JOSHUA - CHAPTER 24
Joshua Says ‘Goodbye’ to the People – Joshua 24:1-27
v1 Joshua called all the tribes together at Shechem. He made all the important men stand. They stood there, in front of God. These men were the leaders, officers and judges. v2 Joshua spoke to the people. He said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, "A long time ago, the ancestors of Israel’s people lived across the river Euphrates, and they worshipped other gods. Your ancestors included Terah and his sons, Abraham and Nahor. v3 But I took Abraham from that land and I brought him through all Canaan. I gave many sons and daughters to him. I gave him Isaac, v4 and I gave to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir (Edom) to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
v5 Afterwards, I sent Moses and Aaron to the Israelites in Egypt. I punished Egypt’s people. And I freed your people. v6 When I brought the Israelites out of Egypt, they reached the Red Sea. The Egyptians followed them with men on horses and in chariots as far as the Sea. v7 But the Israelites cried to me, the Lord, for help. I made it dark between them and the Egyptians. And I sent the water that drowned the Egyptians. The Israelites saw with their own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then the Israelites lived in the desert for a long time.
v8 Then I brought you, the Israelite nation, to the land of the Amorites, east of the river Jordan. They fought you, but I helped you to win the fight. I killed them in front of you, and you took their land. v9 Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, got ready to fight you. Then he asked Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you. He wanted me to hurt you. v10 But I would not listen to Balaam. So Balaam blessed you. He blessed you many times. And I saved you from the king of Moab.
v11 Then you went across the Jordan and you came to Jericho. You fought with the people in Jericho and with the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites. I helped you to win all those fights. v12 I made them very afraid of you so that they ran away from you. And so did the two kings of the Amorites. You did not do this on your own. v13 So I gave you a land that you had not worked for. I gave you houses that you did not build. You live in the houses. You eat fruit from plants and trees that you did not plant.” ‘
Verse 1 Joshua spoke to all the people at Shechem. Shechem was an important place. When Abraham arrived in Canaan, he came to Shechem (Genesis 12:7). There God said to him, ‘I will give this land to your people.’ Now the people owned the land.
COMMENTARY
Verses 2-13
Now Joshua reminded the people. He told them about Abraham and other people. He told them what God had done. This is what God said.
· I took Abraham.
· I gave many sons and daughters to him.
· I gave Isaac to him.
· I gave two sons to Isaac.
· I gave the hill country to Esau.
· I sent Moses and Aaron.
· I brought your fathers out of Egypt.
· I brought you to the land of the Amorites.
· I helped you to win the fight.
· I killed them in front of you.
· I would not listen to Balaam (see Numbers chapters 23 and 24).
· I saved you from the king of Moab.
· I helped you to win all those fights.
· I made them very afraid of you.
· I gave you a land that you had not worked for.
· I gave you houses that you did not build.
Think about this: Write down all the good things that God has done for you. God wants to do even more for us.
The People Promise to Serve God 24:14-27
v14 Joshua said, ‘Now you must give honour to the Lord, and serve him. You always must do only what he says. Throw away the gods that your families used to worship across the Euphrates and in Egypt. Worship the Lord. v15 But if you do not want to serve the Lord, then choose other gods. Choose the gods that your families served across the river. Or choose the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. But I and my family, we will serve the Lord.’
v16 The people answered Joshua, ‘We would never leave the Lord to serve other gods! v17 We and our fathers were slaves in Egypt. But the Lord our God brought us out from there. We saw the great things that he did there. He kept us safe on our whole journey. He saved us from other nations. v18 He went in front of us. He removed the Amorites and the other people who lived in the land. So we, too, will serve the Lord, because he is our God.’ v19 Joshua answered them, ‘But perhaps you are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God. He will not forget if you turn away from him. He will not forgive your sins. v20 If you leave him and serve other gods, he will punish you. He will kill you, after he has been good to you.’
v21 ‘No!’ the people said. ‘We will serve the Lord.’ v22 Joshua said, ‘You yourselves have chosen to serve the Lord. Be sure that you keep your promise.’ They replied, ‘We ourselves are witnesses that we have promised to serve the Lord.’ v23 ‘Now then’, Joshua said, ‘throw away the false gods, the gods of other peoples, which you still keep. And give yourselves completely to the Lord, the God of Israel.’
v24 The people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey him.’ v25 Joshua and the people made these important promises on that day. There at Shechem, he made a list of their rules and laws. v26 And Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a big stone. And he placed the stone under the large tree that was by the Lord’s holy place.
v27 ‘See this stone!’ he said to all the people. ‘It will help you to remember the promise that you have made. It will make you feel bad if you do not obey your God.’
