When God is unforgiving

You can’t escape the consequences of your actions.

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don’t know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it “really” means. Let’s see where this takes us!

Joshua 24

I’m reading Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Joshua dies in chapter 24. From serving Moses faithfully to taking command himself, I don’t recall an incident in which Joshua made a single misstep. This is unusual for the Biblical characters we’ve seen; many Biblical stories we’ve read are about the mistakes of the protagonist.

Joshua tells the gathering that The LORD says:

12 I sent swarms of hornets ahead of you that drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and olive yards that you did not plant.

14 “Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve…