Daniel 4 records the story of King Nebuchadnezzar's lesson in humility. Though he had been warned earlier about his pride, he didn't heed it. And so the Lord struck him for insanity for seven years, until he recognized that, quote, the most high is ruler over the realm of mankind, and he bestows it on whom he wishes. Now at the end of that seven years, his reason was returned to him, and he blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever saying this, quote, ìHis dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing. but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off his hand or say to him what have you done now the purpose of the current series and messages in the rise and fall of Israel is you help you to understand this very same truth without having to go insane for seven years Old Testament prophecies record that God used particular nations to punish wicked nations and then in turn he would punish them for their own wickedness. It was simply as his choice. He did so with Assyria. He did so with Babylon. But it's also following a general principle in Proverbs 1434 that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. Governments and nations that fulfill their God-given purpose in promoting what is good and bringing wrath upon what is evil will be blessed by him. Our own nation certainly has that history. Those that do not do that are even worse. Those that do the opposite can expect his wrath to come upon them. And while God's unilateral covenant with Abraham and his descendants to be his chosen people is unique, the nation still illustrates the general principle as well. When they obeyed God, they were blessed, just as God said they would be. When they disobeyed, they were cursed. Now we've already looked at Genesis and the first part of Exodus in that God chose a particular people for himself. And then we looked at God preparing those people to be a holy nation for himself at the end of Exodus in Leviticus numbers in Deuteronomy. God made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 12 in which he made promises concerning land, descendants, and blessings. And then God unilaterally ratified that covenant in Genesis 15 with very specific details about the land. and that the covenant would be passed down to a child of his own. It was at that point that Abraham's faith that he would have a child, a physical descendant of his own, that he believed God that was reckoned him as righteousness. In Genesis 17, it is clarified that this son of the promise would be a son he would have through Sarah and he was to name him Isaac. And so the blessing and the covenant goes through Isaac and not Ishmael. God reckoned Abraham's faith as righteousness. He believed God. Well, that's the same basis for our salvation, isn't it? He reckons our faith to be righteousness to us. He counts that as righteousness if we will believe him. God also gave this prophecy to Abraham in Genesis 15, quote, starting in verse 13, "...know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." And that prophecy came to pass. Abraham's descendants were enslaved in Egypt, and then God remembered his covenant with Abraham. And he sent Moses to free them from that slavery. And then God judged Egypt with a strong and mighty hand. The various plagues broke Egyptian economy and power. It humiliated their gods and goddesses. And it magnified the name of Yahweh to all the nations. He then prepared them. He brought them to Mount Sinai. They spent nine months there. The Mosaic Covenant was instituted. The laws were given. They were prepared to be his people. The ark was constructed. The tabernacle was constructed. And they were to go in and possess the land, but the people would not do it. They didn't believe God. And so God condemned them to wander in the wilderness 40 years until all those 20 years old and older died. And then the second generation would rise up. And toward the end of that 40 years, the second generation conquered the promised lands within the east side of the Jordan. And then Moses instructed them on their history, and on the law so that it might go well with them and they'd live long in the land with God's blessings instead of his curses. It was all part of preparing them to be a holy nation. So the first generation would not obey, they ended up under a curse. Today, the second generation is the one of obedience. They are the one that is blessed. We move forward to the book of Joshua as God demonstrates his faithfulness in fulfilling this covenant promise as they demonstrate a trust in Yahweh that their parents did not have. They are going to conquer the land and they will set up the theocratic kingdom. They would not have a king like the other nations. Instead, God was their king and every person was responsible to carry out God's laws. Now as the book of Joshua begins, they are camped on the east side of the Jordan, where Moses gave his final message before going up Mount Nebo to die. God had prepared them, they were now ready to begin the conquest of the remaining land. Now the book of Joshua is divided into two major sections. The first 12 chapters cover the conquest of the land, preparation for it and then the conquest. Chapters 13 through 21 cover the division of the land and then the last section is an appendix that includes Joshua's farewell address at Shechem to the