Okay, you can turn in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 23. Joshua chapter 23. As we come close to the end of this particular book, the Lord willing, we'll finish next Wednesday night with chapter 24, and then we'll take up the book of Judges. Remember the outline, the broad outline in the book of Joshua.
It is tasked with specific things. Verses or chapters 1 to 4, the people of Israel enter into the land of Canaan. Chapters 5 to 12, they conquer the land of Canaan. Chapters 13 to 21 indicates how they possess the land or they divide up the allotments for each of the particular tribes.
And then chapters 22 to 24, these last three chapters, deal with retaining or keeping the land. So I'll just pick up reading in chapter 23 at verse 1. Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them, I am old, advanced in age.
You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you. For the Lord your God is he who has fought for you. See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain to be an inheritance for your tribes from the Jordan with all the nations that I have cut off as far as the great sea westward. and the Lord your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land as the Lord your God promised you.
Therefore, be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them. You shall not serve them nor bow down to them. But you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.
For the Lord has driven out from before you great and strong nations. But as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand for the Lord your God is he who fights for you as he promised you. Therefore, take careful heed to yourselves that you love the Lord your God.
Or else, if indeed you do go back and cling to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go into them, and they to you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you.
All have come to pass for you. Not one word of them has failed. Therefore it shall come to pass that as all the good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you all harmful things until he has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you and have gone and served other gods and bowed down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you and you shall perish quickly from the good land which he has given you.
Amen.
Introduction to Joshua 23
So we're in that last section of retaining or keeping the land. Chapter 22, as we saw last week, the primary focus in that chapter was on pure worship or purity in worship. The Western tribes were suspicious of the Eastern tribes because they put up an altar. Well, it turned out that they did not put up the altar for sacrifice, but rather simply as a witness.
And in this, the Western tribes were happy. Everybody was happy. The peace and the unity of Israel was evident. And again, the emphasis there on purity and worship and on unity within the nation of Israel.
Here in chapter 23, it is Joshua's farewell address, and the emphasis here is on obedience. In order to retain the land, when we go into the land, purity of worship, unity among Israel, and then obedience. And in chapter 24, the overarching theme is covenant. So those are the means by which Israel would retain or would keep the land.
Unity and peace, purity and worship, obedience to the law of God, and faithfulness to the covenant that the Lord had imposed upon them. So that's how they will keep the land if in fact they can comply with these things that God speaks here. Now, as I said, chapter 23 is a farewell address. Oftentimes we see these sorts of things in the Bible.
Moses, we see it with Jacob, we see it, you know, in our earthly settings when a man is going to die, he calls for his family, he calls for his friends, and he instructs them or he passes on to them some parting words. The Apostle Paul does this in 2 Timothy chapter 4. He says, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. The last formal command that Paul gives to Timothy in terms of church life is on preaching the word.
So it's a pattern that we see throughout scripture and Joshua certainly complies with that pattern. There's three elements to his address here in chapter 23. The first is a reminder of God's presence and power. A reminder of God's presence and power with the nation of Israel.
This is very foundational and very important. for us to look back and see what God has done, and to see how He has shown Himself faithful, that steadies us in the present, and it gives us the oomph, as it were, to move on into the future, knowing that our God is faithful to the things that He has promised. So the reminder of God's presence and power, verses 1 to 5. Secondly, the necessity of careful obedience in verses 6 to 13. And then thirdly, the warning concerning God's judgment in verses 14 to 16.
So that's the three fold outline for this summary statement, or for this farewell address from Joshua in chapter 23. I mentioned, I think, to Roger last week, or recently, that we're coming to the end, and whenever we come to the end of a biblical book, you sort of feel like you're losing a friend. Now, I realize that Joshua's not actually alive and here with us, but in a very real sense, it's been like we've gone on the conquest with them. We've gone in and, not actually, but we have at least metaphorically and spiritually helped them kill people and break things and dispossess the land and divide the land and do all those sorts of things.
So it's always good to see how a man ends in a particular calling that the Lord has given him. And Joshua through and through has been a faithful man. He is called again in this passage or in this section, a servant of the Lord. He was faithful, the Lord God used Moses, and then Moses passed the baton by the command of God to this man Joshua and he truly is a faithful servant of the Lord.
Reminder of God's Presence and Power
So first notice the reminder of God's presence and power. Verse 1, it came to pass a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about that Joshua was old advanced in age, and Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them, I am old, advanced in age.
