There’s Always Time for Worship

Joshua 8:30-35

³⁰ At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. ³² And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. ³³ And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

Israel has now conquered Jericho and Ai, with a slight mid-course correction along the way to Ai because of the sin of Achan. The next natural step would be to continue that victorious march through the countryside and conquer another city. But that is not the right step. It’s time to take a moment for worship and thanksgiving to God. The importance of order cannot be overstated and by that, I mean the order in which we do things.

Joshua was obediently following the commands of God (and Moses) when he took the time to execute this worship experience. We find the instructions for this time in Deuteronomy and Joshua follows them to the letter.

Deuteronomy 11:26-32

²⁶ “See, I am setting 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 that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. ²⁹ And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. ³⁰ 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, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh? ³¹ For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it, ³² you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.

There is a tendency among us to wait to put our spiritual life in order until we are established in our new community, school, or employment That concept finds no support in the Scriptures. When you stop and think about just what took place during this little interlude, you must conclude that it took more than just a few hours. In this event we find the building of an altar (with uncut stones), offering of sacrifices, the writing of the words of Moses on stone, and finally the reading of those words aloud to the congregation. Clearly, the Children of Israel spent weeks on this project. Taking time to worship can seem like a waste of time – but it never is.

The place God directs the people to for this worship time is significant as well.

The site at which 8:30–35 takes place is striking not only for its implication that God grants security to Israel for worship in a hostile land, but it is also historically significant. It was here that the Lord first promised Abraham: “To your seed I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). Shechem, the place where God gave that promise, sits in a saddle between Mounts Gerizim and Ebal in the hill country. Abraham had built an altar to the Lord here immediately after that promise. Later in Joshua (16:5–10) this area will be allotted to Ephraim, Joshua’s tribe. Why no iron tools? Part of the answer probably is that such tools could be used to make idolatrous images on the stones in violation of the First Commandment. Natural stones would also help keep the altar itself from being venerated as an idol. Another part of the answer may be that iron was associated with swords and war. (The term for “tool” in Exodus 20:25 is חֶרֶב, which usually means “sword.”) Joshua is still in the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200bc), but iron tools and weapons are already in common use. However, Joshua 8:30–35 represents a time of peace: covenant peace between the Lord and his people in worship, and peace for Israel after the Lord has given his people victory over their enemies at Jericho and Ai.

Harstad, A. L. ©2004. Joshua (p. 360). Saint Louis, MO: CPH.

[Of historical interest – In 1980 an archaeological survey found an altar on the northeastern side of Mount Ebal. It is made of large uncut fieldstones. The fill within the altar structure held bones of young male bulls, sheep, goats, and fallow deer—sacrificial animals. The immediate question was “Could this be the altar Joshua built?” Some archeologists have dated this Tell to within 200 years of this event.]

Finally, I want to make note of the word sojourner which occurs twice in the passage. The Hebrew word here is literally alien. By this time in their history, Israel has picked up some Gentiles who believe in God as they do and so they have been received into the community. Evangelism took place in the Old Testament too! We know of Rahab, who is the only one named so far, but apparently there are enough of them to warrant a mention in this worship experience. They have become part and parcel of God’s people by adoption – and so haven’t we all!