Unholy Alliances

Unholy Alliances

Words of Faith 10-14-2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2020

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Joshua 23

    [9] "The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. [10] One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. [11] So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

    [12] "But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, [13] then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

       The concern of Joshua was not just the intrusion of cultural paganism.  He was also worried about alliances.  There was a tendency in the ancient world to assume that peace could be found only in treaties and alliances.

       The problem for Israel was that such alliances would undermine the fundamental trust of the people in God.  These were unholy alliances by very nature.  It was important to remember that it was the Lord who had driven out powerful nations.  It was the Lord who had given great victory such that "one could rout a thousand."

        The Lord was fighting these battles and protecting His people just as He promised.  No treaty with a foreign power was necessary.  All that was necessary was to love the Lord your God.  That is it!  Safety and security are found in no other place. 

        The stark warning of Joshua was clear.  If you make unholy alliances with the world, you lose your Holy alliance with God!  If you depend upon another for security, the Lord will no longer drive out your enemies.  Your alliances will become a snare and a trap for you.  Your diplomacy will become whips on your back and thorns in your eyes. 

        Wow.  So how do we deal with the world around us?  Well, first, we must remember that Jesus prayed for us as disciples that we would be IN the world but not OF the world.  We can and must interact with the world around us so that we can be a witness of His light and life.  But we also must take great care not to make unholy alliances with the world. 

        We must not put our trust in the world for our welfare.  We must not make treaties or partnerships with those who are not of the Lord.  We must not be unequally yoked to unbelievers. "For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness" (2 Cor. 6:14)?  We must not put our faith in anyone or anything other than the Lord God. 

        "So be very careful to love the Lord your God" (23:11). We must love the Lord very carefully.  How do we do that?  We must be watchful of our own lives and our walk with the Lord.  We must be careful not to take the Lord and His gracious love for granted!  We must be watchful of the snare of alliances that water down the truth. We must avoid slipping back into the way of the world.

          How is your walk with God today?  Have you been careful in your love toward God?  Have you been grateful in your response to His victory in your life?  Have you guarded your relationship with Him by avoiding unholy alliances?

          Father God, I draw near to You with the prayer that You would draw near to me.  Teach me how to love You carefully in my day to day living.  Show me the ways that I can be observant of Your precepts and truth.  Show me how I can be a vessel of Your love and light while resisting the alliances of the world.  Show me how to live a life of complete gratitude.  In Jesus' Name. 

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2005, 2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)       

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.