Introduction: Israel, under Joshua’s leadership, defeated the people of Ai. After that, Joshua built an altar to the LORD, God of Israel, placing it in about the middle of the country. Israel had built two other memorials as recorded in Joshua chapters 3-4, but the altar Joshua built here had a much different purpose.
1 The altar’s construction
Text, Joshua 8:30-32, KJV: 30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, 31 As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
Some background would be in order to help “set the stage” for this message. The nation of Israel had gone against the city of Ai. This was Israel’s second target or objective and, according to the report of the spies, Ai should have been a very easy target. The recommendation was to only send a small group of people and you shouldn’t have any problems.
But they did.
Joshua 7 records the whole story, beginning with Achan’s theft, basically, of some gold and silver, plus a “goodly garment of Babylon (Joshua 7:21).” God saw this as a sin, for the whole nation, and Israel was punished for it. Achan was eventually discovered (Galatians 6:7) and punished, with death, for his sins. Once Israel had made things right with God, they were ready to advance on Ai.
The first section of Joshua 8 describes the strategy God delivered to Joshua and it’s possibly the first time this strategy was used or mentioned in the Bible. Later, some nations simply laid siege to an enemy city, meaning they camped around that city until the people inside surrendered or starved to death. The Syrians did this to Samaria on at least one occasion (2 Kings 6) and later the Babylonians did the same thing to Jerusalem before the city fell. Jeremiah was an eyewitness to the last days of the kingdom, was taken captive, but was later released (compare 2 Kings 25 with Jeremiah 39:1-40:5).
Now, returning to Joshua’s day, the LORD’s strategy absolutely worked and Ai was completely destroyed. Only a few cities were razed like this one. The reason why Ai was destroyed is not specified in the text. The narrative about the conquest of Ai concludes with the description of the execution of Ai’s king, his burial, and the large heap of stones placed over his body. This was all done to serve as a memorial, perhaps to God providing victory in this battle (Josh. 8:24-29).
Soon after everything was finished or completed at Ai, Joshua went to Mount Ebal and built an altar to the LORD there. This was something Israel had been commanded to do when Moses was still alive and before Israel had crossed the Jordan River. Moses and the elders of Israel gave instructions to the people as to what to use for building the altar, where to place it, and what to write on it (see Deuteronomy 27:1-8).
Joshua built the altar, following the instructions completely, exactly where he was told.
But this was only the first part. Once the altar was constructed, there was more to do.
2 The altar’s inscription
Text, Joshua 8:32, KJV: 32 And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
Not only did Joshua build the altar at Mount Ebal, he did a few other things as well. This verse doesn’t include these instructions from Deuteronomy 27:1-3, KJV: “1 And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. 2 And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: 3 And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee.” Whatever Joshua may have used as “plaister” is not known to us but it seems to be a substance which covered the stones and gave a surface suitable for writing (painting?) on it.
How much of the Law Joshua wrote on these stones is not clear. Someone once observed, perhaps humorously, that had Joshua written all of Genesis through Deuteronomy, he might never have had time to lead Israel in battle! There is a word called “synecdoche” which indicates a part of something is used to represent the whole thing. An example might be that Pitcher Jones defeated the opposing baseball team—with the implication that the eight other defensive players also had their own functions or roles to play. Joshua may have written only the Ten Commandments or even the “Shema” of Deuteronomy 6 but the text does not specify. At the very least, whatever Joshua wrote on the altar was brief enough, or short enough, so that everyone could see it legibly.
As important as it was for the people to see the words which Joshua wrote, this wasn’t all. There was one more thing Joshua did for the people. He read the words of the Law in their hearing.
3 The altar’s consecration
Text, Joshua 8:33-35, KJV: 33 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.
Many of the people living in Joshua’s day probably remembered the time when Moses had the Levites “speak . . . with a loud voice” the blessings and curses as recorded in Deuteronomy 27:11-28:1-68. Half of the 12 tribes had stood on Mount Ebal and the others on Mount Gerizim. Now they had the chance to repeat that encounter. As they had done before, half stood on Mount Ebal and the others on Mount Gerizim. The text does not say if the same sets of tribes were in the same location as before.
And not only was there a brand new altar, and a copy of at least some of God’s Word painted or written on it, Joshua began to read. He “read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings. . . “ but no reference is given. Certainly the passage in Deuteronomy 27 and 28 had a long series of blessings and curses; Joshua may have read more. The important thing is that this was one of the times when all the people of Israel heard the Word of God orally.
Notice that the audience wasn’t just the men of Israel, either. Verse 35 states that women, “little ones”, and the “strangers” or those who were not born Israelites but chose to live in Israel (later, Ruth of Moab would become one of these, much like Rahab of Jericho who had just recently married Salmon of Judah). It was good, and important, for the people to hear the Word of God and it was good that so many took advantage of this opportunity.
Yet another important thing is that the people of Israel also offered burnt offerings and peace offering on this new altar (verse 31). The sequence of events is not clear, as to when the burnt offerings and peace offerings were actually offered or when Joshua wrote the words on the altar. Again, the offerings were important as was the writing, not so much the sequence. Israel had gathered together to worship the LORD and to hear the words of the Law.
What a day that had to be!
Conclusion: Joshua chose a time after Israel’s victory over Ai to build a brand new altar to the LORD. He did this according to the instructions Moses had given some time before. Once the altar was built, he wrote at least part of the Law on it and the people brought burnt offerings and peace offerings, no doubt in gratitude to the LORD for all He had done.
You and I don’t need to build physical altars but we can still be grateful to the Lord for all He had done for us! The gift of salvation, the promise of a home in Heaven for believers, and opportunities to serve Him are some of these. We serve an amazing and awesome God!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
