Choose Whom You Will Serve — Joshua 24 (Session 18)

In this verse-by-verse study of Joshua 24, Reasoning Through the Bible reaches the final chapter of the book of Joshua. Joshua gathers Israel at Shechem, a place filled with covenant history, remembrance, and spiritual significance. From Abraham to Jacob, from the renewal of the covenant to the burial of Joseph’s bones, Shechem served as a powerful reminder of God’s faithfulness to His people.

This session explores why Joshua retells Israel’s history, why remembering God’s works matters, and how gratitude strengthens faith. Joshua reminds the people that God brought Abraham out from idol worship, delivered Israel from Egypt, gave them land they did not labor for, and placed them in cities they did not build. The proper response is not pride, but worship, humility, and service.

A major theme in this episode is Joshua’s famous challenge: “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve.” Joshua does not present faith as passive or vague. He calls Israel to make a clear decision, put away foreign gods, and serve the Lord in sincerity and truth. His personal declaration, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” becomes one of the strongest examples of faithful leadership in Scripture.

The study also addresses why Israel still had idols in their midst, why old patterns can cling to God’s people, how spiritual compromise begins, why strong leadership matters, and how Joshua’s generation remained faithful while godly leadership remained in place.

Topics in this episode include:

•  Joshua 24 study 
•  choose whom you will serve 
•  as for me and my house 
•  serve the Lord 
•  put away idols 
•  Shechem in the Bible 
•  remembering God’s faithfulness 
•  gratitude in the Christian life 
•  faithful leadership 
•  Joseph’s bones 
•  resurrection hope 
•  finishing the book of Joshua 

Reasoning Through the Bible is a verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry committed to careful exposition, biblical context, and faithful application.

 Questions from this session:

• Is there a benefit of physical reminders of what God has done for us? 
• What good things has God done for us? 
• Can we half-heartedly follow God?
• Whom will you follow? 

Transcript

Faith's Remembrance and Gratitude Importance

Speaker 2 0:23

We'd like to welcome you back to another session of Reasoning Through the Bible and we've been going through the book of Joshua . Actually , in this session we're going to finish up the book of Joshua . Today we're going to be in chapter 24 . We're not going to go through the first half of chapter 24 . It's basically a rehash , a retelling of everything that has come up at this point . If you remember , in chapter 23 , joshua is at the end of his life and he's gathered all the elders together and leaders together and given them some instructions . 24 is going to finish up that . It's a continuation , but the first half of that is a retelling of what all God has done and as part of that retelling , it talks about God bringing them out of Egypt . This is something that is told over and over again throughout Scripture , by Paul , by Peter , by Stephen , by others , and also told throughout the Old Testament . We'll see it when we get over into Judges as well .

Speaker 1 1:25

God put this in the Passover ceremony that they had reminded Israel once a year , for all eternity , that they brought them out of Egypt .

Speaker 2 1:33

This is a big deal . This is a big part of Israel's history and it's a pinnacle point . The fact that we're not reading through it doesn't mean that it's not important . We're actually drawing out that it is important . We'd like for you to go through it on your own time , but we're not going to take up time to go through that here . We're going to pick up in the middle of the chapter .

Speaker 1 1:56

One thing to pick up . At the very first verse of Joshua , 24 , he brings them to a place called Shechem . Yes , Now , this is an important spot because what Joshua is doing here , this is his farewell message , and he brings people to this place called Shechem and then he gives them this final message . He's saying in here I'm going the way of all the earth . Well , Shechem is a place where it's not just a random spot , it wasn't just because it was convenient .

Speaker 1 2:27

Shechem was a place where several things have happened in the Bible the Abrahamic Covenant back in Genesis 12 , verses 6 and 7 , Abrahamic Covenant is really big . This is something for all of Israel , forever that God made this covenant with Abraham that affects the nation of Israel . That happened at Shechem when Jacob , back in the book of Genesis , Jacob rebelled for a period in his life . He gets back to following the Lord and gets right with God and he returns to the land at Shechem and there he gets right with the Lord and gets rid of his idols . You'll find that in Genesis , chapter 35 , verse 4 . Back in this book , in Joshua , chapter 8 , Joshua , when he first got into the land , built an altar and carved in it the law of Moses , presumably , the Ten Commandments and renewed the Mosaic covenant with God . That happened at Shechem and towards the end of this verse Israel is going to be burying the bones of Joseph at Shechem .

