Joshua 24:1-33
1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.
22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.
23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.
24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.
27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.
29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.
31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overliveda Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.
32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.
JOSHUA'S SUMMARY OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY
(vs.1-13)
For the second time, as Joshua neared the end of his life, he called Israel together, primarily the elders, heads, judges and officers (v.1), but including "all the people" (v.2). He then faithfully summarized Israel's history, from her fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob until the then present time. There is a striking similarity between this and the first part of Stephen's address in Acts 7:1.
Abraham had dwelt with his father Terah on the east of the Euphrates River, where they were idol worshipers (v.2). This was a humbling reminder for Israel, that they originated from one who had followed false gods. But grace can make a wonderful difference, as it did with Abraham, so that after leaving his native land he was led by God in traversing the land of Canaan, where the Lord also greatly blessed him, multiplying his descendants, though only his one son Isaac is mentioned by name, for Israel was to come from Isaac.
Jacob and Esau were born to Isaac. Esau was born first, but Jacob was God's choice to father a nation separate from all other nations. But while Esau possessed the land of Seir, Jacob and his family went down to Egypt (v.4).
Nothing is said of Moses' birth in Egypt nor of his honor in Pharaoh's court, but rather of God's sending Moses and Aaron to be the means of Israel's deliverance. Briefly too God's plagues on Egypt are mentioned, for it was these that eventually moved Pharaoh to release Israel (v.5). But it was God who brought them out, and God who had directed them to the Red Sea, which Israel would not have naturally chosen. The waters of death were rolled back for Israel to pass on dry ground, and the pursuing Egyptians found darkness while Israel was in the light (v.7).
Then the Lord answered the cries of Israel and the sea came back to its strength, covering all the Egyptians. Such reminders from Joshua ought to have stirred Israel to realize afresh how dependent they were upon the power and grace of God on their behalf. Their wanderings in the wilderness are only mentioned as being "a long time," for these were testings that had to do with their own weakness and failure, not with the sovereign grace and power of God.
But after this God brought them to the land of the Amorites to the east of Jordan, where again the power of God was manifest in Israel's defeating this nation and possessing their land (v.8).
At that time Balak king of Moab enlisted Balaam, a false prophet, with the object of cursing Israel and rendering them powerless before the Moabite army (v.9). But God intervened and Balaam's cursing turned to blessing for Israel, so that they were delivered from Moab (v.10). To be reminded thus that God was for Israel ought to have been a great incentive to them to cling all the more steadfastly to the Lord.
Then the Lord brought Israel over Jordan, where they defeated Jericho, then the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites (v.11). All of these victories were manifestly not because of the superior power of Israel, but the Lord "sent the hornet before you" (v.12). This is figurative of the fact of God's so dealing with the enemies that they were frightened as though attacked by hornets and thus rendered helpless to fight. Two kings of the Amorites are specifically mentioned as defeated without the help of Israel's sword or bow. Thus God had given Israel a land for which they did not labor and cities they had not built, and vineyards and olive groves they had not planted.
EXHORTATIONS BASED ON GOD'S FAITHFULNESS
(vs.14-24)
Having received such blessing from God, it was only right that Israel should wholeheartedly serve the Lord in sincerity and in truth, putting away all those idols that Abraham had served long before (v.14), but had given up when he came to Canaan. It is notorious that people will often return to idols that were popular many years before just as today many people in western nations are returning to idolatrous mysticism that had been given no place when Christianity had a strong voice in these nations.
Joshua calls upon Israel to be decisive as to whom they would serve. Did they think it evil (that is, harmful) to serve the Lord? If so, then let them choose now between the idolatry that Abraham had refused or the idolatry of the Amorites (v.15). Joshua is firmly decisive as to himself and his house, as he says, "we will serve the Lord." He had evidently discerned already a tendency of departure on the part of the people.
The people respond that they will not forsake the Lord to serve other gods (v 16), and speak appreciatively of the things of which Joshua reminded them, God's delivering them from the bondage of Egypt, manifesting His presence by great signs, preserving them through the wilderness and driving out their enemies, to enable them to inherit the land. Therefore they affirm they will serve the Lord, "for He is our God" (v.18).
However, Joshua answered them, "You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God" (v.19). Joshua knew that Israel was really only expressing their confidence in the flesh, as Peter did when the Lord told him he would deny Him (Matthew 26:31). It is impossible for the energy of the flesh to please God (Romans 8:8). On the basis of Israel's claim of righteousness, God would not forgive their transgressions nor their sins (v.19). Thank God He does forgive where there is the honest self-judgment of repentance. but if they were to forsake the Lord and serve other gods, there was no self-judgment in this, and after all God's goodness to them they would experience just the opposite in being consumed by harmful inflictions (v.20). Such is the righteous government of God in discipline.
The people still protest they will serve the Lord (v.21), 50 Joshua tells them they are witnesses against themselves, for in time to come, when they forsook the Lord, the witness of their own words would be against them. They fully agree that they are witnesses, for they did not suspect the treachery of their own hearts, but trusted their own strength (v 22).
However, in verse 23 Joshua tells them to put away the foreign gods that were among them. He knew that idolatry was already present. How could they say they would serve the Lord when they were already entertaining idols? But even today there are professing Christians who speak plainly against unholy practices, yet involve themselves with others who indulge in such practices. They seem unable to realize the inconsistency of such things. But Israel insists they will serve and obey the Lord God of Israel (v.24).
A RENEWED COVENANT
(vs.25-28)
Just as God had made a covenant with Israel on the basis of law in Exodus 19:1; Exodus 20:1, while knowing full well that Israel would not keep that covenant, so Joshua now makes a covenant with the people, though knowing they would not keep it (v.25). The covenant did not really encourage them to obey, but it would be a testimony against them when they disobeyed. It is not really a new covenant that Joshua makes, but a renewal of the covenant of law, which Israel had already broken, and instead of confessing their guilt, were now making a futile promise of doing better
Joshua wrote the words of the covenant in the book of the law of God, for the covenant only confirmed Israel's responsibility to keep that law (vs.26-27). Then he set up a large stone as a memorial of this covenant and as a standing witness to Israel' S promise. We may well wonder if they totally disregarded this stone in their after history. These were the last recorded words of Joshua to Israel, and the setting up of the stone his last recorded act.
TWO DEATHS AND THREE BURIALS
(vs.29-33)
The time has come for Joshua's death at the age of 110 years, and he was buried within the borders of his own inheritance. His spiritual energy had effect on the elders who outlived him, so that Israel continued to serve the Lord during their lives. They had first hand knowledge of the great works of the Lord on behalf of Israel, but failed to so impress their children as to preserve them from departure.
Verse 32 also tells of the burial of Joseph's bones at Shechem in the plot of ground Jacob had bought (Genesis 33:19). The sons of Joseph had inherited this land. Likely this burial took place before the death of Joshua.
Eleazar had been a faithful priest in the establishing of Israel in the land, a type of Christ in resurrection, but he too passes off the scene, so that the Book of Judges introduces an era much different than that of Joshua. In the main Joshua has been a book of victory, though not without setbacks. Judges deals mainly with Israel's failure, not without grace shining through.