The last chapter in the book of Joshua is called one of the theologically richest in the entire Old Testament. The setting at Shechem is deeply symbolic—it’s where Abraham first received God’s covenant promise and where Jacob buried the foreign idols of his own people.
Some scholars have spent years investigating this single chapter for its spiritual reckoning.
In it are the words Joshua had for Israel at the end of his life. At Shechem, he gathers all the tribes of Israel and their leaders, judges and elders.
He begins by recounting their covenant history beginning with Abram who God had brought into the land of Cannan. And now, it was with God’s blessing that they had taken possession of the land promised to their father Abraham hundreds of years earlier.
Now, the problem was that they didn’t remove all the pagan peoples living in Cannan as God had commanded them and they found themselves in the midst of those who worshipped idols and false gods. The people of Israel secretly worshipped them too and it was to become a snare and a test for them.
Joshua knew all of this and spent much time warning them of the consequences of worshipping these false gods and he presents them with a choice. He says to them, “choose you this day whom you will serve but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”.
The people proclaim that they will serve the LORD but Joshua responds with something very troubling. He tells them they can’t serve the LORD, and this is what theologians grapple with to this day.
Why would Joshua say such a thing to God’s chosen people after He had led them out of Egypt by the hand and into the promised land to take possession of it?
It was because they thought they could serve God and these idols and false gods too. Now, God is a Holy and Jealous God and won’t forgive sins against Himself and He demands our complete love and devotion.
But as Joshua says, neither they nor we can possibly do it. So, then the question becomes, who can serve the LORD and be saved?
The answer is we can’t, not on our own – no one can. Our minds are too perverted with the ways of the world, our souls are too unclean to be in His presence, and our ears are closed to understanding His voice.
And that’s why God needed to send His only begotten Son to redeem us. It is only through the belief and trust in Jesus Christ that we can serve the LORD and be saved. AMEN
And so, Joshua’s words of the choice everyone must make are inscribed on our hearts and it reads, “choose you this day whom you will serve but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”.
The reality is that many in the world serve created things including themselves and refuse to make a choice but in the words of that great evangelist Billy Graham, “Not to decide is to decide not to”. God won’t allow anyone to stay neutral, and the choice is either to serve Him or not and to either live or perish.
We Christians have made our choice, and the inscription on our hearts will serve to remind us each day of our commitment to serve the LORD and it is only possible by believing and trusting in what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on that cross. AMEN
Our bible study class, created a coffee mug and presented it to our church as a gift inscribed with Joshu’s words for the ages, words still as relevant today as it was when he first he spoke them. The words written above are what I spoke to our congregation as part of the presentation. I keep one of these mugs at home and make it a point to use it each day, first thing, to remind me of our home’s commitment to the LORD.
