Ep. 63. Joshua 22-24 | Return and Warning
EPISODE 63
RETURNING AND WARNING: JOSHUA 22-24
There was a lot to cover in these three chapters today—a lot of things to review. The conquest of Canaan took about six years, and after that, the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned to the East side of the Jordan River, where they had left their families before crossing into the Promised Land with Joshua and the rest of the Hebrews. The Lord had given his people "rest." Though you and I know that it was not the final spiritual rest promised by God that could only be found in Christ. (Psalm 95:7-8; Hebrews 3,4)
In the same chapter, Joshua says, "Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves." You will remember that this is the sin Balaam led the people into in Numbers 25 when the Hebrews intermarried with the Moabite women and worshipped false gods. Tweny-four thousand fell dead in a day. That event happened about three to six months before the people entered the Promised Land and, therefore, about 6.25-6.5 years before Joshua chapter 22. At this point in the story, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was high priest.
Joshua warns the people of Israel not to intermarry with the people of Canaan, a sin for which the people will be judged by both Ezra and Nehemiah hundreds of years in the future and a sin that will lead the people of God astray. Those people of Canaan that were allowed to live became snares and traps to the people of God.
It is interesting to note in 24:2 that Abraham and his father were idol worshippers across the river. Sometimes, we assume that Abraham started as a God-fearing, faithful man, but that was not the case, though we aren't given that insight in Genesis 12.
Without a doubt, the most famous verse of this particular section is Joshua 24:15, at least the last half, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." I think what we miss is that this section of scripture begins with Joshua telling the Hebrews to put away the idols they have accumulated in their journeys. Abraham left idolatry to follow the living God, and it is only fitting that Abraham's descendants should turn from idolatry to the living God. Joshua says, "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." The people insist they will serve the LORD, though it is a dishonest and rash statement. The rest of the Old Testament retells the unfaithfulness of the Israelites with a few exceptions. Joshua even tells the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD." In fact, they wouldn't. They would remain somewhat faithful to God for as long as Joshua lived, but when he and the elders of that generation died out, the next generation of Jews would neither know God nor the things he had done. Imagine that! The next generation did not know God or the things he had done. It goes just that quickly. A half-hearted generation of people will raise up a generation of people who do not care for the things of God. Let that be a warning to us, and may we be bold to pass on to the next generation the things of God.
I often think of one of my favorite verses, "Even when I am old and gray, o God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to the next generation, your power to all who will come." Psalm 71:18
ADDITIONAL READING: Judges 2:7-10; Numbers 22-25; Joshua 2,6; Joshua 7; Exodus 14; Numbers 33:55; Psalm 95:7-8; Hebrews 3,4; Ezra 9-10; Nehemiah 13: 23-31
