Context No. 4213 of 4322 · Joshua

Joshua 24:29-33: in context

29After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old. 30They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 31Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that he had worked for Israel. 32They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 33Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

The book of Joshua closes with the death of Joshua, and with a telling summary of his influence: Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived him, who had known all the work that the LORD had done for Israel. As long as that generation lived, the people remained faithful. The account also records the burial of Joseph's bones at last, in the land, a promise kept across centuries.

Two things stand out. Joshua's faithfulness, and that of the elders who had seen God's works, kept a whole people walking with God for as long as they lived. A godly generation held the nation to the Lord. But there is a sober note here too: their faithfulness was tied to that generation. What would happen when they were gone, and a generation arose that had not known God's works? And the buried bones of Joseph testify that God keeps his promises across the long span of time, even centuries.

The influence of those who walk faithfully with God is real and far-reaching; it holds others to the Lord. Yet faith must be handed on to the next generation, not merely assumed. The task is to pass on to those who come after not just our example but a living knowledge of God's works, so that they too will serve the Lord.

Am I living the kind of faithful life whose influence holds others to the Lord, as Joshua's generation did, and am I giving myself to passing on a living knowledge of God to those who come after, rather than assuming faith will carry on by itself once my generation is gone?

Sources

Joshua 24:31: "Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that he had worked for Israel."
Joshua 24:32: "They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem."
Judges 2:10: "There arose another generation after them who didn't know the LORD, nor the work which he had done for Israel."