Joshua Chapters 22-24

Joshua Chapters 22-24

We look back over the book of Joshua here is the basic outline that we have seen:    

Entering the Land: Chapters 1-4 Taking the Land: Chapters 5-12 Possessing the Land: Chapters 13-21 Retaining the Land: Chapters 22-24

These last three chapters (22-24) are actually the result of three assemblies of God’s people (22:1; 23:2; 24:1). “Hence the last three chapters constitute the writer’s major application: Israel must respond in kind to Yahweh’s unwavering faithfulness (21:43-45). Willing bondage to this faithful God is their only rational and proper response. The logic is that of the ‘therefore’ of Romans 12:1 as it follows the divine mercies of Romans 1-11. In principle it is the same as ‘love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all’” (Dale Ralph Davis pp. 161162).

Chapter 22 22:1-9 After the years of the conquest, Joshua summoned to Shiloh the military contingent from the two and a half Transjordan tribes. This group had crossed the Jordan some seven years earlier 40,000 strong and had served God faithfully.

They had indeed honored the word which they had given to Moses about fighting with their brethren. They had obeyed every command that Joshua had issued during the conquest. It was now time for these soldiers to return home.

Joshua did have a parting admonition for these men. First, that they would continue to love God with all their heart, and such love would manifest itself in careful and dedicated obedience to His laws (22:5). Secondly, that they would share the spoils of battle with their brethren who had been tending their livestock and protecting their families while they were gone (22:8). “But why should those who had not endured any of the pain and peril of the conflict enjoy any of 1

the spoils? Possibly many of the men who remained behind would have preferred to go to war, but who then would have raised the crops and protected the women and children? The principle was firmly established that honors and rewards do not only go to those who carry arms but also to those who stay home to perform the commonplace duties” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 365).

Observe that God’s people can obey Him faithfully. “How beautiful such obedience is! It should remain all of God’s people that obedience really is a live option” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 164). Yet such faithfulness is not effortless, it will continue to demand very bit of diligence that they have (22:5).

22:9-11 The two and one half tribes decided to build an imposing altar by the Jordan River as they left for home. The purpose for this altar was to be a witness to their right to the original altar at the tabernacle (22:23-27). As they left Canaan these tribes were worried that the Israelites occupying the land of Canaan would forget about them and that they and their brethren would permanently drift apart. Even though they were just across the Jordan, this river and the valley in which is lies is no ordinary geological feature. “Mountains on each side rise to heights above 2,000 feet and the Jordan Valley nestled in between is in effect a great trench 5 to 13 miles wide. During a part of the year the intense heat greatly discourages travelers” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 365).

22:12 The tribes in Canaan immediately considered this altar an act of apostasy.

For such a second altar for sacrifice was a violation of the Law (Lev. 17:8-9; Deuteronomy 12:5,13-14)). Carefully note the wonderful attitudes that are present. First, “They thought the holiness of God was being threatened. So these men, who were sick of war said, ‘The holiness of God demands no compromise.’

I would to God that the church of the twenieth century would learn this lesson.

The holiness of the God who exists demands that there be no compromise in the area of truth” 1 Secondly, zeal is tempered with knowledge. A delegation, headed by Phinehas (who was noted for his righteous zeal for the Lord (Numbers 25:6-18) is sent to investigate this matter. Before war, they will appeal to their brethren.

The wrong view of this situation “There is something ugly about human nature. The moment disagreements arise, the immediate reaction is a resort to arms. The Israelites made no attempt 1

Francis A. Schaeffer, Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History, p. 175.

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to understand. At once there was a determination to fight it out and eliminate those whom they had misjudged” (Joseph R. Sizoo, ‘The Book of Joshua: Exposition’, The Interpreter’s Bible, 2:658).

The right view of this situation “The western tribes stress that any infidelity by the two-and-a-half tribes would place all Israel under Yahweh’s anger. The Baal Peor fiasco (Numbers 25) brought Yahweh’s plague against the congregation (22:17), and they were still wallowing in some of Peor’s mire. If the eastern tribes rebel today, Yahweh’s wrath will strike ‘all the congregation of Israel’ tomorrow (22:18). If they rebel, it will ‘cause us to rebel’ (22:19). Remember Achan (22:20). That was only one man’s act---but he didn’t suffer alone. One man’s act of treachery place the whole congregation under divine wrath. Small wonder the western tribes were aroused. They know that sin permitted brings judgment on all, that unfaithfulness tolerated will infect still more. How the church needs to recover such a passionate piety, such an infatuation for the true worship of God, such an anxiety when covenant people appear to wander from the path…Part of the problem in our day is that many erroneously assume that the church is a democracy; that, therefore, pluralism (even in essential doctrines) is to be expected, allowed, and welcomed, for, after all, who are we to judge others or bring them under discipline? We must be nice to people, you know, or they will leave the church. But the church is not a democracy; rather, she lives under the kingship of Jesus, who has entrusted the care of His flock to elders, who are to guard, protect, and discipline it (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-4)” (Dale Ralph Davis p.

