mh_parser/vol_split/6 - Joshua/Chapter 24.xml

<div2 id="Jos.xxv" n="xxv" next="Jud" prev="Jos.xxiv" progress="10.14%" title="Chapter XXIV">
<h2 id="Jos.xxv-p0.1">J O S H U A</h2>
<h3 id="Jos.xxv-p0.2">CHAP. XXIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jos.xxv-p1">This chapter concludes the life and reign of
Joshua, in which we have, I. The great care and pains he took to
confirm the people of Israel in the true faith and worship of God,
that they might, after his death, persevere therein. In order to
this he called another general assembly of the heads of the
congregation of Israel (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.1" parsed="|Josh|24|1|0|0" passage="Jos 24:1">ver.
1</scripRef>) and dealt with them. 1. By way of narrative,
recounting the great things God had done for them and their
fathers, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.2-Josh.24.13" parsed="|Josh|24|2|24|13" passage="Jos 24:2-13">ver. 2-13</scripRef>. 2.
By way of charge to them, in consideration thereof, to serve God,
<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.14" parsed="|Josh|24|14|0|0" passage="Jos 24:14">ver. 14</scripRef>. 3. By way of
treaty with them, wherein he aims to bring them, (1.) To make
religion their deliberate choice; and they did so, with reasons for
their choice, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.15-Josh.24.18" parsed="|Josh|24|15|24|18" passage="Jos 24:15-18">ver.
15-18</scripRef>. (2.) To make it their determinate choice, and to
resolve to adhere to it, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.19-Josh.24.24" parsed="|Josh|24|19|24|24" passage="Jos 24:19-24">ver.
19-24</scripRef>. 4. By way of covenant upon that treaty, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.25-Josh.24.28" parsed="|Josh|24|25|24|28" passage="Jos 24:25-28">ver. 25-28</scripRef>. II. The conclusion of
this history, with, 1. The death and burial of Joshua (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.29-Josh.24.30" parsed="|Josh|24|29|24|30" passage="Jos 24:29,30">ver. 29, 30</scripRef>) and Eleazar
(<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.33" parsed="|Josh|24|33|0|0" passage="Jos 24:33">ver. 33</scripRef>), and the mention
of the burial of Joseph's bones upon that occasion, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.32" parsed="|Josh|24|32|0|0" passage="Jos 24:32">ver. 32</scripRef>. 2. A general account of the
state of Israel at that time, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.31" parsed="|Josh|24|31|0|0" passage="Jos 24:31">ver.
31</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jos.xxv-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24" parsed="|Josh|24|0|0|0" passage="Jos 24" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jos.xxv-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.1-Josh.24.14" parsed="|Josh|24|1|24|14" passage="Jos 24:1-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Josh.24.1-Josh.24.14">
<h4 id="Jos.xxv-p1.13">Joshua's Farewell Address to
Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p1.14">b. c.</span> 1427.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jos.xxv-p2">1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel
to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their
heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they
presented themselves before God.   2 And Joshua said unto all
the people, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p2.1">Lord</span> God
of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old
time, <i>even</i> Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of
Nachor: and they served other gods.   3 And I took your father
Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout
all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him
Isaac.   4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave
unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children
went down into Egypt.   5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I
plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and
afterward I brought you out.   6 And I brought your fathers
out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued
after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
  7 And when they cried unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p2.2">Lord</span>, he put darkness between you and the
Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and
your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the
wilderness a long season.   8 And I brought you into the land
of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they
fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might
possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.   9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred
against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse
you:   10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he
blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.   11
And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of
Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and
the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites,
and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.   12
And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before
you, <i>even</i> the two kings of the Amorites; <i>but</i> not with
thy sword, nor with thy bow.   13 And I have given you a land
for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye
dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not
do ye eat.   14 Now therefore fear the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p2.3">Lord</span>, and serve him in sincerity and in truth:
and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side
of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p2.4">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p3">Joshua thought he had taken his last
farewell of Israel in the solemn charge he gave them in the
foregoing chapter, when he said, <i>I go the way of all the
earth;</i> but God graciously continuing his life longer than
expected, and renewing his strength, he was desirous to improve it
for the good of Israel. He did not say, "I have taken my leave of
them once, and let that serve;" but, having yet a longer space
given him, he summons them together again, that he might try what
more he could do to engage them for God. Note, We must never think
our work for God done till our life is done; and, if he lengthen
out our days beyond what we thought, we must conclude it is because
