The time of the events recorded in these verses was 1426 BC, or sixty five years after the making of the covenant and the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. The covenant made at Sinai was an agreement between the Lord and the people relative to the law of God. The children of Israel had come into the wilderness of Sinai and the Lord called unto Moses from the mount, saying: "You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people ... And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do." (Exodus 19:4-5,8)
This was the covenant; but at this time the people had not yet heard the law; they had promised to keep a law of which they had as yet only an imperfect knowledge. Three days later, however, the Lord spoke His law in the audience of all the people, and again the people promised that they would obey.
"And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord has said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord," (Exodus 24:3-4) and the promise of the people in a book and read it to the whole congregation, and after the people had again promised to obey (verse 7), "he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people," (Hebrews 9:19) "and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words." (Exodus 24:8)
Thus was the first covenant ratified: the people had repeatedly promised to keep the law of God, and God had promised that if they did so He would make them a peculiar treasure unto himself above all people.
But the people did not keep this solemn covenant. Their history during all these years was little but a history of backsliding; and now after they had entered upon the possession of the land promised unto their fathers, Joshua called upon them to put away their strange gods and serve the Lord. "And, [said Joshua,] if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you 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 you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; ... therefore will we also serve the Lord; for He is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, You cannot serve the Lord; for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. ... And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15-16,18-19,21)
We are not to suppose that Joshua intended to discourage the people and deter them from the service of the true God, but he did nevertheless state the truth when he said, "You cannot serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:19)
That is, they could not keep the covenant which they had made at Sinai. That covenant was an unconditional agreement on the part of the people to keep the law of God, but the people did not live up to their agreement; and it will be readily seen that when they broke the covenant, as they did almost immediately when they worshiped the golden calf, they had no more claim on the Lord, according to the covenant which they had entered into with Him. They could not go on under that covenant, for no matter how perfectly they might abide by its terms in the future, the fact would remain that they had once broken it, and that was sufficient to forfeit all the blessings which God had promised.
In fact, the old covenant was no longer of any service to them; they could repent of their sins and receive pardon, but not by virtue of the covenant made at Sinai. For forgiveness of sins they must look to Christ, or we might say to the second covenant, which, though called the "second" because it was ratified after the covenant at Sinai, was in point of fact the first covenant, for it was made with Abraham, (Galatians 3:16-17; Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He says not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.) and was the covenant under which Abraham's faith was counted unto him for righteousness. "And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6)
This Abrahamic covenant is the one "established upon better promises," (Hebrews 8:6) and chief among these "better promises" is the promise of the forgiveness of sins. It was in respect of the promises that the first covenant was faulty. If the first covenant had not been thus faulty, there would have been no place for the second. There was in the first covenant no provision for forgiveness of sins. It was ratified by the blood of beasts, which could never take away sin.
But the second or Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, which "takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)
And though not ratified for nearly 1,500 years after the covenant at Sinai, it was "confirmed ... of God in Christ," (Galatians 3:17) to Abraham by an oath. "For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:13-18)
This covenant is made concerning the same law; but if people break it, they may by repentance obtain pardon, and so still remain in covenant relation with God. This is a wonderful exhibition of the mercy and love of God.
1. He consents to make a contract with the people concerning that which it is their duty to do; and then,
2. He provides pardon for them when they have not only failed to do their duty, but they also violated their agreement to do their duty.
Surely love could go no further. But some may wonder, "Didn't God know that the people would break that first covenant?"
We reply, Yes; He not only knew that they could not keep it, but in fact, they had broken the commandments, concerning which the covenant was made, before the covenant was made. It was utterly impossible for the people to keep the commandments by their own unaided efforts, yet that is what they promised to do.
Then why did the Lord lead them to make such a promise? For the purpose of showing them their own weakness, and of directing their minds to the second or Abrahamic covenant, which already existed. This covenant was a covenant concerning Christ, and provided forgiveness for transgression of the law concerning which the covenant was made, and also help to keep the law. And so, when the Lord made a new covenant with Israel, He was simply directing their attention to the covenant made long before with Abraham. And the proof of this is the fact that all who are heirs of the promises are children of Abraham.
Thus it appears that the words of Joshua were strictly true; they could not serve the Lord in the sense of keeping the covenant made at Sinai; they could serve Him only by availing themselves of the help promised in the second covenant, and becoming not only in name but in fact "children of Abraham," by faith in Christ, the promised seed of Abraham. "Know you therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." (Galatians 3:7)
We would not be understood as teaching that it was impossible to serve God just as well in the days of Joshua as it is now, but that it was impossible to serve Him without the aid of divine grace, and that while that grace was not promised in the covenant made at Sinai, it was given to Abraham and to his spiritual seed both before and after the making of what is called the first or old covenant, and that it was always to be obtained through faith in the promised Saviour.
God's promise to Abraham that he should be a great nation and that in his Seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed, was a promise of Christ; and Abraham so understood it, and it was that faith that was counted unto him for righteousness, and no man has ever been accounted righteous in any other way.
The idea that under the first covenant people were saved by keeping the law, and that now they are saved by faith without obedience, is contrary alike to reason and scripture. God has provided but one Saviour and but one plan of redemption, and in every age the conditions of salvation have been faith and obedience. Abraham was a man of faith, but his faith did not excuse him from obedience. Said the Lord to him: "I am the almighty God; walk before me, and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly." (Genesis 17:1-2)
And in describing the people of God down in the last days, the seer of Patmos says: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:12)
As the conditions for covenant relation with God are the same as in the past, so the reasons for serving Him today are identical with the reasons for choosing His service in the days of Joshua. No doubt the people had a deep realization of their obligations to God as they renewed their vows of loyalty to Him. The remembrance of:
• His longsuffering and tender mercy toward them,
• His care that had borne them as an eagle bears her young,
• His solicitude,
• His manifest providences in leading them,