Read

As for Me and My House

Joshua 24

The last thing Moses did before his death was to call the nation of Israel—camped on the plains of Moab waiting to inherit Canaan—to confess their allegiance to God and His covenant. The book of Deuteronomy represents that call to covenant renewal, with the climax coming in Deuteronomy 30.

"Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age" (Joshua 23:1). Like Moses, Joshua's last official leadership act was to call "all the tribes of Israel to Shechem" (Joshua 24:1) to, once again, call on the people to renew their faithfulness to God and His covenant. Beginning with Abraham, Joshua recounted the history of God's faithfulness to Israel up to that very moment.

Joshua did something then that Moses never did—a step of vulnerability and risk that isolated him and could have separated him from his millions of fellow Israelites. After exhorting them to cast aside the gods of Mesopotamia and Egypt and fear Yahweh only, he said, ". . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:14-15).

Drawing a line in the sand—"Choose this day whom you will serve"—is a risky decision. But leaders who rule by principle rather than polls are not afraid to take that stand. Joshua had already decided whom he and his family would serve and fear regardless of what anyone else decided.

When the people responded, "No, but we will serve the Lord!" (Joshua 24:21), Joshua upped the stakes by making their words their witnesses: "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him" (verse 22).

Back to Joshua