Joshua 24

Joshua Recounts Their History

1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem; he summoned the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officials, and they presented themselves before God.

2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '{Long ago} your ancestors--Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor--lived beyond the river, and they served other gods.

3 I took your ancestor Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I increased his offspring; I gave him Isaac,

4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down [to] Egypt.

5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.

6 When I brought out your ancestors from Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the {Red Sea}.

7 They cried out to Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea over them and covered them; your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness for many days.

8 And I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan; they fought you, and I gave them into your hand; you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them {before you}.

9 Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

10 but I was not willing to listen to Balaam, and he richly blessed you. So I rescued you from his hand,

11 and you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the citizens of Jericho, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, fought against you, and I gave them into your hand.

12 I sent before you [the] hornet and they drove out before you two kings of the Amorites; [but] not by your sword or bow.

13 I gave to you a land that you have not labored on, and cities that you have not built, and you live in them; you eat [from] vineyards and olive groves that you have not planted.'

The Israelites Promise to Serve Yahweh

14 "So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh.

15 But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you [are] living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh."

16 And the people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we would forsake Yahweh to serve other gods,

17 for Yahweh our God brought us and our ancestors from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and did these great signs before our eyes. He protected us along the entire way that we went, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.

18 And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites who live [in] the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he [is] our God."

19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve Yahweh, for he [is] a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

20 If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you."

21 And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve Yahweh."

22 And Joshua said to the people, "You [are] witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh." And they said, "[We are] witnesses."

23 He said, "Remove the foreign gods that [are] in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel."

24 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice."

25 So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem.

26 Then Joshua wrote these words in a scroll of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under a large tree, which [is] at the shrine of Yahweh.

27 And Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God."

28 Then Joshua sent the people away to their inheritance.

29 After these things Joshua son of Nun servant of Yahweh died; {he was one hundred and ten years old}.

30 They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, at Timnath-Serah, which [is] in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

31 Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who lived long after Joshua, and who had known all the work that Yahweh did for Israel.

32 The bones of Jacob, which the {Israelites} had brought out from Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in a piece of land that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became [an] inheritance for the descendants of Joseph.

33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died; and they buried him in Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim, which had been given to his son Phinehas.

Joshua 24 Commentary

Chapter 24

God's benefits to their fathers. (1-14) Joshua renews the covenant between the people and God. (15-28) Joshua's death, Joseph's bones buried, The state of Israel. (29-33)

Verses 1-14 We must never think our work for God done, till our life is done. If he lengthen out our days beyond what we expected, like those of Joshua, it is because he has some further service for us to do. He who aims at the same mind which was in Christ Jesus, will glory in bearing the last testimony to his Saviour's goodness, and in telling to all around, the obligations with which the unmerited goodness of God has bound him. The assembly came together in a solemn religious manner. Joshua spake to them in God's name, and as from him. His sermon consists of doctrine and application. The doctrinal part is a history of the great things God had done for his people, and for their fathers before them. The application of this history of God's mercies to them, is an exhortation to fear and serve God, in gratitude for his favour, and that it might be continued.

Verses 15-28 It is essential that the service of God's people be performed with a willing mind. For LOVE is the only genuine principle whence all acceptable service of God can spring. The Father seeks only such to worship him, as worship him in spirit and in truth. The carnal mind of man is enmity against God, therefore, is not capable of such spiritual worship. Hence the necessity of being born again. But numbers rest in mere forms, as tasks imposed upon them. Joshua puts them to their choice; but not as if it were indifferent whether they served God or not. Choose you whom ye will serve, now the matter is laid plainly before you. He resolves to do this, whatever others did. Those that are bound for heaven, must be willing to swim against the stream. They must not do as the most do, but as the best do. And no one can behave himself as he ought in any station, who does not deeply consider his religious duties in family relations. The Israelites agree with Joshua, being influenced by the example of a man who had been so great a blessing to them; We also will serve the Lord. See how much good great men do, by their influence, if zealous in religion. Joshua brings them to express full purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord. They must come off from all confidence in their own sufficiency, else their purposes would be in vain. The service of God being made their deliberate choice, Joshua binds them to it by a solemn covenant. He set up a monument of it. In this affecting manner Joshua took his last leave of them; if they perished, their blood would be upon their own heads. Though the house of God, the Lord's table, and even the walls and trees before which we have uttered our solemn purposes of serving him, would bear witness against us if we deny him, yet we may trust in him, that he will put his fear into our hearts, that we shall not depart from him. God alone can give grace, yet he blesses our endeavours to engage men to his service.

Verses 29-33 Joseph died in Egypt, but gave commandment concerning his bones, that they should not rest in their grave till Israel had rest in the land of promise. Notice also the death and burial of Joshua, and of Eleazar the chief priest. The most useful men, having served their generation, according to the will of God, one after another, fall asleep and see corruption. But Jesus, having spent and ended his life on earth more effectually than either Joshua or Joseph, rose from the dead, and saw no corruption. And the redeemed of the Lord shall inherit the kingdom he prepared for them from the foundation of the world. They will say in admiration of the grace of Jesus, Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "from ancient"
• [b]. Or "fathers"
• [c]. That is, the Euphrates
• [d]. Or "father"
• [e]. That is, the Euphrates
• [f]. Or "fathers"
• [g]. Or "fathers"
• [h]. Hebrew "chariot"
• [i]. Literally "sea of reed"
• [j]. That is, the Egyptians
• [k]. Hebrew "Amorite"
• [l]. Literally "in your presence"
• [m]. Hebrew "Amorite"
• [n]. Hebrew "Perizzite"
• [o]. Hebrew "Canaanite"
• [p]. Hebrew "Hittite"
• [q]. Hebrew "Girgashite"
• [r]. Hebrew "Hivite"
• [s]. Hebrew "Jebusite"
• [t]. Hebrew "Amorite"
• [u]. Or "dwell"
• [v]. Or "fathers"
• [w]. That is, the Euphrates
• [x]. Or "fathers"
• [y]. That is, the Euphrates
• [z]. Hebrew "Amorite"
• [aa]. Or "fathers"
• [ab]. "Hebrew "Amorite"
• [ac]. Or "dwell"
• [ad]. Literally "cut a covenant"
• [ae]. Literally "a son of one hundred and ten years"
• [af]. Joshua 24:28-31 is repeated in Judges 2:6-10
• [ag]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [ah]. Hebrew kesitah
• [ai]. Or "sons"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 24

This chapter gives us an account of another summons of the tribes of Israel by Joshua, who obeyed it, and presented themselves before the Lord at Shechem, Jos 24:1; when Joshua in the name of the Lord rehearsed to them the many great and good things the Lord had done for them, from the time of their ancestor Abraham to that day, Jos 24:2-13; and then exhorted them to fear and serve the Lord, and reject idols, Jos 24:14; and put them upon making their choice, whether they would serve the true God, or the gods of the Canaanites; and they choosing the former, he advised them to abide by their choice, Jos 24:15-24; and made a covenant with them to that purpose, and then dismissed them, Jos 24:25-28; and the chapter is concluded with an account of the death and burial of Joshua and Eleazar, and of the interment of the bones of Joseph, Jos 24:29-33.