I and My Family Will Serve the Lord

Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:14-15

The final chapter in the book of Joshua speaks about covenant-keeping families. Modern culture has become completely destructive of families. The courts, the government, the educational system, and even some churches undermine family structure, authority, and values. But God is for families, for he is interested in saving not only individuals, but also entire households: “The promise is for you and your children” (Acts 2:39).

Why is it important to be a covenant-keeping family? Because the Lord deals with his people based on covenant. Covenant relationship is basic to Christianity, as we see throughout the Scriptures. There is one Lord, one people of God, one way of salvation, and one covenant between God and his people.

The Covenant of the Lord

Joshua 24:1 portrays Joshua, the deputy-general of Israel’s army, who was by now around one hundred and ten years of age, summoning Israel for a last meeting at Shechem. Joshua called the people together so that they could renew their covenant with the Lord. This is something God requires his people to do periodically. Moses did the same before his death; in fact, the entire book of Deuteronomy is a covenant-renewing document.

Many scholars see Joshua 24 in the light of the covenant structure that prevailed in the Hittite empires of the second millennium B.C. At that time, covenants called suzerainty treaties were often established between a great king (the suzerain) and his underlings (the vassals). These are not treaties between equal parties. The great king is sovereign over his vassals, and he alone would write the terms of the covenant. The vassals must fully accept his terms and obey them.

There were several elements to a suzerainty treaty:

1. The preamble, wherein the overlord identifies himself by name;
2. The historical prologue, wherein the lord of the covenant reviews his relationship with his vassals, detailing how he helped them and saved them in the past;
3. The stipulations, which set forth the terms of the covenant. The suzerain demands that his vassals love him exclusively by obeying those terms;
4. The sanctions of blessings, both spiritual and material, for obedience and curses for disobedience;
5. The witnesses to the covenant. Sometimes heaven and earth are called to witness (Deuteronomy 30:19). Other times, as in this chapter, a stone is set up as a witness.
6. The requirement that this covenant document be read periodically and publicly so that the people of God can hear and understand what the lord demands;
7. Finally, instructions of where to deposit the document. It was to be placed in a holy place for safekeeping.

The Preamble: Who Is the Lord of the Covenant?

Joshua 24 is a highly condensed version of the covenant God made with his people. We find the preamble in the first part of verse 2: “Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says. . . .'” Here the Lord, the great king, is identified. We see the same thing in Exodus 20:2: “I am the Lord your God.”

Joshua 24:19-20 gives further explanation of the nature of this covenant Lord: “Joshua said to the people, ‘You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God.'” Just as a wife or husband is jealous when a spouse commits adultery, so God is jealous when we worship false gods. His holy jealousy will burn and destroy his people. The Lord of the preamble is the God of Israel, the Lord who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, the “I AM,” the unchanging, eternal God who does not age or get weak. He is the Lord of grace, the Lord who is sovereign over all, the Lord who saves.

This true and living God is unlike the false gods of the nations because he is moral and holy. People love idols because, as mere creations of man, they permit us to sin. Such people oppose the true gospel because it speaks of a holy God who demands that they live a holy life. But although idols are false and powerless, behind them stands Satan and his demonic powers. Deuteronomy 32:17 tells us, “They sacrificed to demons, which are not God-gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear.” In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul also defines idolatry as demon worship: “Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons” (vv. 18-20).

The covenant Lord of Israel is moral, holy, and almighty. In Exodus 34 the Lord introduces himself this way: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” (vv. 6-7).

What the Lord Has Done

The historical prologue, found in the latter part of verse 2 through verse 13, reviews the salvation history, telling how the Lord took the initiative to save his wretched people. The Lord speaks in “I/thou” terms here, using the pronoun “I” eighteen times in reference to the various saving deeds he performed in behalf of his people. This historical review goes back to Mesopotamia and Ur of the Chaldees, where Abraham lived with his father. Stephen gives a similar review in Acts 7.

The God of glory appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, loving him and choosing him to be saved, not when he was righteous, but when he was worshiping the moon god, called Nanna or Sin. In fact, the name of Abraham’s father, Terah, refers to the moon god. The Lord took the initiative, seeking and saving Abraham when he was an unrighteous idolater.

Throughout Israel’s history, the Lord took the initiative. The Lord led Abraham out of Mesopotamia and into Canaan. The Lord gave him children, and chose Isaac and later Jacob. The Lord sent Jacob and his children to Egypt, then sent Moses and Aaron centuries later to deliver their descendants. The Lord afflicted the Egyptians with plagues and defeated all the Egyptian gods. The Lord brought Israel out safely through the Red Sea while destroying the Egyptians. The Lord destroyed the Amorite kings of Sihon and Og. The Lord defeated Balak by turning the curses of Balaam into one blessing after another.

As the captain of the Lord’s army, the Lord defeated all Israel’s enemies. In Joshua 24:12 God said, “I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you. . . . You did not do it with your own sword and bow.” And, finally, the Lord gave his people rest: “So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant” (v. 13).

So this historical prologue describes how the Sovereign Lord took care of Israel for over half a millennium. From it we understand that he rules and controls all. This God defeated the gods of the Egyptians, Amalekites, and Amorites. This Lord Almighty saves his people and defeats all his enemies, so to resist him is to court destruction.

The Lord Still Saves

The historical prologue reveals how the Lord loved his vassals and saved them in the past. Even so, Christ loved the church and gave himself for her salvation. Just as God chose the pagan Abraham and granted him saving faith, even so, he still chooses sinners to be saved, making those who are dead in their sins alive in Christ. He does so by grace, not because of any merit on the part of the sinners. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone from beginning to end.

Think about what the Lord has done for us! Think of our election in Christ before the creation of the world. We were born sinners, conceived in sin. God gave us existence and led us every step of the way, giving us food and clothing, health and well-being. God defeated our enemies, preserving and protecting us. God caused us to hear the gospel and regenerated us, granting us the gift of repentance and saving faith. God brought us to a church where the gospel is clearly preached and the true God is worshiped and proclaimed. God has given some of us godly spouses and children, that we may raise them to fear the Lord and serve him in this world. This Lord prepared a Bible for us to read, that we may discover his will and do it delightfully. This same Lord will guide us to the end of our life, and bring us into his presence, without fault, in exceeding glory and joy.

How great is the love the Lord has lavished upon us! We did not deserve any of it, but he has showered his great love and rich mercy upon us. May such personal review inspire us to love and serve him all the more. We love God because he first loved us.

Divine Stipulations

1. Serve the Lord

In the suzerain treaty, certain divine stipulations were put upon the vassals. Here they are articulated in verses 14-24. First, the people agreed with the historical review, acknowledging that the Lord was good and that he, not idols, had helped and saved them: “Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 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'” (vv. 16-18).

Then, in view of the Lord’s saving activity, there was a divine demand that his people worship and serve him only. And three times the people responded, “We will serve the Lord” (24:18, 21, 24), meaning, “We will serve the Lord exclusively in covenant fidelity.”

We must appreciate their response. The Lord had saved them from Egyptian slavery, which points to the slavery to sin and Satan as described in Ephesians 2:1-3. Every unbeliever, while he is serving Satan, is under the wrath of God (Romans 1:18). Though he pretends that he is happy and free, in fact he is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Jesus Christ came to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). An unbeliever cannot save himself. The Lord alone delivers us from our slavery to sin that we may serve him.

So the entire basis of the covenant relationship can be summed up in a single statement: “I am the Lord, and you are my servant.” The word ebed, meaning “to serve,” appears sixteen times in this chapter; five times in reference to serving false gods exclusively, and eleven times referring to serving the Lord exclusively. This same idea is found in the New Testament. In Romans 1:1 the apostle Paul introduces himself as doulos Christou-a bondservant of Christ. As Christians, we make the same declaration: “Jesus is Lord” meaning that he is Lord and we are his servants, who serve him exclusively.