Speaker 1 3:37

So this place was a very important physical place for the nation of Israel and Joshua brings them there because he knows that will bring all these memories back . It will remind people of all these things that have happened . All these fathers and ancestors and descendants all center around this one place where God had touched so many people . So here's a question God reminds us of things . Is this something we can do in our lives to help around us the people , our children and our fathers and even us ? Jacob goes back to Bethel , so here they go , back to Shechem . Is this something we can do and take advantage of places where we're emotionally attached to physical locations ?

Speaker 2 4:27

Yeah , especially if it's a place that's associated with God , or something that God did or something that was there .

Speaker 1 4:35

Yes , absolutely , I think that it should be done , and as you said earlier , starting in verse 2 , Joshua goes through this story and he reminds Israel of all these things that happened , and a lot of the things that he reminds them of happened at this one place , Shechem . They either happened there or they went through right there . In some of the cases , they can even look at sea . There's a spot where that happened . So he's doing ceremonial things in . Memorials are very important . It tells Israel to do things for a memorial and they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land . Remember they were to carry the stones , the river rocks , way up a day's walk and pile them up for a memorial . The Passover meal was a memorial . These are all things that we can remind the people around us about .

Speaker 2 5:24

Yeah , and just real quick , in verse 2 and 3 , there's a couple of things to kind of point out . One is is that as he starts to go and tell this , retell this history , he goes all the way back to Abraham's parents , the lineage before it , and he says there in verse 2 that they served other gods . Then in verse 3 , says then I took your father , abraham , from beyond the river . So Abraham is somebody who has believed in and was believing and worshiping Yahweh God , and that's one reason as far as Him bringing Abraham out , yeah , the whole family came out where they were , beyond the river .

Speaker 2 6:06

Here specifically is talking about Ur , the Caldees , which is in the Babylonian area . But it's important to show that the ancestors , abraham's parents and others were serving other gods and he took Abraham out . The other thing in verse three there is that again the lineage is very specific in that he took Abraham out and then it multiplied to his descendants and gave him Isaac , isaac to Jacob . So it's that lineage related to Abraham . Yes , it's not the other sons or the other lineage of Abraham , it's these , this specific lineage .

Speaker 1 6:46

The sons of promise . So you point out , and rightfully so . In verse two he goes all the way back to Abraham's parents and mentions here that they served other gods . Now I think this is a good example because he reminds them how far they had come . Remember , your ancestors were out serving other gods . Now look where you are . You're in the land of blessing , the land flowing with milk and honey . God gave you all these things . I think we can take that as an example in our lives .

Speaker 1 7:14

We that are Christian are often dissatisfied with how we're living . Because we're not living perfect lives and we don't live in a sinless perfection , then the sin and the things that are in our lives still bother us . But sometimes it's good to sit and think of how far has God brought me ? Where did I used to be ? What was life like before I started really trying to follow God ? And that's a good thing for all of us to just stop and remember . How far has God brought me ? What was life used to be like before God brought me to this point ? God may have a long way to go with me , but look at how far I've come , and glory to God for that reason .

Speaker 2 7:53

And that word serve there is a bad and it's a verb . It's an active word . It means to work or to serve . It means to labor . It's used in other places to talk about to work a garden , to dress a vineyard . It also applies to artisans and craftsmen . So this word gives you a picture that they're not just worshiping other gods , they're actively participating in order to do work on behalf of these other gods , to serve these other gods , to do things which they think these other gods want them to do . So it's a very active participation with these other gods . And look down at verse 13 .

Speaker 1 8:34

This is God speaking through Joshua . So the eye here is God speaking to the people of Israel and Joshua 2413 . He says I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities which you had not built and you have lived in them . You are eating vineyards and olive groves which you did not plan . God gives good things . God gives good things , so we should . We can all ask ourselves what good things has God given to us , and I think it's like the old saying counter blessings one by one . What good things has God given us ? He's given us salvation , given us the guidance in the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ . He's given us a promised land in the future that we can go to . We don't have to work for our salvation . Isn't it good that we don't have to try hard and follow a list of rules , that we can rest in the land of salvation ?

Speaker 2 9:28

Yeah , and in this particular era , he's given us the Holy Spirit and , in regards to ones who believe in him and worship him and have asked them for salvation , he gives them the Holy Spirit as a comforter . And Jesus actually says I have to go so that the Holy Spirit can come , so that's a good thing . Well , I think it's overlooked , but that's a good thing .

