Judges 3:12-31 - Cries for Deliverance

Judges 3:12-31

Ehud

12 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

15 But when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) 18 And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”

He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.

20 So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 Even the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. 23 Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24 When he had gone out, Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He is probably attending to his needs in the cool chamber.” 25 So they waited till they were embarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master, fallen dead on the floor.

26 But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and he led them. 28 Then he said to them, “Follow me, for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.

Israel began a long downward spiral of sin after entering the promised land and losing the old guard who had guided them out of sin’s grasp and into their inheritance.  When,they cried out for deliverance from the LORD as they suffered the defeating consequences of doing evil against Him and His will by the word, God showed mercy and sent them a judge to deliver them from oppression.  He was doing this at a distance now, not directly smiting their enemies, but using a proxy as a judge to set things right and lead them back to doing right.  Unfortunately, the victory and rest in the land were short-lived.  We read the beginning here with Enid and Shamgar, the third and fourth judge after the first one called Othniel who was used to give forty years of rest to them.  Ehud the left-handed Benjamite man had killed the king of Moab and gained eighty years of peace with Shamgar following him as judge before things went back towards in this ongoing pattern that sought a more permanent savior to deliver them from their enemies due to their rebellious sins of idolatry and immorality.  By loving contrary to God and His word, Israel earned the wages of their sin but also experienced great mercy to deliver them, a pattern and pic of the need for God to eventually send His own Son in the right time (Romans 5:6, Galatians 4:4, Mark 1:15) to extend never-ending mercy and grace through His sacrifice for all His chosen people.  Israel would finally be given their true Judge and Deliverer to lead them and all others spiritually of Israel by the faith of Abraham (Galatians 3:6, 29, Hebrews 11:8, 16) into the eternal promised land after the final judgment and defeat of the ungodly who cannot enter (Revelation 22:15) in there.  Our cries, like those of Israel, have been answered decidedly once and for ever (1 Corinthians 15:25, Hebrews 7:27, 9:12) in the person of our true and everlasting Judge and Deliverer!  We need no other after He,who has heard our cries for deliverance and answered with certainty and permanence of eternal life.   

Judges 3:1-11 - Tested and Found Wanting

Judges 3:1-11

The Nations Remaining in the Land

1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan 2 (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), 3 namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. 4 And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

5 Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.

Othniel

7 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. 9 When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Because Israel left the LORD to serve the lifeless idols seen as gods in the nations meant to be driven out of the land (Exodus 3:17, 33:2) promised through Abraham to them, God saw fit to leave those ungodly (Deuteronomy 20:16-17) nations (Joshua 13:1, 3 - Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites) in place to test the hearts (2 Chronicles 16:9) of those who had not lived through the initial wars when entering the land under Joshua.  God therefore left those to deal with to test if the people of God’s own were men and women after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) to hear and turn back to hearing and heeding His word once more.  Unfortunately, Israel chose to intermarry in idolatry and immorality by spiritual adultery against Him and did evil instead of what was good and acceptable (Romans 12:2, Titus 2:12, 1 Timothy 2:3-4) in His sight.  As God’s chosen children in Christ, we are also called to follow His word and keep our temples of personal worship free from unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, 16, 17) to avoid being drawn away into their gods of philosophy, reason apart from God’s revelation in the scriptures, and from the immoral lifestyle that breeds and comes from such idolatry of the soul.  We are rather called to (2 Corinthians 7:1) fear God and wash ourselves clean from all such ungodliness in the body and soul because we have been washed clean in the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Titus 3:5) and called out of the idolatry and immorality of this present evil age.  Sometimes it may take a person like the judge Othniel here to set us back on the straight path when we wander, through the teaching and preaching of the word we are to love by because of His deliverance of grace.  May we therefore not be tested and found wanting (Daniel 5:27, 1 Thessalonians 4:1) in living to please the Lord as those who came before us failed to make willful obedience the direction of their lives’ journeys out of sin’s bondage.

Judges 2:11-23 - Rejection or Remembrance?

