Joshua 24:5-13 - Blessed and Grateful

The book of Joshua teaches us that we can experience victory in our lives every day by faith in the LORD! “And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith…” (1 John 5:4-5). In this last chapter Joshua reminds the people and admonishes them never to forget the LORD’s blessings they have experienced in the past. A blessed people should be a grateful and thankful people.  Paul warns us in Romans 1:21-22, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”.   In verses 1-4, Joshua recalls how the LORD chose Israel to be His special people and how they were set apart to serve Him and be a blessing to the world. In verses 5-7, he recounts the history of their deliverance out of Egypt. God sent Joseph ahead to Egypt to preserve the nation during the famine, and then He sent Moses and Aaron to deliver the nation from bondage. All of this was a fulfillment of what God had promised to Abraham centuries before (Gen. 15:1-17).   God judged the gods and rulers of Egypt by sending ten plagues to the land, climaxing with the death of the firstborn (Exodus 7-12). God not only brought His people out, but He also led them through the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian army in its waters (Exodus 14-15). God instructed His people to observe the Passover as an annual reminder of their redemption from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 12-13). In his farewell speech in Deuteronomy, Moses frequently reminded the Jews that they had once been slaves in Egypt, but the Lord had set them free (Deut. 5:15; 6:12; 8:14; 13:5,10; 15:15; 16:3, 6; 20:1; 24:22). It does a believer good to remember what it was like to be in bondage to sin and then to rejoice in the redemption that was purchased so dearly for us on the cross. It's a dangerous thing to take the gift of salvation for granted.   In Joshua 24:8-10, Joshua recalls how the LORD guided Israel. God brought Israel out that He might bring them in (Deut. 6:23). His goal for them was the Promised Land, but their sin at Kadesh Barnea caused them to wander in the wilderness until the old unbelieving generation had died off. When Balaam tried to curse Israel, God turned the curse into a blessing (Num. 22-24; Deut. 23:5; Neh. 13:2). Whether Satan came against Israel as the lion (the army of the Amorites) or as the serpent (the curses of Balaam), the Lord defeated him.   Then in verses 11-13, Joshua reminds them that it was the LORD that gave them their land. The same God who took Israel through the Red Sea also took them across the Jordan River and into their inheritance. Except for a temporary defeat at Ai (Josh. 7), and a humiliating compromise with Gibeon (chap. 9), Joshua and his army defeated every enemy in the land because the Lord was with them. In Joshua 24:13, God's words remind us of what Moses said to Israel in Deuteronomy 6:10. Once again, the emphasis is on the goodness of God and all that He did for Israel because He loved them.   Sadly, later when the Jews started taking their blessings for granted, they began drifting away from sincere worship of the Lord. And the same thing can happen to us if we are not careful! We should never forget the LORD’s blessings, because a grateful heart is a strong defense against the devil's temptations.   God bless!