Joshua's Leadership and Legacy
Now, the land was not completely conquered at this point. In fact, in Joshua chapter 13 in verse 1, it tells us there that Joshua was advanced in age. Joshua was an old man. After making that statement in 13.1, it then indicates that there was land yet to be possessed.
And that's essentially what we have here in verse 4. There are still those places, there are still those parcels where the children of Israel need to fully dispossess the Canaanites from the land. I think there's a lesson here, particularly for us, that though the leader himself, though Joshua is advanced in age and he's going to die, this does not relieve Israel from the task and the calling that God has given to her. In other words, leadership is there to assist, to serve, and to help the people of God.
But once the leadership dies, or the leadership changes, or the leadership transfers, that does not change the mission of Israel. Israel needs to be faithful whether Joshua is there or not. Thankfully, he's been a faithful leader and a good model and an excellent commander of the armies of Israel. But in his absence, Israel must take seriously the particular task that the Lord has given to them.
Hess says in both chapters 13 and 23, a description of land not yet occupied by Israel, follows this introductory note. Joshua's death does not end Israel's responsibilities to occupy the land. And so Joshua is showing again faithful leadership. He's concerned about how the people function once he's gone.
That's a selfish man who says, I really don't care what happens after I'm gone. It's a selfish father, a bad father, a bad civil leader who does not care what society looks like when his term is ended. That would be horrific. If a father says, well, as long as I'm alive, I want you to toe the line.
Once I'm dead, I really don't care what you do. That's not the heart of a faithful man. And Calvin makes this comment concerning Joshua in this farewell address. He says, the pious solicitude of Joshua is here also set for the imitation of all who are in authority.
In other words, what Joshua evidences here ought to be imitated by those in leadership. Certainly, as fathers, we bear a responsibility, and mothers as well, to take seriously this admonition to prepare our children, not simply for when, you know, they leave our particular home, but for life. And not just as long as we live and we breathe, but even long after we're dead, we would hopefully train them up in the way they should go so that when they are old, they will not depart. Calvin goes on to say, for as the father of a family will not be considered sufficiently provident if he thinks only of his children until the end of his own life and does not extend his care farther, studying as much as in him lies to do them good even when he is dead.
So good magistrates and rulers ought carefully to provide that the well-arranged condition of affairs as they leave them be confirmed and prolonged to a distant period. In other words, what Joshua is doing here is a great model for those of us who have people that we need to teach or lead. Davis says, while passing on the testimony of God's deeds cannot guarantee the fidelity of the next generation. In other words, just because Joshua is doing this does not guarantee their faithfulness. just because you as a father or mother teach your children the fear of the Lord doesn't necessarily mean they're going to comply.
But look at what he goes on to say. He says, while passing on the testimony of Yahweh's deeds cannot guarantee the fidelity of the next generation, the failure to pass it on will guarantee their unfaithfulness. In other words, if we don't pass on, if we do not teach these things, if we do not instruct our children, if men in leadership do not faithfully proclaim the truth of God, they are setting their people up for a fall. And this is wrong, and it ought not to be the case.
Psalm 78 is just one in the Psalter that deals with this whole idea of educating and teaching the next generation. We need to be future-oriented. It may not be the case that we are going to see revival in our particular time, but we preach the truth, we pray the truth, we sing the truth, we do all of that to inculcate in the next generation a fidelity to the truth so that they will go and press on and maybe, God willing, He will pour out great blessing upon them. So Joshua is doing what a godly man should do in instructing these brethren in their particular responsibilities.
Demonstration of God's Power
Notice specifically his address in verses 3 to 5. He notes first the demonstration of God's power and presence. Verse 3, You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you. For the Lord your God is He who has fought for you.
It's literally, it is He who is fighting for you. It's not a past tense fought, it's a present participle fighting. It's not just that Yahweh fought for them when they entered in and conquered the land, but he continues to fight for them as they are his covenant people. Whether they are conquering, whether they are dealing with other nations, whatever the particular threat or enemy is, God the Lord has maintained His faithfulness in fighting for them.
You can see how this functions for the people in this context. You've seen it. Do not forget this. This is why we participate in the Lord's Supper.
We remind ourselves of the great acts of our great God so that it fires us up to walk by faith, to do those things that he has called us to do. They had seen the presence and power of God conspicuously displayed in the conquest. Remember when they marched around Jericho? Did they engage in military warfare?
