JOSHUA CHAPTER 23-24,
“Joshua’s Farewell Address”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. In our last study, we looked
at chapter 22 and the return to their own land of the tribes of
1.1.1. We saw that things went awry
when the tribes that were to take their possession on the wilderness side of
the Jordan River leave Joshua and the army of Israel to return to their homes
as they built an altar monument on the Canaan side of the Jordan River in order
that their children in future generations would remember that they belonged to
the tribes of Israel on the Canaan side of the Jordan River.
1.1.2. We saw that things went awry
because the tribes on the Canaan side of the Jordan River thought that these
three tribes were rebelling and turning away from the Lord because they had
built this thing that was forbidden for them to build, an altar. Thus, these tribes began to come together to
go to war against the tribes who were to take their inheritance on the
wilderness side of the
1.1.3. We saw though that the
tribes on the Canaan side of the Jordan River sent a delegation to the tribes
on the wilderness side of the Jordan River to determine why they had built this
altar, and this delegation was soon convinced that they were innocent of
building an altar for worship.
1.2. In our study today, we are
going to finish up the book of Joshua as we look at chapters 23 and 24 and
Joshua’s farewell address to the tribes of Judah as he was nearing death,
almost 20 years after they initially crossed over the Jordan River to take
possession of the land of Canaan. We
will see that Joshua gives them some warnings and reminders and then admonishes
them. Then, he brings the whole nation
together to make a re-committal covenant between themselves and the Lord.
1.2.1. Looking back at the book of
Joshua:
1.2.1.1.
We have seen over and over again how that the book of Joshua symbolizes
for us as Christians the victory and blessing in Christ that we can walk in as
we walk claiming and appropriating all of the promises that are our inheritance
as Christians “in Christ.”
1.2.1.2.
We have seen also so many ways that this man Joshua, whose name is
identical to that of Jesus and means “Jehovah saves,” is a type of Jesus in the
Old Testament.
1.2.2. In Chapter 23 Joshua brings
the leaders of the people together and shares with them parting words.
1.2.2.1.
Joshua wants to point out to them that it is the faithfulness of the
Lord that has kept the nation together and given them every victory.
1.2.2.2.
Joshua tells them to be firm and to be sure to keep and do all of the
law of Moses, and not to turn from it to the right or the left.
1.2.2.3.
Joshua tells them not to associate with these nations nor have anything
to do with their gods.
1.2.2.4.
Joshua tells them to be diligent to take heed to love the Lord their
God.
1.2.2.5.
Joshua reminds them of the blessing and the curse of the law of Moses,
a blessing for obeying the Lord and His law, but a curse if they turn away from
following the Lord and disobey.
1.2.3. In Chapter 24, Joshua brings
the entire assembly together and leads them in a re-commital covenant to the
Lord their God.
1.2.3.1.
Joshua reminds them of the mighty way in which the Lord delivered them
from
1.2.3.2.
Joshua reminds them of the victories in battle that the Lord gave them
during the period of their 40 year wilderness wandering.
1.2.3.3.
Joshua recalls for them the incredible victories that the Lord brought
about for them from all of the nations whom they conquered within the
1.2.3.4.
Joshua then tells them to choose this day whom they shall serve,
whether the Lord or the gods of the nations they had conquered.
1.2.3.5.
Three times the people tell Joshua that they will choose to serve the
Lord.
1.2.3.6.
Joshua writes their words down and then creates a re-commital memorial
for their children within the land to remind them of their covenant which they
made with the Lord on this day.
2. VS 23:1-3 - “1 Now it came about after many
days, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every
side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years,2 that Joshua called for all
Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers,
and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years.3 “And you have seen all that
the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord
your God is He who has been fighting for you.” - Joshua gathers together the elders of the
people, their heads, judges, and officers in order to address them before his
death
2.1.
This verse occurs in time almost 20 years after the children of
2.2.
The Lord had given the children of
2.3.
We know how important a person’s parting words are to those whom he
leaves behind. When I read the gospels,
especially the gospel of John, I am struck with what care Jesus, for whom
Joshua is a type, took to prepare His disciples for their lives after He would
die upon the cross. You can see Jesus
preparing them for this time from John chapter 14 all of the way up until He
goes to the cross. Then, after Jesus has
raised from the dead He again prepares them for life after He has ascended up
to heaven giving them the “Great Commission” to carry out preaching the gospel
to all creation and making disciples of all of the nations.
