Reading: Devotional Readings
May 3
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Prologue to Paradise
Joshua 1
The Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints…
The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.
Psalm 37:28–29 (ESV)
Joshua is not the primary character of the book named for him. That is, the title does not so much proclaim the man as it does the message of his name: “The Lord saves.” The book begins by showing where Joshua got his instructions and who should get the credit for the imminent fulfillment of God’s promise of a homeland for Abraham’s descendants.
The promised land of Canaan (Palestine) was much more than a piece of real estate; it carried with it many spiritual implications. This was the place chosen by God to be a new paradise with a new Adam and Eve—Israel. It was not perfect like the original paradise, but Israel was to be both the beginning and a model of the redeemed creation. Unlike the original paradise, however, Israel’s promised inheritance was not purely a gift. Yes, the Lord was giving the land to his people, but they had more to do than sit and watch God do all the work. The inheritance was theirs, but now Israel had to secure it by displacing those who were occupying what God had claimed for his own.
The Lord’s expectation came as no surprise to Joshua or Israel; they had known for a long time that they would have to establish their right to the land by conquering the other nations who lived there. They knew that it would be difficult, which was why a previous generation had agreed with the ten spies and decided to disobey God rather than enter the land of the promise.
The apparent difficulty of gaining the inheritance, however, was lessened by the Lord’s assurance to Joshua that he would be with him every bit as faithfully and constantly as he had been with Moses. That promise was to be Joshua’s lifeline and the source of his courage.
May 4
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A Rehearsal of God’s Conditions
Joshua 1:7–8
If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God…
by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and
by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,
then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will
bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
Deuteronomy 30:16 (ESV)
The conditions under which Joshua and the people would be successful had to do with keeping God’s law: “Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it” (Josh. 1:8). What the Lord told Joshua to tell the people is just what Moses repeatedly emphasized to Israel; God and his servant-leaders never tire of making clear the conditions for life.
The law that God wanted Israel to meditate on and obey was more than the Ten Commandments; it included everything God had taught them—the entire law, including these three things:
· God’s people must be moral.
· God’s people must obey the detailed provisions of his leadership on specific duties.
· God’s people must always keep their mission in view—to live in the land under God’s rule.
Forty years before, when the call had come to enter the land, Israel had balked, and all that generation had died in the desert. But now, this new generation of Israel was ready when they got God’s message. They agreed to treat Joshua as God’s appointed mediator and to respect him as they had Moses. They agreed to put their lives on the line as God’s partners. They agreed to all the conditions that God had laid down in his comprehensive law: to good moral conduct, to obedience of specific commands, and to their mission. They even called down death upon any of their number who failed to do as they had promised. And they echoed the refrain that the Lord had drilled into Joshua’s head, “Be strong and courageous.”
May 5
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Rahab’s Decision
Joshua 2
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the
Lord has risen upon you…Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
Isaiah 60:1, 3 (ESV)
The Canaanites were spiritual descendants of Cain; they had rejected the true God to prostitute themselves to false gods. You could scarcely find a better person than a prostitute to represent what the Canaanites meant to Israel and Israel’s God. By contrast, the spies were representatives of the God of Israel. So this first encounter between Israel and Canaan had an immense, even cosmic, significance.
Rahab told the spies about the fear that Israel’s presence had generated in the hearts of her people. The territory of Sihon and Og, already conquered by Israel, was almost as large as the whole territory west of the Jordan. Furthermore, Jericho had not been built to withstand the attacks of armies capable of defeating such people as the Amorites with their vast resources and territories.
But, in the minds of the Canaanites, the miracle at the Red Sea was even more frightening. In Canaanite religious mythology, Baal ruled the land because he had overcome the powerful god of the sea. But when the God of Israel overcame the sea, making a path through it to save his people, he proved himself the king of all gods, more powerful even than Baal of the Canaanites.
Most of Canaan was still determined to resist, but Rahab was willing to change her cherished beliefs and serve the true God of land and sea. Her actions to save the spies of Israel gave evidence of her faith that the Lord would be victorious. It was on the basis of her demonstrated faith, then, that Rahab asked for similar help in the coming invasion. Her decision, which resulted in her salvation, stands as a model for the commitment required of everyone who hears the claims of the gospel.
