Joshua Chapter 24
G.S.Munro, Panania-Milperra Anglican Church, June 24th, 2000.
From http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gsmunro/resource.htm
The Army and Navy recruiters got carried away, so when it came time for the Marine to speak, he had just two minutes. He walked up and stood utterly silent for a full sixty seconds, half of his time.
Then he said this: "I doubt whether there are two or three of you in this room who could even cut it in the Marine Corps. But I want to see those two or three immediately in the dining hall when we are dismissed." He turned smartly and sat down.
When he arrived in the dining hall, those students interested in the Marines were a mob.
[Illustration - W. Frank Harrington]
Joshua did something similar when he addressed the gathered Israelite nation at Shechem on that day more than three thousand years ago, recorded for us in Joshua 24.
He didn't just emphasize the benefits of following the one true God. He did not lead them to believe that it would be easy street. He did not lead them to overestimate their own ability to do the job. In fact it's almost as though he seeks to dissuade them from it. He says in verse 19 "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you."
But like the story about the Marines recruiting agent, this seems to make them want it all the more. They cry out: "No! We will serve the Lord!"
The end of the book of Joshua is a significant turning point in the history of God's People. To mark this step of faith as they occupy the Land, Joshua renews their commitment to the ancient Covenant. It is a covenant that God made first with their forefather Abraham, then with Isaac and Jacob, and finally with their fathers under Moses at Mt Sinai and on the borders of Canaan. This new generation are the ones who are seeing the fulfilment of that covenant that their ancestors waited for - they are the ones who are at last receiving God's Promised Land. Yet Joshua wants them to understand that this is not the end of the race.
Last night on the news I heard a story about the two separate projects which are mapping the human genome. They are approaching the problem from slightly different angles, but it has been described as an exciting race as they vie to be the first to map fully the chemical makeup of human DNA. And it is a race with a photo-finish as both teams are expected to announce tomorrow that they have succeeded. But one of the scientists interviewed on the news report stressed this. He said, if it is a race, then it is a race to the starting line. This is just the beginning of all the exciting things that lie ahead. It's not the information that has been gathered, but what we do with it, that matters. We are just at the starting line.
And the story of Joshua is just like that. This may be the finish of the book. But they have been in a race to the starting line. The whole story resounds with the idea of "already …but not yet." God has given you the Land… but you must take it and live in it according to His will for you. It is fulfilled already, but not yet. And we have seen that in the previous chapters. Most of Joshua is a list of the boundaries of the areas given to each tribal and family group. But at the end of each section we read statements like, "but such-and-such a tribe failed to take all this land, and the Canaanites there live among them to this day."
What Joshua is saying to them here is that God's salvation is a sure thing, it has already been accomplished. But they must grow into it. They must become by practice what they already are by promise. And God's message to us in Christ is the same. We saw that in our New Testament reading from Philippians 3, which says in effect, become what you already are.
Paul wrote: I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
That's what Joshua told Israel as he prepared to leave them. Press on. Take hold of what God has already done.
In the opening verses of this chapter, we see a wonderful summary by Joshua of Israel's history. And it is a history of Exodus. Exodus means a coming out, an exit. Israel's history has been a history of leaving. Of God taking his people out, both physically and spiritually. Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees, and spiritually he gave up the gods that his fathers worshipped in that place. God took him to Canaan. Then God took Jacob and called him Israel, and took him out of Canaan and into Egypt, where he grew into a great people. Then God took Israel out of Egypt under Moses, and brought them back into Canaan, the land of the Amorites. Physically, they have now come out of Egypt. But what this covenant renewal is all about is a commitment to come out spiritually, to leave the gods of Egypt, and the gods of Canaan, and cleave only to the true God of all the earth.
Why was this necessary? Because of the persistence of human sin and idolatry in the human heart. Remember who the group is that Joshua is addressing. It includes Israelite families whose parents and grandparents worshipped other gods in Egypt. It includes the families of some Egyptians and possibly other foreigners who left Egypt with the Israelites. The bible tells us that it was a mixed horde of people that left, not just pure-bred Israelites. And the group Joshua addresses also includes Canaanites like Rahab's family from Jericho and the Gibeonites who tricked Israel into making a treaty with them and sparing their lives. They are people who will be tempted to go back to worshipping other gods.
Now Israel's whole history is also a story of God's faithfulness and their unfaithfulness.
In Deuteronomy 7:9 we read, "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands…"
Deuteronomy 32:4 calls him "A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he…"
And back in Joshua 21: 43 we read, "So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Not one of all the LORD'S good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled."
Yet though the Lord has kept his side of the bargain at every point in the history of salvation, at every point we also find the failure of the human will to do right. I watched yesterday on TV something called the Eco-Challenge - a pretty severe race through wilderness areas and stormy oceans. And the commentator at the end waxed lyrical about the triumph of the human spirit, and how wonderful it was, in victory or defeat. Often those kind of shows talk about the human will in that way. But the bible has a radically different view. A more sobering and realistic view. It is a view of the total failure of the human spirit to be faithful to God. The history of Israel, and the history of Christianity for that matter, is littered with monuments to the failure of human beings to keep covenant with the covenant-keeping God.
You are not able to serve the Lord - Total Inability.
The bible teaches the total inability of the human will to do good and be faithful to God. Even after the miracles of Moses and the Red Sea, that generation of Israelites were unfaithful and died in the desert. And Joshua reminds their children in no uncertain terms that they are not better than their fathers. Verse 19 is quite clear - you are not able to serve the Lord.
Jesus said similar things. He taught us that we should not trust our human nature. He knew human nature. John 2:23-25 says "Now while he was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in him. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man."
For this reason, Jesus did not seek easy converts. If you want to be a real Christian, it is not an easy road. Many think they believe then turn back because it's too hard. That's why Jesus taught things like what we read in Luke 9.
