In Deuteronomy 11 the congregation was told: "When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses." Moses will go into more detail about Mount Ebal and the curses to be pronounced there in our current chapter. The actual ceremony for this will not take place until we study the book of Joshua.
"Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: 'Keep all these commands that I give you today. When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.'" (Deuteronomy 27:1-2) We will find these instructions fulfilled in Joshua 8:30-31a. After the Israelites enter the promised land, we will read that, "Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites."
"Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you." (Deuteronomy 27:3) After building the altar and coating it with plaster, "Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses." (Joshua 8:32) The laws we've been studying in the Old Testament are often referred to as "the law of Moses" because Moses relayed the Lord's instructions to the people, but the people must never forget that these laws are the Lord's laws. Moses didn't make these statutes up. Moses received the word of the Lord and passed it along to the people with whom the Lord intended to make a covenant. The Bible may refer to this whole body of regulations as "the law of Moses" but the Israelites understood them to be "the law of the Lord". This is why they will make sacrifices and offerings on the altar at Ebal. They aren't making sacrifices in memory of Moses or in worship of him; they are sacrificing to the Lord. They are confirming their covenant with the Lord, renewing their promise to submit to His authority, and acknowledging Him as Lawgiver and Judge and God.
"And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I commanded you today, and coat them with plaster. Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool on them." (Deuteronomy 27:4-5) Joshua will obey these instructions to the letter. "He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses---an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used." (Joshua 8:31b) Earlier in our study of the Old Testament we discussed why uncut stones were used for altars. The uncut stones symbolize the fact that man cannot improve upon anything God has done. It is God who provides a means of salvation; man cannot save himself. Therefore, stones for altars were to be used in their natural state---as God made them through the forces of nature which were created by Him. Man comes to God on God's terms, not on his own terms. Salvation is obtained by coming to God through the method God has chosen, not by performing manmade rituals. We cannot find our own path to God; we come to God only by the path He has marked out for us.
Altars for sacrifice were used under the old covenant. But we can compare what we're discussing in Deuteronomy 27 with the new covenant which was established by the sacrifice Christ made. Is anything lacking in what He did for us? Can we add anything to it? Can we become "more saved" than we already are? No, Christ did all that needed to be done. We can't improve on it; it's perfect just as it is. In this same way, the people of the Old Testament did not need to make alterations to the stones they were setting up for altars to the Lord. The Lord was doing the work that made them holy. The blood that was shed to atone for sins was being accepted by Him on these altars instead of requiring the death of those who transgressed His covenant. He accepted substitutionary sacrifices on the altars of Israel. Performing extra work on the altars or performing extra rituals during the sacrifices would not have made the people "more saved/more forgiven". They were to do in faith exactly what God said. In this same way, God accepts our faith regarding the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. We cannot add anything to what Christ has done. In fact, when man meddles in anything the Lord has done, he actually detracts from it. We are imperfect creatures with dirty hands and dirty hearts. We must come to the Lord by the means He provides for us, not adding anything to it and not taking anything away from it.
After the people have built the altar at Ebal, they are to make sacrifices on it. "Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God. And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up." (Deuteronomy 27:6-8) After the altar is set up in the book of Joshua, the Bible says, "On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings." (Joshua 8:31c)
The people will follow the Lord's instructions exactly as Moses relayed them to them, not adding to the instructions or taking away from them. The word of the Lord will be written "very clearly" on the stones they have set up. The Lord never wants us to guess at what He considers holy living. He doesn't want us to walk through life unsure if we are doing right or doing wrong. He doesn't want us to wonder whether or not He loves us. He doesn't want us to doubt our salvation. He has very clearly shown us what He considers holy living. In doing so, He has revealed to us that we fall short of perfection and that we need a means of obtaining forgiveness. He has shown us we need a Savior and, after clearly demonstrating to us that we need a Savior, He tells us who our Savior is and how to be saved by Him. The Lord could not have made His plan of salvation any plainer than it is. He told us in the simplest words possible that no one comes to Him except by the way He has chosen---and that way is His Son. (John 14:6) He tells us that, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) He provides the gospel message to us in words that couldn't be easier to understand: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31a), and, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)
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