Lesson 188 - Junior
Memory Verse
"Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God" (Joshua 23:11).
Notes
Conquering Canaan
While Joshua was living the Children of Israel began to carry out God's plan to conquer the people of Canaan. They destroyed idols and spared not the idolaters, as God had commanded, lest they would be tempted from the true and living God to serve other gods.
The tribes of Judah and Simeon made an agreement to help each other in the fight. They worked together and were successful in slaying their enemies. The other tribes did not combine forces against the enemy. Most of them did not continue to be obedient unto the command of God which told them to drive out the enemy. They permitted the Canaanites to dwell in the land with them. Even when Israel was strong, the enemies were allowed to remain in the land. Instead of obeying God, the Children of Israel forced the Canaanites to pay tribute (like a tax) to them -" in place of utterly driving out the people.
Warning
Many years before, Moses told them that the Canaanites would give them trouble if they were allowed to remain in the land. "But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell" (Numbers 33:55).
Just before Joshua died, he again warned the Children of Israel concerning the Canaanites. He said that if they continued to live in the land they would be traps and snares to the Israelites until the Children of Israel would perish from the good land that God had given them (Joshua 23:13).
To Love the Lord
Joshua told the Children of Israel also how important it was for them to love the Lord. When one loves the Lord with all his heart, he is not apt to be caught in the trap and snare of the enemy. When a person does not love the Lord, he will attach his affection on any false god -" and perish.
The advice -" to love the Lord -" that Joshua gave the Children of Israel is good for us today. We, too, need to take heed, to watch and guards, that we love the Lord. The Children of Israel were successful so long as they loved God. The time came when they ceased to love the Lord. Next, they began to love false gods and serve them. One cannot love God and the world at the same time. In I John 2:15 we are told to "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
Whom a person loves, he will obey and serve. That is one reason it is necessary for us to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.
Without a Leader
As long as Joshua lived, the Children of Israel served the Lord. For some time after the death of Joshua, they had no leader. When another generation arose, they did not continue to serve God. They must have forsaken the worship of the Lord, for the children knew nothing about it. It is possible that they were so busy in the conquests that they did not take time to teach the children. In forsaking God, the children "knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." May we never be guilty of failing to tell what God has done for us. Even children can tell those about them of the Lord. Many times when children take care of their brothers and sisters or their neighbour friends, the younger ones can be taught about the Lord and about the Bible. Then they will not be like the generation of Israelites who did not know about God and His wonderful works to them.
A Message
When the Children of Israel were disobedient to the command of the Lord, to the advice of Moses the lawgiver, and to the words of their dying leader Joshua, God sent an angel from Gilgal with a message to Israel. They were reminded of God's mercy to them in bringing their fathers out of the slavery and toil of Egypt into the rest and plenty of the Promised Land. They were told that they had promised to obey -" to break down the altars of false gods and drive out the Canaanites.
But they had disobeyed.
The angel of the Lord said, "Why have ye done this?" The Children of Israel made no reply. Some people today think they have an answer for everything, especially concerning sin in their lives. They often try to make an excuse for it. When the time comes that they must stand before God in judgement, they will have no comment to make. They will be speechless like the man in the parable who had no excuse when he tried to go to a wedding without having the wedding garment ([MAT:22:12]).
.Punishment
The angel of the Lord told the Children of Israel that the Canaanites would be as thorns in their sides and the false gods would be snares. Then the Children of Israel wept. No doubt they were ashamed. Perhaps they even admitted that they had disobeyed and that sin was in their lives. Although they wept and sacrificed unto the Lord, we do not read that they repented. Nor do we read that they destroyed the idols that were in the land.
It is possible for a person to admit that there is sin in his life, yet not repent. He may weep because of his sins, and make sacrifices to God; but unless that person is willing to turn his back on his sins and get rid of each one, he does not truly repent. The Prophet Isaiah said: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7).
Yes, the Children of Israel wept and sacrificed unto the Lord " then they did evil in His sight and turned to other gods. In doing that, they committed two evils: first, they forsook the true and living God; and secondly, they turned to false gods. The Children of Israel no longer loved the Lord. They transferred their love, their worship, and their service to idols " Baal and Ashtaroth.
Defeat
The Children of Israel forsook their fathers' God who had done so much for them. They disobeyed by failing to destroy false gods, so they were tempted to serve those same idols that they had spared. Such failure forfeited their privilege of having God's favour and power. In place of overcoming their enemies, the Children of Israel were overcome by their enemies. No longer could they drive out the Canaanites. They were powerless in battle and were delivered into the hands of their enemies. Thus the Children of Israel suffered because of their disobedience. They were first lured by sin to spare the Canaanites; then they were tormented by that sin -" delivered "into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them." The Israelites were greatly distressed as a result of their sins.
Judges
God, in His great mercy, raised up judges among the Children of Israel. The judges were the leaders by whom God delivered them from the spoilers. When Israel was no longer oppressed, they disobeyed again. They worshiped other gods, and then they were again oppressed by the enemy. Time and again, when the Children of Israel called upon Him, God gave them a judge who delivered them, yet Israel ceased not to be stubborn. They corrupted themselves even more than their fathers.
Finally, God in wrath pronounced judgement on the Children of Israel because they transgressed His Covenant. To prove whether Israel would walk in the way of their fathers and keep God's law, the Lord did not hastily drive out the Canaanitish nations. God permitted some of them to remain in Canaan in order to test Israel to prove their obedience.
We shall study more about these judges who were chosen by God to deliver the Children of Israel. As we study, may we bear in mind that the Israelites were in trouble because they were friendly to the enemies of God. In James 4:4 we read, "Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." He must suffer the consequences as did he Children of Israel.
Questions
1. Why did the angel of the Lord talk to the Children of Israel?
2. What was the message of the angel?
3. How did it affect the Children of Israel?
4. What happened to the Israelites when they served other gods?
5. Why did they serve other gods?
6. Whom did God choose to deliver the Children of Israel from their enemies?
7. What happens when a person today is disobedient?