Joshua 24

In our study of Joshua chapter twenty four, we look at the legacy of fruitfulness that was left by Joshua upon his death which is the mark of a great leader.

Chapter Overview

Joshua chapter 24 brings the book to its close with a second, final assembly — this time at Shechem, where Joshua recounts Israel's entire history from Abraham through the conquest before issuing what may be the most quoted challenge in the book: "choose today whom you will serve." The people respond with a confident pledge of loyalty, which Joshua meets with an unexpected challenge of his own before the covenant is formally renewed.

The chapter, and the book, ends with three burials: Joshua himself, at a hundred and ten years old; Joseph's bones, carried out of Egypt generations earlier and finally laid to rest; and Eleazar the priest. Together they mark the quiet, deliberate close of one era and the beginning of the next, recorded in the book of Judges.

Historical Background

Shechem carried deep significance long before this final assembly. It was here that Abraham built his first altar after arriving in Canaan (Genesis 12:6-7), and here that Jacob purchased land generations later (Genesis 33:18-20) — the very plot where Joseph's bones would finally be buried in this chapter. Choosing this site for Israel's final covenant renewal tied the entire book back to its earliest patriarchal roots.

The stone Joshua sets up as a witness (v. 26-27) continues a pattern seen throughout the book — the Jordan memorial stones in chapter 4, the altar named "Ed" in chapter 22 — of marking covenant moments with a physical, lasting witness that later generations could see and ask about.

Joshua 24:1 & 2

Y'hoshua gathered all the tribes of Isra'el to Sh'khem; he summoned the leaders, heads, judges and officials of Isra'el; and they presented themselves before God. Y'hoshua said to all the people, "This is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'In antiquity your ancestors lived on the other side of the River - Terach the father of Avraham and Nachor-and they served other gods.

As we saw in the last chapter, Y'hoshua knew that he was getting close to death and here we see that he called all of the leaders of Israel together. We see that the Lord had a special message for Israel and it begins with a reminder that their ancestors had been idol worshippers. According to Jewish tradition, Terach the father of Avraham had been in the business of selling idols when they lived in the land on the far side of the Euphrates River in what is now the modern country of Iraq.

Joshua 24:3 & 4

I took your ancestor Avraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Kena'an, increased his descendants and gave him Yitz'chak. I gave to Yitz'chak Ya'akov and 'Esav. To 'Esav I gave Mount Se'ir as his possession, but Ya'akov and his children went down into Egypt.

According to tradition, Avraham knew that his father's business dealing in idols was wrong and he did not want to be a part of that business. Now, the Lord reminds Israel of the fact that He moved in Avraham's life causing change as he travelled to Canaan and was promised a son. They are reminded that God kept that promise as He provided a son named Yitz'chak. They are reminded that God gave Yitz-chak two sons and, even though we are told that 'Esav is evil, he is given possession of Mount Se'ir but because of sin Ya'akov and his children went down into Egypt.

Joshua 24:5-7

I sent Moshe and Aharon, I inflicted plagues on Egypt in accordance with what I did among them, and afterwards I brought you out. Yes, I brought your fathers out of Egypt: you arrived at the sea, and the Egyptians were pursuing your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Suf. But when they cried out to ADONAI, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, overwhelmed them with the sea and drowned them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time.

God reminds Israel that He had delivered their ancestors out of the bondage of Egypt with plagues, defended them with darkness at the Red Sea, and caused them to be victorious over the Egyptians through the Red Sea. Then, they are reminded that, throughout their long time in the wilderness, God had supernaturally provided for their physical needs.

Joshua 24:8-10

I brought you into the land of the Emori living beyond the Yarden; they fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them ahead of you. Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av, rose up and fought against Isra'el. He sent and summoned Bil'am the son of B'or to put a curse on you. But I refused to listen to Bil'am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him.

God reminds them of the fact that He had intervened on behalf of Israel as He gave them the land of the Emorites and even stopped the sorcerer Bil'am. God had rescued Israel from all of their enemies on the east side of the Jordan River.

Joshua 24:11-13

Next you crossed the Yarden and came to Yericho. The men of Yericho fought against you-the Emori, P'rizi, Kena'ani, Hitti, Girgashi, Hivi and Y'vusi - and I handed them over to you. I sent the hornet ahead of you, driving them out from ahead of you, the two kings of the Emori - it wasn't by your sword or your bow. Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'

Now, the testimony gets personal as Y'hoshua reminds the people of how they had crossed the Jordan River and God had supernaturally given them victory over all of the Canaanites. They are reminded that they were currently living off of the fruit of the land which they had not even planted.

