A Sacrifice Instead of a Curse

GETTING STARTED

For over twenty years, the northern part of Uganda, where I live, was subjected to war-related practices like murder, rape, torture, and many other atrocities. However, the church is working to turn what seemed to be a cursed region into a blessed land. This is being done through prayers, honoring God, and being dedicated to his service. Something similar happened to the Israelites. After the war to claim the Promised Land, they realized it was time to build an altar for offering sacrifices as a practice of devotion and total dependence on God.

  • How have you responded to God after going through a life-claiming scenario, and what advice would you give to a person who is going through such a challenging situation?

READ THE WORD: JOSHUA 8:30-35 (ESV)

30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. In your life, how have you been able to appreciate God after he helped you reach a state of victory?
  2. Whose instructions did Joshua follow on the type of altar to be built and the stone to be used (vs. 31)? What two types of sacrifices were offered? Once the sacrifices were complete, what did Joshua write on the stones of the altar?
  3. What purposes might the sacrifices and the reading of the Law of Moses have served as the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land?
  4. Mount Ebal was the very mountain where a curse was sounded on the Israelites (Deut. 11:26-29), and now it became a place for offering sacrifices to God. How can the cursed (wicked or profane) things in your life be turned into altars of praise, acceptable to Jesus?
  5. Take a moment and evaluate your life. Ask Jesus to help you adjust the areas of your life which do not depict the glory of God or make your life shine in the purpose of God.

RESPOND TO GOD

Humans are incredibly prideful. We promise to have God at the center of every victory, but once registered, we quickly forget to offer a thanksgiving prayer to God. This puts us in a place of reliance on personal strength and skills, which denies the authority and power of God.

In obedience to God, Joshua followed Moses’ instructions (Deut. 27-28) when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. The burnt offering served as a consecration of the Israelites before God, and the peace offering celebrated their relationship with him. The blessings and the curses were to remind the Israelites of the consequences for obedience and disobedience. The building of the altar to offer sacrifices demonstrated how Joshua appreciated God’s care and love for the Israelites and also the dedication of Israel to the service of God.

  • Ask God to help you understand that in every victory he sets, you should learn to depend on him by honoring, praising, and worshipping him, and keep yourself in a position which will bring blessings and not curses.