The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Choose” it comes from the Hebrew Word “bachar” which means “to choose, to select.”
Joshua gathers all Israel one final time, and gives them the clearest challenge of his entire life. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Joshua 24.
Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and retells their entire national story on God’s behalf, from Abraham’s calling beyond the river, through Isaac, Jacob, and the descent into Egypt, the deliverance under Moses and Aaron, the wilderness journey, and the recent conquest of the very land they now stand in, “a land for which ye did not labour… vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.”
Joshua challenges the people directly. “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.” He gives them a genuine, open choice, whichever gods their ancestors served, or the gods of the land they now live in, but declares his own decision plainly and famously. “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
The people respond enthusiastically that they too will serve the Lord, recounting His faithfulness throughout their history, but Joshua warns them soberly that serving a holy, jealous God is no small commitment, and that turning away afterward would bring real consequences. The people insist repeatedly that they will serve the Lord, and Joshua makes a covenant with them that day, setting up a great stone as a witness to their words. The book closes with Joshua’s death at 110 years old, and a note that Israel served the Lord throughout his lifetime and that of the elders who outlived him and had witnessed all the great works the Lord had done for Israel.
Joshua’s famous declaration, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD, wasn’t made in isolation. It came at the end of a long life spent personally witnessing God’s faithfulness again and again. His challenge still stands as one of Scripture’s clearest calls to genuine, deliberate commitment, choose today, and choose deliberately, rather than simply drifting.
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