"No!" replied the people. "We will serve the LORD!" But the people said to Joshua, 'No, we will serve the LORD.'But the people saidThis phrase indicates a collective response from the Israelites. The Hebrew word for "people" is "עָם" (am), which often refers to a community bound by shared beliefs and covenantal identity. This response signifies a unified declaration, reflecting the communal nature of Israel's covenant with God. Historically, this moment is pivotal as it represents a reaffirmation of their commitment to God after the conquest of Canaan, emphasizing the importance of communal faith and accountability. to Joshua
Joshua, whose name in Hebrew is "יְהוֹשֻׁעַ" (Yehoshua), meaning "The LORD is salvation," serves as the leader and mediator between God and the Israelites. His role is crucial as he guides the people in renewing their covenant with God. Joshua's leadership is a continuation of Moses' mission, and his name itself is a reminder of God's deliverance and faithfulness. This context underscores the importance of godly leadership in guiding a community towards faithfulness. No, we will serve
The word "No" here is a strong negation, indicating a decisive rejection of any alternative to serving the LORD. The Hebrew verb for "serve" is "עָבַד" (avad), which implies worship, labor, and allegiance. This choice to serve is not merely a verbal commitment but an active, ongoing dedication to live according to God's commandments. It reflects a conscious decision to reject idolatry and embrace a life of obedience and worship. the LORD
The term "LORD" is translated from the Hebrew "יְהוָה" (YHWH), the sacred and personal name of God, emphasizing His eternal, self-existent nature. This name is central to Israel's identity and covenant relationship with God. By choosing to serve the LORD, the Israelites are acknowledging His sovereignty, faithfulness, and the unique relationship they have with Him as His chosen people. This declaration is a profound act of faith and loyalty, recognizing God as the ultimate authority and source of life. Persons / Places / Events 1. JoshuaThe leader of Israel after Moses, who is addressing the Israelites in this chapter, urging them to renew their covenant with God. 2. The IsraelitesThe people of God who are being called to make a decisive commitment to serve the LORD. 3. ShechemThe location where Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to renew their covenant with God. 4. The Covenant RenewalA significant event where the Israelites reaffirm their commitment to serve the LORD exclusively. 5. The LORD (Yahweh)The one true God whom the Israelites are pledging to serve, rejecting other gods. Teaching Points Commitment to GodThe Israelites' declaration, "We will serve the LORD," highlights the importance of a clear and decisive commitment to God in our lives. Rejecting IdolatryJust as the Israelites were called to reject other gods, we must identify and turn away from modern-day idols that compete for our devotion. Covenant RenewalRegularly renewing our commitment to God helps us stay focused and faithful in our spiritual journey. Community AccountabilityThe collective response of the Israelites shows the power of community in holding each other accountable to serve God. Faithfulness in ActionServing the LORD involves not just words but actions that reflect our commitment to His will and purposes. Bible Study Questions 1. What does the Israelites' response in Joshua 24:21 teach us about the importance of making a public commitment to God? 2. How can we identify and remove "idols" in our lives that hinder our exclusive service to the LORD? 3. In what ways can we regularly renew our covenant with God, both individually and as a community? 4. How does the concept of serving the LORD in Joshua 24:21 relate to Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:24 about serving two masters? 5. Reflect on a time when you had to make a decisive choice to serve God. What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 19:8The Israelites previously committed to obeying God at Mount Sinai, similar to their commitment in Joshua 24. Deuteronomy 6:13Emphasizes the importance of serving the LORD alone, which aligns with the Israelites' declaration in Joshua 24:21. 1 Kings 18:21Elijah challenges the Israelites to choose whom they will serve, echoing Joshua's call for a decision. Matthew 6:24Jesus teaches that one cannot serve two masters, reinforcing the need for exclusive devotion to God. Romans 12:1Paul urges believers to offer themselves as living sacrifices, a New Testament parallel to the Israelites' commitment to serve God. 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 Joshua, Nay, 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 24:19-24 5923 public opinion Joshua 24:21-24 6622 choice 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 24:21 NIVJoshua 24:21 NLTJoshua 24:21 ESVJoshua 24:21 NASBJoshua 24:21 KJV
Joshua 24:21 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
