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Then Joshua gathered all the 
tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, 
for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers. And they 
presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, 
thus says the Lord God of Israel, your fathers, including Terah, 
the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the 
other side of the river in old times, and they served other 
gods. Then I took your father Abraham 
from the other side of the river, led him throughout all the land 
of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. 
To Isaac, I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau, I gave the mountains 
of Seir to possess. But Jacob and his children went 
down to Egypt. Also, I sent Moses and Aaron, 
and I plagued Egypt according to what I did among them. Afterward, 
I brought you out. Then I brought your fathers out 
of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued 
your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. So they 
cried out to the Lord, And he put darkness between you and 
the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. 
And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the 
wilderness a long time. And I brought you into the land 
of the Amorites who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, 
and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand 
that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from 
before you. Then Balak, the son of Zippor, 
king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel and sent and called 
Balaam, the son of Baor, to curse you. But I would not listen to 
Balaam. Therefore, he continued to bless 
you. So I delivered you out of his 
hand. Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And 
the men of Jericho fought against you. Also the Amorites, the Perizzites, 
the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, 
and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your 
hand. I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from 
before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with 
your sword or with your bow. I have given you a land for which 
you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and 
you dwell in them. You eat of the vineyards and 
olive groves which you did not plant. Now therefore, fear the 
Lord. Serve him in sincerity and in 
truth. And put away the gods which your 
father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve 
the Lord. And if it seems evil to you to 
serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, 
whether the gods which your father served that were on the other 
side of 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. So the people answered and said, 
far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other 
gods. 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, who did those great signs in our sight 
and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the 
people through whom we passed. and the Lord drove out from before 
us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the 
land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God. Joshua 
said to the people, you cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy 
God. He is a jealous God. He will 
not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake 
the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you 
harm and consume you after He has done you good. And the people 
said to Joshua, No, but we will serve the Lord. So Joshua said 
to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have 
chosen the Lord for yourselves to serve Him. And they said, 
We are witnesses. Now therefore, he said, Put away 
the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to 
the Lord God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, 
The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey. So 
Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made for 
them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote 
these words in the book of the law of God. And he took a large 
stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary 
of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, 
behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the 
words of the Lord which he spoke to us. It shall therefore be 
a witness to you lest you deny your God. So Joshua let the people 
depart, each to his own inheritance. Now it came to pass after these 
things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, 
died, being 110 years old. And they buried him within the 
border of his inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the 
mountains of Ephraim on the north side of Mount Gaash. Israel served 
the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders 
who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord 
which he had done for Israel. The bones of Joseph, which the 
children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried 
at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the 
sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver, 
and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. And 
Eliezer, the son of Aaron, died. They buried him in a hill belonging 
to Phinehas, his son, which was given to him in the mountains 
of Ephraim. Amen. We can turn back for just 
a moment to chapter 21, verses 43 to 45. Just a bit of a reminder, 
chapter 21, 43 to 45 is the theological summary of the entire book. Remember 
that verse 43 summarizes chapters 13 to 21, verse 44 summarizes 
chapters 1 to 12, verse 45 encompasses the whole book. So the Lord gave 
to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their 
fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord 
gave them rest all around according to all that He had sworn to their 
fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. 
The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not 
a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to 
the house of Israel. All came to pass." So there's 
the faithfulness of God highlighted. He made a promise to Abraham 
back in Genesis chapter 12 that he would give them a particular 
land. He has made good on that promise. They've gone into the 
land. They've conquered the land. They've 
possessed the land. They've inherited the land. And 
now chapters 22 to 24 emphasize the need for their faithfulness 
to God. So God has been faithful to Israel. 22 to 24 take up the theme, how 
do we keep the land? How do we retain the land? And 
the answer is that they maintain fidelity to God. Remember that 
in chapter 22 the issue specifically was faithfulness in worship. The western tribes got wind that 
the eastern tribes had put up an altar and that alerted them. They were mindful of the fact 
that God had told them that they were not to just throw up altars 
any old place. So they went and investigate. 
The Eastern tribes had simply put it up as a witness or a testimony 
and thereby were not breaking the commandments of God. So there's 
this desire to maintain unity among the tribes and the desire 
for pure worship. And then in chapter 23, it's 
Joshua's farewell address. He reminds them of God's presence 
and power in their history, and then he highlights the need for 
careful obedience in chapter 23 verses 6 to 13. So the way 
that we're going to retain the land is that we go into the land, 
we maintain purity with reference to worship, we maintain unity 
with reference to the tribes, and we maintain careful obedience 
with reference to the law of God. And then the book ends in 
chapter 24 with what's called a covenant renewal ceremony. You'll see this throughout the 
Old Testament. You'll see this at given instances 
in Israel's history where they renew the covenant with God. 
Here we see very clearly they are swearing fidelity to the 
God of Israel. And the book ends on a very positive 
note. I mean, other than the death 
of Joshua, that's a grief and a reminder of Joseph and Eleazar. But there is a very good note 
upon which the book ends with the people returning after this 
ratification ceremony to their land. So they've possessed the 
land. Now they're settled in the land. And then that sets 
the stage for the book of Judges, God willing, which we'll introduce 
next week. But in this covenant renewal 
ceremony, there are a few things that we need to take notice of. 
First, there is a historical review in verses 1 to 13. If 
you remember, we treated the book of Deuteronomy as a large 
covenant document. There are certain things that 
are unique, or certain things that are vital, or certain things 
rather that are essential to covenant, and the book of Deuteronomy 
sort of fleshes itself out as one large covenantal document. 
