Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was near the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua recorded these thingsThe act of recording signifies the importance of preserving divine instructions and covenants for future generations. The Hebrew root for "recorded" is "כָּתַב" (katav), which means to write or inscribe. This action underscores the permanence and authority of the words spoken. Joshua, as a leader, ensures that the covenant renewal and the people's commitment to God are documented, emphasizing the continuity of God's law and the people's responsibility to adhere to it. in the Book of the Law of God
This phrase indicates that the events and covenants were added to an existing sacred text, which was considered authoritative and divinely inspired. The "Book of the Law of God" refers to the Torah, the foundational legal and moral code given to Moses. By including these events, Joshua aligns the people's renewed commitment with the foundational covenant at Sinai, reinforcing the unity and continuity of God's revelation to His people. Then he took a large stone
The use of a "large stone" as a physical memorial is significant in ancient Near Eastern cultures, where stones often served as witnesses to covenants or significant events. The Hebrew word for "stone" is "אֶבֶן" (even), which can symbolize strength and permanence. This stone serves as a tangible reminder of the covenant, a silent witness to the promises made by the Israelites to serve the LORD faithfully. and set it up there under the oak
The oak tree, or "אֵלָה" (elah) in Hebrew, is often associated with significant religious or historical events in the Bible. Oaks were considered sacred and were common sites for worship and important gatherings. By setting the stone under the oak, Joshua connects the physical memorial with a place of spiritual significance, creating a sacred space that reinforces the solemnity of the covenant. that was near the sanctuary of the LORD
The proximity to the "sanctuary of the LORD" highlights the sacredness of the location. The sanctuary, or "מִקְדָּשׁ" (mikdash), represents God's presence among His people. By placing the stone near the sanctuary, Joshua ensures that the covenant is not only remembered but also continually associated with the divine presence and authority of God. This act serves as a constant reminder to the Israelites of their commitment to live according to God's laws and to remain faithful to Him. Persons / Places / Events 1. JoshuaThe leader of Israel after Moses, who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. In this passage, he is reaffirming the covenant between God and Israel. 2. The Book of the Law of GodThis refers to the written record of God's laws and commands, which Joshua added to, ensuring the covenant was documented for future generations. 3. The Large StoneA physical memorial set up by Joshua to serve as a witness to the covenant renewal, symbolizing the permanence and seriousness of the commitment made by the Israelites. 4. The OakA significant landmark near the sanctuary of the LORD, serving as a location for the covenant renewal ceremony. 5. The Sanctuary of the LORDThe sacred place where the Israelites worshiped God, emphasizing the solemnity and sacredness of the covenant renewal. Teaching Points The Importance of Covenant RenewalJust as Joshua led the Israelites in renewing their covenant with God, believers today should regularly renew their commitment to God, reflecting on His faithfulness and their dedication. The Role of Memorials in FaithPhysical reminders, like the stone set by Joshua, can help believers remember God's past faithfulness and their commitments to Him. Consider creating personal memorials to mark significant spiritual milestones. The Significance of Written RecordsJoshua's recording of the covenant highlights the importance of documenting God's work and commands. Believers should value and engage with Scripture as a living record of God's covenant with His people. The Sacredness of Worship SpacesThe setting of the covenant renewal near the sanctuary underscores the importance of sacred spaces in worship and commitment. Believers should honor and utilize their places of worship as centers for spiritual renewal. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Joshua's action of recording the covenant in the Book of the Law of God emphasize the importance of Scripture in our lives today? 2. In what ways can we create "memorials" in our own lives to remember God's faithfulness and our commitments to Him? 3. How does the concept of covenant renewal in Joshua 24 relate to the New Covenant established through Jesus Christ? 4. What role do sacred spaces play in your personal worship and spiritual growth, and how can you make the most of them? 5. How can the practice of documenting spiritual milestones enhance your faith journey and relationship with God? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 31This chapter describes Moses writing down the law and placing it beside the Ark of the Covenant, similar to Joshua's actions in recording the covenant. Exodus 24This passage recounts the covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai, where Moses also set up a memorial to signify the covenant between God and Israel. 1 Samuel 7Samuel sets up a stone called Ebenezer as a memorial of God's help, paralleling Joshua's use of a stone as a witness to the covenant. 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 Book, Holy, Joshua, Large, Law, Oak, Oak-tree, Raiseth, Record, Recorded, Sanctuary, Stone, Taketh, Writeth, Writing, WroteDictionary of Bible Themes Joshua 24:26 1640 Book of the Law
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5638 writing Joshua 24:14-27 8145 renewal, people of God Joshua 24:26-27 4366 stones 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 24:26 NIVJoshua 24:26 NLTJoshua 24:26 ESVJoshua 24:26 NASBJoshua 24:26 KJV
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