Joshua 21 – Judges 1

Joshua challenged the people to faithfulness before sending them home and retiring to die in peace. Wall plaques and door hangings are adorned with his timeless words, “Choose this day whom you shall serve … as for me and my house we will serve the LORD”. Now that they lived in the land of promise, the hard work could begin. No, not tending vines, raising crops and shepherding, rather the work of keeping the Law. We cannot make choices for yesterday, nor can we make choices for tomorrow, for today is the only day we can choose. The children of Israel needed to choose “this day” … every day. So do we.

When Yahweh commanded the Israelites to talk of spiritual things with their children daily, He meant for them to choose HIM each and every day and instill faithfulness in each generation to come.

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 6:1-15

What we will see throughout the remainder of the Old Testament is the various personal struggles and national struggles to accomplish this in daily life. In Joshua 24:31 we learn that there was initial success, but the book of Judges reveals subsequent failure. Why is this so hard?

In Joshua 22 we see the “altar of witness” erected by the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh living on the east side of the Jordan. There are two perspectives here that may help us understand the difficulties people face in choosing the LORD today.

First, notice how quickly the other folks were willing to jump to conclusions and rush to battle. This turned out to not be apostasy, but a memorial for themselves to remember. Communication is such a wonderful thing when tried and used often. Whether we are the discouraged or the discourager, if we had the patience and respect for our brothers and sisters and actually talked through misunderstandings, there would be fewer religious battles.

Second, the altar is meaningless. Sure enough, Yahweh had not forbidden such a pile of rocks, but God had already given them the means of accomplishing this back in Deuteronomy 6:1-15 (above). Choosing the LORD each day and passing this on to the kids – on BOTH sides of the Jordan River – would have instilled this fundamental understanding in all Israel forever. If they could allow the powerful working of God to drift from their memories, then how could a pile of rocks do anything? Instead of embracing the next religious fad, perhaps we ought to give God the benefit of the doubt and simply try to do as He has already set forth in the things He DID command. Maybe, just maybe, God has anticipated the issue of the day and has proscribe the means of dealing with it.

Now Moses was gone and so was Joshua. Both leaders had pointed the people to the LORD by following Him themselves. People have a tendency to follow mere men rather than following men who are following God. Twice in Judges we will read the haunting condemnation, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes”. God was their king, not Joshua. There should have been any number of faithful people to rise up and finish the conquest, since it was Yahweh fighting the battles and giving the victories. Instead, the people ceased showing up for the fight. They chose apathy and indifference. They chose to rule themselves. And the Creator of mankind, El Shaddai – the Almighty God – displayed some of His most amazing power. He allowed people to choose.

Consider His nature. Consider His ways. Strive to love Him more!