he has some further service for us to do.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p4">The assembly is the same with that in the
foregoing chapter, the <i>elders, heads, judges, and officers of
Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.1" parsed="|Josh|24|1|0|0" passage="Jos 24:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
But it is here made somewhat more solemn than it was there.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p5">I. The place appointed for their meeting is
<i>Shechem,</i> not only because that lay nearer to Joshua than
Shiloh, and therefore more convenient now that he was infirm and
unfit for travelling, but because it was the place where Abraham,
the first trustee of God's covenant with this people, settled at
his coming to Canaan, and where God appeared to him (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.12.6-Gen.12.7" parsed="|Gen|12|6|12|7" passage="Ge 12:6,7">Gen. xii. 6, 7</scripRef>), and near which
stood mounts Gerizim and Ebal, where the people had renewed their
covenant with God at their first coming into Canaan, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.8.30" parsed="|Josh|8|30|0|0" passage="Jos 8:30">Josh. viii. 30</scripRef>. Of the promises God
had made to their fathers, and of the promises they themselves had
made to God, this place might serve to put them in mind.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p6">II. They presented themselves not only
before Joshua, but before God, in this assembly, that is, they came
together in a solemn religious manner, as into the special presence
of God, and with an eye to his speaking to them by Joshua; and it
is probable the service began with prayer. It is the conjecture of
interpreters that upon this great occasion Joshua ordered the ark
of God to be brought by the priests to Shechem, which, they say,
was about ten miles from Shiloh, and to be set down in the place of
their meeting, which is therefore called (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.26" parsed="|Josh|24|26|0|0" passage="Jos 24:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>) <i>the sanctuary of the
Lord,</i> the presence of the ark making it so at that time; and
this was done to grace the solemnity, and to strike an awe upon the
people that attended. We have not now any such sensible tokens of
the divine presence, but are to believe that <i>where two or three
are gathered together</i> in Christ's name he is as really in the
midst of them as God was where the ark was, and they are indeed
presenting themselves before him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p7">III. Joshua spoke to them in God's name,
and as from him, in the language of a prophet (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.2" parsed="|Josh|24|2|0|0" passage="Jos 24:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): "<i>Thus saith the Lord,</i>
Jehovah, the great God, and the God of Israel, your God in
covenant, whom therefore you are bound to hear and give heed to."
Note, The word of God is to be received by us as his, whoever is
the messenger that brings it, whose greatness cannot add to it, nor
his meanness diminish from it. His sermon consists of doctrine and
application.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p8">1. The doctrinal part is a history of the
great things God had done for his people, and for their fathers
before them. God by Joshua recounts the marvels of old: "I did so
and so." They must know and consider, not only that such and such
things were done, but that God did them. It is a series of wonders
that is here recorded, and perhaps many more were mentioned by
Joshua, which for brevity's sake are here omitted. See what God had
wrought. (1.) He brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees,
<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.2-Josh.24.3" parsed="|Josh|24|2|24|3" passage="Jos 24:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>. He and
his ancestors had served other gods there, for it was the country
in which, though celebrated for learning, idolatry, as some think,
had its rise; there <i>the world by wisdom knew not God.</i>
Abraham, who afterwards was the friend of God and the great
favourite of heaven, was bred up in idolatry, and lived long in it,
till God by his grace snatched him as a brand out of that burning.
Let them remember that rock out of which they were hewn, and not
relapse into that sin from which their fathers by a miracle of free
grace were delivered. "I took him," says God, "else he had never
come out of that sinful state." Hence Abraham's justification is
made by the apostle an instance of God's <i>justifying the
ungodly,</i> <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.4.5" parsed="|Rom|4|5|0|0" passage="Ro 4:5">Rom. iv. 5</scripRef>. (2.)
He brought him to Canaan, and built up his family, led him through
the land to Shechem, where they now were, multiplied his seed by
Ishmael, who begat twelve princes, but at last gave him Isaac the
promised son, and in him multiplied his seed. When Isaac had two
sons, Jacob and Esau, God provided an inheritance for Esau
elsewhere in Mount Seir, that the land of Canaan might be reserved
entire for the seed of Jacob, and the posterity of Esau might not
pretend to a share in it. (3.) He delivered the seed of Jacob out
of Egypt with a high hand (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.5-Josh.24.6" parsed="|Josh|24|5|24|6" passage="Jos 24:5,6"><i>v.</i>
5, 6</scripRef>), and rescued them out of the hands of Pharaoh and
his host at the Red Sea, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.6-Josh.24.7" parsed="|Josh|24|6|24|7" passage="Jos 24:6,7"><i>v.</i>
6, 7</scripRef>. The same waters were the Israelites' guard and the
Egyptians' grave, and this in answer to prayer; for, though we find
in the story that they in that distress murmured against God
(<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.14.11-Exod.14.12" parsed="|Exod|14|11|14|12" passage="Ex 14:11,12">Exod. xiv. 11, 12</scripRef>),
notice is here taken of their <i>crying to God;</i> he graciously
accepted those that prayed to him, and overlooked the folly of
those that quarrelled with him. (4.) He protected them in the
wilderness, where they are here said, not to <i>wander,</i> but to
<i>dwell for a long season,</i> <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.7" parsed="|Josh|24|7|0|0" passage="Jos 24:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. So wisely were all their motions
directed, and so safely were they kept, that even there they had as
certain a dwelling-place as if they had been in a walled city. (5.)
