CONTEXT
Part
4: Ch.23,24: Finale of Joshua
Ch.23
– Joshua's Farewell to the
Leaders
Ch.24
– The
Covenant Renewed at Shechem
FRAMEWORKS:
Joshua 24: The Covenant Renewed at Shechem
v.1
Joshua gathers all the people
v.2-13
He reminds them of what the Lord had said and done
v.14,15
He calls them to Faithful Commitment
v.16-18
The people affirm they will be obedient
v.19,20
Joshua pushes home the point of Obedience
v.21-24
The People Again affirm they will be Obedient
v.25-28
Joshua creates a double witness to their covenant
v.29-31
Joshua dies and Buried in the Promised Land
v.32
Joseph's Bones now buried
v.33
Eleazar dies and is buried
v.1
Joshua gathers all the people
v.1
Then
Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned
the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they
presented themselves before God.
[Note:
So again Joshua gathers all the people to stand before
God, no doubt before the Tabernacle.]
v.2-13
He reminds them of what the Lord had said and done
v.2
Joshua
said to all the people, “This is what the Lord , the God of Israel,
says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of
Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped
other gods.
v.3
But
I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates
and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I
gave him Isaac,
v.4
and
to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of
Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.
v.5
“‘Then
I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what
I did there, and I brought you out.
v.6
When
I brought your people out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the
Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the
Red Sea.
v.7
But
they cried to the Lord for help, and he put darkness between you
and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them.
You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you
lived in the wilderness for a long time.
v.8
“‘I
brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the
Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands.
I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their
land.
v.9
When
Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against
Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you.
v.10
But
I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again,
and I delivered you out of his hand.
v.11
“‘Then
you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho
fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites,
Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them
into your hands.
v.12 I
sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also
the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and
bow.
v.13
So
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.'
[Note:
To bring a greater authority to bear, he reminds them
of all that the Lord had said AND DONE in the past, delivering
them from Egypt and protecting them, bringing them into the Land
and dealing with the occupants.]
v.14,15
He calls them to Faithful Commitment
v.14
“Now
fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away
the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and
in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
v.15
But
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 .”
[Note:
Now comes the main point: a call to total commitment
to the Lord and to reject anything to do with idolatry.]
v.16-18
The people affirm they will be obedient
v.16
Then
the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to
serve other gods!
v.17 It
was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up
out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great
signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and
among all the nations through which we travelled.
v.18
And
the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites,
who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord , because he
is our God.”
[Note:
The people make a strong affirmation of their faith.]
v.19,20
Joshua pushes home the point of Obedience
v.19
Joshua
said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is
a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion
and your sins.
v.20
If
you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and
bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been
good to you.”
[Note:
Joshua will not let them get away with any shallow profession
of faith. They cannot be half-hearted about it or it will spell
disaster.]
v.21-24
The People Again affirm they will be Obedient
v.21
But
the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
v.22
Then
Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have
chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes,
we are witnesses,” they replied.
v.23
“Now
then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among
you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
v.24
And
the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and
obey him.”
[
Note: This provokes the people to even more
strongly affirm their faith and commitment, but Joshua demands
they remove any signs of idols in their midst. They are sure about
it.]
v.25-28
Joshua creates a double witness to their covenant
v.25 On
that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem
he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws.
v.26
And
Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then
he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the
holy place of the Lord .
v.27
“See!”
he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against
us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will
be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”
v.28
Then
Joshua dismissed the people, each to their own inheritance.
[Note:
To ‘set this in concrete' so to speak, Joshua writes
all this down in the Book of the Law that Moses produced. Not
only that he sets up a monument as a constant reminder of this
day.]
v.29-31
Joshua dies and Buried in the Promised Land
v.29
After
these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord,
died at the age of a hundred and ten.
v.30
And
they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah
in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
v.31
Israel
served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and
of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything
the Lord had done for Israel.
[Note:
At a hundred and ten, he dies and is buried there.]
v.32
Joseph's Bones now buried
v.32 And
Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt,
were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought
for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father
of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.
[Note:
We are also told that Joseph's bones, that were brought
back from Egypt at his request, were also buried there in the
Land. See Gen 50:25 and Ex 13:19.]
v.33
Eleazar dies and is buried
v.33
And
Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at
Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill
country of Ephraim.
[Note:
Finally, Eleazar also dies, the last direct link to
Aaron, perhaps a fitting end to this chapter of history which
will be continued in the book of Judges.]