NL 106: Joshua Renews the Covenant

Joshua 24:1-26

Oct 16, 2022

Joshua 24:1-26

Initial Thoughts

  • “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” makes a beautiful arts and craft project to hang in your home.  Somehow, I feel like this cheapens the solemn act of covenant that happens here.

Bible Study

  • Literary Context

    • Near the closing verses of Joshua.  One of the last things he does alive. Before it closes, they bury the bones of Joseph in the promised land

    • Promise of Genesis: You will be a great nation in this land.

      • Takes place in Genesis 12:6-7 “Abram traveled through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, at the oak of Moreh.The Canaanites lived in the land at that time. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I give this land to your descendants,” so Abram built an altar there to the Lord who appeared to him.”

    • Genesis closes with a great nation in the wrong land

    • Exodus closes with the nation on the border of the land.

    • Joshua is the story of possessing the land.  It contains some of the most disturbing parts of the Bible. They are now a great people in the land

      • Do you read Joshua as God ordaining horrendous violence OR do you read Joshua as a history of the victors justifying the violence they used to win?  Is there another way to read Joshua?

  • All of Israel - everyone is gathered to renew the Covenant - this is not forced upon them, but a choice presented - will they be God’s people or not?

    • Even the history begins with a reminder that their ancestors- before Abraham - worshiped other Gods.

  • “I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built…”

    • Focus is on God’s work, “I sent... I plagued… I brought… I handed…” - Not a self-made nation

    • God reminds them that their existence is dependent upon God, and God alone.

    • Gratitude and acknowledgement for all that God has done (compare to Deuteronomy 26:5-9, Psalms 78; 106-106; and 126)

    • it has become common to think of Joshua 24:2–13 as a kind of creed. That is, this text was one of several formulae that served as an official statement of what Israel believed about God’s beneficent care in the past Jerome Creach, Interpretation: Joshua, p. 122.

    • NRSV and CEB translates: “Now go and revere the Lord.”

      • CEB Study Bible note: “The word revere is sometimes translated ‘fear,’ but the rendering here is most helpful.  The term has to do with the reverence and honor for God seen in complete devotion.”

      • “Fear the Lord,” seems to be in direct contrast to Jesus’ call to “Fear not.”  How are these things related?  Does this reveal the nature of God that is changed from the Old and New Testaments?  Does Jesus' claim to “fear not,” go against the OT claim to “fear the Lord”  or is it a misunderstanding of the OT’s use of the word ‘fear.’  There is no way that Jesus is saying “Respect Not,” or “Be irreverent.”  Or maybe he is saying, “lighten up” or do not be paralyzed by fear

  • Joshua puts forth a choice: “Serve the Lord” or “serve the other gods.”  You cannot serve both (reminiscent of Jesus’ claim that no one can serve two masters)

    • You can serve the gods of your ancestors

    • You can serve the gods of this land and this people (Amorites)

    • You can serve Yahweh, but this will be the hardest

    • Sarcasm - “There is surely a note of sarcasm here: if you really want to serve foreign gods, just take your pick between Metopotamian and Canaanite deities.” Robert Alter, “Joshua”, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, p.72.

    • Sarcastic especially in light of all Yahweh has already done

  • Aftermath dialogue

    • Joshua: “My family is going to serve the Lord.  What about you?”

    • People:  “Of course we’ll serve the Lord, he’s awesome.”

    • Joshua: “I don’t think you realize what you’re saying.  Serving the Lord is really hard, and he’ll get extra angry if you promise to serve him, and then don’t.”

    • People: “No really, we will serve the Lord.”

    • Joshua: “Alright.  Let’s mark this agreement with this big rock just in case someone forgets.  And by ‘someone’ I mean you, because God won’t forget.”

Thoughts and Questions

  • What does it mean to “serve the Lord?”

    • Put away other gods. - What is the modern equivalent of putting away other gods?  

    • “Inner devotion can be so vaporous, so vague and unmeasurable, that it is meaningless.  Perhaps for that reason verse 14 recalls Genesis 35:2-4, in which Jacob leads a ceremony of collecting and burying idols.  Joshua 24:14 may suggest a ritual removing of gods that might compete with the Lord as a sign of exclusive devotion.  This can be important for contemporary people of faith who find it difficult to reject the pervasive societal and cultural influences that mitigate faith in God” (Jerome Creach, Interpretation: Joshua, p. 125).  

      • This sort of ritual burying of false idols could have some potential for modern worship services, but could also slip into ‘book burning’ type of ritual that could be counter productive.

  • Is a wall hanging a pleasant reminder of the covenant, or a cheapening of what is meant?  It depends on the motivation, and the heart of those in the covenant.

  • An analogy: “A fitting similitude for modern people is the relationship of a person to a passionate lover. If the relationship leads to a marriage covenant, certain formal agreements apply. The obligation to the lover, however, is not fulfilled by mechanical compliance with stipulations. Imagine the absurdity of a partner in marriage greeting the spouse at the end of the day, ‘My commitment to you is complete today because I have not committed adultery.’ The relationship requires multiple expressions of love that can never be legislated fully. Moreover, the passion of the lover is naturally expressed as anger if the partner ignores or neglects the relationship” (Creach, p. 127)

Year 1Eric FistlerJoshuaComment