(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Joshua 24:15–28, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And the people answered and said, 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, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, 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. If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.”
There are many things that happen to us but we cannot stop them from happening. We may be caught in an accident or a malicious attack that takes us by surprise. However, we can always choose what we think and that determines our attitude to the situation. Some people look to their situation and act like a victim while other people to their situation and see it as in opportunity to learn, grow and develop into a better and stronger person. Joshua let Israel know that they were always in control of their own faith. This is a day by day proposition as well. We may start out by believing that God is loving and compassionate but if we experience prolonged hardship we will re evaluate our faith; do we believe according to our experience or do we remain with the faith that we have chosen before? Joshua told Israel that, on the day he was speaking, they had to choose whom they would believe. Were they going to believe the Lord, the gods from their history or the local gods’? He explained that, as far as he was concerned, he and his family would serve the Lord. When Joshua was with them and they knew that the Lord had given possession of much of the Promised Land the choice was not very hard. They would serve the Lord as well. After all, they were making this decision in the context of the Lord’s faithfulness and lovingkindness throughout the course of living memory, at that time. They recited their history with the Lord and decided, then, that it was best for them to serve the Lord. Joshua explained that the Lord has perfect integrity, He would always give them whatever they chose, with the overriding caveat explained in Psalm 103:6–12, (“The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”) The Lord would allow them to exist within our without the context of His everlasting love as they chose. If they chose to follow other gods then they would receive the protection of the other gods and the fact that these other gods were really representations of Satan, the Lord’s main enemy. They would be caught in the great spiritual battle between good and evil but be on the side of evil. The Israeli leaders confirmed that they would serve the Lord and Joshua built a monument to remind them of this fact. Every man then went back to his own land, that the portion of the Promised Land that they Lord had given them even though they didn’t deserve it. (compare Deut 26:5–8, “And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:”)
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