TURN TO GOD AND GOD ALONE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the Lord's commands. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, He was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to Me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did." The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; He did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Judges 2:16-23, 3:1-6

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

Looking back in the history of the Israelites, when they needed someone to deliver them from the oppression of the Egyptians, we find the Lord selecting Moses, partnering with him to get the Israelites to the brink of entering the Promised Land. Then, before Moses died, the Lord selected Joshua to lead Israel across the Jordan River and into battle in Canaan, partnering with him to guide Israel into victory against any and all adversaries so they could take custody of the land He was giving them. And once the fighting was nearly over and the land was divided amongst the twelve tribes, Joshua too died.

Given this, who would be next to lead Israel? Or did God’s people not need a leader now that they were settled into their respective cities and territories?

Well, as we look at today’s scripture passage, the second now in the Book of Judges, we find answers to both of these questions.

First, we read where “the Lord raised up judges who saved” Israel from those who were attacking and raiding them. And once appointed, these judges would govern Israel as God’s appointed leaders…just as Moses and Joshua had before them. In fact, Israel would be ruled by judges from this point forward until they ask the Lord for a king to rule them, the governing model they saw in other nations. We will see that they get what they asked for in a man named Saul but for now, the answer to the question regarding who would lead the Israelites is the judges.

Secondly, we read where Israel was a stubborn, obstinate people who could never seem to attain any semblance of spiritual integrity. Instead, they decided to consistently fail in the area of obedience.

The scriptures tell us that when a judge would die, “the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers”, following “other gods and serving and worshiping them” while refusing to “give up their evil practices and stubborn ways”.

We should note that Israel’s sinful behavior was not just limited to after a judge would die. No, in our passage we see that “even when the judges were in charge, Israel refused “to listen” and “prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them”. They “turned from the way in which their fathers had walked” which was “the way of obedience to the Lord's commands”.

So did Israel really need a judge?

The answer has to be a resounding “Yes!” For the people of God definitely needed sound spiritual leadership from someone who was well versed in God’s Word and ways…someone who could be the voice of the Lord to the people. The judge fit that job description for the Lord was always with them while they ruled, with them to save His people “out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived.” He did so because He had “compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them”.

Well as you might imagine, God wasn’t very pleased with His people as they broke His first and primary commandment to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). And so in anger, He told them this:

“Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to Me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did."

In support of this proclamation, the Lord “allowed…nations to remain” and “did not drive them out”. They included the following:

“…the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath”.

The scriptures tell us that these nations were left by the Lord to “test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands” and unfortunately, they failed miserably. We know this because Israel “lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites”, taking “their daughters in marriage” and giving “their own daughters to their sons” while serving “their gods”. You’ll remember how God had warned His people against allowing survivors during their conquest of Canaan because it would result in them being adversely assimilated into sinful Canaanite worship practices (i.e. worshipping foreign gods). God could see the danger ahead well before anyone else but Israel failed to heed His warning…and found themselves out of His favor as a result.

This left me pondering the world we live in today. After all, it isn’t like God has taken away anything that might adversely influence Christian believers toward disobedience to God’s Word, will, and way. Actually, far from it.

For we are in the world and surrounded by sinners and their sinful behaviors and practices. There is always a constant temptation to assimilate with them and be drawn into disobeying God’s commands and expectations through doing things that would lead us down the road of destruction and out of favor with our Lord…just as Israel did.

So how do we withstand the constant urges that would entice us to abandon God’s way for the ways of sin?

The bad news is that we can’t if we turn from the Lord and His Word because it’s Him and Him alone who provides us with the strength and power to defend ourselves, standing firm against Satan and his tempting ways.

So in closing, don’t try to fight sin on your own because you will fail and fail miserably. Instead, turn to God at all times and in all situations for He will never guide you wrong and will always protect you. Through Him, you can be assured you’re living a life that is pleasing in His eyes and my friends, there is no better life for us…no other life that God desires…outside of that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE COST OF LOSING A GENERATION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"

The Lord answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."

Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.

When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the western foothills. They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.

Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah. The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each city with its territory.

The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day, the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed Me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he 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 fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In His anger against Israel, the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Judges 1, 2:1-15

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

After Joshua’s death, we see where there is some unfinished business for Israel as there were still some Canaanites living in the land. The scriptures tell us that the tribe of Judah was selected by God to go into battle and the tribe of Simeon joined them in victory as the Lord gave “the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands”. The combined Israelite forces “struck down ten thousand men at Bezek” and during the fight, the enemy king, Adoni-Bezek, “fled” but was captured, his thumbs and big toes” cut off.

Why?

Adoni-Bezek offered the answer himself when he said:

“Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them."

Here we learn that Adoni-Bezek’s crippling fate was the same as he had inflicted on many other kings and after he was maimed, the scriptures tell us that he was taken to Jerusalem where he died before the “men of Judah attacked Jerusalem…and took it”, putting “the city to the sword” and setting it on fire.

After conquering Bezek and Jerusalem, we read where “the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the western foothills”, advancing “against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba)” and defeating “Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai” before going against “the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher)”. Following this series of victories, “the men of Judah” joined up with the “descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite” who “went up from the City of Palms…to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad”.

Then, it was back to war for the men of Judah and Simeon as they “attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath”, totally destroying the city before also finding conquest over “Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron — each…with its territory”. All along the way, “the Lord was with the men of Judah” who “took possession of the hill country, but…were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots”.

Given this, we know that not all Canaanites were removed from the Promised Land as God had commanded and in addition to Judah, we learn that the tribes of Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali also failed to completely get rid of them. In sum, this failure to comply with the Lord’s commands brought very serious consequences for the Israelite people as an “angel of the Lord” went up from Gilgal to Bokim to deliver the following message:

“I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed Me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

These words from the angel brought great fear and distress to the Israelites who “wept aloud” and “offered sacrifices to the Lord”.

Well moving forward, the remaining Canaanites would indeed be a thorn in the side of Israel, consistently leading them into sinful living and disfavor with God. But something else happened that was as bad if not worse that the judgment passed.

For the scriptures tell us that “after that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel”. In other words, the Israelites not only ignored God’s command to have no other gods before Him but they also failed to teach their children about the rich heritage and history of their ancestors, ancestors who had been blessed so dearly by God. So as a result, a whole generation lived that didn’t know the Lord.

What a sad and dark time in the history of Israel that must have been!

With this, we should ask ourselves if we are any better off today. For how many children are being raised with no knowledge of the Lord in their life and thus growing up with no understanding of who He is, what He has done, and what He is yet to do?

So what might the numbers look like today?

Consider that there are eight billion people in the world today and only two billion are Christians. You can do the math and see that three-fourths of the world’s children are not being raised to know the Lord in their lives. This is actually more disturbing than what we’re reading about in today’s passage and unfortunately, the consequences we see happening in ancient Israel are the same happening now.

For going back to our passage, we see where the Lord led the Israelites to do “evil in the eyes of the Lord”, serving the false gods Baal (the fertility god of the Canaanites) and Ashtoreth. The people of Israel has forsaken “the Lord, the God of their fathers”, deciding to follow and worship “various gods of the peoples around them”. Not surprisingly, their actions “provoked the Lord to anger” which led Him to hand them “over to raiders who plundered them” and sold them to “their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist”. God’s hand was against Israel “whenever (they) went out to fight” and this obviously left them “in great distress”

Now…let’s come back to present times where I think we can see a preponderance of evil in our world. One need only either watch or read the news to know this.

Why is this happening?

Well, it definitely could be attributed to what happened back in the days of ancient Israel because people who don’t know the Lord are destined to do evil and as we covered before, three-quarters of the world are not in Christ Jesus.

In the end translation, past or present, a person can only have one of two masters: either God or Satan. Each competes for our souls and we decide who gets to win out. If that’s the devil, then a person can expect to receive the Lord’s consequences which, like the Israelites, will bring great distress. Conversely, to choose the Lord will bring an abundant bounty of blessing.