leaders of Israel and then their commitment to the covenant as we read earlier in our scripture reading. Now the theme of Joshua is the fulfillment of Yahweh's promise to plant Israel in Canaan through their obedience. At the conclusion of giving them God's law, Moses made it very clear to them that Yahweh would bless them in the land if they obeyed and he would curse them if they did not. The book of Joshua demonstrates the blessings that come when people will walk with God in faith as well as problems that arise when not enough care is taken to do all that Yahweh commanded. Now, Joshua has been commissioned. He is now Moses' replacement. He is going to lead the people across the Jordan River to conquer the remaining land that were promised to him. God has also encouraged Joshua with his promise to be with him as he was with Moses, and that no man would be able to stand before him. The picture here is from the Jordan Valley. I don't have a pointer, but I'll come here and point it. So this is modern Jericho going across. This is the Jordan River. So they're over here. That's the plains of Moab. They're ready to cross. But before they do, God is going to encourage them. Joshua states, God says to Joshua that he was to be strong and courageous. For you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to you their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. Success is tied to obedience to God. Trust him, follow him. Then Yahweh also commanded Joshua in verse 8, This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. You have to know what God has said if you're going to follow it, right? That's still as important today as it ever was. If you don't know the scriptures, you can't follow it. You need to know it. You need to read it. You need to listen to it. need to learn it. That same principle is found in Psalm 1 in describing the blessed man. So it applies to anyone that will do it. Now Joshua then begins preparation of the people. By assembling the valiant men of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe Benassa, they're going to cross with the rest of the tribes, even though their lands are on the east side of the Jordan. They're going to go with them as men of war to help conquer the rest of the territory. And the people then commit themselves not only to following Joshua, but also the point is that we will not tolerate anyone who does not follow you. If they disobey you, We will kill them. They'll be executed. They were not going to repeat the problems that exist in their parents' generation. So disobedience to God was not going to be tolerated among them. They recognized what problems that had caused to their parents. Now, as with any good military operation, it's important to know the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy. So Joshua sends two spies into the land with special orders to view Jericho. And when they arrived, they lodged at the home of the harlot Rahab. In part, this is to, at least it's an attempt to avoid notice, but the king of Jericho was told about it anyway. So the king sends word to Rahab to bring them out. And she tells the king's men that, well, the men were here, but they left it dark, and I don't know where they went. Well, the truth was, is she'd hidden them up on the roof, and she'd cover them with flax, so they wouldn't be seen. After the king's men had gone, she let them down over the wall, because she lived on the wall. She let them down with a rope, told them to go up in the hills for at least three days and hide to avoid the king's men, which is what they did, and they eventually made it back to Joshua's camp across the river. Now, James 2.25 cites that Rahab's actions is a work of faith. Some people have argued, how can she have faith? She lied. Well, lying was not the faith. She actually is an incredible woman when you think about it. Her faith was in believing what she had heard about Yahweh. And she put herself in great peril to act upon what she had heard and believed. The text in Joshua 2 goes and she tells the men prior to hiding them, wanting to make a covenant with them, what was going on. She said this, I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. She then went on to explain how they had heard about how Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Red Sea, and how they had destroyed the two kings on the east side of the Jordan. She then continued, quote, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you. For Yahweh, your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now, therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's household and deliver our lives from death. She had had no evangelist go and tell her the good news. She only heard about what God had done. And that was enough for her to believe He was the true God. That's where her faith was. Well, the spies agreed to do as she had asked. They had her mark her house with a scarlet thread and promised that whoever was in that house when they conquered it would be spared. But if they went outside the house, their blood would be on their own hands. Now, when the spies returned to Joshua, they relayed all they had experienced and gave this report concluding saying this, Verse 24, Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hands, and all the inhabitants of the land, moreover, have melted away before us. Well, the