Joshua 24:14-24 – A Demand for Covenant Commitment

In this section, Joshua presses the demand for Israel’s commitment to the LORD. His demand is for an exclusive commitment but also for a cautious commitment. Following on from reviewing God’s grace (v1-13), a call for wholehearted commitment to God is unavoidable. So in v14 Joshua says: “Now …” There is no doubt that total and exclusive commitment to the LORD is what Joshua is after. Read v14 and v15 again and count how many times the word ‘serve’ appears. ‘Serve’ (or words drawn from it) occur 18 times in ch.24! Israel must decide whose slaves they will be.

Joshua seems to do a strange thing. His famous ‘choose this day’ command (v15) calls Israel to choose between two sets of pagan gods! If we back up to v14 they are told to serve the LORD – but if not, he says, at least choose some gods. Is Joshua being serious here? How could the choice between the old pagan gods of their ancestors (see v2, 3) or the current pagan gods of their neighbours really be an option? Exactly! Joshua is trying to show them how ridiculous it is. He says: ‘Serve the LORD; but if not, choose which non-god you’ll serve’. We might say: ‘But that’s stupid! Choosing between pagan non-gods is absurd!’ And Joshua would say: ‘Precisely. Rejecting the LORD is stupid, and the only remaining options make no sense at all’.

Joshua also calls for a cautious commitment. He tells the Israelites they cannot serve God and that He won’t keep on forgiving rebellion and sins if they turn away from Him. Joshua is telling them not to lightly profess to follow God. Realise the God you’re dealing with. He is a holy and jealous God. Jesus told people who would want to follow Him to count the cost (Luke 14:25-33). Joshua was urging caution. His purpose is not to drive us away from the LORD but to Him. Yet we must not make our commitment easily, lightly, flippantly – but cautiously and reverently.