All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Joshua 8, Joshua chapter 8. I'd like to deal with the verses
in the remainder of this chapter, verses 23 to 35. The Lord, after Israel was smitten by A.I. the first time because they thought
they could handle it. That's what they thought. They
thought, you know, we don't need all of us to go up this city
here. It's not a big one. We'll just send two or three
thousand people and we'll take it. And A.I. whipped them. But the Lord promised
Joshua in Joshua Chapter 8, verse 1, the Lord said unto Joshua,
fear not, neither be thou dismayed. Take all the people of war with
thee, and rise and go up to Ai. See, I have given into thy hand
the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land, and
the Lord Obviously, as he always does, did that exactly what he
said he was gonna do. Scripture says in Joshua 8, verse
22, where we ended last time, the other issued out of the city
against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on
this side, some on that side, and they smote them so that they
let none of them remain or escape. Now today we pick up in verse
23, and let's see how the Lord has given total victory. Now
this is a picture of the total victory that God's people will
have over death, hell, the grave, in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've told you before, I'll say
it again, this is not just a history lesson. It's not just a lesson
on what happened hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years
ago. No, this is for us today. Verses 23 to 28 says, it came
to pass, I'm sorry, verse 23, and the king of Ai, they took
alive and brought him to Joshua. And it came to pass when Israel
had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai, in the
field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them. And when they
were all fallen from the edge of the sword until they were
consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai and smote it
with the edge of the sword. And so it was that all that fell
that day, both the men, women, were 12,000, even all the men
of Ai. For Joshua drew not his hand
back wherewith he stretched out the spear until he had utterly
destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the cattle and spoil
of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves according
unto the word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua. And Joshua
burnt Ai and made it an heap forever even a desolation unto
this day. Now, beloved, the Lord is jealous
of his honor. And here we have the account
of the obedience of the Israelites in the absolute victory given
them by the Lord. over the city of Ai. In that passage of scripture
that I just read, at least five times the spirit of God was moved
by the writer of this book to record that all the enemies of
Israel were defeated, all of them. Now that's a comfort to
me because I got some enemies in this world. I just mentioned
them a minute ago. Satan, this world, me, my old
man, death, hell, the grave. These are the enemies of God's
people. And the Lord has promised total
victory over all of our enemies. The Lord instructed Joshua to
completely annihilate the city of Ai of all human life. And Joshua obeyed. I want you to hold your place.
Turn back to the book just before this, Deuteronomy 13. Deuteronomy
13. Now, you know, As I was preparing this message,
I was thinking, you know, we worship God the way God instructs
us to worship. That's what we do. We don't,
I'm not, we don't, we don't, not here to play games and have
little, you know, whatever, whatever's and y'all, you know, no, no.
We're going to come and we're going to hear the word of the
Lord. That's all we're going to do. We're gonna sing praises
to his name, we're gonna pray to him. We fellowship in these
things, but this is how we worship God. We worship God in obedience
to the word of the Lord. And this is what Joshua did. Deuteronomy 13, verse 12 to 16. If thou shalt hear any If thou
shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God
hath given thee to dwell there, saying, Certain men and children
of Belial are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants
of their cities, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which
ye have not known, then you shall inquire, and make search, and
ask diligently, and behold, if it be truth, if it be truth,
and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among
you, then thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city
with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein,
and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword, and thou
shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street
thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil
thereof, every whit, for the Lord thy God, and it shall be
in heap forever, it shall not be built again. Everything was
to be destroyed, and the only thing that the Lord allowed to
not be destroyed in the city of Ai was the cattle. They were to be taken for prey
unto the people in the spoil of that city. And if God didn't
give permission to do it, what'd he do in Jericho? He said, you
go in there, and I want everybody to be destroyed except Rahab
and those with her in her house because she hid the spies and
I'm gonna show her mercy. But I want everything else destroyed
and don't you touch the spoil. Achan touched it and we saw what
happened. Here, God told Joshua, you go
into AI and you kill everybody. You can have the spoil and you
can have the cattle and that's what he did. He did exactly what
God said. He didn't deviate because if
you deviate, that's where you're gonna get in trouble. deviate
from God's word. 12,000, scripture says, were
killed, and the only one remaining, back in Joshua 8, now is the
king. That's what it says, verse 23.
