Joshua 24:1

Joshua 24:1 says. 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.  Joshua gathered all the leaders of Israel to Shechem to present themselves to God.  They were not there simply to appear before Joshua, even if he was their leader.  They were there to appear before God.  When governmental leaders gather today, it would be good if they appeared before God first and foremost.  Verse two states, 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 told the people what God had to say to them.  He reminded them first of where the came from, before the flood and to the time of Abraham.  Joshua said that they had worshipped other gods at that time.  We need to occasionally remember where we came from before accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord, when we worshipped other gods, so that we never forget God's gracious gift of salvation.  Verse three says,  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.  Joshua then reminded them of God's promise to Abraham and His fulfillment of that promise, through Isaac.  God made Abraham a great nation through his one son of promise, Isaac.  God makes His great nation today through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  Verse four states, 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. Then, Joshua reminds them of Jacob and Esau, and Jacob going into Egypt.  Verse five declares, I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.  Joshua was now getting closer to their time, when Moses and Aaron had delivered the people of Israel from Egypt by the power of God.  I believe that we should always remember the day that God delivered us from the bondage of sin by our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  If we have not done this, then the Bible is just another book instead of the divine word of God.  Verse six adds, 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.  Joshua reminds them of the faithers coming to the Red Sea as they were departing Egypt.  Sometimes, we have to reach the point of total despair before we turn to God for deliverance, but the good news is that He will always be there to deliver us, unless we do say no to Him too many times.  Verse seven says, 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  Joshua said that when the people cried out to God that He delivered them, and that the people gathered there knew personally what had occurred during the wilderness wanderings.  We may only know of what happened to the people of God in the past from reading about it, but if we are a follower of Christ, then we know personally about what has happened in our lives as we wandered in the wilderness of sin before accepting Christ.  Verse eight states, 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.  Joshua said that God brought the people of Israel into the land of the Amorites and gave it to them.  God was responsible for them being where they were and for their victory over their enemies, just as He is responsible for our salvation and victory over our spiritual enemies today.  Verse nine adds, 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:  Joshua then reminds them of one particular enemy, Balak, who rose against them in the name of his god Balaam.  We today are going to have many spiritual enemies if we are Christians.  Verse ten declares, But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.  Joshua said thst he would not harken to Balaam, so God delivered them from Balak.  God will always deliver us from the forces of evil around us, if we remain faithful to Him.  Verse eleven adds, 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.  Joshua then spoke of their victory over the people in the land on this side of the Jordan.  This was all accomplished by the power of God.  Verse twelve continues, 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 thy bow.  Joshua reminded them that God had defeated two kings, not with the sword, but with hornets.  We may not have the strongest weapons today, but we will always have the strongest God if we are followers of Christ.  Verse thirteen concludes, And 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.  God gave the people of Israel the land, just as He will give us our heavenly home today if we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Just as the people of Israel did not work for the promised land, neither can we work for our salvation.  Just like the promised land, salvation is a gift from God because of His mercy to us.