Bible geography is not trivia; it is usually an essential part of life’s tapestry, and is certainly true of Shechem.
The first campsite for Abram in Canaan was Shechem. The name means “shoulder,” and anyone who visits there immediately sees why. This valley is bounded by two mountains: Ebal to the northeast and Gerizim to the southwest. The town sits on Gerizim’s shoulder. It held a prominent position because it controlled north-south traffic on the Patriarch’s Highway, often called the Ridge Road, linking almost all of the important towns in the land. Being in the hill country given to Joseph’s son Ephraim, it’s no surprise that Joseph’s tomb was nearby. It also became the site of Jacob’s well. The valley and its mountains provided a natural amphitheater. Thus Shechem became known as the place of decision. Here Joshua called on Israel to choose loyalty to God, with blessings or cursings coming according to whether or not they obeyed. Near the end of his life, Joshua brought Israel back to Shechem to issue his challenge: “Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Jsh 24:14-15). Here the people chose between Solomon’s foolish son Rehoboam and Jeroboam, splitting the country in two, with Shechem becoming the first capital of the northern kingdom. But first it was Abram who here made his solemn choice. As far as he knew, there was not another believer in the whole land, but “Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem…And the Canaanites were then in the land….And there he built an altar to the Lord” (Gen 12:6-7). So there! Perhaps it’s time to dust off that old chorus: “I have decided to follow Jesus,” with one verse stating, “Though none go with me, still I will follow—no turning back, no turning back.”