Joshua 24:19

_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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

19._And Joshua said unto the people, _etc Here Joshua seems to act altogether absurdly in crushing the prompt and alert zeal of the people, by suggesting ground of alarm. For to what end does he insist that they cannot serve the Lord, unless it be to make them, from a sense of their utter powerlessness, to give themselves up to despair, and thus necessarily become estranged from the fear of God. It was necessary, however, to employ this harsh mode of obtestation, in order to rouse a sluggish people, rendered more lethargic by security. And we see that the expedient did not fail to obtain, at least, a momentary success. For they neither despond nor become more slothful, but, surmounting the obstacle, answer intrepidly that they will be constant in the performance of duty. In short, Joshua does not deter them from serving God, but only explains how refractory and disobedient they are, in o...

15-28 It is essential that the service of God's people be performed with a willing mind. For LOVE is the only genuine principle whence all acceptable service of God can spring. The Father seeks only such to worship him, as worship him in spirit and in truth. The carnal mind of man is enmity against God, therefore, is not capable of such spiritual worship. Hence the necessity of being born again. But numbers rest in mere forms, as tasks imposed upon them. Joshua puts them to their choice; but not as if it were indifferent whether they served God or not. Choose you whom ye will serve, now the matter is laid plainly before you. He resolves to do this, whatever others did. Those that are bound for heaven, must be willing to swim against the stream. They must not do as the most do, but as the best do. And no one can behave himself as he ought in any station, who does not deeply consider his...

Verse Joshua 24:19. _YE CANNOT SERVE THE LORD: FOR HE IS A HOLY GOD_] If we are to take this literally, we cannot blame the Israelites for their defection from the worship of the true God; for if it was impossible for them to serve God, they could not but come short of his kingdom: but surely this was not the case. Instead of לא תוכלו _lo thuchelu, ye CANNOT serve_, c., some eminent critics read לא תכלו _lo thechallu, ye shall not CEASE to serve_, c. This is a very ingenious emendation, but there is not one MS. in all the collections of _Kennicott_ and _De Rossi_ to support it. However, it appears very possible that the first ו _vau_ in תוכלו did not make a part of the word originally. If the common reading be preferred, the meaning of the place must be, "Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is holy and jealous, _unless_ ye put away the gods which your father...

EXPOSITION THE LAST RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT.— JOSHUA 24:1 TO SHECHEM. The LXX. and the Arabic version read _Shiloh _here, and as the words "they presented themselves (literally, _took up their station_)_ _before God" follow, this would seem the natural reading. But there is not the slightest MSS. authority for the reading, and it is contrary to all sound principles of criticism to resort to arbitrary emendations of the text. Besides, the LXX. itself reads Συχέμ_,_ in Joshua 24:26, and adds, "before the tabernacle of the God of Israel," words implied, but not expressed in t

AND JOSHUA SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE,.... To their heads and representatives now assembled together, and who had returned to him the preceding answer: YE CANNOT SERVE THE LORD; which he said not to discourage or deter them from serving the Lord, since it was his principal view, through the whole of this conversation with them, to engage them in it, but to observe to them their own inability and insufficiency of themselves to perform service acceptable to God; and therefore it became them to implore grace and strength from the Lord to assist them in it, and to depend upon that and not to lean to and trust in their own strength; as also to observe to them, that they could not serve him perfectly without any defect and failure in their service, for there is no man that does good and sins not; and therefore when a man has done all he can, he must not depend upon it for his justification before G...

THE SECOND ADDRESS CHAPTER 24:1-28 _ 1. The gathering at Shechem (Joshua 24:1)_ 2. Historic retrospect and exhortations (Joshua 24:2) 3. The answer given by Israel (Joshua 24:16) 4. Joshua's answer (Joshua 24:19) 5. The promise made (Joshua 24:21) 6. Joshua's appeal and the repeated promise (Joshua 24:22) 7. The covenant made and Joshua's final word ...

YE CANNOT SERVE. The Ellipsis must be supplied by adding from Joshua 24:14. "Unless ye put away your idols". See App-6. HOLY. See note on Exodus 6:5. GOD. Hebrew. _El._ App-4. SINS. App-44....

Reply of the People to Joshua's Address 16. _And the people answered and said_ Struck by the solemn earnestness of the address of their leader, the entire people, with one voice, responded to his call by loud and hearty declarations of their determined faithfulness to their covenant with Jehovah....

_VER._ 19. _AND JOSHUA SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, YE CANNOT SERVE THE LORD,_ &C.— These words may he understood two ways. 1. They may signify, "you will not serve the Lord; I foresee that ye will not keep your word:" in the same sense as it is said of Jesus Christ, that he could work no miracle at Nazareth, to express that he would not; or, as when he said to the Jews, _ye cannot hear my word; i.e._ your prejudices and passions hinder you from desiring it. 2. They may signify "the thing is difficult, it requires great courage, and will cost you more than you are aware, by reason of the temptations you will have to conquer in the attaining it." These two senses seem necessary to be united for the proper understanding of the passage. The intention of Joshua is certainly, not to insinuate to the Israelites that it will be impossible for them to serve God; for why then should he have exhorted the...