Joshua 23

 Read Joshua 23

Who? Joshua and the people of Israel

What? Joshua’s farewell address

Where? Most likely at Shiloh, where the tabernacle is set up

When? Some scholars say 10-20 years after the apportionment of the land

Why? Joshua is advanced in years (110 years old - see 24:29) and needs to address the people one last time, just as Moses did, to remind them of the covenant and their responsibility and God’s faithfulness in keeping His Word

How? “Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, their heads, their judges, and their officers,” (23:2a) so that he could address the leaders in particular and all Israel in general.

The Promised Land has not been totally conquered, but the people of Israel are settling into their allotted portions of the land and finishing the total occupation of it.  God’s promise is fulfilled.  Joshua calls the people together one final time to encourage, challenge, and remind them.  He is a leader who is always pointing the people to his leader, his Lord, Yahweh.  He reminds them over and over throughout this passage of God’s faithfulness.  God promised to drive out the people of Canaan “little by little” and He has done just that, so there is more work to do to completely drive them out (23:5, see Deuteronomy 23:23-33).  

In this chapter, verses 6, 7, and 8 are key to this speech.  Joshua is pleading with the people to be faithful, just as God is faithful.  He wants them to be intentional to avoid idolatry.  He encourages faithful obedience, as he has from the beginning.  He gives them specifics to remember the Law (see Deuteronomy 5:7-10, 6:13, and 10:20).  Joshua entreats them to “cling” or “stick devotedly” to the Lord.  When we are seeking God, clinging to Him, we aren’t seeking idols.  If we concentrate on seeking Him, not not seeking idols, we are more likely to remain with Him (see John 15:1-10).  Israel is reminded that to love God is to obey Him (23:11, see also John 14:23).  

The people of Israel are continually plagued by problems because they are intermarrying with the people they were supposed to destroy.  Joshua tells them the consequences of choosing the world rather than God.  We become like the people we spend the most time with, so we need to choose wisely (see Proverbs 1:8-19, 1 Corinthians 5:6, and 15:33).  Exclusive obedience and loyalty to God is a necessary condition to total successful occupation of the land.  The people are to know God is faithful to their core, not just know about His faithfulness.  God is faithful - in His blessings (promises) and in His cursing (warnings).  Whatever He says He will do, He will do (Leviticus 26:14-33, Deuteronomy 28).  Joshua makes sure that the people know this and even seems to prophecy that they will falter in their obedience and suffer the consequences (23:16). 

Question 1: What does Joshua want all of Israel to remember?  To avoid?

They are to remember God’s faithfulness and to be obedient, keeping the covenant. They are to avoid idolatry, intermarrying, and disobedience.  

Question 2: Keep in mind that, though they had divided up the land, it was not completely conquered.  Some of the Canaanite people had been spared while some of the land was still being fought for.  What possible problems do you think this will cause in light of Joshua’s message in this chapter?  What can we learn from this?

Israel will be drawn into idolatry and be corrupted by the world.  We have to be very careful who we spend the most time with and what we fill our time with.  We also need to watch ourselves for “little” compromises so that we can “fit in” to a world we aren’t meant to “fit in” with.

Applications:

We need to “be very determined” (23:6a) to “cling to the Lord” (23:8).  This means being intentional in what we think, do, say, etc.  We need to put our relationship with the Lord first above everything else.  

We need to be careful who we spend time with and what we spend time doing.  We can easily get sucked into worldly ways and thinking if we spend too much time exclusively with unbelievers or watching TV, listening to music, etc., that is worldly.  Remember, “Christians are to be the chocolate chips in the cookie dough of culture.  We are to mix in, not blend in — we keep our form, remaining completely distinct and separate — yet we should make the batch great!”  (from Living Among Lions by David and Jason Benham). 

We should not be surprised when there are consequences for our sin.  God has warned us over and over again that this is true.  Even when we repent and are forgiven, there are still consequences that we must deal with.  We need to remember that those consequences are our fault, not God’s, and we need to own our sin rather than make excuses and get mad at God when He does exactly what He said He would do.