Joshua 24:14

"Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve ye Jehovah. And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose ye this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah."

These two verses place the decision squarely up to Israel. They must choose between serving the pagan gods of their early ancestors which the patriarchs (some of them) worshipped beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites whom Jehovah had driven out of their land to provide an inheritance for Israel, or they must choose Jehovah.

"The gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell ..." (Joshua 24:15). What a "reductio ad absurdum" this is! He seems to say, "If you had served those gods, you would not be here, nor would the Amorites have been driven out before you."[29] We also offer in this connection the inspiring words of Plummer:

"Joshua invites the people as Elijah did on an even more memorable occasion, to make their choice between the false worship and the true, between the present and the future, between the indulgence of their lusts and the approval of their conscience ... No desire to stand well in the eyes Israel, no temptation of this lower world to pervert his sense of truth deters him. The experience of a life of service to Jehovah have convinced him that Jehovah is the true and only God, and from that conviction, the venerable warrior does not intend to swerve"[30]

What is taught in these two verses is absolute loyalty to the sovereign Lord, involving, of course, the putting away of all false gods. Morton pointed out that this corresponds exactly to the ancient form of the old suzerainty treaties, in that, "The historical prologue is followed by a statement of covenant obligations."[31]