STUDY THEME: JOSHUA: MODEL OF OBEDIENCE 9-30-01

MAKING A COMMITMENT: JOSHUA 23:14; 24:14-15, 16-24, 25-27

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOSHUA 23.

The lesson today is the fifth and last in our series from the Book of Joshua. We have been studying one of the great leaders in the O.T. Joshua is often overshadowed by the great Moses and yet Joshua is an outstanding example of dedicated and faithful leadership! We have learned much from him and from the Hebrew people of his day and age.

(I would like to take a few moments to look at the last portion of last Sunday’s lesson which we failed to get covered. (Vs. 17-19 & 20-25.) (PP. 6-7)

After long years of faithfulness to God the time came when Joshua also was going to die. He called the Hebrew people together and issued one of the greatest challenges in the entire Bible. He challenged God’s people to make an intelligent decision as to whom they would serve. If they would serve the gods of the pagans or whether they would serve the true God, the creator of the universe! His magnificent words are still relevant and powerful today. I’m sure you have heard more than one sermon from today’s focal passages.

PLEASE LOOK AT JOSHUA 23:14. (TEACHER READ VS. 14.)

A person’s final words spoken to family or close friends often are very meaningful. Joshua’s farewell address probably was delivered at least 25 years after the concluding battles to take possession of the Promised Land. The strategy and tactics used by Joshua in conquering Canaan are still classic military science today. After distributing the conquered territory to the various tribes, Joshua retired to devote himself to strengthening the worship Lord at a time when most Israelites were straying from the faith.

In Joshua 23:10 he recorded that “one man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you.” In Vs. 12 Joshua spoke of he danger of fraternizing or intermarrying with the pagan idol worshippers. They would become snares and thorns in the eyes of the Israelites.

The great leader knew that he was about to go the way of all the earth—that is, his life would soon end. He would die at the age of 110. He waned to call Israel again to the kind of faithful obedience he had modeled to them throughout the settlement campaigns. His had been a “Long Life”; but most importantly, his life had been a life lived for God. To deliver his farewell address Joshua called Israel to a mammoth mass rally, probably at Shiloah. Like Moses; Joshua reminded Israel of God’s past blessings upon them, the necessity of continued obedience, and urged them to continue the conquest. Vs. 5 says, “The Lord had promised Israel rest from all their enemies.”

There was one thing Joshua wanted the people to know with all their heart and soul. He wanted them to be totally convinced of a particular truth, so he declared it twice in one verse. The Lord had made strong promises to Israel. Now, as Joshua and the people looked back on their experiences in the wilderness and in the land itself they could boldly affirm: Every promise has been fulfilled. Not one of His promises had the Lord failed to keep. Such an affirmation was significant, coming as it did from a leader who had followed the Lord wholeheartedly from a life of slavery in Egypt through decades of camping in the wilderness to a victorious settlement in the Promised Land. The Lord had given them the land. Therefore, in the light of the faithfulness of God, Joshua challenged them to serve God in sincerity and in truth and to put away the gods which their forefathers had served and to serve only the Lord their God.

PLEASE TURN TO JOSHUA 24:14.

1. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 24: 14-15.

In this Chapter 24, the scene had changed to Shechem and to a covenant renewal ceremony.

Joshua chose he perfect setting for his covenant message, because Shechem was alive with sacred memories: Abraham’s altar, Jacob’s well and 25 years earlier a tremendous dedication service had taken place there.

The Covenant ceremony was a time of remembering the past and renewing a commitment for the future. However, the question before Israel was no different than that during Joshua’s farewell address in Ch. 23. Would Israel continue to serve and obey the Lord exclusively, or would they gradually give their devotion to false gods worshipped in the surrounding cultures?

Joshua spoke with the authority of experience. He had walked with Moses for 40 years and led Israel into the Conquest of Canaan for another 30 years. He prefaced his appeal with the power of a good example; “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” He acknowledged his responsibility for the spiritual life of his family. He spoke for his family; he disclosed their intent. The greatest thing a father can pass on to his children is the love of God.

I read this week where a little fellow, frightened by lighting and thunder, called out one dark night, “Daddy, come, I’m scared.” The father said, “Son, God love you and will take care of you” “I know God loves me,” the boy replied, “But right now I want somebody who has skin on it.” I believe that is what Joshua proved to be to his family; “God’s love with skin on it.”

