Scripture

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshipping the gods of the people around them. and they angered the Lord.

Observation

The generation of Joshua dies, and a generation grows up that fails to acknowledge the Lord. Instead, they worship the idols of Baal and the other gods of the nations around them.

This makes the Lord angry, and He hand them over to raiders who steal their possessions. They fight against other nations, but they are defeated because the Lord is not with them.

The Lord raises up judges to rescue the Israelites, but the people continue to worship other gods. They worship the Lord while the judge is alive, but they quickly turn back to foreign gods.

Application

During my lifetime, I have seen the overturning of Christian values right across the Western world. Australia really wasn’t an expressively Christian country in the way the United States was, but our culture and our institutions were. Our shared morality with basically Biblical.

It started collapsing in the 1970s as the sexual revolution took hold and increasingly socialist ideas infiltrated mainstream politics.

Whether it is Australia, the United States, or the United Kingdom, the people have turned away from the Lord to pursue other gods.

As we have abandoned the Lord and his ways, we have suffered an avalanche of societal woes. The only long-term remedy is a revival in which there is a massive turning back to the ways of Jesus.

Despite the refusal of Israel to follow the Lord consistently, and their repeated return to idolatry, the Lord never gave up on them. I believe that the lord will not give up on Australia and that revival will come.

Prayer

Holy Spirit come and blow your breath over this nation. Lead us away from our idols and back to you, the one true God. Amen.

Scripture

“For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land. You were to destroy the altars. You disobeyed my command. Why did you do this?”

Observation

The angel of the Lord meets with the people of Israel at Bokim. He confronts them about their failure to destroy the altars of the pagan gods. Because of this, the Lord will no longer drive out the people living in the land. The Israelites weep on hearing this judgement .

Joshua sends the people away, each tribe to take the land allocated to them. The Israelites continue to serve the Lord throughout Joshua’s life.

Joshua dies at the age of 110.

Application

The Lord commanded Israel to kill the people living in the land, to make no covenants with them, and to destroy their altars. They failed to obey these important commandments.

Israel was meant to be a holy nation, dedicated to the Lord. In order to do this, they must not tolerate worship of any other god other than the Lord.

When we read the Old Testament, we see there is constant temptation for them to turn away from the Lord to worship other gods, particularly Baal and Ashtoreth. At times, child sacrifices were made to these false gods.

The church is also meant to be holy and dedicated to the Lord. We must not worship the idols that the world wants us to follow. Some denominations have walked away from the gospel of Jesus Christ to worship other gods such as the social gospel and marxism.

I need to keep my heart pure and set apart for the Lord. It is a daily battle, ensuring that the gods of this world are not enticing me to worship them.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you are the Way the Truth and the Life. There is no other God but you. Amen.