One of the things I like to do, for biblical stories to affect me the way they should, is trying to put myself into the story. I try to crawl into the author’s head and make it my home. In Joshua, I try to put myself in Joshua’s shoes at times. Other times, I put myself in the people’s shoes. Unless I do this, I struggle to hear the Bible and have it grab me, the way it should.
In today’s sermon, I want you to hear this chapter as Israelites. Hear Joshua’s words, as though they are addressed to you. Joshua is your leader; he is talking to you.
Vs3 You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you.
All of you have seen what The Lord your God did to all these nations. Every time the nations lined up against you in battle or hid inside their fortified cities, you know what happened next. You won. Over, and over. And the reason you won is not that you are great soldiers. The reason you won is that your God is fighting for you. This is not only true in the past. But, today your God is still fighting for you.
And you Israelites need to hear this as a promise. You need to not simply believe this and own this, but live your life on that basis. Because if you trust God, it’s going to change how you live. Because you know the Lord your God is fighting for you.
Vs6-8 “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.
You are surrounded by other nations. They are on every side. But God has promised you He will drive these people out. They won’t live with you forever. BUT, in the meantime, you have a solemn responsibility here. These nations serve and worship other gods. You know which ones they serve. You know their names. But these gods are not your God. You cannot serve them. You can’t mention them. You can’t invoke their name in prayer, or speech. Your goal should be to live in a way, that their names are forgotten.
The only God for you is the Lord your God. Hold fast-Cling to him. God has been amazing to you. He is fighting for you in battle. He’s given you nothing but victory. God has given you no reason to serve any other gods. What can they offer you, that He hasn’t? What can they do, that He cannot? Nothing. And proof of that is that these gods couldn’t even protect their descendants.
Vs9-10 “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
THE POWER OF ONE
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by a sense of personal insignificance. Sometimes we feel like expendable commodities. We feel a sense of complete uselessness believing “I am just one–and what can just one do?” God says one who loves Him and is faithful to Him can rout a thousand!
Please understand God can use you to make a difference in this world, in the lives of others, and in His church, if you will let Him.
How? Vs11“So be very careful to love the Lord your God” By making yourself available, being very strong, bold, courageous, and walking by faith and not by sight. And one of you can rout 1000
The Scriptures are filled with example after example of the power of one.
Judges 15:16 Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone, I have killed a thousand men.”
2 Samuel 23:8 Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.
2 Samuel 23:9-10 Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. Then the Israelites retreated, 10 but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day.
2 Samuel 23:11-12 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. 12 But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.
One Man –was instrumental in saving mankind from extinction (Faith)
One little Boy – instrumental in feeding 5000 John 6:9-13 “There was a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish, and he made it available.
God uses what you have to fill a need, which you never could have filled. God uses where you are to take you where you never could have gone. God uses what you can do to accomplish what you could never have accomplished. God uses who you are to help you become who you never could have been.
It is not based on our ability but on our availability. God uses those who make themselves available to Him. He will use you if you make yourself available to him.
Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ’Here am I! Send me.”
Make yourself available to God to do anything He asks of you. Can one man or one woman possess such power to rout 1000? With God, we can. With God, we can be strong, be wiser than others, endure, and conquer.
Now, what happens if we ignore Joshua? What happens if we refuse to learn from our history of God’s faithfulness to us?
Vs12-16 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you. 14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”
Though people often fail us, we can depend upon God. He will keep all His promises. His ways do not fail!
1 Samuel 12:22 says, For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. God’s promises for us are kept because He loves us. God gets great pleasure in guiding us through life.
God has invested so much into our lives. If we will follow the ways of the Lord and do not turn away, we will find that He is always faithful.
He will never leave you nor forsake you. He will be your ever-present help in time of need. He will be your strength when you have none.
In Verses 12 through 16, Joshua severely warns the Israelites.
In effect, he says to them “do not go back”!
He tells them not to go back to the ways of Egypt. Do not go back to the ways of the false gods. Do not get involved with the pagan heathen (world).
When we quit holding fast to God (clinging) and begin to cling to the things of the world, we have fallen into the devil’s trap and that’s when bad things happen in our lives. (Steal, kill and destroy)
Backsliding brings a person into the evil ways of the world. Giving the enemy a foothold in our lives
It will destroy all you have that is good. It will destroy your relationship with the Lord. It will destroy your fellowship with God’s people. It will take you out of God’s will. It will ruin a good marriage. The joy of your salvation will slip away.
Joshua’s warning and his advice to the people of Israel many years ago is still a good warning for church people today!
Vs6 Be very strong
Vs8 hold fast to the Lord your God
Vs10 One of you routs a thousand because the Lord your God fights for you,
Vs11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
Vs12-16 “But if you turn away” well things are going to be very difficult for us, to say the least.
As a pastor I see people drifting away from the Lord.
The reason is easy: They have stopped loving the Lord like they once did.
To a certain degree: They have decided they no longer need God.
The most dangerous thing that can happen to a Christian is to lose his or her love for the Lord.
Ephesus Revelation 2:4-5 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Vs11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God
Here are the warning signs of not being close to the Lord.
#1. You are not reading your Bible
#2. You are not praying
#3. The church is becoming less and less a priority.
Unless we are on God’s straight and narrow path, we will always find that the relationship we desire with God will seem distant and shallow.
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