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
And again Jesus said [Luke 14:28] "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."
Christianity is not for the faint-hearted. It is not a sprint, but a life-long marathon. And it will cost you your very soul. Count the cost. Are you willing to give up all your idols for Jesus? There is a decision to make, and to remain in for the rest of your life. Have you consciously made that decision? There it is in verses 14 to 16 of Joshua 23.
Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped… and fear the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."
And the people answered Joshua, "We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God!" Do you know him as your God?
Now in this chapter, Joshua sets up a monument as a witness against them that they have covenanted to serve the Lord. And our profession of faith in Jesus, however we have marked it, is a similar monument. If you have been baptised, confirmed, or made some kind of public profession of faith in Jesus, that stands as a witness to the commitment you have made. Is your life being lived in line with that commitment?
Let me tell you a story about a man named Dennis. As a result of poor planning, Dennis, from Katy, Texas, needed some same-day dry cleaning before he left on a trip. He remembered one store with a huge sign, "One-Hour Dry Cleaners," on the other side of town, so he drove out of his way to drop off a suit. After filling out the tag, he told the person serving him, "I need this in an hour."
She said, "I can't get this back to you until Thursday."
"I thought you did dry cleaning in an hour?"
"No," she replied, "That's just the name of the store."
[Illustration from Ed Rowell, Franklin, Tennessee]
Those of us who carry the name Christian, but fail to live up to that name, create confusion and disillusionment for those who are investigating the faith. Count the cost of commitment and be willing to pay it each day.
But if it's so hard, and if the bible talks so clearly about the total inability of the human will to carry through with the promises we make, what hope is there for us? If we were left to our own devices, there would be none at all. But God has not left us to do it alone, and I'll say more about that in a moment as I conclude.
But the book of Joshua ends with three funerals (and no wedding!). The men they buried had some things in common. (Apart from all being dead!) These were all godly and faithful men, great leaders of God's people. And these burials, of Joseph, Joshua and Eleazar have meanings which look both backwards and forwards in time.
First, using the Land for burials represents possession of the land in a special way. It says, we have finally arrived in the place we belong, as God's people under God's covenant, in God's place. These burials look back to God's giving the Land to Israel. Joseph, four hundred years earlier, did not want to be buried in Egypt because it was not his land, and so he had his body embalmed. And the New Testament says about him, "by faith, Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones."
The place Joseph was buried, Shechem, is important. It was the very place, back in Genesis 12, where God first promised the land to Abraham. It is the place that Abraham and Sarah were buried. It is the only part of the promised land that Abraham ever owned. And it is in this first spot of possession that Israel commit themselves to living under God in the whole land now that the promises to Abraham are fulfilled.
Second, the burials of two members of the conquest generation, Joshua and Eleazar, marks the end of this great era in salvation history, and the beginning of life in the land. But sadly, it marks the end of the great era of obedience. And they all lived happily ever after… not! If you want to see what I mean, turn the page and beginning reading the book of Judges.
But the death of Eleazar is significant for another reason. He is the High Priest. And the following books show the failure of the High Priestly system. The books of Samuel record the wickedness of the sons of the Eli, who were corrupt priests. And in 1 Samuel 2:34 God says to Eli, "what happened to your sons will be a sign to you - they will both die on the same day. But in the very next verse we read a great promise. "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind." And of course the New Testament reveals that one to be Jesus. He is the great leader to replace the likes of Joseph and Joshua. He is the great High Priest, of whom Eleazar was just a shadow.
And only Jesus has perfectly done God's will - Heb 10:9 tells us this - speaking about the Son of God, it says, "Then he said, "Here I am and I have come to do your will." …And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
You see, it's not up to us after all. Only Jesus is perfect. Only he has perfect faith. All we do is keep on trusting in his goodness and grace shown at the cross. You are not able to serve the Lord. But Jesus is! Becoming a Christian is not the end of the end the race, just the beginning. We have just passed the starting line. But Jesus will carry us over the finish line himself. He is the one who gives us his Spirit and enables us to keep on being faithful to his covenant.
--Ray Bakke of Chicago, Illinois tells a story of an old Glasgow professor named MacDonald who, along with a Scottish chaplain, had bailed out of an airplane behind German lines. They were put in a prison camp. A high wire fence separated the Americans from the British, and the Germans made it next to impossible for the two sides to communicate. MacDonald was put in the American barracks and the chaplain was housed with the British. Every day the two men would meet at the fence and exchange a greeting. Unknown to the guards, the Americans had a little homemade radio and were able to get news from the outside, something more precious than food in a prison camp. Everyday, MacDonald would take a headline or two to the fence and share it with the chaplain in the ancient Gaelic language, indecipherable to the Germans. One day, news came over the little radio that the German High Command had surrendered and the war was over. MacDonald took the news to his friend, then stood and watched him disappear into the British barracks. A moment later, a roar of celebration came from the barracks.
Life in that camp was transformed. Men walked around singing and shouting, waving at the guards, even laughing at the dogs. When the German guards finally heard the news three nights later, they fled into the dark, leaving the gates unlocked. The next morning, Brits and Americans walked out as free men. Yet they had truly been set free three days earlier by the news that the war was over.
Like Joshua and the Israelites, we are still living in the Already but not yet. But while Christ's Kingdom is not fully revealed, we know the outcome of the battle. We are free people. God has given us the Promised Land. We have eternal life in Christ and that life starts right here and now, and transforms us by joy. No matter what happens throughout the rest of your life, we know that we have already won, it is already all over. So decide this day whom you will serve. We will serve the Lord!
G.S.Munro, Panania-Milperra Anglican Church, June 24, 2000.
From http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gsmunro/resource.htm