And the king of Ai, they took alive and brought him to Joshua. Now he's a captive now in the
hand of Joshua. Ai is burnt, it's a heap, desolation,
It is, according to the scriptures, into the day of the writing of
this book. Now, as we consider, I told you, I said, it's not
just a history lesson. It's not just a bunch of general
facts about a city named AI. It's more than that. As we consider
the mighty victory over AI, let's be careful to notice that which
has been revealed concerning this mighty victory. In verse
26 of Joshua chapter 8, while they were in the midst of the
battle, all that fell in verse 25 that day, both men and women,
were 12,000, all the men, because, for, for, verse 26, for, Joshua
drew not his hand back wherewith he stretched out the spear until
he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Because God told him, he said,
you take your hand and you hold out that spear and you aim it
toward Ai. And the scripture says that he
did not draw his hand back until everything was destroyed. That
spear is from a root word that means ruin, destruction, to strike. He did not hold it back until
everything was annihilated. But do we not or can we not see
the means of the Lord to give victory? That spear in Joshua's
hand, that spear that the Lord commanded him to hold and stretch
out was that which set forth God's promise to give victory. That spear, is that not a type
here? Can you not see a type of the
word of God? That word that scripture sets
forth in Hebrews 4.12 that is quick. What does that mean? It's alive. This word that I'm
talking right here, this word that I'm speaking right here,
these words that I'm rehearsing before you, like I said, these
are not my words. This is the word of the Lord,
and the word of the Lord, Dick says, is quick. It's alive. It's alive. It's quick, and it's
powerful. and it is sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit."
That spear that was set forth, that symbol, that type, that
picture of God's Word. You hold your hand out and you
put that spear toward that. Why? Because I gave you a promise. Here's the declaration through
the hand of Joshua. That spear, that symbol, that
promise of Almighty God that God was gonna do what God said,
what is it? What's the promise that we have
that God is going to do what God said he's gonna do? What
promise? We have his word. I got his word. I got his word. Back in Revelation, I'll read
this to you, Revelation chapter one. John on the Isle of Patmos,
He's writing, he's exiled, Patmos, and he sees in this vision, God
gives him a vision, he sees a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, Revelation
chapter 1 and verse 16. He's talking about the one that
he sees in verse 14, his head and his hairs were white like
wool, white as snow, his eyes were as a flame of fire, his
feet like undefined brass as if they burned in a furnace,
and his voice as the voice of many waters, and he had in his
right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. The word of God. That's our weapon. That's our
promise. That's our hope. That's our strength. The scripture says that Joshua
held out back in Joshua 8, 26. Joshua drew not his hand back
wherewith he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed
all the inhabitants of Ai. Do you know how long God's gonna
allow the gospel to be preached in this world? until God Almighty
has called all of his people, till all of his enemies are put
under his feet, and he's gonna do it through the preaching of
the gospel. This is it right here. This is our weapon. This is our weapon. All the inhabitants
of Ai are destroyed back in Joshua chapter eight. And now they're
all gone. All of it's destroyed, that's
what scripture says. There's one of them left. Who is it? It's a king. Scripture says in
verse 23, and the king of Ai, they took alive and brought him
to Joshua. Now there's a reckoning that's
getting ready to come. And this king's been taken alive,
he's brought to Joshua. Who is Joshua a type of? The
Lord Jesus Christ. And this king, who is, I can
see him as a type of Satan. He's the king. He was the king
of that city. He was the king. Satan, who is
said to be the prince of this world, Who has, back in Joshua
8, 23, who has the king in his possession now? Joshua. Who owns Satan? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He's in his hand. He's the Lord's devil. Somebody said, well, I thought
he was real powerful. He is. It's all delegated. It's all
delegated. Whenever the Lord asked Satan,
he said, have you considered my servant Job? Satan said, yeah,
I've considered him. I can't do anything. You got
a hedge around him. He just admitted his weakness. Satan did. He just
admitted that the Lord's Lord. I can't get to him. You got him
protected. No kidding. He couldn't get to
Job unless the Lord allowed him to get to Job. This king was
nothing. He's defeated. He's captured. His kingdom has been destroyed,
and now he's in the hands of Joshua, and that king that thought
he was gonna destroy Israel. He whipped him one time a little
bit, killed a few of them, and he thought this time he was gonna
destroy him. And all that that king thought
to do to Israel now has been defeated. His kingdom is destroyed. His city's burned. All of his
stuff is heaped up. And now Joshua does, according
to the command of the Lord, exactly what was commanded concerning
this crime. This king had committed a crime
against God. What did he do? Look at verse
29. The king of Ai, he hanged on a tree until even time. And as soon as the sun was down,
Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the
tree and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city and raise
thereon a heap of stones that remaineth unto this day. What'd
they do to him? They hung him. When the sun went
down, they cut him down and just threw his body over, just throw
it over in that pile of trash over there. That's what happened. That's exactly what happened. What's God Almighty gonna do
with Satan? After all of his kingdom has been revealed, it's
defeated. It's just coming to pass right
now. We're just watching it happen.
