Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are evidently no more than a mile apart and provide a natural amphitheater. Before Israel became a nation, many people curious about what was written by Moses regarding the pronouncing of the blessings and the curses, upon realizing the acoustics of the geographical surrounds, thought that this was the reason that these two mountains were chosen.[1]
Today the area is a covered with buildings. Unfortunately, the conditions described in ancient times are not able to be appreciated.
[Above: Nablus, showing Mount Ebal (right) and Mount Gerizim (left of picture). Photo from Wikimedia Commons by uwea.]
Not to disregard the acoustics of the location, there is probably another reason that has greater theological implication and accords with the purpose of God, which has to do with the Oak of Moreh being located in the same region.
- Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, 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 this day, to go after other gods which you have not known. And when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh? (Deuteronomy 11:26-30)
When the promise was given to Abraham regarding the Land that God was going to give him, we note that those who bless Abraham would be blessed and those who cursed him would be cursed.
- Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
The Israelites were told that they were to consider that the blessing would be represented by Mount Gerizim and the curse by Mount Ebal. When they walked through the valley, on either side of them, there would be the blessing and the curse. Those who blessed them would be blessed and those who cursed them would be cursed. However, they themselves would be cursed, instead of blessed, if they did not walk in the ways of the Lord and keep His commandments.
Moreover, it was at the Oak of Moreh that Abraham, the forefather of the faithful, had called upon the name of the Lord, before he continued on his way, after having come from Haran. The significance of calling upon the name cannot be overlooked and, when considered in this light, we can see that this has great bearing upon why this location was chosen for the reading of the blessings and the curses.
- So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sar′ai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
In the book of Romans, we learn that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
- Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:5-13)
There is no clear statement as to why Moses was ordered to give the blessing on Mt Gerizim and the curse on Mt Elab. However, from what we can ascertain from a little investigation into the Bible, there does appear to be significant reasons as to why this may be the case. For although the Israelites were given the Mosaic Covenant referred to as the Law, as they walked through the valley where Abraham called upon the name of the Lord, having brought these facts to remembrance, each would have cause to ponder his own relationship with the Holy One of Israel.
When the Israelites did what was right, there was blessing, and when they did what was wrong, there was only the curse. Yet Abraham did not have the Mosaic Code with its many regulations and sacrificial offerings, and received the promise, having called upon the name of the Lord. Only those who minds are blinded by the god of this world cannot see this.
Footnotes
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