The Divine "I": Covenant History as Gospel Text: Joshua 24:1-13
Introduction: The War for Memory
We live in an age of induced amnesia. Our secular overlords are desperate for us to forget who we are and where we came from. They tear down statues, rewrite textbooks, and mock our heritage because they know a people with no past can be molded into anything. A man who does not know his grandfather's name is a man adrift, and a nation that has forgotten its history is a nation on the brink of dissolution. This is not just a political or cultural problem; it is a profoundly theological one. The war for the future is always a war for the past. The central question is this: whose story defines you?
Here, at the end of a long and faithful life, Joshua gathers the people of Israel at Shechem. This is not a victory lap or a retirement party. It is a solemn covenant renewal ceremony. It is a final, urgent plea for Israel to remember their story, the true story, before the temptations of Canaanite culture cause them to forget. Shechem itself is significant. This is where Abraham first received the promise of the land (Gen. 12:6-7). This is where Jacob cleansed his household of foreign gods (Gen. 35:2-4). It is a place of beginnings and a place of cleansing. And now it is a place of decision.
Joshua knows that the greatest threat to Israel is not the remaining pockets of Canaanites with their chariots and spears. The greatest threat is forgetfulness. The greatest threat is that Israel would begin to believe a different story about themselves, a story in which they were the heroes, the authors of their own success. If they believe they conquered the land by their own strength, they will believe they can keep it by their own strength. And that is the straight road to apostasy and ruin. So before he demands a choice, Joshua first preaches a history lesson. But it is a history lesson of a very particular kind. It is a history lesson where there is only one protagonist, one hero, one active agent. It is God's story.
The Text
Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father 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 multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I smote Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. Then they cried out to Yahweh; He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for many days. Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and 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 summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he blessed you repeatedly, and I delivered you from his hand. And you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus I gave them into your hand. Then I sent the hornet before you, and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow. And I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'"
(Joshua 24:1-13 LSB)
The Divine Summons (v. 1)
We begin with the assembly itself:
"Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God." (Joshua 24:1)
This is a formal, corporate gathering. The entire nation is represented by its leadership. This is how God deals with His people, not as a disconnected mass of individuals, but as a covenant body with structure and authority. But notice the most important phrase: "they presented themselves before God." This is not a town hall meeting. This is not a political convention where they will debate policy. This is worship. They are standing coram Deo, before the face of God, to hear a word from God. All true reformation and renewal begins here, when a people stop talking to each other and present themselves in silence to hear what God has to say.
Grace in the Mud (v. 2-4)
Joshua opens his address not with his own words, but with a direct quotation from God. "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel." This sets the tone for everything. This is not Joshua's opinion; it is divine revelation.
"...'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River...'" (Joshua 24:2-3)
God begins their story in the mud of paganism. Before there was an Abraham, there was a Terah. And what was Terah doing? He was serving other gods. The story of Israel does not begin with their spiritual superiority or their earnest seeking after the one true God. It begins with raw, unadulterated idolatry. They were no better than the Canaanites they were called to displace. This is the doctrine of election in its bluntest form. God did not choose Abraham because Abraham was a righteous monotheist in a sea of pagans. God chose Abraham while he was still part of the problem.
And notice the verb. "Then I took your father Abraham." God is the actor. Abraham is the one acted upon. The call of God is a sovereign seizure. It is a divine rescue operation. God did not send Abraham an invitation and wait for his RSVP. He reached into Ur of the Chaldees, took him by the scruff of the neck, and said, "You're mine." All salvation begins this way. God's grace is always initiating, always unilateral. If we are to be saved, God must do the taking. And He continues to be the sole actor. "I led him... I multiplied his seed... I gave him Isaac... To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau..." God is the great covenant-keeper, the builder of His own house.
Grace in the Water and the Wilderness (v. 5-10)
The pattern of God's unilateral action continues with the central redemptive event of the Old Testament: the Exodus.
"Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I smote Egypt... afterward I brought you out... I brought your fathers out of Egypt... your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt." (Joshua 24:5-7)
The repetition of the divine "I" is relentless, like hammer blows on an anvil. Who sent the deliverers? I did. Who struck Egypt with plagues? I did. Who brought you out? I did. Israel's role in their own deliverance was to be helpless. Their contribution was to cry out in misery. When Pharaoh's army was bearing down on them at the Red Sea, their response was to panic. And God's response was to fight for them. "He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them." This is the gospel. We were enslaved, helpless, and pursued by a mortal enemy. We cried out, and God Himself intervened, defeating our enemy and leading us out.
This divine action continues through the wilderness and into the promised land. God says, "I brought you into the land of the Amorites... I gave them into your hand... I destroyed them before you." Even the strange incident with Balaam is recounted from God's perspective. While Israel was unaware, a spiritual battle was being waged for their very existence. Balak hired a prophet to curse them, but God intervened. "But I was not willing to listen to Balaam... I delivered you from his hand." Our security does not rest in our awareness of the dangers, but in God's sovereign protection from dangers both seen and unseen. He is always guarding His people, even when they are oblivious.
Grace in the Inheritance (v. 11-13)
Finally, Joshua brings the history lesson to their present reality, standing in the land of Canaan.
"Thus I gave them into your hand. Then I sent the hornet before you, and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow. And I gave you a land on which you had not labored..." (Joshua 24:11-13)
This is the capstone of the argument. The conquest itself was a divine act. Lest they get puffed up about their military victories at Jericho and Ai, God reminds them that He was the one who gave the enemy into their hand. He even sent the hornet, a strange and humbling instrument, to do the work, explicitly stating that the victory came "not by your sword or your bow." God is jealous for His glory. He will orchestrate events in such a way that no man can boast in His presence. He will use the weak to shame the strong, the foolish to shame the wise, and hornets to defeat kings, so that everyone knows the victory belongs to the Lord.
And the result is an inheritance of pure grace. Verse 13 is one of the most beautiful summaries of grace in all of Scripture. "I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant." They were living in a world they did not create. They were enjoying blessings they did not earn. Every meal they ate, every cup of wine they drank, was a testimony to the unmerited favor of God.
Conclusion: The Foundation for Faithfulness
Why does God, through Joshua, recount this history in this way? He is laying the foundation for the choice that is to come. He is reminding them that their entire existence as a people is a miracle of sovereign grace. From their idolatrous beginnings to their undeserved inheritance, every step of the way was marked by the divine "I."
This is the only proper foundation for covenant faithfulness. We do not obey God in order to get Him to love us. We obey God because He has already loved us. We do not fight for victory; we fight from victory. The indicative precedes the imperative. What God has done for us is the basis for what He requires of us.
This is the story we must tell ourselves over and over again. We too were idolaters, serving other gods in the land of our futility. But God, in His mercy, "took" us. He sent a greater deliverer than Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ. He smote our true enemy, sin and death, on the cross. He led us through the waters of baptism. He delivers us from the curses of the evil one. And He has given us an inheritance we did not build and could never earn, a place in the heavenly city.
We are eating from vineyards we did not plant. Every spiritual blessing we enjoy is a gift. Remembering this is the key to killing our pride, fueling our gratitude, and strengthening our resolve to serve the Lord. If we forget this story and begin to believe we built this city ourselves, we will fall into the same apostasy that plagued Israel. But if we remember the divine "I" who authored our salvation from beginning to end, we will be able to stand with Joshua and say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."