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Finishing Strong: Joshua's Leadership Legacy 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Alright. Today, we end the book of Joshua with a crescendo. I mean, this is a tremendous passage of scripture. Joshua chapters 23 and 24 is what we're gonna0:21 look at today. Verse 15 of chapter 24. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the0:32 river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Wow. I love that passage.0:47 Charge. And I'm gonna have to say, I admire Joshua. There's I have a lot of of, of the figures in scripture, a lot of the the people we read about that I0:59 really respect and learn from and look forward to meeting in heaven. But Joshua is is is at the top of the list. Right? He started strong, and we read here today that he finished1:11 strong. You know, too many men, too many believers start out strong, but they finish with a whimper if they finish at all. Our goal should be kinda like the apostle Paul. He says, you know, he wants to1:22 cross the finish line running, not crawling, not dragging himself across the line. You know, he talks about running the race of life. And he says, you know what? We we gotta give it everything we have.1:34 We need to run to win the prize. So Joshua, he ran to win. He did not compromise on God's word. He did not cower in the face of opposition,1:46 and he he didn't care what others thought about him or who would stand with him. He was committed to wholly serve the Lord. Now our focus1:58 today is chapter 24, but, we didn't look at chapter 23 last time because the 2 chapters really kinda fit together. In chapter 23, after about 14 years it's about 14 years after the2:10 conquest of Canaan. Joshua gives this farewell address to the to the leaderships of the tribes that are assembled, and and he and he gives them this, this charge. And,2:22 again, we we see him starting out. I mean, look how he begins. He repeats their history, what God had done for them and what he expected from them as his people. And we also see in this, like, very2:34 much like Moses, 1 of the great characteristics of a good leader is humility. Look at verse 3. You have seen all that the lord your god has done to all these nations2:47 because of you, for the lord your god is he who has fought for you. Joshua didn't take credit for these victories. He didn't say, look what I've done, what I've given you, what I've2:59 accomplished. Even though God used him to bring these things about, he made it clear it was the Lord fighting on their behalf. Now in verse 6, we see Joshua3:11 charging the leaders with what he had been charged with nearly 30 years previously. Look at verse 6. Therefore, be courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book3:23 of the law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left. And, again, we looked at this at the very beginning of the book. Courage was needed to3:35 obey God. When they crossed over into the promised land, courage was needed. If they were to live in the land of promise, they needed courage to obey God then.3:47 Alright? They needed that courage because it's counterculture. It's counter to the nature of mankind. And you know what? If they needed it, then we need the courage to obey God today.3:59 Now the time that, lapses between chapter 20 three's assembly of the leaders and chapter 24, which is an assembly of all the people. It's not certain, but the messages are very similar. Could beShechem Assembly: Recalling God's Faithfulness 4:11 that he met with the leadership, that he met with, shortly thereafter, met with all the people. Look at verse 1 chapter 24. Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of the land4:22 of Israel for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. Now Shechem, very significant place. We've talked about it before, but this is where Abraham built his first4:33 altar to the Lord, which we read about in Genesis chapter 12. Shechem is in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Mount Ebal is where Joshua built the altar to the Lord when4:45 they crossed over into the promised land. So he's taking them back to a very significant spot in the history of the nation. Now when we discussed this, actually, when we discussed the altar a few weeks ago, I talked4:57 about this location that is in the West Bank, okay, the so called West Bank. This is the land that international community and even some of US leaders want Israel to give to the Palestinians to5:09 create this elusive 2 state solution. But think about that for just a moment. Our leaders, the international community telling Israel to give up what god said he would give to them5:21 as an everlasting covenant. Now just think about this from a policy standpoint. Do we really want to be in contravention to what god stated was his plan? Even though it may not have fully been accomplished, it5:32 hasn't been fully accomplished yet, but it will be because this is the land covenant is a an everlasting covenant. It's gonna happen at some point. So our policy should not be in contravention to5:44 that. I mentioned this last time, by the way. If you missed our discussion of Joshua's altar, we have a, a video series on key biblical sites in Judea and Samaria that we5:56 filmed last year when when I was in Israel. And and only those who are on the stand on the word journey have had an opportunity to see 1 of the videos that we've released, and it's about Joshua's altar. It's6:08 we we have video right there on the site and the interviews. And if you didn't get to see that last time, text the word alter to 6 7 7 4 2. That's alter to6:20 6 7 7 4 2. That's a l t a r to 6 7 7 4 2. I'll send you a link, and you can actually watch. It's about 29 minutes long. And and by the way, I mentioned I've only told this, not released it to anyone else.6:32 We are doing a, lord willing, we're gonna be doing a stand on the word journey to Israel in March of next year. So, again, if you like more, text alter to 6 76:44 7 4 2. There's also a link there to find out more about that trip. Alright. Joshua then moves with the people into a brief history lesson, which includes what god had done for them, including giving them the6:56 promised land. You know, it's something we need to be repeating with our kids. And in this 200 and fiftieth anniversary of ours, great time to be telling the stories of what god has done for7:08 our nation. Now a couple of observations of this, historical overview. Verse 9, then Balak, the son of Zipporah, the king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel and sent and7:20 called Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam, therefore, he continued to bless you, so I delivered you out of his hand. You know, this reminds me of Isaiah. No weapon formed against you7:30 shall prosper. Verse 13, I have given you a land for which you did not labor, cities which you did not build, and you dwell on them. You eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. You know, to enjoy7:42 and to dwell in the promised land, obedience to God is required. Fear God and serve him. Verse 14. Now therefore, fear the Lord. Serve him in sincerity and in truth,7:54 and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the lord. I mean, his message has not changed. Verse 15, here it is. And if it8:06 seems evil to you to serve the lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Nobody's forcing you to serve God. You choose. You gotta you're gonna have to serve somebody. Whether the gods with your father8:17 served that were on the other side of 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. You see, we have a choice. We can serve the8:29 lord or we can serve other gods, which are not gods, but are demonic forces. There there's no way between. There's no spiritual neutral ground.8:41 You're going to serve somebody. Here's what, here's what I said about finishing strong. He's about to go, as he says, he describes it, the way of all the earth. And he said in chapter as he said in chapter 23,8:52 he said that in chapter 23. Joshua's about to die. He's at the age of 110, and he's still leading by example. You can choose who you will serve, but as for me and my house,9:05 we will serve the lord. 110 years old. And part of that, I think, is a is a prophetic statement over his lineage. The the the the people coming behind him, his posterity, that they would be serving the lord. Verse9:16 16. So the people answered and said, far be it from us that we should forsake the lord to serve other gods. For the lord our god is he who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage,9:28 who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. Now look down to verse 23. Now therefore, he9:40 said, put away the foreign gods which are among you and incline your heart to the lord god of Israel. This suggests that some of the people had already had already drifted into idolatry. You know what? It doesn't take9:51 long. It really doesn't take long. And we're beginning, we're beginning we're gonna we're we're gonna we're seeing this cycle now, but we're gonna see it very prominently in the book of Judges, which is ourChoose This Day Whom You Will Serve 10:03 next book. You know, peace and prosperity lead to spiritual complacency, which then leads to moral corruption, which leads to disorder and chaos10:15 and bondage. Verse 24. And the people said to Joshua, the lord, our god, we will serve in his voice, we will obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and an ordinance in10:27 Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law, and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. Now in this passage, the word sanctuary does not mean the10:38 tabernacle because that was in that was in Shiloh. This is in Shechem. But it rather, it means a place of divine encounter, which is all about the history of Shechem. And Joshua said to all10:50 the people, behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the lord which he spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your god. I think that's11:02 very fascinating that this stone heard the words of the lord. You know, words that are spoken, they're there. They they have lasting, powerful11:14 impact. Right? Notice how the monuments or the stones were used as reminders of past events. This is why, frankly, the destruction or removal of monuments in our country that we've11:26 seen in recent years is is a warning sign of a society forgetting its past so that it'll be free to to do whatever it pleases. Now I I like to when I'm in DC on the weekends, I like11:38 to ride my bike. Doesn't happen often. Couple times a year. Few times a year. And, off the bike path that I often ride up to Mount Vernon, there's, the southern cornerstone of the District of Columbia.11:50 It's actually it's, right in Virginia now. But the, it was set in 17 91 when surveyors began to lay out the 10 mile square that would12:02 become the District of Columbia. The the first marker was this southern cornerstone, and these are the words written on the stone now. They're pretty worn now. It's hard to read them, but they have a plaque there12:14 that that, makes clear what it said. This is what it says. May this stone long commemorate the goodness of God in those uncommon events which have given America a name among12:26 nations. Under this stone, may jealousy and selfishness be forever buried. April fifteenth 17 91. You see, these monuments matter12:37 because it is a declaration of of of a reminder, a monument, a reminder of who we were and what brought us to that point. God's hand has been upon this nation. These are the things we need to12:49 rediscover in this 200 and fiftieth anniversary. Verse 29. Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died being 110 years old. Look at verse 31. Israel served theCovenant Stone Witness and Generational Legacy 13:01 Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which he had done in Israel. Now this last verse sounds encouraging, but it's very telling.13:13 To walk faithfully with God, each generation must experience God's power. The faith of our fathers gives context, but it is our faith, the personal faith that we have in13:25 the lord Jesus Christ, seeing his power in us and through us that gives us the ability to serve the lord and to have a vision for the future. That's why Moses and13:37 Joshua sounded like broken records by repeatedly challenging parents to teach and lead their children. Because what God has done, God will do again. But we13:49 have to know what he's done, who he is, and what he expects of us. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this book of Joshua. What an amazing book. I thank you for14:01 Joshua, Lord, and the legacy that he leaves of leadership. And may we learn from this. May the Holy Spirit continually point us to your word, showing us how to apply these principles to our lives14:12 and this world in which we live. We thank you, father, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And next time, we turn to the book of Judges. Until then, keep standing14:24 on the word.14:28 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:40 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Finishing Strong: Joshua's Leadership Legacy4:02 Shechem Assembly: Recalling God's Faithfulness10:00 Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve13:00 Covenant Stone Witness and Generational Legacy
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