We see those same sort of elements here present in chapter 24. There's 
a preamble, an announcement of who the one is that's making 
the particular covenant. Here in chapter 24 at verse 2, 
it says, Thus says the Lord God of Israel. That's the preamble. It's God of Israel. It's Yahweh 
making a covenant with these people. There is a historical 
review. This happens in the beginning 
chapters in Deuteronomy. It happens here in verses 2 to 
13. There are stipulations involved in covenant making. In other 
words, this is what you're supposed to do, and this is what you're 
not supposed to do. We see that here as well. There 
are blessings and curses pronounced in a covenant ceremony. In other 
words, when the one making the covenant says, this is what you 
need to do, if you fail to do it, you will receive the curses. 
If you do what you're supposed to, you will be blessed. We see 
that in Deuteronomy 27. and 28. Very vivid detail. You go into the land and you 
obey God, blessed you will be. But if you disobey, all those 
curses of the covenant will be heaped up upon you. And again, 
the same sorts of things are evident here. Maybe not on that 
large of a scale like we find in Deuteronomy, But all the elements 
of covenant are here present in chapter 24. And then there's 
ratification. It was very common for the covenant, 
after it was made, and we see that here, that there would be 
a duplicate set of copies. When we look at the two tables 
of the law, we often see pictures of the Ten Commandments in there. 
They're pictured with the first five on this tablet and the second 
or the last ones on this tablet. Probably wasn't that way. All 
ten were on one and all ten were on the other. And what it was 
is like a duplicate copy. When you make a contract or a 
covenant in our day, you get a copy of that particular thing 
so that both the owner and the buyer, the purchaser, has a copy. Well, it was true of covenant. 
So these two tablets would be deposited in the Ark of the Covenant 
as a reminder to Israel that they were in covenant with the 
living and true God. So we see that ratification going 
on in this particular chapter as well. So all of those elements 
are present in this covenant renewal ceremony. But I want 
to look at this chapter. That's more of the structural 
outline. This is more of an expository 
outline. First, the historical review. 
Secondly, the stipulations of the covenant. Thirdly, its ratification. And then the book ends with the 
death of Joshua and Eleazar. But look at the historical review, 
and it's important that we get the location. Notice in verse 
1, then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem. This is Abraham's place. This is a very significant piece 
of property in biblical history. Remember, it was when God called 
Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he brought him into the land 
of Canaan. The first place that he made an altar was in Sheka. Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim 
were at Sheka. These were the mountains of cursing 
and blessing, respectively. Abraham received the promise 
of land at Shechem. Jacob returned to Shechem after 
a long exile. And remember that it was at Shechem 
that Jacob's family put away their idols. They buried those 
old earrings. So what we find here in Joshua 
is that Abraham's seed and Jacob's family have congregated here 
at the place that God had promised. God had told Abraham, I'm giving 
you this land. So what more fitting place could 
one possibly hope for for a renewal ceremony than where it all began. There is significance in this 
reality that they are participating here in Shechem. And it's from 
this vantage point that he then reviews history. And it's important 
with reference to covenant that we understand history. important 
with reference to our Christianity that we understand history. Davis 
says, we stand in the present, but we dwell on the past in order 
that we can be steadfast for the future. Even back in chapter 
23, in Joshua's farewell address, he reminds them of God's presence 
and power with them up until this particular point. He does 
the same thing when he renews this covenant. He wants to remind 
the people of God this historical prologue of where they had been, 
how the Lord had fought for them, how the Lord had delivered them. 
It is absolutely crucial for them to fuel their minds and 
hearts with that data and information so that they will pursue faithfulness 
in the land that the Lord God has given them. That's why we 
do the Lord's Supper. What are we doing when we gather 
together? We are remembering the death 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We stand in the present, but 
we're dwelling on the past so that we might be steadfast for 
the future. It is a reminder of God's redemptive 
benefit, God's redemptive work on our behalf. And we need to 
do this frequently. Yes, in the Lord's Supper, our 
daily Bible reading, we need to be filling our minds and our 
hearts with the faithfulness of God. You'll see that in the 
Psalter, especially in the Psalms of Asaph. Asaph tended to be 
a very melancholy fellow. When you read his particular 
Psalms, he's not the brother that's saying, bless the Lord, 
praise the Lord. He's the brother that's agonizing 
over the fact that the wicked are getting a lot of temporal 
blessing and the righteous seem to be having nothing but trouble. 
It's Asaph who pens Psalm 73. It's Asaph who pens Psalm 77 
and 79, where he's reflecting upon the fact that temple and 
city are in utter ruins. And so there's nothing present 
to encourage the brother's heart. So what does he do? But he reaches 
back in redemptive history. He remembers the events of the 
exodus. He uses this to buoy his soul 
so that he doesn't fall into despair. And it may be that way 
for us. There may be instances and times 
in our Christian life where it seems as if there's nothing but 
clouds hovering above us. Well, what do we do? Do we just 
fake happiness? No, we reflect upon the goodness 
and the faithfulness and the kindness of our God to steady 
us in the midst of those trials and difficulties. That's something 
key for the Christian life. You're not going to be in a Christian 
life that most of us aren't going to be in that sort of a track. 
