Covenant Renewals

At Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with all the descendants of Abraham for all time. However, He knew well that fallen human beings were and are prone to abandon their God, especially those of new generations who have not witnessed His mighty acts. Thus, God made provision for the covenant to be renewed from time to time, and we see several such ceremonies in Scripture. For instance, Moses commanded the covenant renewal ceremony we saw in Joshua 8, and he later instituted a regular renewal ceremony for the days when Israel would be settled in the land (Deut. 31:9–13). And he actually led the people in a renewal ceremony as they camped on the plains of Moab prior to crossing the Jordan into Canaan (Deut. 29). This was a time of great transition for Israel, for Moses was about to die and pass the leadership to Joshua, and the nation’s years of desert wandering were about to end. Thus, Moses called the people together and, reminding them of all that God had done on their behalf, he challenged them to “ ‘keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do’ ” (Deut. 29:9).

Years later, following Moses’ example, Joshua also conducted a covenant renewal ceremony at another critical point in Israel’s history. Just as Moses had called the people to a recommitment to the covenant at the point when he was about to die, Joshua called all Israel to covenant renewal as his own death approached. The wars of conquest had long since ended and Joshua was quite old (Josh. 23:1). He carefully recited all that God has done for Israel in bringing it into the land and giving it rest from its enemies. Therefore, he said, they should strive “ ‘to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses’ ” (23:6a), to “ ‘hold fast to the LORD your God’ ” (23:8a), and to “ ‘take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God’ ” (23:11). Most of all, they should “ ‘fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!’ ” And if they were unwilling to serve Him, they should choose who they would serve (Josh. 24:14–15). But Joshua made it clear that he and his house would serve God alone, for covenant obedience brings blessing while disobedience brings curse.