words of Rahab had to have encouraged them about what God had already done among the inhabitants of the land and giving them such fear so they would have confidence of what God is now going to do in the future. In chapter 3, they move across the river in a miraculous way. Joshua rose early in the morning, they moved to the banks of the river, and they camped there for three days. The leaders went through the camp giving careful instructions about the way they would cross the river. Now, in a normal military situation, a river is a natural defense barrier. And that would have been a good place for the Canaanites to set up a contention of military and kept Israel from crossing the river, defeat them there. But they did not. Joshua would cross in such a way that would demonstrate their trust in God and be accomplished by a miracle that would build their confidence in Yahweh and strike terror, even more terror, into the Canaanites. Instead of a military making the river crossing first to prepare a way, we usually call that a beachhead, the Levites are going to carry the Ark of the Covenant of God into the middle of the Jordan River. In addition, everybody else is to take 2,000 cubits. That's about half a mile away from the Ark of the Covenant. So, it is completely vulnerable to attack. There is no preparation here at all of any weapons. Instead, they're going to consecrate themselves. For them, spiritual preparation, not military preparation, would take priority. Joshua told them that as soon as their feet of the priest carrying the ark touched the water, that even though the Jordan at that time was at flood stage, the water slowing down would rise up in one heap and the lower waters would be cut off so they would cross on dry land. And as soon as the priest entered the Jordan, it happened just as Joshua said, the waters were cut off at the city of Adam. And so, quote, the priest who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. I'm sure a lot of military commanders would love to see that happen when they had to cross rivers. But it only happened once. God intervened and Israel crossed, just as God had said they would. Now after they had crossed, this is Joshua 4, Yahweh spoke to Joshua and directed to have one man from each tribe go back into the riverbed and pick up one rock near where the priests were standing there with the ark. They were to shoulder it and bring it back to camp and stack them. He then explained the purpose, verses 21-24. When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What are these stones? Then you shall inform your children, saying, Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground. For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God had done to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed. That all the people of the earth may know that the hand of Yahweh is mighty, that you may fear Yahweh your God forever. It's helpful to set aside mementos of God working in your life, in your family's life. I think I mentioned this not too long ago in one of my other sermons. That's exactly what they did, something that would prod their children to ask questions so they can declare to them the works of God in their midsts. That gives opportunity to teach and to give praise to our God. And it's done in a way that builds up trust and confidence. Now after all the people had crossed, the memorial stones had been taken up, and the priest came up out of the Jordan River bed with the ark, as soon as their feet were on the banks, the river started flowing again. So it's only for that very specific point in time. It was five days shy of 41 years since they had left Egypt. Now at this point in time, the military situation actually is not favorable. You have an encampment, In front of you is a very strong enemy, and behind you is a river. That blocks your way of escape. You're actually very vulnerable. Because if you're attacked, you can't retreat. But this is a war that's going to be fought by obedience to Yahweh instead of superior military strength and strategy. When the kings of land heard about how Yahweh had dried up the waters of Jordan, their, quote, hearts melted and there was no spirit in them any longer, unquote. It had exactly the effect that God knew it would. The commitment to obey Yahweh also resulted in the next action that Joshua took with the people. During the years of the wilderness wandering, Circumcision was not practiced, and so a generation of men had not undergone this rite of the Abrahamic Covenant. And they would not proceed any farther until that was done. Now from a military standpoint, this is utter foolishness. You have just disabled your entire army in face of the enemy. But from a spiritual standpoint, It was absolutely essential as part of obedience to God and setting themselves up as His people. They could only do this because of one thing. They trusted Yahweh. He would keep His promises. Now four days after they crossed the Jordan, they celebrated their first Passover in the promised land. They also ate some of the produce of the land for the very first time and unleavened cakes and parched grain. The very next day, the manna ceased. It had supplied them for 40 years, but now it was ceasing, just as God had said. They would be eating the produce. They'd be living off the land that had been promised to