The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

 Joshua 24: 1-13

 

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God.   And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.   Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac.   And to Isaac, I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.   And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward, I brought you out.

 

Do you have a Joshua in your life, are you a Joshua to family and others?  What is taking place in Shechem, is a very special thing, Joshua has no doubt his time on Planet Earth is coming to a close, his leadership role will soon be over, and he needs to remind the people of Israel of all that God has done.  Joshua understood the need for a leader to talk with, and get the buy-in of those who influence others, he had all the elders, the heads, the judges and the officers of Israel assemble at Shechem to enter into a Covenant renewal. 

 

Joshua begins with a reminder of where they as a people came from, he begins with Terah, the father of Abraham, who served other gods, and the call of Abram who became Abraham, and it was from his seed they came to be a great people.  He reminds them that Jacob had two sons, one was Esau who sold his first-born birthright to his brother Jacob, for a bowl of soup.  And how Esau stayed in the hill country of Seir, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.  He reminds them of how they became slaves and God sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt and God used plagues to show the people of God and the people of Egypt that He alone is God.

 

 “‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.   And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time.   Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.   Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,  but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So, I delivered you out of his hand.   And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand.   And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.   I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

 

Not one time did Joshua take credit for all he had done, for he did what God directed him to do, what a contrast from today's leadership.  But as a faithful servant of the LORD, he reminded them of all that God had done.

 

Are you that kind of leader, and yes if you are a dad you are a leader, a husband, or a follower of Christ, for someone, is watching your life to see who you are giving the credit to?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice