After the great victory over the city of Ai, Joshua renews Israel's covenant with the Lord. What he does was commanded by the Lord through Moses (Deuteronomy 11:29-30; 27:1-26. See also 28:1-68; 29:1-29; 30:1-20).

First, Joshua builds an altar for the Lord on Mount Ebal, where he was to proclaim the curses (Joshua 8:30-31; see Deuteronomy 11:29).

Second, he writes a copy of the Law of Moses, taking care to write down every word (Joshua 8:32, 34; see Deuteronomy 27:3, 8). This includes the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21).

Third, he has the ark of the covenant of the Lord placed between the two mountains (Joshua 8:33, one of the Bible's longest verses).

Fourth, Joshua calls the leaders and all of God's people to gather–half at Mount Gerizim and the other half at Mount Ebal, which is located at Shechem. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali stand on Mount Ebal, which stands to the north (see Deuteronomy 27:13), and the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin stand on Mount Gerizim, to the south (v. 12).

Shechem is an area full of patriarchal history. It was at Shechem, that Abraham and Jacob–the father of Israel's 12 tribes–built an altar (Genesis 12:6-7; 33:18-20). In a sense, standing at Shechem was coming ″home″. It was also at Shechem, that Jacob exhorted his family to rid themselves of foreign idols (35:2-4) and suffered terrible tragedies involving his children (Genesis 34, 37). It was a place that spoke of real-life blessings and curses on the earliest Israelites. What a fitting location, indeed!

Then, Joshua reads the blessings and curses prescribed by the Lord and His servant Moses, making sure to read out every word to the people (Joshua 8:34).

Under the New Covenant, Christians are not under the old covenant curses, for we are forgiven and redeemed through Christ's sacrifice (Ephesians 1:7). ″Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ″ (v. 3). Amen!