them. Yahweh has also sent his angel, the captain, the host of Yahweh, to encourage Joshua. When Joshua met him, he challenged him, whether he be friend or foe, and said he identified himself, and then instructed Joshua to take off his sandals. He was standing on holy ground. The battles that would come would be dependent upon their being set apart to God. Now, Jericho was the first city to be conquered, and it stood in a very strategic location, the lower end of the Jordan Valley, a little north of the Dead Sea. Now, the usual military method of conquering a city is siege and assault. You cut off your opponent, you weaken him through starvation while you batter down his walls. They would not conquer Jericho in that manner. Instead, the men of the war were to march around the city once each day for six days and say nothing, while the priest blew the ram's horns. That's it. In the middle of this procession of military was the Ark of the Covenant. That's where the priests were. So, this army is marching around you once every day for six days and they're quiet except for where the Ark of the Covenant is and these priests just blowing these horns. You can imagine the people in Jericho wondering, what are they doing? The seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times. Again, staying quiet. And then on the seventh trip around, Joshua reminded them the city would be under the ban and nothing was to be taken and kept for themselves. Any of the articles that might be worth something would be holy to Yahweh and were to be put in the treasury of Yahweh. And then they would destroy every living soul within the city except those with Rahab in her home. That was marked by a scarlet thread. And then Joshua instructed the people, shout for the Lord your God has given you the city. And the priest blew the horns and now the people shouted. And when they did so, the walls fell down. And they fell outward. They didn't fall inward like with a battering ram. All the walls around the city fell outward. And the way that it was situated is the walls fell down and actually end up making a slope to go right into the city. And so they did. Each man marched straight ahead of him And they slaughtered the inhabitants, utterly destroyed it, and then they burned it with fire. Now, archaeological evidence confirms the story, including that the city had high walls, which the spies would be let down with a rope. That it was taken quickly during the spring harvest, evidenced by large granaries that were still filled. The walls collapsed. It wasn't by an earthquake, as some archaeologists have said. Otherwise, they'd be shaking different directions. They would flop one way or the other, but not 360 different degrees, all falling outward. And there was burn with fire. There's a very thick layer of ash and derbis on top of the fallen walls. And the carbon-14 dating does place it right within the realm of that period of time. That's the arrows pointing to some of the ash that's in their area. It's an interesting place to visit. I took that picture. And you walk through and go, it is so obvious. Rahab and all those who were there were protected. She ended up marrying a Jewish man named Solomon, who gave birth to Boaz, who became the great grandfather of King David. She had placed her faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel, from what little she heard, and he blessed her for it. Joshua made all of them take a note that he placed a curse on the person that would rebuild Jericho, that the firstborn would die when the foundation was laid, and the youngest would die when the gates would be set up. In 1 Kings 16.34, that prophecy comes true when Hael, the Bethelite, rebuilt Jericho. Well, now they've conquered the major city. They've got to start the other cities. One near at hand was AI. And they had just defeated this great stronghold. They surveyed this one. It's a small city, about 12,000 people. And so Joshua sent men to spy it out. And they decided, we don't need to send the whole army. We'll only send 3,000. Well, instead, when they went, the men of Ai chased them away and struck down 36 of them as they fled. And that resulted in the elders of Israel tearing their clothes, putting dust on their head, and in grief, as they fell before Yahweh, petitioned him about what had happened. Now, they were fearful, their enemies, because if this story got out, that a small city defeated this army, they would be in trouble. They'd rise up against them. And so they prayed. Yahweh revealed what the problem was, is they had not kept the covenant. Some of the things in the ban had been stolen. That results in Joshua calling on the people to consecrate themselves. And in the process of discovering who was guilty of the trespass, the prostitutes revealed it was a man named Achan. Joshua said to him in verse 19, My son, I implore you, give glory to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and give praise to him, and tell me now, what have you done? Do not hide it from me. You see, confession does bring glory to God. Achan did so, the golden sylvia song was found in his tent, just where he said it would be. His confession was the right thing to do, but it did not remove from him the consequences of his sin. He and everything that belonged to him were taken to the Valley of Acre, where they were stoned, burned, and