Joshua 23:11

_TAKE GOOD HEED THEREFORE UNTO YOURSELVES, THAT YE LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD._ Take good heed therefore ... that ye love the Lord your God. The sum of his exhortation is comprised in the love of God, which is the end or fulfillment of the law (Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 11:13; Matthew 22:37)....

11-16 Would we cleave to the Lord, we must always stand upon our guard, for many a soul is lost through carelessness. Love the Lord your God, and you will not leave him. Has God been thus true to you? Be not you false to him. He is faithful that has promised, Hebrews 10:23. The experience of every Christian witnesses the same truth. Conflicts may have been severe and long, trials great and many; but at the last he will acknowledge that goodness and mercy followed him all the days of his life. Joshua states the fatal consequences of going back; know for a certainty it will be your ruin. The first step would be, friendship with idolaters; the next would be, marrying with them; the end of that would be, serving their gods. Thus the way of sin is down-hill, and those who have fellowship with sinners, cannot avoid having fellowship with sin. He describes the destruction he warns them of. The...

Verse Joshua 23:11. _TAKE GOOD HEED - UNTO YOURSELVES THAT YE LOVE THE LORD_] לנפשתיכם _lenaphshotheychem, Take heed_ TO YOUR SOULS, literally; but נפש _nephesh_ and [Arabic] _nefs_, both in _Hebrew_ and _Arabic_, signify the _whole self_, as well as _soul_ and _life_; both soul and body must be joined in this work, for it is written, _Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind,_ _and strength_....

EXPOSITION JOSHUA'S SOLEMN CHARGE.— JOSHUA 23:1 WAXED OLD AND STRICKEN IN AGE. Literally, _was old, advanced in days _(see Joshua 13:1). But this refers to a more advanced age still, when the patriarch felt his powers failing him, and desired, as far as his influence went, to preserve the Israelites in the path in which they had walked since their entrance into Canaan. Calvin has some good remarks on the "pious solicitude" shown by the aged warrior for those whom he had led in time of war and guided in time of peace. He seems to have sent for the chief men in Israel to his home at Timnath-Serah, where apparently he had led a retired and peaceful life, only coming forward to direct the affairs of t

TAKE GOOD HEED THEREFORE UNTO YOURSELVES,.... To be upon their guard, and to be watchful, were very necessary to them, that they might not be ensnared by the Canaanites, and drawn aside by them into idolatry, and so apostatize from the Lord and his worship, since their temptations would be many: THAT YE LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD; which would the most strongly influence and engage them to serve and worship the Lord, and obey his commands, and be the best preservative against idolatry and false worship....

2. JOSHUA'S TWO ADDRESSES The First Address CHAPTER 23 _ 1. The people gathered (Joshua 23:1)_ 2. God's faithfulness remembered (Joshua 23:3) 3. Exhortations to obedience (Joshua 23:6) 4. Warning (Joshua 23:12) 5. Conclusion of first address (Joshua 23:14) It was about eight years after the Lord had given rest unto Israel, that the aged Joshua called for all Israel and their elders to assemble in his presence. He was very old and the time of his departure at hand. The purpose of his first address is

SELVES-SOULS. Hebrew. _nephesh_, App-2....

DISCOURSE: 258 GOD’S INTERPOSITIONS FOR US ARE OBLIGATIONS TO LOVE AND SERVE HIM Joshua 23:10. _The Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God._ MUCH as patriotism and valour are admired, and deservedly as, in many instances, they have been rewarded by men, they are of no value in the sight of God, if they be not accompanied with true piety. Their utility to the state of which we are members is undoubted; but their moral excellence depends on their union with religion. Abstracted from a regard to God, they are a mere compound of pride and selfishness; but, regulated by religion, they are in a high degree amiable and praiseworthy. Many bright examples of patriotism, united with piety, are set before us in the Scriptures; but none shines with greater lustre than that of J

_VER._ 7-11. _THAT YE COME NOT AMONG THESE NATIONS,_ &C.— "Hold no familiarity; make no marriages with these idolatrous nations: never _make_ the least honourable _mention of the name of their_ false _gods_ in your conversation, nor _cause_ any one _to swear_ by those idols, nor _serve them_ yourselves, by offering victims to them, or by addressing prayers and vows to them in secret; nor shall _ye prostrate yourselves before them,_ or render them any public worship: in a word, let nothing be able to draw you from God, or turn you aside from the execution of those designs, for which that great God has rendered you invincible even unto this day. Acquit yourselves thus of your duty, and ye will certainly engage the Lord ever to grant you victory and success." REFLECTIONS.—Joshua, now grown old, and having but a short time to live, is solicitous to improve it to the best purposes; his last w...

_Promises of Blessings for Obedience Joshua 23:6-11_ 6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; 7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: 8 But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. 9 For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. 11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God. _7._ Was the Pentateuch writte