He gave them the land of the Amorites, on the other side Jordan
(<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.8" parsed="|Josh|24|8|0|0" passage="Jos 24:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), and there
defeated the plot of Balak and Balaam against them, so that Balaam
could not curse them as he desired, and therefore Balak durst not
fight them as he designed, and as, because he designed it, he is
here said to have done it. The turning of Balaam's tongue to bless
Israel, when he intended to curse them, is often mentioned as an
instance of the divine power put forth in Israel's favour as
remarkable as any, because in it God proved (and does still, more
than we are aware of) his dominion over the powers of darkness, and
over the spirits of men. (6.) He brought them safely and
triumphantly into Canaan, delivered the Canaanites into their hand
(<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.11" parsed="|Josh|24|11|0|0" passage="Jos 24:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), <i>sent
hornets before them,</i> when they were actually engaged in battle
with the enemy, which with their stings tormented them and with
their noise terrified them, so that they became a very easy prey to
Israel. These dreadful swarms first appeared in their war with
Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites, and afterwards in
their other battles, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.12" parsed="|Josh|24|12|0|0" passage="Jos 24:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>. God had promised to do this for them, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.10" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.27-Exod.23.28" parsed="|Exod|23|27|23|28" passage="Ex 23:27,28">Exod. xxiii. 27, 28</scripRef>. And here
Joshua takes notice of the fulfilling of that promise. See
<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.27-Exod.23.28 Bible:Deut.7.20" parsed="|Exod|23|27|23|28;|Deut|7|20|0|0" passage="Ex 23:27,28,De 7:20">Exod. xxiii. 27, 28; Deut.
vii. 20</scripRef>. These hornets, it should seem, annoyed the
enemy more than the artillery of Israel, and therefore he adds,
<i>not with thy sword nor bow.</i> It was purely the Lord's doing.
<i>Lastly,</i> They were now in the peaceable possession of a good
land, and lived comfortably upon the fruit of other people's
labours, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p8.12" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.13" parsed="|Josh|24|13|0|0" passage="Jos 24:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p9">2. The application of this history of God's
mercies to them is by way of exhortation to fear and serve God, in
gratitude for his favour, and that it might be continued to them,
<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.14" parsed="|Josh|24|14|0|0" passage="Jos 24:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Now
therefore, in consideration of all this, (1.) "<i>Fear the
Lord,</i> the Lord and his goodness, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.3.5" parsed="|Hos|3|5|0|0" passage="Ho 3:5">Hos. iii. 5</scripRef>. Reverence a God of such infinite
power, fear to offend him and to forfeit his goodness, keep up an
awe of his majesty, a deference to his authority, a dread of his
displeasure, and a continual regard to his all-seeing eye upon
you." (2.) "Let your practice be consonant to this principle, and
serve him both by the outward acts of religious worship and every
instance of obedience in your whole conversation, and this <i>in
sincerity and truth,</i> with a single eye and an upright heart,
and inward impressions answerable to outward expressions." This is
the <i>truth in the inward part,</i> which God requires, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.6" parsed="|Ps|51|6|0|0" passage="Ps 51:6">Ps. li. 6</scripRef>. For what good will it do us
to dissemble with a God that searches the heart? (3.) <i>Put away
the strange gods,</i> both Chaldean and Egyptian idols, for those
they were most in danger of revolting to. It should seem by this
charge, which is repeated (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.23" parsed="|Josh|24|23|0|0" passage="Jos 24:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>), that there were some among them that privately kept
in their closets the images or pictures of these dunghill-deities,
which came to their hands from their ancestors, as heir-looms of
their families, though, it may be, they did not worship them; these
Joshua earnestly urges them to throw away: "Deface them, destroy
them, lest you be tempted to serve them." Jacob pressed his
household to do this, and at this very place; for, when they gave
him up the little images they had, he buried them <i>under the oak
which was by Shechem,</i> <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.35.2 Bible:Gen.35.4" parsed="|Gen|35|2|0|0;|Gen|35|4|0|0" passage="Ge 35:2,4">Gen. xxxv.
