Now that brings us to Roman numeral two, which is Joshua exhorting Israel to be faithful So chapter 23 and 24 really do form one unit of exhortation is kind of divided so you're gonna find the commentaries They're just basically like two parts of one general exhortation here, but it's really powerful stuff This is Joshua's final words and by the way, I say Joshua. There's too many J's There's Jacob I'm gonna talk about Joshua and Joseph and there's you know Judah and then they were talking about judges There's too many J's going on here. So I hope I don't mix them all up. I always do this in my classes But anyway, so Joshua is exhorting the people now these two chapters have so many connections with the book of Deuteronomy Joshua is a new Moses and his farewell speech parallels Moses farewell speech and as we go through this I want to draw a lot of these connections together for you make these points It's really exciting stuff to see the the parallels between the two men at this point in their lives as we conclude the Exodus epic Right, so this quote that I have for you from your Catholic in addition to the Old Testament I think it's really nice It says the first the first excuse me the final two chapters of Joshua breathe at the spirit of Deuteronomy Joshua delivers two very deuteronomic sermons to the people of Israel as symbol that Shechem located between Mount's Evol and Gerizim the two mountains used for the solmization of the Deuteronomy Covenant and close to Shiloh Where the tabernacle resided during the period of Joshua and judges, okay That's a really nice quote simple quote to T.
S off here that we're going back to Shechem I'm gonna review a lot of this episode go through because there's further connections here with these two chapters about Shechem and the geography and why that's Important and the theological themes that are brought out by this city here in this territory But you'll remember Mount's Evol and Gerizim that'll happen back in chapter 8 where they ratify the Deuteronomy Covenant Well, they're gonna be coming back here in these last two chapters here Especially 24 to renew those vows, okay? So as we read this Joshua chapter 23 verse 1 and following he's old He's well advanced in years. We know that he dies at 110 years old at the end of the book So he's an old man like he's been working hard his whole life. He's been at Moses his right hand ever since they left Egypt He's been the leader of Israel.
It's just been an incredible life He really truly has an incredible life and so at the end of this life He is gonna spend all the rest of his energy Exorting and warning and encouraging and threatening Israel with all of his might to fidelity. All right, this is his farewell speech There's are parting words using new Moses and so we're gonna see the connections as I said with Moses's last final words But I also want you to remember or be aware of the fact that this pattern of exhorting others to fidelity to God at your deathbed happens with other people in the Bible as well such as Samuel and David you could even say Ezra or rather that's in the middle of his life at Ezra and Mattathiah said his deathbed and over and over again They got this consistent advice and is from Israel's leaders on their deathbed to say to their people or their families be faithful to God And that's what I would imagine all of us do right if we are blessed to see death coming if death doesn't take us by surprise We pray to St. Joseph for a good to holy death, but if we have a opportunity to call our loved ones close to us We're probably gonna say the same kind of stuff right hopefully we would I would imagine you know I love you and you know forgive me and those types of things You know being a good ending well with others But to tell people to encourage and be faithful to God because at the end of one's life we're probably not gonna wish that we had more money We're probably not gonna wish we got that car instead of this car or whatever It's all about relationships right and people who are close to death have told us this so in any case That's what Joshua's doing okay So he's ignoring and warning encouraging the people that last moments of his life and he'll begin doing this by talking about God's fidelity That's a big theme in this these last two chapters God's fidelity for example chapter 23 The verse 2 he says I'm old and will advance in years and you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these nations to all these nations For your sake for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you as beautiful I love that line I love emphasizing multiple times going back to Exodus through the Pentateuch through the book of Joshua There's this theme that God fights for Israel. He has promised to fight for them He has demonstrated over and over and over again, and this is what Joshua's reminded of people So again the spiritual application is important for us as well God fights for us.
We're not doing this alone We're not fighting our spiritual battles. We're not trying to fight vice or fight sin by ourselves God gives us the grace to do it and he promises us to give us grace And that's what the the life of Christ is all about the promise of redemption and that if we stay close to Christ We can conquer all things we can overcome all things. It's really beautiful. So the Lord fights for you Remember that I love that so much the Lord fights for us as he promised and has he is demonstrated All right, and that actually brings to this little small quote I have for you that touches upon the overarching theme of what I've entitled This whole Bible study which is God's promise fulfilled This is what your quote says the book of Joshua is not so much a report about a military campaign as a vivid lesson in theology about how faithfully God keeps his promises And they call to respond to that faithfulness.
