“Therefore be very firm about keeping and doing everything written in the book of the Torah of Moshe and not turning aside from it either to the right or to the left. Then you won’t become like those nations remaining among you. Don’t even mention the name of their gods, let alone have people swear by them, serve them or worship them; but cling to Adonai your God, as you have done to this day.”-Joshua 23:6-8
If you wanna know what the central message of Joshua Chapter 23 is, look no further than verses 6, 7 and 8.
These verses clearly lay it down.
Joshua tells the people that a glorious future awaits them because God will drive out the remaining Canaanites from the land BUT…
…and this is a huge whopping “but”…
…Israel must obey the Lord’s Torah.
I love the expression Joshua uses when he says they must neither “turn to the left or to the right”.
In fact, that IS the key to avoiding contamination from the gentile nations that surround them and falling into idolatry.
Israel’s special covenant with their God is what separates them from any other nation on earth.
While the gentile nations bow down and serve many gods, Israel serves only ONE.
Therefore, if that’s the case, avoiding idolatry means NOT mingling with the gentile nations who surround them.
God is so serious about this He commands His People to not even speak the names of other gods, let alone bow down to worship them.
See, here’s something that even Israel didn’t get at this stage in their history.
Their God fulfilled ALL the needs for which the other nations needed a multitude of gods.
Every other nation on the planet had gods that were connected to the forces of nature.
You had the…
…god of rain.
…god of fire.
…god of wind.
…god of thunder and lightning.
…god of fertility
(where easter comes from).
And things, don’t stop there.
There was also…
…the moon god.
…the sun god
(the day Sunday is named after this god).
…the god of the oceans.
…the god of the rivers.
And in this day and age, I’d say we have the…
…god of sexual pleasure.
…god of money.
…god of oneself
(atheism).
…god of science…
…and so on and on.
Here’s the thing.
The understanding of how the world operated at this time was that you had to call upon the god who had authority over a particular area of nature for your particular need.
If you were a farmer and you needed water for your crops, you prayed to the rain god.
If you were a wife having trouble getting pregnant, you prayed to the fertility god.
If you were a soldier about to go into battle, you prayed to your local god of war.
This was the common and universally accepted behavior in the ancient world at the time (including for Israel).
However, from this point onward, it was NOT to be so for Israel.
The Lord made it clear He would take care of ALL of Israel’s needs that the pagan nations called upon their different set of gods to fulfill.
And of course, that’s the big takeaway here.
We only need ONE God to fulfill ALL of our needs whatever they may be.
Having money problems?
Or addiction problems?
Or relationship problems?
Don’t look to man or fleshly wisdom.
And don’t worship the heathen gods of the gentiles.
Instead, lift up your head in prayer to the one and true God of Israel and watch your life be transformed faster and in a miraculous way than you could ever have imagined possible.
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