Joshua 24:2, commentary and pictures

Near the end of his life and work, Joshua gathered Israel's leaders and people at Shechem to renew their vows and lay his responsibilities upon them, recalling God's covenant dealings and the blessings of a land and provision they had not labored for, that they might serve Him sincerely and truthfully. By the other side of the flood he meant beyond the Euphrates, where in old time Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nachor, dwelt with his household in idolatry through false conceptions of God. From that idolatrous family and setting God called Abraham away and led him onward, choosing him to remain faithful to the one true God and to preserve the knowledge of God and His law and truth for later generations. Joshua's review of that history and of God's mercies was meant to humble the people for murmuring, strengthen faith and gratitude, and warn that God is faithful both to His promises and to His warnings. That their fathers had served other gods grounds his challenge to choose whom they will serve, to put away those gods and serve the Lord alone, shunning idolatry and corrupting ties with idolaters lest they be led to sin and ruin.

Setting and Wording

Joshua spoke these words when gathering Israel's leaders and people after the Lord had given them rest from their enemies, near the end of his work and life. He knew the infirmities of age were upon him and that he must lay his responsibilities upon the representative men of the nation. At his summons the tribes assembled at Shechem to renew their vows, a place of sacred associations that carried their minds back to God's covenant with Abraham and Jacob and to their own solemn vows upon entering Canaan. The mountains Ebal and Gerizim stood as silent witnesses of those vows, which they had assembled in the presence of their dying leader to renew.

There he recounted God's goodness since He called them to be His people, reviewing their history to remind them to serve Him sincerely and truthfully. On every side were evidences of what God had wrought for them in giving them a land for which they did not labor, and cities which they built not, and vineyards and oliveyards which they planted not. The gift included towns and cities they had not built and vineyards they had not planted.

The other side of the flood means beyond the Euphrates, where the fathers dwelt in old time, even Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor. They served other gods, for idolatry was present in Abraham's father's family and home through false conceptions of God. That household idolatry belonged to a time when idolatry had spread widely.

Abraham Called From Idolatry

Terah's household dwelt beyond the Euphrates in old time and served other gods, and that idolatrous background was the setting from which Abraham was called away. The ancestors named include Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, so that Israel's fathers themselves had been idol worshipers. God called Abraham away from them and led him onward, and led his descendants after him.

God chose Abraham out of that idolatrous family and setting to preserve the knowledge of God and his law and the truth for later generations. He was made its keeper for future generations, entrusted to hold and transmit what would otherwise be lost where idolatry had spread widely. Amid that surrounding idolatry he remained faithful to the one true God.

Remember and Choose Service

Joshua’s rehearsal of past blessings, mercies and providence was intended to strengthen the faith of God’s people, to lead them to gratitude for divine care, and to humble them over their murmuring and their failure to follow revealed will. The recital of goodness was not mere history but a means to deepen trust and thankfulness while bringing a sense of their shortcomings into clear view.

That history begins with the fact that Israel’s fathers had been worshipers of idols, and that fact grounds the call to choose whom they will serve. The remembrance that Abraham’s ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods before God called Abraham away from them and led his descendants onward sets serving the Lord in direct contrast to serving other gods. The command to put away those gods is therefore a call to abandon inherited idolatry and to serve the Lord alone.

The same review was a warning against idolatry and against close ties with idolaters, including intermarriage, because such contact could corrupt, leading to sin, ruin and desolation. Departure from God would bring desolation, and the memory of Abraham’s calling out of that idolatrous background stands as a rebuke to any return to idolatry. Israel’s experience shows that as God has kept His promises He will also carry out His warnings, being faithful to both.

The warning reaches each person, calling for avoidance of even the appearance of evil and of the very borders of sin, and for applying Israel’s history to one’s own conduct. No one is to approach sin’s borders, but each is to learn the personal lesson from what befell the nation when it was corrupted by forbidden association.

Joshua’s example shows that those with experience of God’s dealings should tell again and again what the Lord has done in the past. That retelling includes the sacrifices, self-denial and self-sacrifice of those who led out at the commencement of the work, keeping before the people the simplicity of the early workers and the power of God manifested to keep the work free from error and delusion and extravagance. Doing this blesses those who tell it and proves a blessing and molding influence on workers who have not had this experience, so they will carry the work forward in the same humble spirit and self-sacrificing principles. When what the Lord did in the past is lost sight of, sight of His present working in behalf of His people is lost.

Joshua’s closing work of calling the tribes together to recount their history since they were called to be God’s people, with its trials, failures and warnings, matches what Moses did just before his death in calling Israel together to rehearse past experience. Instruction God has given must be repeated and repeated, because Satan is doing a special work to make of no effect what comes from God. He seeks to unsettle confidence by bringing in things that appear inoffensive but contain grave errors and dangers, so God’s people must take a firm stand in defense of the truth made plain to them.