Joshua 23:14-16 "And, behold, this day I
am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all
your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the
LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one
thing hath failed thereof. (15) Therefore it shall come to pass,
that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised
you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed
you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
(16) When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God,
which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed
yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you,
and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto
you."
The words of Joshua previous to these are "take good heed unto thyself" followed by a warning against intermarrying with the nations of Canaan. The warning was to prevent Israel from falling into the prey of the nations that had been allowed to remain with the danger of becoming entangled with their false worship of idols. The warning was that God would not intervene on their behalf if they allowed the entanglement of idol worship into their lives. God is a jealous God, but not in the sense that we sometimes experience jealousy. The jealousy of God is because He knows following other gods, idols, and false worship leads to evil in the nation.
After the warning, Joshua reminds them of a wonderful truth: "not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you." As I sit here this morning thinking upon this beautiful truth, I wonder why would anyone want to turn away from the absolute blessings of the Lord? Yet, in trying to analyze situations, I realize that Satan in his domain is very good at alluring God's people into the things that detract from our spirituality. He knows how to present things to us in such a way that draw us into his web of deceit. We must constantly be on guard against such things. Paul spoke of this in the book of Ephesians. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11)
To this point, the Israelites had relied upon Moses, Aaron, and now Joshua to be their leaders both in civic matters and also spiritual matters. Joshua is "going the way of all the earth"; that is, he is about to die. But just as Moses was faithful in leaving last minute directions for the people, now Joshua is doing the same in a more brief form. Stay faithful to the very One Who brought you out of bondage. Do not be deceived by those things which are out to destroy you. God is faithful and true to you; therefore, you be faithful and true to Him. That sounds simple, yet we have the depraved human nature to contend with on a daily basis. We need God's help in order to be faithful to Him. Let us seek His mercy and grace each day as we go through this life. He is the only true source of peace in this world.
The words of Joshua previous to these are "take good heed unto thyself" followed by a warning against intermarrying with the nations of Canaan. The warning was to prevent Israel from falling into the prey of the nations that had been allowed to remain with the danger of becoming entangled with their false worship of idols. The warning was that God would not intervene on their behalf if they allowed the entanglement of idol worship into their lives. God is a jealous God, but not in the sense that we sometimes experience jealousy. The jealousy of God is because He knows following other gods, idols, and false worship leads to evil in the nation.
After the warning, Joshua reminds them of a wonderful truth: "not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you." As I sit here this morning thinking upon this beautiful truth, I wonder why would anyone want to turn away from the absolute blessings of the Lord? Yet, in trying to analyze situations, I realize that Satan in his domain is very good at alluring God's people into the things that detract from our spirituality. He knows how to present things to us in such a way that draw us into his web of deceit. We must constantly be on guard against such things. Paul spoke of this in the book of Ephesians. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11)
To this point, the Israelites had relied upon Moses, Aaron, and now Joshua to be their leaders both in civic matters and also spiritual matters. Joshua is "going the way of all the earth"; that is, he is about to die. But just as Moses was faithful in leaving last minute directions for the people, now Joshua is doing the same in a more brief form. Stay faithful to the very One Who brought you out of bondage. Do not be deceived by those things which are out to destroy you. God is faithful and true to you; therefore, you be faithful and true to Him. That sounds simple, yet we have the depraved human nature to contend with on a daily basis. We need God's help in order to be faithful to Him. Let us seek His mercy and grace each day as we go through this life. He is the only true source of peace in this world.