Joshua 24:2-3 (ESV Strong's)
And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and 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 made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac.
God Chooses Us So that We Can Choose Him
In the above passage Joshua is about to die and wants to give the nation of Israel his last thoughts. He is about to ask them if they are willing to choose God or choose the way of the nations around them. To set the stage, he starts in the beginning (above text) that states that Abraham, their father was in the land of Torah and “served other gods.” This is a necessary truth for them to know and remember, because Abraham did NOT choose God. God chose Abraham when we he was worshipping other gods. So, later in this “last-words-of-Joshua” text it is important to know that truth. Joshua, later in this chapter, will make the following challenge to Israel:
Joshua 24:15 (ESV Strong's)
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua lays before them a choice. But, their “ability” to make that choice and have that choice, first lies in the truth that God choose Israel to be His people. God directed them and gave them the power to choose Him. God always gives man the power to choose Him. But, it is initiated by God and completed by man’s hearing truth and responding in faith that he has nothing to offer God. God wants us to choose Him and will, first, give us the power to make that choice in faith.
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