Advanced Level, Block 5—Frustrations in the Land
Week 46
The Passing of Joshua
Point to Emphasize: Will we continue in our family’s ways once we have grown up?
Reference Reading: Joshua 23:1-11; 24:1-8, 14, 16, 29, 31; Judges 2:10-13
Memory Verse: Be very careful therefore for yourselves, that you love Jehovah your God. (Joshua 23:11)
Story Sample
Joshua spent his whole life with God’s people. During the forty years in the wilderness, he was with Moses watching what Moses did and learning from him. Then after Moses died, Joshua became the leader of the people of Israel, leading them into the good land that God had promised them. He continued as the leader of the children of Israel for about twenty-five years. During his years of learning with Moses and his years as the leader of the children of Israel, Joshua learned much about God. He learned that God is unique, God is faithful, and that God is right in everything. Most of all, he learned to cooperate with God and to be obedient to God.
Now we come to the end of Joshua’s life. As he was very old, he must have considered what would happen to the children of Israel after he was gone. Joshua knew that if the Israelites departed from God, they would suffer. So, Joshua called the elders, heads, judges, and officers of Israel together to speak a final word to them. He told them to continue to love Jehovah their God and to cling to Him. He charged them to be strong to keep and do all that was written in the book of the law of Moses. He also gave them a history of the children of Israel, going back to Abraham, Jacob and Esau, Isaac, and Moses. He told them about how God brought Abraham out of idol worship to the land of Canaan and how Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. Then God sent Moses and Aaron to bring the children of Israel out from Egypt to follow the law of God. God was faithful to take care of them and He continually protected them from the time they left Egypt by crossing the Red Sea, through the wilderness, and were brought by God to the good land. Joshua reminded them that God had given them the land of Canaan and helped them to defeat all of their enemies to this point. This was both an encouraging word as well as a warning to the people. Joshua said, “Be very careful therefore for yourselves, that you love Jehovah your God” (Joshua 23:11). And the people promised to keep this word and not follow after other gods. After all of this had taken place, he died at the age of 110 years old.
Joshua lived a very long life. At your age, I doubt if you can even imagine ever being that old, right? But his last word to the people tells you a lot. We know that Joshua lived his whole life serving God, and when it came near to the end of his life, the one thing he thought about was what would happen to the people he would leave behind. He wanted them to continue to love God and to keep God’s word. They had a choice. They could continue on in the way Joshua had taken, or they could depart from it by going their own way and following other gods.
My mom was 91 when she died. She was not as old as Joshua, but she had the same heart for her family; she worried about what would happen to her children and grandchildren after she was gone. She knew that some had not followed God. Would they continue to go their own way? Would the others follow her and continue to love God and keep God’s word? [Serving ones use your own personal story.]
You know, the children of Israel did follow Joshua’s warning and kept God’s word. But after that generation had passed, the next generation chose not to take the same way. They left God, and as a result, they faced many defeats, misery, and hardship. They did not take the way of their fathers but did evil in the sight of God, choosing to worship other gods.
It’s easy to say, “I love God,” or “I will do whatever God says”, isn’t it? But let me ask you, do you follow the rules your parents give you? Honestly, I don’t think any of us do follow the rules ALL the time. But every day we all have to make a choice to follow our parents’ way or not. Since we love our parents, will we decide to live according to their way today? Will what we wear, the words we use, and how we behave with our friends be according to our parents or be according to our own ideas of what we want? If we love our parents now and follow them and their regulations today, we will find it easier to love God and easier to keep and do what is written in God’s word as we grow older.