THROUGH THE BIBLE - Joshua 2..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Joshua chapter 24, what I'll do is I'll be reading from the ESV translation of the Bible, and after we're done reading, I'll give a brief explanation of the text as we always do, and then we'll come to our Lord in prayer, and then we'll ask our brother Nelson to come and preach the sermon that the Lord has placed upon his heart. So Joshua chapter 24, as always, we'll read the whole chapter together from verse one.

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Long ago your fathers lived beyond Euphrates, Terah the father of Abraham, and Nahor, and they served are the gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.

And I gave Esau the hill country of Sierra to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it. And afterwards I brought you out. Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horses to the Red Sea.

And when they cried to the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come up them and cover them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. and you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.

Then Balak, the son of Zephor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and invited Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you, so I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over to Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Gergesites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand, and I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites.

It was not by your sword or by your bow I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities that you had not built. And you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of the vineyards and the olive orchards that you did not plant. Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Then the people answered, Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. For it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did this great sign in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples of the Amorites who lived in the land.

Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for He is our God. But Joshua said to the people, you are not able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after having done you good.

And the people said to Joshua, no, but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses. He said, then put away the foreign gods that are among you and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, the Lord, our God, we will serve and his voice we will obey.

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under the Tiber that was the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he has spoke to us. Therefore, it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God. So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

After these things, Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gash. Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel. As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob brought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of money. He became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

And Eliezer the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas, his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord, it remains forever. Well, this is the last chapter.

This is the last chapter in the book of Joshua. 24 chapters and we finally come to the last chapter. What was plaguing my mind as I was preparing is simply this, how am I going to bring this wonderful book of Joshua to a close in the 15 or 20 minutes that I have to speak here this evening? I mean, in light of the contents of the previous 23 chapters that are just beautiful and glorious truths that we've been working through systematically, Lord's Day after Lord's Day, but also in light of the substance that is before us here in chapter 24, this rich substance that we could comfortably take, well, you know, we could comfortably take months to work our way through. But we made a commitment and that commitment was that one chapter per Lord's Day and that commitment we intend to keep.

We'll continue to go one chapter per Lord's Day until we go through this book, if the Lord tarries, or we come to the end, or if the Lord tarries, if the Lord doesn't come back, that's it, but if the Lord tarries, we'll go through the book. And according to my calculations, that would be somewhere in the winter of 2041, either way. We intend that the Word of God would be what stands over us. It is supremely authoritative over our lives. So needless to say, beloved brothers and sisters, there's going to be many things, many realities, many truths that I'm going to leave on the table as we work our way through Joshua chapter 24 this afternoon.

But I felt that it's best to start here, to start you with a bit of a reminder, to take our minds back to what I said a few months back. A few months back, if you remember, I said that the book of Joshua, 24 chapters, can be somewhat divided into three sections. You remember that? The first section, after a time of preparation for the people of God, you could say that the first section really, the narrative, speaks to the conquest, the battle that the people of God will be engaged in as they enter into the land of Canaan to receive the land that the Lord God had promised their fathers and indeed promised them to give. The second section we said is now subsequent to a successful military campaign that the people of God have received the land.

And so the second section of the book of Joshua speaks to the dividing up of the land, the inheritance that is given to the 12 tribes, who gets what portion of the land. And then if you remember, I said the last section is to look back, it's to reminisce, it's to look back at the faithfulness of God. in his hand, in his mighty hand, in bringing you to where you are, Israel, now looking back and acknowledging the faithfulness of God, and where you are, you have a response to this God. You need to make a decision before this God. What will you decide as Joshua says here before us in Joshua chapter 24?

Will you serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul? Will you love Him? Will you adore Him? Will your heart be inclined towards Him? Will you place your faith in the Lord God?

The Lord God alone. He's been faithful. He's been true to his people. The three sections of the book of Joshua are summarized like that, and I believe here in the last chapter, chapter 24, it encapsulates all three sections put together. You see, it begins with the leaders of all the tribes of Israel being summoned by the then leader, Joshua, to come to a place called Shechem, to present themselves before Yahweh.