We must understand that everyone is a servant; either we will serve demons or we will serve the true and living God. The heart of Christianity is to serve the covenant Lord who saves us from our slavery to sin. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” If we are born of God, we will delight in serving and pleasing God. A good tree produces good fruit. We were all bad trees, but God made us good through regeneration. Those born of God do not practice sin (1 John 5:18).

There is a false theology rampant in churches today that says, “Receive Jesus into your heart as Savior, and then maybe one day you can put him on the throne of your heart.” The implication is that we can receive Christ and carry on a sinful life without any change until we decide to make him Lord. This is not the true gospel! Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord of the covenant. He is Savior because he is Lord.

Romans 10:9 tells us, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’. . . you will be saved.” This title of kurios, or Lord, that is given to Jesus in the New Testament, is the same title by which Yahweh of the Old Testament is identified in the Septuagint. Thus, Jesus Christ is the covenant Lord who saves us. He chose us from all eternity and gave up his own life for us. No one can be saved without acknowledging his lordship. It is a lie to say that a person can be saved and continue in sin.

2. Fear the Lord

In verse 14 Joshua commands the people: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.” “Now” means in the light of what God has done for us by his personal initiative and power. He chose us from all eternity, loving us and calling us effectually. He has saved us and led us every step of our way. We are dependent upon the love, mercy, power, and covenant faithfulness of this Lord; therefore, we must fear him.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10), and the fear of the Lord keeps us from sinning (Exodus 20:20). When we sin, we are treating the covenant Lord with contempt. But Hebrews 10:31 warns those who would continue in sin, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” and Hebrews 12:29 says, “Our God is a consuming fire.” The key to a holy life is to have a holy reverence for God, to whom we all must give an account. Holy fear should lead us to submit to the Lord’s will and do it eagerly, just as a son who reveres his father will be eager to please him by doing the father’s will.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). It was his sheer pleasure to do the will of God! In John 8:29 Jesus said, “I always do what pleases him,” and in John 17:4 he said, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Finally, he prayed to his Father, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), and he was crucified, because that was the will of God. God so loved the world that he gave up his only begotten Son, and this Son gave his life in obedience to the Father’s will to save us.

Isaiah 11:2-3 said of Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him-the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord-and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” Jesus Christ was Spirit-filled and Spirit-directed. Likewise, every truly “charismatic” Christian will delight in the fear of the Lord and be anxious to do what is right.

We are commanded in Joshua 24:14 to serve the Lord “with all faithfulness,” meaning in sincerity and truth. We are to serve him, not based on our changing feelings, but on the basis of the objective, written covenant document-the word of God. (PGM) We see Joshua drawing up such a document in verses 25 and 26. If we are true believers, we will embrace God’s word and say, “The Lord commands it; therefore, I will obey it with pleasure, because of what my covenant Lord has done for me. The Lord is my shepherd and I shall lack nothing.”

3. Throw Away Idols

In the second half of verse 14 Joshua told the people, “Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt.” God’s people must get rid of all idols, for we cannot serve the Lord and idols. It is an utter impossibility.

What idols are we serving today? Do not think that we have none; the truth is, we all have many. Consider this generation of Israelites who entered into Canaan; though they were faithful to the Lord, apparently they still had idols, and when Joshua heard of it, he told them to throw them away.

In Genesis 35:1 God told Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God.” God wanted Jacob and his family to go up to Bethel, the house of God, so they could have fellowship with him there. Like Joshua, Jacob knew that his people still had idols and therefore could not have fellowship with God. In fact, his own wife Rachel had stolen her father’s household gods and hidden them (Genesis 31). Why would the people of God cling to idols? For insurance. They thought that if the Lord failed, at least they would have their idols. “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God'” (vv. 2-3). And verse 4 says, “So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.”

We are to serve God exclusively. First Kings 18 describes Elijah’s confrontation with the false god Baal: “Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.'” A Christian cannot serve both the true God and false gods. It is not both/and, but either/or. God demands exclusive covenant love and obedience from his people. Jesus told us, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). Suppose a husband or wife commits adultery. Even unbelievers will display a certain anger. How much more will the infinite holy God be angry with those who try to serve him and false gods at the same time!

