Can the world get along without making oaths? How powerful an oath is; how destructive is a lie.  As we saw earlier, Rahab had sold her body in exchange for her soul. Not the best deal to make to put food in ones stomach. When she heard the awe-inspiring news about what God had done for Israel, she relented and found her way back to God. Now the Gibeonites respond to similar news and are spared. This saga involves deception and oath keeping. These two things remind me to do the truth at all costs. To keep promises and not lie are very much a part of God. Think about that – truth and faithfulness - are very much a part of God. Remember that as your read this section from Schaeffer.

What follows are fragmentary pieces of Francis Schaeffer’s commentary Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History picked out for my own edification and direction. I am interested most in finding the conditions God gave for taking and possessing His land. Also, what can we learn from this story of conquest? To go to the start of these lessons click here.

The Gibeonites

After the reading of the blessings and the curses, the conquest of the land continued. The Israelites were now on top of the mountains; the wedge had been driven in. From this time on the wedge was expanded, first to the south, then to the north.

The Israelites’ opponents banded together to oppose this campaign:

“And it came to pass, when all the kings who were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the Great Sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof, that they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord [literally, with one mouth]” (Josh. 9:1, 2).

The leaders mounted a united campaign against the people that now stood in such an advantageous position on the mountains. Part of the warfare itself is described in Joshua 10. It can be easily summarized: in a short span of time all the strongholds of the south fell.

The Defeat of the Southern Confederation

The first battle began this way. Jerusalem was the key city in a confederation of five southern city-states. The king of Jerusalem called together the other four kings to attack Gibeon, a city related to the confederation:

“Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent unto Hoham, king of Hebron, and unto Piram, king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia, king of Lachish, and unto Debir, king of Eglon, saying, Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon; for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel” (Josh. 10:3, 4).

As the confederation moved against Gibeon, the Gibeonites gave a call for help to the Israelites. (Why Joshua had made peace with Gibeon we will see in a moment.) They sent to Gilgal, the Israelites’ permanent base in the valley, to which the women, children and animals had probably returned while the soldiers fought in the highlands, and said, “Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered against us” (Josh. 10:6). So Joshua departed quickly from Gilgal, and the war was on.

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not; for I have delivered them into thine hand. There shall not a man of them stand before thee” (Josh. 10:8). The Israelites had the Word of the Lord with them. They were not functioning on their own without listening to God, as they had in the case of Ai. God said, “This is of Me; so go forward without fear and with courage.”

They fought a great pitched battle against the confederacy of the five nations, broke the strength of this united army, and put the Amorites to flight. Joshua 10:10 speaks of their fleeing by a way that “goeth up to Beth-horon,” while Joshua 10:11 talks about the Amorites’ going “down to Beth-horon.” At first sight this might seem to be contradiction, but we know from archaeological studies that there were two Beth-horons, an upper and a lower.

The battle was not won only by the Israelites’ valiant fighting. God had said He would be with the people, and, as we pointed out earlier, there should be no stereotypes about how God will act. The fall of Jericho was different from the fall of Ai. The fall of the five kings was again different. God intervened directly through two acts of nature. First, hailstones fell upon the enemy. This added to their confusion in the midst of battle. Second, Joshua spoke to the Lord “in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still [literally, be silent] upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the peoples had avenged themselves upon their enemies” (Josh. 10:12, 13). Joshua spoke and God heard him.

“Is not this written in the book of Jasher?” the text then asks. The “book of Jasher” is not part of the inspired Bible, though this portion of it was put into the Bible. The rest of the book is lost. It was apparently not named for a man. As best we can tell, it was a book of poetry that recounted the great acts of God and informed the Jewish people about their heroes. The book of Jasher was mentioned again about 400 years later, at the time of David [2 Sam 1:18]. So though not inspired, it continued to be popular.

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, another poem, the song of Moses,” was recited. “I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously,” it began (Ex. 15:1). In Exodus 4:21–29, as in Joshua 10:13, the message is given in prose as well as in poetry. There is no conflict in this. Both texts are talking about a historic event, whether in poetry or prose.

What the text from Joshua is actually saying is that there was a long day. We cannot use the phrase “the sun stood still” to prove that the Jews were ignorant cosmologically. Whether they were or not, the use of this term does not demonstrate that the text is inaccurate, for the simple reason that we today use the same kind of expression. I have never heard a twentieth-century person say when the sun came up in the morning, “The earth has turned far enough to allow me to see the sun.” If you said, “The sun is rising” and someone suddenly responded, “How ignorant you are! The earth has turned far enough for you to see the sun,” everyone would laugh. The comment would be ridiculous because it is outside the forms in which we normally speak.