Judges 2:11-23

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

16 Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so. 18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

20 Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” 23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

As soon as the generation that knew Joshua and the deliverance of the LORD had died off, the people immediately worked evil by worshiping idols in direct defiance of the very first (Exodus 20:3-4, 5) commandment given on the mountain by the hand of Moses as written with the very finger of God Himself.  They gave in to the corrupt culture around them on the land promised in holiness to them, forgetting the promise of the covenant and shattering that trust with God.  By bowing down to the idols (unlike Daniel and his friends in Daniel 3:18), they rejected their calling and brought swift judgment on themselves at the hands of the nations they tried to assimilate with instead of driving away out of their presence and influence as commanded.  Great distress overwhelmed them as they were defeated in battle time and again as they had been amply warned (Leviticus 26:15-16, 17, Deuteronomy 28:15) long before.  Sin has consequences, especially sin against the devotion to God alone.  God was still merciful, however, and sent judges to lead and correct them as a precursor to New Testament church discipline for repentance and restoration to fellowship with Himself.  May we who now fall into such sins not be as these who rejected the judges sent to restore them to fellowship and instead reverted to their old behavior after heeding the judges sent only as long as they were alive and watching over them.  May we not stop sinning only when our spiritual leaders correct us, but learn from the admonition of correction and encouragement in ongoing fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25) with one another (Hebrews 3:13) day by day.  God’s mercies are indeed new every morning, yet He tests our hearts (2 Chronicles 16:9, 1 Thessalonians 2:4) to reveal faithful devotion that honors and glorifies Him instead of our desire for the passing pleasures (Hebrews 11:24-25, 26, 1 John 2:15-16, 17) of sin that the world around us revels in as they call us to unfaithfulness.  We are shown here not to be stubborn in seeking our own satisfaction at the expense of devotion to following our Savior who suffered so painfully for our sin.  The result of unrepentant sin for Israel was the lingering presence and affects of the sin they engaged in.  This example is a warning (1 Corinthians 10:6-7, 11) to us all.  We have a way to avoid this as 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 calls us to humility of our tendency to sin and comforts us with trust and strength to follow Him.  Do we reject His commands or live in remembrance of the person and work of our Lord and Savior who suffered and died for our deliverance from sin and promise of the eternal land in heaven to love forever at peace with Him? 

Judges 2:1-10 - The Marred Covenant

Judges 2:1-10

Israel’s Disobedience

1 Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. 2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’” 4 So it was, when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

5 Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the LORD. 6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.

Death of Joshua (Joshua 24:29–31)

7 So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel. 8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

The covenant that the LORD made with His people of Israel was meant to be unbreakable from God’s side, yet was shattered by their side through continual disobedience.  They were not to make covenants with the ungodly idol worshipers of the land which He brought them into, for it was intended for them to cleanse it of such sins of idolatry and immorality, not to join with them and those things which incur the wrath of God.  They did not obey.  The ungodly became thorns in their side as their false and lifeless gods ensnared them as the world continues (1 Timothy 3:7, 2 Timothy 2:4, 26) to do now when we compromise Him and His word of promised life.  Because Israel refused to drive out evil, it overtook them and God stopped driving them out as He had to that point when they were engaged in the good fight against sin when the first entered in to the promised land.  They then felt sorry, but it was not a godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9); it was a sorrow of their own suffering (2 Corinthians 7:10) as a consequence of their disobedience, a trap we must also continually avoid falling into.  We are called to sincerely repent, turning from sins of compromise towards sacrificial devotion to following the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity (Romans 12:1, 2) while turning away from sins that so easily trap and ensnare (Hebrews 12:1, 2) us.  This passage of Israel’s sorrow is magnified as Joshua who led them and kept them on track with the LORD died.  They had followed him to victory but did not have a deep enough reliance on his God and theirs, and the result was that they stopped serving the LORD soon after he passed on.  When the last of those who knew him and God’s work for Israel also died, then the people collectively forgot these great works for them.  As it is written, “another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.”  The covenant was marred by disobedience and disregard for the LORD and His conditional agreement with them.  Thanks be to God that the New Covenant of grace surpasses this Old Covenant of works (Leviticus 18:5, Romans 10:5, 8, Galatians 3:11-12, 13-14) by God’s perfect work of obedience in following the words of the LORD perfectly and whose sacrifice now keeps our side of the covenant in the righteousness of Christ in whose grace (Romans 5:2) we now forever stand!  This new covenant is marred only by His nail-scarred hands, not permanently marred by sin unforgiven as was the case then.  We are promised entry into the promised land in heaven and our sins may be confessed and forgiven (1 John 1:9) as assurance of our place even when consequences temporarily ensnare us is left to fester unconfessed.  Thanks be to God for His indescribable (2 Corinthians 9:15) gift! 