Serve God, Reject Idols

Speaker 1 9:50

Just not having to work to be good enough to please a holy God . We can just rest and trust in him because he's faithful , he gives us love , he gives us fellowship . He gives us this wonderful Christian family that we can join in a church and he gives us opportunities to serve him . That has eternal good . Too many times in our lives we spend our energy doing things that the year after we're dead nobody's going to remember , but in the Lord's work always has eternal benefit .

Speaker 2 10:19

You know , Glenn , you've mentioned several things that are good Fellowship with others , other fellow Christians , things that God has done and given it that Don't . We have a tendency a lot of times to think of the negative things and those things we say why has God taken us to this point and we don't think about the good things that he's given to us , Thinking of those things outside of what are good from God that can lead us also to other areas and allow things to the world to creep in , because we're being disassociated with God and the good things that he's given to us .

Speaker 1 10:55

So let's look down at Joshua 24 and start at verse 14 and verse 15 . Now , therefore , fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth , and put away the gods which your father served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord . If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord , choose for yourselves today whom you will serve , whether the gods which your father served , which were beyond the river , or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living . But as for me and my house , we will serve the Lord . So what's the basic message here that Joshua was saying ?

Speaker 2 11:35

Stay true to God , don't go after other gods . Stay and worship the God that has been with you and that has done the great things for you , and make a conscious effort to worship Him and to serve Him . And again , that word serve is a verb . It's an active thing , it's to do things in regards to God as well , so it's an active choice . Serve God , choose to serve God . That's what Joshua was saying . You do what you want to , but for me and my house , we're gonna serve the Lord .

Speaker 1 12:08

He's digging in and he's saying me and my house , and his house is him and his descendants we're gonna do it , even if nobody else does . Now remember , joshua , all the way back when he was young , was one of the two spies that were faithful to God and had faith . Well , he is all the way here to his last statements . He's true to God . He stayed faithful the entire time . And what he's saying is even if nobody else does , I'm gonna stay faithful . That's what all of us need to decide to do . Even if I'm the last believer on the earth , I'm gonna stay faithful . Even if everybody else walks away , I'm gonna stay faithful .

Speaker 1 12:45

Now there's some other things , valuable things , we can dig out of these couple of verses . If you remember , back at the beginning of the book , joshua was 80 years old and it says he's 110 . Now it's been 30 years . And in chapter 23 , verse one , it says it was a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from their enemies , so it had been all this time of the battles , plus a long time after and prior to all of that , they wandered the wilderness for 40 years . So it's been a good number of years . And in verse 14 , what is he saying in verse 14 about idols ?

Speaker 2 13:19

Put away the gods that your forefathers served in the land where I brought Abraham out of , and also in Egypt . Think about that .

Speaker 1 13:30

All the way back to Egypt . Long time , More than average lifetime .

Speaker 2 13:35

They were in slavery 400 years alone in Egypt .

Speaker 1 13:39

So is it possible that even after the came out of Egypt , wandered the wilderness 40 years in judgment ? One generation dies away , raises up another one after they get in the land ? It's been at least 30 years now . Could it be that they're still dragging around idols from Egypt ? Because notice what he says he keeps mentioning here , in these two verses , the gods which your father served , which were beyond the river , or the gods of the Amorites he mentioned that . Put away these things . It just strikes me as how thick can your skull be ?

Speaker 2 14:18

Yeah , and we know from archeology on the pagans on worshiping some of these other gods . They would take these idols and put them in the foundations of their houses and things like that in order to help with whatever benefit that they thought that they might be . Yeah , I think it's very , very possible .

Speaker 1 14:39

Look down at verse 23 in the same chapter . Now , therefore , put away the foreign gods which are in your midst and incline your hearts to the Lord , God of Israel . So there were idols still there and it's possible they were still clinging to some of them that were all the way back in Egypt , and they still hadn't really got rid of them all . At least there was some of the influence of them .

Speaker 1 15:02

So how long would it take for the average follower of God to lose the influence of an idol after you get right with God ? How long should it ?

Speaker 2 15:13

take Should be instantaneous . I mean , that's the whole point of you choosing to follow God and to follow his ways and to ask for that salvation is that you become a new creature , a new being .

Speaker 1 15:25

We're a new creation in Christ . Little things pass away . Behold , all things become new . It says over in the New Testament . So it should be that immediately after we become a Christian we start throwing these things away . In reality is a Christian after they're a Christian still influenced by the world and the flesh .

