Ideas and questions for group members and leaders preparing for Joshua 24

First, ask group members to get into pairs.

Second, use the following icebreaker question for group members to get better acquainted: Joshua told the people to get rid of the gods of their ancestors. Share with your partner what you know about your ancestors. Does anyone in your family have a family tree and how far back does it go? Have you ever tried to research your ancestors on Ancestry.com or similar web page?

Joshua 24:1–13

1. What do we know about Shechem where Joshua had all the leadership of Israel to gather? This was where the Lord first promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants. Commentators are divided as to whether the tabernacle and ark were brought to Shechem or it remained at Shiloh. If the later was true, the ark may have been brought to Shechem just for this occasion.
2. Why did Joshua think it was important to rehearse God’s past dealings with Israel? They needed to be reminded as they were about to renew the covenant.
3. Would this history of God’s dealings with them over the years be similar to our testimonies of how God has dwelt with us? Yes, and this is a reminder of how important our testimony is. If you have never written out your testimony, why not take time next week to begin working on it.
4. He reminded them specifically of how he brought Abraham from a far away place to the land of Canaan. Why was that reminder significant? The Lord had given them the land once again that he gave to Abraham and his descendants. It was like going back home.
5. What is the hornet in 24:12 a reference to? Two possibilities. First, it was a reference to Pharaoh whose many campaigns into Canaan weakened them. Second, it was the terror of the Lord sent to demoralize and weaken the enemy.

Joshua 24:14–18

1. What does the “therefore” refer to? The reminder he had just given them about God’s faithfulness to them over the years.
2. What two commands did Joshua give to the people? To fear and to worship the Lord in sincerity and truth.
3. To worship the Lord, what did he tell them to do? To get rid of the gods their ancestors worshiped.
4. When one becomes a Christian, does it mean that Jesus just becomes another slice of the pizza of our life, or that we surrender all the slices of our life to him? Jesus is not interested in becoming just another slice of our life. He wants us to surrender all of our life to him. 
5. While our ancestors may have never worshiped “gods,” are there things from our ancestors we need to put away? We all inherit weaknesses and character flaws from our families of origin. It is those things we need to put away.
6. Do you pick up a note of sarcasm in 24:15? Perhaps, but he is laying it out for them that they must make a decision.
7. How could Joshua speak for his family when he said that they had chose to worship the Lord? In both the Old and New Testament, entire households came to the Lord when the mom or dad, usually the dad, came to the Lord. 
8. What was the people’s response? That they would worship the Lord.

Joshua 24:19–24

1. What insight does Luke 14:28-30 give us into the difficult statement that Joshua made to the people in 24:19? The statement Joshua made to the people is most likely similar to what Jesus said about counting the cost before becoming one of his disciples.
2. When he said that they would not be able to worship the Lord because he is a holy and jealous God, what exactly did he mean? Other gods were easily worshiped because they were not holy and jealous, but God was not so easily worshiped because he was holy and jealous. 
3. What about his statement that God would not forgive their transgressions and sins? Apparently, some of the other gods they had worshiped could not be sinned against because they were not living beings. The Lifeway leader’s guide says this: “Joshua did not mean to say that the Lord is not a God of forgiveness (Exodus 20:5-6), but He would judge rebellion severely. Rejecting God and turning to idols would not go without serious consequences. (Numbers 15:30-31).”
4. In what sense was God jealous? Again, from the leader’s guide: “God loved his people and desired the best for them. Consequently, He would not tolerate that which destroyed their fellowship with Him or condone divided loyalties.”
5. Even though the people may have been sincere when they said they would worship the Lord, they fell away after Joshua’s death.  Why was this pattern repeated throughout their history? There is no easy answer for this question.  The Bible Hub says this: “Thus the repeated turning away in Judges 2:17 is a multi-layered outcome of cultural enticement, covenant negligence, generational shift, and innate sin-ultimately answered only by the transformative triumph of Christ.”
6. Why do so many Christians make commitments to the Lord only to fall back into a pattern similar to that of Israel? As with the above question, there are no easy answers. One possible answer is that some believers are carnal Christians and some are Spirit-filled. Each day we chose whether to walk in the flesh or walk in the Spirit. It’s also a matter of discipline. Those who practice the disciplines of the Christian life are more inclined to fall away less versus those who are lazy spiritually, not practicing those disciplines that keep our walk with the Lord strong. Ask group members what their thoughts are?