14 “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
The day to make a critical decision
has come for the Israelites. Joshua has
led the people into the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. The land has been divided for the
tribes of Israel according to God’s command to Moses. The initial conquest of Canaan has been
completed. Israel still needs to follow
up with cleaning up the land from the remnant of the Canaanites, and especially
from the beliefs, worldviews, and habits of the people who worship idols and
practice immoralities. And Joshua is
old. He is retiring very soon. Israel is to settle in the land. Soon they will not meet Joshua as
frequently. And soon Joshua will die
leaving them on their own. A decision
has to be made. A crucial decision that
will determine their standing before the Lord.
A critical decision that will be a projection of what Israel would
become next. This is the most important
decision Israel has to make. Israel must
decide on which God to follow, to serve, and to worship.
Apparently it is not an easy decision
to make. A challenge has to be spoken by
Joshua to the people. They have to
choose between Yahweh and all the other gods – the gods of the Egyptian and the
gods of the Canaanites. Israel answers
Joshua’s challenge in vv. 16-18 saying:
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it
from us that we should forsake the Lord
to serve other gods, 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land
of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our
sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples
through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who
lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
But
Joshua poses his doubt that Israel would faithfully follow and serve the
Lord. Thus in vv. 19-20 Joshua says:
19 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. 20 If you
forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and
consume you, after having done you good.”
In
the verses that follow, Israel insists to serve Yahweh. It is a good verbal answer. But a good verbal answer alone is not
enough. A verbal answer is like a vow –
a promise. This promise is spoken not
merely before Joshua and the whole assembly, but more importantly before the
Lord. Israel must follow up their
promise with real action. As we have
known, unfortunately, Israel only keeps her promise some decades. But soon after the next generation takes
over, they forget their promise and start worshiping other gods. Judges 2:11-13 testifies:
11 And the people of Israel did what was
evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they
abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of
Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were
around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned
the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.
A
broken promise and trouble begins.
This broken promise has a history
and it was caused indirectly by the people’s disobedience to God’s
command. The Lord told them to eliminate
the Canaanites completely. But they did
not obey. Joshua 2:1-5 records:
1 Now
the angel of the Lord went up from
Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you
into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. 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 break
down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have
done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive
them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods
shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up
their voices and wept. 5 And they
called the name of that place Bochim.
And they sacrificed there to the Lord.
Israel
lets the remnants of the Canaanites live side by side with them, and more, they
make covenant with the Canaanites, they bind themselves in marriage, and they
adopt their practices. Soon after Joshua
died, and the entire generation that followed Joshua also died, the new
generation lives a disobedient life.
Judges 2:10 says:
10 …. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work
that he had done for Israel.
This
is a sad reality. This very unfortunate
history mars the history of Israel.
Apparently the generation of the people who followed Joshua neglected a
very important command. As they
disobeyed the Lord by not driving the remnants of the Canaanites from the land,
they have made a significant educational mistake. Indirectly they have taught their children
that the Lord is not the only one true God.
Indirectly they also have taught their children that it is okay to adopt
the Canaanite’s way of life. Indirectly
they have taught their children that they are allowed to worship other
gods. Israel’s verbal promise is not
followed up by their real action.
Disaster lines up at their door.
When the old generation died, the gatekeeper died with them. The next generation opens the door to the
flood of disasters. And we know the rest
of the story in the book of Judges.
Brothers and sisters, the same thing
will happen to us if we have the same attitude as Israel. We are also at the crossroads. Our children are the next generation. The question that we should ask ourselves is:
“Do our kids know the Lord?” With it
follows: “Have we really taught our kids what they need to know, how they must
behave, the difference between good and evil according to the Lord, and who to
serve wholeheartedly?” The challenge
Joshua gives the Israelites that day is very much alive today. That challenge is also for us. Who should we truly serve as our God, whether
the Lord God that we know in Jesus Christ as testified by the Scripture, or the
gods of the modern world that every day non-stop continue to flirt with us? Are we flirting with Prosperity – money,
wealth, abundance? Are we flirting with Pleasure
– comfort, sexuality, selfishness? Are
we flirting with Power – disorder, violence, conquest?
When we work day and night, with the
noble purpose to provide for our family, are we being seduced by the glamour of
Prosperity? Work is a natural thing to do. It is something simple and seemingly
innocent, but be aware, it can turn deadly if we make it our God! When we enjoy life, with the innocent desire
to rejoice in the good things that God has made, are we being seduced by the
imagination of unending Pleasure? It is something very ordinary and common, but
be aware, it can turn deadly if we make it our God! When we reach the position of authority, with
the responsibility to keep things in order, are we being seduced by the might
of Power? It is something inevitable and necessary, but
be aware, it can turn deadly if we make it our God!
Israel disobeyed the Lord and the
result was disastrous. Their children
learned a different way of life, adopt a different worldview, and love a
different god. If we too fall into the
hands of the age of now gods, our kids will follow our footsteps. They too will serve Prosperity instead of
Jesus Christ. They too will worship Pleasure
instead of Jesus Christ. They too will
obey Power
instead of Jesus Christ. Eventually they
will neglect the true God and pursue all the other gods. Their life will be wasted and calamity will
overtake them.
