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In Light of God's Faithfulness - Joshua 23:1-16

Sermon Series: Great Leader, Exceptional Follower

My guess is that most of you are familiar with the phrase, “In light of . . .”  Ten years ago the United States government and other entities started to make several changes “in light of” the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001.  Airport security got much stricter “in light of” their exposed vulnerabilities.  Immigration and international border security received some major overhauls “in light of” the ease with which potentially dangerous individuals could move in and out of the United States.  For those of you who enjoy crime shows you’re probably familiar with this phrase too.  Often times individuals will be either arrested or set free “in light of” evidence that comes to the surface testifying to that individual’s guilt or innocence. 

Evidence is defined by Merriam-Webster as “something that furnishes proof.”  So evidence is always important and should impact both the decisions we make and the things we do.  Evidence influences a lot of what we do each day.  For example, evidence tells us that people who are wearing seatbelts have a greater chance of surviving an automobile accident and suffer fewer injuries in an accident.  So “in light of” that evidence most of us buckle our seatbelts before we crank the car and set off for our destination.  Making decisions about things without weighing available evidence can often lead to poor decisions and bad consequences.  This holds true in regards to God.  God did not leave humanity without any evidence of Himself, so it is important for us to weigh the evidence we have pertaining to God and to His character.  Our best resource for evidence concerning God and His character is the Bible, and we have seen a great deal of evidence testifying to Him throughout the OT book of Joshua.  The question we want to specifically address this week is “what evidence does Joshua give the Israelites in chapter 23 regarding God and what does he exhort the Israelites to do in light of that evidence?”  And I’m going to argue that Joshua gives incredible evidence of God’s faithfulness in chapter 23 and then three exhortations for the Israelites in light of God’s amazing faithfulness. 

Chapter 23 begins with the phrase, “A long time afterward . . .”  The events of the final two chapters of the OT book of Joshua transpire a long time after the events that began the book.  Israel had not only come into the promise land, but they had conquered the inhabitants of the promise land, taken possession of the land, and Joshua had distributed the land among the tribes of Israel.  God’s promise to His people in the first five books of the Bible – to give them the land as an inheritance - had been fulfilled.  With this in mind, and the rest of verse 23 telling us that the Lord had given rest to Israel and that Joshua was “old and well advanced in years” the text seems to indicate that Joshua had accomplished all that God had given him to do and that it was an appropriate time to give a few parting exhortations.  Verse 2 tells us that Joshua begins with some exhortations to Israel’s leaders. 

As we consider the text of verse 3 we see Joshua reminding the leaders that they had seen first hand the amazing faithfulness of God.  He says, “You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.”  Joshua reminded the Israelite leaders that they had not just seen the hand of God once, as if He had only fought for them at Jericho.  Joshua reminds them that throughout the conquest of the promise land God was fighting for them.  He fought for them in an amazing way at Jericho.  He fought again for them in their second battle against Ai.  He fought for them in miraculous ways by raining down large hailstones and causing the sun to stand still as they fought the coalition of kings in the southern region of the promise land.  And He fought for them against an even larger coalition of kings who had come together in the northern region of the promise land – a coalition comprised of so many soldiers that the text said they looked like the sand on the seashore.  One such victory might have been luck or coincidence.  But Israel and its leaders could look back on ‘what’ had been accomplished and ‘how’ it had been accomplished and know with certainty that God had been at work on their behalf and that God had fought for them.  God’s assistance in conquering those nations had helped Joshua and the Israelites to take possession of the land and given Joshua the ability to divide the land and allot it to the different tribes of Israel (even the areas that were still inhabited by other nations – because Joshua was certain that God was going to continue to drive them out of the land which He had given to Israel).

Joshua believed that God’s faithfulness in the past and the certainty that that inspired should prod this generation of Israelites on to even further obedience.  He exhorts the Israelites in verse 6, “Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left . . .”  The Book of the Law of Moses was the only written account the people had of God and the instructions which He had given to them.  So Joshua’s exhortation wasn’t only about keeping the Law.  The exhortation to the Israelite leaders was to keep and to do all that God had revealed to them.  They were to be exceptional in following all that God had placed before them (not just parts that were easy, convenient, or non-threatening). 