2.3.1. Here, we see Joshua is
trying to impart all that he can to the children of
2.4.
Joshua now wanted to pass on to the leaders among Israel on this day a
sense of what he had seen the Lord do among them throughout all of his years,
his understanding of the faithfulness of the Lord and well as the Lord’s power
to keep all of His promises. Then, he
also wanted to admonish them to obedience and love of the Lord.
2.5.
In these verses, Joshua wants to
impress upon the people not how great their faith, zeal, or commitment to the
Lord had been, but the fact of how the Lord Himself had been fighting for them
and given them victory over all of their enemies, i.e. what great things God
had done.
2.5.1. The book of Joshua is a
testament to what the Lord did on
3. VS 23:4-5 - “4 “See, I have apportioned to
you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the
nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the
setting of the sun.5 “And the Lord your God, He shall thrust them out from
before you and drive them from before you; and you shall possess their land,
just as the Lord your God promised you.” - Joshua
reminds the leaders of the people that the Lord had apportioned the lands of
their inheritance and that He would still thrust their enemies from that land
if they were to trust Him and to go up to battle their enemies
3.1. There was still much work to
do in the Promised Land for each of the tribes of
3.2. We know that it was the case
however that the children of
4. VS 23:6-10 - “6 “Be very firm, then, to keep
and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not
turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,7 in order that you may not
associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name
of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to
them.8 “But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this
day.9 “For the Lord has driven out great and strong nations from before you;
and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.10 “One of your men
puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just
as He promised you.” - Joshua tells these leaders of
Israel to be firm and to be sure to keep and do all of the law of Moses, and
not to turn from it to the right or to the left
4.1. Joshua tells the leaders of
the people that they are to be careful not to associate with any of the peoples
of the nations that still remained within their lands.
4.2. Joshua tells the leaders of
the people that they are to “cling” to the Lord, using the word in the same
sense that Adam and Eve were to “cleave” to each other in the oneness of being
‘one flesh’ in the marriage covenant.
4.2.1. The marriage covenant and
oneness was to symbolize for God’s people of all time their relationship with
the Lord their God.
4.3. In verse 10, Joshua reminds
the leaders of the people of the Lord’s promise in Lev. 26:7-8, “7 ‘But you
will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword;8 five of
you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and
your enemies will fall before you by the sword.”
4.3.1. Joshua reveals to us by
quoting this verse that he had been faithful to hide the Lord’s word in his
heart. All of us as Christians must be
faithful to hide the Lord’s word in our heart, to read, study, and memorize it.
5. VS 23:11-13 - “11 “So take diligent heed to
yourselves to love the Lord your God.12 “For if you ever go back and cling to
the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with
them, so that you associate with them and they with you,13 know with certainty
that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before
you; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and
thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord
your God has given you.” - Using great wisdom, Joshua
tells the leaders of the children of
5.1. The true test of love is
“obedience.” In John 14:15, Jesus said
to His disciples, “15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
5.2. The first and thus the
foremost commandment that was given to Moses, the one of the two commandments
that summed up all of the other commandments, was to love the Lord our God with
all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
5.2.1. Oh, how if we as God’s
people only truly loved Him as we should we would not have to have any other
worries or concerns for our souls, for we would always do the right things in
our life.
5.2.2. Hazel Hartwell Simon once
wrote a poem called “Love Makes Obedience” that portrays why it is so
important that we as God’s people are diligent to take heed to love the Lord
our God:
“Love makes obedience a thing of joy!
To do the will of one we like to please
Is never hardship, though it tax our strength;
Each privilege of service love will seize!
Love makes us loyal, glad to do or go,
And eager to defend a name or cause;
Love takes the drudgery from common work,
And asks no rich reward or great applause.
Love gives us satisfaction in our task,
And wealth in learning lessons of the heart;
Love sheds a light of glory on our toil
And makes us humbly glad to have a part.
Love makes us choose to do the will of God,
To run His errands and proclaim His truth;
It gives our hearts an eager, lilting song;
Our feet are shod with tireless wings of youth!”
5.3. Joshua gives the leaders of
the people a warning telling them that if they cling instead of to the Lord to
the nations which remain among them, and intermarry with and associate with
them, then the Lord will not continue to drive out the nations before them, and
those nations shall for them turn into a trap, a whip, and thorns in their
side, and they will eventually perish from the land that the Lord gave to them.
5.3.1. The children of
5.3.2. It is true for our lives as
Christians that whatever we submit to in our lives we end up being in bondage
to, and whatever is not God’s will for us that we allow into our life becomes a
thorn in our side and a trap we fall into.
