Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

and it was here that Jacob had bought the field in which the tribes
were to bury the body of Joseph. Here also was the well that Jacob
had dug.
The spot chosen was well fit to be the theater to enact this
impressive scene. The lovely valley, its green fields dotted with
olive groves, watered with brooks from living fountains, and
bordered with wild flowers, spread out invitingly between the barren
hills. Ebal and Gerizim, on opposite sides of the valley, almost come
together, their lower spurs seeming to form a natural pulpit. Every
word spoken on one was distinctly heard on the other. The receding
mountainsides, gave enough space for a huge assembly.
A monument of very large stones was set up on Mount Ebal.
On these stones, previously prepared by a covering of plaster,
Joshua inscribed the law--not only the ten commandments spoken
from Mt. Sinai and engraved on tables of stone, but the law
communicated to Moses and written in a book. Beside this
monument he built an altar of unfinished stone and offered sacrifices
to the Lord on it. Because of their sins against God's law, Israel
justly deserved His wrath, and they would have felt it immediately if
not for the atonement of Christ, represented by the altar of sacrifice.
Six tribes were positioned on Mount Gerizim, the others on
Ebal, and the priests with the ark were in the valley between. In the
presence of this vast assembly, Joshua read the blessings that follow
obedience to God's law. All the tribes on Gerizim responded,
"Amen." He then read the curses, and the tribes on Ebal gave their
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