Table of Contents
|
|
Chapter 49
The Last Words of Joshua
[This chapter is based on Joshua 23 and 24.]
THE wars and conquest ended, Joshua had withdrawn to the peaceful
retirement of his home at Timnath-serah. "And it came to pass, a long
time after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their
enemies round about, that Joshua . . . called for all Israel, and for
their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their
officers."
Some years had passed since the people had settled in their possessions,
and already could be seen cropping out the same evils that had
heretofore brought judgments upon Israel. As Joshua felt the infirmities
of age stealing upon him, and realized that his work must soon close, he
was filled with anxiety for the future of his people. It was with more
than a father's interest that he addressed them, as they gathered once
more about their aged chief. "Ye have seen," he said, "all that the Lord
your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the Lord
your God is He that hath fought for you." Although the Canaanites had
been subdued, they still possessed a considerable portion of the land
promised to Israel, and Joshua exhorted his people not to settle down at
ease and forget the Lord's command to utterly dispossess these
idolatrous nations.
The people in general were slow to complete the work of driving out the
heathen. The tribes had dispersed to their possessions, the army had
disbanded, and it was looked upon as a difficult and doubtful
undertaking to renew the war. But Joshua declared: "The Lord your God,
He shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your
sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the Lord your God hath
promised unto you. 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."
Joshua appealed to the people themselves as witnesses that, so far as
they had complied with the conditions, God had faithfully fulfilled His
promises to them. "Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls," he
said, "that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the
Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and
not one thing hath failed thereof." He declared to them that as the Lord
had fulfilled His promises, so He would fulfill His threatenings. "It
shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the
Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil
things. . . . When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord, . . .
then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall
perish quickly from off the good land which He hath given unto you."
Satan deceives many with the plausible theory that God's love for His
people is so great that He will excuse sin in them; he represents that
while the threatenings of God's word are to serve a certain purpose in
His moral government, they are never to be literally fulfilled. But in
all His dealings with his creatures God has maintained the principles of
righteousness by revealing sin in its true character--by demonstrating
that its sure result is misery and death. The unconditional pardon of
sin never has been, and never will be. Such pardon would show the
abandonment of the principles of righteousness, which are the very
foundation of the government of God. It would fill the unfallen universe
with consternation. God has faithfully pointed out the results of sin,
and if these warnings were not true, how could we be sure that His
promises would be fulfilled? That so-called benevolence which would set
aside justice is not benevolence but weakness.
God is the life-giver. From the beginning all His laws were ordained to
life. But sin broke in upon the order that God had established, and
discord followed. So long as sin exists, suffering and death are
inevitable. It is only because the Redeemer has borne the curse of sin
in our behalf that man can hope to escape, in his own person, its dire
results.
Before the death of Joshua the heads and representatives of the tribes,
obedient to his summons, again assembled at Shechem. No spot in all the
land possessed so many sacred associations, carrying their minds back to
God's covenant with Abraham and Jacob, and recalling also their own
solemn vows upon their entrance into Canaan. Here were the mountains
Ebal and Gerizim, the silent witnesses of those vows which now, in the
presence of their dying leader, they had assembled to renew. On every
side were evidences of what God had wrought for them; how He had given
them a land for which they did not labor, and cities which they built
not, vineyards and oliveyards which they planted not. Joshua reviewed
once more the history of Israel, recounting the wonderful works of God,
that all might have a sense of His love and mercy and might serve Him
"in sincerity and in truth."
By Joshua's direction the ark had been brought from Shiloh. The occasion
was one of great solemnity, and this symbol of God's presence would
deepen the impression he wished to make upon the people. After
presenting the goodness of God toward Israel, he called upon them, in
the name of Jehovah, to choose whom they would serve. The worship of
idols was still to some extent secretly practiced, and Joshua endeavored
now to bring them to a decision that should banish this sin from Israel.
"If it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah," he said, "choose you this
day whom ye will serve." Joshua desired to lead them to serve God, not
by compulsion, but willingly. Love to God is the very foundation of
religion. To engage in His service merely from hope of reward or fear of
punishment would avail nothing. Open apostasy would not be more
offensive to God than hypocrisy and mere formal worship.
The aged leader urged the people to consider, in all its bearings, what
he had set before them, and to decide if they really desired to live as
did the degraded idolatrous nations around them. If it seemed evil to
them to serve Jehovah, the source of power, the fountain of blessing,
let them that day choose whom they would serve--"the gods which your
fathers served," from whom Abraham was called out, "or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land ye dwell." These last words were a keen rebuke
to Israel. The gods of the Amorites had not been able to protect their
worshipers. Because of their abominable and debasing sins, that wicked
nation had been destroyed, and the good land which they once possessed
had been given to God's people. What folly for Israel to choose the
deities for whose worship the Amorites had been destroyed! "As for me
and my house," said Joshua, "we will serve Jehovah." The same holy zeal
that inspired the leader's heart was communicated to the people. His
appeals called forth the unhesitating response, "God forbid that we
should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods."
"Ye cannot serve the Lord," said Joshua: "for He is a holy God; . . . He
will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins." Before there could
be any permanent reformation the people must be led to feel their utter
inability in themselves to render obedience to God. They had broken His
law, it condemned them as transgressors, and it provided no way of
escape. While they trusted in their own strength and righteousness, it
was impossible for them to secure the pardon of their sins; they could
not meet the claims of God's perfect law, and it was in vain that they
pledged themselves to serve God. It was only by faith in Christ that
they could secure pardon of sin and receive strength to obey God's law.
They must cease to rely upon their own efforts for salvation, they must
trust wholly in the merits of the promised Saviour, if they would be
accepted of God.
Joshua endeavored to lead his hearers to weigh well their words, and
refrain from vows which they would be unprepared to fulfill. With deep
earnestness they repeated the declaration: "Nay; but we will serve the
Lord." Solemnly consenting to the witness against themselves that they
had chosen Jehovah, they once more reiterated their pledge of loyalty:
"The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.
"So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a
statute and an ordinance in Shechem." Having written an account of this
solemn transaction, he placed it, with the book of the law, in the side
of the ark. And he set up a pillar as a memorial, saying, "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."
Joshua's work for Israel was done. He had "wholly followed the Lord;"
and in the book of God he is written, "The servant of Jehovah." The
noblest testimony to his character as a public leader is the history of
the generation that had enjoyed his labors: "Israel served the Lord all
the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived
Joshua."
Previous Chapter l Table
Contents l Next Chapter
|
|