May 6
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Faith and Courage Strengthened
Joshua 2:8–11; 23–24
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for
I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)
The two spies had been sent to Jericho to gather evidence of God’s ability to deliver on his promise. This would help Israel to be courageous enough to do what God called them to do. The report of the spies focused on the overwhelming fear of the Canaanites, who clearly believed in the Lord’s power. Except for Rahab, however, the city was still determined to oppose God and his people; belief is not the same as willingness to trust.
Among the people of Israel, the major effect of the spies’ report was to confirm and strengthen their faith in the Lord. This is also the effect that hearing the story has had on every generation of God’s people since then. We can see that the advance of God’s kingdom is irresistible. We can also take heart in the knowledge that nothing can stand in God’s way or frustrate his purposes. He will make sure that his people will gain the ultimate victory. That is a great assurance for those on God’s side, and for those who are not, a great incentive to get on his side.
Either way, the advance of God’s kingdom inevitably divides people. In Jericho the division was between the one who had decided for Israel and Israel’s God, and the one who was determined to destroy them—between Rahab and Jericho’s king. Today the division is between the true followers of Jesus Christ and those who reject his salvation and his control over their lives.
Who will inherit the earth? The testimony of Rahab and Israel was “God’s people.” And the life, resurrection, and ascension of the second Joshua, Jesus, echoes that—“God’s people.” No true believers will either fail to follow faithfully or stop looking for those, like Rahab, who are willing to join them on God’s side.
May 7
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Another Barrier Demolished
Joshua 3:1–17; 5:1
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James 1:2–3 (ESV)
The ark of the covenant had been with Israel in the desert as the symbol of God’s powerful presence and his ability to fulfill his promises. Now, by God’s direction, the ark would precede Israel across the final barrier between them and the Promised Land. Before that, the people had to purify themselves; their external cleansing was a symbol of the cleansing of their hearts that was necessary for them to remain in communion with God. Without clean hearts they would not be able to meet God, who would appear in their midst as the Lord. Receiving deliverance from was not enough. In that deliverance, Israel had to know the Lord and worship him.
When the priests with the ark stepped into the flooding Jordan, it dried up. And then, with the ark and the priests in the middle of that dried-up river, all the people crossed over. Afterwards, when the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the far bank, the floodwaters returned. The crossing was a miraculous confirmation of God’s power.
As the enemies of God and Israel got confirmation of what they were up against, the terror of which Rahab had spoken to the spies of Israel continued to mount hour by hour: “Their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had courage to face the Israelites” (Josh. 5:1). Another effect was that that Joshua’s leadership was solidified: “That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses” (Josh. 4:14). Of course, faith in God was strengthened as well, just as it has been and will continue to be with every other “Jordan of difficulty” that God’s people successfully cross.
May 8
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Memorial of the Crossing
Joshua 4
We will…tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of
the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
Psalm 78:4 (ESV)
Before Israel had fought a single battle, the entire land was theirs for the taking. Such a miracle deserved a memorial, which is just what God commanded to be built. Like all memorials, this one was meant to help keep the story alive. Although the eyewitnesses would not soon forget what God had done, it would be a different matter for future generations unless the story of God’s miracle was told and retold. So, in later years, the older people might take their children and grandchildren down to Gilgal to see the memorial and tell them the story: “This is the place where we came into our inheritance. And you must always follow God if you want to keep your inheritance.”
These later generations of Israelites could also apply the message to their own day. They could reason, “If God gave his people the land once, he can do it again.” And they would also realize, if the story was told correctly, that God’s help would not come without expectations: obedience to his commands and the sanctifying (setting apart) of themselves for service to God.
If Israel ever forgot how they got into the Promised Land, or why they were there, it would cease to be the land of promise, for the Lord would no longer be with them. It was also important that the nations remember this story, for as Joshua 4:24 informs us: “[God] did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful.”
For God’s people today too, a sure knowledge of what God has done serves to prevent human pride and to promote true worship and service to the Lord. And for the nations, including those of today, knowing what God has done can serve as a testimony to the futility of opposing him and the wisdom of joining him.
May 9
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Covenant Renewal
Joshua 5:2–12
The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart
of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Deuteronomy 30:6 (ESV)
The wilderness experience had been a low point in Israel’s covenant history. To be sure, God had led his people by the pillar of cloud and fire and he had fed them with manna. But Israel had not celebrated the Passover since the night of their departure from Egypt. Nor had they carried out circumcision, the sign of Israel’s covenant with Yahweh. Things had to be different now in this place of full and intimate fellowship between the Lord and his people. This was to be the new Eden, a paradise “flowing with milk and honey.” Here, in this land above all places, the laws of God had to be properly observed.
