Josué 24
F.B. Meyer · Citado em PreceptAustin
Josué 24
Meyer - throughout the story, the entire stress is laid on the grace of God . I took ; I gave; I sent; I brought; I destroy ed ; I gave ; I delivered. Not a mention is made of Israel's mighty men. All is attributed to the ultimate source of nature, history, and grace--the supreme will of God. We cannot get beyond that. However many links we interpose between ourselves and the causes of things, ultimately we are shut up to acknowledge the determining counsel and foreknowledge of God Serve (worship) (05647) abad means to work (to cultivate, till - Ge 2:5, 15 - Lxx = ergazomai before the fall! Ge 3:23 after the fall, Lxx = ergazomai), to serve (be enslaved or hold in bondage - Ex 6:6 - Lxx = katadouloo = make a slave; Lev 25:38, 39 Lxx = douleuo)(Ge 14:4, 15:13, 14 - Lxx = douleuo), worship. Labor (as when Israel was in Egyptian bondage - Ex 1:13,14 but same word abad translated worship after redemption Ex 3:12, 7:16, 8:1, 8:20, 9:1, et al where Lxx = latreuo). Notice that abad is translated serve in some translations translate it as worship (Ex 3:12 vs Ex 3:12KJV; Dt 6:13 vs Dt 6:13KJV). In sum, there is a very clear association between what (who) one serves and who one worships. When the focus of the labor is the Lord, it is a religious service to worship Him. In other words our service is really an act of worship. Moreover, in these cases, the word does not have connotations of toilsome labor but instead of a joyful experience of liberation (Ex. 3:12; 4:23; 7:16; Josh. 24:15, 18). Unfortunately, this worship service was often given to false gods (Deut. 7:16; 2 Ki. 10:18, 19, 21-23). Abad in Joshua especially in Joshua 24! - Jos. 16:10; Jos. 22:5; Jos. 22:27; Jos. 23:7; Jos. 23:16; Jos. 24:2; Jos. 24:14; Jos. 24:15; Jos. 24:16; Jos. 24:18; Jos. 24:19; Jos. 24:20; Jos. 24:21; Jos. 24:22; Jos. 24:24; Jos. 24:31 GEORGE BUSH Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 24 Joshua said unto all the people. All the people now assembled, consisting mainly of the elders, chiefs, &c., v. 1, but in addition to them of such portions of the body of the people as found it convenient to attend. In old time. Heb. מעולם mëolâm, from everlasting; i. e. from an indefinite period of remote antiquity; as the same term often signifies an indefinite period of time future. Served other gods. From this it seems clear that Abraham’s grandfather and father, and perhaps himself in the first instance, worshipped the idols of the country in which they lived. By this, however, we are probably not to understand that they had no knowledge of, or reverence for, the true God, but that they did not render to him that exclusive worship which was his due. In fact, we may conclude them to have been in much the same condition as Laban, who at a subsequent period represented that part of the family which remained beyond the Euphrates, and who certainly reverenced Jehovah, but who also had idols which he called his gods, and the loss of which filled him with vexation and anger. The partial idolatry of their ancestors, however, was humiliating to Israel. Even Abraham, the father of their nation, in whom they gloried, and who was subsequently so highly honored of God, was born and bred up in the worship of false gods. This fact would cut off all vain-boasting in the worthiest of their ancestors, as far as native character or early conduct was concerned. The father of the faithful himself became what he was purely by the grace of God and not in virtue of his own innate tendencies to good. Indeed his justification is expressly set forth by the apostle, Rom. 4:5, as an instance of God’s ‘justifying the ungodly.’ James Smith - BLESSINGS REVIEWED; OR, MOTIVES FOR SERVICE Joshua 24:1–13 “I place me, Lord, ’neath Thy touch that thrills. Wilt Thou, O wilt Thou me melt? Give me the power Thine own arm fills To impart whate’er of grace I have felt.” In Joshua 24:14 we notice: (1) That service is demanded. “Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve Him.” Every blessed one should arise and serve (Mark 1:31). (2) How this service should be given. “In sincerity and truth.” Mere perfunctory service is an abomination (Luke 19:20–23). (3) What this service implies. “A putting away of other gods.” The Lord’s will alone must be the ruling principle of the life. The god, self, must be put away. HIM only shalt thou serve (Ro 15:3). “Now, therefore.” This word “therefore” suggests some foregoing reasons why this service should be rendered. We observe the following. There had been— I. Deliverance. "I brought you out” (Josh 24:5). They were emancipated through blood (Exod. 12:13). So are we (1 Peter 1:18, 19). Once the slaves of sin, now the children of God. Delivered to serve (Luke 1:74). II. Separation. “The Lord put darkness between you and the Egyptians” (Josh 24:7). The darkness of death still lies between the saved and the unsaved (John 5:24). The Lord doth put a difference (Exod. 11:7). No human power will ever be able to bridge the great gulf fixed between death and life. III. Victory. “I gave them (enemies) into your hand” (Josh 24:8). All the enemies of the believer are conquered foes. They need not have dominion over you (Rom. 6:14; Micah 7:9). He giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 7:25). IV. Protection. “When