This becomes a challenge and an exhortation to us too.  Have you seen the amazing faithfulness of God?  If you’ve spent any time at all in the Bible you have.  We can recall the story about God’s faithfulness to deliver Noah and his family from God’s wrath poured out on the world through the flood.  We can recall the story about God’s faithfulness to deliver His people out of their bondage and captivity in Egypt through His servant Moses.  We can recall the story about God’s faithfulness to deliver the Israelites out of the hand of one of their greatest enemies and oppressors – the Philistine giant, Goliath – through His servant David.  We can recall the story about God’s faithfulness to deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from king Nebuchadnezzar, who wanted to destroy them by casting them to a fiery death when they refused to worship something other than God, Himself.  We can recall the story of God’s faithfulness to deliver Peter and Paul from bondage and chains when they were being faithful to proclaim salvation through Jesus alone.  All throughout this book we find examples and evidence of God’s amazing faithfulness to those who believe in and follow after Him.  And those of us who have trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior can bear witness of God’s amazing faithfulness in our own lives – how we were once separated from God because of our sin, and how He sent Jesus to pursue us and to die in our place to rescue us from sin and its consequences and to reconcile us once again to God.  It’s an amazing story of ‘what’ God has done in our lives – pursuing a disobedient, rebellious, and hard-hearted people who were helpless and hopeless of doing anything to change their status of ‘guilty’ before God.  And it’s an amazing story of ‘how’ God has done it – by wrapping Himself in flesh and coming to us in the person of Jesus Christ, to be put to death on a horrific torture devise we call the cross and then rising from the dead three days later as evidence of His victory over both sin and death.  Seeing ‘what’ God has done for us and ‘how’ God has accomplished it should make us certain of the fact that God has been at work on our behalf and should prod us to keep and to do all that God has revealed to us in His word.  We’ll talk more about what that looks like a little later. 

In verse 7 Joshua gives the Israelite leaders an additional warning to help set the foundation for the next exhortation (that he will give in verse 8).  Joshua reminds the Israelite leaders that they are not to mix with any of the people from the nations that remain in the promise land because of the influence those individuals might have on causing God’s people to forsake God and follow after and worship false gods.  Joshua warns the Israelites not to “make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them.”  In light of God’s amazing faithfulness (which they had all been witnesses of), it would be incredibly foolish to forsake such a faithful God to chase after one of the false gods of the remaining nations, who had proved unable to stand before the might and power of the one true God as He fought for Israel.  Instead, Joshua exhorts the Israelite leaders to cling to the Lord your God, just as you have done to this day.”  This exhortation to Israel’s leaders was an incredibly important one and one that painted a very important picture.  Some modern translations have translated the Hebrew word as “hold fast” or simply to “cling.”  But a more accurate translation would be to “cling tightly.”  As Joshua looked to articulate the kind of relationship that the Israelites were to have with God he chose an incredibly expressive word.  Occasionally holding onto God wasn’t enough.  Holding onto God loosely wasn’t enough.  Holding onto God at arm’s length wasn’t enough.  The Israelites were to cling tightly to God, holding Him extremely close, and being relentless in their refusal to let go of Him.  Imagine being suspended over a great cliff with nothing to hold onto but a rope.  That rope is the only thing keeping you from certain death.  Think about the way you would hold onto that rope.  You wouldn’t hold it out at arm’s length.  You wouldn’t hold onto it loosely.  No, you would pull that rope close to your body.  You would grip it with both hands with all your might.  You may even try to wrap your legs around it for a little extra hold.  And you would hold on with all your might for as long as you were hanging over that cliff.  That’s the picture of clinging tightly and that’s the way that Joshua exhorted the Israelite leaders to hold onto God.