Judges 1:27-36 - Complete the Conquest of Sin!

Judges 1:27-36

Incomplete Conquest of the Land

27 However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute.

31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.

34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute.

36 Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

The journey continues.  This is where things go seriously wrong with Israel taking the promised land per the command of the LORD.  They did not deal with the sin in the land which is akin to we now not driving sin out of our individual lives when we are commanded to be holy as He is (2 Timothy 2:19, 1 Peter 1:15-16) who lives in us (Romans 8:9, 11, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17) and abhors (Psalm 5:4, Hebrews 1:9) sin.  This is seen in refusing to continue to conquer the land by eliminating or driving away the sinful influences of the idolatrous inhabitants as God to (Numbers 33:52, 55) do them to do in no uncertain words.  God commanded this to avoid them having to be entangled in the thorns (Matthew 13:22, Luke 8:14, 2 Timothy 2:4, Hebrews 12:1, 2 Peter 2:20) of their influences of idol worship and immoral practices, much as the world around us continues to pull at all God’s children today.  The difference is in the new covenant of grace now which keeps us inheriting the heavenly land of promise based on Christ and His righteousness in place of the old covenant of works which demanded adherence to good works to earn righteousness and the promised earthly land.  The new is far greater because of grace, and the old made it impossible to earn or keep because it is impossible to keep all the commandments (Romans 3:20, 23-24, James 2:10, Galatians 3:10, 11-12, 13) perfectly.  Israel failed to drive out the influences of sin and so began a downward spiral of disobedience that tore the nation apart, not having the needed Savior to deliver them from those failings (1 John 1:9, Romans 6:23) as has been revealed now in the Son of God who leads us in triumph into the Kingdom promised by grace and not earned or kept by our efforts.  We are certainly called to keep the words of the Lord now, but failure to do them only affects our rewards, not the greater reward of eternal life.  We live to please Him by conforming to His image of righteousness and holiness (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18) with full assurance of entering and keeping our citizenship (John 10:28, Philippians 3:20) in a land set before us where sin and righteousness (Isaiah 32:17, 2 Peter 3:13) dwells.  Let us therefore strive to put to death the sin within and not leave an incomplete conquest when we enter into glory of that promised (Hebrews 11:16) heavenly country.  May we strive to complete the conquest of sin without and within as the direction of our lives because our Savior and perfect Judge has pardoned us and purchased our citizenship there!

Judges 1:1-26 - Continuing the Conquest

Judges 1:1-26

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan (Joshua 15:13–19)

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?”

2 And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland. 10 Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)

12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. 14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 15 So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.”

And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16 Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. 20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak. 21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23 So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.” 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

The conquest of the ungodly in the promised land of Canaan was continued by Israel after the death of Joshua and continued influence of faithful Caleb who stood with Joshua (Numbers 14:6-7, 8-9) on the  side of faith (Numbers 14:24) during the rebellion in the wilderness.  Israel sought the direction of the LORD and sent Judah to attack the Canaanites and was successful because they had asked God first.  The Israelites went on to take Jerusalem also, even though they left some of its inhabitants alive, contrary to the command to wipe out all influences of idolatry and its associated immorality.  This would continue to haunt them as a thorn in their spiritual and physical side to come as the judges began to rule the people going forward and downward in a long death spiral over the coming generations recorded in this historical book that documents their sad demise.  The LORD was still with them at this point in the beginning, however, as they took territories such as Gaza and Bethel along with various kings and cities while moving forward in victory.  This was the beginning of taking the promised land as commanded, but would soon slow and falter due to compromises with the commands of God and the associated sins committed with increasing frequency in their history laid out in this book as a warning (1 Corinthians 10:6-7, 11-12) about not following God’s word and will (Romans 15:4) instead for our sanctification now in Christ.  We need to continue our daily conquest of sin within (Romans 8:12-13) while we fight the good fight of the gospel without (Ephesians 6:10-11, 15, 19) that we may follow God’s word to fill the promised land with God’s people called and chosen in Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) by wielding the sword of truth (John 8:32, 36) to vanquish the lie and set people free to enter the promised heavenly land. 