All right, it's beautiful But we're gonna see that in verse 10 as a matter of fact He says the same thing it is the Lord your God who fights for you as he promised you, okay? All right, so in response to God keeps his promises God is faithful to us He delivers us from all kinds of calamities he fights for us What must Israel do in respond and of course we must do in respond This is what Joshua will say in verse six and following therefore and by the way every time you see the word therefore This is a common joke amongst a lot of authors and speakers and teachers But it's very important every time you see the word therefore you should look at the context and the verses that preceded it to see what it's Therefore, right? So it's kind of silly, but it's so important to understand the context We never take a verse out of context. So in light of God's fidelity in his in his Loyalty to his covenant in delivering Israel therefore what they must do verse six be steadfast To keep into do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses Turning aside from it Neither to the right hand or to the left hand that you may not be mixed up with these nations left here among you or make Mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down yourself to them But clean to the Lord your God as you've done to this day I love that image on the pause for a second You're gonna read more just a second.
I love the image of clean to the Lord the image I have is that of a someone who shipwrecked all right? They're out in the middle of the ocean all right the boats long gone right it is sunk below You know the ocean waves and there's nowhere to be found and and there's just a single log or the single wood plank And you're gonna cling to that wood plank that log as hard as you can because you don't want to drown That's the image that I have with it when whenever Moses or Joshua others says they say clean to the Lord I think of like clinging to a log when your shipwrecked and you need to hold on for dear life I that's that's the image that I have so he says clean to the Lord as you've done to this day And it goes on in verse 9 for the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations and as for you No man has been able to withstand it was standing to this day one man of you puts the flight a thousand since it is the Lord Your God who fights for you as he promised you there it is again Take good heat to yourselves therefore to love the Lord your God for if you turn back and join the remnant of these nations left You're among you and make marriages with them so that you marry their women and they yours No assuredly that the Lord your God will not continue to drive out these nations before you but they shall be a snare and A trap for you a scourge on your sides and thorns in your eyes till you perish off from this good land What's the Lord your God has given you okay? Wow powerful stuff very powerful and also very familiar Okay, so be faithful to the law. That's the first step God is faithful to you as you promised you he fights for you So be faithful to God in its entirety as with the expression Don't turn from from the right hand to the left hand It's like you have to accept everything in other words Don't be what's commonly used a cafeteria Christian or cafeteria Catholic or you accept the things that you know Don't bother you so much but the typical challenging moral teachings of scripture and of the church You're like yeah No, well the church needs to get with the times you can't do that like that's you need to be faithful to the entirety of the law By the way, that's exactly what God says to this whole thing is what God says to Joshua back in chapter one If you remember that I said the same thing be faithful to the law meditate on the law So Josh was saying the same thing to the people that's the first thing the second thing is don't mix in with the can and ice that remain So just as we saw throughout the various chapters from chapter 12 all the way to chapter 21 There are various Piggens that are remaining in the land and they need to finish the job right they must continue to drive out the inhabitants and remove all the Eustrostrines and altars you cannot mix with the canines you can't stop the task You can't stop your work because if you mix in with the canines and intermarry with them It's going to be a huge problem.
You're gonna fall into sin You're gonna worship their gods and you're gonna break the covenant that you have with God right and that's a big big problem God requires in fact, you know, let me just read this quote here for you It's beautiful. This is a quote here from the English Catholic study Bible the covenant between Yal and Israel is sacred and exclusive I like that it's sacred and it's exclusive God is not going to share us with anything else and God has every right to demand 100% of our hearts Because he's got he's given us life. He's given us natural life. He gives us everlasting life So he's perfectly within his rights as God and the creator of the universe to want us entirely for himself So it's exclusive and he's not gonna share us with Satan He's not gonna share us with created goods of any kind Anyways, it goes on this means that Israel is forbidden to make alliances with foreign peoples in their midst or to intermarry with the surviving canines Rather it must eliminate them from the land and destroy every last trace of their idolatrous cults Assimilating pagan ways will bring will bring painful consequences and leave eventually to exile from the land in quotes These are important themes here.