In the Hittite treaties, the vassal was to abandon and forsake all other alliances and to promise that he would serve the great king exclusively. So Joshua told the people a second time in verse 23, “Throw away the foreign gods that are among you.” Why did Joshua have to tell the people twice? Because we do not like to relinquish our idols. We are addicted to them and they give us pleasure. But it is the deceptive pleasure of sin for a season. We must cut idols out of our lives before they destroy us.

Idolatry is like the viper that attached itself to Paul’s hand while he was building a fire on the island of Malta. What was Paul’s response when it bit him? Did he welcome it? No, he shook it off into the fire so that it would not destroy him or anyone else. That is how we must deal with idols.

The apostle John closes his first epistle with this solemn warning, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (v. 21). Likewise, I urge you to throw away all false gods, for idolatry profits nothing. It is foolish to serve the gods of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Canaan, or America; they can only deceive and destroy. We must serve the Sovereign Lord, who has defeated all false gods.

4. Choose Whom You Will Serve

In verse 15 Joshua says to the people, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

We must decide this very day whom we shall serve. Not to choose is to decide in favor of idols, in favor of false gods, in favor of the devil and his demons, in favor of a lifestyle of sin which leads to self-destruction. And we can be certain of this: our choice will have consequences.

People often lament, “I did not do right growing up, and today I live with the consequences!” Bad decisions affect us the rest of our lives. We must choose correctly, because our choice issues either in blessing or curse. This is a lasting principle in the history of redemption, found in both the Old and New Testaments.

Not only do our choices affect temporal life, but the decisions we make will determine whether we enter into eternal life or eternal damnation. It is that serious. As sentient beings, we must make informed decisions. We must know who the Lord is and who the devil is, and we must decide between them.

So Joshua exhorts, “Choose for yourselves this day.” What is the choice? We must choose between serving idols and serving the true and living Lord. This should not be a difficult decision; after all, what have false gods ever done for us? What is the historical prologue of the devil? It is one destruction after another. As Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).

Sin can only deceive and destroy. It does nothing to build us up. It ruins us physically, economically, and spiritually. Deceptively it says, “This feels good; do it!” And like a fish swallowing bait, we are caught and destroyed. Sin is idolatry, and all idolatry is demon worship. A sinning person is a fool, because he is worshiping the devil, who is a creature under God’s judgment.

We must decide either to serve the Lord or the devil. There is no third way. To me, it is not difficult to choose between the devil and the Sovereign Lord, Creator, Redeemer, and Eternal Judge of all the earth. I have chosen the Lord from a young age, and have served him throughout my life.

Joshua tells of his own choice in the last line of verse 15, “But as for me. . . .” In the Hebrew it is emphasized: “I myself.” Joshua is not pleading with these people. He already knows they will eventually choose evil, so he is saying, in effect, “You can do what you want. . . . But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Though he knows he is in the minority, Joshua’s resolution is firm.

Joshua chose the Lord once-for-all while he was in Egypt, after hearing the gospel proclaimed by Moses and Aaron, that God was going to redeem his people. In like manner, every Christian makes such a once-for-all choice the moment he or she savingly trusts in Jesus Christ. Additionally, Joshua chose God daily, moment by moment. That is true of us as well. We must choose on a daily basis to do the will of God over against the will of the devil. Finally, we are told that Joshua chose to follow the Lord wholeheartedly all his life. He had a different spirit from those who died in the wilderness. As a spy he brought back a good report. He had the Holy Spirit and was a charismatic believer in the authentic sense of the term. Joshua loved the Lord and served him, never murmuring and always obeying.

It is wonderful to study the life of Joshua. He said, “I have chosen the Lord, I choose the Lord, and I will continue to choose the Lord all of my life.” What a blessing to reach old age and still be able to say, “I choose the Lord”!

