The Remaining War for the Kingdom of God (Joshua 23:1–7)
The Remaining War for the Kingdom of God (Joshua 23:1–7) 2/8/2026
Although the conquest of Canaan had not yet been fully completed, the time had come for Joshua to finish his mission (v. 1). At this point, through two sermons, he delivered the final covenant that the Israelites truly needed to hold onto.
The theme of the book of Joshua is the conquest of Canaan. This was the reason God delivered Israel from 400 years of slavery. It was also why God did not abandon them but continued to train them to the end, even as they passed through countless conflicts, problems, and failures in the wilderness. Through this process, next-generation leaders like Joshua and Caleb arose, along with the Remnant generation who stood with them.
Here we must ask the question again. Why did God so insistently lead them to conquer the land of Canaan? Was it simply to give Israel land so that they and their descendants could survive? In a practical sense, that is true. But if we stop there, many misunderstandings arise. Then is God only the God of Israel, more specifically, only the God of the Jews?
- Here we must discover God’s 3 hidden and eternal plans.
1) Because Christ, who would save all mankind on this earth, had to come.
① This was the covenant God gave long ago when He chose Abraham and sent him to Canaan. God promised that he would become a source of blessing there. Through his descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1–3; 22:18).
② That “descendant” did not simply refer to Isaac, but was a prophecy pointing to Christ (Galatians 3:16). The Israelites went down to Egypt and lost this land, and God restored it to them.
2) Christ came to that land of Canaan, and through Him we too enjoy the blessing of salvation in this age. He came as a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of David, and through that lineage many people were used by God (the genealogy in Matthew 1).
① Through Him, we received eternal redemption, became God’s children and people, and gained the right to enjoy heavenly blessings (Ephesians 1:3–5).
② Our salvation is God’s eternal choice, given so that we might praise the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:6). For the saved believer, there is nothing that is not grace (1 Corinthians 15:10). Through this grace, our lives are secured (Ephesians 2:13).
3) Through those who are saved, God seeks to restore something He truly desires. It is the Kingdom of God.
① First, He gathers those whom He has decided to save. He sets apart the citizens of God’s kingdom (Ephesians 2:19).
② Christ reigns over us forever as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14).
③ God’s kingdom must first be restored in the land where we live. Only then can we live in true peace (Romans 14:17). The complete Kingdom of God will be established after Christ returns, judges the corrupted world and humanity, and makes all things new (Revelation 21:5). This is the reason God sought to destroy the Canaanite peoples. They were the most extreme example of idolatry and a model of a corrupted life. That judgment will be fully executed when Christ returns (John 5:22), and we are now living in those last days (Luke 12:56; Ephesians 5:16).
- Then, what must we do now? We must finish the remaining war for the Kingdom of God. That is the message of today’s passage.
1) First, firmly hold onto God’s promise of conquering the world.
① God declared that He Himself had fought for Israel until now (v. 3). They had seen with their own eyes all that God had done for them, and God was the One who fought on their behalf.
This is exactly what Christ did first when He came. The Kingdom of God began. How did it begin? By traveling through the land of the Jews, freeing those bound by darkness, healing them, and breaking the power of darkness (Matthew 12:28).
② God promised that He would help Israel to the very end so that they would possess the land (v. 5). This was not a conquest driven by personal greed or ambition. Jesus did not teach power or war for such conquest (Matthew 26:53). Instead, He died willingly as a ransom for all humanity and rose again to give eternal life. This was true conquest.
③ This is also why God had to bless Israel in Canaan. So they would stand as witnesses.
God promised that enemies who came against them by one road would flee before them by seven roads (Deuteronomy 28:7). He also promised to bless their storehouses, their land, and everything they put their hands to (Deuteronomy 28:8). Before His ascension, the Lord gave the same covenant. “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
2) Now we must hold onto the authority of His name and fight to the end. When does God work for us, and how should we fight?
① First, we are told to hold firmly to the Word with all our strength and not turn to the right or the left (v. 6). This does not mean merely trying not to sin or fall into unbelief. With our wounded and broken strength alone, that is impossible. We must have the Word we personally hold onto. That is why the “three todays” are important, and why daily meditation and Scripture memorization matter. God created the world by His Word, and even now He dwells in us and works through His Word (John 15:7). At decisive moments, He gives us answers, wisdom, strength, and guidance through His Word (2 Timothy 3:16).
② God also commanded them not to “enter into” the remaining nations (v. 7). In Hebrew, “enter into” means “to participate in a relationship” or “to mix with.” This does not mean cutting ourselves off completely from the world. It means not mixing what belongs to God with our own greed, wounds, or worldly things. Within us are long-formed 12 systems of Satan. That must not become the standard for our thoughts, choices, and actions. These include self-centeredness (train yourself to deny yourself), flesh-centeredness (set your heart on what is spiritual and above), and success-centeredness (worldly ambition that leads to pride, discouragement, and despair). We must especially fight against fate, generational curses (spiritual problems) that have settled into our unconscious and become habits and dispositions. Wee can train and transform our personalities, emotions, even diseases with the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:22–24).
3) At this time, the bartizan of God’s kingdom is established within us. God grants victory (v. 10). A bartizan is necessary for victory. God promised that He Himself would be our bartizan and our watchman (Isaiah 62:6–7).
① It starts with the bartizan established within us. Kingdom of God coming upon us personally (Luke 17:21). Those who are in Christ can never be destroyed (Matthew 16:18). The Holy Spirit helps us (John 14:16–18; Romans 8:26).
② The main point is the bartizan established in our field. Kingdom of God coming upon our fields (Matthew 12:28). As we continually pray for our field, the power of darkness is broken, and the flow of that field is transformed into a flow of blessing.
③ The conclusion is the bartizan established throughout the world. Kingdom of God established over all nations (Acts 28:31). This is why Paul was so determined to go to Rome. Then why must we live in today’s Rome, America? We must save the multiethnic peoples here and enjoy the blessing of being used to expand God’s kingdom from here to the ends of the earth.
Conclusion – We continue to face many problems that can lead us into confusion, discouragement, and despair. Darkness covers all the earth (Isaiah 60:2). May we be blessed to overcome and conquer the world by the power of the “only,” and to be continually used to establish the Kingdom of God in the midst of it.
2.8.26 The Remaining War for the Kingdom of God
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