careful to love God

One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God.
Joshua 23:10-11

This chapter is a short but powerful sermon that is one of the last things that Joshua said to the entire nation of Israel. He reminds the nation of the good things God has given them in the Promised Land. He reminds them of the fact that God has led them to victory and given them the lives that they now enjoy. He has really emphasized God's faithfulness to the covenant and to the conquest of Canaan for His people.

Along with this reminder of what God has done in tribute to His faithfulness, Joshua issues several calls to faithfulness for Israel. He has urged them to be strong in their faithfulness to keeping the Law of God (Joshua 23:6). He has told them to "cling" to the Lord their God (Joshua 23:8). He emphasizes that God has not forgotten even one of His promises to His people (Joshua 23:14). And then Joshua warns them that negligence to do cling to God and keep His Law and giving in to the temptation to turn aside to the lifestyle and worship of the Canaanites would bring judgment from God (Joshua 23:12-13; 15-16).

The Israelites were to be marked by an an attitude of carefulness to faithfulness. Implied in this warning and encouragement is that effort was involved. They had to be spiritually vigilant. They had to be strong and true. They had to trust in the God Who fought for them. They needed to be sure that their lives were committed to worship. Joshua as a leader kept the focus on the important priorities, and Israel under his guidance would be reminded to do the same. Loving God is a discipline, but it one that brings good life to all who are careful to love and obey the Lord their God!


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

presuming motives is a bad idea

And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, "For," they said, "it is a witness between us that the LORD is God."
Joshua 22:33-34

This is the conclusion to a potentially divisive moment in Israel's early history. The tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh had helped their brothers conquer the territory west of the Jordan river. Once this task was done, they returned home, east of Jordan to settle into their allotted territories. But they chose to make a statement on the west bank of the Jordan. There they build a monumental symbolic altar to the Lord, not for sacrifice, but to witness to the true altar that resided with the ark at the tabernacle.

This action was misunderstood by the western tribes. The thing is described as "imposing" (Joshua 22:10). It was large enough to be seen from both sides of the river. The western tribes thought this might be indicative of idolatry, or of at least setting up a rival site for the worship of God, which was contrary to the Law. There was talk of war between the tribes.

But a delegation met with the Reubenites and Gadites, and at that mediation, they quickly realized their mistaken assumptions. The symbolic nature of the altar was quickly understood, and doubts and fears settled, they agreed that the altar thus served a good and important function. It was left standing as a witness to the entire nation of its commitment to the worship of Yahweh.

How much better our lives would be if we would not make rash decisions based on presuming the motives of others! That is the lesson from this story. Had the leaders of the western tribes acted on their presumptions, who knows what that civil war would have done to the nation so early in its history? But God graciously granted peace through the process of just finding out the facts and honoring both parties in deference to the Lord. May God's people learn the same thing from this episode!


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

faithful God

Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:45

This is the summary of Israel's position as the land has been allotted to tribe and then by family clan. Everything that God promised the Israelites under Moses came to pass under Joshua. And entire new generation had grown up with nothing but the promise in their memory and they now possessed all that they needed and could ever desire through the provision of God in their new home.

At stake in the entire conquest of Canaan is the reputation of God and his faithfulness to keep His promises to His people. And no failings were at God's hands. Israel made its share of mistakes and compromises. God lived up to all of His promises. That is the point of this passage. There was work left to do in places, there were mistakes made by Israel in sparing some Canaanites as slaves. God did not tell them to do this. And they would later be hurt by these incomplete obediences in future generations. God still had done all He said He would do for them.

I am encouraged by the faithfulness of God. Faith is no easier today than it was back then, with the possible exception that we have a long record of God's faithfulness in the Bible. But it still takes faith to believe and trust what I cannot see either in the past, or for the future. One thing is certain, God is faithful to His good promises. I know that from my past, I believe that for my present, and I will stride into my future and eternity on that hope!


