Joshua 23

v1-10: Joshua in this first of two farewell sermons commands Israel “to remain faithful to their duty, to go on and persevere in the ways of the Lord in which they have started so well.” He tells them to be courageous and “be firmly resolved to keep all that is written in the book of the law”; to be cautious and “beware of any tendency toward idolatry, the sin to which they were first inclined and to which they were most tempted”; and to be constant, that is, to “hold fast to him, stay faithful to him, delight in him, depend on him, devote [themselves] to his glory, and continue to do so to the end.” We should be just as courageous, cautious and constant, as they were called to be.

v11-16: If we are “to remain true to the Lord and not abandon him,” we must always be on our guard, “for many precious souls have lost their way and have been ruined through carelessness.” It will be worse for us if we fall back after we have seen a glimpse of “the goodness of the heavenly Canaan” that God has given us in His Word. The misery will increase for those who have seen “how happy they might have been.”