As for me and my house (Covenant Renewal): Joshua 24

   Living in the Promised Land: A study in the book of Joshua

 

To view this online as a video: https://youtu.be/LFLtzZQ_yPs

 

Lesson Twenty three:  Chapter 24: Three funerals and Renewal of covenant

 

A.    Introduction

1.     Greetings

 

2.     Overview. [For those online, see this book overview from The Bible Project (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqJlFF_eU  )

B.             Today’s lesson: Chapters 24. a renewal of covenant

Introduction

Do you often wonder in which direction you should be going? You have major choices to make about schooling or a mate, choices about compliance with government regulations, even vaccinations or choices about simple, daily pedestrian things like clothing or hairstyle. Looking forward, looking through fog, looking through your own ignorance, through situations over which you have little or no control. And you know it’s time and the place to make a choice, to go in a certain direction at a certain speed …. And you just cannot find the way. You are frozen by a lack of being sure.

Then let me give you a bit of help and advice. One of the biblical methods of making good choices is by looking backwards. “What?” you say. The Bible makes it clear we should not be looking back. “Remember Lot’s wife,” Yeshua warns (Luke 17.32). Yeshua also taught us, “no one after setting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9.62)

Here’s what I mean about looking backwards. In those days of indecision, when you cannot see the road ahead, I sometimes look back to how I got to this place. If you will, imagine you are in the Olympics and rowing. You suddenly find yourself in a foggy section of the race. The way forward is to keep going in the direction you had been traveling. That is accomplished by looking backwards and seeing your trajectory. Your pattern of life, your direction you previously set will determine where you are going in the next hour or the next stage of life. 

Isaiah the prophet said, “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain.” (Isa. 51.1-2)

That’s how Joshua ends his book for us. He calls all Israel to join him at Shechem, including all the leadership he had charged similar information in chapter 23, to look backwards. Look at the history of the people of God. By doing so you will remember the God of the people of God. Look to the rock from which you were hewn. Get your starting point right, and those other points when you saw or longed for God to be at work in your history. That will help you as you carry on. 

And you must carry on, because I’m 110 years old and fading. I won’t be here in a short while.

The history

Verse 2. He reminds us of our beginnings. Not the beginnings of the world, Genesis 1-11, but only of our beginnings. He starts with Abraham. Terah his father. Ur of the Chaldees. They were practicing idolaters. Then Abraham left (That’s Genesis 12.1-2) and the beginnings of the Jewish people. He travelled through Canaan. Verse 3. God gave him multiplied descendants. (See the hint of “God promised a multitude of nations, and He will do it!”). Verse 4 Jacob and Esau. Land distribution to Esau. Jacob and his sons head to Egypt. Skip 400 years and verse 5. God sent Moses and Aaron. Plagues. Verse 6. I brought you out. Verse 7. Red Sea and Egyptians swallowed up. Note this well…. Your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the Wilderness. From history to YOUR history. You were there. From ancient history to modern history. This is a crucial linkage.

Verse 8. The battles with the Amorites. Og and Sihon. Done and dusted. Verse 9. The story of Balak and Balaam and the Moabites. Balaam the false prophet gets a couple of verses. Fresh memories for those standing with Joshua at Shechem that day. The chronicles continue to show specific enemies of the Jewish people (Esau(Edom)) and Egypt, Amorites and Moabites, and there are more. Joshua won’t let the 12 tribes forget that we are still in a battle. 

Verse 11. New territory. Land of Israel. Crossed the Jordan, Jericho, the battle there. The 7 nations. I gave their land to you! Verse 12. Hornet sent before us, so we cannot claim the victory as being ours. God fought for us. Verse 13. The land gave us food to eat and cities in which to live; we built neither the vineyards and fields nor the cities. God provided for us. (Deut. 6.10-11)

The charge

After Joshua finishes this brief overview, I mean, imagine your taking 12 verses to write up your family history to today from as far back as you can get. How long would it take you? What would you include? More importantly, what would you omit? After the overview, he turns to the charge. 