167).

22:15-20 The delegation rebukes these tribes, reminds them of a past apostasy, and points out that rebellion contaminates the entire nation (22:18). Consider the wonderful attitude in verse 19. These tribes were willing to share their land in Canaan with the two and one half tribes. If the land east of the Jordan wasn’t hallowed by God’s presence, the Western tribes would make room for them.

This was a generous and loving offer. I am impressed that we have people who are zealous for the truth, and yet extremely loving at the same time. “It is rather a sign of health that Israel is so stirred by even the appearance of unfaithfulness” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 171).

22:17 “We have not cleansed ourselves to this day”: This statement reveals that the consequences of the sin committed in Numbers 25 continued to haunt Israel.

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The nation had to struggle continually against idolatry among her own people (Joshua 24:23).

22:20 If these tribes are being unfaithful, it will affect the entire nation. How often do we view our own sins in a similar light? Do we seriously believe that our sins or lack of faithfulness will hinder God’s work or the effectiveness of the local congregation?

22:21-29 Here is the explanation given by the two and one half tribes. First, they know that such an altar for sacrifice would be a sin (22:21-23). Secondly, the purpose of the altar was not for sacrifice, but for a witness (22:24-29), as a reminder to the future generations on the west side of the Jordan that their descendants had a right to worship God at His altar in Canaan. Let us be impressed with what concerned these Israelites. What they really wanted to pass on to their children was the right to worship the one true God! Is that our main concern as parents? “Yet, alas! How much more anxious are thousands to entail upon their descendants ample worldly possessions, even at the hazard of all their better interests, than to perpetuate among them those invaluable means of grace which take hold on eternal life!” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 173).

22:25 “For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us”: It is difficult for us today to realize that the Jordan Valley was a very imposing barrier to travel and communication. The Jordan Valley is part of the Great Rift Valley, a “colossal ditch”. In Palestine it runs the entire length, it is from two to 15 miles across, and falls to sea-level to as deep as 1292 feet below it at the coast of the Dead Sea. 22:31-34 Note that God is only in our midst when we are serving Him. “West and East leave us with a paradox that, if swallowed whole, will give us the right balance. The western tribes argued that unity cannot exist with apostasy (22:13-20), while the eastern tribes feared that fidelity cannot exist without unity (22:21-29). This eastern emphasis stands behind Hebrews 10:24-25” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 169).

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Chapter 23 This chapter constitutes Joshua’s final challenge to Israel’s leadership. Possibly some 10 or 20 years after the end of the conquest and the distribution of the land.

Avoiding any temptation to elevate himself Joshua reminded the leaders of Israel that their enemies had been defeated solely because the Lord had fought for them (23:3-5). God’s faithfulness in the past was objective proof that God would continue to drive out the Canaanites that remained. Retaining the land was conditional. They had to obey. Specifically Joshua feared Israel’s conformity to the heathen nations around them. “Joshua did not contemplate any possibility of neutrality as he posed the choice to be made. They would either go with Israel’s God or the people of Canaan” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 368). So it is today (1 John 2:15-17). 5. Note the “plain logic of faith”. If God had been faithful to His promises in the past, we know that He will be just as faithful and powerful in the future. “The God who so acted then is surely adequate for what comes next…if Christ feeds five thousand men He can surely handle storms on the sea (Mark 6:51-52)” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 182).

It is the task of every generation to pass on to the next the truth concerning God’s power, truth and faithfulness (Psalm 78; Deut. 6:6-8; Ephesians 6:4). “None of it is boring or tedious or dull, as though the next generation would only yawn.

What is dull about a God who became flesh? Who did what no one had ever done---perfectly kept God’s law? …..Who trampled all over death? Who reigns now over the universe? This faith we must teach to our children, for Canaan has all sorts of evangelists calling for decisions to fertility worship and sexual freedom” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 180). The standard for obedience is conformity to the revealed Word (23:6,16). All of the arguments on the behalf of doctrinal compromise which we are hearing today, could have been made by the Canaanites. “I thought your God was a God of love”. “We were born this way”.

“We are serving the same God, just in different ways.” “Unity in diversity”.

“We are all God’s children”. “There are so many ways that one can interpret the Law of Moses”. “If we ban or censor child sacrifice, the next thing we will be doing is burning the Scriptures!” “If you insist on following the Law, then you will end up all by yourself”. “Careful obedience to the wording of the text is legalism”.