Balak called Balaam to curse you he blessed you still” (Josh 24:9, 10). He can turn the counsel of the wicked to naught (Neh. 4:15). “The Lord is thy keeper; He shall preserve thee from all evil” (Ps. 121:5, 7). V. Possession. “I have given you a land for which you did not labour,” etc. (Josh 24:13). “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” What did the prodigal do for the benefits he received? (Luke 15:22, 23) What have we that we have not received (Eph. 2:7). “Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve Him.” Joshua 24:3 'Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. I took: Ge 12:1-4 Ne 9:7-8 Ac 7:2-3 gave him Isaac: Ge 21:2-3 Ps 127:3 Joshua 24 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Nehemiah 9:7-8 “You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham. 8 “You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite– To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous. Acts 7:2-3 And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME INTO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’ YAHWEH EXTRACTED ABRAHAM FROM HARAN Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the (Euphrates) River - This passages reflects Yahweh's amazing grace (and mercy), His free, unmerited favor, in extracting a man out of a family and nation of idol worshippers. In Ge 12:1+ God took him by speaking to him "the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you." The Hebrew word for took (laqach) is translated in the Septuagint with the verb lambano which in the active voice (as in this case) means bringing under one's control take, with nuances such as taking hold of with the hand (Acts 27.35), taking away or removing (Rev 3.11) or taking for oneself or into one's possession (Lk 19.12). Bush explains I took your father Abraham - I (YAHWEH) exercised such an influence upon him as induced him to leave that land of idolaters; I (YAHWEH) prompted him to go. Though no violence was employed, it implies that he would never have gone thence unless God had ‘taken’ him, unless by a divine impulse he had moved him to go. (ED: ABRAHAM'S "SEPARATION" OR SETTING APART WAS EVIDENCE OF THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ABRAHAM'S LIFE - THE SPIRIT WAS ACTIVE IN SAVING AND SANCTIFYING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!) See on Ge 2:15, relative to God’s ‘taking’ Adam and putting him into the garden of Eden. So it is the special grace of God that ‘takes’ a sinner out of a state of impenitence and unbelief, and puts him in the way to eternal life, the road to the heavenly Canaan, that better country where lies the inheritance of the saints. (Notes) As noted above, Joshua is speaking as Yahweh's "mouthpiece" (prophet) and beginning in this verse and through verse 13, Yahweh uses the personal pronoun (I) 17 times in 10 verses - Jos. 24:3; Jos. 24:4; Jos. 24:5; Jos. 24:6; Jos. 24:7; Jos. 24:8; Jos. 24:10; Jos. 24:11; Jos. 24:12; Jos. 24:13. Joshua served as the intermediary but the recapitulation of Israel's history reflected the words of Yahweh. and led him through all the land of Canaan - God guided and protected Abraham in this foreign land. Calvin on Yahweh beginning with Abraham - “He commences with their unpurchased elevation, which God had so truly originated, that they could not boast of any excellence or merit. God had bound them to himself by a tighter chain, in that, when they were on an equality with all others, he had taken them under His care as His own people, for no other reason than His own good pleasure. And in order that it might be evident that they had nothing to boast of, He refers them to their origin, and shows that their fathers who dwelt in Chaldea worshipped idols as well as others, and were not in any respect different from the multitude.” And multiplied his descendants - Yahweh fulfilled His promise to multiply his descendants, declaring in Ge 12:2 "And I will make you a great nation." And in Ge 13:16 Yahweh promised "I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered." And gave him Isaac - "So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac." (Ge 21:2-3) The psalmist writes "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward." (Ps 127:3) GEORGE BUSH Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 24 Led him through out all the land of Canaan, Gave him my gracious guidance and protection during all his wanderings to and fro in that land of promise. Multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. That is, multiplied his seed by giving him Isaac. As this ‘multiplication’ however, could not be said to be accomplished merely by the birth of a single son, it is to be understood, not of Isaac alone, but of the long and spreading line of his posterity, among whom he enumerates Jacob and Esau, including their issue in the next verse. Joshua 24:4 'To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. Isaac: Ge 25:24-26 Esau: Ge 32:3 36:8 De 2:5 Jacob: Ge 46:1-7 Ps 105:23 Ac 7:15 Joshua 24 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Genesis 36:7-8 For their property had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it - Note the repetition of the verb gave (3x in Josh 24:3-4) reflective of God's gift, His gracious character to sinful men (Jacob's name even meant "supplanter" or "cheater").