What's God gonna do with Satan? Hold your place there if you
want to. It's in Revelation chapter 20. This is what's gonna happen. Revelation chapter 20, verse
10. Revelation 20, verse 10, of the devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast
and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night
forever and ever. Joshua defeated Ai, a picture
of this world. the kingdom of the prince of
this world, defeated it, killed him, killed him, took the king
and hung him and threw him over in just a rubbish, a rubbish
patch, just heaped him up. Oh, and with the execution of
that king, do we not see that which is going to be done to
everyone that is of the devil? to all the rebels of God, they're
all gonna be cast out. He was hung on a tree. But how
wonderful we can behold. Let me say this before I say
that. What that king did, he deserved. He deserved it. But
brethren, every one of us born in Adam deserved just exactly
what that king got. We deserve that. That's what
we deserve. We're all guilty. There's none that do all of sin
to come short of the glory of God. From the crown of our head,
sole of our foot, we're nothing but unrighteousness and putrefying
sores. All of our righteousness is filthy
rags. We're not worth anything but
destruction. That's all we're worthy of. Galatians
3.13, talking about that crime He was committed by that king. He committed a crime that was
worthy of being hung. He committed a crime worthy,
and he hung him. Cursed is everyone that hangs
on a tree. But look what our Lord did for us, Galatians 3.13.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. what we deserved, what that king
got. That's what we deserve. He bore it. And he was hung on
a tree. And I said, that king was guilty. Actually, Christ was made sin. He bore our debt. Well, they've hung the king. Verse 30 says, first word, then. Then what? After all has been
defeated, after the city's been burned, after all the heap been
piled up, after the king's been hurt, after everything, everything.
Then. Then Joshua built an altar unto
the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal. 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 their
own burnt offerings unto the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. Now, beloved, I'm going to try
to wrap up these these last verses here in a few moments, but I
wanna say something before we go any farther. What we're about
to consider is holy ground. Now this, as I was looking at
this book of Joshua in this chapter right here, I'm telling you,
remember when the Lord told Moses, he came up here, he said, at
burning bush, and he told Moses, he said, you take your shoes
off, where you're standing is holy ground. That's what the Lord told Joshua.
When Joshua approached him, he saw a man standing there, if
he had gone in to see what was in Jericho, and he found that
man standing there with a sword in his hand. And Joshua asked
him, he said, are you for us or them? He said, I'm the captain
of the Lord's host. You take your shoes off. This
is holy ground, where you're standing is holy ground. What
we're about to look at right here, I'm telling you, God give
us a heart to listen to what we're about to hear. This is
holy ground right here. The enemies of God have all been defeated. That
which the Lord promised Joshua for this place has been given. He's given him the king, So he
told him in verse one, I'm gonna give you the king, I'm gonna
give you his people, I'm gonna give you his city, I'm gonna
give you his land. And the Lord's given it all to Joshua. And now,
after all that's been done, Joshua is gonna lead the people in worship. Now we're gonna worship God,
that's what he said. We're gonna worship the Lord. Now I want
us to notice something in these scriptures, verses 30 to 35.