Okay, exile from the land if you do not remove sin from your midst We'll talk about that a little bit more. All right, but this is so true This is what's happening in western culture today where good Christians are little by little Assimilating into the culture around them, you know, you go and you read like the Catholic epistles For example, especially John Peter all of the really the Bible right the Bible says do not love the world of the things in the world That's from first John, you know, the world is an entity with God We have three enemies we have the world the flesh and the devil So if we start giving into the world and we start quote unquote intermarrying with people who are godless who do not fear God do not love God I tell you what it's going to be very easy to fall into the sins of the world as well. It's true for Israel then It's true for us Catholics today. So the lessons are always very very relevant and very very applicable Okay, so if you sin you will be exiled so do not mix in with the Canaanites because if you do those remaining Canaanites in the land Guess what they're gonna be thorns for you He says are there gonna be a snare and a trap for you a scourge in your sights and thorns in your eyes and tell you paris From the good land that word form is a very important word now Moses himself use the exact same language So as I promised you I'm giving you connections and parallels between Joshua and Moses So Joshua says all of this language here.
Moses said the same thing multiple times I have for you in your notes numbers 33 55 He says if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you then those of them whom you let remain Shelby is pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell No one likes thorns, right? You know even roses beautiful rosey do yard work and you're trying to prune the roses and you get pricked by a thorn It hurts imagine getting pricked in the eyeball or in the side right where your flesh is very very tender alright It's gonna hurt you so the king this is image of the Canaanites are going to be thorns for you Alright, they're gonna make you uncomfortable. They're gonna bring you pain and their sin especially are going to cause you disasters So this isn't continuity with Moses and what Moses has been recommending and exhorting them for all this time But I want to draw another connection for you and that is with the story of Adam and him being cursed for his sin You might remember back in chapter 3 of Genesis verses 17 and 18 Adam is cursed at one point God says cursed is the ground because of you in total you should eat it all the days of your life thorns and thistles it Shall bring forth to you and you should eat the plants of the field So because of Adam sin the ground the earth the land is cursed bringing forth thorns and thistles So what's the connection here? Well, we've talked a lot about in these past lessons How Israel is now a new creation Israel is really kind of like a new Adam because Israel is the son of God the firstborn son of God according to Exodus 422 in a certain sense Israel is a new Adam and a new creation remember all of the conversation that we had about crossing the Jordan River through water on dry ground to come to the other side has written their renewed People it's a new creation story that's going on there So Israel is a new creation that dwells with God in the new Eden of the promised land That's what the promised land is it's a land that's fertile and lush it flows with milk and honey All garden imagery and garden language, right?
So Israel is a new Adam a new creation that dwells with God once again in the promised land Which is kind of a new Eden so all of these little images come together here But just like Adam sinned and he suffers the curse of thorns that come from the land that come from the earth and then he's ultimately exiled from Eden You're gonna see the same parallels Israel is gonna sin against God because of what the Canaanite thorns the thorns that dwell in the land And they're gonna be exiled just like Adam was exiled So that's what we're gonna see Adam was created and then sinned and was exiled Israel is a new creation It then sins it is also exiled from the land and you got the images of thorns, right? Which is an image of the sin and that's actually a connection with Christ I can't get into all this right now But Jesus in his passion really sums up recapitulates is the word recapitulates and sums up all of this as a new Adam Right as Adam suffered in a garden Jesus suffers in a garden Adam's curse with thorns Jesus takes upon you know The full brunt of that curse by being crowned with thorns You know he brings all sin upon himself so to speak and so on and so forth So he's a Jesus and Adam Jesus is in Israel But the thorns is a very powerful connection here of course with Christ in his crowning and the humility of he's a suffering king There's a lot to say but I have to discipline myself and come back here to Joshua The connection with Joshua is that Israel is gonna suffer from these thorns as well and ultimately again spoiler alert ultimately They're going to be exiled from the land to okay