This is a part of a sermon series on the book of Joshua. You can watch more here.
Sermon Manuscript
You know those moments in life when you are with a friend or family member making decisions and you think to yourself, “That doesn’t seem like the greatest decision?” Has that ever happened?
It might be a romantic relationship, it might be a career choice, it might be a financial decision, it might be ordering kale at a restaurant but there is this sense in you that it isn’t going to go well for that person.
Most of the time we can’t see these moments in our own life but we are amazingly gifted at seeing it in the life of other people.
Now, in our culture we are not very comfortable with conflict so most of the time we don’t say anything, right? Most of the time we have those inner thoughts and then a month later, 6-months later we hear about pain and difficulty in the life of that person and we say to the people around us, “Saw that one coming!”
In our passage this morning, Joshua sees some patterns in the people of Israel that are going to lead to pain and heartache, so Joshua gathers the people together to bring those things to the surface, so that we see get to see why these hard conversations are important. Let’s look at Joshua 24:1:
Joshua 24:1, “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.”
Big picture, Israel has crossed over the Jordan River, defeated of Jericho, battled the sin of Achin, battled the deception of the Gibeonites, then defeated the southern kings, the sun stood still, the northern kings, so that in Joshua 24 Joshua gathers the people of Israel to “present themselves before God.” Do you see that at the end of verse 1?
The idea you need to have in your mind is that of a worship service. You know we’re not here to simply listen to music and wise words for the day? We’re here to worship! We’re not here to check off a religious duty for the week. We’re here to worship! We’re not here to just see some friendly faces, we’re here to worship the glory of God! That’s the context of Joshua 24. Look at verse 2:
Joshua 24:2, “2 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.”
There is a tendency today for us to look at Israel and assume Abraham, the father of Israel, was this godly man that the Lord sought out to birth the nation of Israel but in verse 2 we see Abraham’s spiritual background is idol worship. Do you see that at the end of verse 2?
Abraham is out worshipping rocks, trees, and little pieces of wood when the glory of God calls Abraham to Himself by grace through faith in the Lord.
In the same way, you need to know, all of humanity starts off worshipping other gods. Amen? I know our culture likes to think “idol worship” is something that happened in the ancient world but we are all like Abraham, worshipping other gods, until the glory of God calls by grace through faith to trust in Him. Let’s look at verses 3-5:
Joshua 24:3-5, “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 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. 5 Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.”
Do you see what Joshua is doing by going through the history of Israel? It isn’t an academic lesson. There was a promise made in Genesis 12 that God would provide the land for the sons of Israel to become a nation and now 700 years later those great, great, great, great, grandchildren are standing in that land, so that Joshua is saying, “Look at what God has done!” Look at 6-9:
Joshua 24:6-9, “6 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. 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.”
Notice the use of the pronoun “I” used throughout our passage this morning? The book of Joshua is not about the glory of Israel. It is all about the glory of God. It’s easy to think the Old Testament is about Israel. Israel thinks the Old Testament is about Israel but it’s not.
This is what Jesus is doing in the gospels when Jesus speaks to the religious leaders in Israel. You thought it was about the law, it was about Me. You thought it was about the sacrifices, it was about Me. You thought it was about prophets, priests and kings; it’s about Me. It’s all about God’s glory.
The Apostles do this as well so that when you read Romans, 1 Peter, Acts; they are all starting with Old Testament stories and showing how all those points of history are there to lift our eyes to the glory of God made known in Jesus.
Listen to me, I don’t know where you are in your spiritual journey. I don’t know what struggles have taken place in your past, I don’t know what challenges you’re going through in your present but the hand of the Lord is upon you in those moments.
It isn’t the hand of the Lord to make all your dreams come true but it is the hand of the Lord, just like in the life of Israel, to draw you to Himself and lift our eyes to His glory. Let’s skip 10-11 for the sake of time and jump to 12-13:
Joshua 24:12-13, “12 Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’”
In Joshua 24 we are going to see Joshua press in on some concerns he sees in the people of Israel and in verse 13 we start to see some of those concerns coming to the surface.
Verse 13 is almost a direct quote from Deuteronomy 6 when the Lord warns Moses that there is going to come a day Israel will be tempted to turn from the Lord because they will be surrounded by so many blessings and so many comforts.
Remember, this generation in Joshua grew up in the wilderness. This generation grew up in the desert. This generation grew up drinking water and eating manna from heaven for 40-years.
And then, there came a day that this generation entered into the land flowing with milk and honey. Then, there came a day when this generation started to eat from vineyards and orchards, tasting wine, raise livestock, engaging in commerce, building houses, taking naps, and now they are starting to grow spiritually comfortable.
Joshua is drawing a line from their past, so as to say, “Have you forgotten what the Lord has done?” Remember, we talked about this last Sunday. When we forget the FAITHFULNESS of God in the past, we forget the POWER of God in the present.” Joshua is pressing in on their souls.
Listen, I know some of us could read verse 13 about “taking a land which you had not built” and it can sound like God’s Word encourages us to take land from other people but you have to remember the context for all of Joshua is about the fulfillment of Genesis 12, so that Israel can become a people who bring forth a Savior that brings blessing to the whole earth.
We want to be careful that we aren’t reading 2024 headlines into God’s Word and misunderstand the focus of our passage.