I want us to notice where Joshua built that altar. It says in
verse 30, then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel
in Mount Ebal. Now, if you're like me, and I
know you are, we're all just, you know, ignorant creatures,
but if you're like me, it's so easy to read these scriptures
and just kind of read past them, you know? Just kind of, when
I was in the e-ball. There was great significance
about where that altar was built. Hold your place and turn back
to Deuteronomy 27.4. Deuteronomy 27.4. This is, this
is, According to the word of the
Lord, here's what it says, Deuteronomy 27, four. The scripture says,
therefore, it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye
shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount
Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. Now you put this, I want you to build it on Mount
Ebal. Plaster, put some plaster on it and we'll look at why they
did that in just a minute. So where? I'm going to just give
you a few facts and I'm going to try to, Lord willing, tie
it all together. Where did they do it? It was
on Mount Ebal. Back in Joshua 8, how was this
altar built? I know where they built it. They
built it on Mount Ebal. But how did they build it? Well,
verse 31 in Joshua 8 says, as Moses, the servant of the Lord,
commanded the children of Israel, as 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 their own burnt offerings
unto the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. How did they build that altar?
They built it on Mount Ebal, and it says, as Moses, the servant
of the Lord, commanded the children of Israel, hold your place there
and turn back to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus 20, verse 25. This
is how they were gonna build that altar. Exodus 20, 25. And if thou wilt
make me an altar of stone, which is what they did, Thou shalt
not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon
it, thou hast polluted it. What did God tell him? You build
an altar unto me on Mount Ebal, and build it the way that Moses
instructed you to build it. We just read it, how he did it.
Joshua built an altar of stones, and according to the word of
the Lord, the altar must be constructed with stones just like the stones
come out of the ground or off the top of the ground, and no
attempt to reshape, don't try to improve the stones at all. You take them just like they
come out of the ground, just like God made them, and you pile
them up just exactly the way I said to just pile them up.
Don't you try to take a tool, don't you try to take a hammer,
don't you try to take an iron or a chisel or anything, but
I think I can get this in shape a little bit. If you put a tool
to it, if you put your hand to it, trying to improve it the
way God made it, you polluted it. No part of God's altar setting forth the beauty of the
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, no part, of God's
altar is gonna have any human merit or work added to it. You try to add anything to what
God does and you've polluted it. Salvation is by the grace
of God. So I know where they were to
build this altar on Mount Ebal. I know how they were to build
that altar. Then according to the command
of the Lord back in Joshua 8, notice what was to be offered
upon that altar. Verse 31 says, latter part, an
altar of whole stones over which no man hath lift up any iron,
and they offered their own burnt offerings unto the Lord and sacrificed
peace offerings. Now here's what I want you to
do. You build it on Mount Ebal, you build it just exactly the
way it comes out of the ground, you pile them up, you put plaster
on top of it, and I want you to offer burnt offerings and
peace offerings. There were other offerings. But God said, I want burnt offerings
and peace offerings. And they did it exactly according
to the word of the Lord. Now, what was a burnt offering?
What was that offering? Hold your place here. I know
we're turning a little bit, but that's fine. I want you to see
this. Turn to Leviticus 1. Leviticus
chapter 1, verses 3 to 9. This is what a burnt offering
is. Leviticus 1, 3 to 9. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice
of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. Now I want you
to know where this is going. This burnt offering, this is
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. is to be a male without blemish.
He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. He shall put
his hand upon the head of the burnt offering. It shall be accepted
for him to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bullock
before the Lord, and the priest, Aaron's son, shall bring the
blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that
is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. flay the
burnt offering, cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron,
the priest, shall put fire under the altar and lay the wood in
order upon the fire. And the priest, Aaron's sons,
shall lay the parts, the head, the fat, in order upon the wood
that is on the fire, which is upon the altar, but is inwards,
and his legs shall he wash in water, and the priest shall burn
it all. on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by
fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord. The burnt offering was
said to be a sweet savor unto the Lord. It was an offering
made that was to be without blemish. You look at that offering, excuse
me, and if it's blemished, don't do it. This is what the Lord
found delight. This is where he found delight.
