Good Land, Godly Living
Joshua 23 (ESV)
23 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,2Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years.3And 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.4Behold, 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.5The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. 6Therefore, be very strong to keep and to 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, 7that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,8but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day.9For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day.10One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.11Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. 12For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,13know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.
14“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things[a] that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you;
not one of them has failed.15But just as all the good things that 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 that the Lord your God has given you,16if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he 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 that he has given to you.”
Introduction: We live in a world obsessed with fresh starts and quick finishes. Joshua 23 begins with a quiet but powerful scene: Israel is finally at rest. The Lord has given them victory. The land is theirs. They are standing on good ground. But Joshua knows that good land does not automatically produce godly living. So, he gathers the leaders and delivers a final charge. Joshua is old, “advanced in years,” but he’s not irrelevant. He’s a man who has seen God split rivers, collapse walls, and rain hail from heaven. And now, he’s squeezing every last breath to pass on what matters most: faithfulness to the Lord who fights for His people.
As we open Joshua 23, we are not just listening to an old warrior reminisce. We are hearing a covenant leader call God’s people to remember and resolve. To remember the Lord’s faithfulness and to resolve to be faithful in return.
Because the land may be conquered, but the battle ain’t over. The culture still tempts. The heart still wanders. And the idols still whisper. Joshua knows this. And so he speaks not with sentimentality, but with spiritual urgency.
I. Remember the Lord’s Faithfulness
“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.” (Joshua 23:3) Joshua begins not with a command, but with a call to remember. The victories were not Israel’s, they were Yahweh’s. From the crossing of the Jordan to the fall of Jericho, from the hailstorm at Gibeon to the conquest of the land, the Lord fought for His people.
● The phrase “the Lord your God has fought for you” echoes:
(1) Exodus 14:14: “The Lord will fight for you.”
(2) Deuteronomy 1:30: “The Lord your God who goes
before you will himself fight for you.”
But Joshua doesn’t just say what God did, he says why: “for
your sake.” God fought for Israel because He had bound Himself to them in covenant love.
Illustration: Think of a veteran standing before a younger generation. And for us, the parallel is deeper. God has fought for us, not just with hailstones and parted rivers, but with a cross. Jesus Christ, our true Joshua, entered the battlefield of sin and death and emerged victorious. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
The God who fought for Israel has fought for us in Christ. And He has not lost.
A. God is for you even in trials.
B. Be amazed - Paul David Tripp warns: “Familiarity is not your friend. When awe fades, obedience weakens.”
II. Resolve to Be Faithful
(1) “Be very strong to keep and to do all that is written…” (Joshua 23:6) (2) “Cling to the Lord your God…” (Joshua 23:8)
(3) “Be very careful to love the Lord your God.” (Joshua 23:11) Joshua moves from remembrance to exhortation. The land is theirs, but the danger remains. The threat is spiritual. The temptation is to mix with the nations, to be complacent and to compromise.
● Why resolve is necessary? Rest can breed risk
(1) Complacency: The subtle drift
(2) Compromise: Trading conviction for convenience
(3) The danger of spiritual drift: a sobering warning (Joshua 23:15–16) “But just as all the good things that 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 that the Lord your God has given you, if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God… and serve
other gods… then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”
(4) Drift, then discipline: Spiritual drift rarely begins with
open defiance. It begins with forgetfulness, then
complacency, then compromise. And eventually, collapse. Joshua is warning them (and us) that God’s patience is not permission. His grace is not a license to coast. His promises are not a shield against unrepentant sin. The Puritan Thomas Watson once said, “God’s mercy is not to make sin safe.”
So how do we guard against drift? How do we remain faithful in the land of promise? Joshua gives us the answer:
A. Commit to keeping and doing the Word
● “Keep” means to guard, treasure, protect. “Do” means to obey, apply, live out. This echoes Joshua 1:7–8: “Do not turn from it… then you will have good success.”
B. Cling to the Lord
The Hebrew word for cling is used in Genesis 2:24 to describe marital union (deep, loyal, covenantal affection). It is one of Moses’ favorite words (Deut. 10:20; Josh. 22:5). To cling is to hold fast when everything else pulls you away. C. Be careful to love the Lord
Love is not automatic. It must be cultivated (echoes Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37–38).
● “We love because He first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19
Illustration: Joshua warns against mixing with the nations, not because of ethnicity, but theology.
● The history of Israel proves it: compromise leads to collapse.
Application:
A. Living faithfully in an evil age: Joshua’s charge ends with realism. The land may be theirs, but the battle is not over. And neither is ours. We live in “this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4), surrounded by:
1. Moral Relativism: “Truth is personal.” But God’s Word
is truth (Ps. 119:160).
2. Religious Pluralism: “All paths lead to God.” But Jesus
is the only way (John 14:6).
3. Hedonism: “Pleasure is supreme.” But joy is found in
obedience (Mark 8:34).
4. Materialism: “You are what you own.” But Christ is our treasure (Mark 8:36).
B. Generational Faithfulness
1. The unfaithfulness of the past generation does not determine how we live now.
2. The faithfulness of the present generation does not guarantee the next.
We must disciple, model, and pass on the Word.
C. Between redemption accomplished and redemption consummated God has given us rest from the penalty and power of sin. But our ultimate rest, the new heavens and new earth, is still ahead. We live in the “already, but not yet.” Between the cross and the crown, we are called to live faithfully. “Strive for holiness…without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14) This is sanctification. It is not legalism; it is covenant loyalty. It is not earning salvation; it is living out the salvation we have received.
Cling to Christ: He is our true and better Joshua.