JANUARY 15, 2017
THE DEATH OF JOSHUA
INTRODUCTION:
1. At the end of Joshua’s full and active life, he called all of the tribes back again to Shechem, there to present themselves before the Lord. (Verse 1) Thirty years before, the same people had gathered unto the same place in order to renew their covenant with God. (Ch. 8:30-35) They had now gathered there to hear the final charge that their great warrior-governor and leader would deliver to them before his death. The people unanimously responded to Joshua’s charge with a solemn pledge that they would not forsake the Lord to serve other gods; that they would put away all strange gods, and serve only the Lord Jehovah, Who had delivered them out of Egypt, and had kept His covenant with them by driving out the Canaanites and giving to them the Land of Promise.
2. Therefore, it was once again, at Shechem that, the covenant was renewed. Each of these renewals was most solemnly done, which is reminiscent of the fact that it was there that Abraham built the first altar to the Lord within the land, and it was there that God appeared to him and promised, “Unto thy seen will I give this land.” (Gen. 12:7) This ancient city was situated near the entrance, with Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim forming the respective walls.
3. When the covenant was renewed before, Joshua built an altar of great unhewed stones upon which the Law (the Ten Commandments) was written. (Ch. 8:31, 32) On this second occasion we read that “Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God.” (Ch. 24:16) There have been various conjectures as to what exactly Joshua wrote in the Book of the Law of God. Some believe he added this book that bears his name (of which it seems logical to consider him the author) to those already written by Moses. Joshua forms the necessary link between the Pentateuch and the historical books of the Old Testament, and it is definitely a complement to the Books of Moses, as it demonstrates God’s power in the performance of that which was promised.
4. Obviously, these closing verses of the book were not written by Joshua, since they contain the record of his death and burial. Who might have appended the account of the great hero’s death we do not know, but it provides an appropriate conclusion to the book.
5. In this final lesson we will consider the burial of three wonderful leaders.
I. THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF JOSHUA. (VERSES 29-31)
A. JOSHUA, HAVING FINISHED HIS COURSE, DIED AFTER THE MANNER OF MEN. (VERSE 29)
1. Joshua could sense that he was coming to the grave. His body was telling him that he was going the way of all flesh. (Ch. 23:1, 2, 14)
2. Joshua’s death was, in this way, different than the death of his predecessor. Of Moses, who was 120 years old at the time of his death, it is written, “His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (Deut. 34:7) But of Joshua, who was 110 years of age, we read, “Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.” (Josh. 23:1)
a) Moses, even at the age of 120 did not die of old age, as we say, but rather, because God took him prior to Israel entering the land. (See Num. 20:7-12; 27:12-14; Deut. 34:1-4)
b) Joshua, on the other hand, the man chosen of God to succeed Moses and lead the people over Jordan and into possession of the Land of Promise, having finished his course, died of natural causes.
c) Whether the Lord preserves a person in a miraculous way, as in the case of Moses, until his appointed service is completed; or whether He allows nature to take its course, as in the case of Joshua, is entirely within His own wisdom and power.
d) Knowing that our lives are entirely in God’s hands to do with as He wills, may we learn to say, “If the Lord will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:15)
B. IT WAS A SAD DAY WHEN THE NATION GATHERED TO HONOR AND BURY THEIR GREAT LEADER TO WHOM THEY OWED SO MUCH. (VERSE 30)
1. They gathered in the city for which he had asked, and which they had given him according to the word of the Lord. (Ch. 19:50)
2. Just as Caleb had requested Mount Hebron for his inheritance, Joshua had asked for Timnath-Serah, and it was there that he was buried.
3. It is noteworthy that throughout scripture we find emphasis given to the matter of burial for these bodies.
4. The burial of Joshua in the border of his beloved inheritance was done as a means of paying their last respects to the memory of a truly great man to whom they owed so much.
C. THE GREATEST HONOR SHOWN TO JOSHUA WAS HIS LEGACY. (VERSE 31)
1. We have noticed the influence that Joshua had wielded during his lifetime; it is gratifying to notice also that the beneficial influence remained upon that generation after his decease. “Surely the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.”
2. John wrote, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)
3. That the people did indeed revere and honor their departed leader is seen in the fact that they honored the covenant that he had renewed with them just prior to his death. “And Israel served the Lord…all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua…”
4. The show of love and respect here manifested would have meant very little if afterward they had ceased to walk in the ways of the Lord as Joshua had commanded them. Sadly, many a sacred promise made to a dying saint has come to nothing, but happily that was not the case here.
II. THE BURIAL OF JOSEPH’S REMAINS. (VERSE 32)
A. THE INTERMENT OF JOSEPH’S BONES IN THE LAND OF PROMISE WAS DONE ACCORDING TO HIS DYING REQUEST. (GEN. 50:24, 25)
1. Joseph died in Egypt, but as he was dying, he put his brethren under oath that when God brought them out they would carry up his bones with them.
a) In this request, Joseph was declaring his absolute confidence that the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God would fulfill. Of all the great examples of Joseph’s faith, the Holy Spirit, in Heb. 11:22 pointed to this “commandment concerning his bones” as the choicest of them all.
b) In this request, Joseph was declaring his oneness with the people of God, and his part in the nation of Israel, which, at the time, was yet to be developed.
c) This request proved that, like Moses, Joseph’s hopes and dreams were not tied to any of the power, fame, and fortune that his exalted position in Egypt afforded him. (See Heb. 11:22-26)
2. Joseph’s bones were kept in a coffin in Egypt until the Exodus, at which time “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him.” (Gen. 50:26; Exo. 13:19)
3. Joseph did not want to remain in a permanent grave until his people had come to permanent rest in the Land of Promise.
B. THE INSPIRED WRITER OF THIS APPENDAGE WAS MOVED TO ADD THE BURIAL OF JOSEPH’S BONES TO THE RECORD.
1. As before noted, Joshua was very likely the author of the book bearing his name, but clearly, he did not write this appendage. (Verses 29-33)
2. The account of Joseph’s burial, though recorded here along with Joshua’s burial, most likely took place at an earlier time.
a) Since Joseph’s coffin had been with the people from the time they left Egypt awaiting burial in the Promised Land, it would make no sense had they waited so long to perform the burial.
b) It is believed by many that the burial took place much earlier, probably at the time of the renewing of the covenant mentioned in Ch. 8:30-35. Joseph’s bones were laid to rest near to the place where his grandfather Abraham first entered the land, and where he built his first altar, and where God appeared to him, the place of Shechem.
c) If that be so, Joseph’s burying place was within his family inheritance; near the border between Manasseh and Ephraim, his two sons.
III. THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF ELEAZAR. (VERSE 33)
A. ELEAZAR HAD BEEN VERY CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH JOSHUA AND HIS ADMINISTRATION.
1. He had succeeded to the office upon the death of his father, Aaron.
2. He had conducted the inaugural ceremony for Joshua.
3. He had assisted Joshua in the division of the land.
B. THE TIME OF HIS DEATH IS UNCERTAIN, BUT PROBABLY ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS JOSHUA. (JOSEPHUS)
CONCLUSION:
1. The account of the burial of these three wonderful leaders forms a very befitting close to the Book of Joshua.
2. One by one they had served their generation and had fallen asleep, but their very names direct the attention to the One who remains forever.
a) Joshua means “Jehovah is salvation.”
b) Joseph means “Jehovah may add.”
c) Eleazar means “God is help.”
3. History is ever in the making; time changes, as do conditions and people. Amidst all that is mutable, how good to know that there is One Who never changes. “I am the Lord, I change not.” (Mal. 3:6) “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Heb. 11:8)
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