Day #88

Sermon - Audio
Joshua 22-24 - Audio
Joshua 22-24 - Reading

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Joshua 22 – Eastern Tribes Move Home

Question – Why weren’t the tribes already home since they have entered the promised land?

In the background is a long standing agreement that two and a half tribes had worked out with Moses (Numbers 32) and confirmed with Joshua stipulating that they could settle east of the Jordan River after helping the other tribes conquer Canaan. The sequence that unfolds in Chapter 22 is as follows: Joshua gives the two and a half tribes permission to go home beyond the Jordan (v. 1-9); the returning tribes build an altar (v. 10); the western tribes are incensed by what they think the altar represents, and they prepare to wage war against the two and a half tribes (v. 11-12); in a highly formal and stylized speech, leaders of the two and a half tribes defend their actions to the offended Israelites (v. 21-29); the envoy is satisfied and returns with a positive report that is accepted (v. 30-34). Coming through the narrative excitement of the event is an obvious preoccupation among the Israelites with avoiding idolatry and worshipping God only, and also the importance of unity among the people of God. (The Literary Study Bible)

v. 13-20 – The sin at Peor (Num. 25) and the incident of Achan (Josh 7) show that all of Israel can suffer for the sins of few or even just one. The delegation fears that God may become angry with the whole nation of Israel because of the actions of the two and a half tribes.

Joshua 23 – Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders

v. 1ff – The book of Joshua began with the passing of the mantle of leadership to Joshua, after the death of Moses. Joshua, now “old and well advanced in years”, will soon die, and so the next generation of leaders is charged in terms reminiscent of Joshua’s own charge in Chapter 1.

v. 7-13 – One of Joshua’s key concerns was that the Israelites would become assimilated into Canaanite culture.

v. 15-16 – God is faithful to keep His promises and He is also faithful to keep His threats as well. The Israelites weren’t to suppose that being the recipients of God’s blessings made them immune to His judgment. The threat contained in these verses would eventually be fulfilled in the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles.

Joshua 24 – Joshua gathers the tribes of Israel to recount their past history and renew their covenant with God.

v. 1 – There are several reasons why Joshua could have chosen Shechem for this event: it was Abraham’s first place of rest (Gen 12); while in Shechem Jacob commanded all of his people to give up their foreign gods (Gen 35).

v. 14-15 - Joshua tells the Israelites that they must choose, that there is no middle of the road. If they were not going to commit themselves to TOTAL loyalty to God, eventually they would fall under the spell of the gods of their neighbors.

v. 19 – Joshua’s warning that “he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins” does not suggest that God is unforgiving, but that He cannot condone worship of anything other than God himself.

v. 26 – “A large stone” serves as a reminder of Israel’s duty to serve God, who fulfilled every promise of bringing them to the promised land.

v. 29 – This is the first instance where Joshua is named as a servant of the Lord, a title that Moses also received at the end of his life.

v. 32 – The burial of Joseph’s bones to the final resting place at Shechem brings the book of Joshua to a close. Joseph’s final wish as noted in Gen. 50:25 is granted.