Joshua 23 – Joshua’s Charge to the Leaders of Israel
A. The first exhortation: total obedience to the word of God.
1. (1-3) Joshua declares what the LORD has done.
Now it came to pass, a long time after the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them:
“I am old, advanced in age. You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you.
a. A long time after the LORD had given rest to Israel: Joshua did not die or step away from leadership as soon as Israel had general rest in the wars of judgment and occupation in Canaan. God had a purpose for Joshua beyond his essential role as a military leader for Israel.
i. “‘Rest’ is a common theme in Joshua; it was the goal of the Conquest. This rest was realized when the major battles were ended and Israel was settled in the land (Joshua 11:23). They were at peace with ‘all their enemies’ even though all those enemies had not yet been driven out.” (Madvig)
b. Joshua called for all Israel: Joshua, in his old age, gathered the leadership of Israel together to give them a farewell address, to communicate to them the things that were, to his heart, the most important for them to hear.
i. Joshua could not, as a practical matter, speak to all Israel, so he spoke to the leaders: elders, heads, judges, and officers. Joshua could reach all Israel by communicating well to the leaders.
ii. This speech to the leaders of Israel, “In its purpose, it resembles the deathbed testaments of other leaders of Israel: Jacob (Genesis 48–49), Joseph (Genesis 50:22–26), Moses and David (1 Kings 2:1–9).” (Hess)
iii. “You can picture the scene as the great old warrior addressed his people. Caleb would be among them. Phinehas the high priest would be there. Many who had shared every battle since the day they crossed the Jordan, and had stood with their leader through thick and thin, would be present. Others would be there also: the younger generation aspiring to leadership, eager to press on in life and conquest.” (Redpath)
c. You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you: Joshua began his address by giving glory to God. It would have been easy for Joshua to focus on what he had done as a military leader, especially because it was impressive. But he was more interested in glorifying God than talking about himself.
i. Joshua told the leaders of Israel to root their faith and obedience in what God has done. His great works for His people proved He was worthy of their trust and loyalty. It wasn’t based on philosophies, spiritual experiences, emotions, or feelings. It was based on what God actually had done at a definite time and a definite place.
2. (4-5) Joshua describes the challenges that remain.
See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. And the LORD your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
a. I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain: Under Joshua’s leadership, the army of Israel broke the back of the Canaanite military occupation. It remained for each individual tribe to fully possess what God gave to them.
b. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you: God promised to expel these enemies, to drive them out. But God would do this in and through the effort, faith, and courage of Israel.
i. After a similar pattern, God gives every believer an inheritance. In Jesus Christ, His people have been blessed…with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). God has a definite part for His people to play in coming to possess this inheritance.
3. (6) How Israel will succeed: by total obedience to the word of God.
Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
a. Therefore be very courageous: Israel needed to be courageous, so they could be obedient. Obedience to God requires courage and sacrifice.
b. To keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: Israel must do all that is written in the Book. They could not selectively obey. It was important for them to keep and do all of God’s law. The emphasis on the authority of God’s written revelation is clear.
c. Lest you turn aside from it: They must not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, because there were dangerous extremes on either side. Either legalism or licentiousness among God’s people pleases Satan.
B. The second exhortation: don’t make peace with the enemy.
1. (7-8) Hold fast to the LORD.
And lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.
a. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods: Joshua told Israel to not even make mention of the false gods of the Canaanites. Instead of learning about them or promoting them, they should hold fast to the LORD their God.
i. “God’s people must avoid association with the other nations so that they do not worship their gods. This fundamental command against idolatry (Exodus 20:3–6; Deuteronomy 5:7–10) becomes the chief test of obedience.” (Hess)
ii. These who remain among you: “Israel’s lethargy in driving out the last of their enemies is difficult to understand, but it contributed to the fulfillment of God’s promise to drive them out ‘little by little’ (Exodus 23:30).” (Madvig)
b. You shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day: Israel’s greatest defense against apostasy would come by holding fast to the LORD, more than by understanding and refuting pagan worship.
i. The normal Christian, by and large, is not called to become an expert in the cults or in heresy, but to become an expert in Jesus Christ – to hold fast to Him.
2. (9-13) Their abiding had been blessed, so if they fail to abide in the LORD, they will also depart from God’s blessing.