I find it strange that some people are upset by the long day. It is not difficult to visualize it. In Switzerland during the summer I can count on light till 9:00 at night. In the middle of winter, however, I must be out of the forest by 6:00, or I am in trouble. In Norway on the longest day of the year, the sun does not go down at all! In the North, for days the sun never sets. So we know that the lengths of daylight vary.

How did God do it? We do not know. We might visualize it either of two ways: the earth could have slowed or the earth could have tilted, making the conditions in Israel like those in the North where the sun does not set. There could be other ways that we might not be able to visualize. However it was accomplished, the Bible says that God worked into space-time history to fight for the Israelites.

After the main resistance was broken, the Israelite forces swept on. Throughout the day, one after another of the small city-states fell: Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron and Debir. The whole south fell in one united campaign. The armies were broken, the cities overthrown, and the five major kings killed.

So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. (Josh. 10:40–43).

The wedge was now spread in one direction. The whole southern portion of the land had fallen. This does not mean that all these cities were permanently occupied, but the confederacy was broken and the south was in the hand of the Israelites.

The Deception of the Gibeonites

Having seen the southern campaign successfully completed, let us turn our attention back to Joshua 9. As the Amorite confederacy had prepared for its fight against the Israelites, the inhabitants of Gibeon had taken a drastic step:

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, they did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old and rent, and bound up; and old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country; now, therefore, make ye a league with us. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from where come ye? And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants have come because of the name of the LORD thy God; for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants; therefore, now, make ye a league with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is moldy; and these bottles of wine which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent; and these our garments and our shoes have become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD; and Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live; and the princes of the congregation swore unto them.

And it came to pass at the end of three days, after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them. And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were: Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel; now, therefore, we may not touch them. This we will do to them: we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swore unto them. And the princes said unto them, Let them live, but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.

And Joshua called for them, and he spoke unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? Now, therefore, ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant, Moses, to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore, we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. And now, behold, we are in thine hand; as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. (Josh. 9:3–27)

The Gibeonites performed an act of deception. The “wine bottles,” of course, were skins, and the Gibeonites said, “They are torn. The bread which we took from the oven is now old and dried.” They knew very well what had happened to Jericho and Ai, but they never mentioned it. They only mentioned what they would have heard about had they left home a long time ago—that is, they only mentioned what had happened on the east side of the Jordan. And Joshua made a league with them.

The text specifically says that the Israelites did not ask God’s counsel. “They received the men by reason of their food” is actually a better translation of the Hebrew; in other words, the Israelites looked at the Gibeonites’ food. We can hear the Israelites buzzing among themselves, “Of course, they’re telling the truth. Look how old the food is. Look at the bread.” We can picture somebody going up and feeling the hard loaves. They did not bother talking to God about the situation, and so they were fooled.

Three days later they found out that they had been taken in, that instead of coming from a far country the Gibeonites lived nearby. So the congregation murmured against the princes: “Why did you do this? You made the oath, and you shouldn’t have.” Joshua and the other leaders responded that though it was made in deception, the oath nevertheless held, because it had been made in the name of the Lord. Then Joshua turned to the Gibeonites and said, “There shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” “You have asked to be servants; now you will be servants,” Joshua told them. They were indeed made servants, but in a special capacity—in the house of God.

The end of this narrative explains the reason for the Gibeonites’ action: “It was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant, Moses, to give you all the land” (Josh. 9:24). The Gibeonites had understood that God had made a promise to Moses. We can see the force of this when we connect it with the fact that they came “because of the name of the LORD thy God; for we have heard the fame of him” (Josh. 9:9). They had heard about God and what He had done.

Let us quickly put all this together. The Gibeonites sought the Israelites’ protection. The Israelites made a league with them without consulting God. Nevertheless, once the oath was made in God’s name, it had to be kept. The five-member confederacy said, “Now we’re in real trouble. Jericho has fallen; Ai has fallen; and Gibeon, one of the great royal cities, has gone over to the other side.” So the confederacy tried to destroy the Gibeonites in order to warn everyone else not to desert to the enemy. The people of Gibeon cried to the Israelites, “You’ve made a promise to us. This is the moment to fulfill it. Come quickly, or we will be destroyed!” They must have held their breath as they waited to see if the Israelites would honor the oath which had been given because of their own duplicity. But the Israelites did honor the oath (Josh. 10:2–7).

And this was completely right with God. Once the oath was made, God expected the people to keep it. And Joshua did. Many years later, however, the oath was broken. In the days of David there was a three-year famine, and David asked the Lord why. The Lord answered: “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites” (2 Sam. 21:1). When Saul killed the Gibeonites, thereby transgressing the oath made by Joshua about 400 years before, God responded, “This is serious. Saul broke an oath made in My name, and I hold him accountable.”

