Now What?

So the nation of Israel obliterates Jericho, now what? Well, they've got to get to Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim if they're going to complete the instructions given to them by Moses back in Deuteronomy 27. To get there they have to pass the city of Ai, which they eventually burn to the ground. (Joshua 8)

Now, what the writer of Joshua leaves out is a reminder of just where these mountains are located. They take the ridge route through the hill country of Canaan to get there. And right at the base of these mountains is the historically significant city of Shechem.

Do you remember Shechem, or the mountains? I didn't. These two mountains, which by the way are hills by some people's measurements, with their city are the center of traditional stories that would have been told down the generations. Tales relating the building of altars to God. The recounting of God giving a good and healthy land to their father Abraham. And, stories of their father Jacob ridding the family of foreign idols so that they would remain focused on God in heaven.

It was all tradition and stories until the day they stepped into Shechem and stood in front of one of the mountains. Then it became real. Standing along side the other altars built by Abraham and Jacob was now the altar Joshua built in front of them. Can you imagine how they felt when the realization of being as important to God as their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hit them?

And where they were told to stand doesn't really matter because the small valley that lies between them has an amphitheater effect according to A Visual Guide to Bible Events, so they would have heard everything said anyway. The group in front of Mt. Gerizim hears the blessings that will be received if they follow God's instructions. The other group, in front of Mt Ebal, hears the curses that will follow if they drift away from those same instructions or act unseemly. (Some of the reasons for curses are quite interesting; you should check out Deut. 27-28.)

But, in the end, what a perfect location to be reminded that this was their land, given to them by God. It was theirs to fight for and reclaim. Now that's encouragement to keep up the good work.