Did they have the biggest bombs? Did they drive up in Bradley tanks and soar over in F-15s and F-16s? Absolutely not! What was their strategy at Jericho?
It was to obey God. They circled the city, and it was the Lord who brought that particular city down. They had seen the display and the power of the arm of God most high. They saw God bring victory at Ai in chapter 8.
According to chapter 10, we see God's power displayed in the southern campaign. It's conspicuous. He tells us he fought for them, he won for them. In the next chapters we see his activity, powerful in the northern campaign.
Chapter 13 in the remaining land. And then chapter 21, verses 43 to 45. We can review that. It's the theological summary of the entire book. 2143, so the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.
The Lord gave them rest all around according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.
All came to pass. So you see, Joshua's strategy is to remind them about their God. In other words, he begins with theology proper. He begins with God, and he begins with who God is and what he does.
This is always the great foundation stone. from whence we build. We need to understand and know who our God is, and it's based on that reality that we deal with the enemies that we have to deal with. It's a battle against sin. It's a battle against a difficult situation at work.
It's a battle. Know who God is. Understand that He's infinite, He's eternal, He's unchangeable. In His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
Understand what He's done, not just in your life, but in redemptive history as a whole. Think of the apostles' words in Romans 8. If God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up, how shall He not also with Him? freely give us all things. In other words, if he's done the greatest and brought the sword of justice to bear upon his son, certainly he's going to help you on Thursday.
Certainly he's going to be there for you in the midst of trial and difficulty. He's not going to abandon you. He doesn't crush the son of his love so that you can have pardon of iniquity and the imputation of righteousness so that you can flounder and suffer and die. Now, ultimately you might die, but you're going to be with the presence of the Lord.
It's interesting here, where does Joshua begin? He begins with God. This is where we always ought to begin, is with God. Notice He speaks of the possession of the land in verse 4.
See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain to be an inheritance for your tribes from the Jordan with all the nations that I have cut off as far as the great sea westward. And then He assures them in verse 5 of the Lord's presence. And the Lord your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land as the Lord, your God, promised you." You see, it's a done deal.
The Father has promised to give it to you. He's already given you the vast majority of it. All that remains is basically some mop-up missions in Canaan. Now, it's unfortunate when we get to Judges, all these good words that Joshua spoke in terms of the farewell address and this covenant ratification ceremony in 24, and the people swear their fidelity to Yahweh.
As soon as we get to Judges, we see the human condition. You need to understand that God understands that, God knows that, and God is teaching something to Israel. He is teaching them that they have a need for the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not, they will not, and they cannot obey God perfectly when they get into the land.
There's always this hope, there's always this longing, there's always this anticipation built in the old covenant scriptures waiting for the one that would come and would ultimately obey all that the Father had given him. So understand that macrocosmically. But microcosmically, we need to see what they were supposed to be doing. They were supposed to trust God.
They were supposed to believe God. And they were supposed to operate in light of those particular realities.
Necessity of Careful Obedience
Now, that brings us secondly to the necessity of careful obedience, verses 6 to 13. Here he sounds very much like we saw repeatedly in the book of Deuteronomy. It's not just obey, you know, just give it your best shot. Be careful.
Do not depart from the left or the right. Notice in verse 6, the first element he highlights is courage. He says, therefore, be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses. Go back to Joshua chapter 1 for a moment.
Joshua chapter 1. Remember that when they went into the land of Canaan, they weren't there to shoot pool with the Canaanites. I sometimes drive, I think it's Edwards Street, just close to here. That's where the lawn bowling is there.
They have a place where old people, elderly people, I shouldn't say old people, I'm gonna be there in a few years, I don't mind. If you call me an old person, I don't care actually, so I don't know why they would. Lawn bowling is where they just throw the balls. When I was a kid, my uncle was Italian.
He called it bocce balls. It was bocce balls. That's not what they were doing in Kenya. It doesn't take a lot of courage to go over there with some old folks and roll a ball on the grass.
But when you need to go in and dispossess a land from a people that have lived there for a long time, that have built houses, that have hewn out wells, that have grown vineyards, and they quite like their stuff, and they quite like the life that they have built for themselves. When you need to go in there and dispossess that land, it takes courage. God the Lord has promised, God the Lord has given this gift, God the Lord says that he is fighting for you, but nevertheless God the Lord is using the means of Israel and her strategy. And so when Israelites go into this land they need to be strong and they need to be of good courage.
