Joshua 24:14-28 - Let Go of the Stick
- Chad Werkhoven
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Choose this day whom you will serve... then let go of your sticks!
SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... After Jericho fell by the LORD’s power, Israel’s conquest of Canaan unfolded with both victories and warnings: Achan’s hidden sin brought defeat at Ai until it was judged, the Gibeonites deceived Israel into a treaty because the people failed to seek the LORD’s counsel, and God then granted Joshua sweeping victories over coalitions of kings in the south and north so that the land could be divided among the tribes as their inheritance. The remainder of the book shows this inheritance carefully allotted, cities of refuge and Levitical cities established, and examples of faithful perseverance such as Caleb receiving his portion.
As Joshua neared death, he's gathered Israel to remind them that every victory came from the LORD alone, urging them to fear Him, abandon their idols, and serve Him with covenant faithfulness.
Joshua 24:14–28
14 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.”
19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
21 But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the LORD.”
22 Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.”
“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.
23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.”
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD.
27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”
28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to their own inheritance.
Heidelberg Catechism
Q&A 94
Q. What does the Lord require in the first commandment?
A. ...That I sincerely acknowledge the only true God,
trust him alone,
look to him for every good thing
humbly
and patiently,
love him,
fear him, and honor him
with all my heart...
Summary
Now that Israel is fully settled in the Promised Land, Joshua has summoned the entire nation one last time to assemble where it all began - a place called Shechem, the very place that God had 600 years earlier promised Abram to your seed I will give this land. Joshua here presses the people to faithfully recommit themselves to the covenant they have with the LORD in a series of four statements, to each of which the Israelites respond enthusiastically.
Joshua calls the people to:
1) SERVE THE LORD: Being in covenant with God is an all consuming commitment to serve, a word used 13x in this short passage. It means to offer work, toil, accomplishment and dedication. Joshua famously sets a choice before the people: if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But our sinful nature doesn't want to serve anybody but ourselves... we just want freedom.
But freedom isn't an option. You can serve the LORD, or you must define the pagan deity you will serve. If the Israelites wouldn't serve the LORD, they needed to choose from either the traditional gods their fathers served or the newer contemporary gods of the Amorites. The Israelites, who finally recognize all that the LORD has done for them, promise to serve the LORD, because he is our God.
2) REALIZE THE GAP BETWEEN YOUR COMMITMENT AND ABILITY: Joshua, perhaps stunned by the people's quick and enthusiastic choice to serve the LORD, immediately tells them that they are not able to serve the LORD. The problem is clear: the LORD is holy, and His people are not. Furthermore, He is a jealous God. Anyone who fails to serve Him wholeheartedly would deserve the disaster God would bring, and He would make and end of them.
It's here that the Israelites make a fatal mistake. Instead of acknowledging their obvious history of failure and pleading for God to continue graciously giving them strength to serve, the people brazenly witness against themselves that they have chosen to serve the LORD.
Dig Deeper
3) SERVICE BEGINS WITH REJECTION: Now then, Joshua continues, throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel. Maybe you've seen videos of dogs futilely trying to carry wide sticks into a narrow gate. They simply need to let go of the stick and go forward, but they won't, so they can't move forward.
You're not surrounded by the allure of physical pagan idols, but we all are guilty of keeping one foot firmly planted in the allurements of this world, even as we try to serve the LORD with our other foot. It doesn't work. Soon both feet are set in the here and now. You need to let go of the world's sticks and put every effort into serving the LORD.
4) LIVE IN COVENANT: The Bible is the story of God covenantal relationship with His people. The flow always goes one way: God sets the terms, conditions, and promises of a covenant, invites people to enter into it, and then ends up keeping it on our behalf. But within this larger Covenant, we make smaller covenants amongst ourselves - for example, many people have entered into a marriage covenant.
So Joshua calls the Israelites to a covenant within the Covenant - they reaffirmed God's decrees and laws and promised to hold each other accountable. This is just one more example from God's Word illustrating the value and need for us all to live into God's Covenant promises by living in a covenanted community of Christians in order to help one another let go of our sticks.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD, who is our God!
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Spirit would equip you and your family to serve the LORD;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
