exist" in those days, but now it is known that the Code of Hammurabi (about 1700 B.C.), containing (1) its prologue; (2) 282 sections; and (3) the epilogue was written on stones, and those stones have now been discovered.[40] Where then does the notion come from that the Law of Moses was too big to be written on stones?

What a glorious event this whole extravaganza must have been to the people of Israel, having come at last to inherit the ancient promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their formal acceptance here of their duties under the covenant was perhaps the grandest moment in the whole history of the Chosen People.