Friends, there is little doubt that we need to wake up and start to learn from the mistakes of the biblical past. A great starting point would be to turn the tide on the evil in the world by educating everyone from the youngest to the oldest on the ways of the Lord. EVERYONE should know Him and what He has done, is doing, and is yet to do. If we can make both of these things happen, then we will see people turn away from evil toward living in the righteous and holy ways that God expects as they live to please Him and Him alone.

The time for this is now because we can’t afford to lose even one more generation.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

YIELD YOUR HEART...AND EVERYTHING ELSE TO GOD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God Himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God."

Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after He has been good to you."

But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the Lord."

Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord."

“Yes, we are witnesses," they replied.

"Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel."

And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him."

On that day, Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws. And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord.

"See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God."

Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.

After these things, Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.

And Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.

And Eleazar, son of Aaron, died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

Joshua 24:16-33

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

As the Book of Joshua ends, it does so with the passing of Joshua.

As leaders of Israel go, Joshua was about as good as one could expect, staying obedient and faithful to the Lord’s service while not only guiding Israel into Canaan but seeing them through the conquest of the land…a land that was their inheritance from God.

It was this God that Joshua spent his final moments focusing on and urged the Israelites to do likewise. You may recall how Joshua told God’s people at the start of this chapter that they had a choice to make. They could choose to follow God or reject Him in exchange for any number of false gods that were worshipped by the Canaanites. Indeed, they could decide to follow whatever god they wanted but Joshua left no doubt as to who he was going to follow. For in yesterday’s message, we found him making this declaration:

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (24:15)

Well, feeling challenged (and maybe a bit obligated) to openly confess their loyalty to God, we read where the Israelites told Joshua:

“Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God Himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God."

Unfortunately, Joshua knew Israel’s ways all too well and so it’s easy to see how he was skeptical for this wouldn’t be the first time they had promised to do something only to just turn around and not make good on their word. So we find Joshua testing them with the following reply:

"You are not able to serve the Lord.”

In other words, Joshua was essentially telling his brothers and sisters that they hadn’t shown a consistent ability to follow God’s will and way, remaining obedient to His will over their own…and so he saw them as destined to fail in keeping their vow.

You know, I can’t help but wonder if Joshua’s words shouldn’t resonate with many believers today as well. For how often do Christians promise to serve God and follow His ways only to turn around and serve their own selfish desires instead? I’m sure the Lord feels disappointed over and over again from our disrespectful behavior for He deserves better from us, for sure. After all, He gives us His best so why is it so hard for us to not give Him our all in return?

As we continue to look at what Joshua had to say, we see him underscoring why the Lord should be respected, revered, and followed unconditionally As the Book of Joshua ends, it does so with the passing of Joshua. As leaders of Israel go, Joshua was about as good as they got, staying obedient and faithful to the Lord’s service while not only guiding Israel into Canaan but seeing them through the conquest of the land…a land that was their inheritance from God.

It was this God that Joshua spent his final moments exhorting and urging Israel to do likewise. You’ll recall how Joshua told Israel at the start of this chapter that they had a choice to make. They could decide to follow God or choose to follow any of a number of false gods. Indeed, they could choose to follow who they wanted to but Joshua left no doubt before his people as to who he was going to follow. For you’ll recall he said, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (verse 15)

Feeling challenged and maybe a bit obligated to openly confess their loyalty to God, we read where the Israelites told Joshua, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God."

Joshua knew Israel’s ways all too well. This wouldn’t have been the first time they said they would do something only to just turn around and not make good on their word. So Joshua tested them with his reply saying, "You are not able to serve the Lord.” In other words, you haven’t shown the consistent ability to follow God’s will and way, remaining obedient to His desires over your own.

I can’t help but wonder if Joshua’s words don’t resonate with many believers today as well. How often do we say we will serve God and follow His ways only to turn around and serve our own selfish desires instead? Sometimes I think God must just look down on us and shake His head in frustration and disappointment.

For God deserves better from us. In fact, God gives us His best so why is it so hard to give Him anything less than ours? Joshua’s further words tell Israel and us why God should be respected, revered and followed unconditionally whether it was ancient Israel or us today. For we read (and are reminded) that the Lord is a holy and jealous God, expecting His people to worship and serve Him and Him alone. To that end, He has shown that insubordination won’t be tolerated and be met with consequences. Both then and now, He will not overlook any rebellious sin manifested by His people.

The bottom line is that anytime the Israelites forsook God by worshipping false gods, they saw disaster fall upon them and we shouldn’t expect to be any less disciplined by our Heavenly Father today if we choose to go down the same path…the wide path that leads to destruction through willful sinful behavior.

Well, the people of Israel didn’t allow Joshua’s testing to deter them, replying with this:

“No! We will serve the Lord."

And so Joshua, knowing he wouldn’t be around to remind them of what they had said on that day, made all of Israel witnesses against themselves…witnesses to their promise to serve the Lord and the Lord alone. He then left them with a final challenge to “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel."

Yield your hearts to the Lord.

What an awesome, powerful command spoken by Joshua to the people of Israel and to us. For isn’t this really where we find the rubber meeting the road in regard to faithful, obedient service?

Friends, the only way we can truly serve God in accordance with His will for us, is if we submit and surrender our hearts to Him…not in part but in whole. After all, isn’t this at the center of the greatest commandment…the one given by Jesus when He was asked about it during His ministry?

Here’s a reminder of what He said:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30

In other words, we’re to love Him with every fiber of who we are…just as He loves us with all that He has.

Joshua died knowing he and his household were fully committed to God.

How about you as you read this message today? Where do you stand?

Have you fully yielded your heart to the Lord? Do you love Him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength?

My prayer is that we all might consider renewing our covenant relationship with God today, recommitting every part of ourselves to Him. And when we do this, my hope is that we will yield our hearts while proclaiming these very same words of the people of Israel:

"We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him.”

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.’

'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. But they cried to the Lord for help, and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians; He brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.’

'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. When Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.’

'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.'”

“Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:1-15

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

As the final chapter of Joshua opens, we see Israel’s appointed leader assemble “all the tribes of Israel at Shechem”, calling all “elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel” who “presented themselves before God”. It’s before this gathering that Joshua shares his last message from God…a message intending to remind Israel about what God had done for them and what He would expect from them in return. God’s message was as follows:

“Long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.”

“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. But they cried to the Lord for help, and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians; He brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.”

“I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. When Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.”

“Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.” Joshua 24:2-13

Indeed, God had done much for Israel to be where there were and have what they had. It was clear that He didn’t want them to forget that their blessings had come from Him and Him only.

After sharing God’s message, Joshua underscored it with his own powerful words, particularly in regard to following God. Let’s look at five major points he makes in regard to this:

1. Fear the Lord.

The Lord deserved Israel’s full respect and honor for no other reason outside of who He was….the Lord who was always with them…the Lord who never went back on His promises. And so for God to have to demand His people’s loyalty and obedience is unbelievable but it just goes to show that the Israelites didn’t fully grasp the awesome power of the Lord they served for if they did, they wouldn’t have ever considered blatantly sinning against Him by worshipping other gods. They would have been too afraid of what He might do to them in response.

Later in the Old Testament Book of Psalms, we find this:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” Psalm 110:10

If we’re honest, we should all see a need to be wiser and respect the Lord out of honor for who He is, all the while fearing His powerful judgment that could be sent against us in a moment’s notice if He so chooses.

2. Serve Him with all faithfulness.

Note that this doesn’t say to follow the Lord with just some of our faithfulness. Rather, it’s clear that we are to follow Him in complete, unfailing, unwavering dedication and devotion.