In the time of Ezekiel, God’s people swore in the name of the Lord that they would serve the king of Babylon. Later, because it seemed expedient, they broke their oath. Through the prophet Ezekiel God spoke into the situation:

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.… Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore, thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. (Ezek. 17:16, 18–20)

The king despised an oath made in God’s name. In so doing, he did not transgress against the king of Babylon (though that is what the king of Babylon said), but he transgressed against God. God said, “I don’t take lightly a king of the Jews making an oath in My name and then breaking it.” What was done in the book of Joshua fits into the whole structure of Scripture: an oath made in the name of the God of holiness is to be kept with holy hands.

Psalm 15 states this as a universal principle: “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?… He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not” (Psa. 15:1, 4). One who swears in the name of God, even if he swears to his own hurt, must keep the oath in order to represent God’s character. God is a holy God, and to break an oath made in His name is to transgress, to blaspheme, to caricature the God in whose name the oath is made. Because the Jews were the people of God, they were to have a morality that was not only individual but national. The nation itself was required to keep oaths made in God’s name. In light of this principle, we can understand Jesus’ warning: “Don’t swear lightly, because when you swear in the name of God God expects you to be faithful” (Matt. 5:33–37).

Rahab and the Gibeonites

Rahab was a harlot. The Gibeonites were liars. As far as we can tell, they dealt in duplicity without any motion of conscience at all. Bringing their heathen heritage with them, they lied with ease. Why did the Gibeonites come to Joshua? Because they had heard about the Lord and what He had done. And this fact alerts us to the truly important parallels between Rahab and the Gibeonites.

Rahab said this to the spies: “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you” (Josh. 2:10, 11). The inhabitants of Gibeon, too, were fearful when they heard “what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai … and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth” (Josh. 9:3, 10).

In the midst of pagan Jericho, Rahab believed on the living God: “And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land” (Josh. 2:9). Strikingly, she affirmed, “For the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” (Josh. 2:11). When she heard what had happened in Egypt and on the other side of Jordan, she said, “This is the living, universal God!” She made a decision on what to her was an adequate testimony. This high and holy expression was something one would never have heard in the heathen world, for there the gods were limited. It does not strike our ears as a surprise because this is the way we think about God, but she was making a declaration of faith which was startling: “I know He isn’t a limited god. He’s a different kind of a god. He is the LORD your God” She used the Tetragrammaton—God’s high and holy name.

Though the Gibeonites’ testimony was not as clear as Rahab’s. it is apparent that they did believe what they had heard. They said they came “because of the name of the LORD thy God.” In Semitic usage a name is a verbalization which represents one’s entire character. What the Gibeonites were really saying was, “We came because of who the LORD your God is.” Similarly, they spoke of “how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant, Moses” (Josh. 9:24). So in the cases of both Rahab and the Gibeonites, what they had heard was sufficient to convince them.

Rahab left the kingdom of the enemies of God for the kingdom of the Jews. In making her decision, she pitted herself against her king and her culture. The Gibeonites did likewise. They broke with the confederacy and came over to the people of God. Further, Rahab’s act meant that if her old king had found out what she had done, he would undoubtedly have killed her. The Gibeonites were actually caught in their defection. The confederacy knew well what they had done. The confederacy, therefore, did in fact come against the Gibeonites to exterminate them.

Rahab the harlot became a part of the people of God: “And Joshua saved Rahab, the harlot, alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day” (Josh. 6:25). The whole group of Gibeonites stood in a like circumstance: “And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day” (Josh. 9:27).

Both Rahab and the Gibeonites proved their loyalty. Rahab helped the spies escape and hung out the scarlet cord. The Gibeonites were faithful to their oath. The Gibeonites were Hivites, a people who remained the enemies of the Israelites, fighting them throughout the period of the judges. And though the Hivites fought against the Israelites, we find no note that the Gibeonites were unfaithful. So the Gibeonites not only left the confederacy, they broke their normal line. They joined neither their former allies nor their blood relations in the wars that followed. They remained, by an act of choice, in the midst of the people of Israel.

Rahab not only remained a part of the people of God; she married a son of a prince of Judah and became an ancestor of Christ. The Gibeonites, too, had a special place. They remained close to the altar of God. Though they were only hewers of wood and drawers of water, their activity was on behalf of worship of the living God, and it led gradually to a place of religious privilege. When the land was divided, Gibeon was one of the cities given to the line of Aaron. It became a special place where God was known. Approximately 400 years later, David put the tabernacle in that city. This meant that the altar and the priest were in Gibeon as well. At least one of David’s mighty men, those who were closest to him in battle, was a Gibeonite. At that important and solemn moment when Solomon, David’s son, ascended the throne, Solomon made burnt offerings at Gibeon. It was there he had his vision, when God spoke to him about his coming rule. Much later still, about 500 years before Christ, in the time of Zerubbabel, the genealogies of those Jews who returned from captivity under the Babylonians included a list of the Gibeonites. This is especially striking because the names of some who claimed to be Jews were not found in the registry, and they were not allowed to be a part of the Jewish nation. In the days of Nehemiah, the Gibeonites were mentioned as being among the people who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. The Gibeonites had come in among the people of God, and hundreds of years later they were still there.

