Title: Jehovah your God (Joshua 23:1-16)
Contents
Reading the text, I have a feeling that these words are Joshua's will. Joshua, the great leader who succeeded Moses and led the nation of Israel to complete the conquest of Canaan, was the comrades, friends, and elders of Israel who shared life and death in the conquest of Canaan. This is a testamentary message that calls and gives a final request.
Today, we must learn who the God we want to instill in us through Joshua is and how we should serve him.
Another thing, as we read this text, we notice that the word “Jehovah your God” is used a lot (13 times). This is a title Joshua longs for to let them know who God is.
Moses confesses that God is 'my God' whenever he sees it, Joshua and Caleb were like that, and all people of faith were like that. Jesus, we must receive it as a reminder that we must believe in our Savior.
Also, in verse 3, the God Joshua wanted to plant, the God who was with him in the past, brought him out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, crossed the Red Sea and led the wilderness for 40 years, crossed the Jordan and destroyed the Canaanites, and the covenant promised We are reminding you that He is the God who guided your past until you found the land of Canaan.
The same is true for us today. The God we believe in is the God who guided our past. People of all faiths look back on their past, confess that it was God's detailed providence, and become a person of gratitude.
In verse 5, we testify that the Lord your God is the 'God who will guide your future' (John 14:1-3).
Also, verse 10 testifies that the Lord your God is with you in your present life (Matthew 28:20). Therefore, David in the psalm confesses, 'The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing; though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.'
Joshua is teaching them how to serve this kind of God. In 22:5 and 23:6, he teaches them to live according to God's word.
Serving God who takes responsibility for and guides the past, present, and future means to live according to the word of the covenant he has given us, not to the left or to the right.
In other words, make the Word of God the rule of life and live according to the Word, whether it is painful, pleasant, difficult, or easy. As for the content, he wanted to know the God he had experienced and experienced as his God by living these words that he had told him throughout his life (Revelation 1:3, Deuteronomy 28:1, John 15:10).
Second, it urges us to get close to God and to love Him. In order to become closer to God, we must avoid what He hates, find and do what pleases Him, and strive to live according to Him.
Third, we are admonishing you to be careful about your fellowship with the Gentiles. We must not forget that we are living in the world, but we cannot become one with the world and cannot live according to the laws of the world.