Parting Words
Joshua • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsJoshua's parting advice for the 2 tribes headed back to their inheritance
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Background to passage: This scene plays out like the end of a John Wayne movie. Remember that fighting is over, distribution is over, all promises have been kept, and the land is at rest. Therefore, everyone go home and act normal. But before you go, here is some advice… Begin with “Only.” End with “all your heart and all your soul.” Parallel words describing the deepest part, whole self, inner being, your desires, emotions, will, strength, etc.
1 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you.
3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God.
4 And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
Opening illustration: Good Advice:
Never loan your car to someone to whom you have given birth.
Don't yell at your kids, lean in close and whisper, it's much scarier.
If you hear weird noises in the night, simply make weirder noises to assert dominance.
Seize the moment. Remember all those people on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
For $1, you can buy a candy bar from a vending machine. For $2, you can buy a brick, and get all the candy in the vending machine.
Know the difference between success and fame. Success is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Fame is Taylor Swift.
Never be in a hurry to terminate a marriage. Remember, you may need this man-woman someday to finish a sentence.
If life gives you lemons, squeeze the juice into a water gun and shoot other people in the eyes.
If you swim in the ocean with a friend, your chances of getting eaten by a shark will drop by 50%.
We could all save ourselves a lot of words if we’d only remember that people rarely take advice unless they have to pay for it. And the trouble with good advice is that it usually interferes with your plans. But good advice is what your own kids disregard but save to give to their kids.
Main thought: Joshua gives the departing tribes some timeless advice—five imperatives for a God-honoring, prosperous, fruitful, fulfilling life.
1) Love God (v. 5)
1) Love God (v. 5)
Joshua 22:5 (ESV)
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
1) Love God (v. 5)
1) Love God (v. 5)
Explanation: The word here means to have affections (or emotions) toward something based on a strong relationship. It also means to have a desire for something based on its desirability (not necessarily externally, but because of value). This is the utter motivation for the genuine Christian life.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Illustration: “God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of Him is our proper, and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.” -Jonathan Edwards
Application: As we look into scripture, we will see who God is and gain an understanding of His desirability, we will see the things that God loves, and love those things too. This is just another reminder to show how crucial it is for you to remain daily in the word of God. And not only to read it, but also study it, read about it, meditate on it, memorize it, quote it, speak it, and allow it to determine your life. Therefore, a word of warning—if you cease to bring your will into subjection by the power of the Spirit and the Word, you will lose spiritual ground, and your love for God will wane.
2) Walk in His Ways (v. 5)
2) Walk in His Ways (v. 5)
Joshua 22:5 (ESV)
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
2) Walk in His Ways (v. 5)
2) Walk in His Ways (v. 5)
Explanation: When the Jews used this terminology, it meant one’s regular consistent pattern of life. Joshua was urging these two tribes not to have Christmas and Easter religion. In fact, He didn’t want them to have Sabbath day religion. In being consistent with Deut, he was saying have your consistent daily pattern of live to include and be directed by the ways of the Lord. Walking in all God’s ways indicates that we are to assume His character, to emulate His actions toward others, toward Him, mimic His desires, attempt to achieve His purposes, etc.
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’
Illustration: the first century life of a disciple-talmede-to imitate and emulate everything that the rabbi did. The rabbi always chose the disciple because the rabbi saw potential in the talmede. And the talmede was to have their foot hit in the same spot that the rabbi just picked up his foot—the dust of your rabbi is all over you. Chutzpa was the reckless faith of a disciple.
Application: We have a tendency to divide the sacred and the secular. That helps us keep God in His place in our lives. But we must realize that there is no such distinction, and God is our life. It is all sacred! Do you pattern your life after that ways of God?
Look at the major areas of your life—family, workplace, church. Attitudes and thoughts: Are you striving to be joyful, as God is joyful? Humble as Christ was humble? Loving as God is loving? Actions: Forgiving as Christ was forgiving? Focused on Kingdom advancement as Christ was? Willing to sacrifice life and desire for God as Christ was? A wise steward of resources that God is? Are you becoming slow to anger, and great in mercy? Are you consistent with your prayer time, working on your relationship with God?
