Josh 11:15, Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses. 
    	We are met this morning in our reading with the account of how Joshua led the people in battle against the gathered forces of Canaanites. They had allied themselves in remarkably copious numbers in their futile effort to stop the Children of Israel from carrying out the commandment of the Lord. That instruction was to conquer and utterly obliterate these nations which had become such a force of evil in the sight of God. 
We must remember that these Canaanite multitudes, arrayed against Joshua and the Children of Israel, were first and foremost set against the Lord God Jehovah. They were committing the worse of atrocities against the Holiness of God, thus leading to this just judgment. Israel was the means of the Lord to carry out that Holy cleansing of His Promised Land of inheritance to His people.
	As the members of a so-called, enlightened society, we may have a tendency toward leniency for these peoples. But that clemency would be in absolute disregard for the plan and the purpose of The Only Living God of Holiness and Righteousness. It was because of the godlessness and the absolute wicked and idolatrous blasphemy of these gathered peoples against the Holiness of The Lord, that they were to be totally destroyed. This was in order that none would be left to pollute the land or the people of God who were given this Promised Land by the Lord God Almighty.
	Jehovah had made this edit abundantly clear through His prophet, Moses. We can read this in Ex 34:11-16. The Lord, as well, detailed the reasons that the Canaanites were to be utterly annihilated. They poised a very serious and devastating threat to the people of God if they were not entirely and unreservedly destroyed.  
	Ex 34:11-16, Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim — for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God — lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they play the harlot with their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invite you to eat of his sacrifice; and you take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods, and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. 
    	It was evident that the Children of Israel were able to listen to and obey the Lord in the fullness of His instructions. This capacity of absolute obedience is detailed later in this Book of Exodus. Please open to Exodus Chapter 39, verses 42 and 43. This example of the complete observance of the requirement of the Lord was in terms of the precision demanded in the construction of the Tent of Meeting. This included all the utensils and the garments and furnishings, as well as every holy item that would be used in the service of the priests on behalf of the nation before the Lord. They constructed it all with utmost care and detailed precision to the exacting specifications as required by the Lord.
	Ex 39:42+43, So the sons of Israel did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them. 
This showed that the people were able to follow the precise instruction of the Lord. Accordingly, in their complete obedience, they received His blessing as they followed through in their prescribed manner of obedience. The ability to obey was evident, but what of the desire to so honor the Lord?
	As was evident in this morning’s readings, Joshua was wholehearted in obediently following the instructions of the Lord. This was his complete service unto Jehovah. Joshua did all that the Lord required in the ongoing conquest of the Promised Land. Joshua chose to honor the Lord to the absolute nth degree of obedience and servitude, as we read in the 12th verse of Joshua, Chapter 11.
	Josh 11:12, And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them; just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 
It was fully apparent that Joshua carried out all that he had been told to do by the Lord through Moses. He was not going to do anything that would even slightly hinder the occupation of the Promised Land by the people of God. This was for the Lord’s glory to be accomplished and fulfilled by the Nation that Jehovah had brought into being after He had redeemed them from their slavery in Egypt.
	Again, we can hear the vital encouragement of Moses to the people in Deut 4:1+2. This left no wiggle room, no manner of dissension as to exactly what the Lord expected from His people. They were not to add their own ideas or their interpretations as to what the Lord meant and truly expected. 
So often in the case of our enlightened, modern age, we are rather disposed to question the commandments that we receive in the Word of God. We try to explain away the need for wholeheartedness before the Holiness of God. We add this or that and we subtract those things which make us uncomfortable. However, the fact is that the Word of the Lord stands firm and resolute! We cannot cherry pick those things that we like and disregard the rest. We must take it in its entirety! We must ponder and obey it just as it is. Otherwise, as we reject it, or try to rewrite it to our satisfaction, we will absolutely lose the whole life and purpose of God that it contains.
	Deut 4:1+2, "And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, in order that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. 
	Moses further encouraged the absolute obedience to the whole of God’s Word in verses 5-9 of this 4th Chapter of Deuteronomy. He made it abundantly clear as to why the people, including you and me, need to cling to and honor the Word of the Lord with utmost filial obedience and determination.
Deut 4:5-9, See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' "For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him? "Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? "Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. 
