Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Passing the Torch

Bryan Schneider · July 23, 2022

Joshua 23

sharonrpc.org/sermons/passing-the-torch

Summary

Near the end of his life, Joshua gathers Israel's leaders and passes the responsibility of covenant leadership to them.
He repeatedly names the Lord as ‘Yahweh your God,’ calling the leaders to remember the covenant God who fought for Israel and fulfilled every good promise.
Remembering God's past faithfulness is meant to produce courageous obedience in the present, even under social, economic, political, and religious pressure.
Israel must cling to the Lord in exclusive love rather than invoke, serve, or bow to the gods of the remaining nations.
Joshua commends the leaders' past faithfulness but warns that alliances and intermarriage with idolatrous peoples will become snares, traps, scourges, and thorns.
The certainty of God's good promises also establishes the certainty of his threatened judgment; grace must not be separated from God's justice.
Honest reflection exposes Israel's inability—and ours—to keep God's covenant perfectly or secure its blessings by personal obedience.
The sermon therefore ends with Jesus Christ, the covenant keeper who obeyed perfectly, bore the covenant curse for believers, and gives them an unearned kingdom.

Why does Joshua address Israel's leaders before addressing the whole nation?
What does the repeated phrase ‘Yahweh your God’ teach about Israel's identity?
How should remembering God's works shape present obedience?
Why does keeping God's law require courage rather than mere knowledge?
Which social or material pressures most strongly tempt believers to compromise today?
What is the difference between welcoming a convert and binding oneself to persistent idolatry?
Why must God's graciousness never be detached from his justice?
How did Israel's later history confirm the seriousness of Joshua's warning?
Why can personal resolve never provide the covenant security sinners need?
How does Christ bear the curse and give believers the kingdom they did not earn?

Covenant name: Yahweh, the name by which God identifies himself as the Lord who binds himself to his people and keeps his promises.
Covenant faithfulness: God's unfailing fulfillment of everything he promises, both blessing and righteous judgment.
Courageous obedience: Keeping God's commands despite social, economic, political, or personal pressure to turn aside.
Exclusive worship: Calling upon, serving, and bowing to the one true God alone rather than sharing allegiance with idols.
Cling: Joshua's image for steadfast covenant loyalty that holds fast to the Lord against every competing attachment.
Covenant warning: God's threatened judgment against persistent idolatry and rebellion, as certain as his promises of blessing.
Covenant of grace: God's saving arrangement in which life and salvation are freely offered through Jesus Christ and received by faith.
Covenant keeper: Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the obedience God's people failed to render and bore the curse due to sinners.