They cannot cower They cannot be wimps. They cannot be afraid. They cannot be paralyzed and immobilized. The conquest and the division of the land requires courage.
The courage is founded ultimately not upon one's strength and one's ability, but upon one's God. And this has been a constant refrain in this book of Joshua. It's certainly book-ending, this particular book. Notice in Joshua 1 at verse 6, be strong.
This is Joshua's commission given by God. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage.
Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Do you know what we're seeing in essence? Joshua in chapter 23 is able to say, God told me to do this. By his grace, I've done it. And I want you now to go and do it.
OK? Joshua doesn't have a brand new message for the children of Israel in 23. Joshua has what God gave him in his calling, in his commission. In essence, Joshua 23 is this servant of the Lord saying, I have tried God and I have proven Him.
I have tested him and I have shown him faithful." He doesn't say it in those brazen terms, but that in essence is what we see. He has been given this charge, he has been given this commission, and he has lived in light of it. This is what he then commends to others. Joshua, what have you learned in this however many year career?
Well, he dies at the age of 110. What have you learned in those years? Well, I've learned I need to be strong and of good courage, and I need to obey God. You see, the message never changes, does it?
He wasn't innovative in chapter 23. He hadn't learned a bunch of new tricks along the way. Let me just share with you. No.
Here's what God told me. Here's what, by God's grace, I've done. And here's what brought us to this particular place. Here's what I'm going to tell you.
Go do the same thing. Don't stop doing it. Keep doing it. Is that ever bad counsel for the people of God to be strong and have good courage? to be careful about his law, to not depart left or right, but to be faithful and to be persevering and to be plotting on.
Joshua is a specimen of godly plotting, faithfully persevering, just like we saw with Caleb. Caleb says, through war and through wilderness, the Lord God has sustained me. Joshua could say the very same thing through war, through wilderness, through trial, through difficulty, through leadership nightmares. I mean, imagine leading the children of Israel.
There's instances when we get something about Moses along the way in the wilderness. This was not an easy task. Joshua had a very difficult situation. And yet what God told him was sufficient.
You see, I fear at times someone reads Joshua 1, 1 to 8 or 1 to 9. Could you imagine a military strategist reading this? Well, isn't the Lord going to give him special weaponry? Isn't the Lord going to equip him with all these, you know, bullets and all these sorts of things?
That's what the Lord's going to do. He's going to tell him, be strong, be of good courage and obey my law. How will that ever work? That's exactly what, if I can use the word, works.
It's obedience to the living and true God. And this is what the Lord commends. And this is what Joshua tells the people of Israel to be faithful in doing. The Eastern tribes commend the same thing to Joshua.
In chapter 1 verse 16, all that you command us we will do. wherever you send us, we will go, just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words and all that you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong. and of good courage.
There's a precedent in the book for what Joshua lays on these people here in chapter 23. It is the way, it is the means, it is that which God has decreed for success. And I say success in light of chapter 1. You will be successful and your way will be prosperous.
Not you're gonna get great big houses and big cars and a wife with big hair and a lot of thick makeup. That's not success, but God's blessing is certainly success, and the means by which the believer appropriates that is through faithfulness to his God.
Obedience to the Written Word
Notice he goes on to speak of the need for obedience. Verse 6b. Therefore, be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them.
You shall not serve them, nor bow down to them. But you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. Notice the necessity of obedience to keep and to do all that is written. Again, right out of Deuteronomy.
We could go to 6, we could go to 7, we could go to 10. Very specific, very particular injunction there, command to the people to be faithful to the word of God. And that is something we need to observe here. Notice in verse 6.
To do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses. The Book of the Law of Moses, that's the standard. That's the guide. That's their marching orders.
It's not the whim of Joshua. It's not what the priests think up. It's not what the other elders or the other leaders think might be a good idea for Israel. It must be to the law and the testimony.
It is the written word of God that is our standard. It is the written word of God that is our guide. And it is the written word of God that ultimately is our safety and our surety. Now there's times... when well-meaning believers like to add things to the Word of God or like to take things from the Word of God.
Our lives, our souls, our happiness, our perseverance does not ultimately rely upon well-meaning believers. It is to the law. It is to the testimony. It is to the scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments.
