"Serve the Lord" Joshua 24

Introduction

last week we heard one of two messages that Joshua gave to the nation. You see Joshua knew how to be a leader. In the same way that great coaches know how to lead teams and great presidents know how to lead countries, Joshua knew how to lead his country. And much more he had a message from God for them.

The leaders needed to understand the importance of devotion to God. They needed a sense of devotion to permeate their every action. Because they needed their hearts to be set on God and that would define how they lived every day.

Again in your marriages if you love your spouse and value him or her above everyone else that will define the rest of your actions. Interestingly, in the workplace if you seek to do what's best for the company and you stayed devoted to doing your best that will influence everything else. Devocion defines our other actions. And what we must always remember is that our devotion to what we worship defines all of our lives. And so if you or I worship comfort, money, family, friends or anything above God that will alter the rest of our lives.

This week Joshua has a message for the people. It is a crucial message they need to get in order to live well for God. It's a crucial message that we need to get.

But more than just a message we need to hear, it's a commitment that we need to make. It's a commitment that the people of Israel made.

Serve the Lord

First of all I want you to pay attention to this phrase : serve the Lord. It occurs throughout the entire chapter. And it defines what God asks of the people of Israel. And I would argue it is what God asks of us today. God wants our service.

A Review of Israel’s History

Now Joshua begins by reminding the nation of their history. Now in one sense you might look at all the historical accounts in the Bible and think they're boring. And wonder why they keep getting repeated. But let me ask you this, do you ever retell your family history? Do you ever re share stories from the past in your family? Our history is something we must learn from. We must pay attention to the choices made in the past and God's faithfulness in the past. So let's dive into this retelling of the history of the nation. You should hear story after story in it that you recognize and remember of what God did.

Joshua 24:2–13 ESV

2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out. 6 “ ‘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. 7 And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time. 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. 12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

God called the nation starting with Abrham

God delivered the people.

God put up with and protected the people.

God drove out their enemies.

God established them in the land.

You know, specific stories of God's faithfulness are crucial for us to remember what God has done in the past and what he will do in the future. share stories of how God has worked in your lives with your kids and with your family.

OK surprisingly I won't offer much commentary right here. What I want to do is I want to read now how Joshua turns from the past and talking about what God has done now he's going to turn to the future and tell the people what God asks of them.

God calls to faithful service

Joshua 24:14 ESV

14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

God called the people to give him what he was do. And first of all that means to fear him and then to serve him. To fear God means to Revere him and to tremble at the thought of disobeying him.

Fearing God also recognized that they couldn't serve both God the holy and righteous God who saved them and the other gods which filled the land they lived in.

Joshua 24:15 ESV

15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond 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.”

I love this verse, it's probably one of the first verses in the Bible I memorized. Joshua calls the people to a choice. He calls the leaders to a choice. But is not a choice that he just asks them to make. Joshua says he would lead with his own family. He would lead first with his own family.

In the moment joshua's listeners were probably shocked by what he said and then they responded with shock and with words of faithfulness. In much the same way that men and women throughout history have cried out to God demonstrating their faithfulness in church.

Joshua 24:16–18 ESV

16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

You would think this reaction of declarations of faithfulness would be exactly what Joshua was looking for. And you would think that he would quickly affirm their declaration of faithfulness. You and I would be wrong.

Joshua 24:19 ESV

19 But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

Why on earth did Joshua throw water on the fire of excitement these people had? Isn't this kind of reaction the dream response that any pastor or any leader would want from their followers? Well Joshua responded this way not because he was having a bad day but because he knew the character of God. He knew that God was holy and righteous and just. He knew that God would know the hearts of the nation and God would judge them if they did not serve God faithfully.

Joshua 24:20 ESV

20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”

The people pushed back on Joshua claiming they would remain faithful to God and so Joshua made a covenant with them. A covenant is a serious agreement made. He committed them to following God.

Joshua 24:25–28 ESV

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 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 terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” 28 So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

You know, we can't predict the future. We can't predict the people we will be in five years. We can't predict the people we will be in one year or one month. But that never should stop us from making serious commitments to do what is right. Committing yourself to honoring God and putting him person all of your life is worth it. In the same way that a public marriage ceremony in front of a couple hundred friends hold your feet to the fire of faithfulness. Likewise, sometimes we need to make declarations of our commitment to God before friends or family. We need to say I am committed to following God and obeying him in my life. When we do that, we get extra help. When we declare our commitment when we write it down we send a message to ourselves as well.

This is part of what we do when we get baptized. We make a public declaration of our faith. This is why we need to talk about our faith in our families. When we talk about our faith as a family we recognize what's important. That's why we participate in small groups of believers studying God's word together. When we study God's word in community with others our brothers and sisters in Christ help us apply God's word . They help us keep our commitment.

The Legacy of Faithful Service

This chapter and the book finishes with a reminder that Joshua lived as well as he preached. He finished well. And honestly, if you read through the Bible that is not a guarantee. They don't always finish well.

Joshua 24:29–33 ESV

29 After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel. 32 As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. 33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

I want to point out a few things in these verses . First of all they called Joshua the servant of the Lord. Obviously Joshua did not write his own obituary. Wouldn't you like to be called the servant of the Lord?

And then in verse 31 it tells us that the nation served God all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known the work that God did for Israel. Joshua led with such commitment and his influence on the others around him blood to their lives continuing with faithfulness. Will the result of your life be that others are called and equipped to serve God faithfully?

The final verse mentions Eleazer. He was High Priest of Israel and a son of Aaron. He was very involved in dividing the land. He too lived faithfully before God. He too honored God and left a legacy.

Lessons to Learn

God is still worthy of service.

God is still saving, providing and blessing today.

Idols still threaten our hearts today.

Idols have mutated over the years. People in our culture don’t go into huge temples and bow before golden figures. But this doesn’t mean that idolatry is dead. The things that compete with God for our allegience must be put away.

I love this quote from Peter Jeffries.

Opening Up Joshua Idols Are Still a Threat

Peter Jeffery declares:

Half-hearted, insipid Christianity is an insult to God. Joshua calls for a total commitment based on fear and respect for God, and faithfulness in service. In order to produce this quality of service, there must be a putting away of other gods. Israel was still being influenced by gods of the past, gods their forefathers had worshipped in Egypt. Literally for them Joshua’s command meant destroying idols. For us it means putting out of our lives things that challenge the authority of God in our affections and desires.

He continues.

Opening Up Joshua Idols Are Still a Threat

If you are not prepared to serve God as he commands then stop pretending and stop living a lie. Come out openly and say you are going to serve materialism, worldliness, prosperity and all the gods of the modern age. If these are the gods who have the love of your heart, then say so, but you cannot have it both ways. It is either the Lord God or these other gods.

Families still need leadership

Husbands and fathers are responsible for leadership in the home. This calls us to be devoted to the Wrod of God and to prayer and to live with a spirit and speech that honors God.

Insufficiency is not an excuse.

The fact that we fell like we are not sufficient to lead spiritually does not excuse us of our responsibility to lead. Instead our insufficiency should drive us to call to God for help.

Our homes are both mission fields and the place where battle happens. They are mission fields in that over our dining table and in our living room we have tremendous opportunities to extend the knowledge of God to others. And yet our homes are battle fields because satan will spare no effort to resist and destroy the efforts of godly husbands and fathers....of wives and mothers.

Service still demands determination

We must commit ourselves to serve God. We must decide today. We must write our commitment down and tape it to our bathroom mirror. We must commit and determine today that we will serve the Lord. We must choose!

Conclusion

The New International Version Chapter 24

15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”