2, 4</scripRef>. Perhaps the oak mentioned here (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.26" parsed="|Josh|24|26|0|0" passage="Jos 24:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>) was the same oak, or another
in the same place, which might be well called the <i>oak of
reformation,</i> as there were idolatrous oaks.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jos.xxv-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.15-Josh.24.28" parsed="|Josh|24|15|24|28" passage="Jos 24:15-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Josh.24.15-Josh.24.28">
<p class="passage" id="Jos.xxv-p10">15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.1">Lord</span>, choose you this day whom ye
will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that
<i>were</i> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.2">Lord</span>.   16 And
the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.3">Lord</span>, to serve other gods;   17
For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.4">Lord</span> our God, he <i>it
is</i> that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our
sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among
all the people through whom we passed:   18 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.5">Lord</span> drave out from before us all the
people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: <i>therefore</i>
will we also serve the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.6">Lord</span>; for he
<i>is</i> our God.   19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye
cannot serve the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.7">Lord</span>: for he
<i>is</i> a holy God; he <i>is</i> a jealous God; he will not
forgive your transgressions nor your sins.   20 If ye forsake
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.8">Lord</span>, and serve strange gods,
then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he
hath done you good.   21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay;
but we will serve the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.9">Lord</span>.  
22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye <i>are</i> witnesses against
yourselves that ye have chosen you the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.10">Lord</span>, to serve him. And they said, <i>We are</i>
witnesses.   23 Now therefore put away, <i>said he,</i> the
strange gods which <i>are</i> among you, and incline your heart
unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.11">Lord</span> God of Israel.  
24 And the people said unto Joshua, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.12">Lord</span> our God will we serve, and his voice will
we obey.   25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that
day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.   26
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
<i>was</i> by the sanctuary of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.13">Lord</span>.   27 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p10.14">Lord</span>
which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you,
lest ye deny your God.   28 So Joshua let the people depart,
every man unto his inheritance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p11">Never was any treaty carried on with better
management, nor brought to a better issue, than this of Joshua with
the people, to engage them to serve God. The manner of his dealing
with them shows him to have been in earnest, and that his heart was
much upon it, to leave them under all possible obligations to
cleave to him, particularly the obligation of a choice and of a
covenant.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p12">I. Would it be any obligation upon them if
they made the service of God their choice?—he here puts them to
their choice, not as if it were antecedently indifferent whether
they served God or nor, or as if they were at liberty to refuse his
service, but because it would have a great influence upon their
perseverance in religion if they embraced it with the reason of men
and with the resolution of men. These two things he here brings
them to.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p13">1. He brings them to embrace their religion
rationally and intelligently, for it is a reasonable service. The
will of man is apt to glory in its native liberty, and, in a
jealousy for the honour of this, adheres with most pleasure to that
which is its own choice and is not imposed upon it; therefore it is
God's will that this service should be, not our chance, or a force
upon us, but our choice. Accordingly,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p14">(1.) Joshua fairly puts the matter to their
choice, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.15" parsed="|Josh|24|15|0|0" passage="Jos 24:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>.
Here, [1.] He proposes the candidates that stand for the election.
The Lord, Jehovah, on one side, and on the other side either the
gods of their ancestors, which would pretend to recommend
themselves to those that were fond of antiquity, and that which was
received by tradition from their fathers, or the <i>gods of their
neighbours,</i> the Amorites, in <i>whose land they dwelt,</i>
which would insinuate themselves into the affections of those that
were complaisant and fond of good fellowship. [2.] He supposes
there were those to whom, upon some account or other, it would
<i>seem evil to serve the Lord.</i> There are prejudices and
objections which some people raise against religion, which, with
those that are inclined to the world and the flesh, have great
force. It seems evil to them, hard and unreasonable, to be obliged
to deny themselves, mortify the flesh, take up their cross, &amp;c.
But, being in a state of probation, it is fit there should be some
difficulties in the way, else there were no trial. [3.] He refers
it to themselves: "<i>Choose you whom you will serve,</i> choose
this day, now that the matter is laid thus plainly before you,
speedily bring it to a head, and do not stand hesitating." Elijah,
long after this, referred the decision of the controversy between
Jehovah and Baal to the consciences of those with whom he was
treating, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.21" parsed="|1Kgs|18|21|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:21">1 Kings xviii.
21</scripRef>. Joshua's putting the matter here to this issue
plainly intimates two things:—<i>First,</i> That it is the will of
God we should every one of us make religion our serious and
deliberate choice. Let us state the matter impartially to
ourselves, weigh things in an even balance, and then determine for
that which we find to be really true and good. Let us resolve upon
a life of serious godliness, not merely because we know no other
way, but because really, upon search, we find no better.
