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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Joshua 24:14 - 24:25
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The Exaction of the Promise to be Faithful
v. 14. Now, therefore, with all these blessings and merciful kindnesses in mind, fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth, without all pretense and feigned devotion, for all hypocrisy and false piety is an abomination in the sight of the Lord; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, in Mesopotamia, and in Egypt, for heathenish, idolatrous superstition was still found among the people, although not in its gross form, Lev_17:7; and serve ye the Lord.
v. 15. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, for true service requires the conviction of the heart, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, beyond Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, the Canaanitish nations, in whose land ye dwell, this form of challenge being the very strongest admonition to loyalty. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. This declaration of Joshua, with all its simplicity, contained a mighty appeal, just as all similar confessions do, arousing the sluggish and strengthening the weak to rally around the Lord.
v. 16. And the people, evidently deeply affected by Joshua's fervent sincerity, answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, the very idea of such apostasy was far from their minds;
v. 17. for the Lord, our God, He it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, as the Lord had reminded them in the address of Joshua, and among all the people through whom. we passed;
v. 18. and the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land, as they here gratefully acknowledge; therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God. They turn from the service of other gods with every indication of extreme loathing, of deep aversion.
v. 19. And Joshua said unto the people, in testing the sincerity of their position, Ye cannot serve the Lord, that is, not without His assistance, for He it is who must work both to will and to do; for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God, Exo_19:6; Exo_20:5; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. So they should not promise faithfulness lightly, but in the full consciousness of the import of their words.
v. 20. If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, Gen_35:4, then He will turn, assume an entirely different attitude toward them, and do you hurt and consume you after that He hath done you good. Jehovah demands unwavering loyalty, steadfast allegiance.
v. 21. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. They persist in their determination and uphold their resolution.
v. 22. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves, their declaration would serve as a testimony against them, that ye have chosen you the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. They fully agreed to all that Joshua had said.
v. 23. Now, therefore, put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, even the last remnant of idolatrous superstition, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel, who demands all the heart, all the soul, and all the mind in His service.
v. 24. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord, our God, will we serve, and His voice will we obey. It was the third solemn assurance of loyalty and obedience.
v. 25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, in exacting this promise from them, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. It was a second renewal of the covenant made with Israel on Mount Sinai, Exo_19:20. It is a great and serious thing to serve the Lord, a matter which no man can perform in his own reason and strength, but only in the strength of the grace of God.