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Reading
– Deuteronomy 27:1-13
By
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
As
Moses begins to conclude his final instructions to the children of Israel, he
gives them an unusual command. They are to build an altar of stone on a mountain
in the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 27:5 NKJV 5 "And
there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you
shall not use an iron tool on them.
This
seems to contradict earlier instructions when the children of Israel were told
to build the altar in front of the tabernacle out of acacia wood overlaid with
bronze. Further, they were not to bring their offerings anywhere except to the
tabernacle where God’s presence dwelled in their midst. So, why did God tell
them to build this other altar? Why was it built out of unhewn stone? Is there
any significance to where it was to be built? What is the purpose of this
altar?
The
Promised Land is a shadow of the original Garden of Eden. Both the Garden of
Eden and the Promised Land are set apart from the rest of creation. This
separation is found from the beginning. To start with, both Adam and the nation
of Israel were formed outside the land, and God prepared the land before
bringing them into the land.
Genesis 2:8 NKJV 8 The LORD God
planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
Once
Adam was in the Garden, he was to tend and keep it.
Genesis 2:15 NKJV 15 Then the LORD God
took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
The
word “keep” is translated from the Hebrew word “shamar,” number 8104, meaning
to place a hedge around, to guard, protect and preserve. Adam was to guard,
protect, and preserve the garden. This implies that there existed something
that could harm the garden. I’m sure Adam was to protect the garden from the
serpent, but he failed miserably!
Like
Adam, the nation of Israel was formed outside the land, specifically in Egypt. God
promised Jacob that his descendants would become a nation while in Egypt.
Genesis 46:3 NKJV 3 So He said,
"I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I
will make of you a great nation there.
When
God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, it was for the purpose of
taking them as His people and placing them in the land that He had prepared for
them.
Exodus 6:7-8 NKJV 7 'I will take you
as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD
your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 'And I
will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD.'"
God
brought them out of Egypt and led them to Mt. Sinai where He took them as His
people and set them apart from the rest of the nations. Moses repeats this
promise to the children of Israel as they are camped in the plains of Moab
ready to enter the land stating that on that very day, they had become His
special people.
Deuteronomy 26:18-19 NKJV 18
"Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as
He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, 19 "and that
He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name,
and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as
He has spoken."
Like
with Adam, the children of Israel were given charge over the land of Israel.
They were to tend the land while acknowledging that all the blessings of the
land were from God.
Deuteronomy 26:9-10 NKJV 9 'He has
brought us to this place and has given us this land, "a land flowing with
milk and honey"; 10 'and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of
the land which you, O LORD, have given me.' Then you shall set it before the
LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God.
Part
of their task of caring for the land was to protect it from being defiled in
the manner of the previous inhabitants of the land.
Leviticus 18:24-25 NKJV 24 'Do not
defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are
defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 'For the land is defiled;
therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits
out its inhabitants.
Adam
failed in his task to tend and keep the Garden; Israel failed in her task to
protect the land from defilement. Adam was exiled from the Garden; Israel was
exiled from the land.
The
Garden of Eden had a unique feature. There were two special trees planted in
the garden: the tree of life and tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:9 NKJV 9 And out of the
ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good
for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam
and Eve were allowed and, perhaps, even encouraged to eat from the tree of
life, but they were forbidden from eating from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.
Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV 16 And the LORD
God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely
eat; 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Eating
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would lead to death! And, as we
know, it also led to their exile from the Garden!
The
Promised Land doesn’t have the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. However, God set apart two mountains that stood opposite one
another as well as a mountain on which He would eventually place His name. The
mountain where He would place His name became the location of the temple above
the city of Jerusalem. The two mountains that are set opposite one another are
Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal. The children of Israel were to go to these two
mountains when they entered the land and place God’s blessings and curses on
the mountains.
Deuteronomy 11:29-30 NKJV 29 "Now
it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go
to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on
Mount Ebal. 30 "Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the
setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite
Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh?
Moses
explains that the mountains are near the terebinth trees of Moreh where Abraham
first entered the land, received God’s promise to inherit the land, and built
an altar.
Genesis 12:6-7 NKJV 6 Abram passed
through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of
Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to
Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And
there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Mt.
