January 25, 2020
The Last chapter of the book of Joshua. Joshua 24 New King James Version
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.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 Nahor: and they served other gods.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.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.(this is how they got into Egypt; but originally they were in the land of Canaan. The Land belong to God all along)I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.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.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.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.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:But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.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.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.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.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.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.And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;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: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.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.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.And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord.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.Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.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.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.So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.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.And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath–serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.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.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.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.
Commentary from the NIV STUDY BIBLE
- The altar was a cut piece of stone but it served as a testimony of a commitment that took place at the Jordan River
- Joshua gives farewell speech and he recalls the Lord's victories
- He also remains them to be loyal to the lords covenant
- what is the covenant?
- If they turn away then they could not remain in the promise land
- if they made allegiance with foreign nations it would compromise their allegiance to God
- the people in the land would become snares and traps pushing them out of the land
- they could remain in the land only through keeping the covenant.
- the land had conditional promises attached to it
THE COVENANT
The COVENANT GOD MADE WITH ABRAHAM
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Source:
"The Background of the Covenant with Israel
God’s covenant with Israel, also known as the Mosaic Covenant, is based on God’s promises made to Abraham. God’s covenant with Abraham established the basis for the birth of a nation to be known as Israel. The reference to Abraham appears several times in the exodus narrative (e. g., Exodus 3:15-17; 6:3-4, 8).
In the covenant God established with Abraham, God promised that Abraham would become the father of a nation and promised that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Thus, the promises God made to Abraham were also made to Abraham’s descendants: “I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:7).
Source
the bible gatway
God’s Covenant with David
And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.” 2
Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’ Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again; and the wicked will not waste them anymore as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.
Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”’” According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
My thoughts.
The COVENANT GOD MADE WITH ABRAHAM
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Source:
"The Background of the Covenant with Israel
God’s covenant with Israel, also known as the Mosaic Covenant, is based on God’s promises made to Abraham. God’s covenant with Abraham established the basis for the birth of a nation to be known as Israel. The reference to Abraham appears several times in the exodus narrative (e. g., Exodus 3:15-17; 6:3-4, 8).
In the covenant God established with Abraham, God promised that Abraham would become the father of a nation and promised that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Thus, the promises God made to Abraham were also made to Abraham’s descendants: “I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:7).
Source
the bible gatway
God’s Covenant with David
And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.” 2
Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’ Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again; and the wicked will not waste them anymore as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.
Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”’” According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
After reading the entire passage of Joshua I am blessed. I am not sure what you are thinking but as I read this I am touched. God is almost pleading with them and since we are reading he is pleading with us. To me his voice and his word choice implies a plea. Something similar to this,"Remember when I did this, I also did that, and I made this happen for you" now what do you want to do. Do you want me or do you want another God. On a personal human note when we sin we I do not think we see how it makes God feel. We enter into fellowship with darkness and other things but to us its just us doing us. I think that's why it says in the New Testament, Take up your cross. Sometimes we will deny ourselves in order to walk with God. He sees the spirits whats happening in the heavens. We are just on the earth doing the things we think we want to do. I am glad we have savior because we are really dumb sometimes. We all need help. Who can say that they have it all together and the ones that say or think they have it all together need the most help because that devil is always at work getting us to do or say something against God. I know we need the Holy Spirit to understand and know what to do and what to say. If you have no need you are a perfect person but I have a need and I thank God I know it.
The last chapter of Joshua
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