Jesus pronounces eight blessings to an audience on one mountain, eight curses to an audience on a different mountain. His blessings are spoken to the masses in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5); His curses are spoken to the Pharisees on the Temple Mount (Matthew 23). These blessings and curses parallel each other in a symmetric way, like the left and right side of a menorah: one half is a mirror image of the other, the same but opposite. To see how the blessings and curses correspond, visit this post before continuing.
Jesus intentionally creates symmetry between His blessings and curses. And actually, His doing so closes a mystery that had gone unsolved since the days of Moses and Joshua. Let’s go there for a moment.
In Deuteronomy 27, Moses looks ahead to the promised land. When the Israelites enter the land, Moses commands them to complete a special, one-time task that involves all tribes and people of every status. He tells them to coat stones with plaster, and into the plaster write the words of God’s law. These stones are to be erected on a particular mountain, and there on that mountain, the people are to build an altar to God, bring fellowship offerings, and rejoice in the presence of the Lord. Moses names the mountain; it’s a mountain he mentioned previously in Deuteronomy 11.
Earlier, in Deuteronomy 11, Moses tells the Israelites: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of God . . . When the Lord your God has brought you into the land . . . you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses” (11:26-29).
These mountains, Gerizim and Ebal, stand side by side about a mile apart. Associate Mount Gerizim with the blessings; you can remember this by remembering Gerizim – Good. Associate Mount Ebal with the curses; you can remember this by remembering Ebal sounds like evil.
The instruction in Deuteronomy 11 is vague. Deuteronomy 27 revisits the instruction with more detail. Returning to Deuteronomy 27, we encounter something unexpected. The question is, on which mountain (Gerizim or Ebal) does Moses tell the Israelites to 1) Erect the stones upon which God’s Word is written; 2) Bring fellowship offerings; 3) Rejoice in the presence of the Lord?
Gerizim – good, right? The natural answer is Mount Gerizim. After all, Paul tells us the law is holy, righteous and good. So then, the stones that proclaim God’s law should be associated with Gerizim and blessing, right? Furthermore, our sacrifice and rejoicing should occur in the shadow of such blessing. But hold up! Moses tells them to erect the stones, build the altar, bring the offerings and rejoice not on Gerizim but Ebal, the mountain associated with curses.
Curses?!
Put yourself in the shoes of a priest that day. You are taking questions from the Israelites like the White House Press Secretary. They are asking you, “This is right? Are you sure we don’t have the mountains backward?” The priests are turning the map upside down, squinting at the instructions, trying to make it make sense.
As counterintuitive as it would seem, Joshua is faithful to direct the blessings and curses toward the mountains as Moses commanded. Joshua 8 preserves the story: When they reach the two mountains, Joshua stations half the people on the hillside of one mountain and half the people on the hillside of the other. Standing between everyone, Joshua and the priests pronounce the blessings and curses, the blessings toward Gerizim and the curses toward Ebal. On Mount Ebal the stones are erected, the sacrifices are brought, and the rejoicing is lifted. Moses’ commandment is thus satisfied.
Long-held Jewish family history colors in parts that are otherwise left blank. The Mishnah documents what transpired that day. Written between 200-300 AD, the Mishnah puts in writing the ancient stories that would have been passed down orally, from teacher to student, generation to generation, up until that point. Many stories recorded in the Mishnah would’ve existed in oral form during the time of Jesus. The Mishnah’s telling of Joshua 8 (found in Tractate Sotah 32a), as ancient as it is, lives on in Jewish circles. I have a commentary by the renown Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch that tells the story the same way (Bereshis Chumash, pg. 656-657). All to say, if you ask a religious Jew about the events in Joshua 8, they will tell the story the same as they always have:
Standing between the mountains, Joshua and the priests shout a blessing toward Gerizim: “Blessed is the one who honors his father or mother!” Those on Gerizim respond, “Amen!” Joshua and the priests then turn to the other mountain, shouting, “Cursed is the one who dishonors his father or mother!” Those on Ebal respond, “Amen!”
Pivoting back to Gerizim, Joshua and the priests call out the next truth on Moses’ list: “Blessed is the one who does not move his neighbor’s boundary stone!” Those on Gerizim respond, “Amen!” Then turning toward Ebal, Joshua and the priests proclaim the same truth in the opposite direction: “Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone!” “Amen!” comes the response from Ebal. Then so on and so forth in this succession of call-and-response until the Israelites have vocalized every curse written by Moses in Deuteronomy 27, beginning with its inferred counterpart, a blessing.
Stepping back, what’s going on here? We have Joshua pronouncing blessings and curses in the context of two mountains. According to ancient tradition, each blessing and curse are a mirror image of one another, a truth told in opposite directions. Enter Jesus. Jesus comes to fulfill the law and the prophets. By pronouncing His blessings and curses in mirror symmetry, He fulfills this story in the eyes of a Jewish audience. He also solves the mystery.
The mystery: Why are the curses pronounced toward the mountain where the stones are built up, the Torah goes forth, the altar stands and the sacrifices are brought with rejoicing?
Pronouncing curses in its direction seems odd. Nevertheless, the answer becomes apparent by the First Century. Jesus goes to the Temple Mount where the stones are built up, the Torah goes forth, the altar stands, the sacrifices are brought and rejoicing occurs. It is here that Jesus pronounces His curses to the Pharisees.
God knows the end from the beginning. It is prophecy when Joshua pronounces the curses toward Mount Ebal with its religious rituals and accompaniments. Meanwhile Gerizim, devoid of any holy marker, stands quiet as a mountain of blessing. It makes sense that the mount upon which Jesus’ marquee teaching is delivered is a humble mountain that history never names.
In the next section, let’s explore one more layer.