"Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law," to love the Lord your God, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, "and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart" (a paraphrase of Joshua 22:5).

Joshua gave this charge to the people of Israel at the height of their conquests and near the end of his commission to lead them. Of all the things he could have emphasized, his concern was not leadership, management, strategy, or logistics. His concern was that they do their utmost to remain faithful to the Lord.

I am reminded of the words of the Lord Jesus: "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Is not Joshua's charge to Israel also the Lord's charge to us today? What is important is our relationship with the Lord — not our success, our jobs, or even our families. These are important as they are outworkings of our faithfulness to God.

As the Lord reminds me today, so I remind you: seek the Lord, His will, and His glory.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Joshua 22 records a moment when this charge was immediately tested. The eastern tribes — Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh — returned home after helping the others take the land, and on the way they built a large altar by the Jordan. The rest of Israel assembled for war, fearing a breach of covenant (22:11–12). But first they sent a delegation to ask, and the eastern tribes explained that the altar was not for sacrifice but a witness, so that future generations would not say their children had no share in the Lord (22:24–29). War was averted by a conversation. The chapter is a model of taking sin seriously while also taking the time to find out the facts.

The verbs in Joshua 22:5 pile up — love, walk, keep, cling, serve — and the word translated "cling" (dabaq) is the same one used at #2186 for Hezekiah holding fast to the Lord, and in Genesis 2:24 for a husband holding fast to his wife. Faithfulness to God is portrayed as a relationship of devoted attachment. Jesus summarized the Law the same way, beginning with love for God with heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God (Joshua 23:11).

Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth (Joshua 24:14).

In Joshua's final charge to the children of Israel, he exhorted them to be diligent and earnest in fearing, loving, and serving the LORD. But as our brother, Stephen, has observed, Joshua also made the observation that they "will not be able to serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:19). Even so, he still gave the charge to obey. The people's inability to perfectly obey God's commands did not nullify God's requirement to do so. The expectation was still that the people would give every effort to obey, even though this effort would not be sufficient to gain them a right standing with God.

But what kind of effort was expected of them? Consider what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:5–9,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

They were expected to love the LORD with their whole selves. To this end they were commanded to immerse themselves in the Law of God, so that they were always talking about it, thinking about it, and in every way being reminded of it. In this way, they would learn to love God with their whole selves.

Since the command to love God with our whole selves is both a New Covenant command as well as an Old Covenant command, might not the approach given to pursue such obedience also apply to Christians today? We too ought to immerse ourselves in the Word of God. Ancient Israel only had the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, but we have the whole counsel of Scripture, the sixty-six books that constitute our inspired and inerrant Bible.

Do you want to know how to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength? Immerse yourself in the Word of God, so that you are always talking about it, thinking about it, and in every way being reminded of it. Yet, by doing all this, do not imagine that you have a right standing with God. That is only accomplished by God's grace through the finished work of Christ on the cross.

But the best that we can do in this life is to fully and only trust in Christ for our salvation even as we diligently study and obey His Word.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Joshua's final addresses combine remembrance with a demand for decision. In chapter 24, the Lord recounts his actions from the calling of Abraham through deliverance and the gift of the land. The command to serve therefore follows a story of grace already received. Israel is not asked to invent a relationship through sheer effort, but to answer the God who has acted for them. Sincerity and truth describe the integrity that such a response requires.

Joshua's warning that the people cannot serve the Lord interrupts their confident assurances. He emphasizes God's holiness and jealousy, then calls them to put away foreign gods and incline their hearts toward him. The warning exposes the inadequacy of an easy verbal commitment that leaves rival loyalties intact. It should not be interpreted as making every call to obedience meaningless. The chapter presses toward a real covenant response, with witnesses and a recorded commitment, while making clear that God cannot be treated casually. Joshua 24:14–24 holds invitation, warning, and response together.

The original connects this demand with the command to love God wholly in Deuteronomy 6. The repeated references to household life show that covenant loyalty is formed through regular attention. Teaching, speaking, remembering, and visible reminders draw God's word into ordinary rhythms. The purpose is not simply to increase the number of religious statements spoken in a home. It is to shape a community whose choices and affections are ordered by the Lord's instruction.

Christian readers can learn from that pattern without treating the Mosaic setting as identical to their own. Jesus affirms wholehearted love for God, and the New Testament joins hearing with doing. Yet immersion in Scripture should not become an effort to earn the acceptance found in Christ. The original rightly distinguishes the basis of salvation from the practices through which believers grow. Grace gives a secure place from which correction can be received; it does not remove the need for correction.

Nor does diligence mean that every moment must contain explicit Bible discussion. Ordinary work, rest, friendship, and service can express the word's shaping influence. A family may demonstrate God's instruction by telling the truth during a disagreement, honoring a promise, or caring for someone in need. Such conduct gives credibility to the passages it reads aloud. Conversely, repeated religious speech can become a distraction from obedience if it is used to avoid repentance.

