“Joshua’s Warning”
“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.” (v.11-13)
Here in
chapter 23, Joshua is calling together the leaders of the nation to pass on
some advice for those in authority before he dies, just as Moses did before
him. In our text he warns against the consequences of complacency; loss of position,
power, peace.
Loss of position by mingling with other nations in
marriage, causing the
nation of
Israel will lose it's identity, customs and distinctive character of
being
God's chosen people. They would also have an ineffective testimony
among the
people and lose all credibility. Oh, how many have lost their
testimony
among the lost world by compromise? Even among their family?
The loss of power, if they neglected the warnings
given by Joshua, was a
certainty.
God would no longer fight for them as He had done in the past.
He would
remove His blessing of might and power and would no longer
work in
and through them. One could no longer stand against a thousand.
The loss of peace would occur by finding themselves
once again in bondage, just like in Egypt. Sin would be their master and they
would become ensnared and trapped by it.
Joshua
could see the possibility of trouble ahead. He knew what complacency could do
to the nation from within. His warnings are just as important today as they
were then and we need to pay attention to them.
It is
easy for us to forget the Lord and what He has done for us. It is so easy for
us to get caught up in what's going on in the world around us that we forget
there is a world to come.
There is
so much to lose. Let’s take to heart the warning of Joshua, “Take good heed
therefore to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.” (v.11)
The Truth
“The Lord preserves all who love
Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.” (Psalm 145:20)