It's going to be more like this. And in order to persevere in 
the midst of trying times and difficult times, the Scriptures 
are your best help. You need to fuel your minds and 
hearts with what God has done. And so Joshua here reviews for 
them the history of God's dealings with Israel. The first thing 
that he highlights is God's grace. Notice in chapter 24, verses 
2 and 3. And Joshua said to all the people, 
thus says the Lord God of Israel, your fathers, including Terah, 
the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the 
other side of the river in old times, and they served other 
gods. Then I took your father Abraham 
from the other side of the river. Now, if there was a pause here 
in this covenant ceremony, if there was a break here, this 
would have been a great time for them to sing Newton's Amazing 
Grace. You say, why is that? Because 
we have this idea, and it's an accurate one, that Abraham is 
the father of the faithful. But Abraham didn't come out of 
his mother's womb that way, did he? Abraham wasn't raised in 
a Reformed Baptist church. Abraham didn't carry a 1689 confession 
of faith. Abraham never heard of Robert 
Raymond when he was a little fella. Abraham was an idolater. Okay? Abraham worshipped the 
gods of his fathers. Abraham was every bit as steeped 
in that wickedness and idolatry as were his fathers, and that 
is evident. It says, your fathers, including 
Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, dwelt 
on the other side of the river in old times, and they served 
other gods. So even though Abraham is the 
father of the faithful, we need to remember it was by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. It wasn't because 
he was wiser, it wasn't because he was more intelligent, it wasn't 
because he was more resourceful, it wasn't because he happened 
upon these Israelites, because they weren't there yet. It was 
God that took him from Ur of the Chaldeans and brought him 
out of that particular land. In fact, go back to Genesis chapter 
12 for a moment. Genesis chapter 12 is packed 
with the grace of God. The context is absolutely crucial 
to appreciate. Remember what happens in Genesis 
chapter 11. They build a tower. at Babel. They want to make a name for 
themselves. They want to rise up. They're 
exalted in their pride. They've got all of this desire 
to gather together and to do this task. And then we find in 
Genesis chapter 12, after all of this, now the Lord had said 
to Abraham, It's an amazing time. Now the Lord had said to Abraham, 
on the heels of this human rebellion, on the heels of the Tower of 
Babel, instead of God scrapping the world, instead of God cutting 
them off, instead of God saying, I'm so angry with you, you're 
going to abide in my curse, it is on that basis, or it is in 
that context, that now God calls Abraham. Dumbrill says, in the 
call of Abram, we are dealing with the divine reply to the 
human disaster of Genesis 3 to 11. They rise up and try to make 
a name for themselves. What's one of God's promises 
to Abraham? I'm gonna make your name great 
everything they asserted the Lord brought judgment to bear 
upon them but then he answers with reference to the call of 
Abraham Abraham is called he's told to get out of your country 
from your family from your father's house to a land that I will show 
you I will make you a great nation I will bless you and make your 
name great and you shall be a blessing, I will bless those who bless 
you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the 
families of the earth shall be blessed." Truly is an amazing 
response to man in sin. God confounds the people at Babel, 
but in the midst of that he calls Abraham to himself, calls him 
out of the Chaldeans, calls him away from his idols, and gives 
him grace to be one who will ultimately be the father of a 
great people himself. Calvin says, Abraham did not 
emerge from profound ignorance and the abyss of error by his 
own virtue. Don't you love the way he says 
that? See, for Calvin it wasn't his sin. He says, Abraham did 
not emerge from profound ignorance and the abyss of error by his 
own virtue, but was drawn out by the hand of God. That's what 
Joshua is reminding the people, the tribes at Shechem concerning. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 
your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the 
father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the river in old 
times, and they served other gods. Then I took your father 
Abraham from the other side of the river, led him throughout 
all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him 
Isaac. Now, did God do that right away? He makes this promise in 
Genesis 12, doesn't he? That he'll have a great sea. 
Does Abraham then have relations with Sarah and they have Isaac? Does anybody know how long it 
took until Isaac came on the scene? 25 years. 25 years. Now, for us looking 
back, that's like nothing, right? 25 years. But when God says, 
I want you to leave your country, I want you to leave your father, 
I want you to leave your father's house, I want you to leave everything 
you know, everything you love, because I'm going to give you 
a great seed. Wouldn't you just expect that that's going to happen 
right away? I mean, nine months, of course, it's going to take 
at least that for the gestation period. But 25 years is probably 
not what you're reckoning. You see, we oftentimes want to 
put God in a box. He makes a promise and we think 
he needs to give it to us right away. That's not what characterized 
Abraham according to Joshua. Now we know from Abraham and 
from the narratives, there were instances, there were times when 
he and his wife were a bit surprised at some of these particular promises, 
but Abraham was a faithful man who pressed on according to the 
timing of God Most High. He was 75 in Genesis 12, he was 
100 in Genesis 21, when Isaac came on the scene. God's promises 
are often fulfilled over or after a long period of time. And then 
as he continues on in rehearsing this particular instance, look 
at what he goes on to say. To Isaac, verse four, I gave 
Jacob and Esau. To Esau, I gave the mountains 
of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to 
Egypt. That's interesting, isn't it? Spiritually, who is the benefactor 
with reference to the promises of God in terms of Jacob and 
Esau? Everybody should get this. Jacob 
I loved, and Esau I hated. Well, certainly, shouldn't Jacob 
get his land first? I mean, if he's got that spiritual 
priority, what about the temporal priority? See, this is the way 
we think. This is the way the Pharisees 
and the people thought at the time of Jesus. This is why when 
Jesus taught that parable about the two men who went to pray, 
and the Pharisees stood there praying and thanking God that 
he wasn't like other men, And that poor wretch of a publican 
couldn't even raise up his head, but he just pounded on his chest 
and said, God be merciful to me. When Jesus said, this one 
went to his house justified, probably some jaws dropped open. 