God Saves Families

Joshua then spoke about his family. Although the names of his wife and children are not mentioned in the Bible, we can conclude that they were godly. Joshua’s wife was not like Job’s wife, who told her husband, “Curse God and die.” Nor was she like Lot’s wife, who refused to believe the gospel proclaimed by the angel, that the Lord was about to destroy Sodom. How tragic it is when spiritually-minded people are married to spouses who do not want to serve God. Such families are full of confusion. But Joshua’s wife was a godly woman who loved the Lord and tolerated no false gods in her home. And she raised godly children who feared the Lord.

Joshua said his household would serve the Lord. Thus, we can conclude that Joshua’s children also confessed the name of the Lord. They were covenant-keepers who feared the Lord and ordered their lives in accordance with their father’s godly example and biblical teaching. Though Joshua was a general as well as a judge with great national responsibilities, he did not shirk his family responsibilities. He was a prophet, priest, and king at home. He was able to govern the whole nation because he governed his own home well.

First Timothy 3:4-5 speaks of the qualifications of a pastor: “He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)” which is God’s larger family. We are living at a time when fewer and fewer men govern their own families. Let me ask you, fathers: in this corrupt culture, at a time when many churches themselves have become idolatrous, at a time when people worship the idols of pleasure and things, can you say, “I choose to serve the Lord now and forever”? Can you say, “I and my wife choose to serve the Lord now and forever”? Can you say, “I and my wife and my children all together choose to serve the Lord now and forever”?

As we said at the beginning, God is interested, not only in individuals, but also in their families. God saved Joshua and his family. Acts 16:15 tells us that at Philippi the Lord saved Lydia and the members of her household. And again at Philippi the Lord saved the jailer and his entire family (Acts 16:31-34).

What about your family? Do your children serve the Lord exclusively, or do they serve God and Baal? Awake, O father! Awake, O mother! Choose today to serve the Lord, and him only. Resolve today to say with Joshua, “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Blessings and Curses

In a suzerain treaty the sanctions are always the same: blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. So in verses 19-20 Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”

During his own covenant renewal, Moses described these sanctions in detail in Deuteronomy 28-30. For instance, in Deuteronomy 28:20-22 he says, “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.”

After speaking of the sanctions, Moses told the people, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Now choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). And in Deuteronomy 32:45-47 we read, “When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, ‘Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you-they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Apparently these people did serve the Lord, for Joshua 24:31 says, “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.” But Judges 2 tells us what happened to their children: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the people around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel, the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around them, whom they were no longer able to resist” (vv. 10-14). First, the Lord sold them to the neighboring peoples. Then, in 721 B.C., the whole northern kingdom went into exile as slaves. In 587 B.C. the southern kingdom went to Babylon as slaves. Finally, in A.D. 70 Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. The whole history of the people of God is one of curse and destruction. Only a minority were faithful to the Lord.

A Final Exhortation

I plead with you to listen to the final words of Joshua. They are not empty words; they are the very word of God that will give us either life or destruction. The Lord of the covenant has demonstrated his love for us by sending his Son to give himself up for us. He is our Savior and our Lord. Let us reflect on our own personal lives, and marvel at the great mercy and love God has shown us, and, in light of this historical prologue, let us love him and keep his commandments, which will result in our everlasting blessing. May we throw away all idols, including the idol of self-centeredness, and confess exclusive loyalty to the Sovereign Lord. And if we are parents, may we serve the Lord and so bring untold blessings to our children and their children for generations to come. May we carefully study the covenant document, the Bible, to do what it commands and avoid what it forbids. May we govern our families for the Lord and warn them as watchmen, always remembering that we must give an account to the Lord for those who are under our charge.

The book of Joshua speaks of two families. One is the family of Achan, who knew the covenant stipulations, but refused to obey, so he and his wife and his children were stoned to death and burned (Joshua 7). The other family is that of Joshua, who declared, “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” I pray we will choose to emulate Joshua and renew our covenant to serve the Lord both now and forevermore.