January 4, 2023

Passage Read: Joshua 22 - Judges 1
Meditation Verses: Joshua 24:19-20

Thought

What does God require of His people that is so hard to do? The Israelites in this moment have complete confidence that they can and will follow the Lord. The main danger Joshua points out is serving other gods, but how hard is it to avoid that? The goal of God's Law is to show us how to love each other. Is that really all that hard? It doesn't require constantly seeking out ways to bless a neighbor, but only to think of their good alongside my own as I interact with them, and as I live beside them. Is God's Law too hard to keep, or is it as easy as the Israelites at this moment believe it to be?

Application

The tribes beyond the Jordan and in the far north and in the far south were going to have a hard time offering their sacrifices at just one place in all Israel. If every time they sinned, they had to travel to Shiloh to offer their sin offering, they would become discouraged and either do it wherever convenient or not offer a sacrifice and in some other manner reconcile their sin state. The implication must be that God and the people understood that it wouldn't be so hard to follow the Lord, as if they would have to constantly confess sin and offer sacrifices. We are tempted by other worldviews but not so much by other gods today; we are tempted by selfishness, but is God really asking the impossible? Certainly not today as a believer, there is no temptation greater than I can resist in the power of the Spirit.