Title: Israel (Joshua 23:1-3)
Content After a long period of crossing the Jordan and conquering Jericho and Ai and many other regions, old Joshua is recounting what he had been concerned about for the sake of the crowd. Its content is-
1. You will possess the land (5).
God's will must be done. It doesn't matter who is in front of you. Whether or not there is a will of God is the question. If there is God's will, it does not matter if any enemy interferes. We believers must always find out what God has promised, what God's will and plan are, and where they are. And you have to do your best to make it happen. Even Jesus said, “My daily bread is to do the will of the Father and to complete his work” (John 4:34).
2. Do not lean left or right (6).
Jehovah God wanted to build an ideal society through his chosen people in the Promised Land. It was to build a theocracy so that you might be glorified through them. However, if Israel turns aside and does not keep the Mosaic Law and marries other peoples and follows their gods and customs, they will completely deviate from God's will. God had hoped that all aspects of God Himself would be fully revealed through Israel.
3. Love the LORD your God (11).
It is a message to love, serve, and put God at the center of you as God loved Israel. Only then will God accomplish all things in greater grace and love. But if you do not love God, God will be angry and punish you.
So, if we fail to fulfill God's will and deviate from that goal, we will depart from Jehovah's salvation and God's whole missionary plan, which means that J, that is, Israel has become corrupted. Then, missions to the Gentiles will become more and more difficult. If that happens, Israel has failed to fulfill its mission, so the remnant of Canaan will become a snare, a trap, a whip in their side, a thorn in their eyes, and eventually they will be annihilated from the earth.
Now, we must be all of us who faithfully believe in God's promises, do not lean left or right, love only God, and strive to do God's will rightly. Amen.