“So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.”—JOSHUA xxiv. 25.
IN this chapter we have an account of Joshua’s last address to the people of Israel, for we read in the twenty-ninth verse, “And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.” In order to make the covenant, “He gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God” (verse 1).
I.—Joshua began his address to the people gathered together by reminding them of what the Lord had done to their fathers.
First, he reminded them that the Lord had turned them from idolatry to serve the living and true God. “Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac,” and to Isaac Jacob, from whom the twelve tribes of Israel descended. The second thing he reminds them of is their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt by the Lord through the instrumentality of Moses and Aaron.
The third thing he reminds them of is that the Lord brought them through the wilderness into the land of Canaan, and how He subdued all that rose against them before they got possession of the land of promise. “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them” (Psalms xlv. 3). They were so much favoured of the Lord that none could curse them. Balaam was hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse them, and although he desired to curse them, he could not do so, and instead of cursing them, he blessed them. God has power over the tongues of men. In that land the Lord says, “I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat” (verse 13).
II.—The second thing in his address is an exhortation to “fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord” (verse 14).
But whether they would obey the exhortation or not, Joshua told them that he and his house would serve Him. “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (verse 15). To this the people answered and said: “God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord, for he is our God” (verses 16 to 18). As they were too self-confident in saying that they would serve the Lord and not forsake Him, Joshua said, “Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins” (verse 19). After this he warns them of the evil that would come upon them if they forsake the Lord, and served strange gods. “If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good” (verse 20). To this the people answered and said unto Joshua, “Nay; but we will serve the Lord” (verse 21).
After asserting repeatedly that they would serve the Lord, Joshua told them that they were witnesses against themselves if they did not keep to the profession they made that day. In order that they might adhere to their profession Joshua made a covenant with them as we have in our text. Did the people keep to the covenant? Yes, as long as godly men were at their head as and leaders. “And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel” (v. 31); but after these died, they broke the covenant, and began to serve strange gods. This shows the importance of having godly men in the Church as leaders of the people. As long as godly ministers were at the head of the people in our own country, the people kept to the truth and served the Lord according to His word; but when these died, the people forsook the Lord and His word and turned to idolatry. There was not a time in the history of the Church, in which people made a covenant to serve the Lord, but there was a revival of religion and prosperity in the Church. The godly king Josiah, the last good king in Old Testament times, made his people enter into a covenant that they would serve the Lord, and a great revival of religion and a reformation followed. There was great need of this when this good king began to reign, for “the book of the law” was lost among the rubbish that was heaped up in the house of God, but it was found, read, and preached, and the result was that a glorious revival of religion took place.
There can be no true revival of religion without the Bible. It may be said that the Bible is lost in our own day, inasmuch as that its doctrines are not taught by many from the pulpit, and the effect is that the people, with few exceptions, turn to idolatry. When our own nation entered into a covenant to serve the Lord, there followed a great revival of religion, which continued till they broke that covenant. It was a national covenant, the sum of which we have in the Westminster Confession of Faith. Our forefathers signed that covenant, not only for themselves, but for their posterity in coming generations. It is still binding upon the nation in England as well as in Scotland. The great majority of the divines who framed the Confession of Faith were Englishmen, and a few of them were from Scotland. Many have thrown away the Confession of Faith, and, having broken the covenant, they have turned to idolatry, and the result is as Joshua threatened the people of Israel, that the Lord is turned to do them hurt, and consume them by the sword of war, famine, and pestilence and other evils. Not only Churches broke the covenant, but our nation broke it also, forsook the Lord and turned to idolatry, and our rulers do what they can to support idolatry.
What I wish to impress upon you, in connection with the subject of discourse, is the duty of entering into covenant to serve the Lord.
(1) It is the duty of individuals to do so.
We have read of some godly ministers and men who were for many years in Christ, writing a covenant with their own hand and signing it, that they were giving themselves to the Lord, and promising to serve him in sincerity and in truth all their lifetime on earth. They found this a means of strengthening their faith, and removing their doubts and fears in regard to their saving interest in Christ. Young children, boys and girls, should enter into covenant to give themselves to the Lord in the days of their youth, to serve Him and to have nothing to do with idolatry. They were given in baptism by their parents to the Lord, but they should give themselves to Him too. It was the custom of godly parents, when their children came of age, to tell them that the vows which they took upon them on their behalf, were now lying upon the children themselves.
(2) It is the duty of families to enter into covenant to serve the Lord.
As Joshua and his family did: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
(3) It is the duty of Churches to enter into covenant to serve the Lord.
We as a Church bound ourselves by a covenant to serve the Lord. The sum of that covenant is to be found in our Deed of Separation, and as a revival of religion took place every time people bound themselves by covenant to serve the Lord, a revival of religion followed our making a covenant, as a Church, to serve Him. There was a revival of the doctrines of God’s Word, a revival of grace in the hearts of the Lord’s people, and many sinners, who had been dead in trespasses and in sins, were quickened and brought to newness of life in Christ.
Hitherto we have been enabled as a Church to keep to our covenant faithfully and steadfastly, notwithstanding the efforts that have been made to make us break the covenant, but we are determined, by the grace of God, to adhere to it to the end of our life in this world. So long as Joshua and the elders that outlived him lived, the people kept the covenant and served the Lord, but, when these died, the people broke the covenant and ceased to serve the Lord. So long as we have faithful ministers and faithful men in our Church, our people shall keep the covenant to serve the Lord. Although it may seem uncharitable to say so, it is to be feared that there are some who would wish that the ministers and men who are faithful in keeping the covenant were removed from the world that they themselves might be at liberty to make any changes in our Church they desire to do. But, if the covenant is broken after we leave the world, we shall not be responsible for it. The stone, put up by Joshua, was to be a witness against the people if they broke the covenant. The stones in our churches and manses will be witnesses against us if we break the covenant we made in 1893. We are resolved to hand down to coming generations the doctrines of God’s Word, pure and entire, as our forefathers handed them down to us. This is our plain duty, as you may see in the 78th Psalm: “Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old. Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generations to come might know them, even the children which should be born: who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation: a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God” (Ps. lxxviii. 1-8).
Joshua, knowing that he was soon to leave the world, spoke faithfully to the people he was to leave behind, exhorted, and warned them for their good. I, knowing that I shall soon leave the world, feel constrained to speak to you earnestly and lovingly for your spiritual and temporal good. I appeal to every individual present to make a covenant, in speech or in writing, to serve the Lord all the days of your life on earth. Let each of you, before you retire to rest to-night, make that covenant on your knees, and you will find the benefit of it afterwards. You cannot change your nature—that is God’s work—but you can make this covenant, and, if you do so, I would have good hope of your salvation. I long to see young and old brought under concern about their precious souls, and, if I saw that, I would cherish the hope that the good work of the Spirit within you was begun. Although those who are faithful in our Church would be removed from the earth to their everlasting rest, the Lord is able to raise up other faithful men to succeed them, as He raised up Joshua to lead the people after Moses had died, to keep our people in the good old paths. “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jer. vi. 16).