Serve the Lord

Joshua 23:1-24:33

Key Verse 24:14-15

"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."

This passage is Joshua's second farewell message. He gave the first one to the Transjordan Tribes. He addressed the second one to all the leaders of Israel. We would like to think about his message in three parts: 1) the challenge; 2) the choice; and 3) the commitment.

I. The Challenge (1-4)

Look at vs. 1-4. "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." V. 1 says that the time Joshua gave the farewell address was "after a long time had passed." Joshua lived to be 110. Perhaps he became 110 years old or very close to 110. Joshua's life was a long life of meeting all kinds of challenges. He went through one challenge after another. Like everyone else, when he was in his twenties he met the challenge to overcome his raging hormones. In his thirties he met the challenge to overcome his youthful passions. The next forty plus years were particularly difficult, because under Moses he went through long discipleship training. The training went on and on. And it continued on even for forty years. It was indeed the greatest challenge. But by faith he endured hardship. Then in his eighties, he met the real challenge: he took over the leadership after Moses. Then he had to face the enemies occupying the Promised Land. Normally in your eighties or even seventies you spend time at a convalescent home, watching TV all day long, washing your false teeth three times a day, or walking around your living room quietly with shaky hands and legs. But Joshua was different. He began to work to pioneer God's kingdom in his eighties, and during the remainder of his life he fought fiercely against the enemies. Indeed his life was the life of challenges. 

Now he became very old. He was well advanced in years. He was about to leave this mundane world. 

At this important moment he summoned all of Israel--their elders, leaders, judges, and officials--and gave a farewell message. In his farewell message the first thing he said was to remind the Israelites of the challenge before them. What was the challenge? In the Bible passage we just read, Joshua said, "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." This passage describes the contents of the challenge: "the nations that remain." So far Joshua conquered a significant portion of the Promised Land. He decimated a great number of heathen nations. But within the confines of the Promised Land which Joshua had already allotted to Israel as their inheritance, there still remained the nations which worship idols. 

The existence of idol-worshiping nations sounds pretty harmless. But Joshua recognized that the danger these idolaters posed was as dangerous as a deadly poison. He recognized that they were even more dangerous than the chemical weapons of mass destruction which nowadays the whole world is afraid of. Chemical weapons cause harm to your physical body. But idol worship destroys your soul. It effectively shuts yourself off from the presence of the Lord God. But the problem is that just as the spirit is not visible, your soul is not visible. And not many see the danger of idol worship. But Joshua knew it. Through a long time of spiritual training, he sensed how detrimental this poison is to the existence of Israel. 

This challenge is more dreadful than it might seem because in Joshua's estimation it was above and beyond the ability of the Israelites to get rid of the idolaters. It was impossible for the Israelites to overcome them. He was keenly aware that in front of these idol-worshiping nations, the Israelites were sort of like sitting ducks. Like weeds which always overpower wheat or like wolves which are far stronger and shrewder than weak animals like sheep or lambs, Joshua knew full well that the Israelites were no match for these idol-worshipping nations. In his memory the terrible incident of the sin of Peor was still fresh (Num 25). In his mind he knew how treacherously the sin of Achan crept into the life of Israel and thus how swiftly the idol of materialism plunged Israel into a shameful defeat (Joshua 7). 

Joshua was a shepherd for Israel. As a mature shepherd, he saw the people gathered in front of him as his sheep. One of the responsibilities of a shepherd for sheep is to warn the sheep of the dangers lying ahead, especially the dangers which are hidden. Jesus said to his disciples: "Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Mat 10:16)!" As a shrewd shepherd he shrewdly warned the Israelites of the formidable challenge lying ahead of them. 

Nowadays many people think that the greatest challenge the U.S. (and certainly the whole world) is facing is terrorism. But, from God's point of view, the fear of international terrorism is merely the tip of the iceberg. As in the day of Joshua, the real challenge in each generation remains the same: idol worship. Consistent with this truth, the first systematic messages Jesus gave in the Matthew's gospel, which is the first book of the New Testament Scriptures, consisted of the Sermon on the Mount which we find in Matthew's gospel Chapters 5-7. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, we can have a concrete idea of what it is to fight against idol worship, and live as children of light. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Jesus covers subjects like the Beatitudes, salt and light, the fulfillment of the Law, murder, adultery, divorce, etc. and so forth. Jesus' teachings on these subjects call us to fight against idol worship and struggle to build the rule of God in our own generation. And let us not forget that the challenge Joshua gave his own generation many centuries ago comes to us as freshly as it did to the Israel of Joshua's day. 

II. The Choice (5-16)

In vs. 5-16, Joshua reminded the Israelites of the two choices in front of them--the choices to deal with the challenge. 

The first choice is to choose the God of Israel and, by faith in him, to eradicate idol worship. It is to get rid of idol worship, every hint of it, so that the rule of God would be firmly established.

The second choice is to assimilate with the idolaters. It is to go into their neighborhood, mingle with them, make friendship with them, attend parties hosted by them, adopt their cultures, practices, and lifestyles, pick up girlfriends or boyfriends from among them, intermarry with them, go to their own places of worship where they burn incense to idol gods like the Baal god, and then worship the idol gods. 

In laying down these two choices - the eradication (meaning to pull up by the roots) and the assimilation, Joshua also described the consequences of adopting either of the two choices. 

What are the consequences of choosing the eradication? Let us read responsively vs. 5-11. Here two consequences stand out. 