<i>Secondly,</i> That religion has so much self-evident reason and
righteousness on its side that it may safely be referred to every
man that allows himself a free thought either to choose or refuse
it; for the merits of the cause are so plain that no considerate
man can do otherwise but choose it. The case is so clear that it
determines itself. Perhaps Joshua designed, by putting them to
their choice, thus to try if there were any among them who, upon so
fair an occasion given, would show a coolness and indifference
towards the service of God, whether they would desire time to
consider and consult their friends before they gave in an answer,
and if any such should appear he might set a mark upon them, and
warn the rest to avoid them. [4.] He directs their choice in this
matter by an open declaration of his own resolutions: "<i>But as
for me and my house,</i> whatever you do, <i>we will serve the
Lord,</i> and I hope you will all be of the same mind." Here he
resolves, <i>First,</i> For himself: <i>As for me, I will serve the
Lord.</i> Note, The service of God is nothing below the greatest of
men; it is so far from being a diminution and disparagement to
princes and those of the first rank to be religious that it is
their greatest honour, and adds the brightest crown of glory to
them. Observe how positive he is: "I will serve God." It is no
abridgment of our liberty to bind ourselves with a bond to God.
<i>Secondly,</i> For <i>his house,</i> that is, his family, his
children and servants, such as were immediately under his eye and
care, his inspection and influence. Joshua was a ruler, a judge in
Israel, yet he did not make his necessary application to public
affairs an excuse for the neglect of family religion. Those that
have the charge of many families, as magistrates and ministers,
must take special care of their own (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.3.4-1Tim.3.5" parsed="|1Tim|3|4|3|5" passage="1Ti 3:4,5">1 Tim. iii. 4, 5</scripRef>): <i>I and my house</i>
will serve God. 1. "Not my house, without me." He would not engage
them to that work which he would not set his own hand to. As some
who would have their children and servants good, but will not be so
themselves; that is, they would have them go to heaven, but intend
to go to hell themselves. 2. "Not I, without my house." He supposes
he might be forsaken by his people, but in his house, where his
authority was greater and more immediate, there he would over-rule.
Note, When we cannot bring as many as we would to the service of
God we must bring as many as we can, and extend our endeavours to
the utmost sphere of our activity; if we cannot reform the land,
let us put away iniquity far from our own tabernacle. 3. "First I,
and then my house." Note, Those that lead and rule in other things
should be first in the service of God, and go before in the best
things. <i>Thirdly,</i> He resolves to do this whatever others did.
Though all the families of Israel should revolt from God, and serve
idols, yet Joshua and his family will stedfastly adhere to the God
of Israel. Note, Those that resolve to serve God must not mind
being singular in it, nor be drawn by the crowd to forsake his
service. Those that are bound for heaven must be willing to swim
against the stream, and must not do as the most do, but as the best
do.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p15">(2.) The matter being thus put to their
choice, they immediately determine it by a free, rational, and
intelligent declaration, for the God of Israel, against all
competitors whatsoever, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.16-Josh.24.18" parsed="|Josh|24|16|24|18" passage="Jos 24:16-18"><i>v.</i>
16-18</scripRef>. Here, [1.] They concur with Joshua in his
resolution, being influenced by the example of so great a man, who
had been so great a blessing to them (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.18" parsed="|Josh|24|18|0|0" passage="Jos 24:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>We also will serve the
Lord.</i> See how much good great men might do, if they were but
zealous in religion, by their influence on their inferiors. [2.]
They startle at the thought of apostatizing from God (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.16" parsed="|Josh|24|16|0|0" passage="Jos 24:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>God forbid;</i>
the word intimates the greatest dread and detestation imaginable.