Friends, we serve an almighty, all-powerful Lord who never fails to keep His promises…a Lord who has shown time and time again how deeply committed and faithful He to each and every one of us. Given this, the least we can do is have more faith in Him than anything or anyone else in our lives. For it’s then and only then that we will be serving Him with ALL faithfulness.

3. Worship and serve God only.

The Israelites had a history of turning from God and worshipping other gods, a clear violation of His commands.

Why would they ever worship another god?

Because worshipping them often endorsed a sinful behavior or desire that pleased the worshipper. You see, the false gods worshiped by other nations seemed less restrictive than the God of Israel, definitely inviting one to carry out their own will over God’s. This created an environment where it was very tempting for people to turn away from God so to follow the path of least resistance…a path that led them toward sin and away from righteousness.

Truly, Israel had options before them and God wanted them to know He understood that, leaving no doubt that He expected them to pick Him every single time.

4. Life’s about choices…make the right ones.

Joshua said to the Israelites:

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.”

We should note that God didn’t coerce His believers into following Him but rather commanded that they do it, leaving the choice of the matter up to each and every individual. He doesn’t want someone to follow Him simply because they have to. Rather, He wants someone to follow Him because they WANT to follow Him…because they DESIRE it more than anything else in life. For when we want to follow Him and desire to follow Him with all our heart, then our choices will be easy because they will be the choices He wants.

Indeed, life is all about choices and the only way to ensure we will ALWAYS make the right ones is if we obediently and faithfully make the first and all-important choice, the choice to follow the only One who will make sure we always choose right.

5. Lead by example.

Immediately after telling Israel that they had a choice to make as to whether they would follow the one and only God or any of the numerous false gods worshipped by other nations, Joshua shows us one of the greatest attributes of a good leader. For he proclaims his personal commitment to lead by example, saying:

“But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

In essence, Joshua is saying this:

“You can choose whatever you want to choose but I’ve already got my mind made up. My family and I are serving God and God alone.”

My brothers and sisters, imagine the impact this must have had on the Israelites. Joshua was a highly respected leader who Israel looked up to, especially given His special relationship with the Lord…a relationship that modeled the one God had with Moses.

So when Joshua spoke, Israel listened.

And so when he said He was going to follow God, I can’t help but think that a lot of Israelites decided to do likewise…following his lead. You see, the best leaders lead by setting the right example. They practice what they preach and we need to remember this as we serve the Lord and others daily.

So there they are…five important elements points from some of the final words of Joshua…points that were intended to help the Israelites succeed spiritually long after he had died….points that can continue to help us this very day as well. For like the people of Israel, we would be well-served to heed Joshua’s wisdom and guidance for it will only help us develop a deeper, stronger faith relationship with our Father above.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

POINTS TO PONDER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 our 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". When all was said and done, 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)" (Joshua 1:1-5). Additionally, God told Joshua this:

"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 1:7-8

After this, we have seen through the study of this book where 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 promised to be with him. He made sure the Israelites 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 in obedience to God’s will.

Turning to our scriptures we today, we see in the opening of chapter 23 where Joshua’s life was drawing to a close. He had run the good race and persevered through difficult, challenging times and he fully knows that his time is running out.

As for the setting, the scriptures tell us that "a long time had passed" since "the Lord had given Israel rest from all (the) enemies around them" and this had left Joshua "old and well advanced in years". Sensing his death was imminent, we find the leader of Israel summoning “all Israel — their elders, leaders, judges and officials", giving 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, we find Joshua touching on several key points that not only were intended for the people of Israel to remember but us today as well. They include:

1. The Lord fights for us.

We read in the Bible that the battle is not ours but the Lord’s (1 Samuel 17:47) and so we need not ever feel like we walk onto the spiritual battlefield of life without the most powerful Ally one could ever have fighting alongside them. Just as the Israelites had already been guaranteed victory because God was with them, so too do we have the same assurance, an assurance of 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...and has saved us through our belief in Jesus Christ.

Friends, with this, we need not fear ANYTHING here on earth for no one or nothing is greater than our Lord…the Lord who is never afraid to enter into battle against the enemy for our sake and protection.

