Transcript for Day 88: Joshua's Last Words to Israel (2023)

Hey everyone, before we get started today, I want to say a quick thank you for all your prayers and support for this podcast. It's been such a gift. This whole essential team has been so humbled to hear about the impact of this show in your lives. We have heard unbelievable stories of renewed faith, of conversion, of grace, and we're praying for each other. So please keep those prayers coming. And if you're able, please consider giving a small financial gift to support the production of this show. This show is free to everyone to anyone, but it's not free to make. And so if you want to find out how to make a gift, Visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schwitz and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast, but we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by ascension. Using the great adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 88. It is the last day. We are reading from the book of Joshua. We're reading Joshua, chapter 22, 23, and 24. We're also praying Psalm 132 as always. I am reading from the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. And I'm using the great adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, follow along with us. Prepare your day to know what you're going to be reading or hearing from. You can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. If you did that, you would know that tomorrow, we're starting the book of judges. and the book of Ruth. So we're kind of taking a turn in the sense of turning back to what we haven't done for maybe the last eight days or so, which is having multiple books proclaimed to us. Multiple books read to us in the next four days, starting tomorrow. We're reading through Ruth chapter one through chapter four, one chapter a day, following her story as well as judges, as I said, today is the last day of Joshua. And we're finding what happens at the very end of his time serving the people of Israel and serving the Lord and helping the people become as prepared as they possibly can be to dwell in the Promised Land. If you want to subscribe to your podcast, you can do that, and that would be helpful for all of us involved in this whole thing. Without anything further, once again, it is day 88. We are reading Joshua, chapter 22, 23, 24, and Psalm 132. The book of Joshua, chapter 22. The Eastern tribes return. Then Joshua summoned the Rubinites, and the Gaddites, and the Half Tribe of Manassa, and said to them, you have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. You have not forsaken your brethren these many days down to this day. But I've been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. And now, the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your home in the land where your possession lies, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of the Jordan. Take good care to observe the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you. to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments and to cling to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and set them away, and they went to their homes. Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasa, Moses had given a possession in Bashan. But to the other half, Joshua had given a possession beside their brethren in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, he said to them, go back to your homes with much wealth, and with very many cattle, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. So the Rubinites and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manassa, returned home, parting from the sons of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses. in altar of witness by the Jordan. And when they came to the region about the Jordan, that lies in the land of Canaan, the Rubinites and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh built there and altered by the Jordan, in altar of great size. And the sons of Israel heard say, behold, the Rubinites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the sons of Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the sons of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them. Then the sons of Israel sent to the Rubenites and the Gatites, and the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, Finius, the son of Elias, are the priest. And with him, ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them, the head of a family among the clans of Israel. And they came to the Rubenites, the Gatites, and the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, and they set to them. Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, what is this treachery which you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves and alter this day in rebellion against the Lord? And we not had enough of this sin at payor, from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. But now, if your land is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land where the Lord's tavernacle stands and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. Did not achen the son of Zehrat, break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel, indeed he not perish alone for his iniquity. Then, the Rubinites, the Gadites, and the Half-Triba Menassa, said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, the Mighty One. God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord, He knows. And let Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith toward the Lord, spares not today. For building an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or serial offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance. No, but we did it from fear that in time to come, your children might say to our children, what of you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Rubenites and Gadites? You have no portion in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. Therefore, we said, let us now build an altar, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you. And between the generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings. Let your children say to our children in time to come, you have no portion in the Lord. And we thought, if this should be said to us, or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you. Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings in cereal offering or sacrifice other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before His tabernacle. When Phineas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the Rubenites, and the Gettites, and the Minassites spoke, it pleased them well. And Phineas, the son of LEA's are the priest, said to the Rubenites and the Gadites and the Minasites. Today, we know that the Lord is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have saved the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord. Then finnious. The son of Elias are the priest, and the chiefs returned from the Rubinites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them. And the report pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them, to destroy the land where the Rubinites and the Gadites were settled. The Rubinites and the Gaddites called the altar witness. For they said, it is a witness between us that the Lord is God. 23. Joshua exhorts the people. A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, and Joshua was old and will advanced in years. Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, and heads, their judges, and officers, and said to them, I am now old and will advanced in years. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake. For it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes, those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off from the Jordan to the great sea in the West. The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land as the Lord your God promised you. Therefore, be very steadfast to keep and do all that is written in the book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left. The Jew may not be mixed 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 yourselves to them. But cling to the Lord your God as you have done to this day. For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to withstand you to this day. One man of you puts to flight a thousand since it is the Lord your God who fights for you as he promised you. Take good heed to yourselves therefore, to love the Lord your God. For if you turn back and join the remnant of these nations left here among you and make marriages with them so that you marry their women and their yours, know 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. Discourage on your sides and thorns in your eyes till you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. And now, I'm about to go the way of all the earth and you know in your hearts and souls all of you that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God promised concerning you all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed. But just as all the good things which the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you. So the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which you commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you. 24. The tribes renew the covenant. Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to check them, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. Your fathers lived of old beyond the refraities. Tara, the father of Abraham, and of Nehor, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the river and let him through all the land of Canaan, and I made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac, I gave Jacob and Isa. And I gave Esa the hill country of Sajir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it. And afterwards, I brought you out. Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them. And your eyes saw what I did to Egypt, and you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan, they fought with you. And I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. Then, Belok, the son of the poor, King of Moab arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and invited Baylam the son of Bayort to curse you. But I would not listen to Baylam, therefore he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, in the men of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Parasites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Gurgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I gave them into your hand. And I sent the Hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites. It was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored in cities which you had not built. I knew twelve therein. You eat the fruit of vineyards and all of yours which you did not plant. Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the river or the gods of the Amrites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Then the people answered, for be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went. And among all the peoples through whom we passed and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples The Emirates who lived in the land, therefore we also will serve the Lord. For He is our God. But Joshua said to the people, you cannot serve the Lord. For He is a holy God, He is a jealous God, He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after having done you good. And the people said to Joshua, No, but we will serve the Lord. Then Joshua said to the people, you are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses. He said, then put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord the God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, the Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at check-um. In Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God, and he took a great stone and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord. In Joshua said to all the people, behold, this stone shall be a witness against us. For it has heard all the words of the Lord which he spoke to us. Therefore, it shall be a witness against you, less due deal falsely with your God. So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. The death of Joshua and Elias are. After these things, Joshua, the son of nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old, and they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath Sarah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gash. and Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work which the Lord did for Israel. The bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt were buried at Shekham, in the portion of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shekham for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. And L.A. Zara, the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Ghibya, the town of Thinius, his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim. Psalm 132, the eternal dwelling of God in Zion, a song of a sense. Remember O Lord, in David's favor, His humility. How He swore to the Lord and vowed to the mighty one of Jacob, I will not enter my house or get into my bed. I will not give it sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob. Behold, we heard of it in Ephraha. We found it in the fields of jar. Let us go to his dwelling place, let us worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place, you and the Ark of your might. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy. For your servant David's sake, do not turn away the face of your anointed one. The Lord soared to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back. One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies which I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit upon your throne. For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provisions, I will satisfy her poor with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation and her saints will shout for joy. There I will make a horn to sprout for David. I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him, his crown will shed its luster. The Father in Heaven, give your praise and glory. Thank you so much for bringing us through the book of Joshua. Bring us through this story, this history of the way in which you have fought for your people and the way in which you are calling us to faithfulness, the way in which you are reminding us of the dignity of being your sons and daughters, the dignity of being chosen by you. but also the responsibility of having been chosen by you to be faithful to trust in you. Father, we ask you to please help us. Help us to trust in you. Help us to be faithful to you because you are faithful. Your love is unstoppable. And we ask you to please help us to live and walk in that love every day, especially this day. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. in the name of the Father, in of the Son, in of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I noted, this is the last day. I mean, noted a couple times. This is the last day of the Book of Joshua. And this last chapter is maybe one of my favorites of the entire book that we've just just journeyed through. Where, here is the renewal of the covenant. And just like Moses before him, Josh was last words, or words of challenge. There were words of saying, listen, I know you. I know that you are fickle. I know that you will fall away. I know that you probably will fail to follow the Lord. You will fail to be long to him. But I know this too. I know that God will not fail. I know that God will not falter in His love and His choice of you. And I love this. It's just so powerful. And we'll close with this because we took in the story. We heard all the lessons and we know what happened. But this piece where Josh was speaking these words and he's inviting the people, maybe even challenging them. And he says, now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness and put away the gods which your father's serve beyond the rivers and in Egypt and serve the Lord. And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve. That's so key. It's so key for us. Because sometimes we just put off. We put off deciding. We put off deciding that no, I belong to Jesus Christ. I belong to the Lord God. So we have these other false gods. We have these other idols in our lives. And we just put off again if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose this day whom you will serve. Choose whatever your God is going to be. Is it going to be money? Is it going to be fame? Is it going to be comfort? Is it going to whatever? Just choose today so that you can stop pretending, right? And then he says, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, which is not just a nice set of words to stitch on a pillow or to put over your entryway to your home, but our word is to live by. Yeah, I think it's great to put them on a pillow. I think it's wonderful to put them on piece of wood over the doorway to your home or over the window in your home. They are great words to live with in your sight, but they are even more powerful words to live by. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. What a gift. Oh my gosh, Lord, I thank you for this. And I thank you all for listening to this and for the journeying with us, journeying with me through the Bible together. It has been a gift so far. It is day 88. And now tomorrow, day 89, which means 10 days away from our first crack at the gospel of John, which is just talk about gifts, man on man. I am praying for you, and please keep praying for me, pray for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.