And Joshua said to the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah, for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
The people have just heard the whole story of what God did for them, and they answer with a confident vow to serve Him. Joshua refuses their promise. His reason is not their weakness but God's character.
Joshua doubts the people who are promising, because he sees what lies behind their words.
The people knew they were in Canaan only by the will and work of the Lord, and so they said, "We will serve the Lord, for He is our God." But Joshua, with an insight into their hearts, reminded them that it is no light thing to serve a holy and jealous God. Old memories and the history of the past surely added intensity to his warning! Self-confidence makes a poor showing when set beside failures, sin, and departure from God. Yet despite their history Israel replied, "No; but we will serve the Lord."
Joshua sees what is really behind their promise, and Peter later shows the same thing.
Joshua knew that Israel was only expressing their confidence in the flesh. Peter did the same when the Lord told him he would deny Him (Matt. 26:31-35). It is impossible for the energy of the flesh to please God (Rom. 8:8).
Joshua gives two reasons the people cannot serve God: He is holy, and He is jealous.
He is a consuming fire, because He is holy. He is intolerant of evil, and must burn away what is impure in us. He is jealous because He cannot allow any rival a place in the hearts of those He loves. He must have the whole heart, because He alone is worthy of it, and He alone can fill and satisfy it for ever.
The words about forgiveness are not a denial that God forgives. They speak to the ground the people were standing on.
Israel was claiming to be righteous. On that ground God would not forgive their transgressions or their sins (v. 19). Thank God, He does forgive where there is honest self-judgment in repentance. But if they were to forsake the Lord and serve other gods, there was no self-judgment in that. After all God's goodness to them, they would experience just the opposite: He would consume them with the harm He sends (v. 20). Such is the righteous government of God in discipline.
Joshua had already told them to put away the foreign gods among them. Their reply says nothing about that.
Yet they did not say one word about the foreign gods they had been told to put away from among them. It is always easier to say "We will serve the Lord" than to clear the idols out of our own lives. It is easier to resolve to serve the Lord than to bury our household gods under an oak at Shechem. But God tells us first to bury our idols, and then to serve Him. That is the order in His call to us: "cease to do evil, learn to do good" (Isa. 1:16-17).
The whole assembly was enthusiastic. Joshua was not swept up by it, and he says why.
By the light of the Spirit of God, he knew what was coming. This people had been stubborn in the past, and they would soon abandon this resolution and follow other gods. Joshua also knew the final words of Moses. Moses had prophesied that the nation would turn away from God, fall deep into idol worship, and be scattered among the nations. The Lord had brought this people out of Egypt and into the land. Even so, with the Word of God before him, Joshua could not believe their future would be one of obedience and blessing... The New Testament also gives us predictions and warnings about the course of the professing church on earth in this present age. We do well to heed these.
The covenant was made that day anyway. What followed shows who was right.
But the people heeded the covenant he made at this last meeting no more than they had heeded the covenant of Moses. The first chapter of the book of Judges tells how even Judah failed to drive out those who defiled the land. The second chapter states that Israel served the Baals, forsaking the God of their fathers who brought them out of Egypt.
- Promise. The people vow to serve the Lord and mean it. Joshua answers that they are not able. The problem is not their intention. It is the God they are promising to serve.
- Problem. Their vow is confidence in the flesh — in their own strength. Peter showed the same spirit before he denied the Lord. The flesh cannot please God.
- Person. He is holy, so He must consume evil; He is jealous, so He will not share the heart He loves with a rival.
- Purge. They said "we will serve," but never mentioned the idols they had been told to bury. God's order is the other way round: first put away the evil, then serve Him.
- Proof. The covenant was made anyway. Judges records the outcome: Israel served the Baals and forsook the God who brought them out of Egypt.
If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
Joshua's last meeting with Israel ends with a warning, not applause. The people have twice promised to serve the Lord, and now he tells them what turning away would cost — even after all the good God had done for them.
The warning does not stand alone. It comes at the end of a long account of what God had done for them.
Next comes the account of His rescue of the people from Egypt, His care for them through the wilderness, and His gift of the land — all of it His grace. On that ground Joshua challenges them about their loyalty, and the people answer, admitting His mercy and rejecting all other gods. But Joshua lets them know that they are not able (verses 19, 20), and that they are in danger. This draws out their promise to serve the Lord, repeated again and again in different words.
Verse 20 follows straight on from verse 19, where Joshua tells them they are not able to serve God. One writer traces both the refusal to forgive and the harm threatened here to one root: a people trusting their own strength.
Joshua knew that Israel was only expressing confidence in the flesh, as Peter did when the Lord told him he would deny Him (Matthew 26:31-35). The energy of the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8). On the basis of Israel's claim of righteousness, God would not forgive their wrongdoing or their sins (verse 19). Thank God that He does forgive where there is the honest self-judgment of repentance. But if they were to forsake the Lord and serve other gods, there was no self-judgment in this. After all God's goodness to them, they would get the very opposite: He would consume them with painful blows (verse 20). Such is the righteous government of God in discipline.
Joshua saw what lay behind their confident answer. He weighed their promise against the God they were promising to serve.
But Joshua saw into their hearts. He reminded them that serving a holy and jealous God is no light thing. Old memories and their past history made his warning sharper. Self-confidence makes a poor showing when you set it next to failure, sin, and turning away from God. Yet despite their history Israel replied, "No; but we will serve the Lord."
Joshua was not guessing about the future. Another writer notes that he already had Moses' words about the future in hand, and draws a lesson for readers today.
