Lesson 27 – Joshua Chooses the Lord

1.    Joshua 7-23

a.    Joshua's battle and conquests, only some of which is confirmed by archeological evidence,

b.    Much of the conquest here attributed to Joshua were not actually accomplished until Saul and David.

c.     Records the division of the land among the tribes.

d.    Chapter 23 may have been the original ending of the book.

Reading the Scripture

Ø     Joshua reminded the people that God gave them a land on which they had not labored, towns they had not built, and the fruit from vineyards they had not planted.

§        How has the church today benefited for the work of those in the past?

§        What kind of legacy are we leaving for future generations?

 

Making the Story Your Own

1.    Look up the word idolatry. 

Use paragraph 6 of the “Bible Background” to help you name some of the gods or idols people worshipped in the past. 

Although we may not bow down to carved statues today, there are many other idols that compete for our attention, our time, and our money.  Such idols keep us from fully loving God.  Look through magazines or newspapers to find examples of idols that strive for our allegiance today.

What makes something an idol in today’s world?

Why are we tempted to give our allegiance to idols?

What can make a positive interest (such as sports, cars, home decorating) turn into idolatry?

How can we resist the temptation to worship idols in our daily life?

Memory verse: Joshua 24:15

“Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region 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 the LORD.”

 

Bible Background (taken from Journey through the Bible, Christian Board of Publications, 1995, p. 87)

1Passages like Joshua 11:16-20, which come from a later time in Israel's history (about the seventh century B.C.E.), claim too much. They say that Joshua and his forces took over all the land of Canaan from the far south to just below Mount Hermon in the north. But exceptions are made in later chapters of Joshua and in the book of Judges. See, for example, the numerous cities and towns that are not taken; these are listed in the descriptions of the allotments to the various tribes of Israel, as presented in Joshua 13-19 --cities such as Gezer and Megiddo, and Jerusalem. The more sweeping statements describe the situation from a later time, after David's conquests, and after the spread of some of the tribes across the Jordan River to the east.

2We also can see that the details about the tribal allotments are presented in two ways. One way lists the boundaries of the tribes, while the other lists the chief towns and cities of the tribes. These are woven together in chapters 13-19. In addition, we have materials about the cities of refuge (Joshua 20) and the cities assigned to the Levites (Joshua 21), plus the dismissal of the warriors from the tribes that were to settle in Transjordan, once the land had been possessed (Joshua 22).

3At the end of the book comes a very important speech from Joshua to the tribal leaders (Joshua 23). Very probably, this chapter preserves for us information about a regularly repeated ceremony between the two mountains that surround the ancient city of Shechem, located about thirty miles north of Jerusalem. This ceremony is either an annual or a seven-year event, a ceremony of renewal of the covenant between God and the tribes, reaffirming the people's commitment to the God of Israel and to the intertribal laws and customs that bound them to one another. Politically, the tribes maintain their unity through this covenant bond, even though-as we can see in the book of Judges -- they have no official leader and often no official headquarters.

4What unites the tribes and makes them see themselves as one people of God? It is their shared history, recited regularly at this central gathering place, and found now in the opening part of Joshua 24. It is a story of God's acts of salvation, beginning back in Mesopotamia, where Abraham and his family worshipped other gods. But God took Abraham, led him to Canaan, gave him Isaac, gave Isaac Jacob and Esau, and gave Esau a separate inheritance while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. Then God gave the people Moses and Aaron, who led them out of Egypt. God saved them at the Red Sea, guided them during the long stay in the wilderness, and saved them from the two kings who fought against them in Transjordan and from the king of Moab. God brought them into the land of Canaan and gave them victory over the various enemies who confronted them in the land of Canaan.

5This story of God's saving acts concludes with a reminder that these leaders of the people who stand before Joshua are themselves the beneficiaries of all God's gracious acts. Now the time has come for the people to reaffirm their allegiance to God. Will they serve the God of Israel or will they not? The choice is theirs, and the choice is a deadly serious one.

6Three options are listed. The first is the continuing worship of the God or gods of their ancestors in Mesopotamia. The second is the worship of the gods of Canaan--specially Baal and Asherah, the high deities of western Semitic religion. And the third, of course, is the God of Israel, Yahweh. Joshua insists that he and his household will worship Yahweh, and clearly, he is inviting the people to say that they will do the same.

All the people agree, and Joshua demands that they turn over to him all the objects of worship that belong either to the traditional religion of their ancestors or the religion of Canaan. They do so, and these objects probably were buried there at Shechem Then Joshua makes a covenant with the people and gives them the laws by which they are to live. We can see that this ceremony reaffirms and ratifies the covenant making and law giving that took place at Mount Sinai. Then the people are sent home.

8In this ceremony of Joshua 24 we have almost an "Order of Service" for an early Israelite gathering for worship. First, the people's representatives gather. Then the story of God's saving acts is presented. The people are called to make a decision, and they are reminded of the seriousness of making a solemn commitment to God. They decide, in effect affirming the "creed" of the community. The covenant bond is sealed, with the giving of the demands. There no doubt were hymns and prayers as well, and some ritual act, such as we find in Deuteronomy 27, probably occurred too. The similarities with Christian worship, with its readings from scripture, creed or confession, sermon or address, and holy communion, are quite evident.

9This accomplished, Joshua dies, and the stage is set for the period of Israel's judges. We turn next to those stories.

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 Scripture

JOSUAH         

CHAPTER 24                                                                                      

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel;  and they presented themselves before God. 

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors--Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor--lived beyond the Euphrates and 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;  and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.  Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. 
When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.  When they cried out 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 to Egypt. Afterwards 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 handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.   Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I rescued you out of his hand. 
When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you.  I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove 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 towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant. 

"Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region 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 the LORD." 

Then the people answered, "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 ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along 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." 

But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot 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."  And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve the LORD!"

Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses."  He said, "Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." 

The people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and him we will obey." 

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. 

Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the LORD. 

Joshua said to all the people, "See, 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, if you deal falsely with your God." 

So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.

After these things Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old. 

They buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.  Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.  The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. 

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

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