Joshua 8:30-35
Intro: As we come to consider this passage today / we have before us two Mts. / 2 pronouncements /which represents a picture of 2 ways of life /
A)We
also have here in this story a wonderful message of hope!
B)Now if we could get into
the Goodyear blimp & travel back in time so that we could watch the
travel of the Children of Israel from that vantage Pt.
1) We would see at this point in their journey it wouldve seemed natural for them to continue South to attack the most heavily fortified regions
C) But instead they head 25
miles North to
a remote valley that was situated between 2 Mts.
1) Area known as the Valley of Shechem - Valley between Mt. Ebal & Mt. Gerizim
D)Incredible place / natural Amphitheater capable of containing a vast
audience
1) Natural acoustics ( stand
on one Mountaintop & talk to a person on the other Mountaintop W/ no
problem! )
The
Valley of Shechem was a Beautiful place & some significant things took
place in that Valley
A)It was there that God
first Promised to give the Land of Canaan to Abe & his Descendants
B) It was there that Jacobs well was Discovered / It was there by that very
well that Jesus being wearied from his journey met the woman of Samaria
1) Revealed He was the
Messiah she could be forgiven of her past Description of true worship
C) This beautiful place was
often the scene of Dramatic & soul stirring events but I suggest to you
1)None as soul Stirring as
what we have before us in our Account today
See
when the Children of Israel came into the Valley they were divided into two
groups told to stand before the two mts
A)Why was this done ? A. It was done thru the precise obedience to
the command of the Lord given thru Moses in Duet. 27
When you cross over the Jordan travel to the Valley of
Shechem and ½ the tribes were to stand before Mt. Ebal & the other ½ was to
stand before Mt. Gerizim
B) Ebal = Mt. Of Cursing / & Gerizim = Mt. Of blessing
1) So all the people were
assembled before these 2 Mts. & the
Priest & the Levites stood in the middle of the valley w/ the Ark of God !
C) It was there that Joshua
read from the law the curses that accompanied disobedience & the blessings
that followed Obedience ! Ch.27-28
Now Moses had stated this same message w/ the people before they had crossed over the Jordan !
A)He concluded His farewell message w/ these words Duet.30:19,20
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against
you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore
choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; [What is the life { Rd to Blessing ?] 20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His
voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of
your days;
B) This was the last Challenge the people heard from Moses before they crossed over the Jordan into the promised land !
C) The whole history of
Israel could be summed up by this Story Times of Blessings when obeying the
law
1) Times of Cursing / Captivity
when they rebelled against Gods law
Now
this scene is really a picture for us of something Jesus taught when He said
that there are 2 roads that people will travel on
A)Broad Rd.
.Many Narrow Rd.
leads to life few there are who find it !
B)One Rd. leads to cursing -
destruction the other leads to blessing & life
C)So 2
Mts. / 2 Pronouncements / 2 ways of living !
D)But the ceremony that was enacted on Mt. Ebal &
Mt. Gerizim teaches more that the principle that Obedience
leads to blessing
1) And Disobedience leads
to a lack of blessing in a
life !
E) It also shows Gods solution
to the problem of sin in any life !
See here is the Problem all of us would have/ We would end up Cursed Because we couldnt keep the Law ! Weve all been Disobedient !
A)We have all lied / we have all Coveted / I would venture to say that
we have all been guilty a time or two of not honoring our parents
Prov 6:16-19 16 These six things the LORD
hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A
heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to
evil, 19 A false witness who speaks
lies,
And one who sows discord among
brethren.
B) How many of
us have been guilty of committing at least one of those things ?
C)And most of us Know that Jesus took it one step
further breaking of the law wasnt just a matter of outward actions but
inward attitudes
1)
Lust equivalent to Adultery / Angry w/out cause
guilty of murder
D)So
when we understand what Jesus was saying it only magnifies the fact that all
of us are GUILTY!!!!!
1) WHICH
MEANS - all of us would find ourselves at Mt. Ebal DOOMED!
E) But PTL it is not just a story of 2 Mts. / 2 Pronouncements
& 2 ways of Living!
1) But we also see in this
story an Altar on the Mt. Of Cursing
!
A)Picture of our Hero Jesus who came to provide the way where we who were doomed on the Mt. Of cursing
1) Could be led to the Mt of blessing / thru the sacrifice that took place
on that Mt.
B)Notice 4 things about this
Altar:
1st
Notice where it was built ! Not valley / not Mt. Gerizim- the Mt of Blessing /
But V.30 on Mt/ Ebal the Mt of Cursing
A)This
shows that the altar was for sinners / those who acknowledge they are cursed / that they have missed the mark !
B) The Altar stood as a
symbol of Judgment - message the Lord was sending was sin/
breaking the Law brings forth Judgment / that Judgment is death!
C) But the Altar also spoke of
Gods
Provision for mans sin / be thru a sacrifice ! That an innocent animal could die in place
of the sinner!
1) DOCTRINE OF SUBSITUTION - Each lamb that was
sacrificed was a Picture of JESUS the lamb of God who would come to die in
our Place
D) His
Substitutionary death would be the Final Sacrifice
1)
SO
first of all the Altar was to be built on the Mt of Cursing
2nd Note v.31
that the Altar was to be made of Whole Stones
A)Whole speaks of Purity They werent partial stones Chipped stones
it wasnt a Pile of Broken Rocks Each one was whole
B) This again speaks of
Christ & His Purity & Perfection - the lamb of God w/out spot or blemish )
No sin in Him:
1)Pilate: I find no fault in this Man
3rd thing to note v.31 was it was to be an altar
which no man has wielded an iron tool."
A)The altar was to be
untouched by any tool or human effort !