Now that is covenantal language. You might remember similar language back in Exodus chapter 19, where the people of Israel stood before, presented themselves in Mount Sinai before the Lord. It is covenantal language. It's a renewal of a covenant taking place. The great warrior leader, Joshua, as they've known him for decades now, becomes the prophet.

He'll open his mouth and speak on behalf of God. In fact, God speaks through Joshua in the first person. In verses 2 to 13, you'll realize that this is what God is doing. And in classic prophet prose style, the speech begins with, thus says the Lord. He gathers all the leaders of the people of Israel and he declares, thus says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. Thus says Yahweh, the covenant name of God. The God who's about to speak through Joshua. He's not a God who's distant or aloof. He's not an abstract reality in their minds, but rather He's a God who is pleased to have made Himself known and to bring these people that are standing before Joshua and in fact have taken possession of the land into relationship with Him.

Gave them His own name, Yahweh, and now He wants them to know He wants them to know that where they are now nestled safely and dwelling safely in the inheritance that God had promised centuries earlier, that that is not a product of their own faithfulness. That this is not a product of them being righteous. In fact, on two occasions in Joshua chapter 24, the people are implored by Joshua to not worship foreign gods, but rather not to serve those gods and worship and serve Yahweh and Yahweh alone. It is not your faithfulness, but rather the faithfulness of God. And it's not the faithfulness of their fathers, whether it's Abraham or Isaac or Jacob.

No, not at all. Because the first mention of Abraham, if you saw that in the first few verses, Abraham is mentioned, but he's mentioned with his family. And the first detail you hear of Abraham is that he is a or was an idol-worshipping person. It's not exactly that the Lord was looking for a righteous man, found Abraham, but it's indeed that God Yahweh makes him righteous. Now in this first section, the Lord God is very concerned to make sure that His people know that they are where they are.

because of who He is. He's the righteous God. He's the covenant-keeping God. He's the God who keeps His promise. This is who He is.

Yahweh is faithful. Sure, He raises up men like Moses and Aaron, and who is before us, Joshua, to do His bidding, but it's the sovereign control and the strong arm of God that gets things done. You are where you are because Yahweh brought you here. That's what the first paragraph of this text is showing us. It's showing the people, saying look back and see what Yahweh has done.

If you think that the emphasis is not on the Lord God, then just let your eyes skim through those verses from verse 2 through 13, and see how many times that pronoun, I, is mentioned in so little verses. I'll tell you, it's very rare that you find that many I's in a short text like this. Have a look, let's have a look together from verses two. Actually, we'll go to verse three. It says, then I, this is the Lord God saying, then I, speaking through Joshua, remember in the first person, then I took your father Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many.

I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac, I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the whole country of Seir to possess. But to Jacob and his children went down to Egypt and I sent Moses and Aaron and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it and afterwards brought you here. Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt.

scan through to verse seven, and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hands, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. Then Balak, the son of Zephor, king of Moab, rose and fought against Israel, and he sent and invited Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you. I would not listen to Balaam.

I am in complete control, Yahweh is saying. So I delivered you out of his hand. And when you went to the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hitchites, the Gilgashites, the Hibbites, and the Jebusites, and I gave them into your hands, and I sent the hornet before you and drove them out. The two kings of the Emirates. It was not by your sword.

Just in case you didn't get it. Just in case the people of Israel weren't able to understand what the Lord God was saying with all those I, I, I, I. The emphasis is back on Him. All I's are to be on Yahweh. But just in case you did not get it, then He says it so clearly.

It was not by your sword or by your bow, Israel. I gave you a land on which you had not labored. All eyes on Yahweh. You are where you are. You're enjoying the blessings, you've received the inheritance, the promise that God made centuries earlier.

You are now enjoying it, not because of who you are. Don't think for a moment that you can flex your muscle and think, look what we did to the Canaanites. But you are to look to the Lord God and know that it is by the mighty arm of God and God himself is where you are, where you are. In light of the faithfulness of Yahweh and the supernatural deliverance from so many foes and enemies, in order for them to be where they are today, In light of that, in light of the fact that where they are now is a testimony to the greatness and the goodness of Yahweh, they need to respond to that. You've received, you've enjoyed, but what is your heart's attitude towards this God?