Speaker 2 15:45

Yeah , they are , and I think that sometimes it becomes familiar , erity An area or a God or a thing in this case God's idols that they're familiar with . It's maybe possibly sometimes just like a little security blanket , something that's always there that they can revert to , but that's the exact reason why you need to get it out of your life and get it away is so that it's not there and it's not a temptation , it's not something that you will want to revert back to , so it's easy for us to sit here and point fingers at Israel from back in the day .

Speaker 1 16:22

The question is how long should it take me to get rid of the idols that are still hanging around in my life ? How come my thick skull didn't learn better ? Verse 15 , he says if it seems evil of you to serve the Lord . I find that an interesting phrase . Some people might think that serving God is a wrong thing to do , or at least not a right thing to do . Ultimately , any disobedience is saying well , god's not right and I know better . So is it possible that people today , even you and I , might give lip service to following the Lord , but then in reality it's not a right thing to do , deep down think that some of his commands are not correct , that are not good , and I'm going to decide for myself .

Speaker 2 17:08

Yeah , and also , as we're on this subject , part of pagan worship was taking multiple gods and worshiping or serving multiple gods . They were not a religion of worshiping just one . They had one for weather , they had one for fertility , and on and on and on . That's something to where just adding another God and worshiping to them it was sufficient . But that's why God had said I'm a jealous God and you are not to worship any other God , because I am the Creator , the Mighty , the Holy One . I'm set apart from all other gods .

Speaker 1 17:49

And in verse 15 , there's this famous choose for yourself this day whom you will serve . So this is God , remember , speaking through Joshua . Thus says the Lord . God tells them to choose . There's a debate that goes on amongst Christians election and free will and it gets rather deep . But here we have God saying to the people of Israel again thus says the Lord back in verse 2 , choose . Back in Deuteronomy , chapter 30 , verse 19, . God tells Israel to choose . Later in the Old Testament , elijah stood on the top of Mount Carmel . In 1 Kings , chapter 18 , verse 21 .

Speaker 1 18:30

And essentially tells people to choose between God and the idol Baal . The Bible clearly in several places tell us to choose between the true God and the false God , between good and between evil . Making a choice assumes that we're going to intelligently look at the options and think about it and make a choice . You can't make a choice , you can't choose , without having the capability of choosing . And ought to choose implies can choose . This is what we're commanded to do here is choose . And God clearly in several places tells us people choose .

Speaker 2 19:07

And this also goes back to the previous session , Glenn , when you were talking about some people say well , I don't want to foist my religion on to my children , I want them to make up their own decisions . And we- talked about that .

Speaker 2 19:20

We discussed that . They're going to make up their own decisions anyway , but this is an example here to rightly so that what you pointed out , where Josh is giving them a directive and he's giving them previous to all these verses here's the reasons why you should serve the Lord Yahweh , the Lord , our God of Israel . Here's the reasons . And at the end of it he says you need to choose whether you're going to serve the others or whether you're going to serve God . So , yes , it's still leaving it up to them to make a choice , but Joshua has done his best to influence them as much as possible and giving them sound reasoning as to why they should follow Lord God .

Speaker 1 20:01

And look at the end of verse 15 . As for me and my house , we will serve the Lord . What do you think of this guy , joshua ? I mean , that tells me something about his personality . Here he was , on his deathbed .

Speaker 2 20:11

Yeah .

Speaker 1 20:12

And he's just as determined as he ever was . I'm going to follow .

Speaker 2 20:15

God and that he's the leader of the house , of his household . What was he Wishi Washi , no no very firm .

Speaker 1 20:23

How much was he influenced by people around him that went off to worship the other idols ? And I show a lot of doubt .

Speaker 2 20:30

No , he doesn't , and I think it's also a good indication of how we should be , if we're the leaders of our house , and that we should be that firm and that we should begin that leadership in regards to this is the way that we need to go , joshua made up his mind and he was fixed in his determination and he says this is what I am going to do and that's an example for all of us .

Speaker 1 20:58

It's the question of all of us am I as determined , or am I going to let the world kind of sway me ? Will I serve the Lord even if nobody else does ? Steve , if you could pick up at verse 16 and read through verse 25

The Importance of Faithful Leadership

Speaker 1 21:11

.

Speaker 2 21:11

The people answered and said Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods , for the Lord , our God Yahweh , is he who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt , from the house of bondage , who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples whose midst we passed . The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples , even the Amorites , who lived in the land . We also will serve the Lord , for he is our God . Then Joshua said to the people you will not be 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 he has done good to you .

