Joshua 24:1-311And 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. 2And 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. 3And 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. 4And 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. 5I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6And 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. 7And 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. 8And 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. 9Then 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: 10But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 11And 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. 12And 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. 13And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. 14Now 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. 15And 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. 16And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; 17For 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: 18And 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. 19And 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. 20If 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. 21And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. 22And 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. 23Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. 24And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. 25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26And 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. 27And 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. 28So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. 29And 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. 30And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. 31And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel. (Joshua 24:1‑31).
Joshua then gathered all the people together and reminded them of the faithful goodness of God from the very time He had called Abram out from Ur of the Chaldees. They could never say they had obtained blessing on the ground of their own faithfulness, for they had been most unfaithful. But God had been faithful; He had made known His power on their behalf, and had now given them their land. While they had been in Egypt they had slipped back into idolatry, and now, being surrounded with it in Canaan, they were in danger of doing so again.
Joshua therefore asked them to make their choice that day of whom they would serve, and we are thankful to say they chose to serve the Lord rather than idols.
And today the same word comes afresh to you, dear reader: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Have you decided for Christ? Do you wish to serve Him? Has He truly won your heart? When we think of all He has done for us upon that cross of Calvary, we can surely say that He has done all that love could do to win our hearts and to give us a motive to live for Him.
Joshua reminded them that it was a solemn thing to serve the Lord, for He would have to deal with them if they were disobedient, because He is holy. Of course, with Israel as we have remarked before, their blessings were made conditional, because they were under the first covenant — the covenant of law — and so before long they lost their good land. How good to know that God will bring His people Israel into blessing in a future day, not because of their faithfulness at all, but through the work of Christ! This alone is the ground of all blessing to fallen men.
We might say, however, that it is well to remember that if we are going to serve and follow the Lord, it will not be easy. There are difficulties in the path, as Joshua warned, and only the Lord can sustain and keep us faithful to Him. This He will surely do if we look to Him and count upon Him at all times.
Joshua then wrote the words of the law upon a great stone, telling the people that it would be a stone of witness to them. They were so liable to forget it, just as we find ourselves so prone to forget the precious instruction of the Word of God which we need day by day. We may be well assured that we cannot be wiser than God, and if we ever choose a path contrary to His truth, it will be to our own sorrow and loss; nevertheless while walking in the truth there is peace and joy in the soul. May we cleave to the Lord with true purpose of heart (Acts 11:2323Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. (Acts 11:23)).
Alas, the children of Israel looked to Joshua instead of to the Lord. He had been a great leader; they had respect for him and confidence in him, but they lost sight of the Lord. What a common thing this is! How many in Christendom today have their eyes upon man instead of upon the Lord. They go on steadily for a time, but when the man or men on whom they were leaning fails, or is removed, it is soon manifest that their eyes were upon man instead of upon the Lord. They become discouraged and give up the path of devotedness. There is only One who never fails. Let us look to Him.
ML 07/05/1953