Republicans weren't blessed of God. Pharisees were blessed of 
God. We tend to associate temporal 
success with God's blessing. And if you look at this particular 
narrative, to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. Verse 4, to Esau I 
gave the mountains of Seir to possess. Right away. How long 
did it take for Jacob's seed to get the land? Over 400 years, 
right? It's a bit of a time span between 
Genesis 12 and Joshua 24. A lot of things transpired in 
between. You see, Israel, Jacob's seed, 
went into slavery. You see, at times, brethren, 
we mistake the doings of God because we think in terms of 
carnality. We look at somebody who appears 
to be doing well, and we assume they've got the blessing of God. 
We look at somebody else who's ill, or who's struggling, who's 
having some trials, and we conclude that God really isn't happy with 
that person. We might think that in our own 
lives. When things are going well, we 
think God's really for us. When things aren't going very 
well, we conclude that God's not with us. That's not the God 
of Holy Scripture. He is with us in the good times. 
He is with us in the bad times. He strengthens our hands for 
the fight, no matter what the instance, no matter what the 
situation. An outsider looking in would 
consider this as absolutely contrary to goodness and kindness and 
blessing. But for Joshua, it is the proof 
of the faithfulness and the evidence of God's kindness to his people. 
To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob 
and his children went down to Egypt. Also I sent Moses and 
Aaron, and I plagued Egypt. According to what I did among 
them, afterward I brought them out." God's timing is not always 
our timing. God's ways are not always our 
ways. That's something we need to appreciate 
here. Whether we have to wait 400 years, 
we're talking a long time here. We're not talking 40 minutes 
or 40 seconds or 40 days. I would struggle with a 40-day 
promise. God says, you're going to have this. Well, OK, give 
it up. What are we doing? You're God. 
You're faithful. Why don't you give us the promise? Isn't that 
the way we approach things at times? We go to pray. We say, 
God, bless me. And then off we go. And I can't 
believe I'm not blessed yet. That's not a holy horseshoe. It's not a cosmic rabbit foot. 
You don't pull the chain and get the blessing. That's the 
way people treat God, and that is absolutely wrong. We need 
to be like Father Abraham. In Romans 4, Paul says, who, 
contrary to hope, in hope believed. Everything about these promises 
that God gave to Abraham seemed to fly against everything that 
Abraham knew. I mean, come on, he's 100 years 
old, his wife is 99, how in the world do you expect us to have 
children? God is God, right? We need to trust that in spite 
of what appearances may dictate. This is calculated, yes, to review 
God's history, to instill in the people fidelity to the covenant, 
but it's hopefully going to remind them that when they continue 
on in the land, There's going to be periods. There's going 
to be seasons. There's going to be times of 
difficulty and leanness. Remember, if we calculate accurately, 
the conquest itself took five to seven years. Again, we read 
through the narrative. They come in. They cross the 
Jordan. They go in and not only destroy everybody. I mean, you 
can read the Southern Campaign. You can read the Northern Campaign. 
You can read the list of empire kings that they conquered. And 
that takes maybe 15 minutes. to read those few chapters, and 
we just conclude it happened in 15 minutes. That's not the 
way it goes. This is a great reminder for 
Israel, probably a track, probably a help, probably an encouragement 
for the period of the judges. The people of God were to reflect 
upon this covenant document, review their covenant history, 
so that they would be encouraged to serve their God in fidelity. So then he highlights his power, 
verses 5 to 12. Then, or afterward, I brought 
you out, refers to the Exodus. Then I brought your fathers out 
of Egypt, and you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued 
your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. So they 
cried out to the Lord, and He put darkness between you and 
the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. Isn't that glorious? Do not fear 
your enemies. Wasn't that central to the statement 
in Joshua 21 in verse 44? And not a man of all their enemies 
stood against them. The Lord delivered all their 
enemies into their hand. One of those passages we ought 
to reflect upon with reference to abortion. The Bible says that 
Jesus must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool. 
There's not going to be abortion in the eternal state. There's 
not going to be sodomy in the eternal state. There's not going 
to be Islam in the eternal state or any of the false religions 
or any of the vain philosophies of men. The Lord Jesus is currently 
lowering his foot upon all opposition. Heaven itself is going to be 
the absence, obviously the presence of God Almighty and the glory 
of the Lamb, but the absence of anything that offends. And 
this is something that is to encourage the people of God that 
the Lord caused your enemies to drown. That's what he says 
in verse 7. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, 
then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. God faithfully protected 
them there. They didn't interpret it that 
way. They whined and they complained, and when they were in the wilderness, 
they wanted to go back to Egypt. But in Deuteronomy chapter 1, 
God says, in the wilderness, I carried you. I carried you 
in my arms, the way that a father carries his firstborn son. It 
was a time of protection. It was a time of nearness and 
communion. Obviously, the faithful remnant 
within the covenant community would have seen that. But God 
highlights this wilderness experience a long time. Verse 8, I brought 
you into the land of the Amorites who dwelt on the other side of 
the Jordan. That's the east side, the Transjordanian 
tribes, and they fought with you but I gave them into your 
hand that you might possess their land and I destroyed them from 
before you. Then Balak, the son of Zippor, 
king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel and sent and called 
Balaam, the son of Baor, to curse you. But I would not listen to 
Balaam. Therefore, he continued to bless 
you. You hear Genesis 12 there? I will bless those who bless 
you. I will curse those who curse you. Balaam was a prophet for 
profit. He was hired to curse Israel 
and he couldn't. God blessed Israel through Balaam. Interesting, Balaam was a diviner. 