First, taking possession of the Promised Land fully: look at v. 5. "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." This "Promised Land" is symbolic of the kingdom of God. Characteristically it refers to the physical and spiritual environment in which the Lord God desires to bless his children so that his children would enjoy life to the full, in joy and peace, the real joy welling up like streams of living water flowing from within, and the peace of God which transcends all human understanding. 

Second, living a conqueror’s life: look at v. 10. "One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised." This passage is really fabulous: imagine one of you routing a thousand! In the war with Iraq, the so-called coalition force supported by more than 40 nations led by the U.S., which consists of 50 states, fight against Iraq which is about the size of California. Iraqis are completely outnumbered. Yet, the military leaders of the coalition forces were so nervous that they kept amassing thousands upon thousands of soldiers into the area. But unlike the coalition forces fighting against the Iraqis, the Israelites were completely outnumbered by the coalition forces in the land of Canaan. Yet, because the Lord was with them, one of Joshua's army routed a thousand! The ratio was not just one to one or one to ten or one to hundred but one to a thousand! What a victory! Here the ratio "one to a thousand" is symbolic of the kind of conqueror’s life one can live by making the first choice. When Jesus came, he demonstrated this kind of conqueror’s life. He fully loved God. He fully obeyed the Father in Heaven. Then while in the body he could defeat all of his enemies. Then finally on the cross he defeated the ultimate enemy Satan. Then he was appointed as the lord of lords and king of kings. The Lord God bestowed upon Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth. What does “all” mean? “All” means all. This conqueror’s life is not only for Jesus but for all who make the first choice as Joshua mentioned.  

Making the second choice also comes with consequences of its own. What are the consequences of the life that chooses the choice of assimilation? Let us read vs. 12-16 responsively. Here again, two consequences stand out. 

Number One: The life of constant defeat. Look at vs. 12-13 again: "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." What kind of image or images do you get out of the following words or expressions: "snares", "traps", "whips on your backs", "thorns in your eyes?" They talk about a cursed life--the life without freedom. These expressions describe the life that is defeated, defeated, and defeated, and then finally perishes. 

Number Two: The loss of the Promised Land. Look at v. 16 again. "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." Again the "promised land" is symbolic of the kingdom of God. It is interesting to note that this promised land is described as "good." In Joshua 23, the word “good” is repeated five times--two times to describe the goodness of the “promise,” and three to describe the goodness of the land (13,14,15,16). As this observation suggests, the idea of the promised land embraces the sum total of all the good features the Lord God built into the Garden of Eden, the perfect paradise which is visible in two places: first, in the first two chapters of the Bible (Genesis 1-2), and second, in the last two chapters of the Bible (Revelation 21-22). This indicates that the life that follows after making the second choice is the life that loses and loses fully. 

Joshua said that these choices were lying ahead of the Israelites. God does not force them to make this choice or that choice. In the first place it is not up to God but up to each of the Israelites, and certainly up to each of us, who needs to make a choice. So in Joshua 24:15, Joshua said, "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." Say, "Choose for yourselves!" Here the word "yourselves" is very important. Each of us needs to make a choice not for anyone else, not even for God, but for himself. You need to make a choice for you, not just for you, but for your-self! (Here "self" means the soul which lasts forever.)

After laying down the two choices before them, Joshua gave the leaders of Israel some time to think about which choice to pick. 

So he dismissed them for a while. The leaders went back to their places. Each of the leaders from each tribe of Israel must have explained the result of the conference to the members of their tribe. 

III. The Commitment (24:1-33)

Then the moment for them to make a decision came. So what did Joshua do? Look at 24:1. "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." The expression "presented themselves before God" suggests that Joshua knew what he was going to put the Israel through, that is, to help them pick the first choice, and then commit them to the Lord God, before his departure.

However, before committing them to the Lord God, Joshua gave them a history lesson. 

Let us read vs. 2-13 responsively. Here, Joshua reminded them of the purpose of God, that is, to help the Israelites to repent of their idol worship and establish the rule of God first in their hearts, and then in the hearts of all peoples on earth through their serving the Lord. 

Then in vs. 14-24, Joshua prepared the Israelites to pick a choice by practically repenting of their hidden sins. Let us read this passage responsively as well. It is interesting here to note that Joshua used the expression "throw away" twice - first at the beginning of the speech (v. 14) and at the end of the speech (v. 23). Look at v. 13. "Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt (14)"  "Throw away the foreign gods that are among you..." Say to one another, "Throw away!" It is also interesting to note that each time he said "throw away," he used the word "now." Now throw away... Now then throw away... What does “now” mean? Now means now. It means right now. It is also interesting to note that the second time he said "throw away" he used the word "among." Throw away the foreign gods that are 'among' you! 

This observation teaches us about the true meaning of choosing to love the Lord and serving Him. It gives us the practical preparations that are necessary before we commit ourselves to the relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, our true spiritual husband! Consistent with the teaching we find here from the book of Joshua, the Apostle Paul also says in Colossians 3:5, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." 

Then in vs. 25-27, Joshua helped them to make a covenant relationship with the Lord. 

Verses 28-33 is an epilogue of the book of Joshua. In this epilogue we see the three warriors of faith: Joshua, Joseph, and Eleazar. They were all buried in the land of the promise. This indicates that after running the spiritual race marked out for them, each of them rested in the promised land, looking forward to the time of the Savior to come again, and bring them to God's perfection, all in accordance with God's perfect redemption plan. 

One word: Serve the Lord.