So Joshua and the people obeyed God’s command to circumcise Israel’s men as a sign of their covenant with God. They named the place Gilgal,meaning to roll away. This marked the end of the shame of being the Lord’s people in a land of slavery. Now they were God’s people in their own land—a land of freedom and life in which they could properly honor the Lord their God.
By God’s design, the day of Israel’s crossing of the Jordan was also the anniversary of the day that Israel started getting ready to leave Egypt by setting aside a Passover lamb. Now again, they killed and ate the Passover lambs to commemorate their deliverance by the hand of God. And on the first day of the feast that followed they began to eat the produce of this land, which was every bit as rich as God had promised it would be.
Israel had doubted God many times, and it would also falter many times in the future. But now in this new land, as the people ate and drank in celebration in the shadow of Jericho’s walls, they had boundless faith that God would deliver on all his promises.
May 10
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Instructions for Success at Jericho
Joshua 5:13–6:5, 17–19
Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God… goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you the victory.
Deuteronomy 20:3b–4 (ESV)
Joshua knew that Jericho’s citizens were terribly afraid, but he also knew that they had no intention of giving up. The city had walls thick enough to house people and plenty of food and water. So Joshua needed a battle plan. But what he got was doubtless different than what he had imagined. On a scouting expedition to Jericho he met an unusual soldier; the way he identified himself told Joshua that God had more than human soldiers at his disposal. Joshua responded by falling on the ground in reverence. Then he asked for God’s message. What was he to do?
What Joshua got first was an instruction to take off his shoes for he was on holy ground and in the presence not just of God’s messenger, but of someone as holy as the holy God himself. By this, Joshua would have recognized the similarity between what Moses had experienced at the burning bush and what he was now experiencing.
What Joshua then learned was that the first battle was to be the model for all of Israel’s battles. It was not a model for battle techniques, but a model for showing that it was the Lord God who was in charge of every single venture. God himself would make Jericho’s walls collapse, making very clear here again that it was God who delivered every victory to his people.
Joshua also got clear instructions on what would happen after this. The city and everything in it would be put under the ban—under God’s judgment. Except for certain items for the Lord’s treasury, and for Rahab and her family, who were saved because of the covenant the spies had made with her, everything would be destroyed. It would be a sign for Canaan and for Israel of God’s ultimate victory and his intolerance for the unholy.
May 11
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Judgment and Mercy at Jericho
Joshua 6:6–27
The Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1:6 (ESV)
The walls of Jericho fell according to God’s plan. The Israelites cooperated in God’s judgment by destroying everything but that which had been exempted by God. It was a harsh judgment, but not undeserved. For many years, instead of giving God the allegiance he demanded, the Canaanites had flaunted their worship of false gods. Now was the day of judgment in which they would reap the reward for their steadfast opposition to God.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that what happened in Jericho was a preview of God’s final judgment. Everyone who persists in their rebellion against the one true God is subject to eternal destruction. Ultimately there is no way that life can continue except by the permissions and limitations that the Creator originally set down for human existence. The very ruins of Jericho were supposed to serve as a permanent reminder of this truth. The penalty for rebuilding the city was severe, fitting the crime—the death of the builder’s sons and his consequent disinheritance from the community of God’s people.
But, here as always, God’s judgment was given for positive reasons too; the ruins of Jericho were to be a permanent reminder that Israel’s people and land belonged to God. Judgment for Jericho actually meant grace for Israel and security for those in covenant with God. And even those under sentence of judgment, such as Rahab and her family, could receive grace if only they joined God’s people in submitting to his rule.
God was not content with a corner of creation surrounded by the opposition. His installation of Israel into this land was only the first stage of God’s world conquest. In his plan, it was Jericho, Canaan, the world.
May 12
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Back to Basics
Joshua 7:1–23
[I ask] that they may become perfectly one, so that the world
may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
John 17:23 (ESV)
Both Joshua’s fame and the fear of the Canaanites had been growing. But there was trouble within Israel, trouble that was not perceived until the terrible failure at Ai. Before Ai, the hearts of the Canaanites had been melting; now the melting hearts belonged to Israel.
Joshua, as God’s representative and advocate for the people, took his concerns to God in prayer.