Verse 14. Now in light of all that, fear God, serve him inside and out. Sincerity and truth. 

בְּתָמִ֣ים וּבֶֽאֱמֶ֑ת

In tamim and emet. Perfection and truth. With everything you have. Don’t omit anything in your service to the Lord. It’s a function of the first phrase. Fear the Lord. Deep unyielding surrender to the Lord of life, and get your relationship with him right. Then your service will not be in fear or hostility; it will not be man-pleasing of full of peer pressure. It will be vertically directed and vertically driven. God is our focus. God is our joy and our strength. Looking back through our history should produce a love and adoration, a thankfulness and a celebration of the goodness and power of God. 

Tamim. Perfect. Now don’t get lost in this, but let me give you some other biblical meanings to tamim. This from Butler’s commentary on Joshua, and I think very helpful about this word.

תמים, “totally,” can refer to the 

1)    completeness of a day or year (Josh 10:13; Lev 23:15; 25:30; cf. 3:9), but most often refers to 

2)    the perfection of an animal to be sacrificed (Exod 12:5; 29:1; Lev 1:3, 10; sixteen other times in Leviticus; eighteen times in Num 6; 19; 28–29; ten times in Ezek 43–46). In reference to 

3)    men, it is used only with Noah (Gen 6:9); as a command to Abraham (17:1); and for the original inhabitant of Eden (Ezek 28:15). It is the action expected of the 

4)    people with their rulers (Judg 9:16, 19). Its basic home is in cultic literature, where it describes the 

5)    actions of God (Deut 32:4; 2 Sam 22:31=Ps 18:31; Ps 19:8). It is the 

6)    demand made on the person who would enter the cultic worship (Ps 15:2) and the confession of 

7)    innocence by the worshiper (2 Sam 22:24=Ps 18:24; cf. 37:18; 84:12; 101:2, 6). The wisdom writers use the term sparingly to refer to the 

8)    righteous man who is blessed before God (Job 12:4; 36:4; Prov 2:21; 11:20; 28:10). Here then is a norm set up for men (Deut 18:13), but seldom ascribed to a man. The man who achieves it is often the victim of ridicule (Job 12:4; Amos 5:10).”

That said, don’t read this as ‘be perfect’ and get all tripped up in your own imperfections. God isn’t interested in nor impressed by perfected saints. He loves every person, COVID-vaccinated and anti-vaxers. He loves Liberals and Labor. He loves Jew and Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free. That said, he makes no excuses for our failures, nor should we. Reasons, yes, alibis, no. 

Becoming perfect is a long-ranged goal of every child of God. And it’s going to happen the same way the children of Israel won the territory of Canaan. How was that? God working with us, (Mark 16.20) driving out the enemy little by little (Ex. 23.23). At the end of our story, it will be “not by your sword or your bow. I gave you a land.” (verse 12-13) The Lord wants the work to be his and the glory to be retained in his own person.

Now before I go on with the rest of chapter 24, let me highlight that to some degree, this chapter fits the literary pattern of ancient Near Eastern treaties, commonly called a ‘suzerain’ treaty. This one doesn’t exactly fit the entire layout but is fairly close and certainly recognizable. It has a 1) Preamble (verse 2), 2) the historical prologue (.3-13), 3) stipulation (.14-15), 4) provision of a document of the treaty (.26), 5) witnesses to testify (.26-27), and 6) consequences of breaking the agreement, called curses (.19-20). As I say, it doesn’t exactly fit the template, but enough elements are there to help us locate this section in the timing, in the history of the world as about 1400-1300 BCE or so. 

Back to our chapter.

The stipulation

Verse 14. Fear God. Serve him inside and out. Put away idols. Serve God. Make a good choice: idols or the Eternal One. Verse 15. As for me and my house, we’re on God’s team. We will serve the Lord. We are signing the contract. You have free will to choose which way you will go. 

In this pair of verses the word “AVAD” is used 7 times. In fact in chapter 24, the word in its root is used 18 times! We are called to be devoted, to be enslaved, to be entrusted and committed to the One and only God. The choices are clear. Look back to see from where you have come and decide where you are going. To whom. With whom. 

Verse 16. The people answer. Nope—not the false gods. Our father Abraham abandoned them. We’re with him. And we are with you 100%.  Why? Verse 17. God delivered us. And our family. We are still witnesses. “in our sight” (still eyewitnesses). Verse 18. All the nations before us. We will serve the Lord. He’s OUR God. Sounds like the people in Moses’ day at Sinai. Na’aseh v’nishma. 

But now comes the change of conversation. Joshua turns to be the prophet. The one who says in verse 19, no, you are going to fail. You really do have a choice, but I’m afraid that you are going to serve foreign gods. You will turn away from the Lord. Shame is coming. 

Verse 21, the people reply, ‘No, we are really serious. Honest. We’re going to serve God.”

Verse 22. Joshua says, ‘OK, you are witnessing against yourselves.” This is exactly what Moses said in his swan song of Deuteronomy 32.  In other words, your own words will be brought up in a future court of law to remind your children that you promised, and when you fail, the justice meted to you will be deemed to be just. You are signing a contract, and when you break it, and you will, the punishments will be proper. It’s the same as the Tochacha of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. You will be cursed. 

They agree! 

Verse 23. Joshua charges them yet again. Put away the foreign gods and incline your hearts. This word for ‘incline’ struck me in study. It’s the word from the root Nata and means “to spread out, stretch out; to be outstretched, be spread out, be extended.” In other words, this is not a simple act of saying a word. This has to do with extending yourself. It’s not something about which you should be cavalier. In fact, I wonder if we were in a gathering, in an assembly hall, if I asked you who wanted to follow the Lord, if you would raise your hand. That would be similar to what Joshua is asking. But now, take that one more step—It has to do with going beyond the normal, and the simplistic, and stretching ourselves. To serve God.

Invitation

Dear friends, have you been born again to the living hope God promised? Have you committed yourself to the Lord of life, and said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord?” Yeshua died to give us the way into relationship with the Lord.   We love Yeshua because in his death he accomplished salvation for all people. He took the curse we deserved to give us his righteousness which he deserved. Forgiveness is available because of the death of our messiah.  

If you’d like to receive him today, just now, join me as we pray.

Say something like this: “Father in Yeshua’s name, forgive me my sin, I was wrong to dismiss you and to disbelieve in you. I need your mercy. I deserve punishment but you are kind and merciful and I receive your grace. I repent. I receive Yeshua as my saviour and Lord. I will live because of my faith in Messiah Yeshua. Amen.

If you prayed that, please let us know of your profession by writing straightaway, won’t you? Bob@JewsforJesus.org.au We’d love to hear from you.

 

Conclusion

We are delighted you have joined us today. Please join us next week as we cover a major topic in Joshua—that of Holy War. Then in a fortnight we begin a new series on the book of James, near the end of the Bible. Yaakov was his real name.  You will certainly see yourself in the readings, the applications, and see what lessons we can draw for ourselves from the text there!  

Hope to see you then… until next week, Shabbat shalom!

 

 

 

Bibliography

Butler, Trent C., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 7. Joshua. Word, Waco, 1983.

Davis, Dale Ralph, Joshua: No Falling Words, Christian Focus, Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland, 2019.

Hess, Richard. Tyndale Commentary Complete. 

Meyer, F.B., Joshua and the Land of Promise, Christian Literature Crusade, Ft Washington PA, 1977.

Pritchard, James, “The Bible reports on Gibeon.” Penn Museum, Expedition, 1961. Volume 3, Issue 4.

Sanders, J. Oswald, Promised-Land Living, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984.

Thompson, Frank Charles, Chain Reference Bible, Kirkbride Bible Co, Indianapolis, 1964.