The final invitation is therefore both searching and hopeful. What rival loyalties make our profession of service easier than its practice? What habits help us listen carefully rather than merely affirm familiar truths? We can answer through manageable patterns of reading, honest prayer, shared learning, and concrete obedience. Wholehearted love is not produced by confidence in our own resolve, but it does involve the will, mind, and daily conduct. We depend on Christ while taking seriously the life to which he calls us.

Joshua 23:6–7 urges Israel to be careful to follow everything Moses wrote, not deviating right or left, and not to associate with the peoples remaining in the land or even mention the names of their gods.

In our quest for truth we sometimes feel we need to know everything about everything. But who has the time? And Scripture teaches that those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought (a reference to 1 Corinthians 8:2). We are always at risk of thinking we have found our way when we are still lost — if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself (a reference to Galatians 6:3); and if anyone thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a fool so that he may become wise (a reference to 1 Corinthians 3:18).

Perhaps we need discernment as much as truth. I have often encouraged the pursuit of truth, on the conviction that all truth is God's truth. But not all truth is of equal value. The truth about how to throw a ball is not as significant as the truth about how one may please God. My hope is that in pursuing truth, a person would discover the highest truth, God's Word — as Jesus prayed, sanctify them in Your truth; Your word is truth (a paraphrase of John 17:17).

AI-Expanded Reflection

The distinction between truth and discernment is a useful one, and the comment states it carefully: all truth is God's truth, and not all truth is of equal weight. Those two claims are compatible and frequently get confused, with people either dismissing ordinary knowledge as unspiritual or treating all information as equally deserving of attention.

Worth adding what Scripture attaches discernment to, since it is not primarily an intellectual faculty. Hebrews 5:14 describes mature people as those who by constant practice have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil — the mechanism is habitual use rather than accumulated knowledge. Philippians 1:9 has Paul praying that love would abound with knowledge and depth of insight so that they may discern what is best. In both, discernment develops through exercise and is bound up with love rather than acquired by study alone, which fits the comment's instinct that knowing more is not the same as knowing better.

This year's first quarter will soon pass, and we're finishing up the sixth book of the Old Testament. Let's encourage each other to keep reading God's Word and renewing our minds.

Joshua tells Israel to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully, throwing away whatever gods their ancestors served, choosing that very day whom they'll serve — while he and his household will serve the LORD regardless (a paraphrase of Joshua 24:14–15). Joshua encourages Israel to choose God for themselves, then tells them they're actually not able to serve the LORD, since He's a holy and jealous God who won't forgive their rebellion, and that if they forsake Him for foreign gods, He'll turn and bring disaster on them after all His goodness toward them (a paraphrase of Joshua 24:19–20).

Isn't it interesting that even knowing they'd eventually forsake the LORD, Joshua still encourages them to choose Him? Many sincerely believe salvation is simply a matter of choosing God once the invitation is given. But Joshua clearly says here that they cannot serve God — not that they merely won't. This matches exactly what Paul says in Romans — that the sinful mind is hostile to God, unable to submit to His Law, and unable to please Him at all (a paraphrase of Romans 8:7–8). His sovereign will regarding salvation runs throughout Scripture. Let's continue upholding this truth by reading and learning from God's Word daily.

AI-Expanded Reflection

One small correction: the passage about the sinful mind being hostile to God and unable to please Him is Romans 8:7–8, not Romans 9 as noted here. Beyond that, this comment touches the same genuinely contested question covered at length elsewhere in this project — how human inability and genuine choice relate to each other in salvation. It's worth noting that thoughtful readers across the Reformed and Arminian traditions both take human sinfulness seriously; they differ on whether grace unilaterally overrides that inability or genuinely enables a real response to it. Whatever position a reader reaches, Joshua's blunt "you are not able" remains a striking piece of pastoral honesty either way — refusing to let a crowd's confident, easy promise substitute for the far harder reality their actual history would go on to prove.

The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh build an imposing altar near the Jordan, on Canaan's border, and when the rest of Israel hears about it, the whole assembly gathers at Shiloh, prepared to go to war against them (a paraphrase of Joshua 22:10–12).

At first I didn't understand why the eastern tribes would build an altar on the western side of the Jordan at all, given their own land was east of it — or exactly what about this particular altar upset the rest of Israel enough to prepare for war. Was it its location, size, or purpose?

