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May 14 - Joshua 23 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It's Sean here and it's a
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  Thursday, which means we are in the back half of the week and
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  you're doing great. It is so good to have your
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  company and we are definitely in the back half of the book of
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  Joshua. We are mopping up the loose ends
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  and today is a bit of an epic day.
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  We have had Moses, who led his people out of Egypt, out of
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  slavery, through the Promised land.
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  And as Moses reached the end of his life, he hands the reins of
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  control of God's people to Joshua.
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  And today is the day that Joshua, having finished the work
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  of getting these people to their new homes, settling them in,
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  this is now the end of his life. And so it is the end of an era
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  of this great patriarch of Israel who comes to the end of
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  his time. So as we continue to read this
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  story, we just ask, Holy Spirit, as we hear your words today, may
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  they teach us more about you, who you are, and then who we are
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  in you. All right, friends, let's do it.
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  Let's read together Joshua chapter 23.
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  The years passed and the Lord had given the people of Israel
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  rest from all their enemies. Joshua, who was very old, now
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  called together all the elders, leaders, judges and officers of
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  Israel. He said to them, I am now a very
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  old man. You have seen everything the
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  Lord your God has done for you during my lifetime.
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  The Lord your God has fought for you against your enemies.
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  I have allotted to you as your homeland all the land of the
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  nations yet unconquered, as well as the land of those we have
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  already conquered. From the Jordan River to the
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  Mediterranean Sea in the West. This land will be yours, for the
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  Lord your God will himself drive out all the people living there
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  now. You will take possession of
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  their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.
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  So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the
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  Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning
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  either to the left or to the right.
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  Make sure you do not associate with the other people still
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  remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of
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  their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship
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  them. Rather, cling tightly to the
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  Lord your God, as you have done until now, for the Lord has
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  driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has
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  yet been able to defeat you. Each one of you will put to
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  flight 1000 of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for
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  you, just as he has promised. So be very careful to love the
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  Lord your God. But if you turn away from Him
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  and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations
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  remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them, then know
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  for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive them
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  out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare
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  and a trap for you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles
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  in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the
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  Lord your God has given you. Soon I will die, going the way
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  of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know
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  that every promise of the Lord your God has come true.
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  Not a single one has failed, but as surely as the Lord your God
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  has given you the good things He promised, He will also bring
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  disaster on you. If you disobey Him, He will
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  completely destroy you from the good land He has given you.
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  If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshipping and
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  serving other gods, His anger will burn against you and you
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  will quickly vanish from the good land He has given you.
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  Well, Lord, you could not be more clear.
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  Your blessing is abundant when we choose to live as your
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  people. And we know your blessing and we
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  know the incredible gifts that you have for us.
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  And we know what you have lavished on us in your love and
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  your forgiveness and your provision and of course, the
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  gift of Jesus. But Lord, we also know that we
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  are a broken people and just like the Israelites, as history
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  would show us, continued to mess up and put other things before
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  you. We are no better.
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  But we know that we do not face destruction because we live
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  under a new covenant, a new agreement where You have done
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  all the work in saving us through Jesus.
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  Thank you Lord, for making a deal that we could not possibly
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  mess up because you have done everything.
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  We just come to you with our arms open wide in gratitude to
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  receive your love, membership in your family, joy beyond measure,
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  and home with you forever. Ah, thank you for your goodness
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  to us that never ends. We pray all of this in your
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  wonderful name, Jesus, Amen.