Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 23-24.
When Joshua realized that he would soon die, he gathered the people of Israel in order to give a final address to them and renew their commitment to God. Just as Moses had done in his final address, Joshua recapped the history of the people of Israel, reminding them that the people of Edom were their relatives (I am unsure of how this relates to the rest of Joshua’s address, but thought it seemed noteworthy). Joshua focused this recap on all that God had done for them. He reminded them that their conquest of the land did not result from their military prowess, but rather from God’s providence. Perhaps as important as anything else in this part of Joshua’s address was his reminder that they were not to ally with the people of the land, nor intermarry with them, nor join in the worship of their gods. I may be reading my own beliefs into this, but Joshua seems to imply that any of these people who wished to join Israel and worship the God of Israel were welcome to do so, but this must be a one-way street: no compromise, no meeting them in the middle.
Having finished his recap of the history of God blessing the people of Israel, Joshua brings up an issue which comes up again and again throughout the Old Testament (and truth to be told even today). The people of Israel still carried with them gods their ancestors had worshiped back in the land of Ur, and others gods from Egypt and elsewhere. Joshua told them that it was time to decide once and for all time whom they would serve. Really, this is a decision which the Church in America must make today. Will we serve the gods of the people among whom we live? The gods which call on us to sacrifice our children, either through abortion, or genital mutilation. Or will we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Each of us needs to answer this question for ourselves, just as Joshua did here. I pray that each of you reading this will answer as Joshua did, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.