See what the LORD has done

Have you ever been given an offer you can’t refuse?

Free meal / item on sale / house / car / job

The Israelites here were being given an offer that they couldn’t refuse.

Looking at chapter 23-24 as we end our series in Joshua.

Been quite a road so far.

From beginning of the book

Starts with Moses dying

God commissioning Joshua

Telling him to be strong & courageous

Promising to be with Him

Telling Him to make sure that Israel obeys His word.

Telling Israel that they will get their territories.

God hands over the territories

We see some miraculous things happening

Crossing the Jordan

The walls of Jericho

Defeating Ai, despite the initial defeat.

Defeating 5 kings who tried to take them on.

In fact what we see is God keeping His promises that He’s made to Israel.

So coming to the end of the book

We see in 23vs1 – a long time has passed.

The Lord had given Israel rest from their enemies

And Joshua at this point is a very old man.

Been many years since that day they crossed the Jordan

In Joshua chapter 23 and 24 we see Joshua giving 2 addresses to the Israelites.

He summons all of Israel

Elders / leaders / judges & officials

And these addresses or speeches are headed towards a call to action.  

That presentation where you know something will be asked of you.

Some kind of offer / deal / call to action

These addresses are leading up to the choice that Israel need to make.

The offer that they can’t refuse.

There are a few things leading up to this choice that Joshua needs to point out to the Israelites which we’ll look at over the next 2 weeks.

• He wants them look at what God has done.

To remind them what God has done for them

To remind them of his faithfulness

• To remind them of the promises God has made if they aren’t faithful to him.

Israel need to be reminded that this is God’s covenant to His people, and it’s on God’s terms.

Look at what God has done.

So the first thing he does in his speech, is he asks them to look at what God has done.

Joshua 23:vs1

After a long time had passed and theLordhad given Israel restfrom all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man,² summoned all Israel—their elders,leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old.

³ You yourselves have seen everything theLordyour God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was theLordyour God who fought for you.

So here’s the scene:

Joshua summons the whole nation of Israel

And he starts with the words,

“I am very old. . .”

He’s making a point.

A lot has happened since he was a younger man.

And he was addressing a group of people who would have been even younger than him.

Because remember that Joshua’s generation didn’t make it into the promised land.

But He is old

He’s seen a lot in his lifetime

Remember he served under Moses

He would have seen the parting of the Red sea when God led the Israelites out of Egypt

He would have witnessed how God looked after the Israelites throughout their time when they were wandering through the wilderness.

God providing manna

God giving Israel the 10 commandments.

All of those things that Israel went from the Exodus to the promised land.

But even this younger generation have seen what God has done.

The hand of God that provides / protects / punishes and brings judgement.

So after stating that he’s very old he says in verse 3:

³ You yourselves have seen everything theLordyour God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was theLordyour God who fought for you.

You, as a nation, as people, are so privileged to have seen everything the Lord has done.

You’ve seen Him destroy these nations first hand.

You’ve seen Him do it for your sake

You’ve seen Him fight for you.

Israel have a privilege here like no other nation.

They’ve seen God work in front of their eyes / keep his promises that their ancestors were longing to see fulfilled, that had been made centuries before.

There was no Israelite who could turn around and say that God isn’t real / faithful / powerful.

They had seen it before their very eyes.

“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.”

⁹ “TheLordhas 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 theLordyour God fights for you,just as he promised.¹¹ So be very carefulto love theLordyour God.

He’s saying to them: “Don’t forget what God has done” / who God is / faithful

He’s the One who’s put you in the position that you’re in.

Remember that you got here because his miraculous works.

He made promises to you and he kept them.

Vs 9: The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations, to this day no one has been able to withstand you.

Remember Jericho? / Remember Ai? 5 Amorite kings who felt that if they formed an alliance, you didn’t stand a chance / When actually they were the ones who didn’t stand a chance / To this day, no one has been able to withstand you.

Vs 10 & 11 ¹⁰ One of you routs a thousand,because theLordyour God fights for you,just as he promised.¹¹ So be very carefulto love theLordyour God.

 “why do you have all this success”? / Why are you in the position today that you’re in? / You’ve got peace from your enemies. ? You’re settled in your territories. / You’ve got a successful record in battle, which bought you to the position that you’re in now.

It’s because God has fought for you.

Back in verse 3 Joshua says: It was the Lord who fought for you.

Here in verse 10: because the LORD fights for you just as He promised.

Who is doing the fighting here?

To whom can they attribute the fact that Israel is a great and powerful nation?

It’s because God has fought for them.

The LORD fights for you just as He promised.

So, Israel, yes, well done for being obedient ? for doing your part / doing what God asked of you / obeying Him / trusting Him / listening to the leader that God placed over you / being strong and courageous.

But make no mistake.

God is the one who bought you here / the one who is in control of all things /the one who is sovereign over all / the one who made promises all those years ago, andHe is working to fulfil them / Yahweh, the covenant God is the one who has fought for you / And He has done so just as promised.

Again in Chapter 24 we see Joshua summoning all of Israel.

And there’s something very important about this speech.

We’re told that they presented themselves before God.

And Joshua starts His speech with the words:

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says . . .”

And as you read through the words that follow

You’ll notice that this is a great summary of what has happened throughout the history of Israel.