What is the disposition of your heart, your mind, your very being towards this God? What is the only rightful response that you, people of Israel, who have experienced the goodness of God, what is the rightful response for such a people? First warning. Now therefore fear the Lord. and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.

Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river in Egypt and serve the Lord. In verse 23, reiterating the same words, he adds this. He says, incline your hearts to the Lord God of Israel. Israel, you've seen with your eyes how good and faithful and gracious this God is. Now incline your hearts to Him, towards Him, Serve Him and Him alone.

Devote your lives to this God. Devote your affection to this God. Devote your whole very being to this God. Incline your hearts towards Him. Don't incline your hearts to any other false God or anything else that may draw or lure your hearts away from this God, but rather focus your attention, your mind, your heart, your faith.

upon the God of Israel. Put away, put away your idols. Israel, it's time you make a decision. Choose this day whom you will serve. You can't serve two masters.

You can't. You remember who says that we can't serve two masters? the words of our Lord himself. You remember the words. No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

Make sense of the very first commandment, thou shall have no other gods before me. The great warrior leader, now prophet Joshua, is a godly example of faith. Faith that is exercised in obedience, now at 110 years of age. Served the Lord so faithfully and yet he looks upon these leaders of Israel and he says, but as for me, it's up to you to decide. You decide who you'll serve.

If you think it's evil to worship and serve the Lord, it's up to you. You decide. You need to make that decision. Make the decision whether you want the blessings that come from the hands of Yahweh or if you want the curses that come from his hand. Moses warned us about those.

You decide today whether you choose life or you choose death. But as for me, you realize how he's appealing to them because he can't force them to do anything. Faith comes from in here. But as for me and my house, he says, we will serve the Lord. Beloved, the Lord calls his own to trust and to obey, to place their faith in him, he's worthy.

And godly examples don't only talk the talk, but they ought to also walk the walk. At 110, Joshua is still saying, and will continue to serve the Lord. The 24th chapter concludes with the burial of three such examples of men who not only talked the talk, but they walked the walk. My timer is out, so I don't even know how long I've gone. I'm sorry, but I'll continue.

Hopefully I won't take your attention for too much longer. Three examples that we've been given, men of faith, men who have led the people of Israel. Men who have directed their eyes and their gaze to the Lord God Yahweh. Men who continue through the process have said, look, don't rely on your own strength. Believe.

Believe in Yahweh. Trust Him. He's faithful. He's good. He's always proven to be a God who fulfills His promises.

There is no other God. Trust in Him. Joshua was one. At 110, he died and was buried. He pressed the people of Israel to faith.

Even His name speaks to it, doesn't it? What does the name Yeshua mean? God is salvation. And His mission was to that end. The point the people of Israel say, you want to be saved?

Look to no other than the Lord God, the God of Israel, Yahweh Himself. But He was used by the Lord for a season, just like Moses. And then He passed. He was buried. Eliezer is the other, he was a high priest, the son of Aaron, also jealous for Israel to trust in the Lord God.

Daily, as a high priest, he represented Israel in a tabernacle, offering the sacrifices daily and yearly on behalf of the people of Israel, and not only proclaiming that they would trust in Yahweh and Yahweh alone, but even in his work, it was an emblem of faith, saying that your sins deserving of the death of these countless animals that I've been sacrificing over and over again. That the blood of these animals should be your own blood. How is it that the God of the universe will accept an animal, the blood of bulls and goats, and atone for your sins? We don't know the depth of that, but in obedience, in faith and obedience, we believe that he will provide the atonement. So even the work of Eliezer, the high priest, was pointing the people of Israel, even daily, to faith in this good covenant-keeping God.