Throughout our reading so far, Israel seems to have been a genuinely forgetful people, needing constant reminders to remember. What's interesting here is that this time, Israel gets upset precisely because they finally did remember — not only the sin at Peor, where 24,000 died (Numbers 25), and Achan's sin, which cost 36 lives at Ai (Joshua 7), but even Moses's own law that sacrifice could only happen at the one place God would choose (a paraphrase of Deuteronomy 12:13–14). Building an altar at Geliloth appeared to violate this directly, presumably intended for sacrifice. When confronted by Phinehas and a delegation, though, the eastern tribes explain the altar wasn't meant for burnt offerings or sacrifices at all (Joshua 22:26), but as a witness between the two groups and their future generations, so no one could later claim the eastern tribes had no share in the LORD (a paraphrase of Joshua 22:27). Satisfied, Israel leaves peacefully.

A few lessons stand out from this confrontation. First, don't jump to conclusions — Israel assumed the altar meant unlawful sacrifice, when things weren't actually as they appeared. Second, avoid doing things that cause others to question your character, and by extension, God's — if the eastern tribes hadn't built the altar in the first place, all this misunderstanding could have been avoided; couldn't they have built something different as a memorial instead? Even with freedom in Christ, we shouldn't use that freedom in ways that risk causing others to stumble. Third, there are always two sides to every story — I've seen this firsthand with married friends coming to my husband and me after arguments, each side somehow perfectly justified in their own telling. When people confide in us, especially about conflicts involving someone else, we need to remember there's another side we're not hearing. Fourth, it's better to seek peaceful resolution through direct discussion than gossip, fighting, or backstabbing — confronting someone directly clears up misunderstandings far better than talking around them. Finally, remember — remember the Lord, remember what He's done, remember His precepts, since these are what guide us in the way we should go.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The confrontation this comment analyzes so thoroughly is worth noting for one more detail — Israel's first instinct wasn't actually diplomacy, it was mobilizing for war (Joshua 22:12), and only afterward do they send a delegation to ask questions first. That sequence is a useful, slightly uncomfortable mirror for the very principle this comment draws from the story: even a community that ultimately handles a conflict well, ending peacefully with genuine understanding restored, can still start from an instinct to assume the worst and prepare for confrontation before ever attempting the direct conversation that resolves everything. The good outcome here happened despite that initial instinct, not because of it.

Sherry wrote... The book of Joshua is about obedience. I never realized how much emphasis was placed on obedience until I started this Bible study. Joshua was a brilliant military leader, but the key to his success was his submission to God. Joshua's obedience was a model, and as a result, Israel remained faithful to God. Joshua is a good example for us as leaders in our organization — our students will model our strengths and our weaknesses. Reading Joshua has helped me make a fresh commitment to obey God.

Yujin comments... Amen, Sherry! From beginning to end, the command is to carefully obey God, and Joshua embraced this command from beginning to end. He's a true hero for us all. I'd like to think this arose out of significant time spent worshiping God. There's a small, easy-to-miss verse in Exodus 33:11: the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks with a friend, and then Moses would return to the camp — but his young aide, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent (a paraphrase of Exodus 33:11). We often marvel at the first part of that verse and miss the second entirely. Moses would go in to speak with the LORD; here, we see that when Moses left, Joshua chose to stay. Considering his unwavering obedience throughout the rest of his life, as Scripture presents it to us, perhaps this is a small clue as to what made it so. Like Mary in the Gospels, who chose to sit at Jesus' feet, Joshua chose to linger with God. Could there be a message here for us as well?

AI-Expanded Reflection

That habit of lingering pays off directly, years later, at the very moment Joshua needs it most: when God commissions him to succeed Moses, His promise is explicit — "as I was with Moses, so I will be with you" (a paraphrase of Joshua 1:5). The intimacy Joshua quietly cultivated as a young aide, staying behind in an empty tent long after everyone else had gone, becomes the exact foundation God points back to when handing him the hardest assignment of his life. Private devotion nobody else witnessed turns out to be the very thing that equipped him for a very public calling decades later.

Phinehas is one of my favorite people. He had so much zeal, and it was directed by the word of God. I would love to be so confident in knowing God's word that I could act decisively without having to second-guess whether my action was justified, simply because I know His Word. The last time we saw him, he killed, in an instant, the two people fornicating before the whole assembly — without waiting for further direction, acting only on what God had already said. Now, again, he's headed out, prepared to spill blood again — but not without first fully understanding the situation. I love this control, this wisdom governing his zeal. Instead of returning with a story of bloodshed, he returns with a greater story that saves future generations from sin. Masterful.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Phinehas's earlier act of zeal gets an unusually rare biblical honor: Psalm 106 says his action was "credited to him as righteousness" (a paraphrase of Psalm 106:30–31) — the exact same language Genesis uses for Abraham's faith (Genesis 15:6). Very few Old Testament figures receive that specific phrase applied to them. What this comment highlights so well is that Phinehas earns that honor twice, in two different ways — once through decisive action grounded in clear command, and once through patient investigation before acting at all. The zeal didn't change between the two stories; what changed was Phinehas correctly reading which moment called for a sword and which one called for questions first.