Joshua 24:17

17 The LORD our God himself brought us and our parents up out of Egypt. He brought us out of that land where we were slaves. With our own eyes, we saw those great and miraculous signs he did. He kept us safe on our entire journey. He kept us safe as we traveled through all of the nations.

Joshua 24:17 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 24:17

For the Lord our God, he [it is] that brought us up and our
fathers, out of the land of Egypt
When Pharaoh, the king of it, refused to let them go, yet he wrought such wonders in it and inflicted such plagues on it, as obliged Pharaoh and his people to dismiss them:

from the house of bondage:
where they were held in the greatest thraldom and slavery, and their lives made bitter and miserable:

and which did those great signs in our sight;
meaning the wonders and marvellous things wrought before Pharaoh and his people, and in the sight of Israel, ( Psalms 78:11 Psalms 78:43 ) ; though Abarbinel is of opinion it refers to what had been done in their sight of late in the land of Canaan, as the dividing of the waters of Jordan, the fall of the walls of Jericho, the standing still of the sun in Gibeon; but this seems not so well to agree with what follows:

and preserved us in all the way wherein we went:
in the wilderness from serpents and scorpions, and beasts of prey, and from all dangers from every quarter:

and among all the people through whom we passed;
through whose borders they passed, as the Edomites, Moabites, and Amorites; though the above writer seems to understand it of preservation from the dangers of their enemies in the land of Canaan.

Joshua 24:17 In-Context

15 "But suppose you don't want to serve him. Then choose for yourselves right now whom you will serve. You can choose the gods your people served east of the Euphrates River. Or you can choose the gods the Amorites serve. After all, you are living in their land. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."
16 Then the people answered Joshua. They said, "We would never desert the Lord! We would never serve other gods!
17 The LORD our God himself brought us and our parents up out of Egypt. He brought us out of that land where we were slaves. With our own eyes, we saw those great and miraculous signs he did. He kept us safe on our entire journey. He kept us safe as we traveled through all of the nations.
18 He drove them out to make room for us. That included the Amorites. They also lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord. That's because he is our God."
19 Joshua spoke to the people. He said, "You aren't able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won't forgive you when you disobey him. He won't forgive you when you sin against him.
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