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 the strength to be so because Satan is always working to create an outcome opposed to what the Lord wants. He is motivated towards exploiting our weaknesses so we can fall into disobedience and out of God’s favor.

With this, we have to stay strong if we’re going to even have a chance to obey and that strength to ward off the devil won’t ever come from ourselves. Rather, we like the Apostle Paul, know where our true spiritual power comes from:

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

Indeed, Paul understood that there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do through the might of Christ and this included withstanding Satan and remaining obedient to the Lord. Thankfully we hold the same understanding through this key verse.

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

Joshua gave Israel a stern warning to not allow themselves to be adversely influenced by those non-Israelite people who had survived the conquest of Canaan. The danger here was that the Israelites would be swayed to worship false gods after not fully driving out all the people who had inhabited Canaan when they invaded.

Unfortunately, we will see where this happened as Israel would pay the price for not doing what the Lord commanded. For when they left a remnant, they opened up the possibility that they would intermarry with the foreigners which would in turn lead them to compromise their devotion and dedication to God. Ultimately, we know that the nation of Israel would later divide into northern and southern kingdoms which would end up decimated and defeated by the Assyrians and Babylonians respectively…all because they chose to turn aside to the right or the left from the one true God in order to give their loyalty to gods that didn’t even exist.

Today, we still deal with outside influences that the enemy uses to entice and tempt us toward turning away from God into sinfulness. In fact, we’ll never be free from them until the blessed day when Jesus calls us home so we had better learn how to stay on the straight and narrow path of righteousness. To do so, we can always revert back to points one and two.

First, we need to remember that God is walking right along with us, no matter what life brings our way. Given this, all we need to do is turn to Him and He will make sure we stay on the right path of life…the same path that He walks.

Secondly, life is usually long and so we will be working to walk upon this narrow path for quite a while. This will require a lot of strength to persevere while defending ourselves against Satan’s attempts to lead us astray.

The good news for all believers is that through Christ Jesus, we have all the strength we could ever hope for, all the strength we could ever need. All we need to do is turn to Him.

4. Hold fast to the Lord.

The people of Israel faced a myriad of challenges as they entered the Promised Land to carry out God’s command with obedience. They were in an unknown place and expected to battle unknown enemies with their only assurance being that God was with them and would help them accomplish what He called them to do. And so if the Israelites were to be successful, they had to hold fast to the Lord.

Although the times have changed today, eons away from the days of ancient Israel, we still find life bringing us our own share of challenges. In fact, we never know what any day might bring, right?

Thankfully, we have the comfort and reassurance that comes with knowing God is with us. And so we never need to feel like we’re alone because we’re not. He is there with us every step of the way in life and so all we need to do is hold fast to Him, just as a young child holds onto the hand of their parent. In regard to the latter, a child detaching from a parent could result in them straying off and becoming lost…vulnerable to danger or harm.

The truth is that nothing really changes when we become adults except we’re bigger children who need to never let go of the hand of our Heavenly Father. For we can rest assured of this:

He will never let go of us.

5. Be careful to love the Lord.

When it all comes down to it, every point mentioned in this message 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 (Deuteronomy 6:5), then we will fully understand the power and strength of God’s love for us, a love reflected in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, our Savior. Through that love, we will want to fully obey the Lord because we are so devoted to Him that we would never want to bring Him disappointment. Further, we wouldn’t even consider turning away from Him because we cherish Him and His love more than anything else.

That’s the place we need to be, the place where we hold fast to our Lord, gripping Him so tight that no one will ever be able to wrestle Him away.

In today’s passage, we find Joshua leaving his beloved brothers and sisters with cautions because he wanted them to continue experiencing the peace and rest they were enjoying after all the battles they had won. He fully knew that if they would heed what he said, they would remain in the favor of their God.

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, caring Lord who always wants the best for you. May you ever seek and follow His word and will while walking in His ways so that you, like Israel, might remain in the Lord’s good standing all the days of your life.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.