Joshua 23-Joshua Begins His Exit Strategy

All Good things must end.  Joshua and his family had enjoyed a long time of peace. God protected Israel, just as He had promised and now Joshua was very old and getting ready to die. Knowing the end was near, Joshua summoned the entire nation–leaders and all. He then took the time to remind all of them what the Lord had provided. He also encouraged Israel.  Joshua told them that as God had driven out their enemies to this point; He would continue to do so in the days ahead.Joshua reminded Israel that God drove out mighty nations before them, and that 1 Israelite soldier accounted for 1000 of the enemy–real superhero stuff.

Joshua then began the reminder of the importance of keeping covenant with God.  Specifically, do not make treaties and deals with the remaining locals.  Do not cohabit with them or worship their gods.  It is so easy to be distracted by the stuff around you, and God knew–as did Joshua, that foreign gods always seemed easier; because, they were hand-crafted, easy to touch, and easy to control. 

Then and now, God wants His folks to remain committed to Him, and focused on what is real, not what is easy.  He has given us so much and required so little in return.  At the end of the day, the Lord only asks that we trust and follow Him. God asks, however, as He did with Israel, that we worship Him and Him alone. The Lord protects, prepares, and provides for us and simply asks that we live lives that honor His gift and leadership.  Make no mistake, God understands it is a difficult choice.  If we will follow, however, He will continue to go ahead of us against our enemies.  In that promise, God has never failed. God Bless You

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.