Joshua · chapter 23 of 24
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Joshua 23 records the first farewell address of Joshua, now old, to the elders, heads, judges and officers of Israel. He reminds them that the Lord has fought for them, urges them to be strong in keeping the law of Moses and holding fast to the Lord, and warns that mixing with the peoples who remain will make them a snare and a trap, and cost them the land.
A long time after the Lord gave rest to Israel, Joshua is old and nearing the end of his life. Joshua 23 is the first of his two farewell addresses, directed to the leaders of the people. It is a pastoral sermon that joins gratitude for what God has done, exhortation to faithfulness and a serious warning about what will happen if Israel abandons the Lord.
A long time after the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, old and advanced in years, calls all Israel, their elders, heads, judges and officers. He reminds them that they have seen all that the Lord has done to those nations for their sake, because the Lord fought for Israel. He tells them that the Lord will drive out the nations that still remain, and that they are to possess their land as promised.
Then he urges them to be very strong to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside neither to the right nor to the left. He asks them not to mix with the nations that remain, nor to mention the names of their gods, nor swear by them, nor serve them, nor bow down to them. They are to hold fast to the Lord their God, as they have done to this day. The Lord has driven out before them great and strong nations, and one of them puts a thousand to flight, because the Lord fights for them, as he promised. So they must be very careful to love the Lord their God.
If they join with those nations, intermarrying with them, they should know that the Lord will no longer drive them out before them. They will be a snare, a trap, a whip on their sides and thorns in their eyes, until they perish from this good land the Lord gave them.
Joshua says he is going the way of all the earth, and that they know in their hearts and souls that not one of all the good words the Lord spoke to them has failed. Just as all the good things have come, the Lord will also bring all the evil if they transgress his covenant and serve other gods. Then his anger will burn, and they will quickly perish from the good land he gave them.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Joshua recalls that they themselves have seen all that the Lord did to the nations for the sake of Israel, because the Lord fought for them. The memory of what they lived is the foundation of the obedience he asks.
He asks them to hold fast to the Lord their God, as they have done to this day. Joshua does not invent a new loyalty but asks them to keep the one they have already lived.
He tells them to be very careful for their own souls, to love the Lord their God. Love is the center of obedience, and the warning that follows is born from that love.
Joshua declares that not one of the good words the Lord spoke has failed; all have come to pass. On that faithfulness of God rests the warning about the consequences of abandoning him.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The elders, heads, judges and officers of all Israel. — Joshua 23:2
Answer: The Lord their God. — Joshua 23:3
Answer: All that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside neither to the right nor to the left. — Joshua 23:6
Answer: To the Lord their God. — Joshua 23:8
Answer: They will be a snare, a trap, a whip and thorns, and the Lord will no longer drive them out before them. — Joshua 23:12-13
Answer: That not one has failed; all have come to pass. — Joshua 23:14
Joshua's address is that of a mature leader who wants to leave those who come after him with the essentials: remember what God has done and stay faithful to him. In a small group we can think about what legacy we want to leave to the next generations: not only goods or institutions, but a living faith and an example of obedience.
The warning about the nations is not an invitation to isolate ourselves from the world but to let nothing compete with the Lord in the heart. Each generation faces its own gods: money, prestige, comfort. Holding fast to the Lord today means deciding clearly which influences we allow to shape our lives and our families.
Joshua 23 ends with a solemn warning: God's faithfulness in the past is as certain as judgment if Israel abandons his covenant. In Joshua 24, the last chapter of the book, Joshua will gather all the tribes at Shechem to renew the covenant with a decisive question: whom will you serve?
It is a way of saying that, with the Lord, the enemy's numerical advantage does not matter. The text attributes it directly to the Lord fighting for Israel, as he had promised. It is not a promise of automatic victory without obedience but a reminder of where Israel's strength lies.
The law of Moses forbade such alliances because they led Israel to serve other gods. The danger was not based on ethnic origin but on the idolatry that accompanied those unions. The case of Rahab, a Canaanite who trusted the Lord and was incorporated into Israel, shows that faith in God was the decisive thing.