Sabbath School Lesson for December 20-26, 2025
Introduction of Lesson 13, Choose This Day!
Memory Text: ” ‘And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ ” Joshua 24:15 NKJV
Without a human replacement for Moses and Joshua waiting to take over leadership, the newly-created, theocratic nation of Israel would need more than ever to cling to their heavenly Commander and choose to serve Him only. There would still be many other gods trying to take His place in the promised territories they would be occupying. God’s people needed to maintain a firm commitment to the Creator, if they wished to continue occupying the land He had given them.
The last chapter of Joshua informs us of a covenant renewal ceremony that Joshua attended and addressed. After an historical recounting of their journey, Joshua once again outlined the blessings and curses that awaited them, depending on how well they maintained their allegiance to their heavenly Benefactor.
Joshua made his choice clearly known though. He and his household would choose to serve God.
- Sunday: You Were There!
- Monday: In Sincerity and Truth
- Tuesday: Free to Serve
- Wednesday: The Dangers of Idolatry
- Thursday: Finishing Well
Sunday: You Were There!
Shechem, where a covenant renewal ceremony took place with Joshua as main speaker for the event, was a religiously significant location for the children of Israel. It was located between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, where Abraham had first come to Canaan and entered into a covenant with God, and where many other covenant renewals had taken place (Genesis 12:6, 7). It evoked a place of choice for the Israelites, making it the perfect site to once again proclaim their determination to serve God only.
Joshua’s opening remarks included God many times. He used many phrases to show the actions of God: “I took”, “I gave”, “I sent”, “I plagued”, and “I brought you out”, etc. It was clear that it was God, not themselves, who had brought them to the place they now stood. And this was ample reason for them to choose to serve such a merciful, wonderful, glorious God.
Along with their fathers, each new generation must seek to learn about God and desire Him in their hearts. Furthermore, it’s important to remember that our individual decisions have the power to impact others as a whole, both now and in the future.
Verses and questions:
Joshua 24:2-6
- Who is the main character of Joshua’s narrative, and why is this so clearly expressed in his farewell address?
Joshua 24:7-13
- Why does Joshua switch back and forth in these verses, showing “they” (the forefathers) and “you” (the present generation)?
- How can we bring the lessons of the past to the attention of younger people, and why is it important to do so?
Monday: In Sincerity and Truth
In Joshua’s final appeal, he reminded them to have reverence for God, but most of all to serve Him “in sincerity and truth” (Joshua 24:14). We can only worship and serve him sincerely by doing it from an inward, heartfelt desire to show our love to God. Mere outward compliance to the law is never enough.
Serving Him in truth means in recognition of who God is. He showed Himself to Moses as Someone who is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). God’s faithfulness was seen in His constant, stable presence among them.
His people are therefore called to give Him their undivided attention, doing it from a faithful, compliant heart. Our service must reflect our undying love and thankfulness for who God is. Only then, will we be able to serve Him “in sincerity and truth” and convey His message of salvation to the world.
Verses and questions:
Joshua 24:14
- What kind of worship and service did Joshua express in his final appeal to the Hebrews gathered at Shechem?
- What kind of worldly distractions make it difficult to render true, sincere service to God, and how can we prevent them from doing so?
Joshua 24:15
- Why did Joshua express his personal choice of worship so freely and openly at this point?
- How can we be more open about whom we worship, and why is our individual choice and the expression of our choice so important?
Tuesday: Free to Serve
After Joshua expressed his firm stand to choose God. The people were so moved emotionally that they responded with a similar declaration of choice. Claiming God as their own, they made their choice known to love and serve God, at least at that moment.
Joshua still felt compelled to warn them again about the dangers of falling away from God. He knew their past tendency to choose other gods, and reminded them of the severe consequences of forgetting their commitment to Yahweh. Worshiping other gods would be the same as worshipping Satan, God’s archenemy–an offense that would make it impossible for God to forgive them.
Joshua’s response to their affirmation of faith was to make these points abundantly clear:
- Their decision was a serious one. They must fully understand the consequences of disobedience.
- Their choice must come from within themselves, not be encouraged or imposed by a leader over them (even Joshua himself).
- They didn’t have the power to do anything on their own. They must have a very close, personal relationship with God and depend on Him for the strength to follow through with their commitment.
Verses and questions:
Joshua 24:16-18
- Why was this response the natural one to follow Joshua’s declaration of faith?
- What may have been missing from their commitment to follow God?
Joshua 24:19-21
- Why do you think Joshua was still worried about their commitment after their positive response?
Wednesday: The Dangers of Idolatry
Despite the people three times declaring their allegiance to God and Him only, Joshua appeared to have some reservations about the strength of their commitment. He called for them to put away their idols, which we know some were secretly carrying with them through the wilderness and into Canaan. See Joshua 24:23.
Even people today tend to feel obedience is just about listening to God; but it’s actually about having a close, living relationship with Him. Simply legalistically following the rules is not the heartwarming experience God desires with His children.
We, too, must beware of making anything our idol–even the commandments and laws God gave to Moses. Each generation must guard against the danger of idolatry and the threat of legalism. There are many ways Satan has devised to entice us to worship something other than God. Let’s not take our commitment lightly, but constantly ask God to fight our spiritual battles.
Verses and questions:
Joshua 24:22-24
- Why did Joshua repeatedly give such an appeal for them to give up their idols?
- When did you promise to do something for God, but then didn’t follow through? How did God respond to your negligence?
Thursday: Finishing Well
Only one thing remained to be recorded by someone close to their beloved leader Joshua. The book concludes by mentioning Joshua’s death and burial site. He was 110 years old.
Along with his burial, they were finally able to bury Joseph’s bones, which they had carried with them all the way through the wilderness. Eleazar, Aaron’s son, also died and was sadly buried in a plot of ground owned by his son Phineas.
As one generation closes, another one rises up to take its place. But the faithfulness of God remains a link that binds the present to the future and enables us to carry on, despite the loss of our loved ones.
Someone has noted, however, that the church is always one generation away from extinction. Idolatry, and other forms of unfaithfulness, are always a threat to God’s people. To be sure, we don’t inherit faithfulness from our former leaders. We must cling to God’s promises and make them our own.
Verses and questions:
Joshua 24:29-33
- Why would it be important to have these deaths and burial sites recorded in the book of Joshua?
2 Timothy 4:7
- How did Paul live and end his life?
- What has the “good fight” been and felt like for you personally?
- What lessons can we learn from our struggles to “fight the good fight”?
Friday: Final Thoughts
With the ever-looming threat of idolatry on his mind, Joshua insistently pleaded for them to choose God and Him only. Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, spoke about such idolatry. He said, “Confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol…Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.” Luther’s Large Catechism; translated by John Nicholas Lenker (Minneapolis, MN: Luther Press, 1908), p. 44.
Recognizing, too, the worldview of society in biblical times, we understand that they viewed their individual choices as more impactful on the community at large than we do in modern times. But the tenor of the Bible, and in Joshua’s appeals, causes us to consider the importance of both individual and corporate responsibility, sensing the results that are felt from one generation to another.
Scriptures affirm this more expansive worldview. Paul said, for example, “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and this death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). And in Romans 5:18, we find, “Therefore, as through one man’s offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.”
What a blessing it is to have the freedom to choose whom we serve. Let’s all remember to make the wise choice by following the Man who loved us to His dying breath.
Next Week: Persecuted, but Not Forsaken
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