Joshua 24

Joshua gathered the tribes 1
I brought your fathers out of Egypt 5
Balaam tried to curse you; crossed the Jordan; I gave you the land 9
Serve the Lord sincerely; I and my house will do so 14
May we not forsake the Lord; He brought us up 16
You cannot serve Him; He is holy; with strange Gods He will hurt you; put them away 19
People said we will serve him; Joshua made a covenant and set up a stone 24
Joshua died; people served the Lord in his time and after, Eleazar died; Joseph's bones buried 29
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Text
Explanation
.1 ¶ And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

Shechem. photo from 1800s
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.2  And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
 3  And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
 4  And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

  1 - Gathered ... to Shechem "Another and final opportunity of dissuading the people against idolatry is here described as taken by the aged leader, whose solicitude on this account arose from his knowledge of the extreme readiness of the people to conform to the manners of the surrounding nations. This address was made to the representatives of the people convened at Shechem, and which had already been the scene of a solemn renewal of the covenant (Jos 8:30,35). The transaction now to be entered upon being in principle and object the same, it was desirable to give it all the solemn impressiveness which might be derived from the memory of the former ceremonial, as well as from other sacred associations of the place (Ge 12:6,7; 33:18-20; 35:2-4)." (JFB Commentary). See north area of map.
  1 - Before God We may see this to imply the presence of the ark.
  2 - Thus saith the Lord Joshua was speaking by divine inspiration.
  2 - Flood From nahar, "river." Reference is to the Euphrates.
.5  I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
 6  And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
 7  And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
 8  And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
  6 - Ye came unto the sea Although more than half a century had passed, some who were children or youth then would remember nu1429. The others could identify with them and their history.
  7 - Your eyes have seen Only 50 years had passed since the exodus and many of  those who were children saw it.
.9  Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
 10  But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still [should be "greatly"]: so I delivered you out of his hand.
 11  And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
 12  And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
 13  And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
  9 - Balak ... warred He didn't engage in physical battle but tried to attack them by a curse. nu23, nu24, jg1125.
  10 - Blessed you still Should read "blessed you emphatically."
  12 - Hornets God had promised ex2328, de0720. The Amorites were "smitten by the sword" nu2124,35. The Israelites made them run as if chased by hornets. Of course God could have sent literal insects, too. Maybe He was waiting for them to claim His promise.
.14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
.15 ¶ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
  15 - Choose you this day The great principle of free choice. God does not force us as the fallen church has tried to do da0725. Compare de1126, je1807.
.16  And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
.17  For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
 18  And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
  16 - God forbid Literally "profanation be to us from serving." Or "We would be cursed."
.19  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
 20  If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
 21  And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.
 22  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.
 23  Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.
  19 - Cannot serve They (we) were incapable of glorifying God while in rebellion. Also God does not share with false gods.
.24  And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
 25  So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
 26  And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.
 27  And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
 28  So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.
  24 - People said This is the third affirmation. Also ex1908, ex2403.
.29 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
 30  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.
 31  And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.
.32  And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
.33  And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.
  32 - The inheritance See on jn0412. See 12 tribes map. or the Canaan map.

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