In verse 1, Joshua gathers the people together at Shechem. This may be the same meeting as the previous chapter because we are not informed as to the location of that. Shechem was notable to Israel – Abraham entered the Promised Land there and God appeared to him and confirmed His promise, and Abraham built an altar there (Genesis 12). Jacob also camped at Shechem and purchased land there and built an altar, calling it El Elohe Israel (God, the God of Israel (Genesis 33). Jacob also buried the idols of his household at the terebinth tree near Shechem (Genesis 35).
Joshua gave them a history lesson of how God had led their ancestors (v2-13) – Terah and Abraham from Ur to Canaan; Isaac, Jacob and Esau – Esau was given the mountains of Seir (Edom) and Jacob went down to Egypt to his son Joseph who had been sold by his brothers. One writer reminds us that Ur and Haran were centres of idol worship and that Abraham the son of Terah came from there and they were not God’s people originally, but God revealed Himself to Abraham and Abraham trusted God and put his faith in Him. He continued with Moses and Aaron and the deliverance from Egypt and from slavery, then the journey through the wilderness and how God had delivered them from enemies including Balak and traitor Balaam.
Joshua continued reminding them of how God brought them over the river Jordan and came to Jericho, how they defeated the men of Jericho, the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hitites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites but not in their own strength, it was God who delivered them into their hands not with the sword or bow, given them land, cities and produce which they did not labour for and were totally undeserved. God had truly been faithful to them, and they too had to be faithful to Him.
In verse 14 Joshua issued a challenge to the people – “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!”
They had a choice as to who they were going to serve. Joshua had given them all the evidence they needed to choose to serve God, they need no more evidence, but the choice was theirs. If they chose not to serve God, they were choosing to serve some other god, for whom they had ample evidence that they could do nothing for them and certainly couldn’t save them. It was really no choice at all, but maybe there would be some foolish enough to choose them. Joshua made it clear that he and his house would serve The LORD (v15). I understand that the Hebrew actually says, ‘I have chosen, and I will choose’ to serve the Living God.
Joshua spoke for himself and his house. It is difficult to say that on behalf of your house because you cannot guarantee that your house will follow the LORD, but we have a responsibility train up our children to honour the LORD and leave the rest to Him.
I believe that our household will see that we follow the LORD and that is never wasted. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” I don’t think it is a guarantee of success but rather, a responsibility to teach our children about God. Those years are critical, and they should learn about God but also the world and how we should deal with it. Statistics say that the majority of christians turn to Christ before the age of eighteen. There are many sayings about ‘give me a child until he is seven and you can have him for the rest of his life’. Children soak up everything whether good or bad so we must be very careful how we behave.
God places a great responsibility on parents for example, Deuteronomy 6:6-7: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Psalm 78:1-8 “Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
One writer says that we have a responsibility as parents to teach our children what matters to God. It doesn’t mean forcing them into our beliefs; rather, demonstrating a real faith – one that puts the focus on loving God and loving others.
Our children are going to learn about the world around them and their role in it. If they don’t learn from us, they will learn from someone else, and that could be disastrous. It is our responsibility to use our time with our children wisely.
From the life of Joshua, whilst he made some mistakes, e.g the first attack on Ai, he, generally trusted God and set an example of being faithful to God in humility and surrender. He clearly served God, the only God and trusted that his family would do the same.
This statement by Joshua in v15 invokes an amazing response from the people, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.” (v16-18)
One would have been overjoyed at such a response but Joshua, knowing their fickleness adds a cautionary reply, (v19-21) “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!”
Rather than discouraging them outright, after all he had asked them who they were going to serve, he cautions them about half-heartedness. They must recognise the holiness of God and His power and the danger of stating something they don’t really mean. They must be in no doubt that it would require total commitment.
They seemed to accept that and said “We will serve The LORD “.
To confirm this Joshua renews a covenant with the people and God (v22-28). He states that. They are witnesses against themselves that they have chosen the LORD and put away other gods. The people responded that they were witnesses against themselves before the LORD and stated that they would obey the LORD and serve Him. Joshua wrote this in the book of the Law of God, took a stone and set it up under the oak tree by the sanctuary in Shechem as a witness of what they had promised.
In verses 29-31 we are told that Joshua the servant of the LORD died at the age of 110 years, and they buried him in his land at Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim. His epitaph was simple yet profound – ‘The servant of The LORD’. However, it is written that ‘Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua’. I’m presuming that this was after they made the covenant because they did not always serve the LORD before, but suffice it to say, he was a godly influence and a faithful and mighty leader.
What seems to be a postscript is in verse 32 regarding the bones of Joseph which they had carried from Egypt. It was, however, important because it fulfilled Joseph’s wish not to be buried in Egypt but in the Promised Land, which he believed God would take them to according to His promise. (Genesis 50:25). God is faithful and He would bring to pass what He promised. Hebrews 11:22 states this as a record of Joseph’s faith.
The final event in this episode seems to come at verse 33 when Eleazar the priest died, and they buried him in the hill belonging to Phinehas his son in the mountains of Ephraim.