"Far be it, far be it from us, that we or ours should ever
<i>forsake the Lord to serve other gods.</i> We must be perfectly
lost to all sense of justice, gratitude, and honour, ere we can
harbour the least thought of such a thing." Thus must our hearts
rise against all temptations to desert the service of God. <i>Get
thee behind me, Satan.</i> [3.] They give very substantial reasons
for their choice, to show that they did not make it purely in
compliance to Joshua, but from a full conviction of the
reasonableness and equity of it. They make this choice for, and in
consideration, <i>First,</i> Of the many great and very kind things
God had done for them, bringing them out of Egypt through the
wilderness into Canaan, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.17-Josh.24.18" parsed="|Josh|24|17|24|18" passage="Jos 24:17,18"><i>v.</i>
17, 18</scripRef>. Thus they repeat to themselves Joshua's sermon,
and then express their sincere compliance with the intentions of
it. <i>Secondly,</i> Of the relation they stood in to God, and his
covenant with them: "We <i>will serve the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.18" parsed="|Josh|24|18|0|0" passage="Jos 24:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), <i>for he is our
God,</i> who has graciously engaged himself by promise to us, and
to whom we have by solemn vow engaged ourselves."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p16">2. He brings them to embrace their religion
resolutely, and to express a full purpose of heart to cleave to the
Lord. Now that he has them in a good mind he follows his blow, and
drives the nail to the head, that it might, if possible, be a nail
in a sure place. Fast bind, fast find.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p17">(1.) In order to this he sets before them
the difficulties of religion, and that in it which might be thought
discouraging (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.19-Josh.24.20" parsed="|Josh|24|19|24|20" passage="Jos 24:19,20"><i>v.</i> 19,
20</scripRef>): <i>You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy
God,</i> or, as it is in the Hebrew, <i>he is the holy Gods,</i>
intimating the mystery of the Trinity, three in one; <i>holy, holy,
holy,</i> holy Father, holy Son, holy Spirit. <i>He will not
forgive.</i> And, <i>if you forsake him, he will do you hurt.</i>
Certainly Joshua does not intend hereby to deter them from the
service of God as impracticable and dangerous. But, [1.] He perhaps
intends to represent here the suggestions of seducers, who tempted
Israel from their God, and from the service of him; with such
insinuations as these, that he was a hard master, his work
impossible to be done, and he not to be pleased, and, if
displeased, implacable and revengeful,—that he would confine their
respects to himself only, and would not suffer them to show the
least kindness for any other,—and that herein he was very unlike
the gods of the nations, which were easy, and neither holy nor
jealous. It is probable that this was then commonly objected
against the Jewish religion, as it has all along been the artifice
of Satan every since he tempted our first parents thus to
misrepresent God and his laws, as harsh and severe; and Joshua by
his tone and manner of speaking might make them perceive he
intended it as an objection, and would put it to them how they
would keep their ground against the force of it. Or, [2.] He thus
expresses his godly jealousy over them, and his fear concerning
them, that, notwithstanding the profession they now made of zeal
for God and his service, they would afterwards draw back, and if
they did they would find him just and jealous to avenge it. Or,
[3.] He resolves to let them know the worst of it, and what strict
terms they must expect to stand upon with God, that they might sit
down and count the cost. "<i>You cannot serve the Lord,</i> except
you put away all other gods for he is holy and jealous, and will by
no means admit a rival, and therefore you must be very watchful and
careful, for it is at your peril if you desert his service; better
you had never known it." Thus, though our Master has assured us
that <i>his yoke is easy,</i> yet lest, upon the presumption of
this, we should grow remiss and careless, he has also told us that
the gate is strait, and the way narrow, that leads to life, that we
may therefore strive to enter, and not seek only. "<i>You cannot
serve God and Mammon;</i> therefore, if you resolve to serve God,
you must renounce all competitors with him. You cannot serve God in
your own strength, nor will he forgive your transgressions for any
righteousness of your own; but <i>all the seed of Israel must be
justified and must glory in the Lord alone as their
righteousness</i> and <i>strength,</i>" <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.24-Isa.45.25" parsed="|Isa|45|24|45|25" passage="Isa 45:24,25">Isa. xlv. 24, 25</scripRef>. They must therefore
come off from all confidence in their own sufficiency, else their
purposes would be to no purpose. Or, [4.] Joshua thus urges on them
the seeming discouragements which lay in their way, that he might
sharpen their resolutions, and draw from them a promise yet more
express and solemn that they would continue faithful to God and
their religion. He draws it from them that they might catch at it
the more earnestly and hold it the faster.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p18">(2.) Notwithstanding this statement of the
difficulties of religion, they declare a firm and fixed resolution
to continue and persevere therein (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.21" parsed="|Josh|24|21|0|0" passage="Jos 24:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>): "<i>Nay, but we will serve
the Lord.</i> We will think never the worse of him for his being a
holy and jealous God, nor for his confining his servants to worship
himself only. Justly will he consume those that forsake him, but we
never will forsake him; not only we have a good mind to serve him,
and we hope we shall, but we are at a point, we cannot bear to hear
any <i>entreaties to leave him or to turn from following after
him</i> (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.1.16" parsed="|Ruth|1|16|0|0" passage="Ru 1:16">Ruth i. 16</scripRef>); in the
strength of divine grace we are resolved that we will serve the
Lord." This resolution they repeat with an explication (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.24" parsed="|Josh|24|24|0|0" passage="Jos 24:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>): "<i>The Lord our God
will we serve,</i> not only be called his servants and wear his
livery, but our religion shall rule us in every thing, <i>and his
voice will we obey.</i>" And in vain do we <i>call him Master and
Lord, if we do not the things which he saith,</i> <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.6.46" parsed="|Luke|6|46|0|0" passage="Lu 6:46">Luke vi. 46</scripRef>. This last promise they
make in answer to the charge Joshua gave them (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.23" parsed="|Josh|24|23|0|0" passage="Jos 24:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), that, in order to their
perseverance, they should, [1.] Put away the images and relics of
the strange gods, and not keep any of the tokens of those other
lovers in their custody, if they resolved their <i>Maker should be
their husband;</i> they promise, in this, to obey his voice. [2.]