Joseph is the other. He also died at 110, and he was buried in the tomb that his father Jacob had purchased centuries earlier. in faith, trusting that the people of God, His seed will one day come back and possess the land, trusting that God will keep His promises. And it's there that Joseph has his bones buried. But I said that these are three examples of men who proclaimed and pursued and spurred the people of Israel unto faith.

How does Joseph spur the people of Israel unto faith? He's been dead for centuries. Actually, Joseph, his bones cried out whilst he was dead. You know, the interesting thing in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11, the book that we know as the chapter, I'm sorry, the chapter we know as the chapter of faith, Hebrews chapter 11, it mentions Joseph. And when it mentions Joseph, it's interesting, it speaks of the faith of Joseph.

And there's many... Many things in the life of Joseph that we can point to, to prove that he had a faith in Yahweh and he walked obediently according to that faith. That faith was manifested in obedience. There's many. But it's interesting how in the book of Hebrews, when it mentions his faith, it makes note of this one point.

Listen to what it says. It says, by faith, Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of Israel and gave directions concerning his bones. What are the directions? What are the commands? Well, we know back in Genesis chapter 50, he says to his people that when I die, you are to carry my bones with you when you depart from here and you receive the land that is flowing with milk and honey, the land that Yahweh promised to my father Abraham, my father Jacob, and my father Isaac, and my father Jacob.

You are to take my bones and you are to bury me among my people in the promised land. Now you have to realize that when Joseph spoke those words, the people of Israel were not under oppression, under slavery. At that point, Joseph, under the command of Pharaoh, had given his people, his family, the absolute best of the land of Egypt. We're told that. He gave them the best land of Egypt, the land of Ramesses.

They were flourishing, they were prospering in the land. The people of Abraham's family, his line, were absolutely prosperous at this time. They weren't crying out, let us go. They had the favor of the king. Yet, Joseph knew.

Because God had spoken. Because God had made a promise. God had said to Abraham that this will take place. And he's a God who makes promises and he's a God who keeps promises. And so Joseph said, even though everything looks nice and rosy right now, I know that you'll pick up and you will leave because the Sovereign hand of the of the God of the universe the one who's faithful the one who speaks and always keeps his promises He will gather you up and he will take you to that land I know he will why because he Said he will and I'm gonna place my trust in him when I die you make sure you take my bones with you Can you imagine Can you imagine everywhere Israel went?

They took Joseph's bones with him Now we're told back in Genesis chapter 50 that when Joseph died he was placed in a coffin and it's very unlikely, if you have the image, that they're just carrying these loose bones around. That's not going to be the case because it was a defilement to touch anything dead. So it's very likely that they were carrying the coffin that Joseph's bones were placed in. We've worked our way through the Exodus. Imagine that.

Everywhere they went. there were likely men who had this coffin on their shoulders and they were walking. And towering among the people was the coffin of Joseph. And as people looked to the coffin of Joseph, the emblem of death, but he wasn't pointing to death, he was pointing to life and blessing and the promises of God being coming to fruition because everywhere they went, those bones We're crying out that God is faithful. He will get us there.

The journey is long, but God will get us there. When they came out of Egypt and their backs were against the Red Sea, pressed against the Red Sea, and the rumblings of the chariots of Pharaoh coming towards them to finish them. The people were in dread. Moses, what have you done? Bring us out to die like this.

And the bones of Joseph were declaring and crying out, no, we will not die. The Lord God said He will take us to the land. The Lord God will take us to the land. What an emblem of hope. From among the grave even, His bones speak and teach and urge the people of Israel to faith.

When they got hungry in the 40 years in the wilderness, and they got thirsty and they were grumbling and mumbling, Moses, you've brought us out here to annihilate us. Our name is going to be completely annihilated from under the heavens. His bones were saying something else. He'll say, no, that's impossible. Because God promised he'll get us there.

And he will get us there. The Amorites, we're told, who declared war against the people of Israel. Giants, men of stature, formidable armies. Oh, we're going to die. Joseph's bones would declare otherwise and urge the people to faith and say, no, you are not going to die.

