When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.
The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice…
Deuteronomy 27:12-14a (NIV)
In the years that Wendy and I spent summers at our house on the lake we would sit on the deck for hours overlooking the water. Especially in the morning when the world was quiet the acoustics of the water and the terrain allowed you to clearly hear conversations taking place between people on the on the other side of the cove. It was eerie.
The further I get in my earthly journey, the more I’ve realized my ignorance regarding creation’s role in the Great Story. Creation is filled with fascinating wonder that we humans continue to discover. God celebrates His creation throughout the Great Story. Creation is alive. It has a voice. It hears. It bears witness. It is a participant in all that God is doing.
When Jesus was criticized for allowing His followers to shout in celebration proclaiming He was the Messiah, He replied that if His followers didn’t shout it, the rocks would cry out. Creation itself cries out in worship.
Creation plays a central role in today’s chapter. Moses has finished reminding his children and grandchildren of the Law. Now, he gives them instructions. When they enter the Promised Land, they are to write the Law clearly on stones covered in plaster. The Law is not to be a tribal secret, it’s a public declaration to the whole world. Then God has them do something strange. Half the people are to climb Mount Ebal. The other half are to climb Mount Gerazim. Not just the priests…everyone.
The Levites and tribes on Mount Gerazim are to pronounce the blessings God promises for faithfulness and obedience (interestingly, these are not recorded in the text). The Levites and tribes on Mount Ebal are to pronounce curses and consequences for breaking God’s Laws. Interestingly, the laws prescribed to be proclaimed include behaviors that are easily the most secret and personal of sins.
This whole thing sounds really strange to our modern sensibilities, but this is where things get really cool. This is where creation plays a role in the public ratification of God’s Law.
Mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal have a really strange and unique formation. The mountains and the valley between them create a natural acoustic amphitheater and echo chamber. Even today, people standing on one mountain can hear what’s being spoken on the opposite. It gets even better. Your voice not only carries across the valley to the top of the other mountain, but it echoes back to you.
When the Levites proclaim the curses, the sound doesn’t dissipate into open wilderness. It bounces, returns, wraps around the people.
The Law doesn’t just go out.
It comes back.
Every “Amen” would echo—not theatrically, but bodily. Chest. Bones. Breath.
This is communal consent.
No one is hidden in this ceremony. Everyone participates. Everyone agrees. The people are the chorus. Accountability has a voice. And creation bears witness. The mountains hear the people shouting “Amen.” Their sound waves leave an impression. The mountains may not speak, but they remember.
Long after Moses is gone.
Long after Joshua dies.
The hills still stand there saying, “We heard you.”
God could have delivered the Law in silence for the people to accept by faith. He could have delivered it with lightning and thunder and to force the people on their knees in terror. He might have simply slipped Moses and the High Priest a parchment as they stood privately in God’s tent tabernacle.
Instead, God wanted His people to ratify His Law in a public way. He chose a place where your own voice would come back to you.
Because covenant isn’t just something you believe.
It’s something you have to hear yourself say.
There is no solo spirituality in this valley.
No quiet loopholes.
No private reinterpretations whispered into a pillow at night.
Just this aching, honest moment:
“Yes. I heard it. I said it. I agreed.”
Once I’ve heard my own voice echo off the stones, it’s awfully hard to pretend I never spoke.
And, the rocks remember.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
