Joshua 24:14

“Now therefore fear the Lord, etc.] Since he has done such great and good things, fear the Lord and his goodness, fear him for his goodness sake; nothing so influences fear, or a reverential affection for God, as a sense of his goodness; this engages men sensible of it to fear the Lord, that is, to worship him both internally and externally in the exercise of every grace, and in the performance of every duty: and serve him in sincerity and in truth: in the uprightness of their souls, without hypocrisy and deceit, and according to the truth of his word, and of his mind and will revealed in it, without any mixture of superstition and will worship, or of the commands and inventions of men: and…”

“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth--After having enumerated so many grounds for national gratitude, Joshua calls on them to declare, in a public and solemn manner, whether they will be faithful and obedient to the God of Israel. He avowed this to be his own unalterable resolution, and urged them, if they were sincere in making a similar avowal, "to put away the strange gods that were among them"--a requirement which seems to imply that some were suspected of a strong hankering for, or concealed practice of, the idolatry, whether in the form of Zabaism, the fire-worship of their Chaldean ancestors, or the grosser superstitions of the Canaanites.”

“The gods - Whereby it appears, that although Joshua had doubtless prevented and purged out all public idolatry, yet there were some of them who practised it in their private houses and retirements. Your fathers - Terah, and Nahor, and Abraham, as Jos 24:2, and other of your ancestors. In Egypt - See Eze 23:3, Eze 23:8, Eze 23:19, Eze 23:21, Eze 23:27. Under these particulars, no doubt he comprehends all other false gods, which were served by the nations amongst whom they were, but only mentions these, as the idols which they were in more danger of worshipping than those in Canaan; partly because those of Canaan had been now lately and palpably disgraced by their inability to preserve their…”

“24:14 Put away forever the idols: Israel had not yet broken with the old polytheistic traditions of Mesopotamia beyond the Euphrates River, and some Israelites had added to their supply of gods while living in Egypt.”

“fear: Deu 10:12; Sa1 12:24; Job 1:1, Job 28:28; Psa 111:10, Psa 130:4; Hos 3:5; Act 9:31 serve: Jos 24:23; Gen 17:1, Gen 20:5, Gen 20:6; Deu 18:13; Kg2 20:3; Psa 119:1, Psa 119:80; Luk 8:15; Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24; Co2 1:12; Eph 6:24; Phi 1:10 put: From this exhortation of Joshua, we not only learn that the Israelites still retained some relics of idolatry, but to what gods they were attached. 1\. Those whom their fathers worshipped on the other side of the food, or the river Euphrates, i.e., the gods of the Chaldeans, fire, light, the sun, etc. 2\. Those of the Egyptians, Apis, Anubis, serpents, vegetables, etc. 3\. Those of the Amorites, Moabites, Canaanites, etc., Baal-peor, Astarte, etc. How…”