Both Rahab and the Gibeonites stood under the spiritual portion of the covenant of grace. We know from the book of Hebrews that Rahab had salvation. Whether these people who came to Joshua as a group all had individual salvation, we have no way of knowing. But the way God honored these people’s faith suggests a tremendous implication: if God, on the basis of the spiritual portion of the covenant of grace, so dealt with Rahab and the Gibeonites when they believed, what would have happened if others had believed? We can also think about the judgment of Nineveh being lifted when its people repented through the preaching of Jonah.

So there really are exact parallels between Rahab (the individual) and the Gibeonites (the corporate unit). Rahab (plus her family) was the only individual saved out of Jericho. The Gibeonites were the only people saved out of the land. Rahab believed, left Jericho, and came among the people of God. The Gibeonites were the only people in the land who turned to God, and they flowed on through all the years of Jewish history.

Rahab, the Gibeonites, and Us

Every Christian, no matter who he is, was once, like Rahab (a prostitute) and the Gibeonites (liars), under the wrath and judgment of, God. We were all rebels. Not one of us was born good. Not one of us who was raised a Christian automatically became a Christian.

Those who are not Christians remain where Rahab and the Gibeonites stood prior to their identification with the people of God. But Rahab and the Gibeonites believed, and they were accepted. If it is true that God accepted them, how much more true can it be for us who have an open invitation from God. Jesus said, “Whosoever will may come” (see, for instance, John 3:15, 16). Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,” Jesus invited, “and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

Let us remember that God insisted that the Israelites keep their oath, even though it was made because of the Gibeonites’ deception. If God will not tolerate the breaking of an oath made in His name, how much more will He never break His own oath and covenant made to us on the basis of the shed blood and infinite value of Jesus Christ. How secure are we who have cast ourselves upon Christ as our Savior!

For God has made an oath:

For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, where the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Heb. 6:13–20)

Here is described the establishment of the Abrahamic covenant, both its natural and spiritual sides. When men make an oath, they swear by God. When God made His promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself. There is no one else by whom God can swear because there is no one greater. He “confirmed it by an oath,” the Authorized Version translates, but the Greek is much stronger: “He interposed Himself by an oath.” His oath was Himself. It rested upon His existence and character. Therefore, to the heirs of the promise he brought two things to bear: the unchangeableness of the act of His will (His counsel), and the fact that He interposed Himself by an oath in His own name. And God will not lie. Why? Because God is a holy God. Men may draw back from the idea of judgment, but if God is going to be worth anything He must be holy. Therefore, the very justice of God should reassure us. He never break His oath and word. Never!

Notice the word we: “… we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” The book of Hebrews is not just talking about the Jews. It is talking about believers of all ages, going back to the time of Abel and flowing on to all who will come under the promises of God. I love this picture—“we who have fled”—for it carries us back to the Gibeonites and Rahab. Rahab fled from her place in the kingdom of Jericho to the name of God. The Gibeonites fled from their race, the Hivites, and they fled from the confederacy. And we who have come to Christ have done the same thing; we have fled from Satan and the world to lay hold of the hope that is set before us.

Like a boat with an anchor wedged in a rock, we have an anchor who already stands in the presence of God within the veil. Who is this anchor? Jesus Himself. He is the forerunner. We will follow Him because we have believed in Him. He is within the veil, so we will be within the veil.

If the Gibeonites could rely on an oath the Israelites made in the adverse circumstance of the Gibeonites’ deception, when the Israelites did not even ask God’s counsel, how much more confident can we be in God’s oath to us. May we rely upon it. May we cast ourselves upon Christ and be those of a completely quiet heart.

Image Credit: woodstreamchurch.org

Click on the “Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History” tag below to see all the posts in this series. To go to the start of this series click here.

I don't know how a great portion of the world of Christians has forgotten the terms of the covenant God made with His people, but they have. This is evident in their hostile approach in attempting to secure a portion of the Promised Land. The promised curse will surely follow (Deut 27:1-26). They make it clear they want the land, but not the land Giver. They want the benefits, but not the responsibilities. They want blessing, but not holiness.

What follows are fragmentary pieces of Francis Schaeffer’s commentary Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History picked out for my own edification and direction. I am interested most in finding the conditions God gave for taking and possessing His land. Also, what can we learn from this story of conquest? To go to the start of these lessons click here.

Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim

The Blessings and Curses

We see in the reading of the blessings and curses not only a continuity of the authority of the written, propositional Scriptures, but also an emphasis on the fact that bare knowledge is not enough. It was not that the Pentateuch gave these people knowledge, and that was the end of it. This knowledge demanded action. When Joshua took up his leadership, he was told the same thing: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Josh. 1:8). The normative standard was the law of God; it was not an existential experience (as is often emphasized in the twentieth century), not a nonpropositional religious experience (as is said by almost all contemporary liberal theologians). Not at all. What was involved was a propositional, written statement.

The conditional portion of the covenant was being emphasized. It is wonderful for God’s people to have the law, but we are then called upon “to do.” Our understanding of the rest of the Scriptures turns on our grasp of this point. In the time of the judges, the people did not keep the law of God; so God removed the conditional blessings from them.^[1] In the time of the kings, the same thing occurred. The people’s disobedience finally caused the captivity of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians and the southern kingdom by the Babylonians. Later, when the people repented, God returned them to the land and the conditional promises again became operative. Later—even with the witness of Jesus—most of the Jews turned completely away, and in A.D. 70 Titus destroyed Jerusalem; so the conditional blessing was once more removed. In the future, as we have seen, God will deal with the Jews as a nation again (Rom. 11).

If we understand this, we understand the ebb and flow of history. The Jews remain Jews—they are not wiped out—for God’s unconditional promise stands. When people violate the character of God, this is not only sin but stupidity. It is like rubbing your hand over a rough board and getting splinters. For it opposes what we are made to be and what the universe really is. God has revealed His character, and if God’s people live in accordance with His character, the conditional blessings stand. Once we understand this, we really understand the flow of history for the Jews.

Moses, speaking before his death, said, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day; and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known” (Deut. 11:26–28). If! Both the blessings and the curses are conditional. O man, made in the image of God, O man, who is not merely determined by chemistry, society or psychology, O man, who is a man—you have a choice. Choose!

Hear some of the blessings and curses that were read on the two mountains:

Cursed be the man who maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

Cursed be he who setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who removeth his neighbor’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who lieth with his father’s wife, because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who lieth with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who smiteth his neighbor secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he who confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth; and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face; they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath, if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (Deut. 27:15–28:14)

These conditions were, of course, addressed to the Jews as a nation in the land, but they reveal a general principle as well: the people of God must choose whether or not they are going to keep the law. As I have stressed, the whole history of the Jews from this point on turns on their decisions. When they kept the law, the blessings were there. When they turned away, the blessings came to a close until they returned.

Keeping God’s Commands

The altar was on the mount of cursing, for salvation cannot come by man’s keeping the law.^[2] Each one of us must see this. We cannot come to God on the basis of humanistic, religious, or moral works. God is an infinite God, and we have sinned against Him. There was only one way for the Israelites to come, and that was through the altar. The New Testament says this in regard to the work of Christ. Those of us living on this side of Christ must not be foolish like the Samaritans who tried to come through Gerizim. The only one way to come is through Ebal. We must acknowledge that we have not kept the law.

According to Old and New Testament alike—according to the unconditional spiritual portions of the Abrahamic covenant, the prophecies in the Old Testament which looked forward to Christ, the teaching of Christ Himself, and the teaching of Paul and the rest of the apostles—once we have come to God in the proper way, we stand in unconditional blessing. There is an unconditional portion to me and to you. It reaches all the way back to the beginning of the Bible and is emphasized in the Abrahamic covenant. If we come in the way that God has directed—namely, through the work of Christ—we will never be lost again. We rest in the hands of God. Jesus promises to hold us fast (John 10:28, 29). Because Christ is God, His death has infinite value. God’s promises are Yea and Amen. Once we have become Christians, we have entered, by faith, by the grace of God, into the spiritual portion of the Abrahamic covenant; and the unconditional promise applies to us—we will never, never, never be lost again.^[3]

While this is true, the New Testament makes plain that for the Christian, as for the Old Testament Jew, there is also a conditional aspect. The moral law is the expression of God’s character, and we are not to set it aside when we become Christians. Our obedience to it will make a difference in what happens to us both in this present life and in the believers’ judgment in the future. So much of Jesus’ teaching emphasizes the importance of keeping the law of God! So much of the New Testament emphasizes that we should think and then live in a conditional as well as an unconditional framework!^[4]

How a Christian lives is very important. A Christian should put himself into the arms of his Bridegroom, Christ, and let Christ produce His fruit through him. Just as a bride cannot produce natural children until she puts herself into the arms of the bridegroom, so a Christian cannot produce real spiritual fruit except he put himself into the hands of Christ. I can have real spiritual power to the extent that I look to the finished work of Christ and allow Him to produce His fruit through me into the external world.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught much about how a Christian should live. Notice the parallel with the way the Israelites were taught on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. Jesus was saying to us, the children of God who stand in a spiritual continuity with the Jews, “Yes, I’m going to tell you about an unconditional justification, but there is a conditional portion as well. Think about it because it is important.” Important to whom? To the unsaved man? Yes, because it shows him he cannot come by himself; he must come through Christ. To the saved man? Yes, because there is a conditional promise.