3) Obey God’s Commands (v. 5)
3) Obey God’s Commands (v. 5)
Joshua 22:5 (ESV)
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
3) Obey God’s Commands (v. 5)
3) Obey God’s Commands (v. 5)
Explanation: The Jews wrote with a lot of parallelism, this command being similar to the previous. But the focus here is the command of God. The word “keep” or “obey” here means to observe or maintain with a purpose in mind; to give diligence to details with a set of commands. It literally translates “to take great concern over” something. The purpose in mind of God’s commands is to bring honor and glory to Him.
13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
9 The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Illustration: “The kind of obedience that glorifies God is free and joyful, not constrained and cowering” -Piper
Application: Speak to the futility of trying to keep God’s law without the new birth and the Holy Spirit’s power.
Are you doing the things that you know to do? Restraining from sexual relations outside of marriage, giving thanks to God for meals, tithing/giving regularly, sharing your faith with your neighbors, spending time in prayer, training up your children, husbands loving your wives, wives submitting to your husbands? Are you planning on following the Lord in baptism.
Church, are we making disciples? Are we spreading the gospel? Are we ministering to the poor, downtrodden, needy, sick, hungry, and imprisoned? Are we loving each other, not just your favorite ones? Are we dwelling together in unity?
4) Cling to God (v. 5)
4) Cling to God (v. 5)
Joshua 22:5 (ESV)
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
4) Cling to God (v. 5)
4) Cling to God (v. 5)
Explanation: This Heb word is probably translated cleave to, cling to, hold fast, or remain faithful and loyal. Same word used to describe the marriage relationship. It meant to remain in close proximity. Close is relative, so this word was used to describe the scales on a crocodile closeness. God wants his children to hold tightly to Him with passion, loyalty, and faithfulness. Knowing the condition of the human heart, Joshua is saying never to let anything come between you and your relationship to God. Allow no sin, distraction, relationship, hobby, attitude, desire, possession, or person come in between you and God
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
Illustration: One time I fell out of the boat when under Ft. Loudon Dam in TN, and I clung to the side of the boat, not worrying about the fish or the net.
Application: It is very easy in our materialistic, possession-focused, self-centered world to allow things to creep into our lives that harm our relationship with God. It may be a relationship that is dragging you away, or a habit, or a desire. Maybe you have allowed images that you view on the Internet to corrupt you. It could be an amoral hobby that you have that is costly you the time you should be spending with Him if you are to cling to Him. It could be a person that you have lifted up, or a situation that you simply can’t live without, or a possession. It may be an attitude that you have toward something. I am challenging you to ask God if there is anything in your life that may hinder your relationship with Him
5) Serve God (v. 5)
5) Serve God (v. 5)
Joshua 22:5 (ESV)
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
5) Serve God (v. 5)
5) Serve God (v. 5)
Explanation: This word for serve meant to give considerable energy, intensity, and time into giving aid to another. Joshua is saying for them to give their energy and enthusiasm to serving God. It is not a side job; it is the job that brings eternal rewards! Joshua knew that the Israelites would benefit now and in eternity by being faithful to serve. What we do now counts for eternity.
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Illustration: Tell about me pushing that car out of the road in front of the church, as much as you can remember about the quote from Spurgeon about the Reformation being a move of the Holy Spirit, powerfully demonstrated in the lives of those who led it. They were called fanatics and heretics, but their “holy enthusiasm” and zeal brought deliverance of the gospel to the people for good.
Application: The dominions that we are called to serve in. Home, church, work, neighborhood. “Big” things vs. “small” things in the service of the kingdom and the church, and the family.
Closing illustration: The last words of Jesus were He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Then there were these two angels there after Jesus ascended, and asked them what they were doing standing there looking up at the sky?
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