MembersFrom Abraham to Arafat: Shechem, first stop in the Promised Land

* This article first appeared in Israel Today Magazine in 2022.

Significant Scripture

So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:5-7)

Site overview: Mount Gerizim, Samaria. 50 km north of Jerusalem

Standing near the scrubby summit of Mount Gerizim, 880 meters/2,890 feet above sea level, we can see, immediately to the north of us, the slightly higher Mount Ebal, 940 m/3,084 ft. Biblically, these twin hills were respectively sanctified to be a site for blessing and a site for cursing (Deuteronomy 11:29-30; Joshua 8:33).

In a very real sense, which space constraints limit my ability to divulge here, Israel’s entire future was foretold in Moses’...

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