This offering, the burnt offering, it was an offering only for the
Lord. Only for the Lord. I'm saying
that because of what I'm about to say about a peace offering.
Only for the Lord. This offering set forth the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the obedient servant of Jehovah. who, as the Lamb of God, that
offering was to be dissected, he was bruised. He was bruised
for our transgressions. God Almighty laid upon him the
iniquity of us all, and with his stripes, God's justice, he
put away our guilt. But it was a sweet savor unto
the Lord in the redemption of his people. He did just exactly
what the Lord sent him to do. He finished the work. That's
what the burnt offering was. It was a burnt offering unto
the Lord for a sweet saver. So he said, you go to Mount Ebal. You build an altar just exactly
how I tell you. And you offer a burnt offering
and then you offer a peace offering. Peace offering, that was an offering
though that was shared. Not the burn offering, that was
for the Lord only, sweet savor. But this peace offering was a
shared offering of thanksgiving. The Lord sent forth, it was for
the blessing that was given of reconciliation. This was a peace
offering. Hold your place, turn back to
Leviticus 7. Leviticus chapter 7, Leviticus
7 verses 28 to 33. Leviticus 7, 28, the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, You speak to the children of Israel, saying,
He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the
Lord shall bring his oblation unto the Lord of the sacrifice
of his peace offerings. Of his own hand shall he bring
the offerings of the Lord made by fire, the fat with the breast
shall he bring, that the breast may be waived for a waive offering
before the Lord. And the priest shall burn the
fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's, and his sons,
the right shoulder shall he give unto the priest for a heave offering
of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons
of Aaron that offereth the blood of peace offerings and the fat
shall have the right shoulder for his part." It was a shared
offering. That is, considering our part
in Christ Jesus for the peace that he has made for us. That offering set forth the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ who has reconciled God's people back
to God through the shed blood. Second Corinthians 5.19 says
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them. So here we've seen in closing
that Joshua built this altar. We know where it was built. We know how it was built. We know what was offered on it
according to the Lord's instruction. But now, I wanna close with why. Why was it done this way? why the Lord instructed Joshua
to do what he did concerning this offering. Remember, AI is
a picture of this world. A world that's just like us,
we're born just like that. Had a king over that world, that
king was a picture of Satan and the defeat of Satan. But God's
people there, Israel, they're there by the grace of God only.
That's the only reason. Because God chose to show mercy
to them. That's the only reason. But this
altar right here, God's gonna teach them something. He said,
you put it now. All that was commanded of God.
That's what he did. In Deuteronomy 27, again, I'm telling you, I realize
we're reading quite a bit. That's good. We need to read
God's word. Deuteronomy chapter 27. Here's what God Almighty, this right
here, I'm gonna read the 26 verses. We need to hear this so we can
see the conclusion. Deuteronomy 27, Moses with the
elders of Israel commanded the people saying, keep all the commandments
which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when
you shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and
plaster them with plaster. 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 milk and honey, as the Lord God of thy fathers
hath promised thee. Therefore it shall be, when you're
going over Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I
command you this day in Mount Ebal. Thou shalt plaster them
with plaster. There shalt thou build an altar
unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones. Thou shalt not lift
up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of
the Lord thy God of whole stones. Thou shalt offer burnt offerings
there unto the Lord, and thou shalt offer peace offerings,
and shalt eat there and rejoice before the Lord thy God. Thou
shalt write upon the stones all the words of the law plainly.
And Moses and the priests and the Levites spake unto All Israel
saying, take heed and hearken, O Israel, this day thou art become
the people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the
voice of the Lord thy God and do his commandments and his statutes
which I command you this day. And Moses charged the people
the same day saying, these shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless
the people. When you come over Jordan, Simeon,
and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin, and
these shall stand upon Mount Ebal to curse Reuben, Gad, Asher,
Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, and the Levites shall speak and say
unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Cursed be the man
that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination of the
Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsmen and putteth it
in a secret place, and all the people shall answer and say,
Amen. Cursed be he that setteth up light by his father or his
mother, and all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that
removeth his neighbor's landmark, and all the people shall say,
Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the
way, and all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that
perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless and widower,
and all the people shall say amen. Cursed be he that lieth
with his father's wife, because he uncovereth his father's skirt,
and all the people shall say amen. Cursed be he that lieth
with any manner of beast, and all the people shall say amen.
Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his
father, the daughter of his mother, and all the people shall say
amen. Curse be he that lieth with his mother-in-law, and all
the people shall say amen. Curse be he that smiteth his
neighbor secretly, and all the people shall say amen. Curse
be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person, and all the
people shall say amen. Curse be he that confirmeth not
all the words of this law to do them, and all the people shall
say amen. Now, the Lord set forth that
which Israel was to do when they came into the land of Canaan. And that altar that Joshua was
to build was to be built exactly like God said, put plaster on
it. And the scripture sets forth that Joshua did just exactly. Now there was two mountains,
and God just dealt with them. He said, when you go into the
land of Jordan, I want half you people to stand on Gerizim, Mount
Gerizim, and half of you stand on Mount Ebal. We read just then
what those two mountains just signified. I'll tell you again
so you're like me, so you can remember. The two people, one
on Mount Gerizim, and they started talking about what we just read
in chapter 27, the blessing. This is gonna be the blessing
that you're gonna receive from the Lord. for he's standing on
Mount Gerizim. That was a mountain that set
forth the blessing of the Lord if the Lord's law was obeyed. This is what your blessing's
gonna be. Six of you, six of you tribes, I want you to stand
over here on Mount Gerizim, and y'all will be the pronouncing
of the blessing of the Lord for obedience under the law. You other six, I want you to
stand over here on Mount Ebal. And on Mount Ebal, this is the
curse that's gonna come to you if you don't obey my law. And
he read all those things, cursed, amen, cursed, amen, cursed, amen,
amen. Here's the blessing if you obey,
and here's the cursing if you don't obey the law. Now knowing
that, I'll close. The scripture sets forth back
in Joshua 8. And he wrote there upon the stones
a copy. of the Law of Moses, which the
Lord said, you put it on there and you put plaster all over
it. And what he did, he wrote a copy of the Law of Moses and
he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel on that altar
that was on Mount Ebal. That Mount Ebal was the mountain
of cursing if you don't obey. And that altar, picturing the
sacrifice of our Lord, is sitting on Mount Ebal, the Mount of Cursing,
and all the laws written on that altar. And all, verse 33, and
all Israel, and their elders, and their officers, and their
judges, they stood on this side, the ark, and on that side before
the priests and Levites, which bear the ark of the covenant
of the Lord, as well as a stranger, as 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, commanded
before that they should bless the Lord. And afterward, he read
all the words of the law, blessings, the cursings, according to all
that's written in the book of the law. And there was not a
word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before
all the congregation with the women, the little ones, the strangers
that was conversant among them. Here they are. They're standing
on two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal. And between them is the
ark. Part of them on this side, part
of them on this side. And the scripture sets forth.
When they did that, that almighty God passed, gave his judgment,
they saw in both mountains, here's what's gonna happen. God's gonna
bless us if we obey. Mount Ebal says God's gonna curse
us if we don't. And that arc was between them.
And here's the blessing of this. Here's the holy part right here.
The blessing that was beheld in the fact of the people that
were on Mount Gerizim, those that were looking for the blessing
from God based upon obedience of the law, that blessing was
looking to the ark that was between them. Here was a mountain, here
was a mountain. Here's the ark of the Lord. Here's the blessing
if you obey. That blessing was based totally
on this ark. Here's Mount Ebal. Here's the
cursing if you don't obey. And this curse right here for
satisfaction is looking to the ark. They were both looking to
the Lord Jesus Christ for the blessing and for the satisfaction
of the curse. For not obeying, he obeyed and
set it apart. Both look to the ark that was
between them both. Joshua was given a mighty victory
over Ai. but he was, God was careful to
remind Joshua, this is why you got the victory. Not because
of your might, not because of your power, because I gave it
to you. I pray that God Almighty remind
us again. Brethren, the only hope that
we've got, the blessing of the Lord is based on one man. The
curse that's deserving of us was born by one man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. all honor and glory and praise
under his name forever and ever. Amen.