As a godly leader, Joshua called on the Israelites to fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. The Israelites devotion to the Lord was to be truthful and sincere. They were to serve the Lord without any hypocrisy or compromise. Joshua instructed the people to throw away any foreign gods and idols. They were to keep the First Commandment of having no other gods but the Lord God. They were to worship and serve Him alone.

Joshua continued his magnificent address by declaring if it seemed evil for them to serve the Lord God, they were to chose that day whom they would serve, whether they would serve the god of the Amorites who still dwelt in the land of Canaan.

The Lord’s faithfulness to Israel was the basis for Joshua’s challenge to Israel. The Lord’s faithfulness had been demonstrated many times over as Israel took possession of and settled in Canaan. Based on what the Lord had done for them in the past, Israel could be confident about His faithfulness in the future. Thus, Joshua challenged the people to faithfulness.

BE SURE AND REMEMBER VS. 15.

Joshua knew that through the years the people had faltered in their devotion to the Lord on numerous occasions. Temptations to compromise their faith would be ever present for Israel. All Israel’s enemies had been subdued, but not all the Canaanite tribes had been driven completely out of the land. Thus, the worship of false gods still surrounded the people.

Israel had renewed their commitment to the Lord’s covenant near Shechem on at least one previous occasion. Following the initial battles of the settlement campaign, Joshua gathered the people on Mount Ebal and Mt. Gerizim; there, back in Ch. 8, he read to the entire “Book of the Law.” Now, gathered at Shechem after the conquest and division of the land, Israel was hearing again a challenge to faithfulness from their aging leader He is now 110 years old.

In Vs. 15 Joshua acknowledged that exclusive devotion to the Lord might seem undesirable to some people. How could his be? Why would any Israelite have but one desire, and that desire be to serve only the Lord? We have to remember that, in the ancient world, Israel’s exclusive devotion to one God was the exception, not the rule. In addition, Israel was anything but isolated in their new environment. Thus, Joshua reminded the people about the gods their forefathers served beyond the River .

The river Joshua had in mind was the Euphrates River. Twice already in Ch. 24, Joshua had referred to the polytheistic background of Abraham’s family in Mesopotamia. The Lord had called Abraham out of that environment to the land the Israelites would possess. God in His sovereignty chose Abraham from an idolatrous family and revealed Himself to Him. Family influences can be amazingly persistent, however, and each new generation of Israelite would need to turn away from he worship of false gods. Even those they had brought out of Egypt.

Just as tempting for Israel might be the worship of the gods of the Amorites, “in whose land you are living.” “Amorites” was a name sometimes used to refer to all the people groups that lived in Canaan; Canaanite deities included names such as El Baal, ;Molech, and Ashtoreth. Cruel and immoral practices were associated with the worship of these false gods. Israel’s later history proves that Joshua was prophetic in warning the people about the temptations of Canaanite deities.

Ever Israelite family had to make a choice, and Joshua made his. He boldly testified, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua led Israel by personal example. Joshua affirmed that he and his family had made the right decision to serve the Lord. They planned to continue doing so as long as they lived. Joshua hoped that his personal testimony would influence Israel to follow his example. He did not want Israel to worship the false gods of the past or of the present, but he could not decide for others. Other families would also need to declare their spiritual allegiance.

Joshua’s challenge had much in common with some of the other Bible calls to commitment. For example, after the Israelites made the golden calf, Moses said in Ex. 32:26, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me.” Also, remember the choice placed before the Israelites by Elijah. In 1 Kings 18:21 he said, “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” Moses, Joshua, and Elijah did not acknowledge the reality of the false gods, but each knew that the people were placing their trust in gods that could not truly help them. Only the Lord is able to fill the God-shaped emptiness in each human heart. In these next verses let’s see the response of the people to Joshua’s challenge.

2. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 24:16-18

In Vs. 16 the people denied they would ever forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. Then they gave their own testimony of the past deliverences and blessings they and their fathers had received from the Lord. Joshua had done this in vs. 2-13. The people acknowledged it was he Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They said they were in bondage and incapable of escaping or defeating their oppressors. But God did what they could not do. He used great signs to deliver them. He also preserved them in the wilderness, giving them a way to pass through pagan nations on their way to Canaan.

Then, within the recent past, the Lord drove out the people of the land of Canaan. Thus the Israelites responded to Joshua’s call for commitment by declaring, ”therefore, will we also serve the Lord; for He is our God.” We doubt at the moment, those who made such protestations of loyalty to Joshua meant every word they uttered. But time was to prove how untrustworthy the human heart is. Joshua realized it and warned the people accordingly.

3. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 24: 19-20

Joshua’s response in Vs. 19-20 must have stunned the people. After their profession of faith, Joshua said unto the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord.” He explained they were not able to do this because God is holy and jealous. These two characteristics grow out of God’s revelation of Him self as the one and only God, who expects total devotion from His people. This religion is called ethical monotheism. It differed in two important ways from pagan religions, which were amoral or immoral polytheism. That is, they worshipped many gods, and these gods made no moral demands on them: in fact, many of the gods were used to promote immorality. Because God is holy, He expects His people to be holy. The word holy means “to be set apart.”: In the same way, God is jealous because He is the only God. He fits into only one place in human devotion. Either we give our all out of devotion to Him, or we give none. God will not accept less than total devotion.

Joshua continued, He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. This statement seems to deny the revelation in Exodus 34:6-7 which says “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;” This does not deny that the Lord is merciful and gracious to repentant sinners. But it does affirm that He will by no means clear the guilty. That is, He will not forgive those who persist in rebellion and sin.

This warning is to those who forsake the Lord, and serve strange or foreign gods. Instead, Joshua warned, “He will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you.” This warning was to those to whom the Lord had done good, but they forsook the Lord for other gods.

Joshua no doubt was thinking of the past record of these fathers. They repeatedly had rebelled. After the covenant was offered to them at Mt. Sinai, they promises in Ex. 19:8 “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do”; but shortly after this commitment they made the golden calf. Joshua spoke hard words not to discourage them but to ensure that any commitment they made was made in full awareness of the cost.

4. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 24: 21-24

In Vs. 21 the people were quick to deny these charges, declaring, “Nay: but we will serve the Lord.” Joshua was equally quick to come back with these words: “Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve Him.” They were their own witnesses to their promises. And they agreed, “We are witnesses.”

Then Joshua told them to put away a fourth category of strange gods. He was referring to the gods that were among them. In other words, some of them had brought false gods with them and had them in their homes in shrines. They needed to get rid of these.

Joshua continued to appeal to them, saying, “yield your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.” The people once again affirmed their commitment: “The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.” The test of this commitment would be their long-range actions.

5. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 24: 25-27

In vs. 25 the covenant that Joshua made with them seems to have been a renewal of the covenant from Mt. Sinai. Not the making of a new covenant, but the renewing of a covenant already in effect. During the early part of the campaign in Canaan, Joshua led them in renewing the covenant at Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim. Now that the land was mostly in Israelite hands, Joshua led them in another renewal. The abiding truth is that all people need to renew their vows with their Lord from time to time. Our relationship with God is not something we do only once. We enter it at one time and place, but if the relationship is real, like all personal relationships, it must be renewed from time to time. The process of covenant renewals included reviewing what the Lord had done for them and renewing their commitments to the Lord.

We don’t know exactly what the book of the law of God was in which Joshua wrote these words. In Vs. 26 Joshua took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. The stone was to serve as a witness unto them. The stone itself had heard all the words of the Lord which He spake unto them. The stone had also been a silent witness to their words of commitment. It was set up near the tabernacle so that people would see it when they came to worship and would be reminded of the Lord’s words and of their total commitment to serve Him.

By hearing the words of the Lord and committing themselves to Him the people became accountable to maintain their commitment. Nevertheless, Joshua spoke of the stone as if it had heard all that was said on that day. Therefore, if they forsook the Lord, the stone would be one of the witnesses to remind them of their commitments, and thus to condemn them for failing to remain true to the Lord. The stone was to serve as a warning against denying the Lord whom they had promised to serve

Vs. 29-30 tell of Joshua’s death and burial. Vs. 31 tells of his amazing influence: “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel.” This is an amazing testimony and tribute to the man Joshua. His total commitment led others to make or to renew their own covenants with the Lord. Only great peopl influne teir ow eneration for God and good. Even greater people influence not only their own generation but also the following one. This illustrates the power of total commitment to God in one’s life.

You will note that Joshua, unlike Moses, chose no successor to his position. As a result, in time, the Lord chose individuals called Judges to serve as leaders of the nation of Israel.

NEXT SUNDAY WE BEGIN A STUDY OF THE FAMILY. AT 9:30 A.M . IN S.S. AND AT 5 PM IN THE SANCTUARY IN DISCIPLE TRAINING WITH THE PASTOR. 9-30-01

A.V. DAUGHERTY

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