Joshua was an elderly man now, and he knew that he was on death's doorstep. But he called together all the leaders of the tribes of Israel and reminded them that all the heavy lifiting of the work of conquest was over, and that the victory was certain for them if they continued to obey the Lord.
The people of Israel were Jehovah's people – as they were reminded by the frequent reference made here to "Jehovah your God." And Joshua wanted to assure them that Jehovah would not stop fighting for His people just because he himself was passing on. The Lord always remains the same and His promises never die. But if the people turned away from Him, they would be headed for disaster.
It would take a lot of courage to obey the Lord's Commandments. There would be a lot of social pressures that would entice the people of Israel to cave in to the culture around them and break the Lord's Covenant. This pressure still exists for God's people today. We must follow the Lord exclusively and cling to Him as tightly as we can – loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
If we ally ourselves with the heathen, it will end up being a constant pain to us. The Lord will not allow us to give His glory to another rival in our hearts. He wants all or nothing from us. We cannot simply focus on His grace and mercy to the exclusion of His justice and holiness.
The truth is, we fall far short of God's standard. So what hope do we have? The only hope for us is in the Lord Jesus! God sent His Covenant-Keeper in human flesh; our King has come and kept the law perfectly and did for us what we could never do for ourselves! Let's pray for grace to cling tightly to Christ alone! |