· He knew that Israel’s failure was a sign of God’s disapproval.
· He knew that unless something changed, Israel’s enemies would be quick to eliminate their opposition.
· He realized, most importantly, that God’s honor was tied to Israel and that Israel’s failure would make God a laughingstock among the nations.
God gave Joshua the answer he needed. God was angry because his people had violated their covenant with him by failing to destroy all that he had said to destroy. God did not owe Israel an explanation for this command; even so, he gave them one (see Josh. 6:18). They had to destroy Jericho or else Jericho would destroy them by enticing God’s people to worship other gods. This would effectively be a return to the bondage of Egypt from which God delivered his people.
Achan’s sin was the sin of only one man or, at most, of one family. However, it had already caused the death of thirty-six soldiers in the battle of Ai, and it further threatened all that God was doing with and for Israel in this new land. The sin of one affected the whole covenant community. It still does, which helps explain the New Testament emphasis on the need for unity in faith and obedience within the body of Christ.
May 13
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Punishment and Restoration
Joshua 7:24–8:35
The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:8 (ESV)
In giving in to his covetous impulses, Achan committed the unthinkable sin of stealing directly from the Lord himself. He disobeyed a direct command of God and stole from the first fruits that were to be devoted entirely to God. However, in unswerving determination to rescue his people, and through them his world—and for the sake of the coming Messiah—God gave Israel yet another in a long series of second chances.
When Israel purged the sin from their midst God helped them carry out their previously appointed task, this time giving them an overwhelming victory. Israel learned its lesson yet again; there is no victory without close attention to what the Lord wants. Besides that, God gave Israel the spoils of battle, the very thing that Achan had tried to steal from the Lord. Afterwards the community had a worship service: Joshua built an altar to the Lord and the people brought sacrifices. Then Joshua read for Israel all the words of God’s Law.
Achan’s sin should not surprise us; it is too much like our own. There’s something in us all that tries and sometimes succeeds in shutting down the warnings of the Spirit in our hearts. The New Testament calls it the sinful nature. It’s that same nature that tempts us to judge the Lord for the consistent way he deals with every threat against his plan to complete the redemption of his fallen creation.
It’s only by God’s grace that not all of us end up like Achan. Thank God for that amazing grace by which he provides what we could never achieve on our own. God put our punishment on his own son so that all who believe in and live for him might have blessings and not curses—life and not death.
May 14
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The Assimilation of Gibeon
Joshua 9
[The inheritance] depends on faith, in order that the promise
may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all [Abraham’s] offspring—
not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
Romans 4:16 (ESV)
Normally the kings of Canaan were suspicious of each other and always trying to extend their own territories at each other’s expense. However, after the defeat of Jericho and Ai they joined together to fight Israel. Only Gibeon did not join the coalition. Instead they sent a delegation to Israel, disguised to make it seem that they did not live close enough to pose a threat, and asked for a covenant agreement between their peoples. Israel’s leaders agreed to Gibeon’s request without consulting the Lord.
But this agreement was potentially a major problem. For the sake of Israel’s purity, God had prohibited any treaty of friendship with those who served other gods. God’s concern was not racial purity; since the people had left Egypt they had been a “mixed multitude.” However, God wanted no compromise of Israel’s spiritual purity. What Israel’s leaders eventually proposed as a solution was making their treaty with Gibeon one of submission rather than friendship. This meant that the Gibeonites were permitted to be among the people of God, not as friends who retained their own worship practices but, only if they renounced their idolatry and pledged to serve the Lord.
Rahab and her family were the most recent additions to Israel; she had proved her loyalty by risking her life for the sake of Israel’s spies. Now the Gibeonites also made the decision to leave their neighbors and join Abraham’s descendants in the worship of the Lord. It wasn’t an easy decision and it would have consequences, but Gibeon would find out what Rahab had discovered—that you never lose by deciding to serve the Lord.
May 15
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Victory Complete
Joshua 10–11
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28–29 (ESV)
The strength of the alliance between Israel and Gibeon was tested when Gibeon was attacked by the Amorites. Israel quickly responded to the challenge, saving the Gibeonites. Afterwards the armies and cities of the Amorite coalition suffered the same fate as Jericho: “All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel” (Josh. 10:42).
This also applies to Israel’s success with the armies of Hazor and its allies in the north of Canaan. The mopping-up operations took a long time (see Joshua 11:18) but, as God ordered, the cities of the north were destroyed.
