Joshua and Judges: Joshua's farewell. A reminder of all that the Lord has done. Jos 23.

Title: Joshua and Judges: Joshua's farewell. A reminder of all that the Lord has done. Jos 23.  

 

Announcements / opening prayer:

 

 

Jos 23-24; Joshua's farewell and death.

 

After all this time spent studying this great man’s life, I am inclined to repeat his farewell from the beginning. It may be a long time before I revisit him, and I really look forward to the day that I will meet him and ask him about his experiences.

 

JOS 23:1 Now it came about after many days, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years,

 

JOS 23:2 that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, "I am old, advanced in years.

 

JOS 23:3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you.

 

JOS 23:4 See, I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun.

 

JOS 23:5 And the Lord your God, He shall thrust them out from before you and drive them from before you; and you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.

 

JOS 23:6 Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,

 

JOS 23:7 in order that you may not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them.

 

JOS 23:8 But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

 

JOS 23:9 For the Lord has driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.

 

JOS 23:10 One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.

 

JOS 23:11 So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God.

 

JOS 23:12 For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,

 

JOS 23:13 know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

 

If they "went back and clung" to the other nations turned, meaning that they gave up the faithfulness that this generation had to this day displayed towards Jehovah, and attached themselves to the remnant of these nations, made marriages with them, and entered into fellowship with them, which the Lord had expressly forbidden, let them know that the Lord their God would not cut off these nations before them anymore, but that they would be a snare and destruction to them.

 

A snare, trap, whip, and thorns in your eyes are images of misery and oppression from an enemy, and in this case, an enemy that has already been conquered by God.

 

A snare, trap, whip, and thorns in the eyes are what every man has done to himself. The Lord Jesus Christ willingly walked into a snare, trap, whip, and thorns in order to pull us out to safety.

 

The snare: Judas’ betrayal.

 

Have you betrayed anyone? Haven't we all been Judas' at some point?

 

JOH 13:27 And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Jesus therefore  said to him, "What you do, do quickly."

 

PSA 55:12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,

Then I could bear it;

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me,

Then I could hide myself from him.

 

PSA 55:13 But it is you, a man my equal,

My companion and my familiar friend.

 

The trap: Arrest and false witnesses.

 

LUK 22:54

And having arrested Him, they led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest;

 

MAR 14:46

 And they laid hands on Him, and seized Him.

 

MAT 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, in order that they might put Him to death;

 

MAT 26:60 and they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,

 

MAT 26:61 and said, "This man stated, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.'"

 

PSA 27:11 Teach me Thy way, O Lord ,

And lead me in a level path,

Because of my foes.

 

PSA 27:12  Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries;

For false witnesses have risen against me,

And such as breathe out violence.

 

PSA 27:13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living.

 

PSA 27:14 Wait for the Lord;

Be strong, and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the Lord.

 

The whip: He was scourged.

 

LUK 18:31 And He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.

 

LUK 18:32 "For He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon,

 

LUK 18:33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again. " 

 

LUK 18:34 And they understood none of these things, and this saying was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

 

JOH 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him.

 

JOH 19:2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and arrayed Him in a purple robe;

 

JOH 19:3 and they began to come up to Him, and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him blows in the face.

 

ISA 52:13 Behold, My servant will prosper,

He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted.

 

ISA 52:14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,

So His appearance was marred more than any man,

And His form more than the sons of men.

 

ISA 52:15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,

Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;

For what had not been told them they will see,

And what they had not heard they will understand.

 

The thorns: In their eyes He was crowned with dishonor and by accepting this for their salvation, He was crowned with the highest honor.

 

MAT 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.

 

MAT 27:28 And they stripped Him, and put a scarlet robe on Him.

 

MAT 27:29 And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they kneeled down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

 

MAT 27:30 And they spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.

 

MAT 27:31 And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and put His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

 

ISA 49:1 Listen to Me, O islands,

And pay attention, you peoples from afar.

The Lord called Me from the womb;

From the body of My mother He named Me.

 

ISA 49:2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;

In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me,

And He has also made Me a select arrow;

He has hidden Me in His quiver.

 

ISA 49:3 And He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel,

In Whom I will show My glory."

 

ISA 49:4 But I said, "I have toiled in vain,

I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity [He was rejected];

Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord,

And My reward with My God."

 

ISA 49:5 And now says the Lord , who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, in order that Israel might be gathered to Him

(For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,

And My God is My strength),

 

ISA 49:6 He says, "It is too small a thing that

You should be My Servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations

So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

 

ISA 49:7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and its Holy One, To the despised One,

To the One abhorred by the nation,

To the Servant of rulers,

"Kings shall see and arise,

Princes shall also bow down;

Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."

 

REV 14:14

And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head, and a sharp sickle in His hand.