last man
standing – Joshua stands alone vis-à-vis Israel—a contrast from his
earlier place among them. The tenor of this meeting is challenge: daring, urging and
inspiring the other rise to commitment. Joshua challenges the Israelites to faithfulness.
The challenge has a Mesopotamian trajectory:—"beyond the River" (vs. 2-3)
and ". . . the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the River and in
Egypt" (vs. 14-15). Standing at the core of this lesson is the presence of apostasy
and idolatry. Notice how the passage alludes to those two fears—past and present and
future (2-3; 14-16; 20—23). Such a serious charge calls for a response which Joshua
puts to the people—"choose this day who you will serve." [1]
fear or revere? – Joshua calls for a response from the people;
but what response is appropriate? The Hebrew, yare (vs. 14-15) reflects such a
response and it is interesting how that word gets translated into English:
"fear" (NIV), "honor" (TEV), "revere (NRSV). The shift from fear
to revere suggests a change in understanding about one’s posture toward God from
"patriarchal piety" to familiarity and friendship-piety. [2]
Recall some of the crossroads in
your life, a moment when an event caused you to examine and ponder the direction toward
which your life was headed.
- What does it mean in our post-modern world to be loyal and faithful?
- How would you describe loyalty to God? Church attendance? Serving on a committee?
Leading an anti or pro-choice march? Defending the rights of the homeless? Are we defined
in our loyalty to God primarily by our protest or promotion of a cause or our piety?
block #1 –
describe loyalty: offer several vignettes, move to a personal example or a story of
loyalty that you have seen first-hand;
block #2 – describe the biblical notion of loyalty;
block #3 – suggest how we might be loyal to God in a new context
