The book of Joshua is rife with transition, the Israelites
facing change nearly on a daily basis. They were standing on the banks of the
Jordan river looking on at the land the Lord had said was theirs. They, and their
new leader Joshua, had received the command to “Be strong and of good courage”
for one simple reason, because the Lord God Almighty was with them!
Essentially chapters 2-13:8 are all about conquering. Not
conquering for conquering sake, but conquering because God had given them the
land set out before them. It wasn’t their land, but it was His land to do with
what he wanted. That’s what sovereignty means. While sovereignty without love
is devasting and cruel, sovereignty with love is a welcome reign under which to
live.
There was another reason for the conquering. All the land
that lay before the Israelites was inhabited by peoples who served many, many
gods. Jim Edelin, in the Illustrated Bible
Life periodical (Fall 2018), reviews several reasons that polytheism was
attractive, three of which I will highlight here. The first was economic
incentive—if a people worshiped the gods of the land, water and air, and if
those gods elected to answer their prayers by providing all that was needed
agriculturally, then it was very economically beneficial to serve them. Secondly,
many of these gods had tangible images of all shapes and sizes throughout these
kingdoms. A visible, touchable statue or painting provided a welcome sense of
being “able to control the divine world.” A controllable god appears to be
quite advantageous. Thirdly, the sensual nature of worship gave vast
permissions for people to indulge in whatever sexual pleasures that they could
imagine or crave. Temple prostitution was wide-spread and easily accessible. While
to some the sensual pleasures were valued as ecstatic worship experiences, Israel’s
God knew that indulging in them to the extreme could lead to poor health,
disease and misunderstanding of sex as the ultimate act of human behavior.
Edelin concludes by writing that these elements of pagan worship, were really
just “an illusion that God could be manipulated” and that one’s life could be
self-orchestrated. This was the essential temptation—to be like God—plied to
Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden. These were some of the religious
principles that the Israelites had been tempted to in Egypt as well as rife
within the land that God had promised to them. Conquering these lands and their
idols was the way that God would see his Kingdom come during their age.
The Israelites moved all the way through the land of God’s
promise, taking some missteps along the way (note Achin’s sin in Chapter 7 and
the Gibeonite deception and consequential treaty in Chapter 9), but still
conquering everyone else along the way. In 13:9-22:34, Joshua, their faithful
and triumphant leader, worked with the one, true, living God to divide up the
land in equitable ways. He also gave the Levites towns, if not land, so that
they could be dedicated to the work of the Lord. Throughout this leveraging of
their new land, they kept affirming that they would only serve the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and continually. But something was still amiss.
In Joshua 23, Joshua, now old and having seen them through
many battles had a farewell speech to give to the Israelites. It includes
prophetic words directly from God. This speech is reminiscent of Stephen’s
speech in Acts 7:1-53 as a recalling of their history and a sound rebuke. And a
sound rebuke is what they needed!
Read Joshua 24:1-13.
By recalling his history of these victories, victories that
clearly could not have accomplished on their own, God set up the ultimate
choice for the Israelites. Remembering this history would be important because
Israel’s God was master Provider, Master of the Elements, King of kings,
Military Strategist extraordinaire. Why would anyone want any other god?!
Read Joshua 24:14-15.
Choice. It is the gift that God has given to all of
humanity. Rather than being automatons or robots, we have been given a free
will to either choose God, gods or ourselves. Joshua recognized this choice. He
knew that something was still amiss. He knew that for all of their devoted
talk, some still harbored love and affection for other gods. Perhaps they were
hiding the statues, or perhaps they were openly exhibiting them to influence
their Israelite neighbors intentionally or unwittingly. But, after all that
they had been through with the highest God, Joshua set the choice before them
deliberately. If they did not like God, if they didn’t think He had done much
for them, if you they thought it best to follow the tradition of multiple gods
. . . As simple as it is to give in to the prevailing culture, it is more
powerful and a far better way to use the gift of will to choose to follow God.
The voice of Joshua, faithful and true, rang out in
confrontation and with God’s offer of complete redemption. “Now fear the Lord!”
and “Throw away the idols!” and “Choose!” echoed off the hillsides. The
proclamation of a choice is powerful. It meant that the Israelites did not have
to worship other gods! They did not have to be subject to economic or
agricultural prosperity to thrive. Indeed, every parcel of land on which they
set their foot was an unearned parcel. They had not built those cities! They
had not nurtured the vineyards! They had not spent generations cultivating the
olive groves! There was only one way that they had acquired all of those riches—God
himself had provided it for them. So, in light of that great provision by the
highest God, there was no better way but for them to go with God!
Throw away those pitiful statues who cannot provide as God
provides! Pile them up in a heap and
burn them to ashes to be swept away by the wind that God created. Toss them in
to the garbage dump and watch them decay while your God continues to provide
for you whether or not the crops or rains are good. Choose today! Choose every
day!
Joshua, whose name means “salvation”, then said something
that was not prophetic, not a quote of God’s words, not a communal statement.
He stated that he and his family made that choice. Indeed, he had made that
choice when he was a young man called by Moses to lead an army and explore the
land. He had made the choice day after day through every battle, all of the
changes and transitions up to the Promised Land and now in the Promised Land.
No one or no thing had ever deterred Joshua. His God had imbued him with wisdom
on how to use his choice. And he employed that choice for the best way—all
along the way.
Read Joshua 24:16-28.
Joshua then entered into a dialog with the people. He makes
a statement that seems so counter to their ardent voices. “You won’t be able to
do this because God is holy.” Of course,
they won’t be able to do this! Not because it is impossible, but because some
of them would use their will to go against God despite what they were affirming
on that day. The function of this statement is also a check on their ardor.
Every time Joshua pronounced failure over them, they responded that they would
not deny God—with even more ardor. It’s as if only the volume of their voices
were what they believed was required. But what God required was a daily
devotion to Him, a daily sweeping clean of the house, a daily dedication to
ridding their lives of all other gods, a daily acknowledgement that there
really was no better way than to follow God.
Joshua did several deliberate things then. He reaffirmed all
of the decrees and laws that had been handed down. “Yes, these are still the rules we play by.”
He wrote the re-committal down. “Yes, you can confirm this later on in
writing.” A large stone was moved as a reminder of their re-affirmation. “When
you see this, remember Who you committed to.” They said it. They heard it. They
read it. They recognized it that day. There was no better way.
Read Joshua 24:28-33.
At this, Joshua had done his part. There really was nothing
further that he could do besides living out his few remaining days the way he
had lived them for so long—free of idols, free of superstition, free of the
whims of human desires without God, free of prosperity tied to his own efforts,
free of trying to control his own world, free to love the God who had guided
him all along the way.
Reading further in the Old Testament, we see that God’s
people go up and down through valleys of commitment and re-commitment. Many of
them suffered the sad consequences of going back on their choices. And many of
them, and at times just a remnant, clung to their choice of God.
What is your choice today?
Prayer: Almighty God, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Today I
recommit to you because there really is no better way. I acknowledge my
weaknesses, my lack of self-discipline, my insatiable hunger to provide for
myself and manipulate You. Please help me and give me the wisdom to know how to
employ the gift of my will that you have given me. You are the best Way and I
choose to follow You. Amen
Copyright 2019 M. R. Hyde
