Then Joshua said to the people, "You
will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God;
He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 20 "If you forsake the LORD
and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after
He has done good to you."
Insights: Last week we looked at
choosing to fear the Lord and expressed several reasons for such fear. In a similar vein our verses today speak to
one of those reasons to fear the Lord.
Joshua is addressing our need to understand the Lord and His
character. In these verses we are told
God is holy. His holiness sets Him apart
from everything else. His character is
so pure that no sin taints His countenance.
It is from such a perfect position that God is able to judge accurately
every case before Him. Another dynamic
Joshua wants us to know about God is that He is jealous. This type of jealousy is a proper kind. In modern day vernacular we see jealousy as a
bad thing because we associate it with coveting. With respects to God, however, jealousy is
His right to glory. He is the only One
worthy of worship and glory. Because of
God’s jealous nature, He pursues us with the intent for Him to receive glory. In fact Isaiah 48:11 states, “I
will rescue you for my sake— yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation
be tarnished, and I will not share my glory
with idols!” It is for His sake alone
that He rescues us. These verses from
Joshua, however, describe a third dynamic to God’s nature we need to
understand. It is this third aspect that
refers back to last week’s thoughts regarding our need to fear the Lord. There are consequences to our sin. If we choose to walk in rebellion against the
Father, He will turn and consume us. In
other words, God is not going to perpetually turn a blind eye to the sins of one
of His children and not intervene. When
we as His children choose to walk in rebellion, yet continue to claim we are
His, we are robbing Him of glory. And we
have just determined He is jealous for His glory! Last week when we addressed fearing the Lord,
we mentioned that we do not actually fear the Lord today. If we did, we would understand the
consequences would be the result of our sin against God.
Questions:
- Are you making decisions that displease the Lord?
- Have you truly considered the cost of such decisions?
Prayer: Lord, You are indeed a jealous God. You do not share Your glory with anyone or
anything. It is Yours and Yours alone
because You alone are holy. Empower me,
Lord, through Your indwelling Spirit, to live a life of obedience to You. Let my life please You. Amen.
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