After reading chapter 24:
* Then Joshua assembled all the tribes at Shechem. Is this literal or figurative? Did ALL the Israelites really leave their new homes and journey to Shechem? Who minded the land when they were gone? I just keep thinking of the logistics of all these supposed gatherings of over 2 million nomads. Can you imagine the mess (in more ways than one) they left behind when they went back home? It would take years for an area to recover from something like that. Also, is this a separate assembly from the one in chapter 23?
*Now Joshua again talks to all the tribal elders on behalf of Yahweh. He basically gives them an ancestral history starting with Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob, through to Moses and Aaron. He tells them that they saw with their own eyes what happened to the armies of Pharoah in the Red Sea. However, every one of the people he is talking to was younger than 20, or not born yet, during the exodus. I would venture a guess that only about half the people present could have been alive at the time of the exodus. All the adults from the exodus perished during the 40 year sojourn in the desert.
*Next, the Israelites are reminded of the battles on the east side of the Jordan, the crossing of the Jordan, and the battles with the nations on the west side of the Jordan. Yahweh claims that they didn't do it on their own with swords and bows, but that he sent his "hornet" ahead of them to drive the people out, whatever that means. He tells them that he is the one that gave them the land and good things that they are now enjoying, even though they did not work for them. Did you ever notice that Yahweh never hands out pats on the back? Except for favored individuals, and not always then, everyone is undeserving, no matter what they have done. It's the same story we are told today: "Whatever you have accomplished is only because God allowed you to accomplish it, without him you would be nothing. So be grateful."
*Now Joshua gives his famous ultimatum. They are to throw away the gods that their ancestors had worshipped in Egypt and worship Yahweh. (Wait a minute. Hadn't they already done that? Maybe not.)If they didn't want to worship Yahweh, they should choose that day who they will serve, the gods of Abraham's ancestors or the gods of the people of the land they were living in. (Did they really have a choice?)As for Joshua and his family, they would serve Yahweh. The people declared Yahweh was their God. Joshua declared them unable to serve Yahweh and doomed to destruction. The people protested that they were sincere. Joshua said okay, but get rid of all those other gods post haste. Apparently this monotheism stuff wasn't necessarily as popular with the Israelites as we might think. There was another covenant with laws drawn up and recorded in the book of the law. How many covenants does that make so far? Then Joshua set up a large stone under the oak near the holy place of Yahweh. (Apparently large trees were still associated with holy places, just as in Abraham's day.) The stone was to be a witness against the people if they went back on their promise to be true to Yahweh.
*Wait. Isn't the holy place of Yahweh now in Shiloh? Isn't that now supposed to be the only holy place of Yahweh? That's why the three eastern tribes were chewed out back in chapter 22. However, the beginning of this story say the Israelites were assembled in Shechem. In fact, that is where Abraham himself once built an altar to Yahweh near a great tree, back in Genesis chapter 12. That is also where Yahweh reiterated his covenant with Abraham. The descendants of Abraham appear to have come full circle. The authors just couldn't resist such a great literary device.
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