"You Can't Serve Yahweh." "Yes We Can!"

“You Can’t Serve Yahweh” “Yes We Can!”
JOSHUA 24:1- 33

I often get students to talk about whether they like the God of the Old Testament, and I usually get one of three responses. There are people who have no hesitation about saying they do, and they refer to God’s love, mercy, and faithfulness, which the story indeed illustrates, but they seem to have sidestepped the tougher aspects of the way the Old Testament speaks. Then there are people who are deeply troubled by its references to God’s wrath and are inclined to contrast the Old Testament God of wrath with the New Testament God of love, as if the New Testament God was not wrathful. And there are people who try to hold together the two sets of data. (There are also people who avoid the question by saying that they love God, which is rather a different issue.)...