Old Testament - Joshua 23 & 24 - May 27 2022

 5/27/2022 – Joshua 23 & 24

Joshua 23

Joshua, as the current prophet for the Israelites, was their leader as they destroyed 31 Canaanite city-states. The inhabitants of Canaan at that time were ferocious and warlike. They were also idol worshipers, and their morality was very different from the morality found in the Lord’s scriptures.  And because of that, in this chapter Joshua brings all the Israelites together and speaks to them, leaving his advice and his warnings with his people. V 1 tells us that “the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about” and that “Joshua waxed old and stricken in age”. And that is why Joshua called them to all come together.

He reminds them of the way the Lord has helped them to obtain this land that He had promised them, and to drive out those who had fallen far away from the Lord’s teachings.  Joshua tells them “Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;” (v 3)  And then in vs 4-5 he warns them of the dangers that they may face: “That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them nor bow yourselves unto them; but cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day.” He goes on, in v 12, reinforcing his teachings: “Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them and they to you.” Then they shall be among “snares and traps”, and “scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from all this good land which the Lord you God hath given you.” (V 13)

Joshua 24

Joshua 24 is a continuation of Joshua’s warnings in chapter 23. He has called them together a second time as he feels his death is near. He goes over their ancient history, and the Lord’s teachings to them throughout all those years. Joshua covers the years of Abraham, and Isaac, and Moses, and the Israelites’ miraculous escape from Egypt, and he reminds them of Balaam (the prophet who tried to get around the Lord’s commandments and did not end well at all).

After those warnings, he then reminds them of what the Lord has brought them to as He has “given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. Now therefore fear (which also means honor) the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth” (v’s 13 &14) We, in our own time,  also find ourselves with blessings beyond our own actions. To me, that is one of the wonderful ‘perks’ that comes working to serve the Lord as He would have us do.

In v 15 he then tells them exactly what will work for them: “…choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

His people listened and told Joshua that they were very ready for follow the directions he had given them. They made a covenant that day, (v25) And then “Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God”, and Joshua even set up a large stone under an oak tree that would remind them of the of the solemn covenant they had made with the Lord. (v 26-27)

The Book of Joshua has a wonderful ending: “And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel.”…..Finally, they listened and did!


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