Apr 4 2019 - Joshua 24:1-31 – Covenant renewal and Joshua's death

Joshua is old (110, see v. 29), and will shortly die. He summoned all of the tribes of Israel to meet with him at Shechem. This was the place where Abraham had first camped in the land of Canaan and where God had appeared to him and promised to give the land to his descendants (see Genesis 12:6-7). This must have been in Joshua's mind when he chose the place for his final rally, for he reminds the people of their history, beginning with Abraham leaving his native country to become a wandering herdsman in Canaan.

Joshua reminds the people of their history because he wants them to remember what God had done for them. It was God who called Abraham out of Haran to live in Canaan. It was God who gave him many descendants. It was God who sent them down into Egypt to avoid famine and it was God who raised up Moses to lead them out of slavery in Egypt. It was God who brought them safely through the Red Sea and who drowned their Egyptian pursuers. It was God who gave them victory over the Amalekite kings on the east of the Jordan and who turned Balak's plans to curse them into blessing. It was God who caused Jericho to fall before their advance and it was God who had given them victory over the Canaanite peoples and their kings. Through Joshua God reminds his people:

You did not do it with your own sword and bow… I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.  (24:12-13).

So Joshua calls the people to abandon all other gods and to worship only Yahweh, the Lord their God. Or if they will not do that, he urges them at least to be single-minded:

If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (24:14)

The people responded saying, "We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God" (24:18). But Joshua is concerned that they understand the commitment they are making this day. God is not pleased with an enthusiastic declaration of devotion which is soon followed by a return to the worship of idols. He is a holy and a jealous God who will judge those who profess to serve him but whose hearts are divided and quickly enticed away from him. But, having heard Joshua's warning, the people repeat their promise, "We will serve the Lord our God and obey him" (v. 24).

The covenant promise that the people made that day was recorded by Joshua in "the Book of the Law of God" (v.24), and a memorial stone was set up to remind people of the promises they made in that place on that day.

We also need to remember all that God has done for us in Christ. He has saved us from the slavery of sin, gladly embraced us as members of his family, given us his Spirit and has promised us an inheritance of glory, freely secured for us by Christ our Saviour. We also are called to put away our idols and to serve him alone. In the light of all that he has done for us, surely we also declare from our hearts, "We will serve the Lord our God and obey him."

Triune God, help us never to forget all that you have done and are doing for us. Fill us with a spirit of thanksgiving and praise that will keep us in the path of joyful and obedient service. Keep us from turning back to the idols that tempt us with their hollow attractions. Help us to be living witnesses to your love and your salvation.

Peter Misselbrook