Gerizim and Mt. Ebal are in the center of the Promised Land in the midst of the
mountain range that extends all the way from the northern border of Israel
through to its southern tip. The mountains basically run parallel to the Jordan
River from its headwaters near Dan to its destination in the Dead Sea.
The
context of Moses’ instruction to place the blessing on Mt. Gerizim and the
curse on Mt. Ebal is that a choice is presented for the children of Israel.
They could choose to obey God and receive His blessing, or they could choose to
disobey God and receive His curse.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 NKJV 26
"Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 "the
blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you
today; 28 "and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD
your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after
other gods which you have not known.
The
names of these two mountains, at first glance, don’t seem to add anything to
the message. The name “Ebal,” number 5858, comes from a root word meaning
“bald.” The name “Gerizim,” number 1630, means to cut up. The nineteenth century theologian Adam Clarke
comments on the meaning of the names Gerizim and Ebal stating that Gerizim
seems to point to those who cut down things perhaps referring to harvesters or
reapers, and that the baldness of Ebal points to its barrenness. In his
lifetime, travelers to the land of Israel confirmed that Mt. Ebal was indeed
barren, and Mt. Gerizim fruitful. Clarke comments on the metaphorical meaning
of these names:
… fertility shall ever be the
consequence of the faithful obedience of its inhabitants, and a proof of the
blessing of God upon it; … its barrenness shall be a proof that the people have
departed from their God, and that his curse has in consequence fallen upon the
land.[i]
The
city of Shechem inhabits the valley between the two mountains. The name
Shechem, number 7927, means ridge. It is the same as number 7926 meaning the
neck as in the place between the shoulders, a place of burdens, or a portion.
Shechem is a place between the shoulders where a burden is carried. In its
geographical position between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal, it is the place where
both Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal can be seen. The consequences of choosing to obey
or disobey God’s commandments are visible to the eye. The portion that will be
allotted to Israel would be determined by the decision that the children of
Israel make. In another metaphor, the two mountains on the shoulders of Shechem
are the two voices of the good and evil inclination sitting on our shoulders
seeking to influence our actions.
This
takes us to the stone altar that God commanded that the children of Israel were
to build. Before building the altar, they were to write the words of the Torah
on large stones.
Deuteronomy 27:2-4 NKJV 2 "And it
shall be, on the day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the LORD
your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and
whitewash them with lime. 3 "You shall write on them all the words of this
law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the LORD
your God is giving you, 'a land flowing with milk and honey,' just as the LORD
God of your fathers promised you. 4 "Therefore it shall be, when you have
crossed over the Jordan, that on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones,
which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime.
The
stones were to be set up on Mt. Ebal, the barren mountain from which the curses
were to be shouted. The children of Israel were also to make a special altar
out of unhewn stones on Mt. Ebal where they were to bring their burnt offerings
and peace sacrifices.
Deuteronomy 27:5-7 NKJV 5 "And
there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you
shall not use an iron tool on them. 6 "You shall build with whole stones
the altar of the LORD your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD
your God. 7 "You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and
rejoice before the LORD your God.
This
altar was not to be made or fashioned by the work of man; it was to be made
entirely of stone provided by God. It was not to be decorated with precious
gems or ornately carved images. Since it was built with stones that had not
been worked at all, it probably wasn’t outwardly beautiful. The altar was all
about the works of God, not the works of man. In Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in the
book of Daniel, a glorious statue made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay
represented the kingdoms of man. This statue was destroyed by an unhewn stone. In
Daniel’s interpretation of the vision, the statue represented the kingdoms of
man, and the unhewn stone represented the eternal kingdom of God.
Daniel 2:44-45 NKJV 44 "And in
the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall
never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45
"Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without
hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver,
and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass
after this.
After
completing the altar, the children of Israel were to bring their burnt
offerings and their peace sacrifices. The burnt offering is an offering given
entirely to God which allows the one bringing the offering to draw near to God.
The whole offering is placed on the altar and burned with the smoke of the
offering ascending to God as a pleasing aroma.
The
peace sacrifice is a joint meal between the man bringing the offering, his
family, friends, the priest who offers it, and God. A peace sacrifice is a
reminder of the covenant between God and the children of Israel. They were to
eat and rejoice before the LORD!
