Joshua Final Words

We will see two addresses Joshua leaves Israel with. His final words challenge them to remain true to the Lord. If not, then the curses will come rolling in.
We are not told how long it has been since Joshua finished dividing up the land, and this first address. And we are not told where this first meeting takes place. It has been long enough that all the people have dispersed from Gilgal and gone into their own territories. I imagine that they have been in battles, aimed at securing the land for themselves. We know from history that they were not completely successful in riding the land of its previous inhabitants. Many times, we are told that ____ lived among them. This puts them in grave danger of incorporating the beliefs of other nations into their own.
The second meeting happened at Shechem. This was the place where Abraham purchased a burial plot. Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah are all buried there. This is also the area where Joseph’s bones were buried, after bringing them from Egypt. It is the site of Joshua’s most famous address. “Choose this day Whom you will serve… As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15b)
Let’s join Joshua as he speaks to Israel as a whole the final two times.
♥ ♦ ♥
It has been many years since all of Israel went to their own territories. Each tribe worked to clear the land given to them from its previous inhabitants. But none of the tribes had complete success. The Philistines were still deeply entrenched in the land Judah was given. Jebusites still inhabited the city of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin. Dan had it the worst of all. His territory illuded his grasp, to the point that he gave up. He seized another territory instead. But all the tribes are relatively comfortable in their places. They have even come to accept the ‘remnants’ of the original people in their territories. This allows them to have rest from warfare.
From Timnath-serah Joshua sends out a message for ALL of Israel’s elders, heads, judges, and officers. Every tribe was told to come to Joshua; including the tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan. Joshua had set a meeting time far enough in advance that the people would have time to receive their ‘invitation’ and to travel to his home.
This is the first time that Joshua has called the people together since dividing up the land. Leadership has changed hands a little since them. The older generation is beginning to die off. But Joshua has kept abreast of the changes. He is excited that Caleb will be among the attendees. Caleb is Joshua’s oldest surviving friend. When they parted ways after parsing up the land, Caleb was off to battle for the town that he chose as his own; Hebron. He was still full of vigor at the age of 85. And Joshua was too! He used his strength to conquer Timnath-serah. His own strength was waning now. He was more than 100 years old. He expected to be going the way of all things soon.
People began arriving the morning before the date of the actual meeting. Caleb was the first to arrive. This gave the two friends a little time to themselves.
“Shalom Joshua” Caleb calls to him as they near one another.
“Shalom Caleb my friend. It is good to see you!”
“And you my friend. You are looking a little grey around the temples” Caleb chided Joshua.
“You’re not the dark-haired young man you once were either, old friend.”
“This is true! I’m slowing down in my old age too. But the Lord has been good to me. I can’t complain.”
“You probably could, but who would listen” Joshua replied with a grin.
“This is also true!” Caleb turned serious after a moment. “What is with the meeting? Has something happened?”
“No. Nothing like that. It’s just that I AM getting old. I want to call Israel to remembrance one again as Moses did before his passing.”
“We can always use a reminder to stay true to the Lord. Even I need a reminder on hard days, as to where my source lies. Thank you for doing this.”
The two old friends got to spend time catching up on one another’s lives as the rest of the attendees trickled in. By the time the meeting was scheduled to start, ALL who were invited had arrived. Joshua was pleased to see this. They continued to honor him as their leader, even when spread across the land.
After everyone was settled, Joshua got right to the point.
“I’m old. I’m well advanced in years and won’t be here with you much longer. I want to encourage you to keep yourselves aligned with the Lord. You have seen for yourselves what the Lord has done for us. How he has driven the original inhabitants from the land. He will continue to do this if you remain true to His word. If you neither turn to the left, not turn to the right from the Law that the Lord your God gave you through Moses’ His servant.”
“There are still inhabitants in the land that you have not yet driven out. If you remain committed to the Lord, HE will push them from your midst. But if you allow them to remain, and mix in marriage with them, you will come to regret it. They will bring their god into your midst and you will begin chasing after them. They will be a snare and a trap for you. When you do this, the Lord will no longer drive them out for you.”
