Joshua had one last great message for his people. The people were at rest, Joshua 23:1, but Joshua was getting old, but despite his age, Joshua 23:1-2, and so he gathered all Israel, their elders, leaders, judges and officials because he was old, Joshua 23:2. He had something else he had to say, choose!
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Whether this assembly was held at Timnath-Serah, where Joshua lived, or at Shiloh, where the ark was, or at Shechem, as in Joshua 24:1, we cannot tell. Some think that the meaning here, and that mentioned in Joshua 24:1, were the same, and if so, Shechem was the place of assembling, but it is more likely that the two chapters treat of two distinct assemblies, whether held at the same place or not.’
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Unlike other narrative texts, this one has no specific setting in time or space. It simply connects to Joshua 13:1, when Joshua was old, and Joshua 21:44, when God had given rest. The setting thus marks Israel at the moment she had dreamed of from the Exodus onward, Exodus 33:14. But it also marks the crisis of leadership transition. The message which follows is at the same time one for prosperity, and also for crisis.’
Joshua begins by explaining what God has done, He has fought against the nations, Joshua 23:3. I guess it would be easy for them to sit back and boast about the battles ‘they won’.
There was only one problem with that: they hadn’t done it. Israel needed to remember who had been out there fighting for them, Joshua 23:3 / 1 Corinthians 10:12 / Proverbs 16:18.
God had promised His people a land, and now they had it, and basically, God divided it out, Joshua 23:4. But not only that, but God dispossessed the nations around; He pushed them out, and they would no longer possess the land, but Israel would, Joshua 24:5.
Joshua then goes on and tells them some things to do, tells them two things to do: be very strong, keep all that is written in the law, Joshua 23:5, which is a clear reference to the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses. Cling to the Lord, Joshua 23:8, and love the Lord, Joshua 23:11.
And so, Joshua then goes ahead and tells them some things they are not to do: don’t turn from God’s law to the right or to the left, Joshua 23:5; don’t associate with the nations among them and don’t have any use for their gods, Joshua 23:6-7.
They must hold fast to God, as they have until now, Joshua 23:8. It was God who drove out before them great and powerful nations, and to this day no one has been able to withstand them, Joshua 23:9.
Notice that Israelite routed a thousand, because God fights for them, Joshua 23:10. This implies that Israel has nothing to fear in the future, God would continue to fight for them. And so, Joshua reminds them to be very careful to love God, Joshua 23:11.
Joshua now gives Israel a warning: if they turn away and ally themselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among them and if they intermarry with them and associate with them, then they may be sure that God will no longer drive out these nations before them, Joshua 23:12-13.
Instead, they will become snares and traps for them, whips on their backs and thorns in their eyes, until they perish from this good land, which God has given them, Joshua 23:13.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These terrible words are an exact blueprint of what really happened to Israel. They intermarried with the pagan populations they left remaining in the land. Next, they accepted the worship of those pagan gods; even a king named his son after Baal, 1 Chronicles 8:33 / 1 Chronicles 9:39. In time, the true worship of God was abandoned altogether, and Israel degenerated into a condition exactly like that of the Canaanites they had displaced. In fact, Hosea, Hosea 12:7, denominates Israel as ‘a Canaanite.’
Joshua knows he is about to die, and he reminds them that even though all God’s promises have been kept to this point, Joshua 23:14 / Joshua 21:43-45, they will be destroyed from the land and they will perish quickly, Joshua 23:15-16 / Leviticus 26:14-33 / Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In all this exhortation, we see how closely Joshua copies the example of his great master Moses, Leviticus 26:7-8 / Leviticus 26:14 / Deuteronomy 28:7 / Deuteronomy 32:30.’
Life is full of choices. What career will I take? What kind of person should I marry? Where should I live? Etc. God has challenged men to choose as well, Deuteronomy 30:19 / Joshua 24:15 / 1 Kings 18:21 / Philippians 3:2-14. Mary was commended by the Lord because she had ‘chosen the good part’, Luke 10:42.
If you could leave just one message behind, what would it be? Would it tell of your accomplishments? Would it tell how to spend the money you would leave behind? Would it tell which people to get revenge on for the way they had treated you? Or would it tell of the need to be sure to choose to serve God?
Unfortunately, too many people today are not taught that they must face the consequences of their behaviour, whether they steal, or if they are unfaithful or even if parents don’t discipline their children, there can be consequences.
If there is one thing that is taught in the Bible, it is that men must face the consequences for their sins, Romans 2:5-9 / Romans 14:10-12 / 1 Corinthians 4:5 / 2 Corinthians 5:10.