I suggest you read this out loud so you can feel it on your own lips and hear it with your own ears:

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen by them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father, who is in heaven.

Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye, therefore, like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret, and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt. 6:1–21)

We do not keep these commands to earn our salvation. Salvation comes only on the basis of the altar, which represented Christ’s death in space and time. We must accept salvation with the empty hands of faith. Rather, the commands are the conditional statement in the midst of the unconditional promises. For example, do you as a Christian want to be forgiven existentially by God? Then have a forgiving heart toward other men. That is what Jesus was saying.

Finally, I would remind us of God’s command to Joshua about the book:

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Josh. 1:8)

Notice how this parallels the way Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount:

Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:24–27)

On what does successful building depend? It depends first of all upon hearing Jesus’ words. But if we have heard them and declare them to be the Word of God, what then? Then we must do them.

Questions & Notes

1. In the time of the judges, the people did not keep the law of God; so God removed the _________ blessings from them. ↑

2. The altar was on the mount of _________, for salvation cannot come by man’s keeping the law. ↑

3. Once we have become Christians, we have entered, by faith, by the grace of God, into the _________ portion of the Abrahamic covenant; and the _________ promise applies to us—we will never, never, never be lost again. ↑

4. So much of the ________ _________ emphasizes that we should think and then live in a conditional as well as an unconditional framework! ↑

Click on the “Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History” tag below to see all the posts in this series. To go to the start of this series click here.

In this section Schaeffer reminds us of the prescribed way of approaching God. He concludes this section by emphasizing the conditional promises as illustrated by these two mountains.

What follows are fragmentary pieces of Francis Schaeffer’s commentary Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History picked out for my own edification and direction. I am interested most in finding the conditions God gave for taking and possessing His land. Also, what can we learn from this story of conquest? To go to the start of these lessons click here.

Mount Ebal And Mount Gerizim

The victorious Israelites now controlled the northern end of the ridge highway that went south by Jerusalem to Hebron. Below them on the east the Jordan River ran parallel to these mountains. Having defeated Ai, the people marched northward on a road which ran over the top of the mountains toward Shechem. They did not have to press through a forest where there was no trail. There was a well-established road. A real culture had been in this land for a long, long time.

Let us imagine ourselves among this great crowd of people marching northwest along the road, the Jordan River on our right. After we have traveled about twenty miles, we see two mountains on our left, Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. The former stands north of the latter. One road branches off the main road and runs through the valley between the two mountains, heading toward the city of Samaria, which is approximately seven miles beyond.

Between the two mountains is the city of Shechem. Shechem already had a long history and was important to the Jews. Approximately 600 years before, Abraham stopped there as he came from Ur and built his first altar to the living God. Jacob, when he was fleeing from Laban, carried to this city the teraphim, his father-in-law’s family gods which Jacob’s wife had stolen. Joseph sought his brothers here just before going on to Dothan where his brothers sold him into slavery; and Joseph eventually was buried there. Jacob dug a well near Shechem, and at this well Jesus would one day speak to a Samaritan woman (John 4). Later yet, Justin Martyr would be born near here. Space-time history had already begun to weave a web around this place.

Ebal and Gerizim are about a mile and a half apart at the top, but only about five hundred yards apart at the bottom. Gerizim reaches to approximately 2,895 feet above sea level, Ebal to 3,077 feet. This means that Gerizim stands about 800 feet above the valley and Ebal about 1,000 feet. The names Gerizim and Ebal have the same meaning: “barren.”

There are two interesting things about these mountains. First, from the top of Ebal or Gerizim we can see a great deal of the promised land. Second, at one place a natural amphitheater exists and as we stand on the top or on the sides of these mountains, we can see and hear everything that is occurring on both of the mountains and in the valley below. Through the years many people have tested this. They have stood on one of the mountains and had other people stand on other parts of the two mountains or in the valley. As they read something in a loud voice but without amplification, the other persons were able to hear all that was spoken. It is God’s own amphitheater.

The Altar on Mount Ebal

Moses, before he died, gave an express command that after the Israelites were in the land, they were to go to Ebal and Gerizim. At this place were to occur certain events which were to remind them of their relationship to God. So the people came up the road from the South, turned westward, and swarmed over these mountains:

And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well as the strangers, as he that was born among them; half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal; … with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers among them. (Josh. 8:33, 35)

This was the whole congregation of the people of God, not just the fighting men. None were left at their camp in Gilgal.

God had commanded that Mount Gerizim be marked the mountain of blessing and that the taller mountain, Mount Ebal, be marked as the place of warning, or the place of the curse. God was giving the people a huge object lesson: what happened to them in the land was going to depend, as it were, on whether they were living on Mount Gerizim or Mount Ebal. The people were to hear from Mount Gerizim the blessings which would come to them if they kept God’s law and from Mount Ebal the curses which would fall upon them if they did not.