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

cities of refuge

These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.
Joshua 20:9

God cares about the most extreme human situations. In the case of accidental manslaughter, He designed specific places where the accused party could find a "neutral corner" to settle out the specifics of the case. This is somewhat similar to our concept of "change of venue", except that under the OT Law, the family who lost the family member had a duty to track down the killer and avenge the murder. So it would be easy for emotion to overcome the facts. The cities of refuge were a place to sort out the case. The ESV Study Bible gives a great summary of the concept as it was initiated under Moses and brought into practice by Joshua:

Josh. 20:1–2. The fullest description of how the cities of refuge are to function appears in Num. 35:6–34, where the Lord expands on his initial instructions to Moses in Ex. 21:12–14. They are to be six in number, chosen among the Levitical cities, with three on each side of the Jordan (Num. 35:13–14). They are to guarantee judicial due process for anyone in Israel, including “the stranger” and “the sojourner” (Num. 35:15). In Deut. 4:41–43 Moses designates by name the three cities of refuge in the newly conquered territory east of the Jordan, one each in the territories of Reuben, Gad, and eastern Manasseh. Later, in Deut. 19:1–10, he charges Israel regarding the cities to be designated west of the Jordan, though he does not name them, as the land is yet to be conquered. They are to be appropriately spaced, so that the fugitive can reach the nearest one before being overtaken by the avenger (Deut. 19:3; and see note on Josh. 20:3). Should God enlarge Israel's territory, an additional three cities can be designated (Deut. 19:8–9). That the additional three are not mentioned in Joshua may hint at the fact that Israel was not entirely successful in taking over all the land. The three cities west of the Jordan are finally named in Josh. 20:7. This overall progression is in keeping with the geographical movements of Israel and the extent of the conquest at each stage.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

reward for servant leadership

When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.
Joshua 19:49

Only after all of Israel had been given allotment of the promised land did Joshua receive his inheritance. The leader did not demand, he served. That is a secret of Joshua's success as a leader. He simply waited for God's timing and direction on matters of leadership. He was more concerned about serving his God and his people than he was about his own personal desires.

Joshua could have demanded the best and most influential territory for himself. After all, he was the leader. They needed to impress their conquered foes! It would have been entirely in keeping with kings of the Canaanites for Joshua to have built a stately walled fortress and to have demanded tribute. Instead, he simply keeps serving his people, patiently waiting until they have all been given their needs before making his request before God.

And Joshua chose to fade into semi-retirement. (Joshua 19:50) His cozy little city in the hill country of Ephraim (Timnath-serah) was out of the way of all the main power centers. I imagine him enjoying the last remaining years of his service building a home and farm. He is living out the dream he knew Israel could have when he first spied out the land under Moses' leadership.

Joshua experienced the reality the servant leadership is its own reward. I once heard another well-seasoned saint say this: "You will never regret truly serving someone for the sake of Jesus" (Howard Hendricks). I wholeheartedly agree. And Joshua is an Old Testament character who proved this point.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

worship at Shiloh

Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.
Joshua 18:1

I see just some simple surface observations about worship today. This was meant to be a moment of celebration. Israel had congregated at Shiloh with the tabernacle and its furnishings were all set up for worship. For the most part, they controlled the territory of the Promised Land. They were free to do with it as God had commanded them.

Joshua used this moment to encourage the last seven tribes that had not received their inheritance to do so. They were to walk through the remainder of the territory, furnish descriptions of the land, and then upon return to Shiloh, Joshua apportioned it to each tribe. This was the last step. Worship at the victory God gave led to possession of the land that God gave.

Worship is really worship when it leads to further obedience. That is the point that Joshua made to Israel at Shiloh. It is not enough to go through the motions of ceremony. Real worship happens with our hands and feet when we obey God's command. Real worship is beyond the assembly and into the world.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

when conviction is lost

but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.
Joshua 17:18

This portion of the book of Joshua shows Israel losing its resolve. There are times when we find it hard to obey God, and it is often really easy to result to our own strategies. In case of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, they did not seem to want to trust God in the effort to continue driving Canaanites from the land. In Joshua 16:10 they forced them into hard labor. When they complained to Joshua that they needed more land, what they meant was they needed more open land with no Canaanites in it! Joshua's answer was to encourage them to press forward into the hill country. They balked at this, insisting that the military power there was too strong (the Canaanites had iron chariots). But Joshua encouraged them to move forward with this plan.

The first thing to do when we sense conviction to obey God is waning is to re-examine our priorities. Joshua shrewdly kept Israel on mission with his encouragement that they would succeed. He knew that God was more powerful than fortified walls or chariots of iron. He would take care of them... forever.

The second step is continued obedience to God's instructions. That is ultimately what the Israelites had to do. Every accommodation that they made with the Canaanites would later come back to hurt them. So Joshua's words were really words of warning. We might not have the Book of Judges if Israel had fully heeded them!


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13