Joshua 24: Choose Whom You Will Serve

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14-15

Choose whom you will serve. These words have power, do they not? Let us dive into them this morning, and find out what Joshua is really trying to say.

In the context of Joshua 24, we find Joshua giving his final words to the people of Israel. All of the tribes had gathered together, and Joshua decides to give his final plea, similar to what Moses has done in the entirety of the book of Deuteronomy. Joshua starts out with a brief history lesson, summarizing the great things that God has done for the Israelites, but is then lead into his famous charge.

In light of all that God has done for the Israelites, Joshua commands his people to "choose whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua was here giving the Israelites a choice: they could father after false gods who couldn't do anything, or follow after the true God, the God who had delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians and all of their other enemies. Sounds like a pretty easy choice, does it not?

Well, the Israelites thought that it was a pretty easy choice too, and thus they responded: "far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods." In other words, the Israelites were pledging allegiance to the LORD. All is well, or so we might think. What better of a response could they had given? Well, Joshua has another perspective, and thus he responds in an odd manner: "You are not 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." Oof. These words sound harsh. What does Joshua mean here? He has just charged the people to serve the Lord God, but he has now promised them that they wouldn't be able to and that the Lord would not even forgive them for their sins! What's your point, Josh?

The ESV Study Bible has a great quote about these verses: "Joshua's point is surely not that the people are asked to do something impossible but, rather, that serving a holy and jealous God cannot be done casually or without divine assistance. It is disconcerting [unsettling] that the people simply reassert their claim--No, but we will serve the Lord--rather than ask for further instruction or prayer. Joshua's warning in Joshua 24:19 that he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins is not to suggest that God is unforgiving (quite the contrary) but that he cannot condone apostasy, the very issue at hand." In summary, Joshua knew the Israelite's heart. They may have claimed obedience, but Joshua had lived with them for many years, and he knew that they would not follow through. They may have honored God with their lips, but he knew that they would fail to honor God with their hearts, as we will see in Judges.

The lesson that we find here is that there is always a difference between lipservice and heartservice. It's easy to love the Lord with your lips, but it's harder to love the Lord with your heart. The first can come out of mere fleshly selfish ambition, yet the latter must come out of a true desire motivated only by God's grace. Furthermore, lipservice is temporary, but heartservice, if curated and disciplined, leads to great and eternal godliness (see 1 Timothy 4:7b).

So, do you love the LORD with your lips only, or with your heart as well? It's easy to confess your yearning for God or even desire it in part--for even the Israelites did that! Why would they not confess and even yearn for a God who had delivered them from all of their enemies and given them all they could ever imagine? But my question for you today is this: how deep does that desire go? Have you truly "chosen this day whom you will serve," or have you confessed one God in your mouth while holding a very, very different god in your heart?