The
stone altar was not the altar to which they were to bring their sin and guilt
offerings. The stone altar was an altar where sin did not hinder their approach
to God. When they had resisted sin’s call and were living according to God’s
commandments, they could bring their offerings to the altar on the barren
mountain while seeing the fruitful mountain across the valley. They could
rejoice in their covenant with God!
This
takes us back to Adam and the Garden of Eden. Adam was given the right to eat
from all the trees in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. He could eat before the LORD and rejoice in all that God had given him.
Instead, Adam chose to disobey God and eat from tree that was forbidden to him.
Fellowship with God was broken; Adam and Eve couldn’t draw near to God.
The
book of Joshua describes how the children of Israel carried out the
instructions Moses gave them. They started by building the altar and offering
burnt offerings and peace sacrifices. Then Joshua wrote the Torah on the stones
in the presence of all the people and set them up on Mt. Ebal. Afterwards, the
tribes divided according to the instructions Moses had given, with half at the
base of Mt. Gerizim and half at the base of Mt. Ebal.
Joshua 8:33 NKJV 33 Then all Israel,
with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark
before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD,
the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front
of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant
of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.
As
the Levites called out the blessing, all the people answered with “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27:14-15 NKJV 14 "And
the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: 15
'Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the
LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And
all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen!'
There
was a total of twelve curses to which Israel was to agree. Twelve is the number
of perfection in government. There were twelve tribes of Israel, twelve
apostles, and, in the New Jerusalem, there will be twelve gates and twelve
foundations. The New Jerusalem, like the Garden of Eden, is to be undefiled.
Nothing will enter the city that in any way causes an abomination. Only those
whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life can go through the gates.
Revelation 21:27 NKJV 27 But there
shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a
lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
The
twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the lamed which, in the ancient Hebrew,
was a shepherd’s staff. The shepherd’s staff represents control and authority. The
lamed is also the number thirty. Joseph was thirty when Pharaoh gave him
authority over all Egypt. David was thirty when he began to reign. Yeshua was
thirty when He began His ministry. When our shepherd Yeshua returns and sets up
His kingdom, He will reign with all the authority of God the Father and will
govern with perfect justice and righteousness.
After
the twelve curses, Moses reminds the children of Israel that if they obey God’s
commandments, God will elevate them above other nations.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 NKJV 1 "Now it
shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to
observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD
your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 "And all
these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the
voice of the LORD your God:
The
recitation of four blessings follows. This seems a bit lopsided, there are
twelve curses but only four blessings! However, four is the number of the
physical completion or fullness of creation. In the book of Revelation, those
who are redeemed are described as coming from the four divisions of mankind:
every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. The fourth letter of the Hebrew
alphabet is the dalet which, in ancient Hebrew, is the door. Yeshua said that
He is the door through which we enter the kingdom of heaven.
In
the Garden of Eden, each day Adam was able to see the trees of life and the
knowledge of good and evil in the center of the garden. He, also, had a choice
to continue to serve God or to choose to usurp God desiring to be like Him and
choosing for himself what was good or evil.
In
the Promised Land, the altar on Mt. Ebal in the heartland of Israel served to
remind the children of Israel of the consequences of their choice to either
serve God or not to serve him. If they choose to serve God, they are in
fellowship with Him and can approach Him with confidence.
We
don’t have trees or mountains as reminders of the consequences of our choices.
We have the written Word of God as well as the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide
us in our decisions. As Joshua was about to die, he gathered the people one
more time to Shechem at the base of Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal and urged the
people to carefully choose whom they would serve.
Study
Questions:
2.
Why did God choose Mt. Ebal and Mt.
Garizim on either side of Shechem for the children of Israel to build this
altar? Many other events happened at Shechem. How do these events reflect the
blessings and curses?
3.
The statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision was
destroyed by a stone that was not worked by man. How does this connect to the
altar of unhewn stone? How do both of these stones point to Yeshua?
General Portion Questions
4.
The Torah portion opens with the
commandment to bring the first fruits to God and recite the history of Israel
in the first person, that is as if they had actually experienced those events
in Deuteronomy 26:1-15. What is the significance of reciting this history while
bringing the first fruits offering?
5.
The blessings that God promises to Israel
are in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. How are these blessings connected to the offering
of first fruits and the recitation of their history?
6.
What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in
this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
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2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights Reserved.
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