Joshua 24:14 & 15

"Therefore fear ADONAI, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve ADONAI! If it seems bad to you to serve ADONAI, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve ADONAI!"

Based on what they have seen and heard, Y'hoshua calls the people of Israel to fear the Lord and we know that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Y'hoshua urges them to allow this godly fear to cause them to respond correctly and that is defined as serving only God and recognizing their inability to do anything good on their own. Here, it says "As for me and my household" but, in the Hebrew text, it says "But me and my household". Y'hoshua says that they are free to make the decision on their own but the decision has already been made for him and his family. That still applies to us today as each of us has to decide that we will abandon our own useless efforts and embrace the God who is able to do all things.

Joshua 24:16-18

The people answered, "Far be it from us that we would abandon ADONAI to serve other gods; because it is ADONAI our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery, and did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us all along the way we traveled and among all the peoples we passed through; and it was ADONAI who drove out from ahead of us all the peoples, the Emori living in the land. Therefore we too will serve ADONAI, for he is our God."

We see that the response of the people of Israel was to acknowledge what God had done and they professed their desire to serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:19-25

Y'hoshua said to the people, "You can't serve ADONAI; because he is a holy God, a jealous God, and he will not forgive your crimes and sins. If you abandon ADONAI and serve foreign gods, he will turn, doing you harm and destroying you after he has done you good." But the people said to Y'hoshua, "No, but we will serve ADONAI." Y'hoshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen ADONAI, to serve him." They answered, "We are witnesses." "Now," Y'hoshua urged, "put away the foreign gods you have among you, and turn your hearts to ADONAI, the God of Isra'el." The people answered Y'hoshua, "We will serve ADONAI our God; we will pay attention to what he says." So Y'hoshua made a covenant with the people that day, laying down for them laws and rulings there in Sh'khem.

At first, the response of Y'hoshua to the profession of faith by the people of Israel is puzzling as he says they cannot serve God but Y'hoshua is telling them that they are not in the proper condition spiritually to serve the Lord as they have not experienced the redemption of the Messiah. He goes on to say that, without the redemption from the Messiah, they will abandon the Lord and fall into idolatry. Because of their continued profession that they will serve the Lord, Y'hoshua calls for them to get rid of the things that are outside the will of God and to turn wholeheartedly to the things of God. We see that Y'hoshua cut a covenant with them there and this was a shadow of the new covenant that was to come through Yeshua Messiah. Once again, we see the phrase "that day" and we are reminded that, throughout the Bible the phrase is associated with judgement.

Hebraic Insight

Joshua's startling statement — "you cannot serve ADONAI" — right after the people's confident pledge follows a recognizable pattern in Hebrew narrative: testing sincerity through apparent discouragement rather than simply accepting a quick answer at face value. Naomi does something similar with Ruth and Orpah in Ruth 1:11-13, pushing back before either woman's true commitment is revealed.

Rather than doubting their honesty, Joshua is pressing them to reckon with the weight of what they're promising. A quick "yes" said twice under pressure means more than one said carelessly — and by the third exchange, the people's commitment has been tested and proven, not merely assumed.

Joshua 24:26 & 27

Y'hoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God. Then he took a big stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of ADONAI. Y'hoshua said to all the people, "See, this stone will be a witness against us; because it has heard all the words of ADONAI which he said to us; therefore it will be a witness against you, in case you deny your God."

Y'hoshua wrote this account into the Torah which is what we have been reading and we see that he set up a stone next to the tabernacle as a witness. We see that even the stone would testify against them if they did not give absolute obedience to God and this stone speaks of accountability. They would be judged for any breaking of their covenant and this shows us the need for the Messiah as they may have had the desire to completely follow the Lord but they did not have the power that is only available through Yeshua Messiah.

Joshua 24:28-31

Then Y'hoshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. After this, Y'hoshua the son of Nun, the servant of ADONAI, died; he was 110 years old. They buried him on his property in Timnat-Serach, which is in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga'ash. Isra'el served ADONAI throughout Y'hoshua's lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who outlived Y'hoshua and had known all the deeds that ADONAI had done on behalf of Isra'el.

After this, the people were sent away and we see the legacy that Y'hoshua left which is one of service to the Lord. We see that Y'hoshua was buried in the hills of Efrayim and we are reminded that the name speaks of abundant fruitfulness which is how the legacy could be described. We see that, because of the leadership of Y'hoshua and those that he trained, Israel remained faithful to God and God kept His promise with them living in the land. Though we know that, eventually Israel would turn to idolatry and be banished from the land, their time in the land was extended by the example of Y'hoshua.

