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In Joshua 24
● remember that this is the chapter in which Joshua announces simply and grandly: “Choose this day whom you will serve … . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (15),
● notice that much rehearsal occurs of what God has done, including the extending of several verb phrases: “I took … I gave … I gave … I gave … I sent … I plagued … I brought … I brought … I brought … I gave … I destroyed … I delivered … I gave” (2-13),
● ponder the Lord’s declaration that “I sent the hornet” (12, compare with similar language in Exodus 23:28),
● notice that the people do some rehearsing of their own (17-18),
● reckon with Joshua’s announcement of two characteristics: He is holy and jealous (19),
● understand that two tasks still remain for the people- to “put away the foreign gods in your midst” (23) and to “incline your heart toward the Lord, your God” (23),
● notice that the people “presented themselves before God” (1) at Shechem and that Joshua made a covenant with the people gathered there (25), including ceremonial gestures of writing in the Book of the Law (26) and setting up a memorial stone (26-27),
● notice the settled placement of Joseph’s bones (32), first mentioned back in Genesis 50, and
● infer from the statement that the people remained faithful to the Lord while Joshua lived and while the elders who knew him lived (31), that their faith fades after that time.
Thank you,

Randy Tumlinson