then a heap of stone raised over it as a testimony to the event. His greed had cost the lives of 36. His greed had put in danger the whole nation. And it ended up bringing destruction on himself, his family, and everything that belonged to him. You see, the consequences of your sin usually don't just affect you. It compounds and affects a lot more people. Now that the sin in their midst had been dealt with, they were able to resume the conquest of the land. This time they followed Yahweh's very specific instructions, which included sending all the men of war into battle and setting up an ambush. The men of Ai were drawn out by a feigned retreat, thinking, well, this is what happened last time, we're going to repeat it. and the city is left open. The men in ambush who were behind the city came back around and they entered the city and set it on fire. And now the army of men are between two armies of the Israelites and they're annihilated. Obedience to Yahweh resulted in victory. Joshua then fulfilled the command of Yahweh had given them through Moses and he built an altar on Mount Ebel and set up stones there on which the Law of Moses had been written. And all the words of the Law, as well as the blessings and the curses, were to be read with half the assembly on Mount Ebel and the other half on Mount Gerizim." And this is a shot of modern Shechem. Ebel to the right, Gerizim to the left. And so you can see it makes a very nice, good amphitheater to have people on the slopes. And you can holler and they can all hear you. And so they're reminded, this is the law of God. Here's the blessings that come with obedience, the curses if you disobey. In Joshua 9, we find that things were going well for them. And yet, when things are going well, there's a tendency to become a bit complacent. Of course, none of you have ever done that in your own life, right? Things are going so well, you just, yeah, you become complacent. And because of that, they lacked the diligence they needed in seeking Yahweh. And result was that they were deceived by the Gibeonites. That's one of the nations that was to be utterly destroyed. When the Gibeonites heard about what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, they came up with a plan to make a covenant with them. They would pretend to come from a very far country, and they were pretty elaborate in making sure it looked like they had had a long, long journey, when the truth was that they actually lived nearby, just north of Jerusalem. Well, because Joshua did not consult with Yahweh first, their deception worked. He and the elders made a covenant with them. Even after they found out the truth, they had to keep their word and they let them live, though the Gibeonites would become hewers of wood and carriers of water. Now the five Amorite kings, the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Egelon had made an alliance with each other. They would attack Gibeon, which was a strong city, for making an alliance with Joshua because that weakened their position. And when they did, the Gibeonites sent word to Joshua for help. Verses 1 through 5, chapter 10. Yahweh told Joshua, do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not one of them shall stand before you. So this map is the five Amorite kings have mobilized Gibeon. Joshua mobilizes his army, makes a force march. It's about 25 miles all uphill. Gilgal is down below sea level and the elevation there is I think about 2,500 feet or something so it's an uphill forced March 25 miles or so and they attack and they win the first battle at Gibeon in the course then armies are fleeing and Yahweh confounds them as Israel is chasing them down the slope down We're going to go through Beth Haran and down toward the coastal plain. There's a ridge there that slopes down. And as they're going, the Lord is striking them with large hailstones that more die by the hail than by the sword. And it'll take time to fight over such long distance they're going to cover. And so Joshua prays this prayer, O sun stand still in Gibeon, and O moon in the valley of Aijalon. And Yahweh answered. And the sun stood still. And the moon stopped. Until the nation had avenged themselves on their enemies. There's been no day like it before, and there's never been a day like it after. Now people are prone to speculate how this could occur, but there is no understanding of how Yahweh did it. He did. But that should not be any surprise, the creator of the universe can do what he wants with his creation. Now after that day, they did a sweep through the south. So, in order, Lachish, Egelon, Hebron, Debir, then down into the Negev. all the land, all the hill country, the lowlands, the slopes from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, along the coast, and all the country of Goshen as far as Gibeon. So they made a full sweep circle through the whole south. And then they returned to Gilgal, which is over by Jericho. So the south has now been conquered. All the major armies are defeated. There's nobody really to stand against them. The kings of the north then formed an alliance to fight against Israel. And once again, Yahweh encourages Joshua, saying in Joshua 11, 6, Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. Now chariots were the ancient world's tanks. That's why they were a scary nation, and Hazor was extremely