Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
The book of Joshua is a book of transition. The Torah tells the story of the birth of a nation—from creation to a righteous man who became the father of many to a people led out of slavery to the establishment of the moral code of that people. Throughout the Torah, they are wanderers, nomads, slaves, and wanderers again. The book of Joshua opens with the miraculous crossing of the Jordan into the land of Canaan (last week’s text). It ends with this renewal of the covenant at Shechem. As the Israelites struggled against the inhabitants of Canaan to gain a foothold in the land God promised them, they also learned in greater depth what it meant to be God’s chosen people, a holy nation.
The promise to Abraham that he would be blessed in order to be a blessing was a high calling for his descendants. The Israelites were called to demonstrate the character of God to the world—through their faithful obedience to God, through their purity, and through their character. The book of Joshua tells us how the Israelites deepened in this call. For example, Joshua 7 tells the story of Achan. Traditionally, “To the victor go the spoils.” However, when Achan took some of the “devoted things” from the city of Jericho and put them among his own possessions, he violated the purity of Israel. Joshua and the people acted quickly and decisively, removing Achan and his family from Israel and stoning them. While this punishment may sound extreme to us, it is an example of the contrast between conquering for wealth and power versus the Israelites’ call to purity. This was a nation unlike any other, and the members of this nation had to learn how to live unlike any other nation on earth—which meant the death penalty for allowing the presence of foreign gods into the Israelite camp.
As the Israelites continued their way through Canaan, we read stories of deception, intrigue, and miraculous victories. It sounds like Joshua and his army can do no wrong. They were a force sweeping through Canaan, striking fear into the hearts of the inhabitants. However, it is worth noting that many of Joshua’s victories came with the aid of divine intervention. Israel did not miraculously transform from a nation of nomads and slaves to a highly disciplined military machine. They did not sweep through Canaan leaving a wake of destruction in their path. In fact, archaeological evidence tells us quite the opposite. Many of Israel’s neighbors throughout the Old Testament had more organized militaries, more advanced fighting technology, greater numbers, and more resources at their disposal. Even though we read of the systematic defeat of kings and nations in Joshua, this was still a people highly dependent on a miracle to defeat anyone.
These two points are important to keep in mind as we approach Joshua 24. First, Israel was established as a people with one job: to demonstrate the character of God to the world around them—through their obedience, righteousness, and holiness. Second, Israel only found a home in Canaan because of God’s divine intervention on their behalf. These two things set the stage for the call to renew the covenant that ends the book of Joshua.
This call to renew the covenant begins with a gathering of all the people at Shechem. Shechem itself had a rich history for the Israelites.[1] It was where God appeared to Abraham in Genesis 12 and promised that God would give Abraham’s descendants this land. Abraham built an altar there. In Genesis 33, right after his final encounter with Esau, Jacob purchased land and built a well there. This was a memorable place in the Israelite story of God’s calling and covenant.
Then Joshua retold the story of Israel’s history from Abraham to Moses to Egypt to Jericho. Joshua reminded the tribes of Israel that they were a people called into existence by God, birthed into a nation by God’s mighty hand, and sustained by God.
And then, in verse fourteen, which is the beginning of the heart of the text for today, Joshua called the people of Israel to a decision. Will they continue to respond yes to this formidable calling as God’s chosen, holy people?
Take note that this was not a promise of wealth and power. The Israelites were not allowed to use their victories to accumulate the wealth of other nations, as Achan’s punishment demonstrated. And they would never become so powerful that they did not need miracles to sustain them in battle against other nations. This was a call to humility and trust.
The Israelites would never be defined by their wealth, their power, the military might, their victories over other nations, or their cosmopolitan culture. The Israelites would be defined by their holiness, by God’s holiness.
But holiness is dangerous. As T.F. Torrance observed in his book, The Meditation of Christ, it is only as sin comes into contact with holiness that it is fully revealed.[2] Israel was neither exceptionally sinful nor exceptionally holy. But because of Israel’s close proximity to the holiness of God, her sinfulness was revealed for all the world to see. As Joshua observed, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God.” Israel’s close proximity to God’s holiness would reveal their sinfulness and all of humanity’s need for a savior. We humans all too often fail to live in right relationship with one another. We fail to lead lives of purity. We fail to demonstrate the gracious, compassionate, merciful character of God to the world around us. We need a savior, one who can impart holiness to us. Without the holiness of God imparted to us, we will inevitably be destroyed when we come into proximity to the holy God.[3]
All of this is an important reminder to the church today. We quite often come to points of decision in our lives. We must choose. Will we take advantage of opportunities to gain wealth, power, influence, and respect in the eyes of surrounding nations—even if it means becoming a little less pure or set apart or holy? Will we knowingly choose weakness and dependence on God when we could attempt to take our fate into our own hands? Will we choose to acknowledge our participation in sinful humanity, praying as Jesus taught us, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”? Or will we step away from God’s holiness and cling to our self-made definitions of righteousness so that we might never need forgiveness?
This is a clarion call to the church today, especially, because we are witnesses. We identify ourselves as the saints, the holy ones. Jesus also taught us to pray, “Hallowed be your name.” May God’s name be made holy on earth. It is up to us who claim to bear that name to take up the mantle of Israel in demonstrating God’s holiness to the world around us. Are we up to the task? When we claim the name “Christian,” we bear the name of Christ, and we are witnesses that we have accepted the call of hallowing that name with our lives. When we respond with the people of Israel, “We will serve the Lord,” we must be prepared to live our lives in purity and faithful obedience to God.
Although this passage often stands alone, apart from the rest of the book of Joshua, it is in the book of Joshua that we learn that the demands of God’s people are serious and weighty, that they represent a call to holiness. And we learn that those demands are humbling, calling us to acknowledge our weakness and sinfulness. When we say, along with Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord,” we must surrender our claims to wealth, power, and influence and submit in obedience to the God who calls us to holiness and trust.
However, there is also a profound grace in this. This passage is not a story of kings and heroes and military might. It is a story of what God did for God’s people. This is the very definition of grace. Through no merit of their own, God brought them to a good and spacious land. And so, while this call is humbling and heavy, it ultimately leads us on a path of grace. When we say yes, we come into a good and spacious land, where God provides for us in ways that we could never have provided for ourselves.
[1] Archaeology in Israel: Shechem (Nablus), https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/shechem-nablus
[2] T. F. Torrance, The Meditation of Christ, Colorado Springs: Helmers & Howard, Publishers, Inc., 1992, p. 10.
[3] An excellent resource for small group (or large group) discussion on the Old Testament holiness is the Bible Project video entitled “Holiness,” available on YouTube or the Bible Project website at https://bibleproject.com/videos/holiness/
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