Balaam was able to see things, wasn't he? Balaam had that ability 
to divine things, to see things, to speak in mysteries and he 
was given wisdom, but it took a donkey to teach him what he 
was supposed to say and what he was supposed to do. As Davis 
says, the real ass in that account was Balaam. It wasn't his donkey. That's the point in the narrative. The man is employed to go and 
curse Israel and God overrules it and makes it a blessing for 
his people. Do not fret going into the land. Do not fret the issues of your 
lives. Do not fret the balams of this 
world, because God can overrule those things and make them blessings. This is the reminder they're 
getting at Shechem. When you dwell in the land, dwell 
in this confident reality that God has been with you every step 
of the way. He's carried you as a son. He 
has protected you from, or He has given you victory over the 
Amorites. He has protected you from Balak and Balaam. He has 
guided you in crossing over the river Jordan. Notice verse 11, 
then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho and the men 
of Jericho fought against you. What happened there? Victory. Allah, the Lord God Almighty, 
the men of Jericho fought against you, also the Amorites, Perizzites, 
Canaanites, Hittites, Bergeshites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, but 
I delivered them into your hand. Now I gotta think, brethren, 
when they're standing there in Shechem, and they're hearing 
this, They're not dead cold fish. Their hearts are throbbing. They're 
pounding because they're reflecting upon the reality that we're standing 
where God promised Abraham that we would ultimately possess. 
He's faithful. Everybody that's come against 
us, we have defeated them. Everybody that has risen up against 
us, we have put them down. We didn't even have to raise 
arms when we went around Jericho. All we had to do was march around 
that city. Now when we went in to dispossess it and utterly 
destroy everything, obviously they took the sword to that particular 
task, but to conquer that city, God Almighty gave them victory. 
This is what He's saying to them. I delivered them into your hand. 
Verse 11. I sent the hornet before you 
which drove them out from before you. Also the two kings of the 
Amorites. but not with your sword or with 
your bow. And then not only has he given them victory, not only 
has he given them possession of the land, he's given them 
the provision of the land. Remember that instance where 
they cross the River Jordan and then they engage in circumcision 
in Passover. And then it says that there's 
no longer any manna. That is fundamental to the story. That is good news. We read that 
and say, oh no, they don't have manna anymore. They don't need 
it anymore because they have a rich, bountiful land that produces 
barley and produces wheat and produces everything they could 
possibly need. So God provides for them when 
they don't have those resources via the manna. God provides for 
them when they get into the land through the due use of ordinary 
means. The provision is the same whether 
man falls out of heaven onto the ground and you go out and 
collect an omer a day, except for on the Friday when you gather 
two omers because you don't want to go out on the Sabbath day. 
That is the provision of God, but so is you going out and watering 
your garden. So is God causing the sun to 
rise and shine on your garden. That provision is as much from 
the Lord, and that's what's highlighted here in verse 13. I have given 
you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you 
did not build, and you dwell in them, you eat of the vineyards 
and olive groves which you did not plant. There were people 
that worked long and hard building these cities in Canaan, and God 
has sent you in there to take it from them. This was a gift 
given by God, unless the humanists say, well, that's not too fair 
to those poor Canaanites. Those poor Canaanites were wretched, 
God-hating rebels that the Lord used Israel to bring judgment 
to bear upon. That's the issue. It's not as 
if God took Israel and sent them in to dispossess the land of 
those nice, innocent Canaanites. Those Canaanites were anything 
but nice, and they were anything but innocent. And as we'll see 
in the book of Judges and subsequent history or subsequent Bible, 
when Israel acts like Canaan, they, too, get thrown out of 
the land. So God the Lord is not capricious. He's not arbitrary. He deals in justice, and he deals 
with equity. So that is a rehearsal. of their 
history with reference to this covenant. Now notice the stipulations, 
verses 14 to 24. A couple things we need to recognize 
first. This is a logical progression. Notice in verse 14, now therefore 
fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the 
gods which your father served on the other side of the river, 
and in Egypt serve the Lord. You see the progression of thought. 
Here's what God has done for you, now here is the implication. You see that? Everybody got that? 
It's very important that you see that, because that's what's 
going on. Here's what God has done, here's where He has brought 
you, and here's how you need to respond. Now, therefore, fear 
the Lord. Serve Him in sincerity and in 
truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on 
the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. This is a logical commitment. In other words, when we survey 
God's dealings with His people, when the Lord gives them grace 
and He calls them to Himself, it is right, it is legitimate, 
and it is logical for those people to commit themselves wholly to 
God. This is the same emphasis that we find in New Covenant 
religion vis-à-vis the Book of Romans. Chapters 1 to 11. What do we have but an exposition 
of the gospel? We have an explanation of what 
God does with hell-bound sinners chapter 1 beginning in verse 
18 all the way to chapter 3 verse 20 sets forth the bad news or 
man's plight man's problem and it's from 321 all the way to 
1136 that Paul tells us how God meets man's plight similar to 
what we just saw in Genesis, right? Man's plight starts in 
Genesis 3, culminates in chapter 11, and God responds with grace 
in Genesis chapter 12. It's the same motif you see in 
Romans. Chapter 118 to 320, this is man's 
sin, this is man's rebellion, this is man at Babel. 321 and 
following shows us God's grace, shows us how God meets man in 
rebellion, and he justifies him freely by his grace. He justifies 
the ungodly. Paul explains how he does that. 