6. VS 23:14-16 - “14 “Now behold, today I am going
the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls
that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke
concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has
failed.15 “And it shall come about that just as all the good words which the
Lord your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the Lord will bring upon you
all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the
Lord your God has given you.16 “When you transgress the covenant of the Lord
your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down to
them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish
quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”” - Joshua speaks to the leaders of the children
of Israel and reminds them of the faithfulness of the Lord as his departing
word to them, saying that not one of all of the good words of the Lord their
God had failed but all had come to pass as He promised
6.1. How important it is for us
as God’s people to listen to the testimonies of those who have served the Lord
for a lifetime, for when as Joshua they tell you that not one word of the Lord
has failed in their life this has great impact.
6.2. Joshua’s final words to the
leaders of the children of
6.3. Joshua reminds the leaders
here of the blessing and the curse of the Law of Moses. The words of the Lord are good and bring a
blessing if obeyed, however if one of God’s people disobeys the Lord’s
commandments then the Lord will also fulfill all of the threats of bringing
about the curse of the law upon him, for then the Lord’s anger shall burn
against him, and if he does not repent he might even be caused by the Lord to
perish quickly from off of this earth.
7. VS 24:1-4 - “1 Then Joshua gathered all the
tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their
heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before
God.2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah,
the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.3
‘Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all
the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.4 ‘And to
Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir, to possess it; but
Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.” - Joshua
gathered all of the tribes of
7.1. Joshua decided that before
he passed away that he not only wanted to address and admonish the leaders
among the tribes of
7.2. Joshua tells the people that
Abraham was called to go out from his people because Terah his father, and all
of his people, served other gods. Thus,
Abraham had to leave their influence so that he could follow and learn from the
Lord without pagan influence in his life.
8. VS 24:5-7 - “5 ‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron,
and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you
out.6 ‘And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and
Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.7 ‘But
when they cried out to the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians,
and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I
did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for a long time.” - Joshua reminds the children of
8.1. Pharaoh and all of his
armies were powerless to keep
9. VS 24:8-10 - “8 ‘Then I brought you into the
land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; and
I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land when I
destroyed them before you.9 ‘Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose
and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to
curse you.10 ‘But I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless
you, and I delivered you from his hand.” - Joshua
recalls for the children of
9.1. Numbers chapter 21 tells us
about how that the Lord gave the children of
9.2. The Old Testament does not
include that the children of
10. VS 24:11-13 - “11 ‘And you crossed the
10.1.
The nations destroyed by the children of
10.2.
When we consider the faithfulness of the Lord to His promises as seen
in the battles of the book of Joshua, we notice that the only battle that they
lost was the initial battle against the city of Ai, and this battle was lost
only because the man Achan had previously stolen something that was under the
ban from the previous battle at the city of Jericho. After that sin had been dealt with and the
things under the ban removed from the children of
10.3.
Joshua reminds the people that when they went into the land of Canaan
that the Lord gave them land, cities, vineyards, and olive groves which they
had not labored nor planted. These were
a tremendous gift that they were able to immediately possess after entering the
land referred to.
10.4.
The ‘hornets’ referenced here could be one of the many insects that
reside in the Land of Canaan which the Lord might have used to chase Israel’s
enemies in the land, or it could be a reference to what the Lord said that He
would do in placing the dread of them in all of the nations within the
land. We see that happening even before
the very first battle at Jericho when Rahab the Harlot told the spies that the
people of the city of Jericho were scared to death of the Israelites because of
what they had heard the Lord had done for them in delivering them from Egypt
and in the battles they won during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
11. VS 24:14-18 - “14 “Now, therefore, fear the
Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your
fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.15 “And if it
is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today
whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were
beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 16 And 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, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us
through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose
midst we passed.18 “And the Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even
the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our
God.””
- Using the words that have been framed
in many a Christian plaque, Joshua tells the children of Israel to choose on
this day whom they were going to serve, whether the Lord or the gods of the
people of the land, but as for him his house they were going to serve the Lord
11.1.
Pagan idolatry was something that was always such a temptation to the
children of
11.2.
Evidently, some of the children of
11.2.1. What a silly and foolish
thing it was for the children of
11.2.2. This is exactly what it is
like however for a Christian today to have had the Lord deliver him/her from
some bondage in his/her life and setting him/her free, but then later he/she
goes back and starts doing that same thing that the Lord delivered he/she from
before.
