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Joshua 22:5 – But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you: love the LORD, your God, follow him in all his ways, keep his commandments, hold fast to him, and serve him with your whole heart and your whole self.” (NAB)
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (ESV)
But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. (KJV)
Joshua 22:8 – “Go back to your homes with the great wealth you have taken from your enemies–the vast herds of livestock, the silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and the large supply of clothing. Share the plunder with your relatives.”
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that the whole purpose of the law is to prove that we cannot fulfill the law on our own. What we call The Ten Commandments are not ten laws for human conduct, but one law with ten (actually more) parts. I say “actually more” because in addition to the commandments there are also some blessings and curses that go along with some of the commandments. When you break any of the parts, you have “broken the Law.” Nonetheless, in the time of the Patriarchs and up until the coming of the Kingdom, all there was to help us understand how to love God was The Law. Today we know that The Law convicts us of sin. When we fail to follow The Law, we know we have sinned. The Law reminds us that we have standards we must live up to, and that is a positive – rather than negative – thing.
King David frequently extolled The Law, sometimes referring to it as The Word. Psalms 1, 5, 19, and especially 119 praise The Law as a most excellent gift from God. In this passage from Joshua, who lived around 400 years before King David, we see how Joshua instructed Israel to express their gratitude to God for his manifold blessings. We now know we can be grateful to God for not only The Law, but also the fulfillment of that Law in the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. I’d like to dissect this passage from Joshua, and look at ways we can understand the importance of Christ’s willing sacrifice and our willing gratitude. Let us then see what Joshua – clearly a prefiguring of Christ in both character and name – recommended. This passage takes place after seven years of war in Canaan and the defeat of “many strong peoples.”
First, he tells them to make absolutely certain, to very carefully heed, and diligently pursue the excellency of The Law. Their entire history is based on keeping the law, and so also is their future. As long as they are obedient to God and love him and serve him with reverent obedience, all will be well with them. They must never forget that the continuation of the blessings incumbent with being his chosen nation were utterly contingent on their faithfulness and service under The Law.
He tells them they must not just know the Law, they must do The Law. They must live in, by, and for The Law. If they fail to comply with that directive, they will – literally – perish because of The Law. Every detail, every precept, must be remembered and lived.
A major part of doing this was to faithfully and honorably participate in all the rites, rituals, ceremonies, and actions of the holy blessings God had granted them when he chose them as his own people and gifted them with The Law.
To accomplish this, Joshua instructs that they must love the LORD for he is their God, and there is no other who is God. Although we often read the phase “fear God,” we know that this is not fear as in dread, distress, or outright fright, but fear as in reverence, worship, and absolute awe. God does not expect obedience and sacrifice for fear of punishment. God accepts obedience and sacrifice as acts of love offered to him by us. Without that spirit of love, serving God and even loving God is tedious, terrible, and insufferable. We are created for Joy and Love, and when we acknowledge God’s great gifts in that way, we best fulfill our purpose.
Joshua says they must “follow him in all his ways.” In that little phrase it is important to emphasize the pronoun his. They are not to follow their ways. They are not to follow the ways of the other inhabitants of the lands they have won in battle. They are to follow God’s ways, keep to the path on which HE leads them. The must believe in his love and his promises, and because of the love that evokes for him, they must obey him in all things. He not only shows them the way, but also helps them walk, live, and prosper in it.
In Jesus Summary of The Law, he says that the Greatest Commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” They must love him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Traditionally the commandments are divided into two groups. The first group focuses on loving, respecting, and serving God. The second group focuses on loving, respecting and serving one another – our fellow earthlings. While there are some differences in the way the Commandments are divided up, the simplest division is this: The Law governs humanity’s heavenly (vertical) and earthly (horizontal) relationships.
Joshua further instructs Israel to hold fast to, cling to, and cleave to God. They are to grasp God, stick to him and with him no matter what, and hang on to him and to The Law which honors him and directs them (and us) toward righteousness. It must be a permanent union – glued together, solid as concrete, lasting as welded metal.