By the light of the Spirit of God he knew well that this people, so stubborn in the past, would soon abandon this promise and follow other gods. Joshua also knew the last words of Moses — the great prophecies about the nation turning away from God, their deep fall into idol worship, and their coming scattering among the nations… He is not fooled by the excitement that had gripped the gathered crowd. We too have in the New Testament the predictions and the warnings about the course of the professing church on earth in this present age. We do well to take them to heart.
The "if" of this verse was not hypothetical. Joshua had just told them to put away the gods their fathers served, which means those gods were still with them — and one writer notes how much easier a promise is than a removal.
It is always easier to say "We will serve the Lord" than to clear the idols out of our lives. It is easier to decide to serve the Lord than to bury our household gods under some oak tree at Shechem. But God tells us to bury our idols first, and then serve Him.
Israel's later history shows the warning was not empty. Yet the same writer who records the collapse refuses to let judgment have the last word.
"If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods" (v. 20) — they did not put these gods away, and their history is a record of idolatry from cover to cover. God gives them up, and their ruin becomes complete. Grace was their only resource, and they would not have it…
God does not end with judgment. His ways of retribution will pass away. Every account of responsibility comes to an end, but one thing lasts for ever — grace.
- Grace first. The warning comes only after the whole account of God's rescue, His care and His gift of the land — all of it grace, not their achievement.
- Grace refused. They would not put the foreign gods away, and their history became a record of idolatry from cover to cover.
- Strength claimed. Their promise was confidence in the flesh, which cannot please God. A claim of righteousness receives no forgiveness. Honest self-judgment does.
- Good reversed. Leaving Him would bring the opposite of all His goodness: the righteous government of God in discipline.
- Grace abides. Retribution passes away and every account of responsibility ends, but grace remains.
And the people said to Joshua, No; but we will serve Jehovah.
Joshua has just told the people that they cannot serve the LORD, because He is holy and jealous. Their refusal and promise sound like the high point of the chapter, but commentators read it as the most searching moment in it.
They had a reason for saying it. They knew who had brought them into the land.
The people understood well that they were in Canaan only by the will and work of the LORD. He had brought them up out of the land of Egypt. He had done His great signs in their sight. He had kept them all the way they had gone in the wilderness. He had driven out their enemies in Canaan. So they said, "We will serve the LORD, for He is our God." But Joshua, seeing into their hearts, reminded them that it is no light thing to serve a holy and jealous God. Self-confidence makes a poor showing when set beside failures, sin, and departure from God. Despite all their history, Israel replied, "No, but we will serve the LORD."
Forty years had passed since Sinai. The words had not changed.
Joshua warns them not to be confident. They keep on giving their pledges, again and again. They are the same self-trusting, boastful generation they had been in the day of Exodus 14. They had finished their journey. They had learned what they were through the failures of forty years. Yet they are the same as they were at the start. They are still confident in their own sufficiency, and still want to stand on a title they have made out for themselves. Under Mount Sinai they had said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." Now it is, "The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey." One generation had passed and another had come. In character they are the same generation.
Their promise had to rest on something. One writer compares it with Peter's promise never to deny the Lord.
Joshua answered them, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God." Joshua knew that Israel was only expressing their confidence in the flesh. Peter did the same when the Lord told him he would deny Him (Matt. 26:31-35). It is impossible for the energy of the flesh to please God (Rom. 8:8). If Israel stood on a claim of their own righteousness, God would not forgive their transgressions or their sins. Thank God, He does forgive where there is the honest self-judgment of repentance.
Their promise was honest. That is what makes it serious.
We need not question the sincerity of the people of Israel when they promised again and again. Put in possession of the promised inheritance, they protested to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD." And when he added, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve Him," they said, "We are witnesses." We may hesitate to question their sincerity at the time. But we cannot be ignorant that, with every help and incentive to obedience, they were always unfaithful. How serious a thing it is, then, to make solemn promises and vows to the Lord and not keep them!
Their promise left something out.
Yet not one word did they say about the strange gods they had been told to put away from among them. It is always easier to say "We will serve the LORD" than to clear ourselves of idols. It is easier to decide to serve the Lord than to bury our household gods under some oak of Shechem. But God tells us first to bury our idols, and then to serve Him. That is the order of His call to us, as He says, "Cease to do evil, learn to do good" (Isa. 1:16-17).
Their promise set the terms on which they would keep the land.
They are placed under responsibility. They undertake to obey, as the condition of possessing the land and enjoying the fruit of God's promise. They are left there, it is true, in peaceful possession of it all, but on the condition of obedience. And they had already let those who should have been completely destroyed remain in the land.
The promise did hold for a time.
As long as Joshua and the elders lived, their presence and influence kept Israel from open apostasy. But once those moral banks were gone, the dark tide of idolatry rolled in. It swept away the very foundations of the national faith. Human influence is a poor prop, a feeble barrier. The power of God must hold us up, or sooner or later we shall give way. Faith that rests only in the wisdom of men, and not in the power of God, must prove a poor, flimsy, worthless faith. It will not stand the day of trial.
- Sincere. Their answer was honest. Honesty was not the problem. With every help to obedience, they were unfaithful anyway.
- Self-trusting. Their confidence was in the flesh, and the flesh cannot please God. In character they were the same generation that had said at Sinai, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do."
- Silent. They promised service but never mentioned the idols among them. God's order is to bury the household gods first, then serve.
- Self-witnessing. Joshua made their own words a witness against them, and they agreed. It is serious to make vows to God and not keep them.
- Short-lived. Joshua's influence held the promise up. When he died, it collapsed. Only the power of God keeps anyone standing.