Deuteronomy 27:8–12

The words of the law were to be written very plainly, so that there would be no mistake and no excuse for breaking the law (v.8). They had become the people of God, therefore it was God they were responsible to obey (v.10).

When the law came, all vagueness disappeared. Nobody under the law could plead ignorance any more. When they stood in judgment for their transgressions, not a shred of an excuse remained. We who are not Jews were never formally placed under the law, but we do know about it, and that knowledge itself will make us answerable to the judgment of God in a way that peoples who have never heard it are not. So let us take care.

We read nothing about sin offerings or trespass offerings here. The law, in all its fullness, was to be "written very plainly" on the plastered stones. The people stood in a full, acknowledged covenant relationship with God, and they were to offer on the altar those special offerings of sweet aroma, which so richly express worship and holy communion.

How telling of the law's true power, that it was to stand there tied for ever to the curse and not to the blessing! "All who rely on works of the law are under a curse," is the language of the law itself here. Long afterward the Samaritans tried to reverse this sentence, and their copy of the first five books of the Bible puts Gerizim here in place of Ebal. Reversing it robs the law of its power, for the law's true power is to destroy self-righteousness and humble people to the gospel.

Moses directed half the tribes to take one mountain and say the blessing, and the other half to say the curse. But when Israel had done it all, scripture records nothing but the curse — not one word of the blessing. When we come to the law in practice, no one can find blessing from it in the presence of God.

But for that very reason, side by side with this monument of the law — as if God would not let anyone mistake the connection even then — they were to build their altar. They were to offer their burnt offerings and their peace offerings, and to rejoice before God on the dreaded mountain itself. They could do this, because the law itself sanctified this worship: the death of the victim upheld the righteousness of the law.

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.

"It is written" blazed on the banner of victory that Israel raised in the centre of the land of Canaan. The words of the Lord stood clearly written on the stones for every eye to see. They read the written word aloud for every ear to hear, and the nation agreed to it.

Writing the law on the stones shows the conditions on which they were to hold the land: obedience to the word.

The words of the law were to be written very plainly, 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).

Israel had declared the Lord to be their God, and the Lord had declared Israel to be His own special people, to make them high above all nations He had made, in praise, in name, and in honour, and a holy people to the Lord their God, as He had said. Israel was privileged, blessed and lifted high. They held that good land in full, and all the precious commandments of God lay before their eyes. What was left for them but to bring the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, in holy worship and happy fellowship?

The subject here is not someone caught in a wrong act, or a sinner by nature, coming to the bronze altar with a trespass offering or a sin offering. It is a people fully delivered, accepted and blessed — a people who are actually enjoying their relationship and their inheritance.

The site is "beside the oaks of Moreh" — the place where Abraham first rested when he entered Canaan. "Moreh" means "teacher." "Shechem" means "shoulder," and there Israel as a nation, now brought into the land, were at last to take up the burden of the law — a law usually called torah, or "teaching," from the same root as Moreh. These links show us how God would carry His people back to the position of their great ancestor, so clearly the man of faith, and set them where he had been. Sadly, they had accepted law, to stand in covenant relation to the LORD on that ground, and the shadow of this lies dark over them. Ebal rises higher than Gerizim. Even this should have been a call back to Abraham's blessing through a faith like his, and some surely heard it.

At Moses' word, half the tribes take one mountain to speak the blessing, and the other half take the second mountain to speak the curse. But when it is all done, Scripture records only the curse, and not one word of the blessing. When we come to the law's actual working, no one can find blessing from the law in the presence of God.

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.

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree." It is a wonderful thing to find that, just as 2 Corinthians 5 says Christ was made sin, so here Scripture says "He is made a curse for us."

In this book, holiness, grace and communion stand out much more. Note also that the people are placed in covenant with the Lord completely afresh — see chapters 26:17-18, and 27:9-10. This is altogether a new covenant, not the one at Sinai... It is a new basis. It is no longer "if you shall be," but declared to be — worshipping in joy, assumed to be in the land: "This day you have become," "You shall therefore keep." Yet the blessing lasts only as long as the people stay faithful. So in the end it fails... just as it would if it rested on "if you will obey, you shall be."

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).

Now we desire a blessing for the people of God, suited to the position of grace in which we stand. This makes us feel our need of God moment by moment... Again, obedience, instead of being in any way weakened, is strengthened by the sense of the nearness to God into which we are brought.

The Lord said to Israel, Do this and you shall live (see Deut. 5:33, Gal. 3:12), but the children of God are urged to obey because they are children. "Obey and live" implies that obedience keeps life going. "Obey because you are a child" implies godly living that comes out of a relationship that already exists. To innocent man the word in effect was: Disobey, and you shall die. To man under the law it was: Obey, and you shall live. To the children it is: Living, your privilege is to obey.

If anyone taught that we must earn the high position and relationship of children of God by our obedience, then the solemn charge of legality would be fair... Obedience could never come before sonship. But sonship should always lead on to obedience.

The whole law was to be "written very plainly" on the plastered stones. The people stood in full, recognised covenant relationship, and they were to bring to the altar those special offerings of sweet aroma, which so richly express worship and holy communion. The subject here is not the trespasser in act, or the sinner in nature, coming to the bronze altar with a trespass offering or a sin offering. It is a people fully delivered, accepted and blessed — a people who are enjoying their relationship and their inheritance right now.

Where are the blessings? Nowhere. Nothing remains but the curses... 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.

Why was the altar not put on Mount Gerizim, the mountain of blessing? Because God knew that Israel would not keep the law, and so they 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.

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).

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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."