Speaker 2 22:08

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 for yourselves the Lord Yahweh to serve Him . And they said we are witnesses . Now , therefore , put away the foreign gods which are in your midst and incline your hearts to the Lord , the God of Israel . And the people said to Joshua we will serve the Lord , our God , and we will obey His voice . So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and an ordinance and shechem .

Speaker 1 22:48

Okay . So what is Joshua doing here ? What's he trying to do ?

Speaker 2 22:51

He's reasoning with them . He's giving them both the pros and the cons in regards to the decision that they're fixing to make , and he's being very straightforward with them and showing them Look , this is a serious decision that you're making . This isn't something that you should do flippantly . It's a serious decision that you need to make .

Speaker 1 23:11

He's reinforcing to them you have to stay firm and you have to follow the Lord , because he had just said in verses 15 , 16 , choose , as for me , in my house , I'm going to serve the Lord . So in verse 16 , the people say oh , we're not going to fall away , we're going to follow the Lord . And in verse 17 and 18 , the people remind Joshua of all the things God did for them . So then , what is ? How does Joshua respond ?

Speaker 2 23:38

He says God is a holy God , he's a jealous God . If you're going to make this commitment to serve him , you have to serve him only , because if you don't , then he's going to work against you so , but Joshua basically said verse 19, .

Speaker 1 23:55

he says no you're not yeah , they say yeah we're going to follow him .

Speaker 2 23:59

He says no , you're not .

Speaker 1 24:01

That's basically what he's saying in verse 19 . You will not be able to serve the Lord , for he's a holy God , and so then they reinforce it again , verse 21 . Oh , but we will serve the Lord , so look down at verse 31 . What does verse 31 say ?

Speaker 2 24:17

31 says Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua and had known all the deeds of the Lord which he had done for Israel .

Speaker 1 24:29

And so they did . They did because they said we're going to serve the Lord . He made Joshua , made him say it twice and made him promise twice .

Speaker 2 24:37

And that we're going to serve , and that you're your own witnesses . You're your own witnesses .

Speaker 1 24:42

So let's look at what happened in Judges chapter two Not very long after this . Just a little bit of time we're going to see , just a little bit of time goes by . Let's see how good they're doing after a while . Read Judges chapter two , verses 11 , 12 and 13 .

Speaker 2 25:02

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and serve the Ba'al , and they abandoned the Lord , the God of their fathers , who had brought them out of the land of Egypt . They went after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed down to them , and they provoked the Lord to anger . They abandoned the Lord and served the Ba'als and the Asteroth .

Speaker 1 25:33

So how long did Israel last in trusting God ? Not long enough . Not long enough . That was Judges two . Okay , even prior to that , in the book of Judges , the first chapter in the story there's Joshua and the judges happens right afterwards . So Judges one , 27 and 28 talks about how they were running after other gods One 29 , nor did Ephraim drive out the people of Canaan . The next verse , verse 30, . Nor did Zebulim drive out the people of Canaan . The next verse , 31, . Nor did Asher drive out , nor did Naphtali drive out . So they say , yes , we're going to follow God , we're going to obey and we're going to drive out these people . The very next chapter , judges , chapter one , they don't do it . And the next chapter after that , after they don't drive the people out , now they're worshiping the Baals and the Astros almost immediately . So why do you think Joshua was repeating it so many times , trying to reinforce it , making them promise over and over ?

Speaker 2 26:39

again and also you put it well when you said no , you're not . It's also another way would be to say who are you kidding ? Going back to 31 , joshua 24 , it says that they served all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua . So while they have this great leadership that are there through Joshua and the elders afterwards until they died off , they're faithful . But when they lose that leadership , we see , as you just pointed out over in judges , they start falling away . So in these passages .

Speaker 1 27:20

there's no indication , once they start losing , that they go to God and ask forgiveness and sacrifice . Remember , back in the earlier part of Joshua they win at Jericho and they go over to AI and they lose . Do you remember the immediate thing that Joshua did ? He got down on his face for the rest of the day and he then had called a big camp meeting and he had a big sacrifice and they prayed to God and they said God , why ? What's wrong ? What do we do ? Is there any indication in here , in the first part of judges , that they're praying to God , that they're asking God why , that they're repenting , they're sacrificing ? No , none of that . They're just losing . They're just losing and then following after idols , yeah .