Joshua 24:32 & 33

The bones of Yosef, which the people of Isra'el had brought up from Egypt, they buried in Sh'khem, in the parcel of ground which Ya'akov had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Sh'khem for a hundred pieces of silver; and they became a possession of the descendants of Yosef. Finally, El'azar the son of Aharon died; and they buried him on the hill belonging to Pinchas his son, which had been given to him in the hills of Efrayim.

This passage speaks of the hope of resurrection as Yosef had not wanted to be buried in Egypt but instead wanted his bones to be near the Lord. The bones of Yosef were laid to rest near the place where the tabernacle was set up and that speaks of the presence of God. Finally we see that El'azar the high priest also died and was buried on a hill in Efrayim which speaks of his fruitfulness in serving the Lord during his lifetime on earth.

Did You Know?

The burial of Joseph's bones in this final chapter closes out a promise that had been waiting for centuries. Joseph made his brothers swear, before he died in Egypt, that his bones would eventually be carried out to the land God had promised (Genesis 50:24-25). Moses himself carried those bones out of Egypt during the Exodus (Exodus 13:19), and they traveled through forty years of wilderness wandering and the entire conquest before finally being laid to rest — exactly where Jacob had purchased land generations earlier. It's one final, quiet confirmation of the book's repeated theme: not one good promise of God ever failed.

🎓 Continue Your Hebraic Journey

Joshua chapter 24 is one lesson in the Walk with Yeshua Joshua course. Continue your study by watching the companion teaching that explores the Hebrew language, covenant themes, and Messianic connections found in this final covenant renewal.

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Messianic Themes

• A choice every generation must make. "Choose today whom you will serve" has echoed through the centuries as one of Scripture's clearest calls to personal decision — the same choice every person still faces regarding Yeshua.
• Human inability apart from grace. Joshua's blunt statement that the people "cannot serve ADONAI" in their own strength anticipates Yeshua's own words: "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
• A covenant written on stone, and one still to come. The witness stone set up here echoes a covenant carved in stone, foreshadowing the New Covenant Yeshua would establish, written instead on human hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
• A promise kept across centuries. Joseph's bones, buried at last after generations of waiting, are named directly in the New Testament's hall of faith as evidence of his confidence in God's promise (Hebrews 11:22).
• A legacy that outlasts the leader. Israel's faithfulness continuing beyond Joshua's own lifetime, through those he had trained, models the same pattern the apostles would later follow in establishing the church before their own deaths.

Related Scriptures

• Genesis 12:6-7 — Abraham builds his first altar in Canaan at Shechem.
• Genesis 50:24-25Exodus 13:19 — Joseph's dying request regarding his bones, and its fulfillment during the Exodus.
• Hebrews 11:22 — Joseph's faith concerning the Exodus is named among the great examples of faith.
• Jeremiah 31:31-34 — ADONAI promises a New Covenant written on the heart rather than on stone.
• John 15:5 — Yeshua teaches that apart from Him, His followers can do nothing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Joshua tell the people they "cannot" serve ADONAI right after they've pledged to do so?

Joshua's challenge follows a pattern found elsewhere in Scripture of testing sincerity through apparent discouragement rather than accepting a quick answer at face value. He isn't doubting them so much as pressing them to reckon honestly with what they're committing to.

Why was Shechem chosen as the site for this final covenant renewal?

Shechem carried deep patriarchal significance — it was where Abraham built his first altar in Canaan, and where Jacob had purchased the very plot of land where Joseph's bones would finally be buried in this chapter, tying the whole book back to its earliest roots.

What is the significance of Joseph's bones finally being buried in this chapter?

Their burial fulfills a promise Joseph extracted from his brothers centuries earlier in Genesis, a promise carried through the Exodus, the wilderness wandering, and the entire conquest — a final, quiet confirmation that God's word never fails, however long it takes to come to pass.

Reflection Questions

1. What would it look like for you to say, like Joshua, "as for me and my household, we will serve ADONAI," regardless of what others around you choose?
2. Where has God tested the sincerity of a commitment you've made, the way Joshua tested Israel's pledge?
3. What promise have you been waiting on far longer than you expected, the way Joseph's bones waited generations for burial?
4. What "witness stones" mark significant moments of commitment in your own spiritual journey?
5. Having finished the book of Joshua, what is the one truth about God's faithfulness you most want to carry forward?