That they should <i>incline their hearts to the God of Israel,</i>
use their authority over their own hearts to engage them for God,
not only to set their affections upon him, but to settle them so.
These terms they agree to, and thus, as Joshua explains the
bargain, they strike it: <i>The Lord our God will we serve.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p19">II. The service of God being thus made
their deliberate choice, Joshua binds them to it by a solemn
covenant, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.25" parsed="|Josh|24|25|0|0" passage="Jos 24:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>.
Moses had twice publicly ratified this covenant between God and
Israel, at Mount Sinai (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.24.1-Exod.24.33" parsed="|Exod|24|1|24|33" passage="Ex 24:1-33">Exod.
xxiv.</scripRef>) and in the plains of Moab, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.29.1" parsed="|Deut|29|1|0|0" passage="De 29:1">Deut. xxix. 1</scripRef>. Joshua had likewise done it
once (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.8.31-Josh.8.35" parsed="|Josh|8|31|8|35" passage="Jos 8:31-35"><i>ch.</i> viii.
31</scripRef>, &amp;c.) and now the second time. It is here called
a <i>statute</i> and an <i>ordinance,</i> because of the strength
and perpetuity of its obligation, and because even this covenant
bound them to no more than what they were antecedently bound to by
the divine command. Now, to give it the formalities of a covenant,
1. He calls witnesses, no other than themselves (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.22" parsed="|Josh|24|22|0|0" passage="Jos 24:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <i>You are witnesses that you
have chosen the Lord.</i> He promises himself that they would never
forget the solemnities of this day; but, if hereafter they should
break this covenant, he assures them that the professions and
promises they had now made would certainly rise up in judgment
against them and condemn them; and they agreed to it: "<i>We are
witnesses;</i> let us be judged out of our own mouths if ever we be
false to our God." 2. He put it in writing, and inserted it, as we
find it here, in the sacred canon: He <i>wrote it in the book of
the law</i> (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.26" parsed="|Josh|24|26|0|0" passage="Jos 24:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>), in that original which was laid up in the side of
the ark, and thence, probably, it was transcribed into the several
copies which the princes had for the use of each tribe. There it
was written, that their obligation to religion by the divine
precept, and that by their own promise, might remain on record
together. 3. He erected a memorandum of it, for the benefit of
those who perhaps were not conversant with writings, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.26-Josh.24.27" parsed="|Josh|24|26|24|27" passage="Jos 24:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26, 27</scripRef>. He <i>set up a
great stone under an oak,</i> as a monument of this covenant, and
perhaps wrote an inscription upon it (by which stones are made to
speak) signifying the intention of it. When he says, <i>It hath
heard</i> what was past, he tacitly upbraids the people with the
hardness of their hearts, as if this stone had heard to as good
purpose as some of them; and, if they should forget what was no
done, this stone would so far preserve the remembrance of it as to
reproach them for their stupidity and carelessness, and be a
witness against them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p20">The matter being thus settled, Joshua
dismissed this assembly of the grandees of Israel (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.28" parsed="|Josh|24|28|0|0" passage="Jos 24:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>), and took his last
leave of them, well satisfied in having done his part, by which he
had delivered his soul; if they perished, their blood would be upon
their own heads.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jos.xxv-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.29-Josh.24.33" parsed="|Josh|24|29|24|33" passage="Jos 24:29-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Josh.24.29-Josh.24.33">
<h4 id="Jos.xxv-p20.3">The Death of Joshua. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p20.4">b. c.</span> 1427.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jos.xxv-p21">29 And it came to pass after these things, that
Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p21.1">Lord</span>, died, <i>being</i> a hundred and ten years
old.   30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance
in Timnath-serah, which <i>is</i> in mount Ephraim, on the north
side of the hill of Gaash.   31 And Israel served the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p21.2">Lord</span> all the days of Joshua, and all the
days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all
the works of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xxv-p21.3">Lord</span>, that he had
done for Israel.   32 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 a hundred pieces of silver: and it became the
inheritance of the children of Joseph.   33 And Eleazar the
son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill <i>that pertained
to</i> Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xxv-p22">This book, which began with triumphs, here
