“‘Now therefore
fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served
beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the
Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served
in the region beyond 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.’ Then the people
answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other
gods…Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’” –Joshua 24:14-16, 18b (ESV).
History lessons are valuable in showing
us where we have come from in relationship to where we are now and what course
we are likely to follow in the future.
Our focal passage for today is just such a review, a time of remembering
and a time for present resolutions to direct a future course of action. Joshua, the great military leader of Israel
during the period of the conquest of Canaan had called a summit meeting of “the elders, the heads (of tribes), the judges, and the officers of Israel
(24:1). Joshua convened this meeting at
Shechem, an important city in the land newly-conquered by the Israelites. Located in the hill country of north central
Palestine, it became the first capital of the northern kingdom of Israel later
on in history. It had a long history for
the Israelites before they settled there after the Exodus, for Abraham was at
Shechem when he first arrived from Ur of the Chaldeans and became the first
patriarch of the nation of Israel. In a
sense, Joshua was presiding over a people gathered at Shechem as those who had
“come home again.” It was well that this
worthy leader reminded the people of their long history and how God had dealt
with them according to their faithfulness to the true God. Prior to the event recorded in Joshua 24, he
had also led the people to build an altar to God on Mount Ebal there, and renew
their covenant to the law of Moses (Joshua 8:30-35). To gather at the mountain at Shechem was
within itself a return to historical roots and significant milestones in
Israelite history.
Joshua exerted consequential leadership
in this summit conference. He told both
sides of the story: in their past, some
had been faithful to God and some had fallen into the ways of paganism. At this point in their history, it was time
to make a choice again. Joshua wanted
the people to understand a major point: “As for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord!” Can you not imagine how
clearly Joshua’s voice rang out to the many people gathered to see and hear
their great military leader? He declared
where he stood—firmly for the Lord God.
His stand inspired like loyalty in those gathered in the assembly. The people responded as Joshua no doubt had
hoped they would do: “Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for
He is our God” (24:18b). But Joshua the wise leader wanted more than lip
service from the people. He reminded
them that a thorough cleansing had to occur.
They were to put away any idols they had erected to pagan gods…”and incline your heart to the Lord, the God
of Israel” (v. 24). Only then was
Joshua willing to make a covenant with the people. To seal the covenant, Joshua took a large
stone and set it up as a memorial to the place where they pledged their
faithfulness to the Lord. This was the
seventh stone in particular locations throughout the land God had given
them. The others were at Gilgal (Joshua
4:20), in the Valley of Achor (7:26), at Mount Ebal (8:30-35) and Mount Gerizim
(8:32) [these were on either side of the city of Shechem], at the cave in
Gibeon (to mark victory over five kings in that area, 10:27), and at Gilead
(22:34).
Prayer: God, thank you for strong leaders such as
Joshua of old who were unashamed to stand for right and declare it. In our prayer for America, we pray for
strong, godly leaders, those who will be unafraid to own their dependence on
God and declare their intentions to seek what is right. Hear our prayer, O Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment