This final chapter of Joshua is a summary of the entire book of Joshua, a reminder given to the elders and heads of the tribes of Israel by Joshua, just before His death.

Joshua 24:1 "And Joshua 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."

So here we see the entire congregation, as well as their rulers presenting themselves before God.

Joshua 24:2 "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 the father of Nachor: and they served other gods."

Joshua is reminding that their father lived on the other side of the Euphrates river, at one time, then Abraham and his family left the land of Ur, and migrated north and they were drawn away from the ways of God into the heathen religious practices. Traditions that men had set up to replace the ways of sacrifice that Noah follow from prior to the flood of his time. Abraham and his family traveled from the ancient Babylon [Ur], which is part of what we call Iraq, to move to Haran, a town located in southern Turkey of today. This is recorded in Genesis 11:30 - 32.

Joshua 24:3 "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."

This summary is recorded in Genesis 12 and on. Because of Abraham's faithfulness to God, a promise blessing was given to Him that would be passed on the future generations. The inheritance that these children of Israel have just taken in the land of Canaan, is part of that blessing; for it was passed on to their grandfathers Isaac and Jacob, who's name was changed to Israel by God. God kept His promise to Abraham, for the multitude of people that go to make up these tribes of Israel, are that promised seed. By there is also part of the promise that the Seed, Messiah would be born into this world age of flesh man through the lineage of these people, and Matthew 1 gives us the generations, or lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So in Isaac is this Seed to be called. Romans 9:4 bears this out; "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises."

Joshua 24:4 "And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt."

God prearranged this all to happen, for He told Abraham exactly what would happen hundreds of years before it came to pass. The land of Esau, and the Edomites was at mount Seir, and of course the sons of Jacob and their families went down into Egypt when the famine hit. and while in Egypt they grew into a nation. That nation consisted of twelve tribes, as they were at this time standing before Joshua. Esau did not become part of that family of God's promise, and his people have stayed away ever since. So we see the promises of Genesis 27 fulfilled in Jacob and Esau's lives.

Joshua 24:5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out."

The children of Israel were down in Egypt for the four hundred years that God told Abraham that they would be, and they came out far richer than when they went in.

Joshua 24:6 "And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea."

God opened the Red sea that their father went across on dry ground, only to bury the Egyptian army by those parted waters, when the Israelites were safely across.

Joshua 24:7 "And when they cried unto the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season."

Time after time God preformed miracles to lead the Israelites and protect them as the millions of the migrated through the wilderness to the promised land. That long season was for forty years, the time to have those unfaithful people die off in the wilderness and a new generation to grow up and take the promise land. Remember that those plagues that harmed the Egyptians were brought by God, as was the fire and cloud for their protection. The plagues were for one purpose, and that was to have Pharaoh release His people, and the hardening of Pharaoh's heart to bring about those things that had to happen to fit into God's plan for this flesh age.

The instructions that God gave to Moses to prepare for the night of the death angels passing over Egypt, became the symbol or type for Christ's birth and sacrifice, for Jesus became our Passover at the cross. The blood of the lamb placed on the door post that night caused the death angel to pass over that home and the life of the firstborn was spared. When we place the blood of Christ on the mantle of our hearts by faith through repentance, the death angel Passover us.

God placed a pillar of light in the night, and a thick cloud by night to protect the Israelites from attack by their enemies. God did all this for the Israelites, to keep His promise to Abraham. What ever God wishes to do, He can accomplish, for He created all things. God doesn't need your help, but He desires it to carry out His plan for this earth age of flesh man. Once we humble our heart before Him, we come to know that He always kept His Word, and fulfills the promises that He gives to His children that are faithful to Him.

That generation that passed away in the wilderness could not be disciplined to follow His instructions, and God took them in that forty year period. This generation that followed learned an important lesson at Ai, and they learned quickly to take counsel with God and stay away from the accursed thing. God blessed them in their battles and gave them many victories, with only that one loss. Discipline is very important to God, and it is just as important in our lives today as it was back there in the land of Canaan, in the heat of battle. Discipline in our generation hinges on whether we can focus on God's word and apply it to our lives, or following after the traditions of men and playing church: Chasing after the accursed thing, in some other religious form. God is a strong disciplinarian, and if you are not receiving the blessings of God, stop and check out your life. God put a condition on receiving His blessings, and He does keep His Word. Give God the credit for those things that He does for you.

Joshua 24:8 "And I brought you into the Land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their Land; and I destroyed them from before you."

God gave them into your hand, and He destroyed the for you. Joshua is reminding the Israelites of all those things that God had done for them. Every one of those victories were a gift from God to His people. These men of Israel learned to trust in the Lord and follow His instruction. This is why there should have been on doubt in the world by the other tribes of the faithfulness of the warriors of Gad, Reuban and Manasseh, for the learned to trust God completely. These seasoned warriors learned to take counsel with God and follow orders. If God tells you to do something or go somewhere, He has already prepared that place for you and the thing He has you do.

Joshua 24:9 "Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:"

Balak tried to buy the priest Balaam with money, though Balaam was tempted with that money, he did not follow through. When God said go, Balaam the priest was ready to make haste to get that money for preaching. God will not bless those ministries that teach or preach just for money.

Joshua 24:10 "But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand."

God is always fair, and when it seems that God is not fair, stop and consider what you have asked for, or done, and the blessings or cursings that had followed. Moses warned us back in Deuteronomy 28 of the blessings that would come when we followed Him, and the cursings that would come upon us when we ignored His Word. God is always fair, and when you think that He is not fair, then something is wrong with your thinking.

Joshua 24:11 "And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand."

God delivered them into your hand. God set up these nations in every case, and made them to where you would have the victory, and Joshua is reminding them of this fact. Remember that the Nephilim and their offspring were still mixed amongst them and they had to be eliminated completely.

Joshua 24:12 "And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with they bow."

God created this army of wasps and sent them against the two kings of the Amorites, and they messed over their minds to the point that you came in and destroyed the Amorites. You didn't have that victory with your sword, but I gave you the victory, for they lost their will to fight you. The bee stings left them unable to fight, for God used His nature to do the job. Bee stings are very irritating under a suit of armor.

This then was a type of the sword of the Lord that we are to used today, That sword of the Lord is God's Word. Its the hornets that will come and sting the enemy and make him defenseless against you. the Sword of the Lord is Christ tongue from His Word that cuts both ways, and it gets the job done when you serve Him faithfully.

Joshua 24:13 "And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye did built not. And ye dwelt in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.' "

As the Israelites moved in and conquered the peoples of the lands and destroyed them, The vineyards and oliveyards of those heathen nations were already planted and bearing fruit. When I gave you their land, you already had the benefits of their hands, as well as the wealth of their cities. The children of Israel never lost time in setting up their nation during those forty years in the wilderness. These heathen nations kept the weed pulled, and the wild life from taking over the land. The wilderness killed off the unfaithful, and when their children were ready to take the land, it was given to them.

Joshua 24:14 "Now therefore 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."

The message from Joshua to these leaders of Israel is that you must serve God and be sincere with Him. The thing that displeases God the most, is playing around with the accursed thing. This is done when you mix things that are not in the Word of God, and calling it of God. Taking the traditions that men have made up, and treating it as something required of God. Remember old Achan, he took that old mantle of Baal and hid it in his tent; brought the things of the heathen into the camp and his home, and tried to cover it up. God forbid this, and Achan and all the he had, family and wealth were stoned, burnt, and covered over with rocks. God hates us messing around with the accursed thing. It's just as true today as it was then.

Your home and car, and what ever hobby can become foremost in your mind, before God. Where do you place your time and money? that is where your god is. Sure its nice to keep it all in order, but God should be the foremost place in your mind.

Joshua 24:15 "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 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.' ' "

The same thing goes for us living today, who are we trying to serve and please the most? Each of us must decide for ourselves who we will serve in our life, and we make up that decision by the things we choose to do each day. No body can force you to worship any idol or religious form for you do that yourself. When they tell you that you can't pray at school or at the job site; you can pray all you want to, for God can read you mind and know your thoughts. Don't speak out loud, but mentally think of what you would have the Lord know of your thoughts, He will read those thoughts as your are thinking them. So it doesn't matter what other want of you, when you are committed to serving Him, He will give you the wisdom of His Word for living your life.

Joshua 24:16 "And the People answered and said, "God forbid that we should fosake the Lord , to serve other gods;"

There is just no other way that we would do that; to serve other gods. However take a look at those things that are filling your time and thoughts. God promised Joshua that He would not cleanse the Sanctuary until He came again, and He left that job up to you. Within three years of this writing, these same Israelites had turned away from every one of these words they just uttered.

Joshua 24:17 "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:"

God brought you out of Egypt, protected you and preserved you in the wilderness, and you witnessed it all with your eyes. God lead them and won ever victory for them over their enemies. Even though they witnessed it, in a very short time the forgot it and became unbelievers. Today we didn't see those miracles and we can only read of them, but these people lived through them. You prove your belief by your faith, those things that you follow sight unseen.

Joshua 24:18 "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.' ' "

By the end of six years from this date, they had completely turned to the Idolatry of Baal.

Joshua 24:19 "And Joshua said unto the people, "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."

Remember this, for we serve a jealous God, and once we come to the understanding of the truth and become part of the bride of Christ, He become jealous over you. God will make it much harder on those that know better than those that act out of ignorance. Once you know that Satan comes first, if you bow and give aid to Satan's cause when he is here on earth as the Antichrist, there is no forgiveness for you. Luke 12:10; "And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemed against the Holy ghost it shall not be forgive." This "blasphemy" is down when you are delivered up in the time of the end, before the synagogues of Satan, and you refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you.

Joshua 24:20 "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 go.' ' "

If you mess around with the things of Satan, God will hurt you and cut you loose to turn you over to the devil. I do not believe that any of God's elect will do the unpardonable-able sin, because of their knowledge of him and their hatred of him. God is going to give you exactly what you deserve. He will bless you when you deserve it, and make things difficult when you have it coming to you. When you love Him and He will love you.

Joshua 24:21 "And the People said unto Joshua, "Nay; but we will serve the Lord."

Again, in a very short time after this, these same people will change and run to the idolatry of those nations around them.

Joshua 24:22 "And Joshua said unto the People, "Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses."

Joshua 24:23 "Now therefore put away," said he, "the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel."

To "incline your heart" means to focus your mind of the things of the Lord your God. Get away from even thinking or considering the things of strange gods, for that is the "accursed thing" that God hates. Once you set your mind in God's ways, stay in the path.

Joshua 24:24 "And the People said unto Joshua, "The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey."

Notice that these people now have seen the miracles of God, like in the crossing of the Jordan river, and so on, and they have tasted of the gifts and blessing God has given to them, yet in the matter of just a very short time, they will leave this, and run to other gods. As Joshua is speaking, in their minds they are committing themselves to God, but it will only be lip-service. As all the people around them at this service of Joshua are getting worked up, so is each person. These people are saying what is expected of them to say, and doing what is expected of them, but their heart is not committed to it. When this service is over, so will their commitment.

Friend, this is a type of what we shall see in our day. People committed to Christ, focused on His word; tasted of the blessings of God, yet in their own ignorance they will go whoring after Satan thinking He is Christ. These people are the ones that would rather mess around with the traditions of men, and mixing in the idolatry that is going on today, than to stay focused on the Word, as the events of the end times are going on around us today.

Joshua 24:25 "So Joshua made a covenant with the People that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem."

This covenant is not with God, but with Joshua. "Shechem" means back, and this ordinance and covenant is made by the true Jesus [Joshua] with you, and it comes on the covenant of repentance and forgiveness.

Joshua 24:26 "And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord."

So this place where this memorial would be placed is about eight miles south of Shiloh.

Joshua 24:27 "And Joshua said unto all the People, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which He spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.' "

Joshua 24:28 "So Joshua let the People depart, every man unto his inheritance."

Joshua, or Jesus let every person depart, and return to his inheritance; this is a personal thing, and those things, blessings or cursings that come your way are part of your inheritance. Even today each of us must choose which we will serve, God or the Satan, the false messiah. Its your choice.

Joshua 24:29 "And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Num, the servant of the Lord, died,, being an hundred and ten years old."

Joshua 24:30 "And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash."

Joshua 24:31 "And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel."

After Joshua died, the very next year the people began to fall away from God's laws and commandments and into idolatry.

Joshua 24:32 "And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob fought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph."

Joshua 24:33 "And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim."

Eleazar was the third son of Aaron, and his two older brothers died while playing around with strange fire on the altar of God. Eleazar is the Hebrew form of the name Lazarus, the man that Jesus raised form the dead. Meaning that Jesus brought back to life the true priesthood of God. We saw earlier where Phinehas was not a good judge, but Eleazar his father was buried in that land given to son Phinehas.

The word Joshua means Jesus, and this book of Joshua is a type of our entering into the promise land. Today we are very near the entering into the Millennium age, which is the promise land, whereby the things of this old land, and old evil age will be done away with, and we will enter into that age changed out of these flesh bodies, and into the new incorruptible bodies that will never age. So all of these chapter in the book of Joshua put the form of a type of how we will enter, and what it will be like then.

Joshua has declared the condition and focus that our minds should be in, and the dedication that God expects for His elect, His people. God has an inheritance for each of us, and as we build our trust in the Father, we gain our faith that He will do exactly as His Word promises us that He will do. So the question for us to ask ourselves, is who do I choose to serve? Each of us must make that decision for ourselves, for the answer decides where you will be for the eternity.