There is one more group of Canaanites whose downfall was especially significant—the descendants of Anak who, years before, had made the ten unfaithful spies of Israel feel like grasshoppers in the presence of giants. These giants had not gotten smaller, but they were not too big or powerful for the Lord’s army. Only a few survived, among them the ancestor of Goliath in Gath.
The conclusion of the entire series of battles to take the land is given in the final verse of Joshua 11: “Then the land had rest from war.” It was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Moses in Exodus 33:14, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” Joshua also reminded the people of this promise at the beginning of Israel’s entry into Canaan: “The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this land” (Josh. 1:13).
It was an early installment of an even more complete rest and greater inheritance to come.
May 16
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Distribution of the Inheritance—Part 1
Joshua 14:1–15:1; 16:1–4; 17:14–18
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s
staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Genesis 49:10 (ESV)
Israel occupied the land, but there was still much work to be done, for they were surrounded by many who would continue to oppose the people of God. Nevertheless, it was time to allocate the inheritance. In keeping with the blessing that Jacob had pronounced on his sons, Judah had priority among the tribes of Israel, and so received the first tribal allotment. Judah inherited a large territory, but one with enemies on every side: Moab to the east, Edom (Esau’s descendants) to the south, the Amalekites to the southwest, the Philistines to the west, and to the north, in the territory of Benjamin, the Jebusites. The Philistines especially would give Judah problems for hundreds of years.
One of Judah’s leaders, Caleb, was given a special territory of his own. Caleb was actually related by blood to the Edomites, who would later be cursed for their opposition to the Lord and Israel. However, Caleb had become part of Judah and had proved his loyalty to Yahweh and Israel as one of the faithful spies sent out by Moses (see Num. 14). Caleb’s inheritance was in the territory of the fearsome Anakites. He still had some work to do to secure that land, but fully expected and received the Lord’s blessing in doing it.
The tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh also received their inheritance. They complained about the size of their allotments but Joshua told them that they had received enough if only they would apply themselves to driving out the Canaanites who lived there (Josh. 17:17–18). Instead, Ephraim subjected them to forced labor. In later years, the Canaanites would grow stronger and make them pay for not following the Lord’s commands.
May 17
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Distribution of the Inheritance—Part 2
Joshua 18:1–10
[We desire] that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6:12 (ESV)
The inheritance for the remaining tribes of Israel was doled out by lot. But even before this happened, Joshua assembled Israel at Shiloh where the tabernacle was set up. There, he reproved them for failing to take possession of the land that God had given them. Even though the Lord had given Israel the land, the people still had a duty to work and to take hold of what God gave them to inherit. They needed more than a degree of control as well; they needed to make this a place in which there was no idolatrous competition for wholehearted service to God.
Joshua’s question, “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?” is as good a question for us today as it was for Israel. When we settle for less than what God wants, when we get lazy or tired and start dragging our spiritual feet, then, if we have ears to hear it, we can hear God asking: “How long will you wait to take me at my word, and obey me, and displace the enemy from the territory that belongs to you?”
This is not a call to reinstate the theocracy of Joshua’s day; it is simply a call to persist against other enemies. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).
This admonition from James neatly captures what Jesus did and wants every disciple to do: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:7–8). As with ancient Israel, we have a rightful claim to a God-given inheritance and must not fail to pursue it.
May 18
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Distribution of the Inheritance—Part 3
Joshua 20:1–21:3
He remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant. So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. And he
gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit
of the peoples’ toil, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws.
Psalm 105:42–45 (ESV)
The Levites, who were dedicated to the special service of the Lord, received no land. They were to consider the Lord alone as their inheritance. However, they did get food by way of offerings from the other tribes and forty-eight cities scattered throughout Israel to live in. This both provided for the Levites and constantly reminded the rest of Israel of the service they owed God.
Six of the Levite cities were designated as Cities of Refuge. Anyone who accidentally caused the death of another person could flee to one of these and ask for protection. If the city elders determined that the death truly was accidental, the perpetrator could stay there, safe from the revenge of the victim’s family.
The Levite allotments and the cities of refuge completed the distribution of Israel’s inheritance. Even though the tribes would have to continue to fight to solidify their hold on their property, the inheritance was theirs. Every tribe had its place, and every family within the tribe. And if the Year of Jubilee provisions were observed (see Lev. 25, 27), each family would continue to have a place in the Promised Land. The only condition was that they all be loyal to the Lord and observe his commands.