powerful during this period of time. But they're not going to be able to defeat the army that's controlled by Yahweh, are they? So Josh and the army move out and come upon the enemy alliance of waters of Merim, and Yahweh delivers them into the hands of Israel. Then they struck the northern cities and the lands and utterly destroyed them as far as the great Sidon, and Mishrafath-Mayim, and the valley of Mizpah. And after that they turned back, they struck Hazar, and all the cities of kings that had come against them." Joshua 11, 16, and 17 summarizes. You can see there it's a full sweep through the north and destroying all the strong cities. Thus Joshua took all that land, the hill country, and all the Negev, and all the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowlands, from Mount Halak that rises toward Seir, which is down in the south, even as far as Baal God in the valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon, and he captured all their kings and struck them down and put them to death. That includes the giants, the Anakim, that the first generation was so afraid of. Joshua conquered a total of 31 kings. Joshua 11, 23 then states, Joshua had taken the whole land according to all that Yahweh had spoken to Moses. Joshua 21, 45 adds, not one of the good promises which Yahweh had made to the house of Israel failed, all came to pass. Now here's important to point out, and you may not be able to see that that well, but it shows the area conquered and inhabited by Israel after they'd taken the land, and also shows the areas that were not conquered. That was according to the Lord's promise. In Exodus 23, 30 and Jeremiah 7, 22, the Lord said that He would have them conquer it little by little, lest the beasts of the lands become too numerous for them. And so it was going to be a great sweep through, destroy their military might, and then little by little you're going to take the rest of the lands. So it was exactly what God had said. There is no support in what is said here that all that was fulfilled, that somehow that God had fulfilled his promise to Israel and now he's done with them so the church can replace them. That is very poor theology. God is not done with Israel. He was not done with them then. He's not done with them now. There are still promises He is going to fulfill to that nation. The people were obedient to Yahweh. He fought for them and enabled them to conquer the land as He had promised. The rest of lands would be conquered if they continued to obey Him. That would be key. Will you or will you not obey? The lands were then divided up. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. So over to the right, you can see where they were. Caleb had also received his special inheritance of Hebron, as most had promised him in Deuteronomy 1.36, and that story is in Joshua 14. So Hebron is down there in the south, right next to that green Sibion. Caleb in his 80s, still making war and still conquering. You like that Caleb? Yeah, okay. Yeah, it's your namesake, right? Or you're his namesake. It's a good name to have, isn't it? God fulfilled his promises. Joshua and Caleb were the only two from that generation that entered the land. The tribes of Judah, Ephraim, the remaining half-tribe of Manasseh, Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan received their inheritance on the west side of the Jordan, as shown in that map. Now within those lands, three more cities of refuge, Kadesh, Shechem, and Hebron, are set aside to complement the three cities on the east side of Jordan, Bezra, Ramath, and Golan, as cities of refuge. This is all explained in Numbers 35 about if someone has killed someone by accident, this is the place they could flee to and escape the danger of blood. Now the Levites did not inherit any of the land for Yahweh was their inheritance. Instead they were given 48 specific cities to live in along with their pasture lands and their animals. And then these were divided among the various family of Levites. So that's all those square things that popped up there. Now after all the lands have been conquered and divided, the men of war from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh return to the east side of Jordan. And they go home with very much spoil, including livestock and silver, gold, bronze, iron, and clothes. And after they cross the Jordan, they build a large altar there. This almost causes a civil war. When the other tribes hear about it, they go confront them as, how can you do this, an unfaithful act, assuming they built it to worship Yahweh on this altar on that side of the river. The matter was quickly resolved when it was explained, no, the purpose of the altar was not for worship. It was a witness to future generations because it mimicked the same pattern as the one built in Shechem, that those tribes on the east side of the river were also Israelites. And the pattern of the altar would be a witness to that. And so they named the altar Witness. Now when Joshua was advanced in years, he called for the elders, the heads, the judges, the officers of the tribes to come to him at Shechem. He reminded them all that Yahweh had done for them, and then he warned them. Keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses. Do not associate with the nations that remained or serve their gods. They were cling to Yahweh