Federal theology. You have the first Adam. We all 
die in him. You have the second Adam. We 
live because of him. You see how God does these things 
and how it's It flows from his sovereignty, his electing purposes, 
his predestination. Paul unfolds this at length in 
chapters 9 to 11, and after expounding the gospel in Romans 12.1, I 
beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you 
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to 
God, which is your reasonable or your logical or your rational 
or your spiritual service. Same motif, isn't it? Yes? Oh yeah, absolutely. Certainly 
that progression is there to be sure. And some have seen Genesis, 
the whole first five books, based on that covenantal model as well. We've got preamble, we've got 
history, we've got stipulation, we've got blessing, and then 
succession in the book of Deuteronomy. So yeah, there's a lot of ways 
to sort of approach that. But notice the similarities in 
these two covenants. Yes, the old covenant, there 
were some things you need. Go into the land and obey. You 
get the blessings of the land. But in terms of that overarching 
principle, God's grace calling us out of darkness into marvelous 
light demands a particular response. We don't respond in order to 
be saved. We don't respond in order to 
be redeemed. We've been redeemed and our response 
is consistent with that. That is what Joshua issues here 
at Shechem. Now, therefore, based on God's 
redemption, based on God's protection, based on God's provision, based 
on God's defeat of your enemy, fear Him. Serve Him. Do it with sincerity and do it 
in the truth. Put away the gods which your 
father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve 
the Lord. That's logical, isn't it? Nobody 
was scratching their heads at Shechem saying, wait a minute, 
this doesn't sound legit. This doesn't sound right. Just 
like nobody comes to Romans 12.1 and say, Paul, what do you mean 
I've got to present my body as a living sacrifice? Of course 
I do. I get to now. It's a privilege. 
It's a blessed response to the gospel of the grace of God Most 
High. He calls me out of darkness into 
marvelous light. It is my great privilege to be 
able to serve the Lord with fear, in sincerity, and in the truth. Now notice what he says in verse 
15. It is an exclusive commitment. This is an exclusive commitment. The end of verse 14, put away 
the gods which your father served on the other side of the river 
and in Egypt serve the Lord. You see, the gods of Canaan didn't 
really care if you had a few of them. They didn't care because 
they're not real, right? I mean, Baal's not going to get 
upset if your arms are on the Asherah. Because Baal has eyes, 
but he can't see. He has a mouth, but he can't 
talk. He has ears, but he can't hear. 
You see, when the psalmist says that, he is mocking idolatry. That's what he's doing. He is 
mocking it. And that's what Joshua does here 
in verse 15. Notice he says, and if it seems 
evil to you to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel, notice what 
he says, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, 
whether the gods which your father served that were on the other 
side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land 
you dwell. the dunghill or the dungheap 
deities, as Matthew Henry refers to them as. It's kind of an interesting 
convention, the way he does that. Serve Yahweh or serve Baal, is 
what Elijah says. But Joshua gives them a third 
option. If you're not going to serve 
Yahweh, you can either serve the gods of Egypt or you can 
serve the gods of Canaan. Is Joshua really giving them 
this choice? Is Joshua nuts? Is Joshua a pluralist? No, Joshua is showing them how 
foolish and how mad and how idiotic it is to do anything but serve 
the Lord. It's a reductio ad absurdum. 
It is highlighting the reality and the necessity for them to 
give themselves wholly to the Lord God Most High. This is an 
exclusive commitment. You don't bring Baal to the Lord 
God Almighty. You do not walk down the aisle 
to marry someone with your girlfriend on your arm. You just don't do 
that. Now, this has a long pedigree 
in the scriptures, of course. Jesus tells us you can't serve 
two masters. You can't have God and Mammon. Elijah, I've already referred 
to. How long will you falter between two options? If God or 
Yahweh is God's servant, if Baal is God, then serve him. Choose 
ye this day. This is Joshua's point. And then 
notice their response here. The people say, in verse 16, 
exactly what you would hope them to say. So the people answered 
and said, far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to 
serve other gods. 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, who did those great signs in our sight 
and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the 
people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before 
us all the people, including the Amorites, who dwelt in the 
land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God." They've 
listened, haven't they? It'd be nice on a Sunday morning 
if when you were walking out, I'd say, hey, what was the sermon 
about? And you could encapsulate it like that. That'd make me 
happy. Or would you be like your two-year-old kid? God? That's 
what we do when we go home at lunch. What was the sermon about? 
God? Yes, that's right. It was about God. How many adults 
would say, God? What was the chapter? What was 
the text? I don't want to get too personal here, but look at 
what they do. They rehearse this history. They 
commit to God. The deal is sealed, right? If 
Joshua was Billy Graham, he'd call them all up to the altar 
now. If Joshua was a typical evangelist, he'd say, OK, now 
every head bowed and every eye closed. Just shoot your hand 
up, and I'll count you for Jesus. Look at what Joshua does, though. 
He's kind of a negative Nelly, isn't he? Remember back in chapter 
23, how does he end? He gives them God's presence 
and power among them. He gives them the necessity for 
careful obedience. But he ends on such a negative 
note in 2315. Therefore, it shall come to pass 
that as all the good things have come upon you, which the Lord 
your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you all 
harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good 
land which the Lord your God has given you. When you have 
transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded 
you, and have gone and served other gods and bowed down to 
them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you 
shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given 
you. You know, Joshua, that was such a good speech until you 
got to that. That's so negative. We don't 
like that. And isn't the same thing going on here? Look at 
these people. Verses 16 to 18, they rehearse 
what he's just said to them. They're basically swearing their 
fidelity. We also will serve the Lord. 
