Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Now thereforeThis phrase serves as a transition, indicating a conclusion or a call to action based on previous statements. In the context of Joshua 24, Joshua has recounted the history of Israel, emphasizing God's faithfulness and mighty acts. The Hebrew word for "therefore" (וְעַתָּה, ve'atah) suggests a logical progression, urging the Israelites to respond appropriately to God's past deeds. It is a call to reflection and decision, urging the people to consider the weight of their history and the covenant relationship with God. fear the LORD
The Hebrew word for "fear" (יָרֵא, yare) encompasses reverence, awe, and respect, rather than mere terror. It implies a deep recognition of God's holiness, power, and authority. In the ancient Near Eastern context, fear of a deity was common, but for Israel, it was uniquely tied to a covenant relationship with Yahweh, who had proven Himself as their deliverer and sustainer. This fear is foundational to wisdom and obedience, as seen throughout the Scriptures (e.g., Proverbs 9:10). and serve Him
The Hebrew word for "serve" (עָבַד, avad) can mean to work, worship, or labor. It implies a life dedicated to God, encompassing both religious duties and everyday actions. Serving God is not limited to ritualistic practices but involves a holistic commitment to living according to His will. This service is a response to God's grace and a reflection of His character in the believer's life. in sincerity
The word "sincerity" (תָּמִים, tamim) conveys completeness, integrity, and blamelessness. It suggests serving God with an undivided heart, free from hypocrisy or deceit. In the biblical context, sincerity is not merely about external actions but the internal state of the heart. God desires genuine devotion, where actions align with inner convictions. and truth
The Hebrew word for "truth" (אֱמֶת, emet) signifies faithfulness, reliability, and stability. It is often associated with God's character, as He is the ultimate standard of truth. Serving God in truth means aligning one's life with His revealed word and living in accordance with His unchanging nature. It involves a commitment to honesty and faithfulness in all aspects of life. Put away the gods
This command to "put away" (הָסִירוּ, hasiru) implies a decisive action to remove or discard. The "gods" refer to the idols and false deities that the Israelites had encountered in Egypt and among the Canaanites. Archaeological findings reveal the prevalence of idol worship in the ancient Near East, highlighting the constant temptation for Israel to syncretize their worship. This call to put away other gods underscores the exclusivity of worship that Yahweh demands. your fathers served
This phrase acknowledges the historical reality that the ancestors of Israel, including those in Egypt and beyond the Euphrates, had engaged in idolatry. It serves as a reminder of the past failures and the need for a break from those practices. The reference to "fathers" connects the present generation to their heritage, urging them to learn from history and choose a different path. beyond the River and in Egypt
"Beyond the River" refers to the region beyond the Euphrates, where Abraham's family originated. This geographical reference highlights the long-standing presence of idolatry in their ancestral history. "In Egypt" recalls the period of bondage, where the Israelites were exposed to the pantheon of Egyptian gods. These locations serve as reminders of God's deliverance and the call to exclusive worship of Him. and serve the LORD
The repetition of the call to "serve the LORD" emphasizes the central theme of the verse. It is a call to exclusive devotion to Yahweh, rejecting all other allegiances. This service is not merely ritualistic but involves a comprehensive commitment to God's covenant, reflecting His holiness and righteousness in every aspect of life. The LORD (Yahweh) is the covenant name of God, reminding the Israelites of His personal relationship with them and His faithfulness to His promises. Persons / Places / Events 1. JoshuaThe leader of Israel who succeeded Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land. He is delivering his farewell address to the Israelites in this chapter. 2. The LORD (Yahweh)The God of Israel, whom Joshua is urging the people to fear and serve with sincerity and truth. 3. The IsraelitesThe people of God who are being addressed by Joshua. They are reminded of their covenant with God and the need to reject idolatry. 4. The EuphratesA major river in the ancient Near East, representing the region where the ancestors of the Israelites lived before God called Abraham. 5. EgyptThe land where the Israelites were enslaved before God delivered them through Moses. It symbolizes a place of bondage and idolatry. Teaching Points Fear the LORDCultivate a reverent awe and respect for God, recognizing His holiness and authority in your life. Serve in Sincerity and TruthWorship and serve God with genuine devotion and integrity, not merely out of tradition or obligation. Reject IdolatryIdentify and remove any modern-day "gods" or idols that compete for your allegiance to God, such as materialism, power, or personal ambition. Remember Your DeliveranceReflect on how God has delivered you from past "Egypts" or places of bondage, and let that remembrance fuel your commitment to Him. Choose DailyMake a conscious, daily decision to serve the LORD, recognizing that faithfulness is a continual choice. Bible Study Questions 1. What does it mean to "fear the LORD" in the context of your daily life, and how can you cultivate this attitude? 2. In what ways can you serve God "in sincerity and truth," and what might hinder you from doing so? 3. What are some "gods" or idols in your life that you need to cast away, and how can you practically do this? 4. How does remembering God's past deliverance in your life encourage you to remain faithful to Him? 5. How can the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 6:24, help you understand and apply Joshua's exhortation to serve the LORD alone? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 20:3-5The commandment against idolatry, which aligns with Joshua's call to cast away foreign gods. Deuteronomy 6:13The command to fear the LORD and serve Him only, reinforcing Joshua's exhortation. 1 Samuel 7:3Samuel's similar call to Israel to return to the LORD and put away foreign gods. Matthew 6:24Jesus' teaching that one cannot serve two masters, paralleling the choice Joshua presents to the Israelites. People Aaron, Amorites, Balaam, Balak, Beor, Canaanites, Egyptians, Eleazar, Esau, Girgashite, Girgashites, Hamor, Hittites, Hivite, Hivites, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jebusites, Joseph, Joshua, Nachor, Nahor, Nun, Perizzites, Phinehas, Seir, Serah, Terah, ZipporPlaces Canaan, Egypt, Euphrates River, Gaash, Gibeah, Jericho, Jordan River, Moab, Red Sea, Seir, Shechem, Timnath-serahTopics TRUE, Aside, Beyond, Egypt, Faithfulness, Fathers, Fear, Flood, Forefathers, Gods, Hearts, Perfection, Perfectness, River, Servants, Serve, Served, Sincerity, Throw, Truth, Turn, Worshiped, WorshippedDictionary of Bible Themes Joshua 24:14 8208 commitment, to God
