Wednesday Bible Study-the end of all things: Joshua

This week we have one of the more meaty chapters in our series- Joshua, at the end of his life, telling Israel, "As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord."  As I examined this, I found that stairstep pattern that God uses so often to make something clear- that what applies in the past applies in the future- for history, and for our individual lives.  This time, the stairsteps involve what I'm calling the "I's" of God.  What I am going to to is take each pair of steps together- you might want to have a Bible handy to follow along- and try and both explain and apply.

FIRST I- I TOOK

I should point out that Joshua is speaking God's words, not his own in this speech.  Here are the verses for this step:

Jos 24:2  And Joshua said to all the people, So says Jehovah the God of Israel, Your fathers have in the past lived Beyond the River (Terah the father of Abraham and father of Nahor) and they served other gods.
Jos 24:3  And I took your father Abraham from Beyond the River, and caused him to go through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave Isaac to him. 


Jos 24:14  Now, then, fear Jehovah, and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and turn away from the gods which your fathers served Beyond the River, and in Egypt; and you serve Jehovah.


God started by TAKING Abraham out of the darkness; He now takes them to be HIS people.  He takes us out of our darkness of sin as well, and takes us to the reward of being His children.  There is a catch, though; one that I will end with.

SECOND STEP- I GAVE

 Jos 24:4  And I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. And I gave Mount Seir to Esau, to possess it. And Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

Jos 24:13  And I have given you a land for which you have not labored, and cities which you have not built, and you live in them. You are eating of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant.

He started by giving Abraham the promise of a seed from himself; He ends by provisioning that seed.  Everything God promised Abraham 500 years before had come to pass.  He will keep the promises He made to you over your much shorter lifetime.


THIRD STEP- I SENT

 Jos 24:5  And I sent Moses and Aaron and plagued Egypt, as I did in its midst. And afterward I brought you out.

Jos 24:12  And I sent the hornet before you, and it cast them out before you, two kings of the Amorites, not by the sword nor by your bow.

Two things you notice here- God sent two different agents to bring plagues on their enemies- one set to lead them out; and after they were out, one set to clear their way.  God won't sent you someplace in life he hasn't been trying to prepare you for beforehand.

FOURTH STEP- I BROUGHT OUT


 Jos 24:6  And I brought your fathers out from Egypt, and you went into the sea, and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen, into the Sea of Reeds.
Jos 24:7  And they cried to Jehovah, and He set thick darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them. And your eyes saw that which I have done in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness many days.

Jos 24:9  And Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, rose up and fought against Israel, and sent and called for Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
Jos 24:10  And I was not willing to listen to Balaam, and he greatly blessed you. And I delivered you out of his hand.

God had brought them out of slavery as His Children; and as He does with Satan's accusations of Job and Zerubbabel later, He delivers- brought- them out of those accusations.  He brings us out of sin; he delivers us out of it afterwards.


One thing I want to note here, for those who don't see where the Old Testament reveals the divinity of Christ:  Note how God's tense goes from I in verse 6 to the ONE time it changes to He in verse 7. "and He set thick darkness between you and the Egyptians".  Read Exodus and see this is referring to "the Angel of the Lord"- which is Christ in Old Testament (pre-incarnate) form.  "The Father and I are One."


TOP STEP- I BROUGHT YOU IN

 Jos 24:8  And I brought you into the land of the Amorite who lived beyond the Jordan. And they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you possessed their land. And I destroyed them before you.

And for me, this is the easiest verse to apply because what it says is this- I am bringing you to a home- but I'm bringing you into a battle as well.  God is covering Lynn Anderson here- "I never promised you a rose garden."  You have to battle.  God will give you the win, IF you give the battle to him.


FINALLY, THE CHOICE

It's easy for me just to work my way, because of my point in my walk with Christ, to stop right there at v8 and say, "Here I am."  But not all of you are- and here comes that catch I mentioned before.  Before you can start climbing these steps, you have a task to do...

Jos 24:2  And Joshua said to all the people, So says Jehovah the God of Israel, Your fathers have in the past lived Beyond the River (Terah the father of Abraham and father of Nahor) and they served other gods.

Jos 24:14  Now, then, fear Jehovah, and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and turn away from the gods which your fathers served Beyond the River, and in Egypt; and you serve Jehovah.

At some point, we were all 'beyond the river, serving other gods'.  And certainly it is God that takes you to that first step.  BUT... YOU have to make a choice.  Will you serve God, AND start your way up the steps- or just sit back in your spot beyond the river?  You don't get the promises, you don't get the blessings on the other side of the steps, without making that choice.  And that is why Joshua said...

Jos 24:15  And if it seems evil in your eyes to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods whom your fathers served Beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah. 



And you can't just do it any old way- getting by thinking of God as some amorphous being in the sky who loves everyone won't cut it...

Jos 24:17 (The people said) For Jehovah our God is He who has brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves, and who has done these great signs before our eyes, and has preserved us in all the way in which we have gone, and among all the people through whom we have passed.
Jos 24:18  And Jehovah has cast out all the peoples, even the Amorite inhabiting the land before us. We also will serve Jehovah, for He is our God.
Jos 24:19  And Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve Jehovah, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not lift up from you your transgressions or your sins.
Jos 24:20  When you forsake Jehovah, and shall serve strange gods, then He will turn away and do evil to you, and consume you, after He has done good to you.

HE will NOT lift you up from your transgressions and your sins.  That takes Jesus, and accepting His Sacrifice.  If you forsake Him, you forsake God.  And God will turn away.  That is why I pointed out the change in tense in v7.