and Him alone. If they did not, then Yahweh would not continue to drive out the Canaanites. And instead, those people would come a snare, a trap, a whip to their sides, and thorns in their eyes until they would perish and be driven off the land God had given them. And we read that earlier in our scripture reading. Joshua then charges them choose whom you will serve either Yahweh or some other God but as for him and his house he is going to serve Yahweh and they answered him we also will serve Yahweh we will not forsake him we will serve him only he warned them again if they forsake Yahweh then Yahweh would turn against them and do harm and consume them they again affirmed they would serve only Yahweh. And so Joshua makes a covenant with them that day and they set up a large stone under the yoke that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh as a witness. Joshua 24 31 then states, quote, Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua and had known all the deeds of Yahweh which he had done for Israel. So even after Joshua dies at a hundred and ten years old, they remained faithful to Yahweh and they experienced His blessings as did those when they first came in the land. God was true to His promises. They were the generation that demonstrated the example of what Yahweh would do to a faithful people, a people who would trust him, a people who would follow him. Now Joshua's final charge is still fitting today. You see the direction of any nation is set by the choices made by the individuals within it, is it not? And so you must choose whom you're going to serve. They had no king, they had no hierarchy over them, so every single individual decision was even more important. you have to choose whom you're to serve. Because both individuals and nations that choose to serve the Lord, the creator of heaven and earth, are going to be blessed. And again, our own history shows it for us. And if you don't know the history of our own nation, you should read it. It gives a lot of praise to God, because it's God's intervention in this land over and over and over again that made us into a powerful and good nation. But those nations that turn against Yahweh and don't follow Him and don't serve Him are going to have His curses. And any newspaper you pick up any day of the week now simply demonstrates the curses that are upon us. Remember from Romans 1, God's wrath is demonstrated most clearly in the consequences of people's sin. And that's what we're finding. Sin begats more sin begats more sin and it just gets worse and worse and worse. And that's what we're seeing. We don't have a political problem in the United States. We have a spiritual problem. And the only way to fight is the same way that Joshua did. It's not by strength or might or intrigue or anything else. It's God's people consecrating themselves first and foremost to Him to follow and serve the God who created us. That's what we have to do. If we do it as individuals, we can expect God's blessing on us as individuals. If enough individuals do it, we can expect God's blessing on a nation. But even if the nation is cursed, well, God still is going to be faithful to those who follow him. We'll see that in future studies. But even in a nation that's blessed, those that won't follow him might find themselves in the same position as Achan. You can't fool God. He knows. So whom will you serve? That's the final question. Choose you this day, whom will you serve? As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh. He is the Lord God, creator of heaven and earth. Father, thank you for the book of Joshua. And what an encouragement that book is as we see a generation that actually believed and trusted you. And Father, did what... you said you're going to do in your way and none of it makes any military sense because it wasn't done by that it was done by a people you'd call to be holy to yourself who are living that way father thank you for these general promises that also occur in your word even throughout promises that as we walk with you there are blessings you give to us Father doesn't necessarily mean material blessings, though you're often so gracious and generous in that way, too. Father, you allow us to know you, know sins forgiven, have peace. Father, have lives that are worth living, having lives that are actually productive, lives that actually have meaning, not only for now as we are used by you to bless others, but Father, a meaning for eternity as well. Father, you're long-suffering, and we know that's part of the reason that we see sin increasing, is you're just patient, allowing people more time to yet repent. Make us bold in our own faith, not only to walk with you, but to proclaim the truth to those around us. Father, even in advance for the efforts that are going to be made here in just a couple of weeks at the Ulster County Fair, Father, many that we'll talk to that they may understand the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, in turn, and place their lives in your hands to follow you. And for us as individuals, you'll continue to prod us by your Holy Spirit, that Father, when people look at us, they would see Christ in us, ever growing and becoming more and more in control of our lives, that we are conformed to His image. that our very lives might glorify you, our creator, in Jesus name. Amen.