The primary focus of our passage is that the Lord has provided all these things, so that instead of Israel devoting themselves to the Lord, we see Israel is turning back to the idols of worship. You with me? Look at verses 14-15:
Joshua 24:14-15, “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 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.”
Verses 14-15 are one of those famous verses you etch onto a pillow at your grandmother’s house, right? Verses 14-15 are one of our memory verses for the year. It’s a great verse but we can’t lose sight that verses 14-15 are a rebuke. Does that make sense?
In verse 14 Joshua says, “Put away the gods your fathers served in Egypt” because the people who have just seen the Lord doing mighty and miraculous things in their midst are worshipping and serving those gods in Egypt.
Wouldn’t you think after hailstones, sun standing still, walls of Jericho, fulfilling the promise of Genesis 12 that the idol worship would be gone? Yet in verse 15 Joshua says, “You need to pick one or the other?”
We see Jesus pick up on this same language when Jesus says, “If you want to follow Me then you need to leave your father, mother, brother, sisters, sons and daughters; or you have not part with Me.” Luke 9 someone says to Jesus, “Let me go bury my father.” Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead; follow Me.” Jesus is quoting Joshua! You need to pick one or the other!
You know we have idols worship around us still today, right? I know people in our culture like to think of themselves as non-religious or neutral but we are more religious than ever.
The average human being can’t control what we eat, how we lash out at our children, or stop scrolling on our phones; but sure, we don’t worship anything.
Even the atheist is worshipping something. It might be themselves, an ideology, wealth, significance, it might be humanity, but our souls were created to worship something; so that God presses in on our soul so as to say, “Choose today whom you will serve!”
Listen to me, I don’t want to move past this too quickly because this is hard. We live in an educated city that chases after success and achievement.
Throughout the week we’re in rooms and conversations with people where we feel pressure to achieve, win, succeed, be smarter, better, give more, so that there is a constant wooing of our hearts and minds to turn from the Lord and choose the world. Right?
And everything in us in those moments says, “I can do both!” I can serve both. I can win at both. I can give my heart, strength, soul and mind to the Lord and to the world. I can do both!
But God’s Word is pressing in on OUR soul, “No, you need to choose, you need to be either hot or cold but you can’t do both.”
I can play church and I can play idolatry. I can give the appearance of loving Jesus and loving the world. And God’s Word says, “No, you need to choose, you need to be either hot or cold but you can’t do both.” Let’s see how the people will respond. Look at verses 16-18:
Joshua 24:16-18, “16 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 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.”
That’s it! That’s what we want to see, right? Joshua raises the banner, “As for me and my house” in verse 15 and in verse 18 the people of Israel respond, “We also will serve the Lord.” That’s it! Everyone stands! The worship team comes up! Joshua 24 comes to an end, right? Look at verses 19-20:
Joshua 24:19-20, “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.”
In verses 19-20 it might be a little confusing, so hang in there with me. In verses 19-20 Joshua is reminding the people of Israel that God is holy. He is glorious. He isn’t one of many. He is jealous.
This is hard for us to see, because people have talked about God’s love, grace and mercy so much that we just assume God is supposed to love us, so that in verses 19-20 Joshua is saying, “You can’t just get excited emotionally, make a commitment to the Lord and call it a day!”
In fact, if you’re going to group the glory of God in cluster of these other gods then it would be better for you to serve those other gods, because He is a jealous God.
He knows He is the only One who brings life, He knows He is the only One who sustains all of creation, He knows He is the only One who satisfy, therefore, when we give our affections to these lesser, man-made idols, it bothers. Does that make sense?
Sometimes we can make this mistake in the local church and we want to make Jesus so palatable that Jesus is just grouped in with the idols of our heart but the glory of God is never presented as a bundle package.
Jesus is constantly pushing us to follow Him, calling us to be devoted to Him, wooing us to turn from this world and put Him first, so that in verses 19-20 Joshua is pressing in on their souls so as to say, “Are you sure?”
I remember when I started the process of becoming a pastor I had an old pastor sit me down and say, “You don’t want to do this.” He said, “You’re going to be poor your whole life.” He said, “It’s going to challenge your marriage, your children; you don’t want to do this.”
Therefore, God’s Word presses in on our soul, “Are you sure?” It’s going to be hard. It’s not about coming to a worship service. It’s not about working less hours so you can serve the unfortunate. It’s not about trying to be a moral person, because He wants the whole of our lives. Look at verse 21:
Joshua 24:21, “21 The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.”
In verses 19-20 Joshua says, “Are you sure?” In verse 21 the people say, “We’re ready” so Joshua leads them in their commitment to the Lord. Look at verses 22-25:
Joshua 24:22-25, “22 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 Israel.” 24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice.” 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.”
Joshua receives their commitment and Joshua leads the people of Israel in a commitment to the Lord. There are witnesses to their commitment. There is a rock that is established as a reminder of their commitment but you need to the wooing of this world doesn’t end.
This generation walked closely with the Lord but somehow the idols of the world keep popping up and the idols of this world keep beckoning our hearts away from the lord.
Judges 2:7-10, “7 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua…and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.”
When we turn the page to Judges we see the next generation raises up who somehow found those idols and slowly drifted from the Lord, so that Joshua 24 is ultimately lifting our eyes to our hope in Jesus.
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