Covenant of Willing Obedience

 Joshua 24:1-33 

    1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. 4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out. 6 ‘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. 7 So they cried out to the LORD; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. 13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
    14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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.”
    16 So 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 bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”
    19 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 nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”
    21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!”  22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!”  23 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.”  24 And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”  25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
    26 Then 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 that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” 28 So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.
    29 Now it came to pass 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 within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.  31 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.  32 The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.  33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

Joshua’s final speech turned to remind the people called by God of their origin and God’s work to lead and guide them for His name’s sake,for His glory.  He recounted Abram coming from Terah as men of other gods who were led through Canaan and multiplied to fill the earth as the original command to Adam was first given.  He recounted Jacob called temporarily to Egypt tomultiply more and his descendants to suffer greatly until drawn out to the LORD by His mighty hand of deliverance.  He reminded them of the Red Sea making a way out of darkness and covering the darkness of Egypt’s slavery in the depths.  Then there was the wilderness wandering and battles against their enemies, and deliverance to take the land of Canaan which Abram was promised long before as he traveled through it.  Because of all the LORD had done by grace in His calling, they were reminded to serve Him truly in sincerity by putting away all other so-called gods and being devoted entirely to Him as the only one who just is, the only God that really exists.  Joshua pledged to serve Him only, along with his family, and challenged the people to commit to the same.  They agreed to do so, even after Joshua warned them about turning away again.  This he said several times to them so there was no mistaking their commitment, no glib assent to quickly forget.  They promised to put away other gods and serve Him only and obey His word.  Then they made a covenant to seal the deal and remain truly accountable before God and man, and Joshua then recorded this in writing, putting the book in the sanctuary as a testimony to witness their commitment.  Then he laid down to die at one hundred ten years old, the people holding to their promise for a while after his and his son Eleazar’s passing.  They were not to remain loyal to the LORD for much longer, unfortunately.   This is a warning and example for us as well to continue running the race toward the upward call of God in Christ as Paul reminded us later in the scriptures; these things are examples for us to learn from, and an encouragement to know He now lives in us according to a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34, Hebrews 8:9-13) of His sacrificial blood (Colossians 1:20) to make willing obedience possible at last so that we do not continually wander away and lose our sole devotion to follow and worship the Living God all our lives.  This is our covenant of willing and joyful obedience.  Amen and amen!