09. The Ark at Ebal and Gerizim; or, God's Presence in the Reading of the Word

Chapter 9 - The Ark at Ebal and Gerizim; or, God’s Presence in the Reading of the Word
THE taking of Ai, and the discom­fiture of the army from Bethel, had left an open road toward Shechem; and Joshua availed, himself of the facility thus afforded for perform­ing that which Moses had assigned as the first duty of the Israelites on entering Canaan. Deuteronomy 11:29; Deuteronomy 27:4. Twice had the deceased lawgiver insisted on the observance of this service; and his suc­cessor in office could not but feel desirous to seize the earliest possibility of fulfilling it. Joshua 8:30-35. The appointed spot was the fertile valley which runs between the precipitous acclivities of two mountain-heights, Ebal towering on the north, and Gerizim on the south. In the center of this plain, ere reaching the transverse vale of Moreh, which lay beyond the defile, the ark of the covenant of the Lord was stationed; while the tribes of Israel, including even the women and children, were drawn up in array, six on either side. The ground below Mount Gerizim was occupied by Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, Benjamin, and such of the Levites as were not in immediate attendance on the ark; while Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, were stationed at the foot of Ebal. Deuteronomy 27:12-13. The ministering Levites gave distinct utter­ance to the curses; and as each was severally pronounced, the occupiers of Ebal responded with the "Amen" which tokened their sub­mission. The blessings, also, were pro­claimed, and the audible acceptance of these was assigned to the opposite party at the base of Gerizim. The formula of the benedictions has not been recorded; but it is no improba­ble surmise, that they were in strict antithesis to the prescribed list of cursings, The latter were twelve in number, eleven of them being directed against special crimes, and the last being of a general nature: "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them·" Deuteronomy 27:14-26.

Appropriately, therefore, did Joshua "afterward" read "all the words of the law," not omitting "a word of all that Moses com­manded." The people were thus instructed as to all that God enjoined; while again they were reminded of the benefits that would follow obedience to His will, and the evils that would attend a rejection of His claims. They heard of temporal punishments and temporal rewards, that would rest on them in the city and in the field, in their coming in and their going out, in their families, their farms, their possessions,’ and their political relations. Deuteronomy 28:1-68. "Life and good, death and evil," were again distinctly set before them; and they were once more exhorted to "choose life, that both they and their seed might live." Deuteronomy 30:15-19. They must have felt that it was "not a vain thing" for them, but that it was their" life." Deuteronomy 32:47. They looked upon the purple-draped burden that lay between their companies, and remem­bered the majesty of Him who had condes­cended to be there enshrined. They looked upward to the bleak and craggy summits of the ancient heights around them, and called to mind the power of Him who had laid the foundation of those everlasting hills.

They looked upon the thinly-scattered, gloomy-­leaved olives, that relieved not the desolate­ness of Mount Ebal’s savage grandeur, and witnessed an emblem of the sterility to which their fairest pasturages might be doomed. They looked upon the citron and pomegranate groves, which, in their vernal bloom, then decked the lower slopes of Gerizim, and recog­nized a token of the fertile luxuriance that might yet make even their deserts to rejoice. But was this all they could behold? Had it been so, they might well have gone away with dejected countenance and drooping heart. The law was rigorous, the commandment exceeding broad; but man is weak,---and man is prone to evil; how, then, could the former be kept? how could the latter avoid the penal curse, and how win the promised blessing? The eye rested again on Ebal, and there it discerned a smoking" altar," which spoke of accepted offerings, of justice satisfied, of mercy waiting to be gracious. The desponding soul might again exult in hope, the anxious brow be smoothed, and the face become once more radiant with beaming gladness. Thus, in the vicinity of Shechem, had the temple of nature become a temple wherein Revelation uttered its enlightening voice, and wherein sacrifice unfolded its tidings of consolation. The Hebrews had not to feel after God, if haply they might find Him. They had not to ask in their heart," Who shall ascend into heaven?" or "Who shall descend into the deep?" for the word was nigh them, brought nigh in its public proclamation---the law, brought nigh to lay its embargo on sin, and to furnish its in­centives to holiness; and the gospel, brought nigh in the shed blood of holocausts and peace-­offerings, as typical of the provision made for the world’s redemption. The precepts, which were thus read in the people’s hearing, were also transcribed in their sight. Great stones having been set up and formed into a pillar, were plastered over, to secure an even surface on which the words, probably of the Decalogue, or (as others think) the closing chapters of Deuteronomy, were in­scribed in legible characters, while Israel looked on, and traced the progress of Joshua’s grav­ing-tool. Word by word, the letter of the law came full into view. Thus were the multitude left without excuse. The ear and eye were alike instructed. The blind had the opportu­nity of listening, the deaf had the advantage of perusing. None might plead ignorance of the statute. This memorial-column spoke also of perpetuity. It suggested the idea, that the spoken words were not to melt in air, not to die away in empty sound, not to perish in the utterance;---that they were of lasting obliga­tion, of continuous application. None might plead that the code was of a by-gone date, given in Sinai with a view to the nomadic life of the desert, and inappropriate to the possessors of the goodly land. The impressiveness of the occasion, and of its diverse occurrences, was well-fitted to exert a solemn and a permanent effect on the hearts of the people: and it seems to have answered the design, for "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua." Not till a younger generation gained the pre­dominance,---a generation who had not seen the wonders or felt the mighty influences of the transactions that marked the entrance to Canaan,---was the law of God openly violated.

