Serving God in the Promised Land—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 24A/Proper 27A (Joshua 24)

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. ³ Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many.

¹⁴ “Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River 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 that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, ¹⁷ for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went and among all the peoples through whom we passed, ¹⁸ and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” ²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” ²² Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” ²⁴ The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.” ²⁵ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.

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              It had been a very long journey begun many years earlier when God heard the cries of the people living in slavery in Egypt, called the fugitive Moses by appearing in a burning bush, and then enabling Moses to first liberate the people from slavery and then lead them through the wilderness toward the Promised Land. God made a covenant with the people while they journeyed across Sinai. All of this is recorded in the Book of Exodus and the Book of Deuteronomy, books we have spent time with during this Pentecost Season. Now, we’ve moved on from Moses to his successor, Joshua, who led the people across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. In the previous lectionary reading from Joshua 3, the people took a step of faith and followed the Ark of the Covenant into the river, which, like the sea dried up so the people could cross without difficulty (Josh. 3:7-17).

This week the Revised Common Lectionary takes us to the close of the Book of Joshua. The once young leader who guided the people into the Promised Land and then led them as they took possession of the land of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham and his descendants, has reached the end of his life. Even as Moses had given final instructions to the people (Deuteronomy), now Joshua does the same. He wants to prepare them for a transfer of leadership (though no official successor is announced). The chapters of Joshua that run between chapter 3 and chapter 24 record the events that transpired between the entrance into the land and the end of Joshua’s life. Yes, this a violent book that has had dangerous consequences as later peoples both Jewish and Christian have justified conquest by appealing to this book. Joshua’s final words begin in chapter 23, though we pick things up in chapter 24, where Joshua invites the people to renew their covenant with Yahweh, a covenant that requires them to give up any deity other than Yahweh. If they do this, then they will dwell in the land in peace.  

                This reading appears in the lectionary in the year 2023 when the modern nation of Israel is at war with a Palestinian faction called Hamas. The goal of this war on the part of Israel is to exterminate Hamas so that they might dwell in peace. The problem is that many innocent Palestinians are dying or being displaced as the war continues. The situation in Israel/Palestine is complicated and this reading doesn’t speak to the war itself. However, we cannot preach/teach/study the Book of Joshua without acknowledging the current situation in the region. The passage before us, of course, is not focused on the war of conquest described earlier. Here in Joshua 24, the focus is on living faithfully as the people of God in this land of promise. The key question has to do with whether the people will serve the gods worshipped by Abraham’s father or the God who called Abraham to leave home and journey to Canaan, just as the people of Israel had. The choice is theirs.

                The reading for the week speaks to the renewal of the covenant God made first with Abraham and then again at Sinai. In this reading, Joshua wants to make sure his audience, including us, knows that God is the primary actor in the life of God’s people. In the verses omitted from the reading in Joshua 24 (Josh 24:3b-13), Joshua recounts all that God had done from the time of Isaac to that day on behalf of the people of Israel. The picture here is of a warrior God who defeats the enemies of God’s people and then drives out the inhabitants of the Promised Land so that Israel can dwell in the land. Hear the message God gives through Joshua in verse 13, a verse omitted by the lectionary: “I gave you a land on which you had not labored and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and olive yards that you did not plant.”

                As we pick up the text in verse 14, Joshua, having given the account of God’s actions on behalf of Israel, tells the people:

¹⁴ “Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

The message is clear. God has done great things on behalf of the people. Therefore, it is right and good to “revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.” Now that God has done all of this, the people have a choice. They can serve God faithfully or serve the gods of their ancestors.

One of the messages that is present in this passage and elsewhere in the Old Testament is that Yahweh is a jealous God, who refuses to share the throne with others. Since Yahweh liberated the people and led them to the Promised Land, Yahweh expects the people to give their loyalty to Yahweh. If they do this they will prosper. Who then will you serve? As for Joshua and his household they “will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15). He and his household had already made their choice. Now the rest of the community must make their choice. The response to Joshua’s call to embrace the covenant with Yahweh is overwhelmingly positive.  

Returning to that declaration on Joshua’s part, concerning his family's commitment to follow Yahweh—"but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” —it is a familiar declaration found on all manner of paraphernalia. Elizabeth Felicetti writes of this declaration: “Setting this sound bite in its biblical context enables worshipers to see beyond the snappy verse into the demands being made upon the people of God. Some of these demands will be too easy for them to tune out, because they have trouble seeing themselves in the gods the Israelites’ ancestors served. This presents a ripe opportunity to explore current idols in their personal context.” [Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (p. 1025). Kindle Edition].

When it comes to idols ancient and modern, the question is whether they have a hold on us. For Joshua, God is a jealous God so you can’t serve Yahweh and other gods. There is no room for divided loyalties. So, what about us? Do we have divided loyalties? Is our faith compromised by loyalties to nation or culture? Does our faith define our politics, or does our politics define our faith? Does the American flag stand more prominently above any symbol of the faith? Are we more willing to remove the cross from our sanctuaries than the American flag? The current prominence of Christian Nationalism that equates Christianity and Americanism seems to offer an idol seeking our allegiance.

With these questions of application in mind, Bob Ekblad writes: “What are some of the belief systems, attachments, and allegiances that compromise our full allegiance to God and the divine realm? Have we too readily believed our ancestors’ stories that attribute success to hard work, human intelligence, capital, ethnic, or national superiority?” [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, p. 478]. Again, what are the enticements that would lead us away from our commitment to following the ways of Jesus? When it comes to our allegiances, what or who is ultimate? Might the Lord’s Prayer serve as an antidote to these enticements, especially cultural ones? [For more on the Lord’s Prayer, see my book Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord’s Prayer].

When the people give an affirmative answer to Joshua’s question concerning their ultimate allegiance, he questions their sincerity. He wants them to bear witness to their choice. Are they willing to suffer the consequences of breaking the covenant? They assure Joshua that they are completely on board with Yahweh. So, with that assurance, Joshua makes a covenant with them. It’s a two-way covenant. God will stay faithful, but they will need to do the same. Otherwise, there will be consequences. To mark this agreement, which included laws and ordinances, Joshua set up a marker there at Shechem, setting a large stone under an oak tree in the sanctuary. That stone was to serve as a witness against the people if the people dealt falsely with God. With that Joshua sent the people off to their lands assigned to their tribes.  

To be honest, this word from Joshua to the people makes me a bit uncomfortable. I want to believe that God’s steadfast love will endure forever, overcoming any of the times I break the covenant. While I understand that choices have consequences, surely God will not cut us off. Perhaps the reason I struggle with this is that I know human nature well enough to know that we humans do split our allegiances. In fact, it’s not only easy to go along with our culture but it’s also easy, perhaps easier, to embrace our nation or tribe over God’s realm. After all, the benefits seem to accrue faster when we follow the lead of the influencers, whether political or cultural, than when we give in fully to the way of Jesus.