Word of Encouragement (07/12/2023)
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." (Josh. 24:16-18)
This is what the people of Israel told Joshua in response to His farewell speech. In it, he reviewed all that God had done for them and ended it with a solemn charge: “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. 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” (vv. 14-15). In response to this solemn charge, the Israelites made this solemn vow, which was nothing short of a votive prayer to God. As we mentioned before, the vows we make are prayers as well.
In this prayer, the Israelites committed themselves not to forsake the LORD and serve other gods. Then, they gave the reason, which was a simple reaffirmation of what Joshua affirmed in His charge: they acknowledged how the LORD had delivered them from Egypt, preserved them through their wilderness journey, and drove out the Canaanites to give them the promised land. They conclude their vow by acknowledging the LORD (YHWH) as their God.
It seems that the Israelites themselves recognized their moral duty to serve God alone as their God for all He had done for them. What had the gods of other nations and peoples done for them? When Pharaoh enslaved them and exploited them, were not the gods of Egypt aided him in his persecution of the Jews? What about the gods of the wilderness and Transjordan nations? Did they not come out against them to destroy them? (Of course, there is no true God other than YHWH. People have certainly made false gods according to their image. But some pagan “gods” may be demons disguised as deities.) But the LORD alone delivered them, provided for them, and gave them the land of Canaan as He had promised to Abraham. In all this, had not God shown His superiority over all other gods by defeating the nations that worshipped them? So, was it not only logical that the Israelites should serve the LORD and not other gods, who were proven to be nothing before the God of Israel?
What is interesting is Joshua’s response to Israel’s solemn promise. He should have been ecstatic about the Israelites’ commitment to serve the LORD alone. Instead, however, Joshua responded, “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” (v. 19). This sounded harsh but the truth of his words was borne out by the subsequent history of Israel.
We see that good intentions and solemn commitments are not enough. Why we should serve the LORD may make all the logical sense, but even logic is not enough to overcome our sinfulness. That is why we need a Savior like Jesus Christ: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:3-4). If we believe in Jesus Christ, we have the Spirit of God. And if we have the Spirit of God, even though we are not able to serve the Lord on our own, the Spirit assures us that we can do all things through Him who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). He is doing that even now this morning. May you hear His words of assurance this morning and serve the Lord with all sincerity and diligence in all your callings.