Joshua 24:22-33 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
let’s get into today’s GAME passage, Joshua 24:22-33. Let’s go!
Joshua 24:22-28 (NIV)
22 Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.
23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.”
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws.
26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of theLORD.
27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”
28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
On verses 22-28: Here Joshua leads the Israelites in making a covenant, a legally binding agreement, between the Israelites and God where the Israelites commit to serving God and obeying Him. He uses a large stone as a witness (i.e. a reminder) of the commitment that the people have made. After this Joshua sends the people home.
What can we learn from this?
1. Why did Joshua lead the Israelites in making this formal covenant to serve and obey God? It is because Joshua understood an important principle about spiritual growth: we grow based on the commitments we make. If in our relationship with God or in any other worthwhile endeavour we operate based on our feelings alone (e.g. “I’ll obey God only when I feel like. I’ll read God’s Word only when I feel like it. I’ll pray only when I feel like it. I’ll go to church only when I feel like it.”), we will never grow. Instead, we will remain wishy washy, feelings-driven, weak and unstable. It’s by making commitments and sticking to them that we grow up spiritually and in Christ-like character. Though some people are scared of the word “commitment”, the fact is that you will not grow in any substantial way without commitment. Is there a commitment you need to make in order to grow? Maybe it’s to get baptized to identify yourself as a believer, or to start reading your Bible regularly, or to protect your time in church. Don’t fear commitment, because commitment is necessary for growth and success. Instead fear what you will miss out on if you never commit.
2. Joshua’s final act as a leader was to lead the people in committing themselves to God. That is a sign of a great leader: the greatest leaders do not call people’s attention to themselves and their greatness. Rather the greatest leaders call people’s attention to God and God’s greatness. Their goal is not make themselves famous, but to make God famous. May you be that kind of leader.
Joshua 24:29-33 (NIV)
29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.
30 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31 Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.
32 And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.
33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.
On verses 29-33: Here we read about the death of Joshua, one of the greatest leaders Israel had ever seen. Perhaps verse 31 best summarizes Joshua’s impact: “Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him” (v31). The remaining verses describe other important leaders in Israel’s history being laid to rest: first Joseph’s bones (v32) and Eleazar the priest and a son of Aaron (v33).
With the death of these leaders, there would be a great need for new leaders to rise up and lead the Israelites to be faithful to the Lord. This is one difference we see between Moses and Joshua. With Moses there was a great emphasis on preparing Joshua to become the new leader of Israel. For some reason there is much less evidence in the Old Testament that Joshua prepared an individual in the next generation after him to lead. Could this be the reason why in the decades that would follow Joshua’s death, “Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17:6) and this would usher some of the darkest, most painful and embarrassing days in the history of Israel? Maybe.
What can we learn from this? The greatest leaders cannot lead forever. Thus with every generation there is a need for today’s current leaders to be investing in and raising up new leaders who can lead the people into the future.
Heavenly Father, may I not fear commitment or run away from commitment, since You use the commitments we make to grow us into the people we were made to be. May I be committed to raising up a new generation of leaders so that long after I’m gone God’s people will not be short of great leaders to lead them. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
That brings us to the end of our look at the book of Joshua. I hope you’ve been blessed by this book as much as I have.