On Ebal and Gerizim the people would be confronted with the law in a very striking fashion, as we shall see; but before the law could be read to them, an altar had to be raised to remind them of an important truth. Speaking in the plain of Moab before his death, Moses had instructed,

Therefore, it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones; thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones, and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God. And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God. (Deut. 27:4–7)

The people followed the command of God:

Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, 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 hath lifted up any iron; and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings. (Josh. 8:30, 31)

It is significant that the altar was not built on Gerizim, the mountain of blessing, but on Ebal, the mountain from which was declared what would happen when the people sinned. This was a strong reminder to the people that they were not going to be perfect and that they would therefore need an altar. In this we should hear God saying, “You shouldn’t sin. But when you do sin, I will give you a way to return to Me, through the altar.” So while the people were warned of what would occur when they sinned, they were also taught from the very beginning that there would be a way of return.

We have seen many parallels between the time when Moses began to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and the beginning of the ministry of Joshua, and here is one more. After the law was given on Sinai, God told the people to build an altar:

“An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen; in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it” (Ex. 20:24, 25).

This special altar was not to have any works of man upon it. In this way, it was different from the brass altar that was commanded for the tabernacle. When He gave the Ten Commandments, God wanted the people to understand and never to forget that an altar does not have value because of what people do to it. In other words, this was a complete negation of all humanism. God was teaching the people, “Build an altar at this crucial moment, and it has to be a special kind. Make it of earth and of stones taken right out of the field. Don’t carve beautiful designs on them. Don’t even square them. There is to be no human mark upon this altar.”

When the Israelites were entering into the land under Joshua, they already had built the brazen altar. Nevertheless, they were returned to the earlier lesson made by the rough altar. On Ebal was to be “an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lifted up any iron” (Josh. 8:31). “Learn the lesson well,” God was saying. “I’m bringing you here into the heart of the land. And I am giving you again a special altar so that you will never forget that you cannot come to Me on a humanistic level.” We are reminded in both Exodus and Joshua that the approach to God must always be through sacrifice and not through the keeping of the law or any other work man may himself do.^[1]

According to Paul, the Jews should have understood their lesson. Abraham understood:

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:3, 4).

Abraham did not try to come to God on the basis of his works, because he understood that he was a sinner. He came, rather, on the basis of what God supplied.^[2] Paul’s argument in Romans 4 is that the Old Testament people of God had to come to God exactly as we do, even though Christ had not yet died. If they tried to come on the basis of humanistic works, they could never make it. God is infinite; man is finite. Man has deliberately sinned; therefore, an infinite chasm of moral guilt exists between God and man. How can man with his good works or his worship cross the gap? He cannot. So Abraham’s return to God was not by works, but by the way God prescribed.

Paul speaks even more strongly when he explains why the Jews missed the way. Why did the Old Testament people not come to God? What stood in their way?

But Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling; even as it is written,

Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offence:
And he that believeth on him shall
not be put to shame.

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth. (Rom. 9:31–10:4, ASV)

The reason many of the Old Testament Jews missed their way while Abraham found it is that Abraham came to God on the basis of God’s promises of what God Himself would do. Because he did not keep the law perfectly, Abraham, as it were, did not try to come to God through Mount Gerizim. He came through Mount Ebal, for he was looking forward to what Christ would do. Paul maintains that the entire series of Old Testament tragedies occurred because the Jews kept trying to come to God through Gerizim, the mountain of blessing—through the works of the law, rather than through Mount Ebal. They did not understand that the only way to come to God is not trusting in works, but coming only through sacrifice. Much indeed has been told to the Jews: “Remember, the important thing is the altar!”

When the Assyrians carried away the northern kingdom into captivity, they transported all kinds of people into the promised land. This mixed group became the Samaritans. The Samaritans hated the Jews. The Samaritans set up their own worship and, following the thinking of men, made the center of it (amazingly) Mount Gerizim. They were the humanists. When the Samaritans came into the land and were figuring out for themselves how to worship God, they must have thought, “We won’t choose Mount Ebal. Who wants to say we’re sinners? We’ll worship on Mount Gerizim.” In other words, they stood in the place of Cain who tried to please God in his own way. And the Samaritans, from that day to this, have worshiped on Mount Gerizim, trying to come to God on the basis of their own works. The only sacrifice going on anywhere in the world today that has any relationship to the Old Testament is carried out each Passover season on Mount Gerizim. The leading Jewish priests from Israel travel to watch the nonJews, the Samaritans, sacrifice there. They watch with great care because there is some parallel between this and what the Jews did before the Temple was destroyed. Undoubtedly, there is a question in many of their minds: “When are we going to begin the sacrifices again?”