B) It
was a simple altar not one that was decorated or designed by human hands
1) Once again it speaks to
us of the Sacrifice of Christ -
C) No human effort was to be
associated w/ the sacrifice lest sinners think they had something to do w/
their salvation Eph. 2:8,9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast.
D) It was the
complete Negation of all Humanism- A Complete denial of that thought that
humans can do anything for it or add anything to it
Listen no one is
going to be in Heaven saying look what I
did ! I made it ! I found it ! I conquered this or that !
A)Instead all crying Worthy is
the Lamb! Guy
at mens retreat Testimony Running fast as I could away from God He ran me DOWN
4th Thing to note V. 32 On
this Altar the Law was to be inscribed
A)This has always been Gods plan When God gave Israel the Law when
Moses came down from Mt Sinai w/ it He was the lawgiver
B) At the same time God gave Aaron to Israel to be the High Priest
1) it
was there that God was saying in affect as He thundered from Mt Sinai
Thou shalt Not
..
2) But then Immediately added But I know that you will so here is a
way to deal w/ Your Sin High Priest who can offer Sacrifice
C) Reminded of what John Wrote of Jesus Ch.1:14 14 And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth.
D) Full of Truth The Law followed Perfectly / Jesus said Matt5: 17 "Do not
think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy
but to fulfill.
He came to fulfill the Law & having done so He could have said
I did it why cant you ? Full of
truth but also full of grace !
A)JN.3:17 "For God did
not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved.
B) The law exposed mans sin ! The law proclaimed that man was guilty /
that man was cursed ! The law also
revealed our need of a savior
1) Jesus came to be THAT
SAVIOR
C) The Law inscribed on the
Altar was the Reminder of why the Sacrifices were NEEDED !!!
D) Paul put it this way
in Gal.5:10,13
10 For as many as
are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written,
"Cursed is everyone who does not
continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do
them." That
was us !
13 Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is
written, "Cursed is everyone who
hangs on a tree [cross]"),
A)So we stand at
the foot of the Mt. Of cursing knowing there is no way in our Strength or Power
to get to the Mt. Of blessing /
B) But it is
there that we look up at that Mt. Of Cursing & see a cross !
1) Reminded that the way has
been paved ! Way blessing has been
opened
C) And that cross is empty / He is no longer on it / He has risen / We
see this picture in our story as well !
1) See To get
from Mt. Ebal cursing to Mt. Gerizim
blessing - you had to pass thru the valley which is a picture of this life
Now In order to get from Mt. E. To Mt. B / you
had to pass by the ark
A)Now here is the thing that
I want you to note is that the Altar is a picture of Christ Humanity
Whole Pure Fulfilled the law
B) He came to be a
Sacrifice/ The Sacrifice that He made
cant be added to
1)
But
once He died He didnt stay Dead He Rose He lives today in the Heavenlies
Serves there as Our High Priest
C) See the Ark in the Valley
is also a Picture of Christ Ark was made of Acacia wood overlaid w/ pure
Gold
1)
The
Wood speaks of his Humanity Gold His Divinity His Deity
D) Inside the Ark is the
10 commandments the Law of the requirements for Man the requirements that
Jesus kept perfectly as a man
1)
But
those requirements are covered by the Lid on the Ark not scene because of the
Lid THE MERCY SEAT
The
MERCY SEAT was incredibly costly because it was made of solid gold. It was the most expensive piece in the Tab. WHY?
A)Because
God places PRIORITY on MERCY and GRACE.
B)You want to Value
something in Life ? Value what God Values
1) MICAH 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD
require of you But to do justly, To love mercy,
1)
It was in Mercy that He Gave His Son !!!
D) Mercy means not getting
what you do deserve { Now the picture is unfolding Covering the Law the
requirements against me
1)
That
which pointed out that I am a sinner that I am doomed to forever stay at the
Mt of Cursing was the Mercy Seat of God
E) And on that mercy seat
was the reminder of the Sacrifice on the Altar on the Cross on Mt Ebal Blood
Sprinkled by the High Priest
The whole scene is a Vivid
picture for us of the way to go from Cursing to blessing The need to
pass thru Christ
A)To see Him as God Our
redeemer to acknowledge His work on the Cross / to believe in His
Resurrection Lives now as our High Priest
B) Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession For we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
C) The cross is
empty & so is the tomb because Our Lord is alive & He is our H.P. who forever lives to intercede for us !
1) Because of Him we can come
boldly into Gods presence into Blessing
D) We can receive grace & mercy to help in our time of need
!
Paul put it this way Rom.
8:2-4 For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death .For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God
did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin:
He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that
the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled
in us
who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
E) We live now
thru His Spirit in our Hearts That is the way of blessing the life of
Blessing Law written on our hearts
Now it is interesting to note that 1,000 yrs later
the Samaritans would build an altar in this Valley but theirs would be on
Mt Gerizim
A)The
Mt of Blessing not the Mt of Cursing
B)
You recall there in Jn 4 when Jesus met w/ the Samaritan woman there by the
Well she diverted the conversation toward worship
1)
She said where is the right place to worship Our
Fathers worshipped on this Mt. pointing to Gerizim But you Jews say it has
to be Jerusalem
D) Jesus responded by turning her away from Mt
Gerizim as well as from Mt Zion in Jerusalem & pointed to Himself as the
Coming Sacrifice
1)
He said to her you Samaritans worship would you do
not Know God is spirit worship Him
Spirit & in Truth
E)
There is a Spirit directed way to Worship One that is according to the
Truth of Gods word True heart felt worship -
See the Samaritans were all hung up about the
Place But what Jesus was showing is it is not a place but THE PERSON- that
matters
A)Many today have the same attitude they are hung up about the
Procedures / the day Sat or Sunday
B) The Real question isnt Where but WHO? CHRIST We come to God
only thru the Sacrifice of His Son
Boy at Buckingham Palace