Joshua 21:44–45 concludes the account of the distribution of Israel’s inheritance this way: “The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
May 19
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Israel’s Unity Threatened
Joshua 22
All who believed were together…
Acts 2:44 (ESV)
Now that the inheritance was secure, Joshua called together the fighting men from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to send them back to their families and settlements on the east side of the Jordan. First, however, he gave them a sermon on loyalty: “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Josh. 22:5).
Thus, the rest of Israel became horrified when the men of these tribes stopped to build an altar by the Jordan. That’s because the Lord’s altar was in Shiloh, and they assumed that any other altar would be for promoting the worship of Canaanite gods. These tribes might have said, “Let those rebels go their own way. If they want to serve other gods, that’s their problem, not ours.” But Israel was the community of God’s people; they had to stand together, or they would fall together. They were accountable to each other for their loyalty to the Lord. If one failed, they all would suffer, and they did not want the Lord’s anger to burn again as it had with the sins of Peor and Achan.
That’s why all of Israel was very relieved to hear that the altar at the Jordan had been built as a witness to future generations of the trans-Jordan tribes’ continuing loyalty to the Lord; the name they gave the altar testified to its purpose: “A Witness Between Us—that the Lord is God.
It is still true that all who pledge loyalty to the Lord are accountable to each other. With mutual and loving discipline, we too may present to the world a united and powerful testimony of the inheritance we have in Christ.
May 20
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Israel’s Real but Incomplete Rest
Joshua 23
Whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works
as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest,
so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:10–11 (ESV)
So far the book of Joshua has given us an account of Israel’s first taste of life in the Promised Land. The final chapters highlight the conclusion of Joshua’s ministry and life. Here, as a prelude to reinforce to the leaders of Israel the responsibilities of their offices, Joshua asserts: “Not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled” (Josh. 23:14). It’s an extraordinary claim, and one that repeats the assertion of verse 1: “The Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them.”
At the same time, this chapter makes clear that the fulfilled promises and rest from enemies that Israel enjoys does not mean that life in the Promised Land is yet all that God intends it to be. There are still enemies in the land, enemies to be “pushed back and driven out” (verse 5). And until that happens completely, there should be no mixing of Israel with the various Canaanite tribes, and especially so in the practices of worship (verse 7).
The situation is here as it has been all along; the gracious gifts of God do not relieve his people of the responsibility to claim what the Lord gave them. The certainty of what God did for Israel is indicated by use of the past tense; the obligation for them to pursue the fullness of this reality is indicated by use of the imperative.
Hebrews and the rest of the New Testament repeats this emphasis for every child of God. We cannot enter into God’s rest without his initiative and power. Thank God for providing these! But those who receive God’s gifts must make every effort to stay true to him and so reach the complete rest that he wants for us.
May 21
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A Future for God’s People
Joshua 24
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people
whom he has chosen as his heritage…Let your steadfast love,
O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
Psalm 33:12, 22 (ESV)
Joshua wanted Israel’s future to be as good as their present. Before he died he assembled the leaders of Israel at Shechem for a final warning and testimony. Shechem was the site of the first altar that Abraham had erected to the Lord, and it was also the first land purchased by Jacob upon his return to Canaan from Laban’s home in Mesopotamia.
At the assembly Joshua rehearsed the history of God’s care for them and the standards by which Moses and he had led Israel. He warned that for Israel to continue in their inheritance, they must not associate with the idol worshipers left in the land or swerve from the worship of the one true God. Nor was it enough for Israel merely to control the land and coexist with their ungodly neighbors. If God’s people did not drive them out, Israel would inevitably come under the influence of the false gods and misplaced loyalties of the Canaanites. In this way Israel would destroy the paradise into which God had led them.
Joshua told them further that serving the Lord would not be easy, and he counseled against too hasty a choice. Even so, the tribes followed his lead and renewed their binding covenant with God. Although events in the years ahead would bear out the truth of Joshua’s warnings, Israel seemed to believe that there was really no good alternative to what Joshua advocated.
Indeed, there is not. There can be no paradise, temporal or eternal, apart from a living relationship with the Lord. What testifies to the grace of Christ in which God’s people stand is a life of unswerving loyalty to him, a life guided by his word and empowered by his Spirit.
Last modified: Thursday, August 9, 2018, 3:09 PM