Joshua 23-24
A little old man told his wife, “I have to go to my doctor’s
appointment now. I’ll see you later.”
After he left, his wife sat down on the couch and watched
television. A news report came on that someone was driving
down the interstate highway in the wrong direction .
Knowing that that was the route he would be on, she called to
warn him, “Honey, there’s a car going in the wrong direction!”
The husband replied, “They’re all going in the wrong direction!”
We’ve made it to the end of the book of Joshua.
Today we are going to look at the two final chapters.
What we will see is Joshua’s final words to the people of Israel.
There are several lessons for us to learn.
Let’s start by looking at Joshua 23.
Joshua 23:1-5
Joshua is old now, 110 to be exact. His purpose for the last 3 chapters
is to give his parting words to the people of Israel.
The Lord Keeps His Promises
Joshua reminds the nation, God has been with them the entire time.
He Fought for Israel – No one will be able to stand against you, I will
give them into your hand.
He Gave them Inheritance – each tribe got land even Levites received
cities.
God told them He would fight for the and He did.
God told them He would drive the people out and He did.
God always keeps His promises.
Dads, we have to teach their children about God’s promises
It’s good to tell your children stories of God’s faithfulness.
Bring your children to the word, read it to them, let them read it for
themselves.
As we think about God keeping promises it’s a good time to mention
that we also should be men/women who keep their promises.
It’s a terrible witness when Christians don’t keep their word.
Joshua 23:6-10
The Lord Wants our Obedience
Be very strong to keep and do all that is written in the law
These are the same words the Lord told Joshua in chapter 1 to
encourage him to be the successor to Moses.
Do not turn to right or left
Do not mix with these nations or speak the names of their gods or
swear by them or mention their names
But cling to the Lord just as you have done to this day
Joshua was obedient to the Lord.
God spoke and Joshua followed.
Dads, we train up our children to be obedient when they see us doing
what God desires.
Many times dads tell their children to do what I say, not what I do.
We can’t expect our children to do what we aren’t willing to do.
Children model the behaviors they see lived out. Be the godly
example for them to follow.
Joshua 23:11-13
The Lord Wants our Love
Joshua then tells the people to;
Be careful to Love the Lord your God.
He gives them a warning against marrying people from the nation God
told them to drive out.
Christians should be equally yoked, if we aren’t our priorities will be
conflicting.
Consequences of turning back to the remnant who remains
God will not drive them out.
They will become a snare and trap, a whip on your sides and
thorns in your eyes until you perish off this good land
Dads, we must love the Lord more than anyone or anything else in
this world.
He has to be our cingular focus.
When we focus on the Lord, we show our children God is the most
important person in our life.
As we love the Lord we will be able to love others as He loves.
Joshua 23:14-16
The Lord Wants our Loyalty
God is Faithful – He wants the best for His children.
God has done His part.
Not one word He said has failed.
Warning against false gods or idols
If they transgress His covenant by serving other gods and worshiping
them the anger of the Lord will be kindled against them and they will
perish from the good land.
Dads, we must be loyal to the Lord by keeping His commands
It’s easy to get sidetracked and allow our loyalties to follow after
worldly things.
That doesn’t please God, He is a jealous God and doesn’t want us to
follow after false gods.
Joshua 24:1-13
Joshua Speaks of God’s Deliverance
God spoke to Joshua and told him to give the people a history lesson.
God delivered Abraham from his father who didn’t serve the Lord
God delivered Israel out of Egypt
God delivered Israel from the enemies in the land of Canaan
God delivered Israel over the Jordan
Dads, we know the truth of God’s plan of deliverance. It’s a beautiful
story of redemption because of God’s grace and forgiveness.
We must take the chance to share Scripture with our children and
point them to the deliverance that is available through Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Just like He rescued Israel time and again, He is willing and able to
forgive us of our sin and grant us eternal life.
Joshua 24:14-15
Joshua Brings Israel to a Point of Decision
Because of the familiarity of Joshua’s words in v.15 the previous
sentence sometimes gets overlooked and it shouldn’t.
Joshua tells the people to Fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity
and faithfulness.
He tells them to put away the gods their fathers served and serve the
Lord.
He not only tells them what to do, he explains how to do it.
Serve the Lord sincerely and faithfully.
Joshua has done it his whole life.
Now he is urging Israel to follow his lead.
Joshua gives the people a decision and asks for a response.
Choose this day whom you will serve – gods of your fathers or the
Lord
Fathers point your children to the Lord so they can choose for
themselves
The gospel requires a response. We will either accept it or reject it.
Some people try to put off the decision, but indecision is a decision to
reject.
Joshua Modeled His Faith
As for me and my house we will serve the Lord
The world needs strong fathers who will take a stand for the truth and
be the spiritual leaders of the house. We need more dads who will
bring their children to church, teach them about God and allow them to
make the most important decision of their lives. To trust Jesus as
savior.
Joshua 24:19-24
Joshua Holds Israel Accountable
Joshua tells the people: You can’t serve the Lord – He is holy
They say they will serve Him
Joshua called them witnesses against themselves
Joshua tells them to put away their foreign gods
The people confirm again their intent to serve the Lord
The world needs fathers who will confront sin and teach their children
about God and explain what idols are and how to avoid serving them.
Dad’s sometimes get distracted with idols of work, success, money,
possessions. Joshua modeled how to keep the focus on God.
Dads, kids need boundaries and they need parents who care about
them and will set limits for them. Children need discipline. They need
to know there are consequences for disobedience.
It’s how they learn to live and follow God’s word.
Joshua 24:25-28
Joshua Makes a Covenant with Israel at Shechem
He wrote the words in book of law
Put large memorial stone – called it a witness
He wanted the people to be firmly committed to following the Lord.
APPLICATION
Lead Well
Dads, let’s not wait until we are on our dying beds to teach our
children these truths.
Only God knows the number of our days.
There’s lots of reasons not to speak to our children but none of them
are good ones.
Not sure what to say.
Not sure how to say it.
Too busy with other commitments
Let’s be good stewards of our time and teach our children these truths
about the Lord.