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SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND --- LESSON 23

COVENANT RENEWED

JOSHUA’S FAREWELL

From Joshua 24

At a certain time, Joshua called together the people of Israel at Shechem. The leaders of the people were present too, including elders, officers and judges. They all came to present themselves before Adonai. Here is what Adonai says, Joshua told them. [Long ago your ancestors, including Terah and his sons, Abraham and Nahor, lived to the east of the Euphrates River. There they worshiped other gods. But I took your ancestor Abraham from that country and led him through the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants, including his son Isaac. I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, while Jacob and his children went down to live in Egypt. Then I sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt and with them I sent terrible plagues to cause the Egyptians to free my people from slavery. Then I brought your ancestors from that land to the Red Sea. The Egyptians came after them with chariots and horsemen. But when My people cried out to Me, I put darkness between them and the Egyptians and I brought the sea tumbling down upon the Egyptians so that they drowned. Your people saw what I did there and you lived for many years in the wilderness where you saw My miracles. At last, you reached the land of the Amorites east of the Jordan River. They fought you, but I helped you defeat them so you could possess their land. Before your very eyes, I destroyed them. Then Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab began to fight you, asking Balaam to come and curse you. But I would not pay attention to Balaam, so he blessed you and Israel was not defeated. You crossed the Jordan River and made your way to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought you, as did the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. I helped you defeat them all. I sent hornets before you to drive out the two Amorite kings and their people. You did not defeat them with your swords and bows. No, it was I Who gave you this land for which you did not work and cities which you did not build, the cities which you now call home. I even gave you vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.] Then Joshua continued; Worship and honour Adonai and serves Him with sincerity and truth. Put away the foreign gods and idols which your ancestors served when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt and serve only Adonai. Choose today whom you will serve! Will you serve the gods of the Amorites who lived here in this land? As for me and my household, we will serve Adonai! The people all answered, we will always serve Adonai and will never worship the other gods. It is Adonai Who freed our ancestors from the slavery of Egypt and Who did all those great miracles for us to see, keeping us safe as we made our way here through all those people among whom we passed. It is Adonai Who drove out these people before us including the Amorites who lived in this land. Therefore, we will serve Him, for He is our YHVH! Then Joshua answered the people, will you be able to serve Adonai? He is a Holy and Jealous Elohiym. If you turn away from Him and serve foreign gods, He will turn upon you and hurt you. He will destroy you, even though He has previously done many good things for you. We will serve Him, the people said. Then you must always remember what you have said here, Joshua replied. You have made a decision to serve Him. We will remember, the people said. We are our own witnesses to what we have said. You must destroy every idol that you may now have and turn your heart to Adonai completely, said Joshua. We will worship only Adonai, the people answered. We will obey His Voice alone. That day Joshua made a covenant with his people, a permanent agreement between them and Adonai. He wrote the words of this agreement in the Book of the Law of YHVH and then set up a great stone under the oak tree beside the tabernacle. This stone is a witness, said Joshua. It has heard all that you have said. It will speak against you if you break your promises to Adonai. Then Joshua sent the people away, each person to his own home. Later, Joshua died at the age of a hundred and ten. He was buried in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. While Joshua and those who were elders lived, Israel served Adonai, for these people knew what Adonai had done for them. At Shechem, they buried Joseph’s bones, which the people of Israel had carried from Egypt. The burial field was a parcel of ground which Jacob had bought for a hundred pieces of silver, about two hundred dollars, from the descendants of Hamor, the father of Shechem. It had become the inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. Eleazar the son of Aaron also died and he was buried on the hill that was given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

COMMENTARY

THE TOMBS OF JOSEPH AND JOSHUA

Each new generation of Israelites faced a critical choice. Should they commit themselves to obey YHVH and His Law or should they turn to their own ways? As Joshua’s final act, he led the people to make their personal covenant commitment to YHVH: [We will worship only Adonai. We will obey His voice alone.] While alive, Joseph never left Egypt after his brothers sold him into slavery. He was re-united with his family when they came to Egypt for food during a great famine. Though they settled there, Joseph was sure that they would all eventually leave for the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and their own father, Jacob. In fact, Jacob had given Joseph a special blessing, promising him a mountain slope in the new land. Before Jacob died, he asked his sons to bury him there. Since Joseph was a high official in the Egyptian court, he was mummified when he died, which preserved his body. Hundreds of years later, when YHVH led them out of Egypt, the Israelites honoured Joseph’s request. They took his mummy with them, protecting it through all their years of wandering in the desert wilderness. When the tribes finally settled in Canaan, they buried Joseph in Shechem. The name itself probably comes from the word for {slope.} The traditional site of Joseph’s burial ground is there to be seen to this day. Like Joseph, Joshua lived to be a very old man. He was buried on his own land, at Timnath-serah in the hill region of Ephraim. At one time, the Canaanites had built a shrine to the sun at the place. They called it Timnath-heres, {Sacred Territory of the Sun.} Since the Israelites did not want to pay tribute to a false pagan god, they changed some letters and Timnath-heres became Timnath-serah or {City of Depravity}; an insult to the Canaanite deity. Today the area is called Joshua’s City. There are several tombs there that might be Joshua’s. Tradition has settled on one and it is often visited by travellers to Israel.

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