Have you ever thought why the Lord, with all His power, does not force us to believe in Him and serve Him? Today we are going to analyze this thanks to Joshua 24:15 and we will also teach you things about this biblical character that you may not have known.
Joshua 24:15 of the Bible
“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, when they were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but I and my house will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15 KJV 1960)
Explanation and meaning of the verse Joshua 24 15
Thus said Joshua to all the wise men who had accompanied him to enter the Promised Land, after years of wandering in the wilderness, guided first by Moses and then by Joshua himself.
Your Online Bible, we will analyze more in depth what this freedom is and where it comes from.
First, however, we will deal with the figure of Joshua in the Bible, his importance and his work, as well as we will also see the complete chapter to better situate this verse. With all this, you will have complete knowledge that we encourage you to share with whomever you want!
Joshua 24 full video
As we have already warned you, now you will be able to know the complete chapter of Joshua 24in this case in video format and then you will be able to read it at your own pace and paying attention to the verses that you consider appropriate.
We always want to use this introduction as a way of relaxation and to make our hearts ready to listen and praise the Lord. Don’t hesitate to share these moments with your loved ones!
Joshua 24 in English and large print
Now you can read the text or use it as a reference for the biblical commentary we will do later. This excerpt is from the Bible that you can acquire anywhere in the world, being one of the best versions of the Bible in English.
Joshua’s farewell speech
1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, their princes, their judges, and their officers; and they stood before God.
2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor; and they served strange gods.
3 And I took your father Abraham from beyond the river, and brought him through all the land of Canaan, and increased his seed, and gave him Isaac.
4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And to Esau I gave Mount Seir, that he might possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and smote Egypt, according to that which I did in the midst of it, and afterward brought you out.
6 I brought your fathers out of Egypt; and when they came to the sea, the Egyptians followed your fathers into the Red Sea with chariots and horsemen.
7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and caused the sea to come upon them, and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you spent many days in the desert.
8 I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side Jordan, who fought against you; but I delivered them into your hand, and you possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of the Moabites, arose and fought against Israel, and sent and called for Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.
11 You passed over the Jordan, and came to Jericho, and the inhabitants of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
12 And I sent horseflies before you, and they drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow.
13 And I have given you the land for which you did not labor, and the cities which you did not build, in which you dwell; and of the vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant, you eat.
14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in integrity and in truth; and put away from among you the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
15 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 when they were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but I and my house will serve the LORD.
16 Then the people answered and said, Let it never come to pass, that we forsake the LORD to serve other gods;
17 For it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, who has done these great signs, and has kept us in all the way wherein we have walked, and among all the people through whom we have passed.
18 And the LORD cast out from before us all people, and the Amorites that dwelt in the land: therefore we also will serve the LORD; for he is our God.
19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God, and a jealous God; he will not suffer your transgressions and your sins.
20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve other gods, he will turn and do evil unto you, and consume you, after that he hath done good unto you.
21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.
22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen the LORD to serve him. And they answered, “We are witnesses.
23 Now therefore put away the strange gods that are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.
24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
25 Then Joshua made a covenant with the people the same day, and gave them statutes and laws in Shechem.
26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak which was by the sanctuary of the LORD.
27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us: for it hath heard all the words which the LORD hath spoken unto us: therefore it shall be a witness against you, that ye lie not against your God.
28 And Joshua sent the people out, every man to his possession.
Death of Joshua
29 After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
30 And they buried him in his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of mount Gaash.
31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who knew all the works that the LORD had done for Israel.
Burial of Joseph’s bones in Shechem
32 And they buried in Shechem the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought from Egypt, in the part of the field which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem, for an hundred pieces of money; and it became the possession of the sons of Joseph.
Death of Eleazar
33 Eleazar also the son of Aaron died, and they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.
Versions of Joshua chapter 24, verse 15
Now we are going to focus more on the verse that concerns us and, for that purpose, we leave here the same verse in other Bible versions of more modern language that will help you understand it better.
Joshua 24:15 nvi (New International Version)
“But if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves whom you will serve: the gods which your ancestors served on the other side of the river Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now dwell. For my part, my family and I will serve the Lord.”“
Joshua 24:15 ntv (New Living Translation)
“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, choose today whom you will serve. Will you opt for the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates? Or will you prefer the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now dwell? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.“
Joshua 24:15 tla (Current Language Translation)
“If you do not want to be obedient to him, decide today to whom you are going to dedicate your life. You will have to choose between the gods whom your ancestors worshipped in Mesopotamia, and the gods of the Amorites in whose territory you now live. But my family and I have decided to dedicate our lives to our God.“
Context of Joshua 24:15
Before we begin to analyze the verse, let’s give you the literary context in which it is found and also the historical context, since it is an account of the history of Israel, it will be easier for you to understand with this introduction.
You have to place yourself around the year 1400 B.C.that is to say, fourteen centuries before Jesus was born, a very primitive period of humanity where only a few civilizations had emerged, among them the people of Israel.
They were enslaved in Egypt years before and, thanks to Moses and with the indispensable help of God, they were able to flee and were guided to the Promised Land. It was a long and arduous journey that you will find narrated in Exodus.
Even so, faith in the Lord only increased during that long journey through the wilderness and it was at that moment that God gave Moses the tables of the Law is still largely in force today and we use it as a basis for our behavior.
However, Moses did not enter the promised land of Canaan and was succeeded by Joshua, today’s protagonist. The latter conquered many of the cities there and finally divided the territory between the 12 tribes of Israel.
The chapter you have read is part of the end of his life, specifically the final speech he makes before all the wise men and chiefs who had followed him there.
On the other hand, you must situate this chapter in the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament after the book of Deuteronomy and before Judges.
It is a book narrated chronologically, with the first part explaining the conquest of Canaan and the last parts explaining the distribution of the lands among the tribes and their unification under the same faith in God.
Study of Joshua 24:15
We begin now with the biblical commentary on Joshua 24:15 we have prepared for you today. To do this, we recommend that you look at the verse and look up the details that we are commenting on in any of the versions that we have shown you.
The first thing that stands out at first glance is that it is a verse written in the conditional in the conditional where all the weight falls on the word “if”, leaving room for freedom to choose what action to take.
And this freedom is the most important thing we have to learn today. God loves us so much that makes us free to choose whether we want to follow him and act according to his will or, on the contrary, to turn away from him and go our own way.
God is infinitely powerful, but He is also infinitely is infinite love. He could bend us and make everyone faithful to him, but if there is one thing that is above this, it is the freedom to choose our faith.
However, those who choose to turn away from the Lord will be helpless and will not have the protection and guidance that is Our Lord; being vulnerable to temptation and disgrace.
So, we must understand this. The Lord is not a lucky charm that is given to us at birth and will protect us at all times. The Lord is our strength as long as we seek Him by fostering our faith through prayer and the Word of God.
Christians, with baptism and communion and, for Catholics, confirmation as well; reaffirm our faith in the Lord and decided to follow him. This should be accompanied after the proper actions such as prayer or attending and celebrating the Lord’s Day every Sunday.
Let us celebrate this freedom that God gives us as the fruit of His infinite love, and let us pray for Him, thanking Him and trying to love Him as He loves us.
And so we end this article on Joshua 24:15 and the freedom that the Lord gives us with love. Let’s thank God for it and also, we thank you for reading our articles.
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