Joshua 24:19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.
Some people do a good job of saying goodbye. Others are terrible at it. And still others avoid it all together. But I appreciate people who know how to do it well.
When I was serving in the Army, goodbyes were a regular part of the rhythm of every unit. People would stay for two to three years, and then it was off to the next assignment or civilian life. The Army also does a good job of welcoming new people into the unit. Both coming and going was important and we had ceremony and ritual that formed part of those gatherings.
I haven’t found that same level in the civilian world. But I have to admit, my experience in the civilian world is rather limited. Maybe corporations and companies of various sizes do a good job of welcoming and saying goodbye to employees. What do you think from your experience? Do they do a good job?
From what is portrayed in movies, if you leave your desk just gets cleaned out. If you come, you are shown your place of work and dumped on your own. I know this isn’t reality. I know there is training and steps to incorporate new employees into the culture of organizations.
Our text is part of Joshua’s goodbye address to the leaders of the people. In this address he does not paint a very optimistic picture of his assessment of the people and their leaders. He does not have a great confidence that they will stay faithful to the LORD. Why should he! He has seen their unfaithfulness on display for over forty years.
I am not sure the hearers of this address would have been encouraged by what they heard. Joshua paints a rather depressing picture of their future. Even though he expresses the possibility of great things if they are faithful, he does not sound hopeful.
And our text is the “altar call” of his address. He is calling them to write their names on the line, to make a public commitment of their intent. If only their intent at this moment in time had held true! Things would have been very different for the world.
Joshua calls for a commitment from them and they answer in the affirmative. I think it would be very hard to do an honest self-assessment in that moment and answer in anything other than a resounding “Yes, we will follow.” No one wants to be the lone voice.
But Joshua doesn’t accept their crowd-think answer. He puts it very clearly. “You are not able to serve the LORD.” Ouch! That must have hurt. They had just recounted the history of the LORD’s interventions on their behalf. They were not in ignorance of the LORD’s hand in their life.
But that was not enough to keep them faithful. Knowing and seeing what the LORD has done and is doing isn’t enough to keep people faithful. Nor is a stirring call to commitment in the heat of the moment. Faithfulness is a long-haul activity.
And that is where Israel fails repeatedly. They can hold it together for a short period of years, but then it starts to unravel. You would think that they had eliminated the tug of the gods of their distant relatives’ land of the Euphrates River area from their hearts and lives, but they hadn’t. The gods of their current land’s inhabitants should be a no-brainer. They were just defeated by the LORD.
They were not able to keep the covenant. Period. We can’t either. We need His grace and mercy, power and perseverance to move in our hearts and lives today. At least I do!
The Arnold Journey 