Chapter 23
Joshua Reminds, Encourages, and Warns Israel’s Leaders
23:1 A long time afterward, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, 2 Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years.
The text does not offer a specific time frame other than “a long time afterward.” And we are told twice that Joshua was now old and well advanced in years which should sound familiar as the same wording was used at the beginning of chapter thirteen (see Joshua 13:1).
23:3 And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you. 4 Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you.
Joshua reminds them that they had seen first hand what God has done for them, for it was YHWH who fought for them. He also reminded them that he cleared (killed the previous occupants) and allotted the land inheritance from the Jordan to the Mediterranean (Moses had cleared and allocated the east side). But some people remain, for those foreign nations still residing within their borders, YHWH will remove them allowing the Israelites to possess their land, just as God had promised.
23:6 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8 but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. 9 For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10 One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. 11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. 12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.
Joshua encourages them to keep God’s commandments as written in the “Book of the Law of Moses.” He explicitly tells them to not mix with the nations that have been eradicated or those who remain. They are not to even mention the names of their gods, and they are certainly not to swear by them, serve them, or bow down to them! But instead they are to hold onto YHWH! Joshua then reminds them that no man has been able to stand before them as demonstrated by one man chasing after a thousand, that was YHWH not them. So be careful to love YHWH! Joshua then warns them that if they hold onto the remnant of these foreign nations, marry any of them, associate with them, then know that YHWH will no longer drive them out and they will snare and trap them, they will become a “whip on their sides” and “thorns in their eyes,” until they die.
23:14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15 But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”
In closing this oracle Joshua tells them that he will soon die, and that they know that God has not failed in keeping His promises. But He also promised their destruction and removal from the land if they violate the covenant between them and God.