# Joshua 24 📖: Covenant Renewal at Shechem [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Joshua Overview]] | [[Joshua 23]] | [[Judges 01]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord [[#Verse 01.]] Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.  [[#Verse 02.]] Joshua told all the people, “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘In the distant past your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped other gods,  [[#Verse 03.]] but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and brought him into the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac,  [[#Verse 04.]] and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned Mount Seir, while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. [[#Verse 05.]] I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt down when I intervened in their land. Then I brought you out.  [[#Verse 06.]] When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you arrived at the sea. The Egyptians chased your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.  [[#Verse 07.]] Your fathers cried out for help to the Lord; he made the area between you and the Egyptians dark, and then he drowned them in the sea. You witnessed with your very own eyes what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness for a long time.  [[#Verse 08.]] Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought with you, but I handed them over to you; you conquered their land, and I destroyed them from before you.  [[#Verse 09.]] Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, launched an attack against Israel. He summoned Balaam son of Beor to call down judgment on you.  [[#Verse 10.]] I refused to respond to Balaam; he kept prophesying good things about you, and I rescued you from his power.  [[#Verse 11.]] You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The leaders of Jericho, as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, fought with you, but I handed them over to you.  [[#Verse 12.]] I sent terror ahead of you to drive out before you the two Amorite kings. I gave you the victory; it was not by your swords or bows. [[#Verse 13.]] I gave you a land in which you had not worked hard; you took up residence in cities you did not build, and you are eating the produce of vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’ [[#Verse 14.]] “Now obey the Lord and worship him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and worship the Lord.  [[#Verse 15.]] If you have no desire to worship the Lord, then choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the Lord.” [[#Verse 16.]] The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can worship other gods!  [[#Verse 17.]] For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery in the land of Egypt and performed these awesome miracles before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations.  [[#Verse 18.]] The Lord drove out from before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. So we too will worship the Lord, for he is our God!” [[#Verse 19.]] Joshua warned the people, “You will not keep worshiping the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.  [[#Verse 20.]] If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you; he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, though he once treated you well.” [[#Verse 21.]] The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will worship the Lord.”  [[#Verse 22.]] Joshua said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship the Lord?” They replied, “We are witnesses!”  [[#Verse 23.]] Joshua said, “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to the Lord God of Israel.” [[#Verse 24.]] The people said to Joshua, “We will worship the Lord our God and obey him.” [[#Verse 25.]] That day Joshua drew up an agreement for the people, and he established rules and regulations for them in Shechem.  [[#Verse 26.]] Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord’s sanctuary. [[#Verse 27.]] Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard everything the Lord said to us. It will be a witness against you if you deny your God.”  [[#Verse 28.]] When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land. ### An Era Ends [[#Verse 29.]] After all this Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of 110.  [[#Verse 30.]] They buried him in his allotted territory in Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.  [[#Verse 31.]] Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel. [[#Verse 32.]] The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the part of the field that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of money. So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph. [[#Verse 33.]] Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him in Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim, where his son Phinehas had been assigned land. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. - One of the greatest legacies of a leader... The people served the Lord their whole life. While we plant seeds of faith that we hope produce a lasting harvest, we cannot be assured what the Lord will do with it. All we can do is be faithful during our lifetime. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Shechem is where God first promised Abraham the land and Abraham built an altar (Genesis 12:6-7). 2. Jacob buried his household's foreign gods under the oak near Shechem (Genesis 35:4). 3. Joshua reminded Israel that Terah, Abraham's father, served other gods beyond the Euphrates (24:2). 4. Joshua wrote the words in the book of the law of God and set up a large stone under the oak (24:26). 5. The stone was a witness because it had "heard" all the Lord's words (24:27). 6. Joseph's bones, carried from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the land Jacob bought (24:32; Genesis 33:19; 50:25; Exodus 13:19). 7. Joshua died at 110 (24:29), the same age as Joseph (Genesis 50:26). 8. Joshua is called "the servant of the Lord" at his death (24:29), a title earlier used of Moses. 9. The covenant renewal follows the pattern of ancient treaties: God's identity, the history of His kindness, the requirements, and witnesses (24:2-27). 10. The Lord sent the hornet ahead of Israel (24:12), as He had promised in Exodus 23:28. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who calls us to choose whom we will serve (24:15). Jesus said no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), and in Him we turn from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Joshua retold God's grace from Abraham to the conquest before calling for a decision (24:2-13). Why does remembering God's grace come before commitment? 2. Joshua declared that he and his family would serve the Lord (24:15). What does that look like in your home? 3. Israel served the Lord during Joshua's lifetime and the lifetime of the elders who outlived him (24:31). How can we build faith that lasts beyond us? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 14: Fear the Lord, serve Him faithfully, and put away the gods your fathers served. - 📖 verse 15: Choose today whom you will serve. Joshua and his family will serve the Lord. - 📖 verse 31: Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who outlived him. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Genesis 12#Verse 06.|Genesis 12:6-7]] - God promises Abraham the land at Shechem. - 🔗 [[Genesis 50#Verse 25.|Genesis 50:25]] - Joseph asks that his bones be carried up. - 🔗 [[Matthew 06#Verse 24.|Matthew 6:24]] - No one can serve two masters. - 🔗 [[1 Thessalonians 01#Verse 09.|1 Thessalonians 1:9]] - Turning from idols to serve the living God. - 🔗 [[Judges 02#Verse 07.|Judges 2:7-10]] - A generation arose that did not know the Lord. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Joshua 24 - SOAP|Finish Well, Leaving a Legacy]] ## 📂 Internal Notes