Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: The Book of Joshua
I have now caught back up from our trip to Hawaii. To do so, this morning required that I read the whole book of Joshua.
Wow, what a narrative. The crossing of the river Jordan, the destruction of Jericho, God's judgment of the Canaanites, and Israel's possession of their Promised Land.
There's only one problem, Israel did not obey God's command to devote the whole of the land to destruction. Therefore, there are pockets of pagans in the land who will ultimate seduce Israel away from her God, and bring her back to apostasy while they yet live in the Promised Land.
The book of Judges, which we will be starting tomorrow, is one story after another of Israel sinning against her God, and God's subsequent judgment against their sin.
When we, as fallen creatures, live under God's tremendous blessing, there is great temptation, with the constant influence of the Evil One, to leave the God we love, and go our our selfish ways.
I have seen this in my own life, and we are going to see it in the life of Israel.
Furthermore, have we not seen it in our own country? Can the believer of a sovereign God think that this horrific economic depression is mere happenstance?
I stand before you as one who was completely remodeled by God through the complete destruction of my own futile plans. There are years of theological study behind that statement, and it certainly doesn't mean that I am of better ilk than anyone else. It simply means that God was pleased to put me in his woodshed, and I came out three years later with a completely different worldview.
Now, if God is kind enough to restore what was lost, it will be my task to never again let anything come between my God and me.
Joshua said it very well:
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
As we shall see in the coming months, this serving the Lord requires far more than acknowledging that he exists, or even trying our best to be "good".
Look at this statement from Joshua:
"But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins." (Joshua 24:19)
We are not able to serve the Lord because our nature is to hate God. Remember that the Fall in the Garden of Eden brought us death, and separation from God. The whole of the Bible is God's plan of redemption for mankind.
This redemption is going to involve Messiah, who will become the perfect sacrifice, and brings us back towards a right relationship with God.
I pray that you will hang in there with me as we journey through the Bible. If we claim to believe in God, we can't claim to know God if we have never read his instruction manual.
Hang on, Israel's journey is going to get real messy from here on.