And so Joshua gives Israel this message from God.

This message of Israel’s history

more than just

a history lesson / a list of things that Israel had been through /a list of places where Israel had travelled through /a list of the nations and kings that they had encountered along the way.

These words from God in Joshua chapter 24, are an account from God himself.

And they’re an account from God himself of what he has done.

Vs 3: ³ But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac,⁴ and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.

⁵ “‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. ⁶ When I brought your people out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen^{[ahttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%2024&version=NIV#fen-NIV-6483b">b] 7 But they cried to the Lord for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for a long time.}

⁸ “‘I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. ⁹ When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. ¹⁰ But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.

¹¹ “‘Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. ¹² I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. ¹³ So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’

So in chapter 23 you’ve got Joshua pointing out to Israel what God has done.

And then here in chapter 24, God Himself, in a message through Joshua

Pointing out to Israel what He has done.

What God is wanting Israel (and us ) to see that He is gracious / faithful / covenant God who keeps His promises.

This message from God starts out by pointing out how God calls Abraham.

And He takes him out of a situation where they were worshipping other gods.

God leads him through Canaan.

Which is the land the Israelites were now living.

This was the land they now occupied.

But God gives Abraham descendants

Descendants through which see these promises being fulfilled.

Vs 4: I gave him Isaac, ⁴ and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.

Then Joshua talks about the Exodus and the time in the wilderness vs 5-7.

Then from verse 8-10, just before they crossed the Jordan.

And then vs 11-13, all the victories since they crossed the Jordan.

God has taken care of His people.

The God who makes promises has kept them.

It’s been one of the main themes throughout the book of Joshua.

The God who keeps His promises.

And He’s done some miraculous things to keep those promises.

It’s God’s power that has brought them to position that they’re in at this point.

If you flip back to Chapter 23 vs 1, remember it tells us that the LORD had given Israel rest from their enemies.

That’s all God’s work.

Throughout chapter 23 the word used for God is the word LORD

it’s the way that the Bible translators have translated into English, the Hebrew word Yahweh / the covenant keeping name for God.

So Joshua’s addresses that He gives.

He wants Israel to be clear on who God is / God’s faithfulness /they are where they are because of God’s work.

Now we need to remember that what we see here with Israel is part of God’s long term plan of salvation / pointing to and leading to something much greater /God’s salvation of the world / your salvation and my salvation.

just like Israel we too need to be constantly reminded of the faithfulness of God / we need to look back and remember what God has done / We need to constantly remind ourselves of what God has done / It’s why we have the Bible

Now you weren’t there when God made that massive Jordan river give way, so that all of Israel could go across it / when walls of Jericho crumbled by the power of God /all the other miraculous defeats of the cities and kings / when they were given all of these territories.

But if you’re a Christian here’s what is true for you.

You are aware of how sinful you are / how you’ve offended God /how much you don’t deserve to set foot into His presence /much you deserve His judgement / the fact that there is nothing you can do yourself to rectify that.

But you’ve experienced the miracle of new birth.

Despite your sin, and despite your offense towards God / You know Him / You can confidently enter into His presence / And you can do it because of the most powerful thing He has ever done.

You can know God because He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for you and I /  because when Jesus died, the price for your sin and my sin was paid for / because Jesus didn’t just die and stay in the grave/ He rose again from the dead.

Our God / The LORD /Yahweh, the covenant keeping God.

Has done more than just promised land to Israel / promised to give a nation rest from their enemies / as you read on in the Bible, you’ll see as I said earlier these promises were pointing to something much greater.

In fact you’ll see that Israel didn’t last in the land.

They were exiled many years later.

There was a small remnant.

But in terms of God’s plan for them this wasn’t the ultimate rest.

But God had promised something much greater.

God had promised a much greater rest.

God had promised a saviour.

When God promised descendants to Abraham

The important thing about those descendants was that from those descendants would come a saviour.

A saviour who would give eternal rest to God’s people.

A saviour who would make it possible for us to live in God’s place

A saviour who would free us from the burden of sin and death.

And as Christians you and I should be able to look back and see what the Lord has done. We should be able to look through the Bible / Look at God’s dealings with Israel and see God’s mighty and powerful hand at work / We should be able to see how great God is / As He does amazing things / As He blesses His people.

We should be able to look through the greater story of Scripture.

And see God’s hand throughout / As He works powerfully and miraculously / faithfully / Keeping His promises / Dealing with His people / Providing for His people.

We should be able to look at Jesus and be totally amazed at how God has kept His promises / at how God has fulfilled His plan to save His people / How we’ve seen that God had this plan all along / A plan all along to save those who were far from Him.

You should be able to look at your life and you should be amazed at how God has bought you to the point of knowing Him / you should be able to say, “Only because of Jesus can I know God.” / “Only because God has made the promises that He has made and has kept them.” / Only because God is faithful, and powerful enough to make sure that His promises come true.

You should be able to look at your life / Whatever you may be going through / have gone through / the struggles / The sicknesses / the heartaches / the financial loss / or any other personal loss /  as a Christian, if you know God, see how all of that has played a part in His greater plan for your life.

You should be able to sing along with the Hymn writer who wrote “Count Your Blessings Name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done.”

Or sing along with the other great Hymn, “Great is thy faithfulness, Oh God my Father.”