In the April 15, 1978 issue of Saturday Review, the late author and editor Norman Cousins called history “a vast early warning system,” and philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” A knowledge of their roots is very important to the Jews because they are God’s chosen people with a destiny to fulfill in this world.
Shechem was the ideal location for this moving farewell address by Israel’s great leader. It was at Shechem that God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land (Gen. 12:6–7), and there Jacob built an altar (33:20). Shechem was located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where the people of Israel had reaffirmed their commitment to the Lord (Josh. 8:30–35). Shechem was indeed “holy ground” to the Israelites.
If nation and land were the key words in Joshua’s first address, then the Lord is the major focus in this second address, for Joshua refers to the Lord twentyone times. In fact, in 24:2–13, it is the Lord who speaks as Joshua reviews the history of the nation. Another key word is serve, used fifteen times in this address. Jehovah gave them their land and would bless them in their land if they loved Him and served Him.
God chose Israel (vv. 1–4). Abraham and his family were idolaters when God called Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go to Canaan (Gen. 11:27— 12:9). “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham,” declared Stephen in his own farewell speech (Acts 7:2), reminding the Jews that their national identity was an act of God’s grace. Abraham didn’t seek after God and discover Him; it was God who came to Abraham! There was nothing special about the Jews that God should choose them (Deut. 7:1–11; 26:1–11; 32:10), and this fact should have kept them humble and obedient.
“You did not choose Me,” Jesus told His disciples, “but I chose you and appointed you” (John 15: nkjv). Believers were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4) and are called “God’s elect” (Rom. 8:33; Titus 1:1). One of my professors in seminary used to say, “Try to explain election and you may lose your mind, but explain it away and you may lose your soul.” No matter what “school” of theology we belong to, all of us must admit that God takes the first step in our salvation.
Abraham’s firstborn son was Ishmael (Gen. 16), but God rejected him and gave His covenant to Isaac, the child of Abraham and Sarah’s old age (17–18, 21). Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, and God chose Jacob. Paul called these choices God’s purpose “according to election” (Rom. 9:11). Esau became the ancestor of the Edomites in Mount Seir, and Jacob became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Eventually, the children of Israel went to Egypt, where God made them into a great nation.
One of the repeated titles for God in the book of Joshua is “the Lord God of Israel,” used fifteen times (7:13, 19–20; 8:30; 9:18–19; 10:40, 42; 13:14, 33; 14:14; 22:16, 24; 24:2, 23). The Jews were indeed an elect and a special people, for the Lord of heaven chose to associate His great name with them and be their God.
God delivered Israel (vv. 5–7). God sent Joseph ahead to Egypt to preserve the nation during the famine (Ps. 105:16–22), and then He sent Moses and Aaron to deliver the nation from bondage (vv. 23–45). Egypt had been saved from starvation because of the Jews, but instead of being grateful, the rulers of Egypt eventually enslaved the Jews and made their lives bitter (Ex. 3:7–9). All of this was a fulfillment of what God had promised to Abraham centuries before (Gen. 15:1–17), but their suffering in Egypt only made the Israelites multiply more.
God judged the gods and rulers of Egypt by sending ten plagues to the land, climaxing with the death of the firstborn (Ex. 7–12). Only then did stubborn Pharaoh give the Jews permission to leave the land, but then he changed his mind and sent his army after them. God not only brought His people out, but He also led them through the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian army in its waters (chaps. 14–15).
God instructed His people to observe the Passover as an annual reminder of their redemption from Egyptian bondage (chaps. 12–13). In his farewell speech Moses frequently reminded the Jews that they had once been slaves in Egypt but the Lord had set them free (5:15; 6:12; 8:14; 13:5, 10; 15:15; 16:3, 6; 20:1; 24:22). It does a believer good to remember what it was like to be in bondage to sin and then to rejoice in the redemption that was purchased so dearly for us on the cross. It’s a dangerous thing to take the gift of salvation for granted.
God guided Israel (vv. 8–10). God brought Israel out that He might bring them in (Deut. 6:23). His goal for them was the Promised Land, but their sin at Kadesh Barnea caused them to wander in the wilderness until the old unbelieving generation had died off. As Israel marched behind the ark of God, the Lord defeated their enemies. When Balaam tried to curse Israel, God turned the curse into a blessing (Num. 22–24; Deut. 23:5; Neh. 13:2). Whether Satan came against Israel as the lion (the army of the Amorites) or as the serpent (the curses of Balaam), the Lord defeated him.
God gave them their land (vv. 11–13). The same God who took Israel through the Red Sea also took them across the Jordan River and into their inheritance. Except for a temporary defeat at Ai (Josh. 7), and a humiliating compromise with Gibeon (chap. 9), Joshua and his army defeated every enemy in the land because the Lord was with them.
The “hornet” mentioned in 24: (see Ex. 23:28; Deut. 7:20) may have been the insect whose sting is extremely painful, but it’s possible that the word is an image of something else. Invading armies are compared to bees (Deut. 1:44; Ps. 118:12; Isa. 7:18), and some students think that’s the meaning here. God sent other armies into Canaan to weaken the people and prepare them for the invasion of Israel.
But perhaps the hornets better represent the reports that came to Canaan of Israel’s conquests, reports that frightened and almost paralyzed the inhabitants of the land. The words of Rahab describe the panic of the Canaanites because of what they heard about Israel: “And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you” (Josh. 2:11; see 5: and 9:24). God had promised to do this and He kept His promise (Deut. 2:25).
In Joshua 24:13, God’s words remind us of what Moses said to Israel in Deuteronomy 6:10ff. Once again, the emphasis is on the goodness of God and all that He did for Israel because He loved them. When the Jews started taking their blessings for granted, they began drifting away from sincere worship of the Lord. A grateful heart is a strong defense against the devil’s temptations.