Godly Generation Dies: Page 2 of 2 (series: Lessons on Judges)

by John Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

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(1Deut. 6:1–9 ) “1Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. 3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” These verses are still carried out literally by many orthodox Jews as they write verses on parchment and place them in little boxes that they bind with strips of leather to their foreheads and upon their hands. Also, they nail them near the doorways of their homes. The intent of this passage is that the Word of God should be hidden in a person’s heart and should constantly be a source of devotion and obedience to the Lord. The main thrust was that they should teach their children the Word of God. Verse 7 has become the foundation for the Christian school movement, where the core of the curriculum is the Word of God.
Gratitude is the least remembered of all virtues, and the Israelites were exposed to the danger of forgetfulness as they entered Canaan. They would enjoy houses, gardens, and wells for which they had not worked, so Moses suggests a formula for remembering God. Fear is the first step in not forgetting God, and service is the second. The third step is swearing by his name. This does not merely refer to a solemn oath in court, but rather to an assertive fact whereby a person dedicates his life to live for God. The reference to not tempting the Lord was quoted by Jesus Christ when tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Satan knew that Christ was obedient to the Father and tried to make Him act selfishly.

(2Jos. 24:29, 30 ) “And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.” Joshua the son of Nun—died—This event probably took place shortly after this public assembly; for he was old and stricken in years when he held the assembly mentioned Joshua 23:2; and as his work was now all done, and his soul ripened for a state of blessedness, God took him to himself, being one hundred and ten years of age; exactly the same age as that of the patriarch Joseph. See Genesis 50:26.
And they buried him—in Timnath-serah—This was his own inheritance, as we have seen Joshua 19:50. The Septuagint add here, "And they put with him there, in the tomb in which they buried him, the knives of stone with which he circumcised the children of Israel in Gilgal, according as the Lord commanded when he brought them out of Egypt; and there they are till this day." St. Augustine quotes the same passage in his thirtieth question on the book of Joshua, which, in all probability, he took from some copy of the Septuagint. It is very strange that there is no account of any public mourning for the death of this eminent general; probably, as he was buried in his own inheritance, he had forbidden all funeral pomp, and it is likely was privately interred.

(3Jos 24.28) “So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.”