The Death of Joshua

“After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten… The Israelites served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.” (Joshua 24:29, 31)

Joshua lived to be one hundred and ten years old. According to Jewish tradition, he governed the people for nearly thirty years. Knowing there were still many idols hidden among the people, he challenged them near the end of his life, saying, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,” and declared, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Although the Israelites would face many weaknesses, stumbles, and failures in the future, the generation of elders who lived during Joshua’s time and after his death served the Lord. This generation had personally experienced God’s salvation, protection, and victory. They knew God was the only God they could rely on and would never dare to abandon Him to serve other gods. However, their compromises with the Canaanites led to the next generation quickly “forsaking the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt, and following other gods” (Judges 2:12).

God did not appoint a successor to Joshua. Instead, He arranged for Phinehas to succeed his father Eleazar as the high priest, maintaining the people’s communion with God. In the subsequent era of the judges, God would lead His people in a completely different way, teaching them to honor Him as King and live in the Promised Land by obeying His Word, even in a period of decentralized governance. During the entire time of the judges, God did not have the people follow one central leader. Instead, He had each tribe honor Him as King: when a tribe went astray, God would raise up an enemy to discipline the rebellious people; and when a tribe repented, God would raise up a judge to save them.