Joshua’s Farewell Address
September 15, 2021
Commentary
In this passage we find Joshua’s retirement speech. His long life started in Egyptian bondage and ended in a worship service in the Promised Land. He had been used to lead Israel in defeating the enemy, conquering the land, and claiming the promised inheritance. He is now approaching 110 years old, and he gathers all the leaders of Israel to give them some final words of encouragement and instruction. His great and final speech extends over three chapters, but in this passage, there are three main points that Joshua tries to drive home:
1. He reminds them of how God has blessed them in the past (vv. 1-3). It was God who fought their battles and gave them the victory over their enemies. Likewise, as Christians, God has fought our battles and given us the victory.
2. He reminds them of the future blessings that the Lord had promised them (v. 5). The Lord promised that He would deliver Israel from their enemies. He also promised to deliver Christians from their enemies (James 4:7).
3. He reminds them of what they were to do (vv. 6-7). They were to keep the Book of the Law of Moses, and they were to avoid idolatry. They were to cling to the Lord their God (v. 8) and be very careful to love Him (v. 11).
Israel’s greatest danger was moral and spiritual. Moses had warned Israel against compromising with the evil nations in the land (Ex. 23:20-33; 34:10-17; Deut. 7:12-26) and Joshua reaffirms that warning.
4. He warned that compromise would lead to the following results:
A. God would leave Israel on her own (v. 13).
B. The enemies would be a constant menace (v. 13).
C. Israel would meet ultimate doom (vv. 15-16).
Application
I need to be careful about demanding my own way because eventually I may get it — along with all its painful consequences.
Joshua 23:1– 16 (NET)
1 A long time passed after the Lord made Israel secure from all their enemies, and Joshua was very old. 2 So Joshua summoned all Israel, including the elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and told them: “I am very old. 3 You saw everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your behalf, for the Lord your God fights for you. 4 See, I have parceled out to your tribes these remaining nations, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the nations I defeated. 5 The Lord your God will drive them out from before you and remove them, so you can occupy their land as the Lord your God promised you. 6 Be very strong! Carefully obey all that is written in the law scroll of Moses so you won’t swerve from it to the right or the left, 7 or associate with these nations that remain near you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! You must not worship or bow down to them! 8 But you must be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this very day.
9 “The Lord drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been able to resist you to this very day. 10 One of you makes a thousand run away, for the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised you he would. 11 Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God! 12 But if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God gave you.
14 “Look, today I am about to die. You know with all your heart and being that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized—not one promise is unfulfilled! 15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, it is just as certain that if you disobey, then the Lord will bring on you every judgment until he destroys you from this good land that the Lord your God gave you. 16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, then the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear quickly from the good land that he gave to you.”