Joshua 24:1-33 - Who Will You Serve?

Joshua 24:1-33

The Covenant at Shechem (Exodus 24:9–18)

1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. 4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.

6 ‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 So they cried out to the LORD; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. 13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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.”

16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 17 for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!”

22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses!”

23 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.”

24 And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

26 Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” 28 So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

Death of Joshua and Eleazar

29 Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

31 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

32 The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

Having been set free from bondage and led by the goodness and grace of God, who will you serve?  That is the question posed by Joshua to the people of the LORD before he departed the earth to join his God in heaven, and it remains relevant for all of us today.  He began his speech with how God called out Abraham from the other side of the river, led him through the future promised land of Canaan, multiplied his descendants in Egypt, called them out by Moses and Aaron, delivered them out of darkness through the parted Red Sea, judged the oppressors there, led them through the wilderness for forty years, crossed the Jordan them gave them victory over Jericho, delivered them with His victorious mighty hand, and gave you a land for which they did not labor, and cities which they did not build, and they loved in them; at that time of the speech they were reminded how they were eating of the vineyards and olive groves which they did not plant, the provision of God’s providence and grace.  Therefore, they were challenged to fear the LORD, to serve Him in sincerity and truth, and to put away the idols of Egypt and the world around them in Canaan.  They heard, “serve the LORD!,” and were commanded to choose for themselves this day who they would serve from that day onward in the grace in which they stood as we now also stand after our deliverance from the bondage of sin and false gods of the (Galatians 1:4, 1 John 2:15-16, 17, 5:19) present evil age as we await the promised heavenly land of our own inheritance to follow in the resurrection (John 5:24, 29) to life.  The people then were directly called to be responsible and serve only the LORD God and they responded with a hearty “we will serve the LORD!”  They denied the thought that they would forsake Him for another and vehemently stood firm in words to stay the course, putting aside all other objects of worship and saying, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”  Joshua made this covenant of conditional works with the people, wrote those words in the Book of the Law (as recorded here in the book of Joshua), and set up a stone of witness to their agreement with the covenant there as a reminder and warning of their oath of commitment.  Then he died and was buried within the border of his inheritance in the promised land.  We now stand in the new covenant of grace not based on our works to keep the inheritance, but in the work of God’s own Son and our Lord Jesus Christ who has obtained it for us.  The warning is clear here that we should remember our salvation of grace and not fall back (Hebrews 10:39) into the world and its sin as Israel did after the days of Joshua and all the elders who outlived Joshua who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for them as those who do not obey the gospel.  May we then learn from this example and remain faithful to the end (Hebrews 3:6, 14, 10:23-24, 25) to glorify and honor our Savior and Deliverer with willing obedience and worship until His return or our joining Him in death to life and reminding one another to stay the course and fight this good fight until we enter into the glory of our promised land.  Who will you serve? 

Joshua 23:1-16 - So Long, Farewell!

Joshua 23:1-16

Joshua’s Farewell Address

1 Now it came to pass, a long time after the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age. 2 And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them:

“I am old, advanced in age. 3 You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you. 4 See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. 5 And the LORD your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you. 6 Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7 and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, 8 but you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. 9 For the LORD has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you. 11 Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God. 12 Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, 13 know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

14 “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. 15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. 16 When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

Joshua finally went the way of Moses and will the faith before him.  It was so long a sojourn from the release of bondage in Egypt where he was born and seemed destined to die, on through the parting of the Red Sea and drowning of the pagan army of Pharaoh where he and all God’s people were led by Moses at the hand of the LORD to victorious freedom from bondage as a type of baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1-2), to the testing and faithful testimony when spying out the promised land and surviving the forty years of trudging through the desert in circles as led by God until the faithless all died out, to assuming the mantle of leadership from Moses, and now into the promised land at last.  It was so, so long a journey and time to say farewell to his people and hello to at last be standing before the Lord as a good and faithful (Matthew 25:21) servant (Job 19:26-27) as he no doubt longed to do!  Joshua reminded them of that journey and their own memories of how the LORD had fought ever battle for them to victory and the obtaining of their inheritance in the land of plenty promised to them through their forefather Abraham by faith long before their captivity and sojourning to fight the good fight and stand at last in the place promised them by His mighty hand.  Then the warning was given, to first be courageous to keep the words of God and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, or face the consequences of turning aside to the right hand or to the left.  If they left the LORD and His word and joined in the sin of the surrounding nations, they would suffer the consequences of idolatry and immorality.  If they began to follow their lifeless gods and swear by them or serve them by bowing down to them, they would lose their reward.  But if they held fast to the LORD their God as you have done to that day, they would continue to be blessed and live at peace with Him in their inheritance of grace.  He bid them farewell and reminded them that “not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.”  We do well to honor and follow the Lord for a full reward (2 John 1:8) of faithfulness as well.  There are consequences for the disobedience of sin but grace will still lead us home.  How do you want to be received into glory, with accolades of praise for doing well as (Luke 17:10) we ought because we have been called to (Ephesians 2:10), or of shame for not always striving to honor His name when we are led home through the sojourning (1 Peter 2:11-12) here?  So long, farewell to this world of battles! 

