Joshua 24 is the chapter where Joshua gathers all Israel at Shechem and asks them to decide, plainly, whom they will serve. The questions below help a small group, a Sunday class or a personal reader work through the chapter’s history, its challenge and its response, one verse range at a time. Each set comes with a leader’s note so the session can run without a separate commentary.
Joshua 24 at a Glance
The chapter opens with Joshua assembling the tribes and their leaders at Shechem. He then speaks for the LORD, recounting Israel’s story from Terah and Abraham through Egypt, the wilderness, the conquest and the surrounding peoples’ attempts to curse them. Only after this history does he press the people to put away other gods and serve the LORD in sincerity.
The people respond with a vow, Joshua warns them that such devotion is costly, they reaffirm their choice, and the covenant is sealed with a written law and a witness stone. The chapter closes with Joshua’s death, the burial of Joseph’s bones and Eleazar’s death, and a short note that Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and the elders who outlived him.
Observation Questions
Use this set first to slow the group down and let everyone agree on what the text actually reports before anyone starts interpreting it. Ask people to point to the words on the page, and keep answers short and grounded in the verses.
Joshua 24:14-15
14 “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the LORD. 15 If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
(WEB)
Read these together to frame the whole session. They contain the central command and Joshua’s choice, so the group can return to them throughout the discussion.
Joshua 24:16-18
16 The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. 18 The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD; for he is our God.”
(WEB)
This is the people’s answer. Hearing it aloud lets the group hear the response in their own voices and notice how it rests on remembered history.
Joshua 24:19-20
19 Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.”
(WEB)
Joshua’s warning is sobering and easily skipped. Reading it aloud helps the group face the seriousness of the covenant before moving to application.
Joshua 24:23-24
23 “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” 24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God, and we will listen to his voice.”
(WEB)
These verses move from warning to renewed commitment. Reading them slowly lets the group feel the turn toward a fresh vow.
Joshua 24:31
Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that he had worked for Israel.
(WEB)
Ending the reading with this verse brings the chapter to a steady close and shows how faithfulness was carried by a generation.
Memory Verse for Joshua 24
Joshua 24:15
If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
(WEB)
Memorizing this verse gives a group a portable summary of the chapter. Its clear choice is easy to recall in a moment of decision long after the study ends.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as the people of Shechem came, gathered and listening. Thank you for the history you have written in our lives and in the lives of those who went before us, and for the faithfulness you have shown when we did not deserve it. Search the places in our hearts where other loyalties have crept in, and give us the courage to set them aside. Help us to choose you today in ordinary decisions, and to serve you with sincerity and truth in our homes, our work and our rest. Let our witness be honest, and let the people who watch us see a steady devotion to you. Amen.
