And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because He is our God!" And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the landAnd the LORDThis phrase emphasizes the divine agency and sovereignty of God in the history of Israel. The Hebrew word for "LORD" here is "Yahweh," the covenant name of God, which signifies His eternal presence and faithfulness. In the context of Joshua 24, this highlights God's role as the central figure in Israel's deliverance and conquest, reminding the Israelites of their unique relationship with Him as their covenant God. drove out
The Hebrew root for "drove out" is "garash," which means to expel or cast out. This action underscores God's power and authority over the nations. It was not by Israel's might or strategy that the land was conquered, but by the direct intervention of God. This serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness to His promises and His ability to fulfill His covenant despite human limitations. before us
This phrase indicates the personal involvement and experience of the Israelites in witnessing God's mighty acts. It suggests a direct and observable intervention by God in their history. The use of "us" personalizes the narrative, making it a collective testimony of the community of Israel, reinforcing their identity as God's chosen people who have been guided and protected by Him. all the nations
The term "all the nations" refers to the various peoples inhabiting the Promised Land before Israel's conquest. This includes a wide array of tribes and cultures, each with its own deities and practices. The comprehensive nature of this phrase underscores the totality of God's victory and the fulfillment of His promise to give the land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. including the Amorites
The Amorites were one of the prominent Canaanite tribes known for their strength and fortified cities. Mentioning them specifically highlights the formidable nature of the opposition that Israel faced. Historically, the Amorites were known for their influence and power in the region, making their defeat a significant testament to God's supremacy and the fulfillment of His promises. who lived in the land
This phrase situates the narrative in a specific geographical and historical context. The land refers to Canaan, the territory promised to the patriarchs. The presence of the Amorites and other nations in the land before Israel's arrival underscores the miraculous nature of Israel's conquest, as it was a land already inhabited and fortified by established peoples. This serves as a reminder of God's ability to make a way where there seems to be no way, fulfilling His promises against all odds. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant God of Israel, who delivered them from Egypt and led them into the Promised Land. 2. JoshuaThe leader of Israel after Moses, who is addressing the Israelites in this passage. 3. The IsraelitesThe people of God, who are being reminded of God's faithfulness and their covenant obligations. 4. The AmoritesOne of the Canaanite nations that inhabited the Promised Land before the Israelites conquered it. 5. The Promised LandThe land of Canaan, which God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Teaching Points God's FaithfulnessGod is faithful to His promises, as demonstrated by His actions in driving out the nations before Israel. We can trust Him to fulfill His promises in our lives. Covenant CommitmentJust as the Israelites declared their intention to serve the LORD, we are called to renew our commitment to God, recognizing Him as our God and Savior. Divine EmpowermentThe victories of Israel were not by their own might but by God's power. We should rely on God's strength rather than our own abilities in our spiritual battles. Avoiding IdolatryThe command to drive out the nations was to prevent idolatry. We must be vigilant in removing anything from our lives that competes with our devotion to God. Historical ReflectionReflecting on God's past deliverances can strengthen our faith and encourage us to remain faithful in the present. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the faithfulness of God in driving out the nations before Israel encourage you in your current challenges? 2. In what ways can you renew your commitment to serve the LORD in your daily life? 3. What are some "Amorites" or obstacles in your life that you need God's help to overcome? 4. How can reflecting on God's past faithfulness help you trust Him more in uncertain times? 5. What steps can you take to ensure that nothing in your life becomes an idol, competing with your devotion to God? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 23:23-24This passage speaks of God's promise to send an angel before the Israelites to drive out the Amorites and other nations, emphasizing God's role in their victories. Deuteronomy 7:1-2God commands the Israelites to conquer and utterly destroy the nations in Canaan, including the Amorites, to prevent idolatry. Judges 2:1-3This passage recounts the consequences of Israel's failure to fully obey God's command to drive out the inhabitants of the land, leading to ongoing struggles with idolatry. 1 Samuel 12:10-11Samuel reminds the Israelites of God's deliverance from the hands of their enemies, including the Amorites, as a call to faithfulness. Psalm 44:2-3The psalmist reflects on how God drove out the nations and planted Israel in the land, attributing their success to God's power, not their own strength. 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 Amorite, Amorites, Casteth, Drave, Drove, Dwelt, Including, Inhabitants, Inhabiting, Nations, Peoples, Presence, Servants, ServeDictionary of Bible Themes 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 Joshua 24:16-18 7223 exodus, significance 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 24:18 NIVJoshua 24:18 NLTJoshua 24:18 ESVJoshua 24:18 NASBJoshua 24:18 KJV
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