One-Year Bible Reading Plan  : Seekers & New Believers |  November 6 | Joshua Chapter 24: Covenant at Shechem, As for Me and My House, and the Stone of Witness  

🦌 Opening Today’s Reading 

Dear brothers, sisters, and friends, peace be with you in the Lord!

Welcome to Day 49 of our Old Testament journey! Today, we read the triumphant conclusion of the Book of Joshua—Chapter 24.

If the twelve stones erected at Gilgal in our earlier reading were a celebration of wonder as Israel first crossed the Jordan, the giant stone set up at Shechem in Chapter 24 stands as the most solemn, soul-stirring covenant pledge made by the entire nation before their aging leader passes away!

In this chapter, elderly Joshua gathers all the tribes, elders, heads, and officers of Israel to Shechem. He leads them through a breathtaking recount of sacred redemptive history—from Abraham to the Exodus, through the wilderness, and across the Jordan into conquest—before placing a decisive question before every soul: "If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve!"

Then, Joshua speaks the immortal declaration inscribed above countless Christian homes: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"

Israel swears loyalty three times at Shechem, and Joshua sets up a great stone under an oak near the sanctuary as an enduring witness. The book closes peacefully with the resting of Joshua and Eleazar. Let us enter Joshua Chapter 24 with resolute, obedient, and reverent hearts!

📖 Context Snapshot : Reunion After Conquest, Choice at Shechem, and an Enduring Witness 

1. What Happened Before: From Stones in the Riverbed to Peace in the Promised Land

Do you remember when we last read about Israel's miraculous Jordan crossing? The priests stood firm on dry riverbed holding the Ark, while the people safely stepped into the Promised Land, erecting twelve stones in the riverbed and on the shore to mark God's overwhelming grace.

From that moment on, God's mighty hand guided them every step of the way. Before Jericho, towering city walls collapsed at their shout of faith; in the valley of Aijalon, God made the sun stand still, delivering victories across Canaan's north and south. Over years of wandering-turned-triumph, the wilderness generation watched God divide this land of milk and honey by lot, establishing cities of refuge and settling every tribe peacefully into their inheritance.

As Joshua lovingly summarized, not a single good promise spoken by the Lord had failed—every word came to pass! Now, with battles finished and his long life drawing to a close, aged Joshua summons the nation one last time to cross a final threshold: not a physical river, but a spiritual covenant of total surrender.

2. Today's Thread: Recounting Grace, The Solemn Pledge, and The Stone by the Sanctuary

Shechem holds deep sacred history—it was where Abraham first built an altar in Canaan and where Jacob buried foreign idols. Aged Joshua summons all Israel to present themselves before God at Shechem.

Speaking in the first person on God's behalf, Joshua paints a grand historical canvas of divine grace: calling Abraham from beyond the River, multiplying Isaac and Jacob, raising Moses and Aaron to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage, parting the Red Sea, guiding them through the wilderness, and granting victory over Sihon, Og, and the kings of Canaan. God declares: "I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not... ye eat of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not." It was pure, undeserved grace!

Upon this foundation of grace, Joshua issues a piercing call: fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away foreign gods. He demands an explicit, unambiguous decision: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served... or the gods of the Amorites... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"

Stirred by Joshua's boldness, the people cry: "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods!" Joshua presses them further on the solemnity of serving a holy and jealous God who demands pure devotion. Undeterred, the nation affirms: "Nay; but we will serve the Lord!"

Joshua makes a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, writing the words in the Book of the Law of God, and sets up a great stone under an oak by the sanctuary of the Lord. He tells them: "Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God."

The people depart every man to his inheritance. Joshua dies at the age of one hundred and ten and is buried at Timnath-serah. Israel serves the Lord all the days of Joshua and the elders who outlived him. The book closes noting that the bones of Joseph, brought up out of Egypt, are buried at Shechem. God's covenant sworn to the patriarchs stands completely fulfilled!

💡 Questions to keep in mind while reading today:

• On "As for Me and My House": Why did Joshua boldly declare his family's commitment regardless of what others chose? How does this inspire family spiritual leadership today?

• On the Stone at Shechem: From the stones of Gilgal to the stone of Shechem, what spiritual significance do stone monuments carry regarding covenant loyalty?

• On Joseph's Bones: Why does the book end mentioning the burial of Joseph's bones? What does this reveal about God's cross-generational faithfulness?

💡 Today’s Scripture Verse - Joshua 24

24 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.

7 And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:

10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.

11 And you went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.

12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;

17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:

18 And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.

19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

20 If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord.

22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

24 And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.

27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.

29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

31 And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel.

32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

🌟Daily Heart-Check:  Decisive Faith, Uncompromising Covenant, and Cross-Generational Faithfulness 

Synchronized with the core questions from our reading guide:

• Faith Requires a Clear, Courageous Choice:
  At the end of his life, Joshua demonstrates that true faith is never passive conformity, but a conscious, courageous choice. Worldly trends and subtle "idols" constantly seek to divide our hearts, but God demands wholehearted devotion. As spiritual leaders in our homes and lives, we must stand firmly and declare: "No matter what the culture chooses, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"

• Treating Our Covenants with God with Holy Reverence:
  Joshua did not accept superficial enthusiasm; he reminded the people of God's holy and jealous nature. God does not seek cheap slogans, but counted-cost commitment. The stone standing under the oak at Shechem watched over their hearts. Every prayer and vow we make before God is precious to Him; through the Holy Spirit, we are called to live out holy lives worthy of our covenant.

• God's Promises Stand Unshaken Across Centuries:
  The burial of Joseph's bones provides a breathtaking bookend to the narrative. Over four hundred years earlier, Joseph declared in faith that God would bring Israel back to Canaan. Through centuries of Egyptian bondage, wilderness wandering, and conquest, Joseph's bones finally rested at Shechem! Generations pass and leaders die, but every word spoken by God comes to pass with absolute certainty.

🎵 Response Song :  

🙏 Closing Prayer

O Sovereign, Thrice-Holy, Unchanging, and Covenant-Keeping Heavenly Father,

As we read Joshua Chapter 24 today, we stand beneath the ancient oak at Shechem, hearing Joshua's ringing declaration, witnessing Israel's solemn pledge, and beholding Joseph's bones resting in the Promised Land. Our hearts are filled with profound awe, gratitude, and holy resolve!

We exalt You, Lord! From Abraham to Joshua, from Egypt to Canaan, not one word of all Your good promises has ever failed—all have come to pass. Your mighty hand guided Your people, giving them grace and inheritance beyond human striving.

Grant us a spirit of decisive courage and unwavering loyalty like Joshua! In a world filled with compromise and shifting idols, keep us from drifting with the crowd. Today, we declare before You with clarity and joy: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

Sanctify our homes and our hearts, Lord, removing every hidden idol. By Your Holy Spirit, keep us faithful to our covenant vows, walking in Your love until we enter Your eternal rest prepared for us in Christ!

In the exalted and matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!