Discuss Joshua 23

Greetings in Christ JESUS

Brothers in Christ

We know that GOD CURSED the Earth because disobedience of man,and warned him,saying:"Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;...in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of thy life;In the sweat of thy face shall you eat bread,till you return unto the ground;out of it wast you taken:for dust you art,and unto dust shall you return.

As above described,the terrible picture after GOD cursed the Earth, what our GOD meant by His words or even revealed when He said of the existence of the world of Devil full of"Thorns and thistles"? Well,with the proliferation of human beings after Earth had been CURSED by Him,nations would emerge or be formed on Earth,and would be like"thorns and thistles".GOD said: Numbers 33:52-55

55If 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.

52Ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures,and all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

53And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land,and dwell therein:for I have given you the land to possess it.

Joshua 23:11-16

11Take good heed therefore unto yourselves,that ye love the Lord your GOD.

13Know that the Lord GOD will no more drive out any of these nations from before you;but they shall be snares and traps unto you,and scourges in your sides,and THORNS in your eyes,until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your GOD hath given you.

Rev.11:15&12:12

15The kingdoms OF THIS WORLD are become the Kingdoms of our Lord,and of His Christ;He shall reign for ever and ever.

12Therefore rejoice,ye heavens,and ye that dwell in them.Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!for the Devil is come down unto you,having great wrath,because he knows that he has but a short time.

Hello Adam.

We can have assurance from the account of Noah and from the passing over of the Israelites so as they were not afflicted with the plagues of Egypt nor the death of the firstborn. We can rest in God knowing how He parted the Red Sea to have the Israelites pass through on dry land and how God delivered the enemies in Canaan into the hands of the Israelites when the nation entered the promised land to possess all it as God promised (see Joshua 21:43) God fulfilled all fo the promised He had made to the Israelites ( Joshua 23:15)

God is faithful and able to preserve us or rescue us or make us stand in the day of trouble. But we also must remember that our Lord and Paul and Peter said that we will suffer also, be persecuted, arrested, tried legally, and martyred for His Name's sake. Jesus said we would be hated by men just as they hated himself. We should pray for God to prepare us for such hardships that He may allow us to experience. We certainly should pray that we will hold fast in the face of martyrdom.

The fire that brings destruction spoken of in Peter's epistles is pretty disturbing to consider, but I think this firs is intended for the evil unbelievers, not for the believers. When Jesus returns once again with a shout, with the trumpet call, with the voice of an archangel, with a tempest like lightening, with exceeding brightness and manifest glory, we will look up, as He instructs us in Luke 21:28 for our redemption is come. we will be changed (if alive at this time) or resurrrected, if we have died. At that time, we will be glorified and can no longer be harmed by anything that comes upon the earth! Hallelujah!

Adam, I will pray for you as you seek to find out the truth of Scriptures concerning the end times, as I pray that for myself, too.

I plan to believe everything that is plainly and explicitly taught in Scripture concerning the return of Christ and what happens before that, and also not readily embrace ideas that are not.

Psalms 71:16, Joshua 23:7, Exodus 23:13, Psalms 150:1, Psalms 56:10,

Psalms 148:1-14, James 4:7,

Hopefully these are helpful

I believe that Joshua was relaying what God had told Moses, assuring the people that as long as they believed God's word and trust Him that He would fight for them. He would deliver the land into their hand. Just as today with this Pandemic if we would follow 2Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and heal their land." Matt. 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." God's word is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen

And further to your question about 'race mixing', have a look at the following that was prescribed by God to His people, Israel: Exodus 34:12-16; Deuteronomy 7:1-4; Joshua 23:11-13; 1 Kings 11:1-4 (where Solomon disobeyed the Lord in this matter); Ezra 9:10-14 & many more. It wasn't anything about race or culture, but that Israel's heart would be turned to worship the idols that their wives followed, forgetting the Lord Who set them apart as His Own.

And the same applies for the Christian today. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, where the Apostle Paul warns us about entering into any union with unbelievers, whether in business or marriage. Idolatry may not be involved here for us, but the values, ethics & constraints that are upon us as Christian may not always be the same as these others & this is where problems arise & much heartache. However, there is no requirement that a Christian marriage cannot be had with someone from another culture, as long it is with one who is "in the Lord", a believer. Such a union can only receive the blessing of the Lord.