Toms, Paul, This land is your land. Gospel Light Publishing, Glendale CA, 1977.

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D-Groups for this week

1)             Monday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse

2)             Monday 7 pm, Sydney time, led by James White

(Contact our office for zoom details)

If you’d like to host a D-Group either online or in person, please contact bob@jewsforjesus.org.au for further details. It’s time to step up. Ponder this—who will be in your D-Group?

 

The Book of Joshua:   Outline.

 

A.    Entering the Land (Chapters 1-4)

a.     Chapter 1: A funeral and a promise

b.     Chapter 2: A harlot saves the day 

c.     Chapter 3: Go against the flow (Part 1)

d.     Chapter 4: Go against the flow (Part 2)

 

B.    Taking the Land (5-12)

a.     Chapter 5: Roll away iniquity: a study in sacraments 

b.     Chapter 6: Joshua fit d’battle ob Jericho

c.     Chapter 7: Getting it very wrong: Achan and his mistakes

d.     Chapter 8: Combat and Covenant

e.     Chapter 9: Common sense is not so common

f.      Chapter 10: Southern dominance

g.     Chapter 11: How not to win

h.     Chapter 12: God is faithful

 

C.     Possessing the Land (13-21)

a.     Chapter 13: Inheritance lessons

b.     Chapter 14:  Caleb as an example with a side of contentment

c.     Chapter 15: Geography lesson

d.     Chapter 16: God’s ways are not our ways

e.     Chapter 17: Promise vs compromise

f.      Chapter 18-19: Apportionment continued

g.     Chapter 20: Cities of Refuge

h.     Chapter 21: Levite cities to the rescue

 

D.    Retaining the Land (22-24)

a.     Chapter 22: Can an altar alter anything?

b.     Chapter 23: Staying on edge

c.     Chapter 24: Three funerals and Renewing the covenant

 

The Seven Nations

 

1.     Amorite

2.     Canaanite

3.     Girgashite

4.     Hittite

5.     Hivite

6.     Jebusite 

7.     Perizzite

 

Josh. 24:1   Then ^aJoshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ² Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the ¹River, namely, ^aTerah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. ³ ‘Then ^aI took your father Abraham from beyond the ¹River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and ^bmultiplied his ²descendants and gave him ^cIsaac. ⁴ ‘To Isaac I gave ^aJacob and Esau, and ^bto Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but ^cJacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵ ‘Then ^aI sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt ¹by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. ⁶ ‘I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and ^ayou came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the ¹Red Sea. ⁷ ‘But when they cried out to the LORD, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And ^ayou lived in the wilderness for a long time. ⁸ ‘Then ^aI brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land when I destroyed them before you. ⁹ ‘Then ^aBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. ¹⁰ ‘But I ^awas not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his hand. ¹¹ ‘^aYou crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and ^bthe Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus ^cI gave them into your hand. ¹² ‘Then I ^asent the hornet before you and it ¹drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but ^bnot by your sword or your bow. ¹³ ‘^aI gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

 

Josh. 24:14   “Now, therefore, ^1afear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and ²truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the ³River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or ^athe gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

 

Josh. 24:16   The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of ¹bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸ “The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

 

Josh. 24:19   Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the LORD, ^afor He is a holy God. He is ^ba jealous God; ^cHe will not forgive your transgression or your sins. ²⁰ “^aIf you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” ²¹The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” ²² Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ^ayou have chosen for yourselves the LORD, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ “Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and ^aincline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” ^24 aThe people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and we will ¹obey His voice.” ^25 aSo Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. ²⁶ And Joshua ^awrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. ²⁷ Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, ^athis stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke ¹to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.” ²⁸ Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.

 

Josh. 24:29   It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old. ³⁰ And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in ^aTimnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.

 

Josh. 24:31   ^aIsrael served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who ¹survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

 

Josh. 24:32   Now ^athey buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground ^bwhich Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred ¹pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons. ³³ And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him ¹at Gibeah of ^aPhinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.