Ds Hein Barnard
Forgiveness – Day 5
Shechem was an important place for worshipping pagan gods before and during the time of Joshua. This has now become the place where Israel renewed the covenant with God – a change from what was normal.
Itekisi yeBhayibhile
The renewal of the God’s covenant with the Israelites at Shechem
This covenant renewal ceremony had the following elements:
The preamble – verse 2 The historical prologue – verses 2-13 Stipulations – verses 14-24 Written record – verse 26 Witnesses – verses 26-27, also verse 22 Blessings and curses – implicit in the whole chapter, especially verse 20
Joshua reminded the people that God cannot be served casually or with divine assistance. He reminded them that unfaithfulness would be corrected. This is still true today – we pay for wrong choices, advice, words and other deeds.
