Scripture Daily

Context No. 2373 of 4322 · Joshua

Context · Reflection

Joshua 23:6-11: in context

6“Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn away from it to the right hand or to the left; 7that you not come 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 down yourselves to them; 8but hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. 9“For the LORD has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is the LORD your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you. 11Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.

Joshua, near the end of his life, gathers Israel for a charge. Be very courageous, he says, to keep everything written in the law, and do not turn from it to the right hand or the left. Do not mix with the surrounding nations or so much as speak the names of their gods; instead, hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. One of you chases a thousand, he reminds them, because it is the LORD who fights for you.

The command that carries the weight is hold fast, to cling, to stay attached. The danger Joshua foresees is not a sudden collapse of faith but a slow blending, learning the neighbors' gods by proximity until loyalty quietly dissolves. Courage, in his charge, is not mainly about battle; it is the nerve to stay distinct, to keep loving the one God when the easier path is to absorb whatever surrounds you. He ends not with a threat but with the heart of it: take heed to love the LORD your God.

Am I holding fast to God, or slowly absorbing the loyalties of whatever surrounds me until my own has thinned?

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