In this context, the Book of the Law of Moses, probably a specific reference to the Book of the Covenant, Exodus 19 to 24, or the entirety of the Book of Deuteronomy would have served that particular function very well. But it's important to see this. It's the law. It's God's work.
God alone is Lord of the conscience. God alone has the right to command people what to do and what not to do. Believers, as much as we may want to, if we have a preference that is outside of the Word of God, we can encourage people, we can try and help people, but we can't mandate to people what they should and shouldn't do. The Bible says, read the Bible.
Now someone might be predisposed to read the Bible at 6.10 a.m. every morning. If that person makes that a command for every other believer, They've overstepped their boundaries. In other words, a pastor could never stand in a pulpit and say, brethren, you need to read your Bibles at 610 AM. I want to wake up at 6 and know that everybody in the flock is reading their Bibles at 610.
That's hot wash. You say, that's an outlandish example. Well, there's probably some that are a lot closer to home that we need to guard against. It was the law of Moses that was the standard in Israel.
It is the scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments that is the standard for the New Covenant believer. As Chesterton said, if men will not be governed by the 10 commandments, they will be governed by the 10,000 commandments. God's law protects his people. It's a blessing.
If you doubt that, if you want to debate that, you can talk to Pastor Cam afterwards. No. Sometimes people hear this, they hear law and they hear commandments and they think bondage and they think straitjacket. No, it's liberty, it's joy, it's blessing, it's freedom, it's what God intended for his redeemed people.
Law and restraint imposed by a gracious and a good God upon his prone to wander, prone to leave the God they love people is a blessing. By Ernest Kevin's book on the law, a study of the Puritan view of the law, it's called The Grace of Law. It's a great idea. It's a great concept there.
And we need to understand that. That was the standard. for Israel in the Old Covenant. The standard for Israel in the New Covenant is the entirety of God's Holy Word.
Resisting Idolatry
Notice, the manner of obedience, verses 6 to 8, they were to resist idolatry. Notice, Verse 7, And lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you, you shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them. You shall not serve them, nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. So their manner of obedience must look like this.
You must resist idolatry. Idolatry is bad. Everybody with me on that? Idolatry is bad.
First two commandments tell you idolatry is bad. The children of Israel are cautioned against idolatry. In fact, go back to chapter 7 in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 7, verses 1 to 5.
Sometimes people hear about the Old Testament and they say, oh, that was barbaric that the children of Israel went in and killed all those nice Canaanites that were just chilling in their land. All those nice Canaanites were not nice Canaanites. They were sinful. They were rebellious.
They engaged in wicked and abominable practices. So the Lord God sent Israel in as a scourge and a judgment upon the Canaanites and as a blessing for his people. Now when Israel becomes Canaanite-ish, God does the same to them. In fact, just peeking ahead a little bit to the book of Judges, I picked up a commentary by Block is his last name.
I think it's Daniel Block. And I love the way he outlines the book in three broad categories. The canonization of Israel. Isn't that what Judges is all about?
The canonization of Israel. They become like Canaan. They don't stay faithful. They don't do what God tells them on the plains of Moab.
They don't do what Joshua swears them to in the covenant renewal ceremony in 24. As soon as they get into the book of Judges, we see this canonization process take place. It ends in just an abysmal situation. As history continues, what happens?
In the 8th century BC, Assyria comes and shuts down the northern kingdom. Right? And then in the 6th century BC, Babylon comes and shuts down the southern kingdom. So when Israel goes into the land and takes on the characteristics of the Canaanites, God deals with them too.
It's not like God's just this mean, capricious deity that doesn't happen to like Canaanites. No, they were wicked. and evil, and they deserved judgment." So God sends Israel. When He sends Israel, this is what He commands them. Notice Deuteronomy 7 verse 1.
When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you. And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. Now, there are some well-meaning and well-intentioned people that look at the New Covenant situation and see a parallel with Joshua and the conquest of the Promised Land. There's a parallel insofar as we as New Covenant believers are told to go and make disciples of all the nations.
But there is a fundamental disconnect in the way that we carry that out. In the Old Covenant, they were a theocracy. It was a manifestation of the Kingdom of God on Earth. And they were a physical people that were told to take the physical sword and cut physical heads off of physical Canaanites so they could take their physical vineyards and their physical houses and their physical land and they could dwell there temporally.
We are not supposed to do that in the New Covenant. Right? We do not take the physical sword and cut people's heads off. We preach the word of God.
