The last time we met we explored the following question that Joshua posed to the people: “If you don’t want to serve the God of Israel, then whom WILL you serve?” Like all good questions, we have to understand the context in which it was delivered. In the case, the context was that Israel had […]

“If it seems bad to you to serve Adonai, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve Adonai!”-Joshua 24:15 After Joshua finished […]

“Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, rose up and fought against Israel. He sent and summoned Bil‘am the son of Bor to put a curse on you. But I refused to listen to Bil‘am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him.”-Joshua 24:9-10 Verses 9 and 10 […]

The first 13 verses of Joshua 24 are a nice concise rendering of Israel’s salvation history. “Salvation history”. That’s actually a thing. Because let’s never forget that salvation is the main theme of the Scriptures. I think we have a tendency to forget that when we get bogged down in all of the stories and […]

“Therefore fear ADONAI, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the [Euphrates]River and in Egypt, and serve ADONAI!”-Joshua 24:14 Israel’s history has just completed a full circle as demonstrated by the fact that Joshua is now holding the Covenant Renewal ceremony at Shechem. This is the exact same […]