Unfortunately, forsaking the true and faithful God to chase after false gods with no real power would later become Israel’s worst and most consistent sin.  And the same is true for us.  Rather than clinging tightly to the true and faithful God, most of us are content to hold on to God loosely or just on occasion.  Whenever something else comes along that looks as if it might satisfy us more or fulfill our selfish desires more, we are prone to chase after it.  And while it may be true that we aren’t really worshipping that particular thing, we’ve ultimately traded the worship of God, just as Adam and Eve did, to make much of and to worship self.  We put ourselves in the place of God and look first to please and gratify ourselves.  When we exalt ourselves over and above God we are committing idolatry. 

The generation of Israelites that Joshua led into the promise land was a generation that had clung tightly to God.  With the exception of Achan in chapter 7, the book of Joshua portrays this generation of Israelites as a generation that loved God and was exceptional in their obedience to Him.  So Joshua exhorts them to continue in like fashion.  Because of their faithfulness to cling to God, God had made it impossible for anyone to stand before them.  God’s presence with the Israelites was so noticeable and awe-inspiring that Joshua says thousands of men would flee from just one of the Israelites because they recognized the tangible way in which the Lord fought for them.

In light of God’s faithfulness to His people Joshua also exhorts the Israelite leaders in verse 11 to love the Lord your God.”  It was an exhortation intended to remind the leaders of Israel of Moses command to the people in Deuteronomy 6:5 – the greatest command in all of Scripture – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  This is what humanity was created for.  It was then and continues to be the greatest command that we can strive after.  But while it is a high and important calling, it shouldn’t be a terribly difficult.  The command to love God isn’t a command to love some wicked person with evil intentions.  The command to love God isn’t a command to love some high-maintenance, self-centered friend.  And the command to love God isn’t a command to love some obnoxious and annoying extended family member.  The command to love God is a command to love the One who has loved us more faithfully, sacrificially, and passionately than any other person has ever loved us.  He is the One who has done more good for us than we could ever imagine.  This is the One that Joshua called the Israelite leaders to love and He is the One that we are called to love and treasure with all of our being. 

The choice the Israelite leaders would make was an important one.  In choosing to cling to God and love Him, they would continue to experience the fulfillment of God’s promises.  But if they turned their back on God; if rather than clinging tightly to Him and loving Him they chose to let loose of Him and love and cling to the gods of the nations, then God would not go before them and Joshua says that the nations would become a snare and a trap for them.  Now make note of the truth that becomes so incredibly clear in verses 12 and 13 – God will not stand in the way of whatever it is we choose to pursue.  There is only One thing (or should I say Person) who brings us life and hope.  Everything else we pursue becomes a snare and a trap for us.  Did you hear that?  Whatever it is you purse outside of God and Christ will eventually entangle you and ensnare you – rather than setting you free it traps you.  And God doesn’t jump in front of us to beg and plead with us not to go after those things.  His faithfulness and goodness speaks for itself.  When we choose to let loose of Him to pursue other things He allows us to chase after those things.  But our only good and our only freedom comes when we are clinging tightly to God and loving Him with all of our heart, soul and strength.

Chapter 23 concludes with one last reminder from Joshua in verses 14 through 16.  Joshua reminds the Israelite leaders that God had been faithful to keep and to do all that He had promised concerning them.  So the Israelites did not need to take lightly either the evidence that Joshua had reminded them of or the exhortations that he had given to them.  God would continue to make His name great through the Israelites if they continued to follow Him exceptionally.  But God would also cause His anger to burn against the Israelites if they broke their covenant with Him to chase after and serve the false gods of the nations.  Joshua couldn’t make the choice for Israel – it was a choice that they would have to make for themselves.  We face the same choice today.  Will we continue to follow God exceptionally and allow Him to make His name great through us, OR will we break our covenant with God to chase after and serve other gods.  The choice seems simple, but the reality is we still wrestle with our sinful nature and still love to make much of ourselves.  As we conclude 2011 I hope we’ll set aside time during this busy last two weeks to reflect upon the amazing faithfulness of God in our lives this year.  Then I pray that in light of God’s faithfulness to us we will commit in 2012 to following Him exceptionally, clinging tightly to Him at all times, and loving Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Small Group Questions for Discussion

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