We pray. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. The sword of the spirit is the offensive weapon that the Christian church wields today. not the battering ram, not the Bradley, not the F-15. So there is a discontinuity that exists between the Old and the New Covenants.
You have to appreciate that. The Holy War mandate is no longer binding upon the Israel of God. It terminated, it ended Once the Holy Wars were fought, the land was seized, and ultimately, the theocracy was shut down because of their disobedience. I want to make sure we know that.
I'm all for covenantal continuity, but I'm also for covenantal discontinuity, where it needs to be highlighted. So when we read this, don't say, hey, honey, or hey, hubby, whatever I got. Here's what we need to do tomorrow. We need to go kill people in Abbotsford and take their city for Jesus.
Please don't do that, okay? If you do that, I will testify against you at your trial, because there most certainly will be a trial. Anyways, verse 2. And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.
You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them, nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. So the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them.
You shall destroy their altars and break down their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images and burn their carved images with fire." They were to be a distinct people. They were not to make political treaties. They were not to engage in social intercourse. And they were certainly not to have any truck with them religiously.
So politically, different. Socially, different. Religiously, different. Why? because man is sinful.
And if the Israelites allow the Canaanites to worship Baal next door, it won't be long until the Israelite is bowing down to Baal right alongside their Canaanite neighbor. That is precisely what happens as they dwell in the land. So back to Joshua 23. They were to resist idolatry.
They were to love the Lord their God. Verse 8. You shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. This focuses upon, or this rehearses, or this calls to mind the Shema of Deuteronomy 6.4.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. The response to that is, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. You respond to this one God with love, with fidelity, with worship, with adoration. If you continue in Deuteronomy chapter 6, it tells them, or God through Moses, tells them certain potential problems that they would face in the land.
The first problem would be that they'd forget God because of affluence. In other words, when they enjoyed the bounty of the land, the tendency or the temptation would be to forget God, right? Because when you're drinking whatever they drank and when you're eating whatever they ate, why do we need God? We've just come to Costco.
I mean, you know, on a corporate level. The second problem was idolatry. Idolatry. The third was doubting God during times of difficulty or problems.
So you see, this is recurring. God knows the human condition, and he speaks very specifically to it. So they needed to resist idolatry. They needed to love the Lord their God.
Motivation: Grace and Fear of God
Notice the motivation for obedience in verses 9 to 13. The grace of God and the fear of God. This is why you ought to obey the standard. You ought to obey the law of Moses because he displayed his power in the defeat of all your enemies.
Verse 9. Why wouldn't you want to obey this God? Why wouldn't you want to honor this God? Why wouldn't you want to love this God, right?
Isn't this Paul's argument so that men will resist sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians chapter 6? He says, you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. If Christ has secured you body and soul, then do not join your body and soul to a harlot.
This is unconscionable and unthinkable. If God has done this great work of stopping your enemies, then the inevitable response is that you want to love Him and worship Him and adore Him. as well his kindness toward Israel as he who fights for you as he promised you in verse 10. You see, this is a motive for obedience to the law of God, the grace of God. Isn't this Paul's emphasis in Romans chapter 12 beginning in verse 1?
Therefore, beloved, I beseech you by the mercies of God, What does he say? He tells them to present themselves or to not be conformed to this world, but rather to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. Based on the reality of gospel blessing in chapters 1 to 11, this then is how you ought to live. The grace of God is a great argument for obedience to God.
We don't obey in order to get grace. We obey because we've been given grace. You see, that's the biblical norm. when it comes to our lives. We do not obey God so that He'll be predisposed to give us grace.
We obey God because He has lavished grace upon us abundantly in and through His dear Son. This is the progression in Ephesians 2, 8-10. You've been saved by grace through faith, not of works, lest anyone should boast." And then he says, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should do. We believe by the grace of God.
We're justified freely by his grace in order to do those good things. This is the same ethic that they had. in this covenant. He tells them, because God has done this, therefore obey Him.
Fear of God as Motive
But then notice the fear of God, verses 11 to 13. Therefore take careful heed to yourselves that you love the Lord your God, or else, if indeed you do go back and cling to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you and make marriages with them, 2 Deuteronomy 7, they were prohibited from. The man goes into Canaan. He takes a Canaanite wife.
It won't be long before he's worshiping her Canaanite god. This is a stepping stone to this calamity. This is a stepping stone to idolatry. This is why the New Covenant Scriptures mandate that we marry in the Lord.