“Again, I’m ready to depart this earth. You know this to be absolute truth; that the Lord has fulfilled ALL His promises to you. All the good that He promised to do among you. To give you a home that you didn’t have to build, fields that you didn’t have to plow, and vineyards you didn’t have to plant. This is because you obeyed the Lord your God with all your heart. But know this absolute truth also; if you forsake the Lord and chase after other gods, He WILL bring upon you all the curses which He swore to do. To drive you from this land which He gave to you and make you a nation no more.”
Joshua’s words are hard. But they are truth. The truth that Israel needs to hold fast to all its days.
After Joshua finishes sharing, the group breaks up. Some stay another day or so to visit with one another. It has been a long time since the tribes have come together. They are enjoying catching up with one another. There is also a renewed sense of urgency of completing the work the Lord called for them to do. Sharing with one another what still needs to be done is fostering some alliances between a few of the tribes.
Joshua is both sad and relieved to see the people leave. It has been nice, being part of the large group again. But it is nice to have a quiet home again.
Three months go by and Joshua can feel death beckoning him. He has one more time he wants to address the people before he goes. This time it will be at a very important place from Israel’s past; at Shechem. The place where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all buried. A holy place to the people.
Joshua invites ALL of Israel to attend, but most especially the leaders again. He knows that this will be his farewell address to the people. THIS address is straight from the Lord. He has given Joshua words to It is a ‘recap of Israel’s journey’ to share with the people.
It is wonderful to see how many people actually came for this final meeting. Joshua looks out over the fields where the people have gathered. There are more than when they were last together. “The family is growing” thinks Joshua. It is time to address the people. Without preamble, Joshua launches into the words the Lord desires to share with His people.
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out.
“‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’ (Joshua 24:2-13)
Joshua looked out over the people again. He was looking to see if he could tell if the Lord’s message was sinking into their hearts or bouncing off. He closed his eyes for a moment, then shared his heart with them.
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
The people were quick to respond. And it came from the heart. “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” (Joshua 24:16-18)
Joshua shook his head. He knew this people. They would eventually fall away. He called to them with a challenge which he hoped would at least forestall that eventuality. “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” (Joshua 24:19-20)
The people cried out more earnestly. “No, but we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:21b)
With steel in his eyes, Joshua charges the people. “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” (Joshua 24:22a)
The people adamantly agreed. “We are witnesses” (Joshua 24:22b)
Joshua called them on their current behavior. He KNEW that their hearts were entertaining thoughts of other gods. “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” (Joshua 24:23)
The people cried out in one voice; “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” (Joshua 24:24)
Joshua nodded his head. He would accept the people’s word. He would accept their covenant with him. He prayed with ALL his heart that it would survive his lifetime, and that it was a sincere covenant with the Lord more than anything else.
To bind the people to this covenant, Joshua wrote everything that they had agreed to in the scrolls alongside the words of Moses. This was their word to the Lord more than to any man. Joshua also decided to set up a visual reminder for the people. He chose a large stone as a reminder. He picked it up from where it lay and brought it to a Terebinth tree that stood sentry beside the graves of their ancestors. Joshua placed it there on the ground under the tree. Then he spoke to the people.
“Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” (Joshua 24:27)
The people were happy to accept this ‘witness’ against them. They had every intention of keeping their promise to the Lord. After a moment of contemplation, Joshua dismissed them to their own inheritance.
“Go with God.”
It wasn’t but a few days later that Joshua breathed his last. At 110 years old, he rested with the Lord. He was buried in his own inheritance; Timnath-serah. The people remained faithful for all of Joshua’s life and for the lives of all the elders who had outlived Joshua and known all the works that the Lord had done for Israel.
(to be continued)
Joshua’s words about choosing for his house, if for no one else, is posted in a LOT of homes today. I wonder how many of those plaques speak the truth for those homes. I made that pledge, but didn’t post a plaque, for my family as they grew up. I still hold with that in my house today, even though all the children have grown up and moved away. My only sorrow is that they didn’t carry that commitment into their homes. I stand believing that God is not through with them yet because of the verse in Proverbs. “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
Father God, I too choose YOU. I don’t want the gods of the world in my heart. Help me keep Your throne clear at all times of ANYTHING but YOU! Let me stand with Joshua in sincerity. And for the rest of my life. Have Your way in my children’s lives. Do whatever it takes to bring them back to You.