Josué 24
Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Joshua 24:19 Ye cannot serve the Lord. It seemed as though Joshua sought to damp down the enthusiasm of the people. They were all on fire to serve, but he repressed their ardor, crying, “Back, back! This is no place for you.” We are reminded of a precise analogy in the Gospels, where our Savior said to Peter and the rest, “Ye cannot follow Me now” (John 13:31–38). Why this Divine reluctance? The answer is clear, when we consider the sequel in each case. In the one, we have only to turn a page in our Bibles, to come on all the disobedience, anarchy, and backsliding of the Book of Judges (Jdg 21:25); in the other we see that Peter denied and the rest forsook Him. How obviously it was shown that there was a moral incompatibility between their self-confident assertions and the (ED: SPIRIT ENABLED) service of the Holy God. But this incompatibility was present to the Spirit’s discernment when these strong asseverations were made, first by the Israelites, and secondly by the Apostles. So it becomes us to speak very reverently and leniently of our ability to obey. We are probably over-estimating our powers. (cf Zech 4:6) Created might wanes and fails beneath the searching demands of the Holy One. Perpetual failure has weakened us; for when once a door has been broken through a wall, that spot is always ways weaker. A fallen ancestry has predisposed us to fail. To will is present with us, but how to perform that which is good we find not (Ro 7:16, 19, 20, 21+ cf Mt 26:41+). No one can look thoughtfully into the workings of his own nature without realizing the terrible paralysis which has befallen it. We need then that God should counteract our fickleness by upholding us with His steadfast, or constant, Spirit (Psalm 51:10+). Rod Mattoon - Joshua responds by telling the people, "You cannot serve the Lord." He detected insincerity and lightness in their response. It is easy to promise obedience and it's difficult to perform it and be persistent. Jeremiah 17:9—The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?: The nation promised to serve the Lord but soon went astray. Judges 2:10-12—And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. [11] And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: [12] And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. J J Knapp - Ye Cannot! Joshua 24:19 At the large national assembly, we were confronted with yesterday, Joshua stood before the youthful nation as an old and sober minded man. With Caleb he was the only one that remained of the Israel that had been delivered from Egypt. All the others had fallen in the desert, even Moses and Aaron had not been allowed to enter the land of rest. When he placed the nation before the choice, whom they would serve in the future, the God of Israel or the gods of the Amorites in whose land they lived, they had not hesitated for a moment, but had exclaimed with the passion of the youthful years: “God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt!” A glorious promise when she is found in the mouth of the youth. How depressing may it seem to us at first instance, that the aged Joshua dampened this enthusiasm with the sobering word: “Ye cannot,”—“Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” Behold the old age with its ripened life’s experience and its profound knowledge of the human heart. A man like Joshua knew that to remain faithful to the service of the Lord amidst all temptations and oppressions required more spiritual strength than the people in its overconfidence expected. So it was not to counsel them from keeping the Lord’s service, but to keep them from an overestimation of their own strength, that he fatherly admonished them with the word that witnessed great seriousness of life: “Ye cannot!” This word also has something to say to our youth. Many enter in their younger years the arena of life clutching the unfolded banner of the cross in the tight fist, and with a promise of eternal faithfulness in the heart. Often it is seen that their lives later become a defamation of the Name of the Lord, because they depended vainly upon their own strength, just like the history of Israel that continued in the Book of Judges, became nothing else but a succession of miserable failures. It is better, much better, to be convinced of our own inability. When the Lord Jesus Christ calls unto us His “Follow thou me”,—do come, but whisper at the same time in the innermost of the heart: “We cannot”. When the Lord invites us to confess His Name in the midst of the world,—do speak, but with the intimate thought: “We cannot”. Let us think little of ourselves. Let us have a deep sense of our own inability. Let us in this way look up in dependency to Him, whose strength is fulfilled in weakness— that is the way to remain faithful unto death. (With Loins Girded) Spurgeon's Notes on Joshua 24:19 - Joshua 24:19 “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord.” In answer to Joshua’s challenge, the people had said, “We will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” But Joshua knew them too well to trust them, and reminded them that they were undertaking what they could not perform. They did not believe him, but cried, “Nay, but we will serve the Lord”; but their after history proved the truth of Joshua’s