Living in God's Promises

Introduction ()

Joshua 23 ESV

A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you. “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

In Joshua chapter 23-24 are records of Joshua’s final words to the people of Israel before his death. The nation of Israel had conquered most of the land of Canaan. There were only a few cities that had not yet been possessed by Israel. Their mission was mostly a success. Joshua had lived a full life. He went from the apprentice of Moses, to the leader who led the conquering of the land that God had promised Israel, to now, an elder statesman of the nation of who was full of wisdom and experience. These final two chapters really show the heart of Joshua. He had a strong desire for the nation of Israel to live in the fulness of the promises of God. They had endured the process of conquering the land, and they were to enjoy the fruits of their labor, but Joshua wanted to make sure that Israel was still following the God who had brought them from Egypt to Canaan. As we saw throughout the book, Joshua had a deep personal relationship with God. The only fault that we find in Joshua was that sometimes he felt like he knew God’s heart so well that he did not take the time to seek counsel from God. Joshua had walked with God and he knew what God expected from Israel as they lived in Canaan. In Joshua’s final address, it seems that Joshua really wanted Israel to understand why God had done all the things that he had done for them.

He starts out by pointing to the fact that God had given them possession of the Canaan. It was God who had alotted to each tribe a land of inheritance, and it was going to be God who would continue to drive out their enemies as they drove out the remnants of the Canaanites. May we like Joshua always point to God for our success. God is an awesome designer, and He has created all of us with an assortment of talents and abilities. He gives us opportunities to display our talents. Anything we accomplish whether it is in the profession or spiritual realm can always be attributed to God who has gone before us and prepared the way.

Joshua starts out his final speech to Israel by reminding them that the land that they were dwelling in was given to them by God.

It seems that Joshua, in his wisdom, saw that Israel was in danger of forgetting the God that brought them into the promised land. They trusted God to bring them into Canaan, and they followed Him as long the had land to conquer. But now, now they had rest, their wasn’t much fighting to be done. Joshua wanted to make sure that they followed God not only to obtain the promise, but to live in the promise. You see God had held up his end of the bargain. He kept His promise, He gave them the promised land. But now, Israel had to keep up with their end of the bargain. They had to keep their promise to follow after God as they lived in the land of Canaan.

This morning I would like to speak to you about living in success. We are going to take some observations from Joshua’s message to Israel about living in God’s promises.