And Moses gave commandment to the people the same day, saying,
On that day Moses set up a ceremony for Israel to hold after they crossed the Jordan: half the tribes standing on the mountain of blessing, half on the mountain of curse. So why, when the day came, was only half of it ever heard?
The charge comes right after Moses and the priests spoke to Israel about who they now were.
Israel was to write the words of the law very clearly, so that there would be no mistake and no excuse for breaking the law (v.8). Then Moses and the priests spoke again to all Israel, urging them to pay attention and listen. They had become the people of God, therefore it was God they were responsible to obey (v.10).
The two mountains face each other, and the tribes split between them along family lines.
Gerizim and Ebal lay opposite one another in the middle of the land of Canaan. The mount of blessing stood to the south, the mount of cursing to the north. Ebal, they say, rises about a hundred feet above Gerizim, and is the steeper and more barren of the two... Half the tribes are to stand on the one mount, half on the other. They are not to speak the blessing and the curse, but to confirm them for themselves. The children of Leah and Rachel take the blessing. The children of the slave women take the curse, along with Reuben, the displaced firstborn, and Zebulun, Leah's youngest son.
This was not a ceremony for leaders only.
The twelve tribes held the steep mountain sides of Ebal and Gerizim, six on each mount. The Levites, we would suppose, filled the narrow plain between. In a loud voice they spoke to all the people both the curses and the blessings of God. (Deut. 27:11-14.) Infants as well as warriors were present, foreigners as well as those born in Israel; none were left out. And in the clear air of Canaan the words of the law would carry, rising from the valley up the slopes of the mountains.
Moses plans a balance. The history records something else.
But in the second half of our chapter we find something quite different. Moses appoints six tribes to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, and six on Mount Ebal to curse. But sadly, when we come to the actual history, to the facts of the case, there is not a single syllable of blessing. There is nothing but twelve dreadful curses. The whole congregation confirmed each one with a solemn "amen."
The missing blessing is no accident.
It is impossible for man to find blessing from the law in the presence of God when we come to its actual application. Whatever the call may be, when we stand before the fact, there is nothing but a curse to speak of. It is hard to name a more solemn scripture, or one more typical of Deuteronomy.
The people did not protest the curses. They agreed to them, and the last one closed every gap.
Twelve times they said "Amen" to the twelve curses. The twelfth was this: "Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them." It covered every possible neglect or failure they could be capable of. The blessings were read too (Joshua 8:33-34). But about any Amens from Mount Gerizim, Scripture is silent. It records not one answering "So be it" to blessings earned by the obedience of fallen man.
Moses put the altar on Ebal, the mountain of curse, not on Gerizim.
Why was the altar not put on Mount Gerizim? Because God knew that Israel would not keep the law, and so were left under a curse (Gal. 3:10). God would meet them in the place they were, not where they ought to be. The altar tells us that God is able to redeem those under the curse by means of the sacrifice of Christ. This is pure grace.
How does God redeem people who are under a curse?
It is a wonderful thing to find that, just as 2 Corinthians 5 says Christ was made sin, so here Scripture says that "He is made a curse for us."... "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us."
- Charged — Moses gives this order on the day Israel has become the people of God, responsible now to obey Him.
- Divided — Six tribes stand on the mountain of blessing, six on the steeper, more barren mountain of curse. They do not speak the words; they confirm them for themselves.
- Silent — When the day came, the record holds no blessing from Gerizim, only curses. Applied to real life, the law has only a curse to speak.
- Agreed — Twelve curses drew twelve Amens. The last one was wide enough to catch every failure, and no Amen ever answered a blessing earned by obedience.
- Answered — The altar stood on the mountain of curse. God meets people where they are, and Christ became a curse for us to redeem us.
These shall stand to bless the people upon mount Gerizim, when ye have gone over the Jordan Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
Moses splits the nation in two for the day they enter the land: six tribes on Gerizim to bless, and the six named here on Ebal to curse. Why these six, and why give a whole mountain to cursing?
Every Israelite had a place in this scene, and every Israelite could hear.
The twelve tribes held the steep mountain sides of Ebal and Gerizim, six on each mount. The Levites, we should suppose, filled the narrow plain between. They spoke out with a loud voice to all the people, giving them both the curses and the blessings of God (Deut. 27:11-14). Infants as well as warriors were there, "the sojourner as well as the native born"; no one was left out. And in the clear air of Canaan the words of the law carried easily, rising from the valley up the slopes of the mountains.
The two hills are not alike, and the tribes standing on them are not the ones speaking.
Gerizim and Ebal lay opposite one another — the mount of blessing to the south, the mount of cursing to the north, in the middle of the land of Canaan. Ebal is said to rise about a hundred feet above Gerizim, and it is the steeper and more barren of the two. The tribes are to stand half on the one mount, half on the other — not to utter, but to confirm for themselves the blessing and the curse.
The list is not random. It follows family lines.
These, with the exception of Reuben and Zebulun, are the sons of the maidservants. Reuben and Zebulun are the firstborn and lastborn of Leah: they surround the sons of Zilpah. It is as if the representatives of the whole line of the first wife, and of all that is born of the flesh, were pronouncing the curse.
Verse 12 names Gerizim first. Yet the curses are the words that actually get spoken, and that order was no accident.
The Levites, with the company on Mount Ebal, then had to proclaim many curses with a loud voice (v.14). Mount Gerizim with its blessings comes first in the record, yet the curses from Mount Ebal are spoken first, for God knew they would incur these curses.
Half of this arrangement is for blessing. Nothing ever comes of it.
Where are there words of blessing in connection with Gerizim? Not one. The law cannot give blessing. But the word "cursed" we find twelve times in this chapter. What a confirmation that the law holds out no blessing for man, but can do nothing but curse.
When the day came, the nation agreed out loud to every word — including the last one, which sweeps up every failure.
Twelve times they said "Amen" to the twelve curses spoken over them. The twelfth ran: "Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them." That one curse covered every possible neglect or failure they could be capable of. They read the blessings too (Joshua 8:33-34). But about any Amens sounding from Mount Gerizim, Scripture is silent. It records not one answering "So be it" to blessings earned by the obedience of fallen man.
Earlier in the chapter God commands an altar, and He places it on Ebal, not on Gerizim.
Why was the altar not put on Mount Gerizim? Because God knew that Israel would not keep the law, and so were left under a curse (Gal. 3:10). God would meet them in the place they were, not where they ought to be. The altar tells us that God is able to redeem those under the curse through the sacrifice of Christ. This is pure grace.
The curse gets an answer, and the answer is not a better performance. It is a substitute.
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'" It is a deeply blessed thing to see this. In 2 Corinthians 5 Scripture says that Christ was made sin. Here it says that He was made a curse for us.
- Divided — Six tribes stood on Ebal, six on Gerizim, the Levites in the valley between. Everyone heard the law, children and foreigners included.
- Chosen — Four of the six on Ebal are sons of the servant wives, with Leah's oldest and youngest on either side. They stand for all that is born of the flesh.
- Spoken — The curses come first, and come twelve times over. God already knew which side of the valley Israel would end up on.
- Silent — Gerizim never speaks its blessing in this chapter. The law can only curse; it holds out no blessing for man.
- Answered — God set His altar on the mountain of the curse, meeting His people where they were. It points to Christ, who was made a curse for us.
And the Levites shall declare and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.