As the book of Joshua closes, even though it records two deaths and three burials, it closes on a high note. The generation that followed Joshua continued to serve God faithfully. This encourages us that the story that will tell about what follows this book, the next story that is just beginning, will be a good one. It is a story for another Bible book. This message looks ahead not only for Israel, but for each of us. We have a story and the generations that follow us will have their own story. Will our story influence those who follow us to be faithful to God or not?

Does God keep his promises? The book of Joshua answers with a resounding yes! The great leader of the Exodus has died. The people of Israel have not yet received the land promised to their forefathers centuries before. Giants and walled cities defend that land. So frightening were they that an entire generation of Israelite wandered in the wilderness rather than risk trying to conquer the land they knew was a land of milk and honey.

A new generation has risen and a new leader along with them. As we’ll see in this opening chapter of Joshua, God is about to use Joshua to fulfill his promise of a rich and abundant land for his people. Before he does, he gives Joshua some needed encouragement and instruction. Joshua then gives his first orders to the nation and they enthusiastically affirm his call to be their leader.

This story is not just history, but is a story about God and his faithfulness, and the plan he has to bless his people. It reveals to us the God we serve today and his ways.

Of all places to discover a believer in the God of Israel, Jericho would be last on the list. That city was right in Israel’s path to enter the Promised Land and would be the first one Israel would have to defeat to succeed in their invasion. Yet there in that frightened city a young woman had put two and two together spiritually and had become a believer in the one true God. And she just happened to be in just the right place to help God’s people and rescue her family from certain death. If you wonder if God has gone ahead of you, wonder no more.

After the dramatic crossing of the Jordan River, the people of Israel were finally in the Promised Land. No doubt everyone expected the next step would be to launch an offensive campaign against Jericho. However, that was not what happened. What did happen has some important lessons for the way we as followers of Jesus life our daily lives.

Three verses summarize the story of the Book of Joshua, both experientially and theologically. While these verses do justice to the history of the people of Israel, they don’t reveal what the facts in these verses meant to them. We’ll try to recapture that in this message, for without doing so, we may not fully appreciate the theological truth of this book, found in the concluding verse. It’s an important truth not only to hear but to apply if we want to have a life to enjoy.

The last three chapters of Joshua turn to the subject of the people of Israel retaining the land they’ve gained through God’s power. It was one thing to obey God and believe in Him in battle. Israel would need fresh determination not to slip away from God during peaceful times and lose God’s approval and blessing and ultimately lose their land.

In Joshua 22 the focus is on what at first looked like a spiritual catastrophe among some of the tribes of Israel. What they did, how the rest of Israel reacted, and what those tribes intended reinforced Israel’s determination to remain faithful to God. Today we see an application on refusing to tolerate sin in our own lives in order to retain the spiritual gains we’re already enjoying.

There was a danger Israel faced that could quickly lead to the loss of all they’d gained. Joshua warns the leaders of Israel that associating with and intermarrying members of the surrounding nations will bring disaster upon them. It would lead to Israel getting involved in idolatry, violating their covenant with God.

There are critical lessons for followers of Jesus in this passage. We, too, can face spiritual dangers in associating with or forming connections with unbelievers. We need to make some clear decisions about our relationships with unbelievers just as Israel did.

In his last address to his nation, Joshua laid down a critical choice for his people. They had to choose whom they would serve. Would they serve God, or would they serve one of the gods of the nations or one of the gods their forefathers served? Their choice would determine whether they would continue to experience the blessing of being God’s people.

It’s still a relevant question today. Whom will you serve? And, will the one you choose to serve be able to do what only God could do for you? Hopefully you will say what Joshua said: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”