Preachers who forbid inter-racial marriages would usually have to quote the Old Testament, where God forbad Israel from doing so (e.g. Deuteronomy 7:3, Joshua 23:12, & many others). This was given expressly to prevent the 'purity' of God's people from becoming tainted with the spiritual harlotry of the heathen around them. Conversely, the prophet Hosea was instructed to marry a promiscuous woman, Gomer, we understand from another nation, for the purposes of giving Israel a vivid example to the extent of their unfaithfulness & debauchery. So, it was never seen that Israel was to have anything to do with the heathen around them, whether in business or marriage.

Then comes Jesus & His Cross. The Cross not only became God's implement to provide a sinner destined for eternal punishment, a way out & into the Arms of a Merciful God, but also brought together all peoples, of every nation, tribe & tongue, into that one Body, which is Christ. The Apostle Paul says it well here: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus...There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."( Galatians 3:26-28). That is, those who have come through Jesus' Cross & have been born again of His Spirit, are now one family, regardless of nationality, gender or anything else. I understand that we have God's permission to marry whomever we wish, but only those "in the Lord".

The care however that a believer should take in this regard, is for finding the partner in life who has similar goals & direction in life & who truly keeps the Lord as the preeminent One in their lives, in their thoughts & decisions. Disunity here can lead to unnecessary turmoils further down the road. Our common love for our intended spouse & for the Lord Who saved us, ought to be the criterion for our decision to marry someone, rather than using their skin colour, appearance or background as the criteria.

It just works better this way. God means for the couple to draw close, unite in purpose and become ONE. It's about core; inner circle:

Men may have to eat a few deadly meatloafs, but there will be peace in the home. :D. (AllrecipesDotCom)

Mark 10:7

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;

Genesis 2:24

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Matthew 19:5

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Joshua 23:8

But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day.

Deuteronomy 4:4

But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God, are alive every one of you this day.

(I used to think cleaving was horseshoes but with meat cleavers )

They say Amen because men is higher than women, 2nd highest but yet not more needful than Jesus. For another reason, men is the leader of the household. Equality is useless and a big fake to say that the bible is wrong.. consider this useful.

If you mean such a thing, there's only one GOD. But there's multiple angels. More angels than possibly devils.

I would consider every single state evil... we're all comprised of evil sins and evil thoughts. Therefore, if you shall be at the gates of Heaven, God shall not hear those things.

I know our beloved Almighty God a jealous God according to his massage on Jos. 23:16 that only Jesus Christ our God no one can bow any other Gods...I truly believe my only one I bow God is Jesus Christ is our savior, guidance and provider at all time we ask and knock him he will provide and openly as we liked. All trials we have now only Jesus can help us and will be solve ... "AMEN" ...........

Day 65 of Bible in a Year Reading. It is so interesting that as I read about the nation of Israel it is as if it is personified. Nothing new under the sun. Humankind is very fickle and paranoid when there is no faith.

I do feel it's sad that churches are to be more to the spiritual aspect of GOD and his SON,but as we come to learn not every house is the same and not all are glorifying GOD,and the inquity of others will be on them individually but will be on the ones who lead them astray 2 they WILL have their blood on their hands,and I asure you NOONE will be LAUGHING,smiles will turn into tears and sorrow Amen

Praise the Lord of whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him all ye heavenly home. Praise Father Son and Holy 👻 Amen. God bless!!! He keeps on blessing me. He keeps on blessing me over and over again. The Lord Jesus Chris is awesome and mercyful. I wandered in the wilderness just like the children of Israel did for fourty years but thank God for his grace and mercy.

Jane I don't think lying about our state is going to help people. The truth is always the best way. God himself said he had seen that the people were a stiffnecked people. What the Church needs is people willing to say the truth and warn others. Unfortunately this isn't happening and those that might be saved if they heard the warning are being told smooth things instead of the truth.

At point of death Moses parting woods to Isreal was that he knew they will transgress because they are stiff necked , Jushua too has said same ..when ye have transgressed... So they transgressed. I feel our Pastors and parents should learn from this and prophesy positive even in the face of stubborness

great love it ,the word cleave reminds me of genisis when the Lord said a man must leave mother andfather and be joined, to his wife, we might use the word cleave also , so that they may be one, just as Elijah and his servant

This certainly is a faith strengthening scripture. Joshua had faith in Jehovah God's promise to deliver them! Today we can be sure that Jehovah will keep his promise to restore the earth to a paradise, and deliver his faithful ones.