Sharper Iron — The Promised Land Delivered: Not One of God’s Promises Fails

Rev. John Bussman, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cullman, AL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Joshua 23:1-16.

After some time has passed, Joshua is old and advanced in years, and he knows that his death will be coming soon. He reminds Israel of all that God has done for them in giving them the Promised Land and driving out the idolaters from Canaan. He encourages Israel to be faithful to the Word of the LORD and to avoid mixing with the remaining Canaanites, lest they lead Israel astray. Joshua reminds the people that the LORD kept every promise He made to them without fail. This serves both as encouragement and warning, lest Israel prove unfaithful to the LORD and so that He keeps His promise to remove them from the land.

“The Promised Land Delivered” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Joshua. After the death of Moses, the LORD remains with His people to bring them into the Promised Land under Joshua. Throughout the book, the LORD proves that not one of His Word falls unfulfilled. Today, the Church has the same confidence that all of God’s promises find their “Yes” in Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Joshua 23:1-16

Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders

23 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, ²Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. ³And 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. ⁴Behold, 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. ⁵The 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. ⁶Therefore, 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, ⁷that 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, ⁸but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. ⁹For 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. ¹⁰One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. ¹¹Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. ¹²For 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, ¹³know 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.

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^[a] that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. ¹⁵But 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, ¹⁶if 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.”

Footnotes

Joshua 23:14 Or words; also twice in verse 15

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).