Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week, in Joshua 23, we read what we thought were Joshua's last words.

They were, really.

Just, it was only first half of his farewell.

And the focus of those words was on the warning.

As a reminder, I'm going to reread verses 14-16:

14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things[a] that the LORD your God promised concerning you.

All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

15 But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, in the same way the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them.

Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.” (ESV, slightly modified).

What Joshua did, in this speech, was basically set two choices before you.

You can give your allegiance to God, and He will bless you.

Or you can turn from him to other elohim, and he will destroy you.

Now, when you hear that, it should be really obvious that you are faced with a stark, black and white choice.

But what Joshua 24 does, basically, is set out this choice for you, and encourage you to be deliberate in choosing one or the other.

You can't go through life making this up as you go; you either intentionally choose to serve Yahweh, or you intentionally choose someone or something else.

But... make the choice.

And understand what you are choosing.

Verse 1:

(1) And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,

and he called to the elders of Israel, to its heads and to its exercisers of authority, and its officers,

and they presented themselves before the Elohim/God,

(2) and Joshua said to all the people,

"Thus Yahweh the Elohim/God of Israel said,

"On the other side of the river your fathers dwelled long ago-- Terakh the father of Abraham, and the father of Nakhor,

and they served other elohim,

Let's pause here.

The very first thing that Yahweh says about their fathers, is that they served other elohim.

We don't expect that.

But Yahweh is very straightforward about what their fathers were like.

As we continue, in verse 3, I want to you to pay attention to what Yahweh says he did for you.

Listen for the "I":

(3) and I took your fathers, Abraham, from the other side of the river,

and I brought him into all the land of Canaan,

and I multiplied his seed/descendants,

and I gave to him Isaac,

(4) and I gave to Isaac, Jacob and Esau,

and I gave to Esau the hill country of Seir to possess it,

while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt,

(5) And I sent Moses and Aaron,

and I struck/plagued Egypt just as I did in his midst,

while afterward I brought out you,

(6) and I brought your fathers from Egypt,

and you went to the sea,

and Egypt pursued after your fathers with chariot and with horsemen to the Sea of Reeds,

(7) and they cried out to Yahweh,

and He put darkness between you and between Egypt,

and He brought against/upon it (Egypt) the sea,

and He covered it (Egypt),

and your eyes saw what I did against Egypt,

and you lived in the wilderness many days,

(8) and I brought you to the land of the Amorites-- the ones dwelling on the other side of the Jordan--,

and they fought with you,

and I gave them into your hand,

and you took possession of their land,

and I destroyed them from before you,

(9) and Balak the son of Tsipor king of Moab rose,

and he fought with Israel,

and he sent,

and he called to Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

(10) and I wasn't willing to heed/listen to Balaam,

and he surely blessed you,

and I saved you from his hand,

(11) and you crossed over the Jordan,

and you came to Jericho,

and they fought against you-- the lords of Jericho, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittitues and the Girgashites the Hivites and the Jebusites,

and I gave them into your hand,

(12) and I sent before you the hornets,

and they drove them from before you-- the two kings of the Amorites, not by your sword and not by your bow,

(13) and I gave to you (the) land

that you hadn't labored in it,

while/and cities

that you hadn't built,

and you dwelled in them.

Vineyards and olive groves that you hadn't planted them, eating,

What Yahweh does in these verses is look back across the entirety of Israelite history.

And He explains to the people how He, at every single point, has proven his faithfulness to his people.

It's not a fluke that Israel is here, now.

It's not random.

Yahweh, at every point, made this happen.

He has blessed them with a land, with cities, with vineyards and olive groves.

He's protected them from every enemy.

When you read the OT, it's quite likely that you tend to focus on yourself, and ethics.

You're looking for promises, or commands, for yourself.

But if you take this speech seriously, understand that when you read OT narratives, you are very much reading God's story.

God is good.

God is faithful.

God is powerful.

And so when you read the OT, think about God.

Starting in verse 14, Joshua applies this history to you:

(14) and so then, see Yahweh!,

and serve him perfectly/completely/wholly,

and in faithfulness,

and remove elohim

that your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt,

and serve Yahweh,

Joshua says, See Yahweh.

Look at your lives.

Look at your history.

Understand what Yahweh has done.

See him!