8242 ethics, personal
8334 reverence, and God's nature
8479 self-examination, examples
8754 fear Joshua 24:14-15 1349 covenant, at Sinai
5048 opportunities, and salvation
6628 conversion, God's demand
8223 dedication
8251 faithfulness, to God
8253 faithfulness, examples
8304 loyalty
8401 challenges
8702 agnosticism
8831 syncretism Joshua 24:14-23 5541 society, negative Joshua 24:14-24 7160 servants of the Lord
8466 reformation Joshua 24:14-27 8145 renewal, people of God Library February the Tenth Registering a Verdict
"The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey." --JOSHUA xxiv. 22-28. Here was a definite decision. Our peril is that we spend our life in wavering and we never decide. We are like a jury which is always hearing evidence and never gives a verdict. We do much thinking, but we never make up our minds. We let our eyes wander over many things, but we make no choice. Life has no crisis, no culmination. Now people who never decide spend their days in hoping to do so. But this kind of life …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling YearA Summary of Israel's Faithlessness and God's Patience
'And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 3. Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision B. At Jacob's Well, and at Sychar. ^D John IV. 5-42. ^d 5 So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 and Jacob's well was there. [Commentators long made the mistake of supposing that Shechem, now called Nablous, was the town here called Sychar. Sheckem lies a mile and a half west of Jacob's well, while the real Sychar, now called 'Askar, lies scarcely half a mile north of the well. It was a small town, loosely called …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Meditations for Household Piety.
1. If thou be called to the government of a family, thou must not hold it sufficient to serve God and live uprightly in thy own person, unless thou cause all under thy charge to do the same with thee. For the performance of this duty God was so well pleased with Abraham, that he would not hide from him his counsel: "For," saith God, "I know him that he will command his sons and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Promise to the Patriarchs.
A great epoch is, in Genesis, ushered in with the history of the time of the Patriarchs. Luther says: "This is the third period in which Holy Scripture begins the history of the Church with a new family." In a befitting manner, the representation is opened in Gen. xii. 1-3 by an account of the first revelation of God, given to Abraham at Haran, in which the way is opened up for all that follows, and in which the dispensations of God are brought before us in a rapid survey. Abraham is to forsake …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
"So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). In our last chapter we considered at some length the much debated and difficult question of the human will. We have shown that the will of the natural man is neither Sovereign nor free but, instead, a servant and slave. We have argued that a right conception of the sinner's will-its servitude-is essential to a just estimate of his depravity and ruin. The utter corruption and degradation of human nature is something which …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God And for Your Fearlessness against them Hold this Sure Sign -- Whenever There Is...
43. And for your fearlessness against them hold this sure sign--whenever there is any apparition, be not prostrate with fear, but whatsoever it be, first boldly ask, Who art thou? And from whence comest thou? And if it should be a vision of holy ones they will assure you, and change your fear into joy. But if the vision should be from the devil, immediately it becomes feeble, beholding your firm purpose of mind. For merely to ask, Who art thou [1083] ? and whence comest thou? is a proof of coolness. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Moses and his Writings
[Illustration: (drop cap W) Clay letter tablet of Moses' time.] We now begin to understand a little of the very beginning of God's Book--of the times in which it was written, the materials used by its first author, and the different kinds of writing from which he had to choose; but we must go a step farther. How much did Moses know about the history of his forefathers, Abraham and Jacob, and of all the old nations and kings mentioned in Genesis, before God called him to the great work of writing …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making "The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Gen. xxxi. 11
Of no less importance and significance is the passage Gen. xxxi. 11 seq. According to ver. 11, the Angel of God, [Hebrew: mlaK halhiM] appears toJacob in a dream. In ver. 13, the same person calls himself the God of Bethel, with reference to the event recorded in chap. xxviii. 11-22. It cannot be supposed that in chap xxviii. the mediation of a common angel took place, who, however, had not been expressly mentioned; for Jehovah is there contrasted with the angels. In ver. 12, we read: "And behold …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Joshua
The book of Joshua is the natural complement of the Pentateuch. Moses is dead, but the people are on the verge of the promised land, and the story of early Israel would be incomplete, did it not record the conquest of that land and her establishment upon it. The divine purpose moves restlessly on, until it is accomplished; so "after the death of Moses, Jehovah spake to Joshua," i. 1. The book falls naturally into three divisions: (a) the conquest of Canaan (i.-xii.), (b) the settlement of the …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Joshua 24:14 NIVJoshua 24:14 NLTJoshua 24:14 ESVJoshua 24:14 NASBJoshua 24:14 KJV
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