As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the LORD
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May 17, 2015 |
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 "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth…as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:14-15).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
After conquering the Canaan with Joshua, each tribe of Israel received their inheritance respectively. Now it was time for them to completely drive out the Canaanites and take hold of their own inheritances.
They were to do so with their own faith. Let's delve into how each tribe took their inheritance.
1. Joshua and the Israelites vowed that they would serve only God
Each tribe that received an inheritance began to take their land according to their faith and strength.
A lot of time passed and Joshua knew that he was old and the remainder of his time was short. He now felt the need to remind the Israelites of the promise of God once again to reaffirm their faith.
The Israelites' faith was not strong at that time. When they were with Joshua, they could obey with faith. But when they were told to battle only with their own faith, they were afraid and made negative remarks. In Joshua chapter 24, Joshua made an earnest request just like Moses did.
Joshua called for all Israel to gather, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and he gave his final words of advice. He told them to keep God's commands, stay near Him, and love Him without change of mind.
Until that time God was with Joshua and gave Israel amazing victories. God promised that He would give the nation of Israel the whole land of Canaan if Israel loved God and kept His commandments. Joshua also told them that if they forsook God's promise, stayed near the Gentiles, and worshiped idols, God would forsake them. So, they should remember this and love and stay near only God.
Joshua gathered the people to have a time of solemn resolution. First, Joshua reminded them of the faithfulness of God who fulfilled His promise that He had given to Abraham, and the almightiness of God who had defeated the strength of Egypt and seven tribes of Canaan. He said in Joshua 24:15, "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua called for their determination to cast away all idols and faithfully keep God's commandments.
As they heard the Joshua's determined profession, the sons of Israel also vowed and professed their faith in God, "We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God" (Joshua 24:18). After Joshua confirmed the covenant, he once again taught them God's commands. After this, Joshua quietly ended his life of fervent passion and faith, at the age of 110.
2. The Israelites suffered due to their disobedience
After Joshua's final words and death, the Israelites continued to have battles to completely conquer the land of Canaan. But not long after Joshua's death, they started to show their lack of faith.
The tribe of Joseph couldn't drive out the inhabitants in Canaan. Judges 1:19 also said about the tribe of Judah, "Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots." Neither could the tribes of Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan.
Some of them couldn't win because the inhabitants in Canaan were so strong. Others did not even have fervor to win and just made excuses. They just let them live there without driving all of them out. But this was disobedience to God's will. The disobedience became pain for the Israelites later.
God did not want the Israelites to live with the Gentiles. When they lived with the Gentiles, they would be easily tempted by idolatry and distance themselves from God. After those who conquered Canaan with Joshua died, people did not remember the faithful God and they began to be friends with the Gentiles. They married their people and accepted and worshipped their idols.
Then God turned His back on the Israelites who committed sins. The history of Israel was now about unceasing trials and affliction. The most tragic happened to the tribe of Dan that disobeyed. They did not drive out the Amorites from their God-given inheritance, and in the end, they were driven out from the land (Judges 1:34-35).
The tribe of Dan failed to take the land God had given to them, and they found a land that looked easy to conquer and took it. As soon as they settled there, they carved idols and worshiped them. Hundreds of years later, King Jeroboam in the Northern Kingdom of Israel made golden calves and set them up in Dan's area, and the area became the hub of idolatry.
As a result, they were destroyed by the Gentiles, and the tribe of Dan was even removed from those who are sealed by God from the tribes of Israel (Revelation chapter 7). Their weak faith not only made them fail to take the land God had given but also led to idolatry and disqualification as God's elect.
3. God blesses children who obey with an unchanging heart
We looked into the process of the Israelites conquering the Canaan lands. God, who was with Moses and Joshua, faithfully kept His promise that He had given to Abraham; He gave the Israelites the land of Canaan. Afterwards, He unchangingly achieved what He promised as well.
When the King and the people loved and had reverent fear of God and kept His commands such as in the time of King David and King Jehoshaphat, He set them high above all nations of the world. However, when they forsook God, worshiped idols, and did evil, God turned His back on them and they had to suffer from great difficulties such as wars and famine.
The same still applies to all God's children world-wide. The second half of 1 Samuel 2:30 reads, "Far be it from Me for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed." As said, when people love God, they are loved by Him. When they forsake God, He cannot but let them be disregarded by Him.
God wants to gain children who love Him unchangingly and who can perfectly obey regardless of any kind of temptation. That is why He has been active in 'human cultivation'. He is looking for such children and wants to give them great blessings both on the earth and in Heaven.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, at first the sons of Israel relied on Joshua's faith but later they took their own lands by their own faith. I urge you to have such faith, pray, arm yourselves with the Word, and be faithful in all aspects. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will receive great blessings as though in the land flowing with milk and honey.
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