God’s Prescription

Joshua 23:12-16

12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.
14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

Medication

High blood pressure has become a common problem of our generation. If the prescribed medication is disregarded, it would result to unpleasant or unwanted effect.
Similarly, if God’s prescription is disregarded, the result will not be pleasant.
Prescribe medication is most appreciated when patients understand the severity of illness. Likewise, God’s commands as prescription to wholesome life is most appreciated when we understand that we cannot have better life outside the God’s prescription.

God’s command is godly prescription for His people. When the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership followed God’s prescription, they have desirable experiences. In his farewell speech, Joshua warned the Israelites not to neglect what God has prescribed for them. If they fail to obey God’s prescription, Joshua predicted that they would perish.

1. Perish

12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

Joshua used the phrases, ‘snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land’ as opposed to peaceful life. When they obeyed the Lord’s prescription, God gave the Israelites peaceful life in the Promise Land.
What made Joshua presume that the Israelites would turn away from the Lord, and that they would ally or associate themselves with the Canaanite survivors?
It teaches in Ecclesiastes 9:3, 3The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live.

To grasp the severity of evil and madness in the human heart drives us to seek treatment. Nobody knows how to prescribe the right medication except our Creator.
The Israelite drama of their rebellion against the Lord is a biblical exhibit of the madness in the heart of mankind. Even after the Israelites practically saw and experience the power of God when the Lord freed them from the Egyptian slavery, they rebelled against the Lord. And Joshua personally saw and surely cannot forget the terrible consequences when the Israelites rebelled against the Lord.
In Leviticus 10:1-3, 1Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said: “‘Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’”

Why would a loving God kill the sons of His priest Aaron when they committed a terrible mistake? The Lord decides what is forgivable mistake and unforgivable mistake.
When fire came out from the presence of the Lord that killed Aaron’s sons, it served as practical lesson that biblically demonstrated that God does not respect any person, great or small, important or not. In Acts 10:34, 34 God does not show favoritism.

Jews or Gentiles, pastors, church leaders or ordinary church members, we are all accountable for our actions. Our actions have consequences. But God forgives us when we repent of our sins. A repentant person fears the Lord. In Proverbs 9:10, 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 2:6, 6For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
In Ecclesiastes 7:19, 19 Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city.

Indeed, the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan because the Lord gave them wisdom. Godly wisdom is advantageous. It exhibits faith to trust in God’s promises.

2. Promise

14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

Joshua reminded the Israelites that just as God fulfilled his good promises, He would also administer the consequences of disobedience. God has declared the consequences of violation to the covenant the Lord commanded them. All that God declares will certainly be done according to His word—promises or punishment.
The Lord said in Isaiah 55:11, 11My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

The covenant of the Lord with Israelites is for them to have no other God before Him. The rest of the commandments are practical guidelines of having the Lord as their only God. The Lord explained to Jeremiah the consequences of violating or breaking the covenant with God in Jeremiah 34:18, 18 Those who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.

When the Israelites made a covenant, they would cut an animal into two, place both pieces opposite each on the ground, then all who agreed in the covenant would pass in between the two pieces of the animal. When God made a covenant with Abraham, Abraham prepared and cut the animals in two pieces each.
The Lord instructed Abraham in Genesis 15:9-18, 9 “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” 17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.

What was the significance of passing between the pieces? When the Israelites made a covenant, those who agree with the covenant would pass between the pieces. In such ritual, if ever they violate what was agreed upon, they accept the punishment to be cut in two pieces like the animals. Death is the punishment of breaking the covenant.
The Lord passed between the pieces in the form of smoking fire pot with a blazing torch. He declared that He will fulfill His promises to Abram. If His promise is not fulfilled, the Lord agreed to die like the animals cut in two, which is impossible. But since God cannot die, His promises will certainly be fulfilled. Indeed, everything happened according to God’s promises, and the Bible narrated it.

The Lord is perfectly eternal, and He will always perfectly fulfill His promises to the Israelites. The Lord knows that Abram was limited and he cannot perfectly execute his part in the covenant. By faith, Abram trusted that God would fulfill His promises.
In the same manner, when Joshua reminded the Israelites to obey the covenant of the Lord, he charged them to have faith and trust the Lord. He reminded them of the Lord’s faithfulness of giving them peaceful life when they obeyed God’s prescription.

In Ecclesiastes 8:12-13, 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

Abiding with God’s prescription bring peaceful life. Disregarding God’s prescription will result to terrible life. The Book of Judges following the Book of Joshua narrated the lifestyle of the Israelites. When they obeyed the Lord’s prescription, they lived peacefully. When they forsook and disregarded the commands of the Lord, they had terrible life experiences.

The Lord’s instruction is not only a prescription of peaceful living but also has eternal relevance. The Lord who gave His covenant to the Israelites is the same Christ who says in
John 8:31, 31If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

Don’t forget: The Lord’s teaching is His prescription for His disciples to live a godly life.

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