The Israelites Turn Away from God
2
Joshua was now more than a hundred years old.
He knew he didn't have much longer to live.
So he called the Israelites together. He wanted to speak to them one last time.
First Joshua reminded the people of all God had done for them.
He said that long ago God had made promises to Abraham.
In Egypt Abraham's family had grown into a nation of many, many people, known as the Israelites.
And God had led the Israelites out of Egypt and back to the land of Canaan.
God had promised that he would make Abraham's family a great nation and give them the land of Canaan.
"Always remember that God gave you all this. He gave you victory over your enemies so that you could have this land. Your swords and bows and arrows had nothing to do with it. Right now you are living in cities that you did not build. And you are gathering crops you did not plant"
Joshua told the Israelites,
And now God had made these things happen.
To help the people remember the promise they had made that day, Joshua wrote all this own.
Memory Work
He also set up a large stone under an oak tree.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
For a number of years after his death, the people kept their promise and served God.
The Israelites Turn
Away from God
But then they turned away from him and began to worship false Gods.
This made God angry.
As Joshua had warned, God let trouble come to the Israelites.
Their enemies chased them out of their homes, stole their food, and took parts of their land.
But God still loved his people.
God sent leaders, called judges, to help them.
These judges showed the people their sins and, with God's help, led them to victory over their enemies.
Joshua 24:1-31;
Judges 2:6-23
Joshua told the people,
"Whenever you see this stone, it will remind you of the promise you made here today to serve the Lord."
Soon after this, Joshua died.
Joshua continues...
"Now serve the Lord with all your hearts. If some of you still have any of the idols your fathers once worshiped, throw them away. Decide today whom you will serve. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."
The people answered,
"We will never turn away from the Lord to serve other gods! We know that God himself did all these great things for us. We too will always serve the Lord, because he is our God!"
Then Joshua warned the people,
"The Lord has always been very good to you. But if you turn away from him, he will turn against you and bring trouble to you."
"No! That will never happen! We promise that we will serve the Lord our God and obey his commands."