17 March

Bible In 365 Days 

Joshua 22-24

Joshua 22

We now begin the third and last division of the Book, which tells the story of the final things circling around Joshua's farewell and passing. The first incident recorded is the return of the two and a half tribes to their possessions on the west of the Jordan. As they departed, Joshua addressed them, first commending them for fulfilling the covenant they had made with Moses in helping their brethren. He then charged them concerning the future, that they should be obedient to the commandments of the Law. How they might fulfil this charge he explained in brief and suggestive words, the principal thoughts of which were that they were to love, to walk, to keep, to cleave, to serve.

After their return, they built an altar east of the Jordan. To the erection of this the nine and a half tribes objected, not because they had any fear of their brethren possessing within the actual borders of the land so recently divided, but because the act of erecting an altar seemed to indicate the setting up of a new center of worship. In their protest they invited their brethren to come into the land and possess it if the land allotted to them was unclean and urged them not to commit the sin of departure from God. The reply made was that so far from desiring to set up any new worship, their altar was erected as a sign to their children and to all others that their worship was identical with that of their brethren, who had passed over to the eastern side of the river.

Joshua 23

As the time approached for Joshua's passing, he twice gathered the people together and delivered to them his farewell messages.

The first of these is contained in this chapter. Its burden was of the power and faithfulness of God, with the declaration of an earnest desire for the faithfulness of His people to Him.

His references to himself were very brief, the principal ones being, "I am old and well stricken in years," and "I am going the way of all the earth." Only incidentally did he refer to his own work. After having declared that Jehovah had brought them in he said, "Behold, I have allotted unto you these nations"; "I have cut off' your enemies." In contrast to this his references to Jehovah were constant.

"Jehovah your God hath done," "Jehovah your God, He will thrust out." Urgently and earnestly he charged, "Therefore, be ye very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book the law of Moses"; "cleave unto Jehovah your God"; and closing with the most solemn warnings as to what would happen if they departed from their allegiance.

Perhaps his warnings were more fiery and searching than those of Moses. The address is a wonderful revelation of the strength of the man, and of that strength as consisting in his acute consciousness of the relation of the people to Jehovah and his consequent passion for their loyalty to God's law.

Joshua 24

Here we have the record of the final address of Joshua. In it he first concisely and comprehensively traced the Hebrews' history from the call of Abraham and did so in the form of the speech of Jehovah to them. In the brief compass of eleven verses the pronoun "I" as referring to Jehovah occurs no less than seventeen times. The whole movement emphasized the truth that everything of greatness in the history of the people was the result of divine action.

Then he appealed to them with a touch of fine irony. If they would not serve God, he called them to choose whom they would serve, asking them whether they would go back to the gods of their fathers beyond the river or turn to the gods of the Amorites in whose land they were now dwelling. Thus, by presenting the alternatives to loyalty to Jehovah he made patent the foolhardiness of disloyalty. He ended with the declaration of personal decision: 

"As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Then we have a dramatic description of what followed. The people declared their choice of God as against any other gods. From an intimate knowledge of them Joshua declared that in spite of their declared choice they were not able to serve God. It was a strange outburst and one wonders whether the tone was of scorn or of intense pity. The subsequent history of the people shows that the words were prophetic. Again the people affirmed their determination to serve the Lord and Joshua called them to put away all strange gods. Everything ended with the making of a covenant and the erection of a memorial.

The Book closes with an account of the death of Joshua and the death of Eleazer. It is significant that in the midst of the darkness of death there was something almost weird and yet full of the suggestion of hope. The bones of Joseph were buried in the land.