Month: June 2023

Judges 2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

The response of God’s people to His Victory, Salvation, and Gift of Life was to be that they would not make a league, alliance, or covenant agreement with the inhabitants of the land. And even more, they were to throw down their altars. A faith relationship requires 100% trust and worship of the One True God. Any kind of bond with worshippers of false gods is forbidden. Any committed relationship with unbelievers opens the door to compromise of the Faith and to temptations to sin. And this is what happened to Israel.

The NT is clear: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. What partnership…what fellowship…what accord…what portion…what agreement….? [2 Corinthians 6:14-16].” 1 John 2:15: “Do not love the world or the things in the world, for the love of the father is not in him.” Making friends with the world makes one an enemy of God. The god of this world is violently opposed to the God of the spiritual world in which we dwell, and which dwells in us. We are very careful about any entanglements, bonds, or connections to the world or to the things and people of the world.

A true and happy life comes not a whit short of absolute, total commitment to our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was absolute, for us. We respond with absolute faith-fullness to Christ alone. We fail in that, but Jesus never fails.

Judges 1:19, 21, 27-33 Judah could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley…Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites…Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants…Israel put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out…Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites…Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants, but the Canaanites dwelt among them…Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants…they did not drive them out…Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants. And etc.

The book of Joshua tells of a swift and thorough conquest of enemy armies and cities, while the book of Judges portrays a more lengthy and gradual conquest. Some tribes were more successful than others, but soon most were sidetracked by fear, weariness, lack of discipline, or the pursuit of their own interests. And they began to worship the pagan gods of the Canaanites.

Judges chapter 1 lays out the cause for the cyclical problems Israel experienced: they did not drive out the demon-worshipping inhabitants of the Land. So they remained as “thorns in the side” of Israel, tempting their faith and devotion to fade away. Israel conquered the Land enough to dwell in it, but the completion of the job of driving out the enemy was not accomplished.

The learning for us NT believers is obvious: God gave us the kingdom and we dwell in it, but Sin, Death, and the Devil still remain alongside the kingdom within. Their temptations and destructions are relentless. Within the believer’s heart there remain places of sin and pockets of resistance to God’s rule. Since these enemies are ever present in the soul, we need be sober and vigilant, penitent, prayerful and believing the Gospel day by day. We respond by using the authority given to Jesus to drive out the remaining inhabitants of the soul. The battle is ongoing, but victory is ours.

Joshua 24:31 And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel.

The people of Israel served the Lord and remained faithful to Him as long as Joshua and the elders lived. But what is implied in that statement is that after Joshua and the elders died they did not serve the Lord faithfully. This response played out in the story of the people during the days of the Judges and the Kings. Their faith and faithfulness waxed or waned depending on whether a faithful leader was in place.

The Lord raised up men like Joshua and like David, who was “a man after my heart, who will do my will.” The Lord Jesus ascended on high and gave gifts to men, like Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. The Lord raises up for us strong and faithful leaders whom He uses to keep us serving the Lord. We respond to God’s called faithful servants, people who know the works of the Lord.

We do not have a Joshua, who was there to see, or a Peter, who witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus, but we have leaders whom God raised up for us by the Spirit and the Word to testify to the Truth and the Life. The Spirit brings the Word, and we believe and serve the Lord. God chose to do just that through plain human beings, like Joshua and the elders.

Joshua 24:16, 21, 24 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods….And the people said unto Joshua, Nay, but we will serve the Lord….And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

Three times the people of God responded to Joshua’s impassioned sermon: We promise, we commit, to serve the Lord only. We will not forsake the Lord; we will obey Him. It is good, fitting, right, and proper to respond to God by making a promise. Of course, it is more important to keep the promise and be faithful to the commitment. Making promises is good; keeping them is better.

However, God’s people failed time after time to fulfill their promise. And time after time the Lord rescued them from their enemies. God was faithful to His promises, until finally He fulfilled His warning and took them out of the land. A remnant of faithful believers returned, and out of them the Son of God came to Save His people from their sins and broken promises.

“Christ Jesus…emptied himself by taking the form of a servant…becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross [Philippians 2:5-8].” Jesus made a promise and kept it for us, and by faith in Christ we, united with Him, are faithful servants, and we enjoy the reward of life with God in His Kingdom. Jesus serves!

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

One of the spiritual problems Israel faced when in the land was syncretism, the combining of two or more opposing belief systems into one’s life. Israel wanted it both ways: to have the blessings of God on the one hand and to get whatever favors they could get from the world at the same time. It wasn’t that they rejected Yahweh, but it was that they wanted other gods as well.

Joshua says, “choose one or the other, and serve that one.” Be wholly committed to the One True God 100%, and do not compromise by adding other gods, man’s ideas, things of the world, or self-centered considerations. Elijah says, “How long will you limp along on two opinions? If God is God, serve Him; if Baal, then serve Him.” Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and Mammon.” John says, “Love not the world.”

God’s Word speaks with black and white clarity: make a commitment! Get off the fence: believe God and worshipfully receive His Grace; or reject His love and trust the world, the devil, and your own flesh for every good thing. Choose! This day and every day. Weigh your options and prayerfully make a choice. As the example, Joshua made his choice.

In and by ourself we must admit that we will always choose other things alongside God. But through the gospel the Spirit calls us and grants faith to make the only one exclusive choice: we will serve the Lord. The Holy Spirit living in us continually makes the right choice in daily repentance and faith.

Joshua 24:14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord.

Joshua was afraid that the people would forget the Lord and start worshipping false gods and idols, so he gives them this further encouragement before he dies. And so it happened that, after Joshua and the elders had passed on, Israel fell into idolatry and as a result suffered at the hands of enemies many times during the period of the Judges. And time and again God rescued them.