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23:3 “You have seen”: It is essential that older Christians pass on to the next generation what they have “seen”. How they have seen God being faithful to them, how they have seen that Christianity works, how they have seen people’s lives changed by the gospel and how they have seen what has happened to the unfaithful as well. “The burden of Joshua’s exhortation to the leaders comes in verses 6-8: since they have actually seen Yahweh’s work on behalf of Israel, they must be the spearheads of fidelity to Him” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 172).

23:6 “Be very firm”: “That is Joshua’s concern in chapter 23. It is one thing for Israel to stay up for (perhaps) a five-year conquest; it is another to maintain the vigour and vision over the long haul in order to complete the conquest and preserve its results” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 171).

23:6 “To keep and do all that is written in the book of the Law of Moses”: The standard of obedience is always how well we are complying with God’s revelation in the Scriptures. “In 1:7-8 this demand was laid on Joshua; here he places all Israel under it. There is not some higher obedience required of God’s ‘full-time’ (horrid phrase!) servants while the rest muddle along on a lower plane. All the Lord’s people owe compliance to all the Lord’s law” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 176).

23:7 “In order that you may not associate with these nations”: “Here then is the particular form of obedience; this obedience must take the form of separation.

Having social mixes with the Canaanites will only make fertility theology more available to Israel and accommodation to the local beliefs seem more natural” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 177).

23:14 “He reminds those surviving him of what they knew so well---the thorough faithfulness of Yahweh: ‘Not a single word has fallen…’ What Yahweh has said He has fulfilled in detail….Joshua preaches to us that Yahweh’s faithfulness is a two-edged sword (15), that He is faithful both in grace and in judgment. Yahweh’s fidelity is not displayed just in covenant blessing but in covenant judgment as well, by which He testifies that He has not let go of His people but pursues them even in their sins. We do not have a tame, safe God, but one who is faithful to heal and destroy” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 179).

24:16 “When you transgress”: God does not end all His speeches with happy endings. We might prefer a more positive ending of this speech, yet God will give us a negative ending if He things it will lead to faithfulness on our part.

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Chapter 24 24:1 Joshua’s final address to the nation took place at Shechem. This city was located a few miles northwest of Shiloh, where Abraham first received the promise that God would give his seed the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:6-7). Jacob had also stopped here on his return from Paddan Aram (Genesis 35:4). After the Israelites had completed the first phase of the conquest, they journeyed to Shechem where Joshua built an altar and inscribed the Law on large stones (8:3035). Certainly the stones on which the Law had been written were still standing.

24:2 Here we learn that the father of Abraham had been an idol worshipper.

The clear inference is that Abraham had not always been a worshipper of God. “Yet there is a persistent tendency in the popular Christian mind to look upon folks like Abraham as if they had always been a Mr. Goodwrench—good, solid, helpful folks to whom no God who had an ounce of wisdom could avoid taking a shine….Abraham did not emerge from profound ignorance and the abyss of error by his own virtue” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 189). Faith came by hearing for Abraham as well as us (Romans 10:17).

24:3-13 This over view of history reads just like the history recorded in Genesis through Deuteronomy. The previous books had not been corrupted. In fact, the same history is retold in the New Testament (Acts chapter 7). And anytime such a history is told the point should be grasped that if God did such in the past, then He can certainly be trusted with the present and the future! This is God’s track record!

24:4 Note how the faithful at times will suffer. Esau is given his inheritance, his land, yet Jacob must wait for centuries in bondage for theirs. Esau does not have to be faithful to receive land, but Israel must be pure to receive hers. Let us never feel sorry for ourselves that God seems to expect more from us, the growth and reward is worth it, we wouldn’t want it any other way (Romans 8:18). The Bible is straight-forward. Faith results in tremendous triumphs (Hebrews 11:32-38) and also can result in tremendous suffering and persecution (11:35-38). Yet, God views both as being victories.

24:6-7: This is a concentrated form of Exodus 14.

24:9-10: Balaam shows up again and is treated as a real historical person. This should once again remind Israel of God’s protection, even “professionals” in the

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cursing and blessing business cannot touch the faithful. “The thought of Red Sea and Balaam and hornet and hailstones and tarrying sun is eminently practical for me. It not only changes my life; it changes my day. It makes me to feel safe to relinquish idols and to simply trust the One….Psalm 78 puts the moral this way: ‘He established a testimony----which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children….so that they should set their hope in God’ (verses 5-7)…If God is going to conscript all nature for my deliverance, if He is really going to work out all things for the sake of those who love Him, right here on the hot pavement of life, than I am motivated to serve with abandon” (Andree Seu).

24:12 “I sent the hornet”: This phrase may figuratively refer to the panic experienced by the people of Canaan upon hearing what God had done for Israel (Deut. 2:25; Joshua 2:10, 24; 5:1).

24:14 Faithfulness to God should be a natural response to His abundant historical goodness. “What else could one do toward a God who calls, delivers, protects, and supplies?” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 198). Compare with Romans 12:1-2 Faithfulness also demands an exclusive commitment.

