Weddings are a beautiful picture of Christ's relationship with His Bride, the Church. But when the vows and promises of a marriage covenant are made, they are relating to an exclusive relationsip between husband and wife alone.
Before Joshua dies, he leads the people in a renewal of their covenant vows with the Lord. He gives than a history of how the Lord had been faithful to them for centuries – In Egypt, through the wilderness, and in the Promised Land – even though they had not always been faithful to Him.
What should their response be? They should serve the Lord! (verse 14) Joshua is calling them to fear the Lord and serve Him with integrity and truth. He will not share His glory with another. So Joshua tells them that they can't have their hearts divided between God and idols. He tells them that this day, they need to decide who they will truly serve. They could not pretend to worship the Lord when they were also serving idols behind closed doors.
In heaven, there is only one throne and one King. And Jesus will not share His Bride with any other rival! He is holy, and we must be truly devoted to Him alone.
The truth is, however, we mess things up – just as the Israelites did. This is not a passage that calls us to moralism or bootstrap theology. We need a Joshua! Our Savior came to earth and kept the law perfectly for us. Let's pray for grace that our hearts may not be divided and that we may love Jesus Christ alone!
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