For the LORD has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you. Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God. Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
a. For the LORD has driven out from before you great and strong nations: As Israel was faithful and trusted in the LORD, they saw God do great things through them. As they continued to abide in Him, they would continue to see great things as God would fight on their behalf. God’s past faithfulness was a reason to trust His continued blessing for His people.
b. Love the LORD your God: Israel was called to do more than obey and honor God. They were also called to love Him. They must, as Jude would later explain, keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21).
i. Continually loving the LORD takes diligence. There are many things both within and outside of the believer that might draw them from that love.
ii. This call to love God was an appeal to the will. Believers must decide to love God, even if the feelings of love for Him don’t come immediately.
iii. “Everything else is assured if men love Jehovah. Failure to keep the law is always the outcome of failure in love to the Lawgiver. For such failure in love, men are responsible. In order that love may be maintained, they need to take heed to themselves.” (Morgan)
c. If indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations: Continuing in God’s love will mean that they keep themselves separate from the ungodly influences around them; they must keep themselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27).
i. “The Israelites would demonstrate their lack of faithfulness by intermarrying with the remaining inhabitants of the land. This would be a direct violation of Deuteronomy 7:3.” (Hess)
ii. “The problem of mixing with the peoples of the land and adopting their worship loyalties was the most severe problem throughout Israel’s history in the land, affecting it in almost every era.” (Howard)
d. They shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish: If Israel did not separate themselves from the ungodly influences around them, those influences would become instruments of torture, leading to their destruction.
i. “As the fowler catcheth birds, and the hunter wild beasts in their snares and traps; so shall these Canaanites catch you by their familiarity and commerce, and draw you to participate in their sins and plagues.” (Trapp)
ii. What today seems like an “innocent Canaanite” in the life of a believer may become a torture and a snare tomorrow. Such ungodly influences never advertise themselves as instruments of torture; they present themselves as wonderful additions. Such deceptions need to be discerned and rejected.
iii. “How often we see that the temptation we have pampered and encouraged and indulged in has become a scourge and a thorn in our side. The compromising Christian is not a happy man. Let the enemy remain in a Christian life, let him have one foothold, and he soon becomes a scourge.” (Redpath)
C. The warning: God’s faithfulness works both ways.
1. (14) Joshua asks each man to prove God’s faithfulness in his own heart.
“Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
a. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed: Joshua required that every man search his heart and see if there was ever a time when he could rightly accuse God of unfaithfulness.
i. “Joshua may die but God will not change…. Joshua repeats the fact that every word has come true. However, his purpose is not to praise God for his faithfulness but to warn Israel that God will apply this same faithfulness to his judgments upon the sinful nation: he will destroy it.” (Hess)
b. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed: Joshua could speak on behalf of all Israel and say that God had remained completely faithful to every promise to His people.
i. “God had so remarkably and literally fulfilled his promises, that not one of his enemies could state that even the smallest of them had not had its most literal accomplishment: this all Israel could testify.” (Clarke)
2. (15-16) As surely as God has been faithful to bless their obedience under Joshua, He will be faithful to curse their later disobedience.
Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”
a. As all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things: Joshua emphasized that God would be just as faithful to judge His disobedient people as He had been to bless His obedient people, according to the terms of Israel’s covenant with God.
i. “God’s faithfulness to his promises is proof positive that he will keep his threats as well. Israel should not suppose that being the recipients of God’s blessings made them immune to his judgment.” (Madvig)
ii. You shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you: “The loss of their land would mean that God took back what was his all along. Although the entire book of Joshua describes the occupation and allocation of the land, it will be lost if Israel does not remain faithful to God and worship him alone.” (Hess)
b. So the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things: Joshua repeated the principle of blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience that was a specific part of Israel’s covenant with God (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28).
i. “To the sweetness of the promises he fitly adjoineth the tartness of the menaces. Sour and sweet make the best sauce: promises and threatenings mingled serve to keep the heart in the best temper.” (Trapp)
ii. God’s people today relate to Him under a different covenant, a new and better covenant (Hebrews 8:6-7), by which Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:10-14).
iii. Therefore, in Jesus Christ, believers no longer experience God’s faithfulness to curse as Israel knew it. Yet they do experience God’s faithfulness to correct as a loving Father (Hebrews 12:7), and they will experience a lack of appropriated blessing if they do not abide in Jesus.
© 2024 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com