POINTS TO PONDER

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, summoned all Israel — their elders, leaders, judges and officials — and said to them: "I am old and well advanced in years. You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain — the nations I conquered — between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. The Lord your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.


"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 to 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 them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

"The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

"But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

"Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. But just as every good promise of the Lord your God has come true, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land He has given you. If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."

Joshua 23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Before Moses died, Joshua was appointed as the new leader of Israel and tasked by God to "cross the Jordan River into the land" He was giving Israel. God promised Joshua He would "give (him) every place where (he) set (his) foot, as (He had) promised Moses". Israel’s territory would "extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates — all the Hittite country — to the Great Sea on the west" and no opposition would be able to "stand up against (Israel) all the days of (their lives)". Additionally, God told Joshua to, "Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:1-5, 7-8)


Well, Joshua did all that God commanded. He took Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. He was strong and courageous, confidently leading Israel to victory in every conflict because he knew that God had assured him that He would be there. He made sure Israel didn’t forget God’s laws, commandments and the expectations brought by both. And after all of Canaan had been defeated, Joshua presided over the division of the land between the twelve tribes of Israel. Indeed, Joshua had done a lot and did it all obedient to God’s will.

As Chapter 23 opens, we see where Joshua’s life is drawing to a close. He has run the good race and persevered through difficult, challenging times but knows that time is running out.

Scripture tells us that "a long time had passed" since "the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them" and this had left Joshua "old and well advanced in years". The leader of Israel, sensing his death was imminent, "summoned all Israel — their elders, leaders, judges and officials" and gave to them what would essentially be his farewell address saying:

"I am old and well advanced in years. You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain — the nations I conquered — between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. The Lord your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you. 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 to 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 them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now. The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God. But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you. Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. But just as every good promise of the Lord your God has come true, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land He has given you. If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."

In this address, Joshua hits on several key points that not only were intended for Israel to remember but us as well. Let’s take a look at them:

1. The Lord fights for us.

Scripture assures us that the battle is not our but the Lord’s. (1 Samuel 17:47). We need not feel like we walk onto this battlefield of life with out the most powerful Ally one could ever have fighting alongside. Just as Israel had been already guaranteed victory because God was with them, so too do we ever have the victory as long as we are strong and courageous, buoyed up with the confidence that God is with us…24/7…365 days a year. Friends, we need not fear ANYTHING here on earth for no one or no thing is greater than the Lord…the Lord who never is afraid to enter battle for us.

2. Be strong and careful to obey.

Strength and obedience are critically important partners. You can’t be obedient to the level God expects unless you have strength because Satan wants just the opposite from what God does. He sole purpose is to weaken you so you will fall into disobedience and violate any or all of God’s expectations. So we must be strong if we’re going to even have a chance to obey. And where do we get the strength to withstand Satan? Definitely not from ourselves that’s for sure. Paul definitely knew that because he wrote these words in his letter to the church in Philippi:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". (Philippians 4:13)

Paul knew that through Christ’s strength he could do anything. We can too, including withstanding Satan and remaining obedient to the Lord.

3. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Joshua gave Israel a stern warning to not allow the people who had survived the conquest of Canaan to adversely influence them into worshipping false gods. He knew because God knew that Israel were going to ultimately pay the price for not wiping out everything in Canaan. When they left a remnant, they opened themselves up for being enticed and tempted to adopt the sinful actions of the Canaanite survivors, turning from God and losing His help in defeating any future adversaries. Why would Israel end up seeing their northern and southern kingdoms decimated and defeated by the Assyrians and Babylonians respectively? Because they turned aside to the right or the left from God to worship gods that didn’t even exist.

Today, we still deal with temptations and enticements that would seek to turn us aside from God. In fact, we will never be free from them until the blessed day when Jesus calls us home. So how do we ensure we stay on the straight and narrow path of righteousness? We can refer back to points one and two.

First, we need to remember that God is walking right along with us. We need only to turn to Him and He will make sure we stay on the right path of life…the same path that He walks.

Secondly, we will walk this path for a long time and will need strength to persevere and ward off Satan’s attempts to try and get us to go astray. The good news is that through Christ Jesus, we have all the strength we will ever need. We need only remember that and turn to Him always.

4. Hold fast to the Lord.

Israel faced a myriad of challenges as they entered the Promised Land to carry out God’s command. They were in an unknown place and were expected to battle and fight unknown enemies with their only assurance being that God was with them and would aid them in everything He called them to do. If Israel were to be successful, they had to hold fast to the Lord.

Our lives are full of challenges as well. In fact, we never know what any day might bring. But isn’t it comforting to know that God is ever with us? We never need to feel like we’re alone because we’re not. He is there, every step of the way. We only need to hold fast to Him, just as a young child holds fast to the hand of a parent. To let go might mean they could become lost and vulnerable to danger. Nothing changes as we become adults except we’re bigger children who ever need to hold onto the hand of our Heavenly Father. Rest assured, He will never let go of your hand as long as you hold fast.

5. Be careful to love the Lord.

When it all comes down to it, everything point mentioned in this devotional comes down to one word…love. For if we truly love the Lord with all our heart…with all our mind…with all our soul…and with all our strength…then we will understand the power and strength in the Lord’s love for us, a love reflected in the death and resurrection of Jesus, our Savior. We will obey the Lord because we love Him so much we never would want to disappoint Him…we will not turn from Him because we desire His love more than anything else…and in not turning from Him we will hold fast onto Him, holding on so hard that no one will ever be able to wrestle us away.

Joshua left Israel with these cautions because he wanted Israel to continue to experience the rest they were now enjoying after all the battles they had endured. He knew that if they only heeded what he said, then they would remain in God’s favor and providence.

My prayer in writing this today is that you will experience your own personal rest…a rest found in the peace of knowing you are led, strengthened and loved by such a wonderful, powerful, loving Lord who wants the best for you always. May you heed His word and will and always follow in His ways so that you, like Israel, might remain in His favor and providence all the days of your life.

In Christ,

Mark

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