Thursday, August 26, 2004
The Martyrs Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia
Kellia: Joshua 8:30-35 Epistle: 2 Corinthians 10:7-18 Gospel: St. Mark 3:28-35
Joshua 8:29-35, especially vss. 32, 33: "And Joshua wrote upon the
stones a copy of the law, even the law of Moses, before the children of Israel. And all Israel, and
their elders and their judges, and their scribes, passed on one side and on the other before the
ark." The Old Testament reading for today describes a ceremonial highpoint among the events
recorded in the Book of Joshua: Israel had passed over into the Promised Land and set apart their
fighting forces with Circumcision, God's Covenant sign. They had celebrated their first Passover
on the West side of the Jordan and witnessed the collapse of the primary defensive city of Jericho
blocking the way into Canaan. Then, after an unexpected defeat at Ai, they overcame that city in
the first victory of a protracted campaign for the Holy Land.
In this present passage, Joshua describes the Covenant renewing ceremony he conducted on the
slopes of Mount Ebal in a large natural amphitheater formed between Mount Ebal and Mount
Gerizim. And, as we shall see, the ceremony served to foreshadow the Divine Liturgy. While
the Septuagint (LXX) version of the account places verse 8:29 (the note about the enemies of
Israel) as a preface to the account of the ceremony, the Masoretic based texts locate the comments
afterwards (Josh. 9:1). Either way, the point should not be missed: the Covenant renewing
ceremony took place, as does every Divine Liturgy, within a context of opposition to the reign of
God over the earth. The victorious People of God are in enemy held territory, living with the
constant of resistance to our Lord and the Gospel which we proclaim (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
To prepare for the ceremony, "Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel....an altar of unhewn
stones, on which iron had not been lifted up" (Josh. 8:30-31). Altars, to be appropriate thrones
for God, need to be of select material of His creation, thus, "unhewn stones" (vs. 31).
The offerings which Joshua made were of two kinds: holocaust (those wholly consumed) and
peace (or communion) offerings (vs. 31). These two themes are clearly present in the Divine
Liturgy with its requirement that those who partake of the Holy Gifts have fully surrendered to
God without reservation, having spit on Satan and openly bowed down before the Holy Trinity.
Joshua prepared stones which clearly displayed God's stated covenant requirements for His
People - "the law, even the law of Moses, before the children of Israel" (vs.32). The grammar of
the Hebrew version implies that the Law was carved on stones other than those of the altar. In
each Divine Liturgy today, the People of God recite the Nicene Creed, the Baptismal symbol that
summarizes the New Covenant that has been secured for the Faithful by the shedding of the
precious Blood of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. In addition, "the ark of the Covenant of the
Lord"(vs. 33), in which the Commandments of God were preserved on tables of stone from
Moses (see Deut 10:1-4), was publicly brought to the assembly by the Levites.
So that the People might renew their commitment to God's Covenant without evasion, they
"passed on one side and on the other before the ark" with the Commandments on the tables of
stone (vs. 33). In addition, "Joshua read accordingly all the words of this law, the blessings and
the curses, according to all things written in the law of Moses;" and. "there was not a word of all
that Moses charged Joshua which Joshua read not in the ears of all the assembly of the children
of Israel" (vss. 34,35). Of course, at each Divine Liturgy, portions of the Apostolic writings are
read to our congregations as are passages from the Holy Gospels, with all that Christ our God has
commanded of us in addition to the Older Covenant.
O Thou who has given us grace to make our common supplications unto Thee, fulfill now the
desires and petitions of Thy servants as may be most expedient for us.