This is a response to Joshua's statement in 15 when he says, 
but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Declaration 
they are siding with him now. This is our confession as well 
Joshua says you cannot serve the Lord They're right there Joshua just 
push him over the edge They're gonna decide for Jesus. They're 
gonna raise their head. They're gonna sign the card They're 
in. Don't tell them something negative 
like that. Look at what he says to them. 
You cannot. See, man has this idea that everything 
is in him, and he has all this ability. Joshua says, you are 
completely unable. You do not have the wherewithal. 
You do not have the ability. You, because of your sin, need 
to take seriously what you're swearing to. You cannot serve 
the Lord, for He is a holy God. I was reading Davis's commentary 
on this, and he mentioned something very interesting. He says, you 
know, in my denomination, he was a PCA minister, he says they 
make us swear an oath when we come into office. And he says, 
when I read this, it's to be this man and that man and to 
be faithful here and to be godly here and to be pursuing that. 
He says, that's asking a lot of a lustful, covetous, proud, 
arrogant man. There is no possible way I could 
swear fidelity to such a statement except for by the grace of God. He says, I really tread lightly 
when I sing certain hymns in our hymnals. Have you ever been 
singing a hymn and thought, this really isn't true. I don't love 
Jesus this much. I should. God forgive me. But sometimes we're singing hymns 
that you and I know that's not really true of us. We're not 
that holy. We're not that godly. This is 
what Joshua is trying to kill. When they're saying, here we 
are, sign us up, we're ready to go. Joshua says, you need 
to count the cost. Before you swear fidelity to 
the God of covenant, you need to make sure you understand. 
This is a Luke 14 moment. This is that instance where Jesus 
says, nobody goes out to battle without first counting the cost. Nobody plans to build a building 
without first making sure he has enough stuff so that his 
neighbors and his friends don't drive by and say, look at that 
idiot. He tried to build, but he didn't have enough money. 
So all he's got there is a skeleton. Or look at that general. He thought 
he was going to go out there and he was going to win in combat. 
He didn't realize that to his 10,000 troops, the opposing armies 
had 20,000. And to his peashooters, they 
all had rocket launchers. Jesus wants to dissuade people 
from some assertion that they'll follow him wherever he bids them 
in their own strength. This is what Joshua is doing. 
He is not discouraging people. He is not telling people that 
God does not forgive. Notice, he says, He will not 
forgive your transgressions nor your sins. Is that an absolute 
statement? Of course it's not. God forgives 
sin. God is merciful. God is long-suffering. God is kind. The emphasis here 
is if you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will 
turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done you good. Joshua is not just selling long-term 
fire insurance. When we are preaching the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's not just take Jesus for a better 
life. Take Jesus and you'll be a bit 
of a happier person. Or take Jesus and you'll have 
more mental health. You cannot serve the Lord. You 
cannot honor the Lord. You are absolutely and utterly 
corrupt and depraved. And apart from God's grace, you 
can do nothing. That's what Joshua's laying out 
here at Shechem. He wants people to swear their 
fidelity to Yahweh, but he wants them to do it with knowledge. 
He wants them to do it with understanding. Davis says, Joshua seeks to put 
down that blathering self-confidence that makes emotional commitments 
rather than shutting its mouth and counting the cost. That's 
the point. Anybody can start to sway for 
Jesus and make a decision. Not everybody's going to live 
day in, day out, cutting off hands, gouging out eyes, and 
pursuing those things that are pleasing to God. You know, everybody 
that comes forward in an evangelistic crusade doesn't necessarily come 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. This blathering self-confidence 
that's whooped up in some emotional rant is not what God is calling 
us to. God is calling us to believe 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then by his grace, to follow 
the Lamb. to pursue those things which 
are pleasing in his sight. Jesus would respond with the 
very same sorts of things that Joshua gives here at Shechem. 
When Jesus says, you need to love me more than your father 
and your mother, what's he saying? But Joshua 24. When Jesus says 
you need to cut off hands and gouge out eyes, what's he saying 
but Joshua 24? When Jesus says you need to forsake 
everything and follow me, what's he saying but Joshua 24? When 
he says you need to take up your cross daily and follow after 
me, what's he saying but what Joshua 24 is? The demand hasn't 
changed and Joshua doesn't want a bunch of emotional, you know, 
swayed in sort of people. He wants people that come to 
the Lord God Most High on his terms. It's easy to get a lot 
of people emotional. This is why the Puritans emphasize, 
we go to the heart through the mind. I would argue heart and 
mind biblically are synonymous. You don't just make emotional 
appeals to people. Jesus makes your life better. 
Jesus brings inner peace. Jesus makes you happy. Well, 
who doesn't want to be happy? That's not the point. Jesus saves 
you from your sins. Jesus provides righteousness. 
Jesus provides peace with God. Jesus provides a master that 
will lead you in the way that you should follow. That's what 
Joshua is emphasizing. Verse 21, the people say, no, 
but we will serve the Lord. Joshua said to the people, you 
are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord 
for yourselves to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses. 
Remember, covenant renewal, ratifying. They are affirming. They're swearing 
their fidelity. Now, therefore, he said, put 
away the foreign gods which are among you and incline your heart 
to the Lord God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, 
the Lord our God, we will serve, and his voice we will obey. Great, isn't it? Just wait till 
next week. But isn't that the way it goes? 
