At this point in our study, I hope you’re realizing the dilemma of cosmic proportions that was placed before Israel.
The Lord demands His followers to serve Him with complete devotion and perfection.
But the problem is no man is capable of serving Him with complete devotion and perfection (something God is aware of).
Hence, Joshua’s statement that “You cannot serve God”.
What to do about this paradox the Lord has placed before us?
It seems like we can’t win.
God wants us to do what we can’t do.
And then He tells us we will suffer curses and destruction for failing to live up to what He wants us to do.
What are we to make of such contradictory demands?
I’m not surprised that Israel’s response was lacking depth and even childish in nature.
Because I’m sure they were unable to fathom just how complex and deep Joshua’s question was.
The degree of devotion and service the Lord demands must reflect His holy nature which is flawless.
Because God is perfect, He can accept no less from His followers lest He be defiled.
Obviously, I’m speaking theoretically here because the Lord can never allow His holiness to be defiled.
God will literally destroy the whole universe if He has to in order to protect His holiness.
And by the way, this is another reason why it was easier for Israel to serve false gods rather than the Lord.
Why?
Because false gods were just little wooden figurines that were easy to please.
They didn’t demand anything from you.
All you had to do was just bow or pray towards them.
Or maybe lay a couple of morsels of food before them and that was it.
Not a one of them would ever say “Hey man, you’re not worshipping me properly”.
However, this was NOT the case when dealing with the Almighty God, the Creator of all things.
His demands are total and nothing short of perfection.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Be perfect, therefore,
as your heavenly Father
is perfect.
-Matthew 5:48
Skip Moen says that a better translation from the Hebrew perspective of the verse in Matthew 5:48 is to:
“Be devoted therefore, as your heavenly Father is devoted to you.”
I like reading your column. Shalom.