24:14-15 Joshua forces the Israelites into a corner, and he pressed them to the wall, for they must come down somewhere. Man will serve and worship something or someone (Matthew 6:24). Those in love with tradition might want to choose the gods of their ancestors. “The liberals with their yen for relevance, for being in step with the times, might prefer to identify (as an act of goodwill) with the current social milieu and enter into dialogue and worship with the Amorites.

But you must choose; if not Yahweh, then take your pick from ‘these dunghill deities’ (Matthew Henry)” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 199). The only choice other than faithfulness to God is a stupid choice. The only other options left for the unfaithful are absurd. Popular opinion may vary, but Joshua won’t be swayed.

There are times when young zealous Christians are cornered by the scoffer or the cynic. The advice they are given is often, “When you have lived as long as I have lived, you will realize that your black and white world isn’t so black and white after all”. Joshua wouldn’t have been swayed by such an argument. There was no room for compromise, it was all or nothing.

24:15 “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”: Christians are often told that the more they try to impress God on their children, the further they will drive their children from a desire to serve God. The cynics tell us that our 8

children will probably rebel against our attempts at converting them. Joshua didn’t believe that being a good parent was simply allowing your children to believe what they want to believe. He was determined to prejudice them with the truth!

24:16-19 “You will not be able to serve the Lord”: Such a response is unexpected, especially after he had encouraged the Israelites to serve the Lord.

The purpose of the statement is to have them face reality, to count the cost (Luke 14:25-35). Faithfulness will involve much more than lip service (Matthew 7:21).

“Neither Israel nor the church could hear a more beneficial word than that…The church should note this: Too frequently, the Jesus we present is some variety of prepackaged joy, peace, and provision that works twice as fast as aspirin….One of the healthiest things a Christian can do is to doubt and question his easy expressions of commitment” (Dale Ralph Davis pp. 201-202). We should not sell Christ, rather we need to warn people of the commitment that He demands (John 13:37; 21:15-19). Before we sing, “I surrender all”, we had better mean it.

“If you desert Him, He will consume you (24:20). Don’t lightly mouth your profession of faith, Joshua is saying. Don’t you realize the sort of God you are dealing with? He is a holy, jealous God. You don’t dare come to Him thinking, ‘though it makes Him sad to see the way we live, he’ll always say, “I forgive”’…

Joshua seeks to put down that blathering self-confidence that makes emotional commitments rather than shutting its mouth and counting the cost” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 195).

I believe there is a valuable lesson here. Often we are too eager to see a person baptized. With such zeal, let us also challenge the potential convert. It might not be a bad idea now and then say to someone who says, “I want to be baptized”--“what makes you think that you can live the Christian life?” Instead of fretting over the person who might reject the gospel, let us be more concerned about the possibility of that person accepting it! For that is where the real work begins.

24:21-22 When we give our word, that same word will testify against us if we are unfaithful. God rejects the excuse of the apostate who says, “Well, I never really believed in the first place”, or, “I was pressured into becoming a Christian”. God holds us to our word—regardless of the excuses that we might later make.

24:23 Apparently Joshua knew that some in Israel were secretly practicing idolatry, and demanded that such stop right now.

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24:26 As a final reminder Joshua also inscribed the statutes of the covenant on a large stone. “Archeologists excavating the site of Shechem have uncovered a great limestone pillar which may be identified with the memorial referred to here” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 370). “Commitments are too easily forgotten.

Too soon the intensity of feeling fades away. Joshua memorialized this important transaction in both the written word and a visible object” (Gaebelein p.

370). Here again we see that before a generation passed on, they had been given the Divine record of what had happened in their lifetime, including the covenants to which they had pledged themselves.

24:29 No greater tribute could be paid to Joshua than the expression, “the servant of the Lord”. He had aspired to no greater rank than this. Those who desire to preach the gospel need to be impressed that educational degrees and human honors cannot compare to being simply a servant of the Lord.

24:30 “Gaash”: (GAY ash). “Timnath Serah”, is located about 12 miles NE of Lydda.

24:31 People can remain faithful to God! God doesn’t require the impossible and His standards are attainable.

24:32 The burial of Joseph’s bones was the fulfillment of his last request (Genesis 50:25). Some 400 plus years after the time of Joseph, this final request is honored.

This burial symbolized the completion of an era and the fulfillment of God’s promises to the Patriarchs. His request was an act of faith (Heb. 11:22). In addition, the burial plots purchased by Abraham and Jacob were symbolic of their faith that God would give the whole land to their descendants.

24:33 When Eleazar the son of Aaron died, the whole generation of those who had left Egypt came to an end. The author may be suggesting that Eleazar’s death marked the end of the period of the elders who outlived Joshua. Eleazar had been Joshua’s right hand man during the conquest and had served his generation well.

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