Now we can better understand Jesus’ conversation at the well with the Samaritan woman. The well stood between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. The woman must have turned and pointed to Mount Gerizim when she said, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship” (John 4:20). Jesus did not reply, “Yes, you should worship in Jerusalem rather than in Mount Gerizim.” He did exactly the opposite. He pointed her away from both Gerizim and Jerusalem, and toward Himself. Without going into a big explanation, Jesus implied, “You can’t come to God by keeping the law. On the other hand, true worship isn’t in Jerusalem either. It’s in Me. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the Savior of the world.” What Jesus actually did to her, without her realizing all that was involved, was to lift her from Mount Gerizim, where she was trying to come to God on the basis of her own good works (and, like all people, her works were not very good, as you will remember), and to put her on Mount Ebal, where she could come to God in the proper way through Him.

The Law on the Mountains

After the altar was built on Ebal, Joshua “wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel” (Josh. 8:32). The account in Joshua 8 does not tell us by what means the Ten Commandments were copied there, but if we look back into Deuteronomy, we can find out. The words were not carved with a hammer and chisel; they were put on the stones in a much faster way. When Moses gave this command about Ebal and Gerizim,

Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster; and thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. Therefore, it shall be when ye are gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster.… And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly. (Deut. 27:1–4, 8)

The stones were to be covered with some kind of calcium solution on which the Ten Commandments could be carefully copied. Therefore, the whole process went quickly. The Israelites just picked up field stones and piled them together. Then somebody covered these big stones with a coating that could be easily etched, or painted quickly with a brush as was done on the shards. Someone carefully wrote the Ten Commandments in this coating.

You must see what was involved. You are on Mount Ebal, O humanist man, and here is the law of God. Nobody keeps that, do they? Consequently, what are you going to do? The altar gives you the key. It tells you that the whole approach to God is present in these first and second steps: the remembering of the Ten Commandments and the reality of the altar.

Not only was the altar built and the commandments written, but next a section of the writing of Moses was read to all the people, as they crowded onto the sides of the mountain in this natural amphitheater. They could see what was occurring on the tops of the mountains. Now they were going to hear with their ears what would occur if they kept the commandments of God and what would occur if they did not. This was not for salvation, because God had already said, “Salvation is to be through the way of the altar.” Nevertheless, God had given the people of Israel commandments which were a representation of His character, which is the eternal law of the universe.

Moses had charged the people to have certain tribes stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people and the remaining tribes stand on Mount Ebal to curse (Deut. 27:11–13). Then the Levites were to read the curses and blessings. Joshua followed the command exactly. After the building of the altar and the copying of the law, “he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, 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 congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers among them” (Josh. 8:34, 35).

When Achan sinned, judgment came upon him. We have seen that this is a universal principle: the blessing of God stops when sin enters and flows on again only after the sin is judged. The reading of the blessings and curses forms, therefore, a continuity with the lesson of Achan.^[3] Undoubtedly as the people were on Ebal and Gerizim, that recent event with Achan was very much on their minds. On these mountains it was clearly stated as a general principle that sin must be judged if the blessing is to go on.

Another factor was involved, too: the people needed to be reminded that the blessings of God would be dependent upon their obedience to Him.^[4] While the Old Testament is full of blessings to the Jews, these blessings were divided into two parts—the unconditional portion and the conditional portion. When God first gave Abraham the Abrahamic covenant, he made it absolutely unconditional:

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1–3).

God has taken the Jews; He has made a covenant with them, and He is going to keep it no matter what. As Paul said, looking into the future beyond his day and even beyond our own, “The gifts of God are without repentance.”

In the midst of the unconditional promise, however, God put conditional portions. God was not going to turn away from the Jews, but the kind of blessing they would have in the land depended on the extent to which they lived in the light of God’s commands. God was pointing this out to the people on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. He was teaching them, “The whole people must remember this. Many of the blessings, as well as judgments, are conditional. The continuance of the blessings depends upon your keeping My law.”

We must remember that God’s commands are His propositional statements about His character. They are not arbitrary. God has a character, and His character is the law of the universe. The law is grace in that it reveals what the fulfilling of His character is. God was telling the people that if they lived in the light of His character, then would come the blessing. If they failed to do this, then it would stop.

Questions & Notes

1. We are reminded in both Exodus and Joshua that the approach to God must always be through _________ and not through the keeping of the law or any other work man may himself do. ↑

2. Abraham did not try to come to God on the basis of his works, because he understood that he was a sinner. He came, rather, on the basis of what God _________. ↑

3. The reading of the blessings and curses forms, therefore, a continuity with the lesson of _________. ↑

4. The people needed to be reminded that the blessings of God would be dependent upon their _________ to Him. ↑

Click on the “Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History” tag below to see all the posts in this series. To go to the start of this series click here.