Joshua 22:10-34 - The Altar of Witness

Joshua 22:10-34

An Altar by the Jordan

10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great, impressive altar. 11 Now the children of Israel heard someone say, “Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan—on the children of Israel’s side.” 12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.

13 Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, 14 and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel. 15 Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD: ‘What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD? 17 Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, 18 but that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the LORD, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’”

21 Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel: 22 “The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, He knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the LORD, do not save us this day. 23 If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the LORD Himself require an account. 24 But in fact we have done it for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the LORD God of Israel? 25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the LORD.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the LORD.’ 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, 27 but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the LORD.“‘ 28 Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn from following the LORD this day, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God which is before His tabernacle.”

30 Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. 31 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.”

32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

34 The children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

The altar erected by the children of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh by the Jordan was a great and impressive altar, immense and unnerving to the rest of Israel who had settled on the other side of the river.  It was not built to replace the main and only altar as they were accused of doing, but was a replica and reminder that the LORD alone was their God.  It was a witness to that truth and not any kind of treachery or sinful rebellion as was automatically assumed by the rest who were ready to violently deal with the supposed upstarts on the other side of the river.  They actually never in to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or peace offerings on it because they knew fully well that the LORD Himself would require an account for that.  What they did build it for was for the very good reason of being a memorial and a future reminder that being physically separated from the rest of God’s people on the other side of the Jordan did not mean that they no longer had any part in the LORD or was a witness that they would be part of the people of God and not turn from Him as they gazed upon the replica of the true altar standing before the tabernacle reflecting the heavenly pattern (Exodus 25:40, Acts 7:44, Hebrews 8:5) in commitment to Him and spiritual solidarity with the whole.  This is a reminder to we who are in Christ of the true tabernacle in heaven and its altar of grace upon which the Son of God offered Himself up once for all (Hebrews 8:6, 9:23, 24, 26) His people on both sides of the river of life and death.  The cross then is an altar of the supreme sacrifice and a gateway of sorts to the true tabernacle in the heavenly realm before the Lord God where the Son lives to ever make atonement for us (Hebrews 10:12-13, 14) that never fails.  We have the cross as our witness and reminder of the altar in heaven where the Lamb of God has made and continues to make intercession for us which the earthly altar was only a mere shadow of the true on the other side of the river of life and death in heaven before the throne of God Himself.  “For it is a witness between us that the LORD is God,” as it is written.  This is also why all who name the name of Christ by faith and who have been transformed by His Spirit should not judge those in other places but who worship at this same altar of the cross, only finding fault with those who choose another altar of false idols or mediators other than Jesus Christ alone.  No earthly altar of system overrides our faith in and reliance on Christ alone to intercede for us.  To Him we come to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2) in faithful unity and in truth (John 4:23-24, 14:17, 1 Corinthians 2:12), bound together by the same Spirit who makes us (Romans 8:9, 11, Ephesians 1:13, 14, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) His and worship at the only altar where Christ dwells.  We do not turn away from following or worshipping Him at any other altar but of grace alone through the sacrifice of Christ alone on that altar of the cross which was our curse of sin (Galatians 3:13) but is now where all God’s called and chosen children worship Him in the true heavenly tabernacle with open access to (Hebrews 4:16) His throne of grace.  The cross of Christ is our altar of witness to His glory and sacrifice which we dare not replace with any other.