Joshua 23-24: Farewell

After all of the great years that Israel has had under the leadership of Joshua, he is advancing in years and nearing his end. With his days quickly dwindling, Joshua gives the leadership of Israel a final farewell and admonition to stay the course.

"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..."

 Joshua knows that the people of Israel will face many temptations over the coming years, and will have to actively choose each day who they will follow. The pagan people around them will entice them with their idols, rituals, and culture. Joshua knows that if the people allow themselves to be distracted by these, they will quickly become ensnared and lose sight of their true Lord.

"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."

Joshua reminds the people of the immense faithfulness that the Lord has shown them - His track record is spotless. They have absolutely no reason to doubt Him in any way.

"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."

 As I said, they have absolutely no reason to doubt Him in any way. With the covenant that Israel entered into there are consequences for the choices they make. They can choose to serve the Lord and receive the blessings that He has promised, or they can put their faith in a lie.

"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 makes the choice before them completely clear - you will serve something, and you get to choose the object of your loyalty. You can serve a man made idol, or a pagan god, or whatever other lie catches your fantasy. If you choose the lie, you get the consequences of the lie. If you choose the Lord, you get the blessings of His covenant.

The people of Israel fervently respond to Joshua, saying:

"Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!"

Unfortunately, we already know the rrrrrrrest of the story, and know how much of a struggle lies ahead for the unfaithful people of Israel.

The admonition from Joshua reminds me of something C.S. Lewis said in The Great Divorce:

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done."

While we are not a part of ancient Israel, we do face a similar choice. We may not recognize our version of the "gods of the Amorites", but they are there - power, money, acceptance, success, pleasure...we're not tempted to worship a golden calf anymore, but we have more subtle and culturally acceptable idols vying for our loyalty.

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

The choice is ours - therefore choose life.