In this right relationship, they must – and can only – serve him. He alone is their master, their highest and only ruler. He alone has the right and power to direct when, where, and how they must do as he commands, as he leads, and as he instructs. His power gives him absolute authority over every aspect of their lives, and in gratitude for his protection and care, he asks only for their trust and obedience.
God had worked incredible miracles to bring Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb were utterly faithful members of the generation which had perished in the desert through disobedience and doubt. Joshua knew the importance of having his entire life – including his entire household, all his fortune, and all his work – dedicated to serving the LORD. All his love, all his passion in life, all acts of worship and praise were set aside for his LORD and none other. On this he was uncompromising and therefore most blessed. Even in the depths of his soul, he saw that the Good in life comes only from God through love and service. When we give our whole life to him with every thought, word, and deed we are better able to love, worship, adore, praise, and glorify our Creator.
In these ways, then, we can work on perfecting our expressions of gratitude for the marvelous graces which permeate and saturate every aspect of our blessed lives. When our “fear of the LORD” is thus perfected, so also are our lives made incredibly rich and luminous. The more we understand about this most excellent Way, the greater will be the blessing we receive and all the greater will be the blessing we can bestow on our neighbors as well. It is what God always intended us to do, and Joshua spoke that in this wonderful scripture. This concise advice is the formula for that Attitude of Gratitude, and the way we are empowered to bless others.
This concept of blessing others with our overflow of blessing from God is found a bit farther down the page:
Joshua 22:8 – “Go back to your homes with the great wealth you have taken from your enemies — the vast herds of livestock, the silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and the large supply of clothing. Share the plunder with your relatives.”
We are to divide, share, and distribute the sources and outcomes of God’s blessing in our own lives. This is how we love our neighbors as ourselves – we give them the benefit of our blessings. Joshua – and his latter namesake Jesus (יֵשׁ֫וּעַ or יְהוֹשׁ֫וּעַ) – challenges us to be as generous to others as the LORD has been to us. That’s a tall order, but “with God, all things are possible.”
I want to leave you with this quote from the famous preacher the Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon:
If the law of justice demanded all our heart and soul and mind for the Creator, much more may the law of gratitude put in a comprehensive claim for the homage of our whole being to the God of grace.
Share-A-Prayer
For LB, beloved mother of PB-T and grandmother of NM as she enters hospice due to a renal tumor that has metastasized that she will have a gentle transition to Eternal Light.
For ECP who writes: Please pray for my Uncle H. J. R. was the last remaining sibling my mom had. She was born in Arizona on January, 30, 1929. Her youngest brother Kimo (J. R.) was born on January 20, 1930, also in Tucson, Arizona. He died today 9-26-2012 at 3:34 p.m. at Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu. He is survived by wife GDR and only daughter, GR, both of Kailua, O’ahu. May he rest in peace. Eternal Peace grant unto him O Lord, and may Perpetual Light shine upon him! Please, also, say a prayer of healing for me. I was ‘stuck’ in Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Hospital from Sat., 9-15-2012 until my 61st birthday, Friday, 9-21-2012… Recovering slowly at home…
For JL in remission for cancer on his pancreatic duct. Visit to the doctor coming up soon. Also for JM who has been very, very ill the past few weeks.
For AL and her ex that God will show the way for her and the kids.
For CR still having difficult recovering from a massive stroke, and Fr. VM still recovering from a nearly fatal head injury, as well as KW dealing with physical therapy and much pain after hip surgery.
C&GW for return of remission and minimal side-effects from chemo. For MG – scar tissue in her stomach after surgery to remove cancer is making it difficult to eat and to benefit from nutrition.
For CF that his final treatments for bladder cancer will be 100% successful. Also for EL going through final round of chemo, and FO working on staying in remission.
For CN, TO, JR, PB, BL, CO and all our friends and family caught up in any form of addiction, but particularly chemical addictions we pray for wisdom and strength to break into recovery mode and stay there.
Beloved, please remember in your daily prayers to pray for “everyone who prays for us and everyone who asks for our prayers” (from the MBN Prayer).
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
