Israel Chooses to Serve the Lord

Joshua 24 (KJV)

Joshua gathered all the Children of Israel to Shechem for a message from God. The message reviewed Israel's descendents before Abraham who 'served other gods' to Israel's present state in the Promised Land.

Israel was given the word not to serve other gods as their ancestors did, but to serve the Lord. Joshua said, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (v. 15). Israel replied to Joshua, "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods...(v. 16)[.] Israel acknowledged that it was God who delivered them from Egypt and throughout their journey to Canaan. God had done good for Israel. Yet, Joshua warned them, "If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good" (v. 20). The people chose to serve the Lord.

"So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance" (vs. 25-28).

"And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel" (vs. 29-31).

"And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim" (vs. 32,33).

Joshua Calls Israel for Meeting

Joshua 23 (KJV)

A long time had passed while Israel was at rest from their enemies. Joshua, in his old age, called Israel together to bring their attention to all that the Lord had done for them. Joshua said to Israel, "Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day" (vs. 6-9). "Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God" (v. 11).

The Children of Israel were not to have anything to do with the remaining remnant of people in the nations. For if Israel did mingle with the remnant, things would become burdensome for them. The Lord would no longer drive any nations from before Israel. The nations would "...be snares and traps...and scourges in [Israel's] side, and thorns in [their] eyes, until [they] perish from off [the] good land [which God had given them]" (v. 13).

Joshua assured Israel that as all good things had come upon them that God had promised "...so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things..." (v. 15). This was if Israel transgressed the covenant of the Lord by serving and bowing to other gods. God would become angry with Israel and they would quickly perish from the land.

Altar of Ed Built as Witness that the Lord is God

Joshua 22:10-34 (KJV)

When the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh made it to the Jordan River, they built a great altar. Word of the altar made it back to the Children of Israel. For fear that the tribes were rebelling against God, Israel prepared themselves for war against them because if the altar was for rebellion against God, the entire congregation would suffer wrath.

The Children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, along with ten princes, one from each tribe, to find out the reason for the rebellion against God. When the representatives of Israel came to the Reubenites, Gadites and the Manasseh half-tribe, they asked them why they must turn away from following the Lord. They also said "...if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God" (v. 19).

The tribes replied, "The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, (save us not this day,) That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meat-offering, or if to offer peace-offerings thereon, let the Lord himself require it; And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel? For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord. Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice: But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lord, Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you. God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt-offerings, for meat-offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle" (vs. 22-29).

"And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord" (vs. 30, 31). The Children of Israel were delivered from the wrath of God.

"And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again. And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God" (vs. 32-34).

Tribes Depart for Return Trip Across Jordan

Joshua 22:1-9 (KJV)

Before Joshua crossed the Jordan with Israel into the Promised Land, Moses had given land to the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. As commanded by God, the condition for the tribes to keep their inheritance was for them to cross the Jordan armed to help conquer the land for their brethren. The tribes agreed to do as the Lord commanded.

Since all had come to pass that the Lord had spoken, Joshua permitted the Reubenites, Gadites and the Manasseh half-tribe to return to the land they had been given on the other side of Jordan. Joshua said to them, "But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul" (v. 5).

Joshua blessed the tribes and they departed for their land of inheritance.

Israel Shares Inheritance with Levites

Joshua 21 (KJV)

Although an end came to the division of the country, the Levites sought cities from Israel to dwell in because they were not given any land. Their inheritance was the Lord God of Israel (13:33). "And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord..." (v. 3). The Levites were given forty-eight cities and their suburbs.

The tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin contributed thirteen cities. Ephraim, Dan and half of the tribe of Manasseh contributed ten cities. Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the other half of Manasseh in Bashan contributed thirteen cities. Reuben, Gad and Zebulun contributed twelve cities.

"And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass" (vs. 43-45).

Land Divided for Children of Israel

Joshua 12-19 (KJV)

Chapter 12 in Joshua lists the kings who were defeated by Joshua and the Children of Israel. The division of the land to the tribes of Israel took place in Chapters 13 thru 19. The tabernacle of the congregation was set up at Shiloh (18:1). Shiloh was where "...Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot...before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country" (19:51).

Israel Battles More Forces for Inheritance

Joshua 11 (KJV)

Jabin, king of Hazor, sent word to other kings to join forces with them against Israel because he heard of all that Joshua had done. "...[H]e sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh" (vs. 1-3). When all of them came together at the waters of Merom, they formed a great multitude with many horses and chariots ready for battle against Israel.

"And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire" (v. 6).

The following day Joshua and his people suddenly came upon the multitude by the waters of Merom. "...[T]he Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel..." (v. 8). "And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire" (v. 9). "And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded" (v. 12). "...[Joshua] left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses" (v. 15).

"So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war" (v.23).