11.3.
It was good for the children of
11.4.
Bob Dylan wrote a song several years ago in which he said, “Your going
to serve somebody, it may be the Devil and it may be the Lord, but your going
to serve somebody!” Joshua was telling
the children of
12. VS 24:19-24 - “19 Then Joshua said to the
people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a
jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or 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 good to you.”21 And the people said to Joshua,
“No, but we will serve the Lord.”22 And Joshua said to the people, “You are
witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to
serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”23 “Now therefore, put away the
foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the
God of
12.1.
We see in chapter 24 as Joshua appeals to and admonishes the people to
serve the Lord, that three times the children of
12.2.
There is something very interesting here in verse 19. After the children of
12.2.1. There is something here for
us as Christians, and that is that we in and of ourselves cannot serve and
please the Lord. The power of our flesh
and our propensity to do wrong is too great, not to mention the fact that the
standard of God’s holiness is perfection.
You see, as I have mentioned many times, the abundant and fruitful
Christian life is not a difficult life to live, it is impossible to live. We Christians can only live this life in such
a way as pleases the Lord because of the Holy Spirit’s living within us and
empowering us to live the life. The Lord
has to live this life through us in the power of the Holy Spirit, and we have
to die to self and surrender to His lordship in order for Him to do this
through us.
12.2.2. Paul in Phil. 4:13 wrote
about how that as a result of the Holy Spirit’s power living and working within
him that he was able to do all of the things that the Lord wanted him to do,
“13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
13. VS 24:25-28 - “25 So Joshua made a covenant
with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in
Shechem.26 And 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
for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He
spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, lest you deny your
God.”28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.” - Joshua made one last memorial for the
children of
13.1.
Joshua wrote the words of the people’s re-committal covenant to the
Lord in the book of the law of God, and then he made as a memorial a large
stone and set it up there under an oak tree by the sanctuary of the Lord.
14. VS 24:29-33 - “29 And it came about 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 in the territory of his
inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the
north of Mount Gaash.31 And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and
all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of
the Lord which He had done for Israel.
32 Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought
up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from
the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and
they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons.33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron
died; and they buried him at Gibeah of Phinehas his son, which was given him in
the hill country of Ephraim.” - We read
here that Joshua died and that they buried him in the territory of his
inheritance in Timnath-serah in Ephraim
14.1.
Though Joshua is believed to have written this book, this last
paragraph obviously had to be written by a later editor or copyist, just as the
last paragraph in the book of Deuteronomy could not have been written by Moses
though he wrote all of the rest of the first five books of the Bible.
14.2.
Verse 29 I believe indicates to us that the children of
14.3.
We read here a sad epitaph in verse 31, and that was that the children
of
14.4.
The children of Israel had been carrying around with them the bones of
Joseph ever since they had left Egypt because it had been Joseph’s desire (Gen.
50:24-25; Exod. 13:19) for his bones not
to be left in Egypt but to that he be buried with his people and in the land of
promise, thus here we see in verse 32 that they buried his bones there in
Shechem.
14.5.
We read here that Eleazer the son of Aaron died and that they buried
him at ‘Gibeah of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of
Ephraim.’
14.5.1. J. Vernon McGhee wrote that
he saw in this verse the fact that the people had already begun turning away
from obeying the word of the Lord because the Levites and descendants of Aaron
were to have no land of their own and yet that Eleazer’s son had been given a
piece of land in Canaan.
15. CONCLUSION:
15.1.
Here in this chapter, we have been brought face to face with many very
practical truths which pertain so clearly to our own lives:
15.1.1. We have been brought to
remember the faithfulness of the Lord to keep every promise of His word as we
consider all of the works that the Lord performed on the behalf of
15.1.1.1.
Delivering her from the Egyptians.
15.1.1.2.
Delivering her from the nations on the wilderness side of the
15.1.1.3.
In giving her victory over all of her enemies in the
15.1.2. We have been brought to
remember that we must be firm and be sure that we keep all that is written to
us as God’s children, in His word. All
of His commandments and teachings.
15.1.3. We have been brought to
remember that we must be diligent to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind,
soul, and strength.
15.1.4. We too have been brought to
come to that place that we must choose whom it is that we will serve, whether
the Lord or one of the gods of the nations.
We will serve something because we as people were created as beings that
must either serve the Lord or serve some other god or idol that we set up.
15.1.4.1.
Choose with me that you and your house too shall serve the Lord!