Speaker 2 28:15

So a question that comes up then , Glenn , out of this is then how important is having a strong leader in your family , how important is having a strong leader in your congregation ? How important is having a strong leader and by leader I mean a follower of God how important is that it's ?

Speaker 1 28:38

extremely important and it's also important to take heed . These people promised before God that they would follow him , and then they didn't . So we should take our promises to God , our covenants with God , very , very seriously . We seek victories in the Christian life , but we also see defeats , and when we end up with defeats , we need to do like Joshua did at AI and not how Israel did when they start losing . Here Verse 19 , joshua reminds Israel that God is holy and jealous and they can't serve other gods along with the true God . That's a lesson with us .

Speaker 1 29:16

Look down at Joshua 24 , verses 26 and 27 . Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God and he took a large stone and set it up under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord . And Joshua said to the people Behold , this stone shall be for a witness against us , for it has heard all the words of the Lord which he spoke to us , and this shall be for a witness against you , so that you do not deny your God . Joshua dismissed the people , each to his inheritance , so again he sets up a memorial . This happens over and over again in the Bible . A memorial , a remembrance don't forget a ritual . These things are set up routinely in the Bible .

Speaker 2 29:57

And this makes several memorials that are there at Shechem .

Speaker 1 30:00

Now a couple other things before we finish . The end of the chapter , down to verse 31 , which we've already read . It talks about Israel serving all the days of Joshua and all the days that the elders who survived Joshua . Now we made a big point several times in this podcast that Rahab was still alive back in Joshua 625 . So we said that was within one generation of the people of Israel coming in . Now this verse 31 here hints that it was later and we have Joshua that dies .

Speaker 1 30:33

And then there's still some things and I don't think that's very much of an issue because , for example , over in the Pentateuch , the first five books of the Bible , it says in there , in Exodus and other places , moses wrote these things , but yet it has accounts after Moses died . Well , obviously Moses didn't write the part after he died , so somebody edited it together . So we would just hold very simply that Moses wrote what it says he wrote and after he died somebody put it together . It's like an appendix . It's like an appendix , but we can tell from the many places that we've mentioned there was . The writer of this was just too familiar with certain rocks there in certain places , certain caves , certain graves Again , rahab being still alive . And here we just have a case where the older generation Joshua's age that were still alive after Joshua died . They were faithful to them . There's no indication here whatsoever that this was written hundreds or centuries of years later from another country . There's just no indication of that .

Speaker 2 31:46

Yeah , and I think what you're calling out is is that the several times when it said here that the stones or the memorial remains to this day and the things happen to this day . So let me ask you this if you go to Shechem today , are those memorials still there ?

Speaker 1 32:03

There's some worse , but there's piles of rocks . We might not find those exact ones .

Speaker 2 32:09

But the point being is that we had brought out was that the writer at the time was a current with the events that were going on , not 500 or 600 years later .

Speaker 1 32:18

Now , in verses 32 and 33 , they bury the bones of Joseph . What in the world is that story about ?

Speaker 2 32:24

Well , joseph had told them when he was in Egypt carry my bones out and bury them in the land that you're going to . He didn't want to stay in Egypt . He didn't want to stay in Egypt .

Speaker 1 32:33

So they've been carrying the skeleton of Joseph all these , all these years . This tells us a couple of things . First of all , it tells us that they believed in resurrection . They believed in resurrection . He didn't want to resurrect in a land that wasn't home . And secondly , believers in the Judeo Christian tradition have always buried our dead , always . 2000 , 3000 years of Judeo Christian history . We've never burned our dead . We've always buried our dead because we believe in resurrection . It goes over and over again in the Bible that the body will resurrect .

Liaison Burial and Priestly Land Ownership

Speaker 1 33:13

Then , in verse 33 , talks about a liaison being buried . Very interesting thing here , at the end of this verse 33 , eleazar , son of Aaron , died . And they who ? What was his job , by the way ?

Speaker 1 33:25

The priest he was a priest from the priestly line and specifically , the high priest came out of the line of Aaron , came out of the line of Aaron , and they buried him at Gibbia of Phineas , his son , which was given to him , the hill country of Ephraim , or priests supposed to own land .

Speaker 2 33:44

No .

Speaker 1 33:45

So what does he own here ? They buried him at Gibbia of Phineas , his son , which was given him the in the hill country of Ephraim Already , the last verse of Joshua . They're already starting to deviate because now the priests are owning land . So that wraps up the book of Joshua , a very valuable book , and that'll stop this session for today on reasoning through the Bible .