To respond with the fear of the Lord is to believe Him so firmly and to love Him

so strongly that we have a deep inner desire serve Him by keeping His Commandments. Serving means honoring the Lord as the One True God, trusting His love to forgive us and restore us to a loving relationship with Him. Our response to the gospel is: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Serve means worship, listen to, and believe in our Savior God alone. God does need our service, but other people do. Serve God by serving people. Therefore, out of the believing reception of free salvation we gladly and eagerly “love our neighbor as ourself.”

Worshipping the Lord in sincerity and in truth requires putting away other gods or anything else of the world that we look to for happiness and well-being. Israel’s fathers worshipped the gods of Old Babylon (beyond the Euphrates) until God called Abraham, and the gods of Egypt until God called Moses.

Our Lord is an exclusive God, who is so holy and loving that He cannot allow the fear of, love for, trust in, hope in, and seeking for life from any other source, especially from one’s self. The Lord saves; therefore we fear Him alone.

Joshua 23:16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

When the Lord made a covenant with His people, He set boundaries for their living and behavior while enjoying His provision and protection. These boundaries are set in the words, “Thou shalt not.” To transgress the covenant is to go into prohibited territory. The primary commandment is “have no other gods.” The primary transgression is to serve and bow down to other gods.

We are guilty of transgressing when we go after, seek for, and trust in the gods of this world. The gods of this world, like money, pleasure, and reputation, appeal to our selfish interests, and so we seek after them instead of God alone. Every self-centered thing we do transgresses the covenant. Sin brings us out from under God’s love , care, and protection opens us up to Enemy attack.

The Lord keeps His part of the covenant but we transgress. Therefore He must kick us out of the Kingdom. But He still loves us, so He sent His Son in human flesh to keep the covenant for us, thereby making a new covenant in His blood. Our transgression is forgiven and we are restored in the eternal Kingdom. The blood of Christ always avails for us in the new covenant; in this position we live by faith every single day, while transgression and trespass is forgiven.

Joshua 23:8, 11 But cleave unto the lord your God, as ye have done unto this day….Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God.

Joshua’s farewell address to the people praised God for what He has done up to this time, but he is concerned that after he gone they will lose their faithfulness. Therefore he encourages them to cleave to the Lord. He has been faithful to His promises: He has worked salvation and given the kingdom. And He will continue to keep His people safe and happy according to His Word.

The only question for the future wellbeing of Israel is whether they will receive such great grace and remain faithful to Him. Will they respond by cleaving to the Lord and loving Him with all their heart? The answer of OT history was No: they joined themselves to pagan gods and went after the world. Then they suffered the consequences, although a remnant returned and remained faithful. In the NT Jesus asked: “When I return, will I find faith on the earth?” The jury is still out.

We respond to the Gospel by cleaving to our Lord Jesus. We hold fast to Him and are joined in unity with Him. Faith loves Him with all our heart and soul; for how could we not love the one who gave His life so we could live? We keep, nourish, strengthen, and grow the faith by hearing the Gospel in as many ways as we can as often as we can. As the Son is faithful to the Father, so the Holy Spirit is faithful to the Father and the Son by keeping us in the faith. The Spirit cleaves us to God, joins us to Jesus, and holds us fast in the everlasting arms.

Joshua 23:6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right or to the left.

Joshua’s farewell address to Israel includes a thankful recounting of what the Lord has done and a warning. God fought for us and gave us victory, but pockets of resistance still remain in the land where the gods of this world rule. You will be tempted to go after them. Do not! When you do the Lord will remove you from the land, and send you into exile.

We have been given the Kingdom, but we respond by keeping it, by remaining faithful to the one true God, and by holding on to it with courageous faith. Jesus gave us the kingdom, eternal life, and He gave us the Spirit to believe it, hold on to it, and enjoy it. The Spirit keeps us in the one true faith through the continual hearing of the Gospel.

It takes courage to remain faithful to God’s Word. The pull of the world is very strong. The temptations of the gods of this world (like money, pleasure, and reputation) cannot be resisted in our strength alone. Jesus saved us but He has allowed us to remain in our selfish and sinful flesh, to stay in a godless world, and to live under the relentless attacks and lies of the Evil One. These thorns cause us to continually turn to the Lord for help, strength, confidence, boldness, conviction, and courage. It takes courage to stand firmly on the promises of God and stand stoutly against the deceptions of the devil, the world, and the flesh. Such courage is a gift of God through the gospel. Jesus has such courage for you. Trust Him! And turn not aside.

Joshua 22:13, 33-34 Ans the children of Israel sent unto the children of of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Giles’s, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest,…and the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. And the children and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God.

When the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh returned to their land East of Jordan they built an altar at the Jordan. Israel regarded this as an act of rebellion against the God of Israel, and they gathered at Shiloh to go up to war against them. But before acting in battle they sent the High Priest to negotiate with them. Phinehas listened to them and learned that the 2 1/2 tribes did not build the altar as a place of rival worship, but rather as a memorial, or reminder, that are all united as one people under one God. When Phinehas and Israel heard this explanation they were satisfied and lived at peace and unity. And avoided war.

Instead of assuming the worst about someone, it is always a good idea to respond by going to the person and listen to their side of the story. Negotiation and listening is better than assuming and being at enmity. How much conflict could be avoided when responding with the loving patience to listen? And how much conflict is stirred up by not knowing or caring about the other’s motives and intentions? We learn the lesson not to think or talk bad of others.

We set up altars in our hearts not to worship a false god, but to be reminded of what the Lord has done for us. At the Sacrament of the Altar we “do this in remembrance of Me.”