Lesson 136 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Choose you this day whom ye will serve" (Joshua 24:15).

Notes

The Memorial Altar

The crossing of the Jordan River would mean the end of forty years of wandering for the Israelites. They would be in Canaan, where houses were already built for them, and orchards and vineyards already planted to give them fruit. When they arrived in Canaan the Israelites were to build an altar, high on Mount Ebal, of unhewn stones. They were to offer sacrifices of praise and gratitude to God for bringing them into this good land. The altar was to remain as a memorial to God's love in caring for them as a father cares for his children. Upon the sides of the altar, on plaster, would be written the Ten Commandments.

Here on the top of this treeless hill would be the Law in the sight of all the people, so no one could say that he did not know the will of God. Perhaps children would see the monument from a distance, and on some pleasant day would take their lunch and climb Mount Ebal to read the inscriptions on its sides.

The Israelites had been instructed to write the Law upon the gates and the posts of their houses and upon arm bands and headbands; and they were to talk of it when they sat in their homes, and when they walked by the way. They were to talk about it the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning, so they would al-ways know and do the will of God.

But what if the parents had become careless and had not told the children about the Law of God? What if the fathers and mothers did not pray with the children before they went to bed, or when they rose up in the morning? Would the children be excused from knowing the Law? No, because right out here on Mount Ebal, in the sight of everyone, would be the Law for all who could read. And they could read aloud so that the smaller children could hear and know, too, what God commanded. There was no excuse for not knowing the will of God.

Bible Our Guide

Today we have the will of God written in the Bible. Everything God wants us to do is in that Holy Book. It is written simple enough that much of it can be understood by children. Small children can many times pray with more faith and receive answers to their prayers sooner than grown people. They do not try to reason out God's promises, but they just believe them and say, "God, You said You would do it, and I know You will." Jesus loves that simplicity of faith, and He said of the children, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14). "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

There are more copies of the Bible in the world today than of any other book. All of us can know the will of God. If parents will not read the Bible to their children, they will have to tell God sometime why they did not, and He will be very displeased with them. But children can read the Bible for themselves, as soon as they are old enough.

Some children who have lived where books were scarce have learned to read from the Bible. Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest presidents, studied the Bible by the light from the fireplace. Even after he became a popular and very busy man he loved to quote the beautiful verses from the Bible.

Distinction Between Good and Evil

There was a mountain near Mount Ebal, separated from it by a deep and narrow pass, called Mount Gerizim. These two mountains were called the mount of blessing and the mount of cursing. God gave object lessons for His people; and he wanted to show them the sharp contrast between good and evil, between obedience and dis-obedience. We cannot expect the blessing of God if we disobey Him even in one thing. We cannot be sinning Christians. We either obey God, do what He commands us, or we willfully disobey with the condemnation of eternal punishment. In the Epistle of James we read: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10).

Mount Ebal was the mountain of curses, and on its sides were gathered all the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. On Mount Gerizim, on the opposite side of the pass, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin found good places to listen to the words the Levites would speak. Everyone would be able to hear what would happen to the people who would disobey God; and also the blessings that would be showered upon those who obeyed.

Temptation of Prosperity

The Children of Israel had been disciplined during the forty years in the wilderness by trials and great trouble, and they had had to look to God for help. Now they were going into the land of prosperity, with greater temptations to forget God. New warnings were to be given them to obey what "thus saith the LORD." A long list of blessings and curses were proclaimed aloud so they would hear; and the "Amens" with which the people answered showed that they understood the seriousness of disobedience to the will of God.

The first commandment was that they love the Lord God above everything else; and the first curse pronounced was upon the man who would serve other gods, the work of men's hands. God would see him even though he worshiped the strange god in secret. God sees every secret sin.

The second curse was upon the children who disobeyed their parents. God's commandment was, "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12).

We notice that for each blessing given in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, for obedience, there was a companion curse for disobedience. "Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field"; "Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field." If we obey God, His blessings will follow us wherever we go; but if we disobey, we will not be able to escape the curse. David said: "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me" (Psalm 139:8-10.

At the Head

God's reward for obedience would be that the Israelites would be the head, and the other nations would be the tail; but for disobedience they would be the tail and the other nations would be the head. Sometimes when children are ready to play a game, each one will say, "I want to be It"; or, "I want to be first." That was the honour God wanted to give His children in life -" they were to be first. But if they disobeyed God the other nations would get that honour. God wanted to make His people rich, too, so they could lend to other nations; but if they disobeyed they would be so poor they would have to borrow. Even their children would be taken away as slaves, and eventually all Israel would go into captivity.

Judgement

God warned the Israelites of such horrible judgements that would come upon them that it makes our ears tingle to hear them. The time would come that a siege would be laid against their fenced cities, and the famine would be so severe that they would eat their own children. They would lose all love one for another, and the husband and wife would betray each other. Brothers would turn against each other. Terrible diseases and plagues, which they feared, would come upon them and many would die. The few remaining people would be scattered throughout the world and would no more be a nation until the latter days.

The Children of Israel had all these commandments read where they could hear. Did they obey God and enjoy all the blessings he offered? No. Not long after the death of Moses, they again became friends with the heathen who tempted them to go after other gods ([JUG:3:7]).

Did the judgements God had promised come to pass? Most certainly. Even to the point of cannibalism, both in the siege of Samaria ([2KG:6:28-29]), and in the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. When Titus marched against Jerusalem the suffering was as terrible as anything Moses prophesied. There was such bitterness and hatred among the people that they stole every bit of food from one another that they could steal. If someone got a little meal, he could not give the bread enough time to bake, lest someone would smell it and come and take it away. People ate their shoes and their leather belts. The quarrelling and fighting within the city walls was as bad as that which the Romans brought against them from outside. The historian Josephus tells us that the abuses Herod put upon the Jews were such as even a beast would not put on them.

Beginning of Sorrows

That was only the beginning of the sufferings of the Jews. From that time on they have wandered over the globe, looking for a home. It is estimated that at least 6,000,000 lost their lives during the past great war. Terribly cruel and inhuman treatment was given them by the Axis nations, Jews being destroyed in wholesale murders. And all this is only the "beginning of sorrows." We cannot see how greater suffering could come during the Tribulation, but that is what God has promised to the nations (or individuals) that forget Him.

Today we have the opportunity to give our hearts to the Lord in love and willing service, and we have the promise of rich rewards here, and life eternal in Heaven. "There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this pre-sent time, and in the world to come life everlasting" (Luke 18:29, 30).

Questions

1. Name the two mountains important in this lesson.

2. By what other titles were they called?

3. What object lesson do they reveal?

4. What is our guide to Heaven?

5. List some of the blessings and curses.

6. When did the judgements of God begin to come upon the Israelites? and how?

7. In what ways are those curses still being fulfilled?

8. When will be the time of greatest suffering?