Joshua 23
Joshua Challenges Israel to be Faithful
23:1 A long time passed after the Lord made Israel secure from all their enemies, and Joshua was very old.
Ten to twenty years later, Joshua was very old. The tribes were getting very comfortable in their lands, but they had not yet exterminated the Canaanites.
23:2 So Joshua summoned all Israel, including the elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and told them: “I am very old.
Joshua summoned all the leaders of Israel for a final meeting before his death. This meeting most likely took place at Shiloh, since the Tabernacle was located there. Another possibility is Shechem, if chapter 23 and 24 were the same speech.
23:3 You saw everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your behalf, for the Lord your God fights for you.
General Joshua reminded his ex-army officers that it was God who had given them victory. Joshua did not take any credit for himself.
23:4 See, I have parceled out to your tribes these remaining nations, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the nations I defeated.
Joshua divided the land of the conquered Canaanites and gave it to Israel to possess.
23:5 The Lord your God will drive them out from before you and remove them, so you can occupy their land as the Lord your God promised you.
If Israel would become obedient and just attack the remaining pockets of Canaanites, then God would exterminate them, just as He promised.
23:6 Be very strong! Carefully obey all that is written in the law scroll of Moses so you won’t swerve from it to the right or the left,
Joshua reminded Israel that they needed to stay strong by studying and applying the Bible doctrine which was contained in the Mosaic Law. To survive, they needed to follow the details of the Law exactly the way in which it was written.
23:7 or associate with these nations that remain near you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! You must not worship or bow down to them!
Israel had not yet exterminated the Canaanites. Joshua warned them not to be seduced into their pagan religions.
23:8 But you must be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this very day.
Their only loyalty was to be to Jehovah.
23:9 “The Lord drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been able to resist you to this very day.
It was God, not Israel, who exterminated the Canaanites. Israel won every battle (except Ai). The first battle of Ai was lost because of Achan’s sin. After the sin was confessed, Ai was exterminated.
23:10 One of you makes a thousand run away, for the Lord your God fights for you as he promised you he would.
Israelite soldiers were supernaturally empowered by God. One Israelite soldier caused 1000 Canaanite soldiers to run away.
23:11 Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God!
Those who love God follow His commandments. His commandments are Bible doctrine. One cannot follow Bible doctrine unless he knows Bible doctrine.
23:12 But if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them,
Joshua warned Israel about making alliances and intermarrying with the Canaanites.
23:13 know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God gave you.
If Israel fails to exterminate the Canaanites, then the Canaanites will trap and ensnare Israel into idolatry. Israel will be blinded. Israel will be removed from the land.
The Israelites placed themselves in a dangerous position when they failed to complete the genocide of the Canaanites. The Canaanites were too dangerous of a people to co-exist with a holy nation. Israel would not make them holy. The Canaanites would make Israel unholy. When one mixes dirty water with clean water, the clean water is always corrupted.
23:14 “Look, today I am about to die. You know with all your heart and being that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized – not one promise is unfulfilled!
God kept His promises to Israel. He gave them victory when they attacked the Canaanites.
23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you.
God would keep His promises on the cursings of the Mosaic Law, just as He would keep the blessings of the Mosaic Law.
23:16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear quickly from the good land which he gave to you.”
Joshua knew what was in store for Israel. He knew that they would disobey God and fail to exterminate the Canaanites. The Canaanites would seduce Israel into the worship of other gods. God would have to remove Israel out of the land. Assyria would later remove the northern tribes. Babylon would remove the southern tribes. If Joshua were alive today, he would most likely give a similar message to the United States.