(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 11:26–32, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.”
As with everything the Lord does in His dealings with mankind, this contract comes with a choice. In bald terms, the choice is between a blessing and a curse. The blessing automatically followed when the obeyed the Lord and the curse came if they didn’t. This was very simple and even a child could understand it. Even though Israel actually agreed to the contract they had made with the Lord by entering the Promised Land, they were called upon to ratify the contract after they had entered the Land. There were two mountains, called Gerizim and Ebal, in the middle of the Promised Land, where Israel was required to gather and confirm the contract after they had gone into the Land. These two mountains were near a place called Gilgal, which also turned out to be a very important place in Israel’s history (see Josh 5:9, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.”) This was the place where the nation of slaves finally became free in their own Land. This was to confirm that every Israeli was willing to remain in the Promised Land under the conditions that the Lord had laid down for them.
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