Timeless Truth. Journey with Joshua 5. “Farewell”

After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. 3 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. 4 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 Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

6 “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. 7 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. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

9 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

12 “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,13 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.

Joshua 23:1-13

Joshua looks back but also challenges Israel about the future.

Verse 1. REST

• God gave Israel rest.
• Rest implies completion of something.
• While this was a high point, it was not the pinnacle of Hebrew life.
• The current time and the past are not the greatest years.

Great things are yet to come!

Verses 2-3. WHAT GOD HAS DONE

• Joshua called the leaders together to remind them of God's work and that they lived it.
• They are reminded of the stories and how those need to be shared with future generations.

Children must know what God is doing in the family

Verse 6. STRENGTH

• Not physical strength.
• Strength and obedience are partners.
• With adults, strength really means discipline.
• It's the ability to do the things necessary to ensure the things we need to do to serve God as we ought to serve Him.

If you don't live at the level with Christ that you know you should, it's a lack of discipline.

Verse 11. LOVE GOD

• Love and obedience go hand-in-hand.
• Obedience demonstrates love.

You show your love for Christ through your obedience.

Verse 12. BUT IF...

• Implies a future for Israel.
• However, they have the ability to DISOBEY.
• It implies that the best days are still ahead.

God is not done working in your life.

Thanks to Dr. Scott Peterson for the primary teaching in this post.

The next Timeless Truth is Joshua 6.  As for me and my house...

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