Joshua 23: Joshua’s farewell address to all Israel.

Now that the people of Israel are living in the land of Canaan according to the Lord’s promise to them, Joshua, now old, gathers Israel together and offers the people his final words. It is a review of God’s faithfulness to them, His power in their victories, the gift of a good land in which they may live, and finally, a warning: they must not turn away from the Lord and follow the gods of other nations, or the Lord’s anger will follow them.

The spiritual meaning of Joshua’s address is about our experience of the Lord’s activity in our lives, our responsibilities in the work of regeneration, and what happens in us when we drift away from our relationship with the Lord. Every part of Joshua’s speech touches on these subjects, and it is a shining statement for our spiritual well-being. We will look at each part of what Joshua says and their spiritual meanings.

Joshua called for all Israel, and for all of their leaders - their elders, their heads, their judges and their officers. Spiritually, what leads and commands our mind is what we hold as true, which then informs our actions.

Joshua says he is old and advanced in age. Spiritually, this stands for acquiring wisdom during regeneration. Perhaps ‘advanced’, with its range of meanings, is a clue here.

Then Joshua turns to the Lord and the conquest. Joshua reminds the Israelites of what the Lord has given them, and says that the Lord will help them drive out the remaining nations until the whole land is theirs. Spiritually, this is about the ways in which the Lord guides us through regeneration, and how He will be present in our continuing spiritual work.

Joshua then urges Israel to keep the law of Moses and not turn away from it, nor go among other nations who are alongside Israel, nor mention their gods, nor swear by them or serve them or bow down to them. For us, this means following the Lord, and not giving in to the other influences that could lead our lives - for example, greed or ambition. If we do give thought to these other things, they can entrap us. It is enough for us to see them in our mind and quickly refuse their place there.

Joshua then says that because the Lord has been fighting for Israel, no one has been able to stand against them. In verse 10, he says, “One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.” This means when we acknowledge that the Lord rules our life and empowers us, the influences of hell will be powerless against our resolve.

Joshua then tells Israel that if they do turn to the other nations and their gods, the Lord would no longer drive out these nations, and they would become snares and traps for Israel. This is about the spiritual consequences of going against the Lord. This will inevitably bring on its own dangers, and we can be drawn in without realizing. The Lord can only drive out our spiritual enemies when we turn to Him for guidance.

Finally, Joshua says that not one thing God intended for Israel has failed to happen; so, just as God had given Israel many blessings, He would bring harm on Israel if they grew unfaithful. In our spiritual lives, this is only how things appear. We may feel that God is punishing us at times, but in reality we bring harm on ourselves when we no longer follow the Lord. So, Joshua says, the good land would be taken from them, just as the delight of heavenly life is taken from us if we turn away from the Lord.

9473. 'Oil for the light' means internal good present within mutual love and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'oil' as the good of love, dealt with in 886, 4582, 4638; and from the meaning of 'the light' as mutual love and charity. 'The light' is mutual love by virtue of the flame by which that love is meant, and it is charity by virtue of the heat and light from the flame. For spiritual heat is the good of charity, and spiritual light is the truth of faith.

[2] A brief statement must be made here about what internal good present within mutual love and within charity is. Nothing comes into being by itself, only from what is prior to itself, as is indeed so with truth and good. Anything from which something else comes into being is the internal; and the something else brought into being is the external of this internal. The situation with all things that come into being is without exception like that of cause and effect, in that no effect can be brought into being without an efficient cause; for the efficient cause is the internal of the effect, while the effect is the external of that cause. The situation with them is also like that of endeavour and motion, in that no motion can be brought into being without the endeavour; the motion depends so much on the endeavour that the instant the endeavour ceases to exist the motion ceases to exist. Consequently the internal of the motion is the endeavour or moving force. The situation is very similar to that of endeavour in the mind, which is the will, and motion in the body, which is action, in that no action can come into being without the will; the action depends so much on the will that the instant the will ceases to function the action ceases. Consequently the internal of the action is the will. From all this it is evident that in all things without exception there must be an internal if they are to come into being and then remain in being, and that without the internal they are not anything.

[3] The situation is the same as this with the good of love; unless it has internal good within it, it is not good. The internal good within the good of faith is the good of charity, which is spiritual good, whereas the internal good within the good of charity is the good of mutual love, which is external celestial good. But the internal good within the good of mutual love is the good of love to the Lord, which is also the good of innocence. This good is internal celestial good. The internal good however within the good of love to the Lord, that is, within the good of innocence, is the actual good that is Divine, emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, and so is the Lord Himself. This good must be present within all other good if it is to be good; therefore no kind of good can exist unless its internal springs from the good that is Divine. Unless its internal springs from this it is not good but evil; for then it originates in the person himself, and that which emanates from the person is evil. This is so because in all the good he does the person has himself and also the world in view, and so not the Lord, nor heaven. If the Lord and heaven do enter into his thinking, they are for him only means that serve him in the attainment of personal position and gain. Those good deeds of his therefore are like white-washed sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful but inwardly are full of dead people's bones and of all uncleanness, Matthew 23:27, 29.