Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods, for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”
Instant commitment does not necessarily make the commitment sincere. In the above passage the people of Israel are making a commitment to Joshua about their commitment to God. They commit to following His ways and to not follow the habits, believes and behaviors of the people of the land they just conquered. Probably, at that moment, they were, indeed, sincere about that commitment. Joshua is about to die and he is giving the nation his last instructions. In this section we have read the final dividing up and distribution of the land. We have read about the 2 1/2 tribes who helped them conquer the land and their return to the land Moses had promised them. We have read about how that 2 1/2 tribe put up an alter to remember they are, too, part of Israel, albeit on the other side of the Jordan river. We have read about how sensitive the nation was about this alter. That was the key in this part of Joshua’s story to us. The nation was so sensitive to the 2 1/2 tribes false alter, they were rallied to stop them. This is the spirit that Joshua wants. The above verses show that the nation is committed to national purity and resolved to follow the Laws of Moses. However, in the next book (Judges) we will see just how quickly that resolve and commitment folds. This particular group of Israelites are “all in” with Joshua. But, it won’t be long before they begin to marry into the surrounding nations and start to practice their wicked behaviors. Words of the mouth have never satisfied righteousness of God. Sincerity of words only works if the heart is cemented in commitment. They were not. We can say it, but unless we live it, it means nothing to God. Holiness is not a word. It is an action of our heart completed in us by God to assure we fulfill the desires of His heart.
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