Josué 23

Josué 23

Meyer - Joshua 23:11—Take good heed unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God Love is the crown of human nature; its regal chaplet of flowers; the bond by which the sentient universe is made one; the trait in which we most nearly resemble God—for God is love. We may love God from four parts of our nature (Luke 10:27). From the heart, the seat of the emotions: from the soul, the seat of individuality or will; in the strength of our activities; and in the mind, the organ of thought and intelligence. Some natures are more prone to one, and others to another. Each is a gate into the metropolis of Love, or by which the love of God may enter us. And it is of small consequence which gate you use, so long as you use one, and in this way enter the city. Many people are accustomed to impute love to the heart only, instead of associating it also with other departments of the inner life. Because you have no emotion of love, you therefore conclude that you do not love. But there may be the love of soul, wherein the will crowns Christ as King; or the love of the strength, wherein all the energy of life revolves around Jesus; or the love of the mind, in which all thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Choose which you will. But we must take heed to ourselves. The love of God will come naturally and easily in us as the fruit of the Spirit, unless we do anything to mar or hinder it. Love begets love; think then how much He loved you, when He gave Himself for you. Take heed to your speech, acts, intentions, volitions, affections; watch as well as pray; keep yourselves in the love of God; love one another and so abide in his love; and in you also the love of God will be perfected. Chris Tiegreen - So be very careful to love the LORD your God. Joshua 23:11 Many are familiar with “love languages”—the idea that each of us has a preferred mode of receiving love from others. Love languages include spending quality time together, physical touch, receiving gifts, acts of service, and words of affirmation. We understand the affections of others when they are expressed through one of these means. What we often don’t realize is that God has love languages too. He enjoys words of affirmation (praise), receiving gifts (offerings), acts of service (obedience), quality time (prayer/meditation), and even physical touch. The last in the list may be a little difficult for us to express—though Jesus surely enjoyed John’s leaning against Him at the Last Supper, and the Father surely enjoys our savoring the physical gifts He gives us—but God receives love in much the same ways we do. He even tells us how to express love to Him. Scripture is full of instructions about how to give to Him, speak to Him, and serve Him. God has made His desires clear. All of our expressions of love—praise, offerings, obedience, conversations with Him, and longings for sensory touches—are meant to be an overflow of our heart. When we turn God’s instructions into nothing but a set of obligations, we undermine their purpose. They were all given first and foremost as ways to express our love. That’s why the greatest commandment to love Him is above all others; it was meant to shape everything we do in our lives toward God. More than anything else, we were designed to adore Him. And our number one pursuit is to figure out how to love Him well. Lord, how can I love You well today? What time should I set aside to spend with You? What service can I do? What can I say that will touch Your heart? Help me love You deeply and show it well. (The One Year Experiencing God's Presence) Chris Tiegreen - Be very careful to love the LORD your God. JOSHUA 23:11 IN WORD As the aging Joshua gave his farewell address to the Israelites, he reminded them of everything God had done for them. The appropriate response to God’s faithfulness, Joshua said, was to “be very careful” to love Him. It is an act of the will, an intentional response to who He is. But have you ever thought about what it really means to love God? Many who set out to love God focus on theology. But theology, while important and necessary, makes God an academic subject to study or a philosophical argument to prove. It may be a product of our love for God, but it does not define love. Discussions abound in which God is a premise—a subject viewed through a theologian’s microscope or a philosopher’s telescope—but in which there is no affection. Doctrine is critical for us to grasp, but it is not love. Ask any Sadducee. Many who set out to love God focus on works. But works, while an essential outgrowth of love for God, can easily become an attempt to gain His approval. In truth, they are not acts of devotion but acts of self-interest. We want to gain higher esteem in His eyes, something that makes us one of His “insiders.” We end up with a self-righteousness that fills us with brief satisfaction but leaves us empty of love. Ask any Pharisee. Many who set out to love God focus on emotions. But emotions, though a desirable and essential outgrowth of love, cannot define our love. They are far too fleeting. We end up riding waves of feeling or missing out on them altogether. Love remains constant. Feelings don’t. Ask any zealot. IN DEED So how do we love God? We lie at His feet and tell Him we are His. We seek to honor Him in all we do. We want to be like Him. We crave His fellowship. We pray His desires. We are consumed with, obsessed with, and filled with His ways, His works, and His will. The theology, the works, and the feelings will come. They are good—but only after the devotion. Love always comes first. (The One Year Worship the King Devotional:) I would hate my own soul if I did not find it loving God. —AUGUSTIN Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary - Verses 11-16. 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 goodness of the heavenly Canaan, and the free and sure grant God has made of it, will add to the misery of those who shall for ever be shut out from it. Nothing will make them see how wretched they are, so much, as to see how happy they might have been. Let us watch and pray against temptation. Let us trust in God's faithfulness, love, and power; let us plead his promises, and cleave to his commandments, then we shall be happy in life, in death, and for ever. Joshua 23:12 "For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, KJV Joshua 23:12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: NET Joshua 23:12 But if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, BGT Joshua 23:12 ἐὰν γὰρ ἀποστραφῆτε καὶ προσθῆσθε τοῖς ὑπολειφθεῖσιν ἔθνεσιν τούτοις τοῖς μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν καὶ ἐπιγαμίας ποιήσητε πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ συγκαταμιγῆτε αὐτοῖς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῖν NLT Joshua 23:12 "But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them, ESV Joshua 23:12 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, NIV Joshua 23:12 "But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, YLT Joshua 23:12 'But -- if ye at all turn back and have cleaved to the remnant of these nations, these who are left with you, and intermarried with them, and gone in to them, and they to you, LXE Joshua 23:12 For if ye shall turn aside and attach yourselves to these nations that are left with you, and make marriages with them, and become mingled with them and they with you, CSB Joshua 23:12 For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry or associate with them and they with you, NKJ Joshua 23:12 "Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations-- these that remain among you-- and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, NRS Joshua 23:12 For if you turn back, and join the survivors of these nations left here among you, and intermarry with them, so that you marry their women and they yours, NAB Joshua 23:12 For if you ever abandon him and ally yourselves with the remnant of these nations while they survive among you, by intermarrying and intermingling with them, NJB Joshua 23:12 'But should you in any way relapse, if you make friends with the remnant of these nations still living beside you, if you intermarry with them, if you mix with them and they with you, GWN Joshua 23:12 "But if you turn away and go along with the other nations within your borders, if you intermarry with them or associate with them, go back: Ps 36:3 125:5 Isa 1:4 Eze 18:24 Zep 1:6 Mt 12:45 Joh 6:66 Heb 10:38,39 2Pe 2:18-22 1Jn 2:9 cling: Ge 2:24 34:3 1Sa 18:1-3 1Ki 11:2 Ro 12:9 shall remain: Ex 34:12-16 De 7:3 1Ki 11:4 Ezr 9:1,2,11,12 Ne 13:23-26 2Co 6:14-17 Related Passages: Exodus 34:12-16 Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 –for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God– 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. Deuteronomy 7:3 “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. James 4:4+ You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 1 John 2:15-17+ Do not love (present imperative with a negative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Matthew 6:24+ “No one (ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!) can serve two masters; for ( Term of explanation) either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (= IDOL - SEE PICTURE OF THE IDOL MAMMON). CLINGING THAT CORRUPTS! For - Term of explanation. In this case the explanation is also a warning of why we need to watch carefully and watch especially what we love!