Here we are at the end of Joshua. It’s been a fantastic journey, watching what marks God’s people if they’re to live in the place where the promises come true. God supernaturally bringing them across the deadly Jordan, and ensuring they remember how; God supernaturally enabling them to capture Jericho, and teaching them obedient awe, and the amputation of all that’s sinful; God’s miracle of the long day, showing them what prayer can do; God challenging Caleb (at 85!) to new adventures of faith, so enabling Israel to capture the giants’ stronghold… All this and more: what an education! (Perhaps at the end of this series we should write down and pray through the key issues for us personally, because they’re such vital pictures of how to live in victory…)
But today we’ll see the final mark of Joshua’s God-gifted leadership: planning for after he’s gone…
This is so important for any leader! Our fallen hearts can secretly want things to be worse once we’re gone?- but a real test of our leadership is whether what we’ve built stays healthy then, or even grows. (Not that there can’t be big problems once we’re gone: we can watch Paul facing these issues in Acts 20; but we must do all we can – look again at Paul in 2 Timothy.) Indeed the last verses of Joshua 24 give us the sense of being at the end of an era, plus a hint (v31) of the dangers that will befall Israel in Judges when they stop moving forward in mission: increasing deterioration, and increasingly unfortunate leaders like Samson, till at the end of Judges everything has fallen apart.
But right here Joshua is saying, Not on my watch! And we can learn how a leader seeks to fasten his generation into a discipleship that will last…
And we can imagine this is written to us – because it is!- on whom the `end of the ages has come`, as Paul says… What fastens us into lifelong discipleship? It doesn’t happen automatically. Most of us have friends who have lost their way spiritually; and they may be going to heaven, but tragically their life here is being wasted, all that glory that could have been. Do we want to last? It takes determination, robustness; we can’t afford to be floppy, blown around by everything that happens. We need to seek and receive from God the steel that says, By God’s grace I will follow Jesus till I die or He returns!
So Joshua’s life-work isn’t finished. In ch23 he’s spoken to the leaders. (The `all Israel` in 23:2, which is clearly only the leaders, is another case of what this writer means by `everyone`, that we discussed in the post on the accusation of genocide.) Now he does call `all the tribes` together (24:1).
And what precisely does he do? First (vv2-13) he soaks their minds afresh in God’s actions in history, the ones we have in His Word: the events of Genesis, of Exodus, of Numbers. (A vibrant old testament survey can be a very upbuilding thing!) And he says to this generation, This is your story (look at his use of `you` all the way from v5): and we need to feel in our guts that this is our story too. Including what’s not so great; there’s the story of Jacob and Esau, Jacob who didn’t get his inheritance when Esau did (v4). Then, `You lived in the desert for a long time`, says Joshua: that needn’t have happened. And there’s the story of Balaam, where we learn that blessings – prayers, basically – have real power; God has given us power in prayer to shape our destiny, and it’s up to us whether we use it or not.
What is Joshua doing? He’s reminding them of what God has done, that is recorded in His Word. Feeding daily on this Word is so foundational if we want to last: Paul emphasises this likewise in his farewell message in Acts 20:32; so, noticeably, does Jesus on the way to the cross (John 17:14-17). Let’s make no mistake: if we want lifelong discipleship we must learn each day to prioritize and protect our time in God’s Word!
But also this passage is another reminder to keep a personal, thankful list of the things God has done for us, just as Joshua works through such a list here. And he does this to remind them of God’s reality, and greatness, so that (v14) they will fear the Lord and choose in concrete seriousness to say, v15, `As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’ (By the way, if we’re not married yet: I believe that whole `unequal yoke` thing isn’t just saying, Only get a partner who’s a Christian; it’s saying, Only get a partner who’s a real disciple of Jesus, someone who will really say, when it comes to how you use your money, your house and your career, and how you bring up your kids: `As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!’ [Words my father in law had on a huge plaque in his hall!] And if God has given you someone like that, be hugely thankful, and don’t let them down!)
So, Joshua brings them to a choice: Will you `fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness`, or not? Vv 16-18: the people reply, Yes, we’re in this for the long haul! Good! But – what Joshua does do now? – say `God is pleased!`, and have two comfy songs to close?
Not quite! In fact he puts the boot in (vv19, 20); he does something that probably a leader can only do if a good period of loving their people has earned them respect (a `bridge` over which such heavy traffic can pass!)… `You are not able to serve the Lord! He is a holy God… If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you!` (Jesus sets out the cost of following Him equally unflinchingly – look at Luke 14:25-34 and indeed John 21:15-19.)
So this honest setting out the cost leads up to vv22-23: `Then Joshua said, ”You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied. “Now then,” said Joshua, ”throw away the alien gods that are among you, and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.’ How do we apply this? What are the parallels for us, what might those `alien gods` be that could make me waste my life and fail to do anything for God that lasts? Perhaps each of us needs to take paper and pen, and think ahead to the next ten years and what `alien gods` might rob us of our destiny… Letting career success be our idol? Or money, possessions? Getting married? Status and power? Surely our work can become our god, our priority; or even our family; so that (like Israel in Judges) we lose the priority of mission, leading to an inner decay where we end up not too much like Jesus at all… As He says, no one can serve two masters, and indeed it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for someone idolizing some of these things to make it to heaven…
We know ourselves; and if we sense God’s Spirit nudging us about some of these `alien gods`, it’s time to do something, to repent!… And perhaps for all of us to think hard: how might I be most likely to `forsake the Lord and serve alien gods?` What things might make me grow cold and waste the rest of my life?
It’s striking how, when the people say, ‘We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him’ (v24), Joshua responds by setting up a permanent monument of their decision (v26). Then he says: ‘This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us.` US! None of us are safe from temptation; spiritual survival is not automatic – I know I can fall, so do you. So let’s be practical! The new year is almost upon us: why don’t we create, like Joshua, our own memorial?- take the time to write a letter to ourselves to be read in five years’ time, listing the idols we see might derail us? Because there are casualties among God’s people, and we must decide by God’s grace not to be one of them!
And yes, we are weak — but He is strong; the Holy Spirit who brought creation into being is within us and on our side. Paul says, `Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly… No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize!` (1 Cor 9). And there is a huge prize: millions of years in the unimaginable glory of heaven, the like of which no eye has ever seen (1 Cor 2)… We do need to dig in now, because there are surely deceptions and pressures coming to make us grow cold. But Christ is with us; He gave His own life to help us stay faithful till heaven comes…
Well! A closing chapter, so appropriate as we come towards the end of the year: for us to read meditatively, and then pray: Lord, only by Your Spirit’s power can I handle these things; by Your Spirit, keep me from lukewarmness, from unfaithfulness and going the long, wasteful way round to heaven! I want to say, here and now: I am determined by Your power not to be one of those who grows cold! “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!”
`The Lord said to Joshua… “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon [dream big dreams then!], and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country – to the Mediterranean Sea in the west!… I will never leave you nor forsake you! …. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful…. Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid… for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go!’ (NIV)