Israel’s answer to Joshua is a good
start. A good start needs a good journey
and also a good finish. The key to it is
obedience and faithfulness. If we look
at Joshua’s life we will find obedience and faithfulness. If we are to peek into Joshua’s obedience and
faithfulness, we will find it amazing.
Forty years before Joshua finally entered the Promised Land with the
entire Israel, he already foretasted the land when Moses sent him as one of the
spies (Numbers 13). Joshua and Caleb
were faithful to the Lord while the other ten spies spoke bitterly about the
land. Despite his faithfulness, the Lord
decided to “educate” the entire Israel with the 40 years journey in the
wilderness. Joshua was inevitably
included among the rebellious people the Lord needed to “educate.” Crossing into the Promised Land and
overtaking it was just right at the door, but yet he had to wait forty
years. Never in that forty years had
Joshua complained to the Lord. He obeyed
the Lord. He could become bitter or
disappointed at the Lord. But he
didn’t. And with such positive attitude,
the Lord strengthened him and taught him how to become a great leader, because
he was to succeed the great Moses. At
the end of his prime time as he was nearing death, Joshua continued to serve
the Lord faithfully and obediently.
Never a single complaint. Never
in his life had he blamed God for his misfortune and life difficulties. And so Joshua finished strong. He dedicated his life completely to the Lord.
Israel should have learned from
Joshua’s obedience and faithfulness.
Spoken words and real actions work harmoniously together. Even when life is not easy, Joshua’s
obedience and faithfulness shine like a lighthouse in the dark ocean. Joshua did not choose to serve Baal, or
Asherah, or Ashtoreth, or any other myriad gods in the world. He was sticking with the Lord who brought
Israel out of Egypt. His heart of heart
has decided to serve the Lord only his entire life. He matched his words and his actions. In the same way, we too must match our words
and our actions. What we promise the
Lord we must put into reality. If we
truly submit to the Lordship of Christ, then He alone we shall serve. We should not flirt with Prosperity, or Pleasure,
or Power. They are not God. They are God’s gifts for us, which He gives
(or not) as He pleases according to His eternal wisdom. If we make them our God, they in turn will
enslave us. Israel made Baal, Asherah,
Ashtoreth, and many other gods their God, and so they in turn enslaved them
from top to bottom.
Pastor Don one day shared with us
seminary students. He said that he was
flirting with Pleasure. The pleasure
of drinking alcohol. He sought that
pleasure believing that it was okay because it was God’s gift to enjoy. True, there is nothing wrong with enjoying
alcohol in moderation. But for Pastor
Don it was not once in a while. He drank more than he should. He became needy of alcohol. All the while he still thought that he was in
control. He said to himself: “I could
stop at any time if I want to.” His
drinking pleasure became a necessity for him.
He found it impossible to stay away from alcohol. It was a bit too late when he realized that
he had gone deep into alcohol addiction.
The pleasure of drinking alcohol had become his master, his god. He then served his new god, pleasure. And this god choked him out of life. His life began to deteriorate. His relationship with his family was
strained. He even managed to destroy his
ministry. After he lost everything, he
realized he needed help, the true God’s help.
So he turned to who was once his God.
And God pointed him toward joining AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) and be
helped through it. He had to go through
the twelve steps of AA. And he shall
never drink even one sip of alcohol. The
day he shared with us, he had been sober for more than 10 years. He said that he is prone to fall, and so he
needed a strong support group to sustain him and remind him through prayer and
wise counsel every time the seduction came.
His part was to remain obedient to God and be faithful to Him who has
rescued him from the hand of the modern god of pleasure.
There are many things that can
manifest itself as god. They are false
gods. They might give us what seems to
be something that would fulfill our desire.
But in the end they will enslave us.
Those false gods are unkind, very cruel, and they don’t care about our
wellbeing. They will suck us dry and
then leave us to rot and die. If we
learn anything from the story of Joshua and Israel today, we ought to be aware
of the danger of the false gods. In the
time of Joshua it was the gods of Canaan: Baal, Asherah, Ashtoreth, and many
others. In our time we have the three
great modern gods: Prosperity, Pleasure, and Power. Do not make covenant with these false gods,
as God has reminded and commanded Israel and also us. Pastor Don underestimated the modern god of
pleasure, and he fell prey to it. But
God is a kind God, and merciful, and loving.
He listened to Pastor Don’s prayer, He paid attention to him humbling
himself, and so He rescued him from the pit.
When Israel cried out to God for help, God was also merciful, His
kindness and love prompted Him to deliver Israel from the slavery of the false
gods.
Therefore this is my advice to all
of us, stick to God as Joshua did. Be
obedient and be faithful to Him even though life can be difficult. Resist temptation, do not flirt with the
false gods, and do not underestimate them.
Know the truth and teach them to our children. Do not let our children to miss out on this
most important thing. And listen to this
very carefully, when you fall, do not run into other gods, but run into the one
true God. He will rescue you, just like
He rescued Israel, and just like He rescued Pastor Don. God is merciful, graceful, and gracious to
all of us, especially those who have believed in the name of His beloved Son
Jesus Christ. Dedicate yourself to the
Lord wholeheartedly. Amen.
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