The Lord God said He will deliver us and He indeed will deliver us because He will give us land flowing with milk and honey. at the foot of Sinai, the plague that wiped out a portion of the Israelites because of their sin of the golden calf incident. The people were dreading, but that wasn't going to be the end of the people of Israel. The pestilence of deadly snakes, you might remember, that went amongst the people. Is this the end?

No, no, no, no, no, it cannot be the end. The threat of Balak, the towering giants when they come over the eastern side of the Jordan River to engage in the conquest, these towering people that the first spy said, we can't take them because we're like grasshoppers. No, Joseph's bones was declaring, have faith, have faith in Yahweh. For decades, for decades his bones cried out. His presence, his dead presence cried out to the people of Israel, have faith, embrace the promises of God.

He's faithful to keep his promises, I know it. You need to believe. Now let me end with this simple observation. In the last section, you have three momentous characters that God raised up. to lead and to deliver and to encourage Israel to faith.

And they're all temporal roles. How do we know that? Well, they're all buried in the last paragraph here. All in this one chapter we have mentioned of all three. Completely essential.

The Lord raised them up essentially so that they could fulfill the function that the Lord God had given them in the overall grand plan of redemption he had for his people. But they all end up in the grave. Joshua, the prophet, the one who opens his mouth and says, thus says the Lord. Joshua died and was buried. Eliezer, the high priest, died and was buried.

Joseph, the one that Pharaoh made ruler of all of Egypt. This kingly character. In fact, when he was made ruler, the Pharaoh told all the people that you are to bow down. to Joseph. In fact, his brothers came and they bowed down.

This kingly figure, Joseph. Also, his bones were buried. The Lord raised him up for a period and then no more. You know why they were temporal? It's because they were types.

They were shadows. All these momentous characters in the Old Testament were pointing to someone greater than themselves. They functioned in the plan of God's redemption and they had an essential function under the hand, the sovereign hand of God. But they were always pointing to someone greater than themselves. Whether it was the prophet, whether it was the prophet Joshua, whether it was the priest Eliezer, whether it was the kingly figure, Joseph.

You get what I'm getting at, I hope. They were pointing towards someone greater to come. True Joshua, not only the prophet from God, the prophet like Moses, the prophet, definite article, not only the one who opens his mouth and speaks the word of God, but the one who is himself the word who became flesh. The priest, the great high priest, Jesus Christ, not in the Aaronic order, but rather in the order of Melchizedek. Not a priest who would go and sacrifice the blood of bulls and goats over and over and over and over again, year after year.

No, rather the great high priest who once and for all will sacrifice precious blood, what blood? His own blood, and go into the heavenly tabernacle and present his own blood as the atonement of the sins of his people, both being the high priest, the one who sacrifices as well as the sacrifice itself. In order to be that sacrifice, in order to shed his blood, his life, would be given. So yes, Jesus experienced death like every one of these three men. The difference is they were buried.

and their bones remained in the ground. But this Jesus, he was buried, and on the third day he rose from the dead, and now he ascends at the right hand of the Father. Our great prophet, our great priest ascends at the right hand of the Father, coronated as the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, the one who reigns supreme in righteousness and in His goodness above all of His creation. He sits there in throne and no one can take away His kingdom. He's our prophet, he's our priest, and he's our king, and he's the one who eternally intercedes for his people.

You know, when these guys, when Joshua and Eliezer and the bones of Joseph were hanging around this generation, we're told in one of the paragraphs, there towards the end, that that generation remained faithful to the Lord. The Lord used those men, and they remained faithful. But those men died out, and their influence died out. And before you know it, our brother's going to take us through, next week and the week after, the book of Judges that speaks to that generation after Joshua, that they become rebellious against the Lord, and they break faith with the Lord. But our great prophet, Our great priest, our great King, He eternally lives.

He eternally lives to intercede for His saints. He is eternally the One who is worthy of all honour and worship. He's the one who's always pressing His people and encouraging us to faith. Faith in Him, telling us, trust. Trust in the promises of God.

Trust in me, because I will bring every one of those promises to fruition. Just keep your eyes upon me. Let's pray.