Every time there's covenant renewal, what happens? We see man. I mean, 
if you look at the great epochs in redemptive history, when God 
speaks to his people and swears them to fidelity, what's the 
next scene usually? What's that teaching us? We need 
a covenant head that can do it. We need a mediator that can satisfy. We need a Lord that can make 
good. See, all of these historical 
covenants point us forward to the redemption that is in Jesus 
Christ. It's no accident. that after 
Noah gets out of the ark and God makes this covenant with 
Noah, what do we find not long after that? We find Noah not 
in very good situations, do we? We find Abraham. We find Moses. We find the people of Israel. 
I mean, God ratifies the covenant in Exodus 24. The people swear 
their fidelity. You notice in Exodus 24, they 
say, all that the Lord commands, we will do. All that the Lord 
commands, we will do. We get to 32, and they're dancing 
around a calf. and praising it for bringing 
them out of the house of bondage. What's God telling us? You need 
my son. You need the Redeemer. You need 
the Lord Jesus. All of these historical covenants 
and all of the Old Testament points us forward to in anticipation 
to the one that God promised would come to save His people 
from their sins. I love the way the Westminster 
larger catechism highlights this reality with reference to the 
covenant of grace. Let me just get this for you, 
I don't want to mess it up. With whom is the covenant of 
grace made? The covenant of grace was made 
with Christ as the second Adam and in him with all the elect 
as his seed. That's covenant theology that 
we can hang our heads on. That's the good stuff. That's 
what it's all about. And that's what these things 
were pointing forward to. God knew as soon as their hands 
went up and they swore fidelity that they were going to go out 
and sin. He knew that, right? That's what the whole program's 
all about. But at this point, it's a good thing. They say they're 
going to do it. Now notice the ratification of 
the covenant, verse 25. They cut a covenant. More than 
likely, they made sacrifice. So Joshua made a covenant with 
the people that day. A lot of guys, the commentaries, 
the word barit means cut a covenant. Probably has the reference to 
cutting the animals that go into the sacrifice in terms of the 
covenant. So Joshua made a covenant with 
the people that day and made for them a statute and an ordinance 
in Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words 
in the book of the law of God." Again, this whole idea, ratification, 
depositing the covenant documents, all this stuff is what we see 
throughout the Old Testament scriptures. This was also paralleled 
in ancient Near Eastern treaties in and around Israel at the time. And then he took a large stone 
and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary 
of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, behold, this 
stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words 
of the Lord which he spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness 
to you, lest you deny your God. When the pagans made their treaties, 
when the pagans or the heathen made their covenants, their false 
gods would serve as the witnesses. God uses creation to witness 
against His people in terms of it hearing the testimony that 
they've made. You see this in Isaiah 1 and 
verse 2. You see it in Micah chapter 6 
verses 1 and 2 where God calls upon the created order to serve 
as the witness to the fact that these people are swearing their 
fidelity to Him. So the stone is set up and it 
would serve as a witness. Verse 28, very important. Joshua 
let the people depart, each to his own inheritance. This is 
when they settle down. This is when they occupy. This 
is when they take what God has promised and what God has given, 
and it's a fitting end or a fitting conclusion to the bulk of this 
book. And then in chapter...verses 
29 and following deals with Joshua, his death and burial. It came 
to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant 
of the Lord, died. being 110 years old. They buried 
him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Sera, 
which is in the mountains of Ephraim on the north side of 
Mount Gesh. Then notice his legacy. Israel 
served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of 
the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of 
the Lord which he had done for Israel. Another excellent description 
of the faithfulness of Joshua. He was the servant of the Lord 
who led Israel, not perfectly, but he led them well. And in 
light of that, this brother is someone that we ought to emulate 
and imitate. He refers to the bones of Joseph. The bones of Joseph, which the 
children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried 
at Shechem in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the 
sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver, 
and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. So 
we've come full circle here, right? We've come all the way 
around. God's made the promise. The people 
went into Egypt. They come out of Egypt. Joseph's 
in the land along with Joshua and all of Israel. Hess says 
that both the mention of Joseph's bones and the reminiscence of 
Jacob's purchase of the burial ground tie together the book 
of Joshua with Genesis and provide a conclusion to the great epic 
of the formation of the family, tribes, and national identity 
of God's people as begun in Genesis and concluded in Joshua. So it 
ties up a particular story or a thread that is most crucial 
and most testifies to the faithfulness of God. Eleazar, the son of Aaron, 
died. It mentioned Aaron's death alongside 
or at the time of Moses, and so it is very much similar to 
that. Moses, the servant of the Lord, 
died. Of course, Aaron died as well. Joshua, the servant of 
the Lord, dies. Eleazar, the son of Aaron, dies. 
They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas' son, which was given 
to him in the mountains of Ephraim. So that's the book of Joshua. If you've missed any of it or 
most of it and you're so interested, I think it's on Sermon Audio, 
is it? Some of it. I think it's all 
just still a running list. It's not like a separate category. 
Good. We'll all close in prayer and 
then we can have some discussion. Father, we thank you for this, 
your word, and we thank you for your faithfulness that's so evident 
and so manifest in these books of the Old Testament. I pray 
that you would just give us grace, God, to consider the things we've 
looked at tonight. Give us grace, Father, to pursue 
those things which are pleasing to you. Help us to resist temptation 
and the tendency to sin. and help us, God, to present 
our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our reasonable service 
unto You. I pray that You'd go with us 
now, that You'd watch over all the brothers and sisters in our 
local church, and I pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.