{"id":505,"date":"2025-11-29T08:11:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T06:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/?p=505"},"modified":"2025-11-29T08:11:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T06:11:52","slug":"lesson-13-december-20-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/?p=505","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 13 December 20-26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Choose This Day!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Weekly<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sabbath Afternoon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read for This Week\u2019s Study:<\/em> Joshua 24; Gen. 12:7; Deut. 17:19; Deut. 5:6; 1 Kings 11:2, 4, 9; 2 Tim. 4:7-8<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memory Text: <\/em>\u201c \u2018And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD\u2019 \u201d (Joshua 24:15<\/a>, NKJV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final chapter of Joshua is set in the context of a covenant renewal ceremony, but this time conducted by the aged leader of Israel. Although not a covenant itself but rather a report of a covenant renewal ceremony, the chapter has the elements of ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties: (1) a preamble in which the suzerain, the initiator of the treaty, is identified; (2) the historical prologue, which describes the relationship between the overlord and the vassal; (3) the covenant stipulations asking the vassal to manifest total allegiance to the suzerain based on, and motivated by, gratitude; (4) blessings for obedience and curses for breaking the covenant; (5) witnesses to the pledge of the vassal; (6) deposition of the document for future reading; and (7) ratification of the covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua is close to the end of his life; no replacement is on the horizon. The covenant renewal is a reminder to Israel that their king is Yahweh Himself and that, if they remain loyal to Him, they will enjoy His protection. Israel does not need a human king. As a theocratic nation, they have to ever keep in mind that their only king is the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Study this week\u2019s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Choose This Day!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Choose This Day! Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week\u2019s Study: Joshua 24; Gen. 12:7; Deut. 17:19; Deut. 5:6; 1 Kings 11:2, 4, 9; 2 Tim. 4:7-8 Memory Text: \u201c \u2018And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . But as for me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":506,"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdasomersetwest.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}