ends with funerals, by which all the glory of man is stained. We
have here 1. The burial of Joseph, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.32" parsed="|Josh|24|32|0|0" passage="Jos 24:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>. He died about 200 years before
in Egypt, but <i>gave commandment concerning his bones,</i> that
they should not rest in their grave until Israel had rest in the
land of promise; now therefore the children of Israel, who had
brought this coffin full of bones with them out of Egypt, carried
it along with them in all their marches through the wilderness (the
two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, it is probable, taking
particular care of it), and kept it in their camp till Canaan was
perfectly reduced, now at last they deposited it in that piece of
ground which his father gave him near Shechem, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.48.22" parsed="|Gen|48|22|0|0" passage="Ge 48:22">Gen. xlviii. 22</scripRef>. Probably it was upon this
occasion that Joshua called for all Israel to meet him at Shechem
(<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.1" parsed="|Josh|24|1|0|0" passage="Jos 24:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), to attend
Joseph's coffin to the grave there, so that the sermon in this
chapter served both for Joseph's funeral sermon and his own
farewell sermon; and if it was, as is supposed, in the last year of
his life, the occasion might very well remind him of his own death
being at hand, for he was not just at the same age that his
illustrious ancestor Joseph had arrived at when he died, 110
<i>years old;</i> compare <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.29" parsed="|Josh|24|29|0|0" passage="Jos 24:29"><i>v.</i>
29</scripRef> with <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.50.26" parsed="|Gen|50|26|0|0" passage="Ge 50:26">Gen. l.
26</scripRef>. 2. The death and burial of Joshua, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.29-Josh.24.30" parsed="|Josh|24|29|24|30" passage="Jos 24:29,30"><i>v.</i> 29, 30</scripRef>. We are not told
how long he lived after the coming of Israel into Canaan. Dr.
Lightfoot thinks it was about seventeen years; but the Jewish
chronologers generally say it was about twenty-seven or
twenty-eight years. He is here called the <i>servant of the
Lord,</i> the same title that was given to Moses (<scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.7" osisRef="Bible:Josh.1.1" parsed="|Josh|1|1|0|0" passage="Jos 1:1"><i>ch.</i> i. 1</scripRef>) when mention was made
of his death; for, though Joshua was in many respects inferior to
Moses, yet in this he was equal to him, that, according as his work
was, he approved himself a diligent and faithful servant of God.
And he that traded with his two talents had the same approbation
that he had who traded with his five. <i>Well done, good and
faithful servant.</i> Joshua's burying-place is here said to be
<i>on the north side of the hill Gaash,</i> or <i>the quaking
hill;</i> the Jews say it was so called because it trembled at the
burial of Joshua, to upbraid the people of Israel with their
stupidity in that they did not lament the death of that great and
good man as they ought to have done. Thus at the death of Christ,
our Joshua, the earth quaked. The learned bishop Patrick observes
that there is no mention of any days of mourning being observed for
Joshua, as there were for Moses and Aaron, in which, he says, St.
Hierom and others of the fathers think there is a mystery, namely,
that under the law, when life and immortality were not brought to
so clear a light as they are now, they had reason to mourn and weep
for the death of their friends; but now that Jesus, our Joshua, has
opened the kingdom of heaven, we may rather rejoice. 3. The death
and burial of Eleazar the chief priest, who, it is probable, died
about the same time that Joshua did, as Aaron in the same year with
Moses, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.8" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.33" parsed="|Josh|24|33|0|0" passage="Jos 24:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. The
Jews say that Eleazar, a little before he died, called the elders
together, and gave them a charge as Joshua had done. He was buried
in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which came to him,
not by descent, for then it would have pertained to his father
first, nor had the priests any cities in Mount Ephraim, but either
it fell to him by marriage, as the Jews conjecture, or it was
freely bestowed upon him, to build a country seat on, by some pious
Israelite that was well-affected to the priesthood, for it is here
said to have been <i>given him;</i> and there he buried his dear
father. 4. A general idea given us of the state of Israel at this
time, <scripRef id="Jos.xxv-p22.9" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.31" parsed="|Josh|24|31|0|0" passage="Jos 24:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>. While
Joshua lived, religion was kept up among them under his care and
influence; but soon after he and his contemporaries died it went to
decay, so much oftentimes does one head hold up: how well is it for
the gospel church that Christ, our Joshua, is still with it, by his
Spirit, and will be always, even <i>unto the end of the
world!</i></p>
</div></div2>