The reading
Joshua 24:1-15
1 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. 2 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. 3
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. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess,
but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 Then I sent Moses and Aaron,
and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you
out. 6 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. 7
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. 8 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. 9 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, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so
I rescued you out of his hand. 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 "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.
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."
The message
Last week, we heard the 10 commandments and the story of how
this set of laws for living faith and community entered the life of people of
Israel. This week, we move on to the story of Joshua. Joshua was one of Moses
assistants, one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land
of Canaan. This was dangerous and important work as the people make their way
to the promised land. After the death of
Moses, Joshua becomes the leader of Israel, he takes on the authority and
responsibility to lead the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan (a story told
in the books of Numbers), After victory, Joshua is responsible for dividing the
new land, allocating portions to each of the 12 tribes as they live in God’s
kept promise to Abraham (The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country,
your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you”
I have just started teaching a diaknoina course on the first
400 years of church history. We stated
with something simple and obvious but very important, we have a historical
faith, God acts in history, God communicates, corrects and is revealed to us
through historic events. Throughout the
Old Testament, we hear God self-identifying through actions, I am the Lord your
God, who led you out of Egypt, who took you to this land, who rescued you from
the sea, who defeated the prophets of Baal.
Today’s reading is Joshua’s last meeting with the people of
Israel (soon after, at 110 years old, he will die). It is Joshua confession of faith, his story,
his invitation to others to be like him and his household, to serve the Lord.
Joshua focuses on God keeping the promises of the covenant, God promised Abraham
numerous descendants, so Joshua reports:
Thus
said the Lord: 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.
God promised Abraham that those descendants would be the
people of God, that they would be blessed so Joshua reports Thus
says the Lord: King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, set out to fight against
Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not
listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I rescued you out of his hand.
God promised Abraham and his descendants land and Joshua reports:
Thus says the Lord, 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 olive yards that you did
not plant.
In this farewell speech, Joshua summarizes the books of
Exodus and Numbers, the plagues, the parting of the red sea, the improbable
victories over their enemies, the defeat of powerful kings and entry into the
land they are now living in.
The covenant is conditional, so far Joshua has only focused
on what God has done. Finally, towards
the end of this message, Joshua gets to the people’s part of the covenant. He poses a question and demands a commitment:
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.
Whom will you serve was a tough question. There were many
gods, deities, religions around the people of Israel to choose from. The ancient Egyptians, whose temples, statues
and scrolls still impress and fascinate us at sites and in museums today,
offered things you could see and touch, idols, highly ornate places and
powerful looking priests. The
surrounding religions had long histories and devout followers, they each
contained stories of great strength and signs of power. .
Joshua answers the question “who will you follow” first,
sharing one of the most well known passages in the Old Testament, the one we
read on plaques, pillowcases, signs, banners, church t-shirts and anywhere else
you can think of, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
Although not in our reading, Immediately after this question
is a conversation between Joshua and the crowd, where they commit to the
covenant. Joshua warns them again and again that this is not a joke, this is
not a decision to be taken quickly or lightly, entering this agreement with the
God of Abraham, Isaace and Jacob, the God who brought the people out of Egypt,
the God who gave them the promised land, is real and the consequences to
breaking the covenant can be dire. The people hear and commit.
Today, we focus on the actions of God centuries later,
we arehearing and following the Lord
your God, who saved you from sin and death through the sacrifice of Jesus, the
Lord your God, who healed the sick. the Lord your God who restored the poor, the
Lord your God who instructed us to love our neighbor as ourselves, the Lord
your God who gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life, the Lord your God who is present in the
world, the Lord your God who is still speaking news of welcome, comfort and
joy.
We face the same distractions and competition with no
belief, bad press, other faiths, we are
called to tell the story like Joshua did, Evangelism is about our story, testimonies,
recognizing the God who acts in our lives. We are invited to focus on what God has done
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