Joshua · chapter 24 of 24
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Joshua 24 tells that Joshua gathers all the tribes at Shechem and reviews the history of salvation, from Abraham to the conquest. He urges them to fear the Lord and choose whom to serve, and declares that he and his house will serve the Lord. The people promise to serve him, and Joshua renews the covenant and sets up a stone as a witness. The book ends with the deaths of Joshua and Eleazar and the burial of Joseph's bones.
Joshua 24 is the last chapter of the book and the climax of its message. After the conquest and the division of the land, the question that decides everything remains: will Israel follow the Lord? At Shechem, the place where God had renewed his promise to Abraham, Joshua leads the people into a solemn renewal of the covenant, and the book closes with the death of its main leaders.
Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, with their elders, heads, judges and officers, who present themselves before God. In the Lord's name he reviews the history: Terah and his family served other gods beyond the River, but the Lord took Abraham and gave him Isaac and Jacob. Then he sent Moses and Aaron, brought Israel out of Egypt with plagues, saved them at the sea, guided them in the wilderness, protected them from Balak and Balaam, and led them across the Jordan into a land they had not labored for and cities they had not built.
Joshua urges them to fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity, and to put away the gods of their fathers. If serving the Lord seems evil to them, let them choose today whom they will serve; but he and his house will serve the Lord. The people answer that far be it from them to forsake him. Joshua warns that they cannot serve him on their own, for he is a holy and jealous God, but they insist. That day Joshua renews the covenant at Shechem, writes the words in the book of the law of God and sets up a large stone as a witness under the oak by the sanctuary.
Afterward Joshua dies at a hundred and ten years old and is buried at Timnath-serah. Israel served the Lord in the days of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him. Joseph's bones are buried at Shechem, in the plot Jacob bought, and Eleazar, son of Aaron, also dies.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Joshua begins by recalling that Israel's fathers, even Terah, Abraham's father, served other gods. Israel's history does not begin with a faithful people but with God's initiative to call and save.
Joshua asks the people to fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness, and to put away the gods of their fathers. Obedience to the Lord means a conscious decision to leave what competes with him.
Joshua invites the people to choose today whom they will serve, and declares that he and his house will serve the Lord. It is one of the best-known declarations of faith in the Bible, made by a leader who has already shown his faithfulness throughout life.
The people answer that they will serve the Lord their God and obey his voice. The reply is solemn, though the book of Judges will show how fragile that promise will be.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: At Shechem. — Joshua 24:1
Answer: Other gods. — Joshua 24:2
Answer: To put them away and serve the Lord in sincerity and faithfulness. — Joshua 24:14
Answer: That they would serve the Lord. — Joshua 24:15
Answer: A large stone, under the oak by the sanctuary of the Lord. — Joshua 24:26-27
Answer: A hundred and ten years old, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. — Joshua 24:29-30
The best-known phrase of this chapter, he and his house serving the Lord, is often quoted in Christian homes. Its strength comes from the context: Joshua says it after decades of faithfulness, and before a people who must decide for themselves. A small group can talk about what it means to choose each day, in family, work and church, whom we really serve.
It also reminds us that faith is passed on. Israel served the Lord during the life of Joshua and of the elders who knew him. Parents and leaders carry a great responsibility to live in a way that lets others see the Lord in their lives. And personal faithfulness does not depend on one's surroundings: Joshua chose to serve even if others did not.
Joshua 24 closes the book with the covenant renewed at Shechem and with the deaths of Joshua and Eleazar and the burial of Joseph: a generation finishes its task. The book of Judges begins by asking what Israel will do after them, and will show how much the people need a faithful leader.
It is Joshua's declaration that he and his family would serve the Lord no matter what others decided. In context, it is a personal answer to the invitation to choose between the Lord and the gods of other peoples. Christians often apply it to a family's commitment to live faithfully to God.
Joshua knew the people's history, how easily they fell into idolatry, and the holiness of the Lord, a jealous God who does not share his place. His warning is not meant to discourage but to help them grasp the seriousness of the commitment. It also anticipates that Israel's faithfulness would always depend on God's grace.
Before dying, Joseph had asked that his bones be carried to the promised land. Israel brought them from Egypt and buried them at Shechem, in a plot Jacob had bought. It is a symbolic close: the promise made to the patriarchs is fulfilled, and Joseph at last rests in the land.