This is absolutely crucial. Young people, you need to think in terms of these texts. You need to consider the implications of texts like these, that you don't run unsent or end up in a situation that dishonors the Lord God Almighty. Or else, if indeed you do go back, verse 12, and cling to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go into them, and they to you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations. from before you.
But they shall be snares, and traps to you, and scourges on your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you." Sounds prophetic now, doesn't it? Sounds prophetic. If you've read the rest of the Old Testament, you'll know that is prophetic. That is precisely what ultimately happens to these people.
Warning Concerning God's Judgment
Now finally, notice the necessity, I'm sorry, the warning concerning God's judgment. Look at verse 14. Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. Joshua says, I'm gonna die.
People are probably going, no, don't go. I mean, let's not forget the human element. I'm sure these people love this man. We love him, studied about him this many years after the fact.
Imagine having followed him into battle. Imagine seeing a man who exemplifies this kind of covenant fidelity. A man who in Chapter 1 is charged to do what he's now charging others to do in Chapter 23. A man whose life evidenced, not perfection, I mean that instance with the Gibeonites, evidences and imperfections. imperfection there in Joshua chapter 9 did not consult with the Lord you know he was a man just like we are men in terms of remaining corruption and all that but a faithful brother a servant of the Lord certainly when he says to the people here I am going the way of all the earth the people were probably a bit distressed at this reality and then notice and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you.
All have come to pass for you, not one word of them has failed." That is a tremendous statement concerning God's faithfulness, isn't it? Wouldn't that be a great place to end? Wouldn't that be a wonderful place to end? If Joshua was a church growth preacher in the 21st century, this is where he'd end.
He wouldn't go on. You wouldn't have a verses 15 and 16. 15 and 16 are kind of negative. We don't like negativity. You've got to end on a positive note.
We've got to have the crescendo, God's faithfulness. His words have not fallen. His words have been faithful and consistent. That's what you want to leave people with.
Don't be a negative Nelly and bring 15 and 16 to bear on these people. They don't need that. It's precisely what they need. Davis makes this comment.
After verse 14, we are ready to stand and sing in our finest devotional mood, great is thy faithfulness. But before we can strike the chord, Joshua preaches to us that Yahweh's faithfulness is a two-edged sword, that he is faithful both in grace and in judgment. Yahweh's fidelity is not displayed just in covenant blessing, but in covenant judgment as well. You see, Leviticus ends with 26.
Actually, it doesn't end there. That's not the last chapter, but it's one of the closing chapters. One of the closing chapters in Deuteronomy is chapter 28. You'll know what those chapters represent if you've read those sections of scripture.
Those are the curses for disobedience. Remember in Deuteronomy, if you go into the land, this will be your portion, and you're obedient, you're faithful, this will be your portion, this will be your lot, these will be the good things that you get. Deuteronomy 28, if you go into the land and you disobey the Lord, then it's going to be like entering into a house of horrors. It's going to be terrible.
There's going to be judgment. The Lord your God is an angry God, and He will bring to bear upon you those things that people don't like to think about, but what we must consider.
Covenant Curses for Disobedience
Notice in verse 15, It shall come to pass that as all the good things have come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods and bowed down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which he has given you." So the precedent, Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28, the offense, disobeying the Lord God Almighty, the warning is pronounced, his anger will rest upon you, and instead of dwelling in the land and enjoying all the good fruits of it, you'll be expelled from the land, the land will vomit you out, and you will be like the Canaanites. So you see, God's judgment, or God's faithful word rather, is not only there to bless, but it's also there to curse. It's not only there as a benediction upon the faithful, it is there as a malediction upon the faithless.
And that is precisely what Joshua brings to bear upon these people in Chapter 23. Now, as I said, next week, 24 is a covenant ceremony, a covenant renewal ceremony, and the people affirm their fidelity to this particular arrangement. So, God willing, we'll pick that up next week. Why don't I close in prayer and then we'll open up for discussion.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for this book of Joshua and the great things it teaches us concerning you, concerning theology, concerning your faithfulness and your goodness. And we just pray that you'd help us to see these things, help our hearts to be encouraged and and warmed, and as well, God, help us to be warmed against disobedience. We know that things are a bit different in terms of the covenantal arrangement, but you call us to faithful obedience as new covenant saints. And I pray that you would help us, that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit, and give us a love for your truth.
And we pray these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.