It were well for us, if we shared more in the feeling which that day pervaded the families of Jacob. Our advantages, are not less than theirs. As Nature testified to them of "the goodness and severity of God," so it does to us. As they had a Revelation, so have we. As their revelation met both eye and ear, so does ours. We may gaze upon it for ourselves, and we may listen to its oral proclamation. As their revelation told of God’s requirements and of man’s duty, as it pointed out the way of life and the way of death, as it held forth threatenings to warn and promises to allure, even so does the Word which God hath spoken to us in these latter days. And as the burnt ­offerings, on their altar of unhewn stone, told of God’s forgiving mercy, so have we heard of His love unspeakable in sending His own Son to be a propitiation for human guilt. But do we listen to the message with reverent attention? do we receive it with obedient faith?

We hear the blessing pronounced, "he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life;" does our "Amen" welcome the assurance, and does our daily life bear witness to the sincerity of that Amen? We hear the curse which follows, "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life:" do we assent to this, as perfectly just and equitable? and does our implicit confidence in the Savior of sinners prove that ours has not been the assent merely of the understand­ing? Do we feel what we read and hear of God’s Holy Book? does every sentence of it sink deep into our heart,---as deep, as if we were reading or hearing it for the first time beneath the shadow of Ebal and of Gerizim? Why should it not be so?

We imagine two excuses may be started, ­both fallacious. We may be told that this was a solitary occasion; that novelty added largely to its charm; and that what we hear from Sabbath to Sabbath, and read from day to day, cannot be expected to come with so much force to the heart. Is this a valid plea? We are aware that, as a general rule, "familiarity breeds contempt;" but should it be so in reference to the things of God? If the Most High stoops to address us, and has patience to do this time after time, ought not each fresh instance of His long suffering to arouse a more eager intentness on our part, lest we let slip what we hear? When GOD speaks, can we ever deem his voice a familiar one? when He renews His invitations, can we venture to listen with indif­ference? When He reiterates His warnings, can we dare to call the message wearisome? If He had but one truth, and sent it always couched in one and the same form, the fact that He needs to send, and that He deigns to send it more than once,should be a sufficient motive to call forth our every power to aid in its imme­diate reception.

Yet this is not all. He does not send us only line upon line, and precept upon precept, nor only here a little and there a little. He has furnished us with such a record of His will, that a protracted lifetime, devoted to its closest scrutiny, could never exhaust its fullness. It is a well that can never run dry, a mine that can never be worked out. Every careful and prayerful perusal of it will send us away with some new idea learned, some new light acquired, some new stimulus gained. If the charm of novelty is requisite, it exists abundantly in the treasure-house of sacred truth. But further, it may be urged, that the out­ward array and pomp and circumstance of this high religious festival favored its hold upon the minds of the Israelites, and that the ark is not with us as it was with them. The fact itself is true, but we may not draw from it a false conclusion. What if the external show be absent, are we not thereby left to pay a more undistracted attention to the solemn words which should engross our thoughts? What if the ark be lacking, have we not in our midst that which the consecrated chest was designed to symbolize? The ark was nothing save as God dwelt with it; and is not His presence as great a reality at this day as it ever was? Do we not know that He is present wherever the volume of His Word is studied? We know it well. Let us seek to realize it. Let us never hear a Bible-truth, or read a Scrip­ture-verse, without remembering: God is here. The writer of the inspired book, the giver of the holy law, the originator of the wondrous gospel, the author of salvation’s scheme: He is present; He is cognizant of the portion of truth now brought before me; He is witness that I have heard it. Therefore I cannot plead that I knew not His will; He searches my heart, and sees whether I am seek­ing to understand. Therefore I cannot plead that the revelation was too dim to light me heavenward; He sees whether I am desirous to render an unreserved obedience. Therefore I cannot plead that His law was too rigorous to be observed . He is here; yes, He is here, not only as a witness, but also as a dispenser of the blessing and of the curse.

Even now, if my heart is stubborn, my will rebellious, my desires going out after evil, the curse already rests upon me; there is disquiet in the heart, and sooner or later there will be affliction in the cup ;---but even now, if my heart is melted, my will subdued, my affections won to holiness, the benediction will have begun; there will be peace within, and it will be followed by all salu­tary peace without! Thus let us set ourselves to realize that God is with His Word, and with us in the perusal of it; then shall we not be among the number of those who shall say to Him, "Lord, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets;" but to whom He will say, "I know you not, whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity!"