warning. God’s word knows us better than we know ourselves. God’s omniscience sees each part of our being as an anatomist sees the various portions of the body, and he therefore knows our moral and spiritual nature most thoroughly. A watchmaker is the best judge of a watch; and he who made man has the best knowledge of his condition and capacity. Let us dwell upon his verdict as to human ability. I. THE CERTAINTY OF THE TRUTH THAT UNRENEWED MEN CANNOT SERVE GOD. It is not a physical but a moral inability, and this is not in their nature, but in their fallen nature; not of God, but of sin. It may be said that they could serve God if they liked; but in that “if” lies the hinge of the whole question. Man’s inability lies in the want of moral power so to wish and will as actually to perform. This leaves him with undiminished responsibility; for he ought to be able to serve God, and his inability is his fault. Jer. 13:23. 1. The nature of God renders perfect service impossible to depraved men. “Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God, he is a jealous God.” See context of Joshua 24:19. 2. The best they could render as unrenewed men would lack heart and intent, and therefore must be unacceptable. Without love and faith men cannot please God. What are the prayers, alms, and worshippings of a Christless soul? Isa 1:15. 3. The law of God is perfect, comprehensive, spiritual, far-reaching: who can hope to fulfil it? If a look may commit adultery, who shall in all points keep the law? Matt. 5:28. 4. The carnal mind is inclined to self-will, self-seeking, lust, enmity, pride, and all other evils. “It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Ro 8:7. 5. Let men try to be perfectly obedient. They will not try it. They argue for their ability, but they are loth enough to exert it. II. THE DISCOURAGEMENT WHICH ARISES FROM THIS TRUTH. It is alleged that this will drive men to despair, and our reply is that the kind of despair to which it drives men is most desirable and salutary. 1 It discourages men from an impossible task. They might as well hope to invent perpetual motion as to present a perfect obedience of their own, having already sinned. If a man should try to hold up a ladder with his own hand, and at the same time climb to the top of it, he would have less difficulty than in causing his evil nature to attain to holiness. 2. It discourages from a ruinous course. Self-righteousness is a deadly thing; it is a proud refusal of mercy, and a rebellion against grace. Self-confidence of any sort is the enemy of the Saviour. 3. It discourages reliance upon ceremonies or any other outward religiousness, by assuring men that these cannot suffice. 4. It discourages from every other way of self-salvation, and thus shuts men up to faith in the Lord Jesus. Nothing better can befall them. Gal. 2:22, 23. III. THE NECESSITIES OF WHICH WE ARE REMINDED BY THIS TRUTH. Unregenerate men, before you can serve God you need,— A new nature, which only the Spirit of God can create in you: the old man cannot serve the Lord. An impure fountain must pour out foul streams. The tree must be made good, or the fruit will not be good. Reconciliation. How shall an enemy serve his king? There must be forgiveness, friendship, mutual delight. God and you must be made friends through the Mediator, or else you cannot be the servant of God. Acceptance. Till you are accepted, your service cannot please God. Only a perfect righteousness can make you accepted of a holy and jealous God; and none but Jesus can give you a complete justification. Continued aid. This you must have to keep you in the way when once you are in it. 1 Sa 2:9.; Jude 24–25. If you cannot serve God as you are, yet trust him as he manifests himself in Christ Jesus; and do this just as you are. This will enable you to serve him on better principles. This change of your nature will be effected by the Holy Spirit, who will come and dwell in you. This will fit you for heaven, where “his servants shall serve him.” STRIKING PIECES No wasp will make honey; before it will do that it must be transformed into a bee. A sow will not sit up to wash its face like the cat before the fire; neither will a debauched person take delight in holiness. No devil could praise the Lord as angels do, and no unregenerate man can offer acceptable service as the saints do. Their inability was wholly of the moral kind. They could not do it because they were not disposed to do it, just as it is said of Joseph’s brethren (Gen. 37:4) that they “could not speak peaceably unto him,” so strong was their personal dislike to him.… But an inability arising from this source was obviously inexcusable, on the same grounds that a drunkard’s inability to master his propensity for strong drink is inexcusable. In like manner, the “cannot” of the impenitent sinner, in regard to the performance of his duty, is equally inexcusable.—George Bush, in Notes on Joshua. The existence of sin within us entails on us certain consequences which we have no more power to evade than the idiot has power to change his look of idiocy; or the palsied hand has power to free itself from its torpor.—B. W. Newton. “A little girl when reproved by her mother for some fault, and told that she should teach her little brothers to do right, replied, ‘How can I do right when there is no right in me?’ Did not Paul make the same confession?” Ro. 7:18. “Man cannot be saved by perfect obedience, for he cannot render it; he cannot be saved by imperfect obedience, for God will not accept it.” A man deeply exercised about his soul was conversing with a friend on the subject, when the friend said, “Come at once to Jesus, for he will take away all your sins from your back.” “Yes, I am aware of that”; said the other: “but what about my back?” I find I have not only sins to take away, but there is myself; what is to be done with that? And there is not only my back, but hands and feet, and head and heart are such a mass of iniquity that it’s myself I want to get rid of before I can get peace.—British Evangelist. It is possible I may do an occasional service for one whose servant I am not, but it were mean that a great person should be served only by the servants of another lord.—John Howe. “Run, run, and work, the law commands, But gives me neither feet nor hands; But sweeter sounds the Gospel brings, It bids me fly, and gives me wings.” GEORGE BUSH Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 24 You will not be able to serve (abad) the LORD. It cannot be supposed for a moment that Joshua intended to deter the people from the service of God by representing it as impracticable or dangerous. On the contrary, his design is to enlist them more sincerely and steadfastly in it, but his knowledge of the weakness and corruption of our fallen nature, prompted him to do this in a manner that savors of discouragement and repulsiveness. Finding them now animated by a glowing zeal, forward and abundant in their professions, and unconsciously prone to trust to their own strength, Joshua, in these words, designs to administer a wholesome check to their ardor, by setting impressively before them the holy and sin-avenging character of the God with whom they had to do, and the fearful consequences of disobedience and apostasy. This would beat them off from that overweening self-confidence which they were so prone to indulge. It would convince them that it was no light and easy matter to persevere in the strict observance of the divine precepts, and thus they would be more cautious, circumspect, and humble in their professions, and go forward in their walk with more awe upon their spirits, and a more trembling sense of their dependence on a higher power than their own. This Joshua well knew was the only frame of mind which could be trusted to for permanent and happy results, and he therefore aims to have their present lively zeal based upon the only foundation that would ensure its continuance. He would have them count the cost of the engagements into which they proposed to enter, and be fully aware of the temptations, tribulations, conflicts and self-denials which they would involve; and above all would have their inmost souls pervaded by a deep and awful reverence of God, the essential principle of all true religion. In like manner, it deserves very serious deliberation whether there is not danger of representing the sincere service of God as a matter of very little difficulty, provided only there be evidence of a present vigorous resolution, and whether it be not better in such cases wisely to repress, chasten, and even dampen the warmth of present zeal by considerations like those which Joshua now pressed upon the children of Israel. The same infallible authority which assures us that the yoke of Christ is easy and his burden light, assures us also that the gate is strait, and the way narrow, that leads to life, and that there is need of striving as well as seeking to enter in. Certain it is, that great wisdom is requisite in every spiritual guide in digging deep and laying the foundations sure of a life of consistent, uniform, and devoted piety. Nor are we of opinion that the policy of such eminent servants of God, as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Peter, and Paul, will ever be out of date in the church. The more the sinner despairs of his own sufficiency, the better security will he give for his ultimate stability and perseverance in the faith. He is an holy God. Heb. אלהים קדשים elohim kedoshim, he is holy Gods; the adjective being plural as well as the substantive. The expression is remarkable and contrary to usual analogy, but whether carrying with it any special implication in regard to the divine nature, it is perhaps impossible to say. We imagine, on the whole, that to a Hebrew ear the phrase would merely convey the idea of more emphasis, solemnity, and awfulness in respect to the attribute here affirmed of Jehovah. He is a jealous God. As he has no equal, so neither can he suffer a rival. To pay to idols that worship which be alone deserves, or even to associate them with the homage which is paid to him, is to contest with him, to take from a part of that perfect holiness which constitutes his glory, and is what the Scriptures call profaning his holy name. Will not forgive. Or, Heb. לא ישא lo yissâ, will not bear, will not tolerate. The meaning is, not that God was implacable, or that he would not show mercy to the penitent, however great their sins, but that they could not offend against him with impunity, that he would certainly punish their transgressions. However it might be with others, they would be sure to be visited for their iniquities.