Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
End of life words can be very significant if coming from a person you have highly respected, am I right? In recent weeks we’ve looked at several of them and today let’s consider one more. Joshua is a remarkable man in the history of Israel, for he was the aide to Moses to whom the mantle of leadership was passed when Moses died.
Joshua was the man who led the Israelites across the Jordan river when God miraculously stopped the flow of the river while at flood stage. (Joshua 4) Joshua was led by God to wisely guide the elders of Israel in dividing up the land of God’s Promise as God’s land inheritance to the tribes of the nation of Israel. (Josh. 18,19) The closing two chapters of Joshua’s written account of these events are his farewell challenges to the Israelites and are insightful for us today.
Joshua 23 begins with these profound words: “After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, summoned all Israel – their elders, leaders, judges and officials – and said to them: ‘I am very old. You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done for you…” (Joshua 23:1-3) Do you see the important phrase which declares God Himself had given the people of Israel PEACE with the nations living around them? Do you see Joshua’s use of the word “enemies”?
The year Joshua wrote this was about 1375bc and then as now Israel was surrounded by nations which did not want Israel to exist. The people who live in those surrounding lands today are in many cases descendants of those who lived there then. What nations? Those which border Israel today are Lebanon to the north; Syria to the northeast; Jordan to the east; Saudi Arabia to the southeast and Egypt to the south. And of course, within Israel are the Gaza Strip and what is called ‘The West Bank’.
Living in many of those places are specific terrorist groups who have as their primary aim the destruction of Israel. Among them are Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS and others. And while not neighboring countries, several other nations are strongly supportive of those seeking the demise of Israel, including Iran and Turkey. In my view the re-establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 was a miracle of God, and each day of relative peace in Israel since then has been a miracle of God similar to Joshua’s day.
As we are seeing today, so it was in Joshua’s day, the ‘middle east’ has always been a very volatile region of our world, which like a powder keg is ready to erupt in violence at almost any time. This is why Joshua’s analysis statement is so significant: “the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them”. In his old age, with his leadership mission nearly complete, I find it interesting Joshua called the younger leaders to agree that their eyes had seen, and their lives had experienced the mighty work of God in bringing them into this Covenant land of God’s Promise and now into a season of peace.
As we look around the world today, how many other national leaders do you see who are calling the leaders of their country to acknowledge the role of God in their country’s history? Immediately after his recent election Mr. Mike Johnson, the newly elected speaker of the US Congress, has done this and he has been widely criticized by those insistent that God and the Bible should NOT be involved in politics or government leadership! What about you, my friends? Is there any part of your society which you believe will fare better if God is NOT involved in that aspect of life in your country?
Joshua’s farewell warning to his fellow leaders is significant and is rooted in the commission Joshua had received from God when he inherited the mantle of leadership from Moses. (Joshua 1:1-9) “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or the left. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve their gods or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God as you have until now.” (Joshua 23:6-8)
Do you hear the clear call to respect and obey the Word of God and to remain very careful not to be drawn into worship of the false gods of the nations around them? Do you see the wisdom of those words for you and me today, no matter where you live in the world? Do we understand the danger of attractive things and even people which would draw us away from God?
Then Joshua proclaimed this clear warning: “If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and you will perish from the good land the LORD has given to you.” (Joshua 23:16) The warning was clear, the leaders understood. God’s protection, provision and blessing was conditional on the leaders and people remaining faithful to God after Joshua’s death and in the generations to come.
Sadly, it didn’t take long for Joshua’s warning to become reality for Judges 2 tells us “After that whole generation had died, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what God had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger... and the LORD gave them into the hands of their enemies all around them, whom they were no longer able to resist… the hand of the LORD was against Israel, just as He had sworn to them. They were in great distress.” (Judges 2:10-15) What?
Within only a few generations the Israelites did not know about God’s great miracles in delivering their ancestors from Egypt. They didn’t know about the Red Sea escape, or their year at Mount Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments from God, or their miraculous crossing of the Jordan river with Joshua into the land of God’s Promise? How could that happen?
Oh, my friends, it happens easily. When the older generation refuses to tell the younger generations the wonders of God, refuses to tell their God stories, refuses to call their children and grandchildren to know God… then a generation grows up like these Israelites who do not know God and are living their lives in rebellion against God.
And when that happens, God removes His hand of blessing and protection from those people and their lives, their marriages, even their societies fall apart! It happened to Israel not long after Joshua’s death, is it happening in your country and mine?
Let’s pause and ponder Joshua’s warning and the disaster which followed and let’s ask God to help us see the city and nation in which we each live as He sees our homelands. Are we in trouble of God’s approaching judgment because we’ve abandoned Him? Here’s a song to help us consider this and tomorrow we’ll see Joshua’s second and final farewell to the people and their response.
Today’s Scriptures are Joshua 23; Judges 2.
Choose below to read or listen.
Joshua 23
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Judges 2
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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