Joshua 8:30 - Meaning and Application

This solemn scene may seem surprising in the middle of Israel’s wars in Canaan. After Jericho and Ai fell, we might expect the next report to be about taking more cities and pressing deeper into the land. Instead, Israel’s camp is drawn out into the open, not to fight, but to offer sacrifice, hear God’s law read, and say “Amen” to the blessings and the curses.

Some think this did not happen until after some of the victories described later in chapters 10 and 11. But the map suggests that Shechem, near Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, was not too far from Ai. So it seems likely that, after taking Ai, they could move into that part of the country and hold this gathering there. I would rather keep the story in its present place, because it shows something important about Israel’s faith.

It shows their zeal for God’s service and honor. Their war was honorable, useful, and likely to succeed, and yet all military plans stop while they travel to the appointed place and keep this solemn act. God had told them to do this after crossing the Jordan, and they did it as soon as they could. They might have found excuses to delay, but they did not. We should not wait to make covenant commitments with God until life feels settled. Nothing should keep us from the one thing that matters most, and the way to prosper is to seek God first (Matthew 6:33).

It also shows God’s care for those who serve and worship him faithfully. Israel was still in enemy territory, but in the service of God they were safe. It was like Jacob, who went through this same region on his way to Bethel to pay his vows, and God’s terror fell on the cities around him (Genesis 35:5). When we are walking in duty, God gives us his special protection.

Moses had already given clear orders for this ceremony, once in (Deuteronomy 11:29-30) and again in (Deuteronomy 27:2, etc.). It was a covenant renewal, meaning a fresh reaffirming of the agreement between God and Israel as they took possession of the promised land. This would encourage them in the conquest and remind them on what terms they held the land. It would also lay on them new obligations to obey.

As a sign of that covenant, they built an altar and offered sacrifice to God (Joshua 8:30-31). This showed their dedication of themselves to God as living sacrifices, given to honor him through a Mediator, which means one who stands between God and man. That Mediator is Christ, who makes their gift acceptable. The altar was built on Mount Ebal, the mountain linked with the curse (Deuteronomy 11:29), to show that where the law would bring a curse, Christ’s sacrifice brings peace with God. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law by taking the curse on himself (Galatians 3:13).

So even where it had been said, under the curse, “You are not my people,” it is now said through Christ, the true altar, “You are the children of the living God” (Hosea 1:10). The curses spoken from Mount Ebal would have taken effect at once if sacrifice had not been offered for atonement, that is, to make satisfaction for sin. By these sacrifices they also gave God the glory for their victories already won, as in (Exodus 17:15). Now that they had enjoyed the spoil of Ai, it was right that God should receive the praise.

They also asked for his favor in future battles, since their peace offerings were meant for prayer as well as thanksgiving. The way to prosper in anything we do is to take God with us and acknowledge him in prayer, praise, and trust. The altar was built of uncut stones, according to the law (Exodus 20:25), because God is pleased with worship that is plain, natural, and free from human show. Human invention cannot improve what God has already appointed.

Next, they received the law from God, and anyone who wants his favor and wants his offerings accepted must do the same. If we turn away our ear from hearing the law, even our prayers will be offensive to God. When God brought Israel into covenant, he gave them his law, and they showed their consent by placing themselves under it.

First, the Ten Commandments were written on stones in full view of all Israel, as a summary of the whole law (Joshua 8:32). This copy was not carved into the stone like the tablets kept in the ark, because that was to be done only by the finger of God. It is God’s role to write the law on the heart. Here the stones were plastered, and the law was written on the plaster (Deuteronomy 27:4, Deuteronomy 27:8). It was written so all could see what they had agreed to obey, and so it would stand as a lasting witness to later generations of God’s goodness in giving them such wise laws. It would also stand as a witness against them if they broke those laws.

It is a great mercy for any people to have God’s law in writing. It is right that the written law should be openly displayed in a known language, so all can see and read it.

Second, the blessings and curses, which were the law’s promises and warnings, were read publicly, and the people, as Moses had arranged, said “Amen” to them (Joshua 8:33-34). The crowd was very large. The highest officials were not exempt, for the elders, officers, and judges were all under the law and would share in its blessing or curse according to their obedience. So they had to be there to agree to the covenant and lead the people in it.

The poorest foreigner was not left out either. This was a kind of full welcome into Israel, because both the stranger and the native-born were included in the covenant. That was an encouragement to those who came in as converts, and it also pointed ahead to the kindness God would one day show to poor Gentiles.

The tribes were arranged as Moses had directed, six on Mount Gerizim and six on Mount Ebal. The ark stood in the middle of the valley between them, because it was the ark of the covenant. Inside it were the written words of that law, while the same law was copied out and displayed openly on the stones. The covenant was commanded, and the command itself was part of the covenant.

The priests who served with the ark, or some Levites who helped them, stood after the people had taken their places and silence had been called. Then they clearly spoke the blessings and the curses, just as Moses had arranged them, and the tribes answered, “Amen.” Yet this passage says only that they were to bless the people, because the blessing was the main thing intended. God’s purpose in giving the law was to bless. If the people came under the curse, that would be their own fault.

It was really a blessing to Israel that these things were set before them so plainly, life and death, good and evil. God had not dealt this way with other nations.

The law itself, with its commands and prohibitions, was also read (Joshua 8:35). It seems Joshua himself did the reading, and he did not think it beneath him to read in the congregation of the Lord. In the same spirit, the public reading of the law, which was ordered once every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:10-11), was carried out by their king or chief ruler.

This shows how public and complete that reading was. Every word was read. Even the smallest commands were not left out, and the longest parts were not shortened. Not one part of the law was to be left out, so nothing was skipped because there was no time or because some section seemed unnecessary. It was only a short time since Moses had preached the whole book of Deuteronomy to them, yet Joshua had to read it all again. It is good to hear twice what God has spoken once (Psalm 62:11), and to go over what we have already heard so we do not forget it.

Every Israelite was present, including the women and the little children, so that all might know their duty and do it. Heads of households should bring their wives and children with them to solemn worship. All who can learn should come to be taught from the law. The strangers were there too, because wherever we are, even if we are only passing through, we should use every chance to learn about God and his holy will.