In this passage, Joshua and the Israelites made a covenant with God.
COMMENTARY
Verses 14-15 Joshua again told the people what they must do.
· Give honour to the Lord.
· Serve him.
· Only do what he says.
· Do not worship the false gods that your fathers used to worship.
Joshua then told the people that they had a choice to make. They could serve God. God brought them out of Egypt. God had saved them. They could serve him.
Or they could serve other gods. They could serve the gods that their fathers had worshipped in the desert. They could serve the gods of Canaan. They had a choice.
Joshua showed them what they should do. He and his family would serve only the Lord.
We, too have a choice. Although we are Christians, we still have a choice. We can serve God, or we can serve other gods. We can serve the gods of ambition. We can serve the gods of sport. We can serve the gods of entertainment. We can serve the gods of our career. All these false gods can stop us from worshipping the real God. All these false gods can stop us from serving the real God.
Verses 16-18
The people promised to serve the Lord. Of course, it was the Lord who brought them out of Egypt. It was the Lord who freed them from slavery.
We must serve and worship God. He freed us from our sin. He sent Jesus to die for us. This is why we must worship him.
Verses 19-22
Joshua told the people that it will be hard. God is holy. God cannot look at sin. The people might sin. They might worship other gods. God will punish them. They must be sure that they want to serve the Lord.
God does not forgive everybody. He does not forgive people who hate his ways. He does not forgive people who are too proud to confess their sins. He does not forgive people when they do not care about God’s ways. God only forgives humble people who invite Jesus into their lives.
Sometimes, it is not easy to be a Christian. We need the help of God. He is holy. He expects only the best from his people. But God will forgive us when we do wrong. Jesus died to pay the punishment for our sin. So, God will forgive us when we ask him.
Verses 23-27
The people promised to serve and to obey God. Joshua wrote this in a book. He set up a large stone. This was to remind the people about their promise.
Joshua had built 7 monuments to remind the people:
· in the river Jordan – Joshua 4:10,
· at Gilgal – Joshua 4:20-24,
· over Achan’s body – Joshua 7:26,
· at Ai – Joshua 8:29,
· at Ebal mountain – Joshua 8:30-33,
· at a cave – Joshua 10:27,
· at Shechem – Joshua 24:26, 27.
The Death of Joshua – Joshua 24:28-33
v28 Then Joshua sent the people away. Everyone went back to his own part of the land.
v29 After this, Joshua died, at the age of 110 years. v30 The Israelites buried him in his own land, at Timnah Serah. This was in the hills of Ephraim, north of Gaash mountain.
v31 The Israelites served the Lord while Joshua was alive. The other leaders of Israel had seen all that the Lord had done for Israel. The Israelites continued to serve the Lord as long as these leaders were alive.
v32 The Israelites had brought the body of Joseph from Egypt. They buried it at Shechem. This was the land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Jacob paid them 100 pieces of silver. This land belonged to the families of Joseph’s children.
v33 Eleazar, son of Aaron, died and people buried him at Gibeah. This was the town in the hills of Ephraim that belonged to his son Phinehas.
COMMENTARY
Verses 28-33
The Israelites buried three important people:
· Joshua - verse 29. The Israelites buried his body in Ephraim, in his own land.
· Joseph - verse 32. The Israelites had brought the bones of Joseph from Egypt (Genesis 50:22-26). They buried them at Shechem. Joseph knew that one day the Israelites would return to the promised land.
· Eleazar, the priest - verse 33. He had been a slave in Egypt. He did not die in the desert. He was less than 20 years old when he left Egypt. All the adults who left Egypt died in the desert, except Joshua and Caleb.
The Book of Joshua ends sadly. Joshua died. Eleazar died. Joshua had been a great leader. He had faith. He knew that God would keep all his promises. We do not read much about his death. His death was not important. What he did while he was alive was important.
We must think about what Joshua did. Joshua died, but the God of Joshua is alive. God is urging us all to be like Joshua.
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