	Take in and have established within us the core reason that we must hear and abide by the every Word of God. There is so much at stake in the course of our obedience to His commandments with all our body, soul, mind, and spirit. …So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' "For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?
    	It is the testimony of the Lord that is invested in us, His people! We are on display to the whole of creation as to what the Lord has done in Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son! It is His glory that will be seen as His people honor and obey Him and fully carry forth with all that the Lord has given us in His Word. …that is your wisdom and your understanding….
	We have the encouragement of the Lord to obedience throughout the Pentateuch as in Deut 7:1+2. Herein, once again, is the means of Jehovah to bring complete judgment upon those vile nations who inhabited the Land of His Promise to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob. The plight of these Canaanites had been sealed by their utter disregard for anything that was holy in the sight of God. His direction was very clear and precise with no room to negotiate or theorize some other course of behavior.
	Deut 7:1+2, "When the Lord your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and shall clear away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 
    	Again this was made so extremely clear in Deut 12:29-32. The Lord did not hide the reason that these people were to be considered an extreme threat to the Nation of Israel. These nations, if not completely destroyed, would become a vile and corrupting disruption to His Chosen people’s relationship and worship and honor and filial obedience with and unto the Lord God Almighty. To do less than the full obliteration of these evil and depraved people was to compromise the Holiness of God with the filthy idolatry of mankind. The absolute purity of God could not abide alongside any sin and immorality and utter opposition to the beauty and the love and the glory of God. 
Deut 12:29-32, "When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,' How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?' "You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it. 
	Thus it fell upon Joshua to lead the nation into the Promised Land and to utterly destroy those nations which would otherwise be a snare and an entrapment to the people of God. This was further ordained in Deut 31:7, when it was evident that Moses would not be the one to lead the people across the River Jordan.
	Deut 31:7, Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 
    	Next, let us deal with an example of one who tried to shortcut the commandments of the Lord. This was later in the history of Israel, when they demanded to have a king, in order to be just like the rest of the nations. Please open to 1 Samuel Chapter 15, and we will be reading a number of verses in this account. We want to see how the Lord considers those who try to manipulate and to argue away His direct ordinances. We will begin with the first 3 verses.
	1 Sam 15:1-3, Then Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 'Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" 
    	Here again, the Lord was using His nation to bring judgment upon those people who had vilely abused the Israelites. Saul was to utterly destroy Amalek, with extreme prejudice as it is stipulated today. 
However, there was within Saul, that operation of thought and spirit which chose to ignore this directive of God. Saul thought that he knew better than the Lord how to deal with Amalek. We find this in verses 8-11 of this 15th Chapter of 1 Samuel. Saul did not have that wholehearted dedication to the commandments of the Lord that was evident in Joshua.
	1 Sam 15:8-11, And he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. 
    	When the prophet went out to deliver the edit of the Lord upon the head of Saul, Samuel explained the exact cause of why the Lord could no longer keep the kingship with Saul. We have this detailed for us in verses 19-23 of this chapter. The fact is fully put before our eyes and our hearts as to why God did not find the excuses of Saul to be valid or truthful. 
The exact matter is that of to whom the allegiance of Saul belonged. Rather than being absolutely and determinedly anchored in the Lord, in Saul’s heart, it was set upon his wants and his understanding and his self-exaltation which were all directly opposed to the Lord and His glory.
	1 Sam 15:19-23, "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?" Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal." And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king." 
	Our Lord Jesus dealt with this same matter of the justification of what mankind thinks is important in opposition to what the Lord declares as important. We see this throughout the Gospels as He often had to deal with the sanctimoniousness and the self-exaltation of the scribes and Pharisees. 
We have one example of this recorded in Matt 23:23. Herein, Jesus declared the truths of God that should have been foremost in the hearts and actions of those religious leaders.
    	Matt 23:23, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 
	 We conclude this morning with the actions proclaimed by the Apostle Paul in his dealings with the churches in Asia. This is documented for us in the 20th Chapter of the Book of Acts. We will begin with verses 18-21 wherein the Apostle categorically stated that he faithfully taught the Gospel message to the people as would completely honor the Lord Jesus and God the Father.
Acts 20:18-21, And when they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
    	And he concluded his witness of faithfulness unto both God and the churches in verses 26+27. This was despite the fact that this wholehearted commitment to God and His Word would soon cost him his life. 
Acts 20:26+27, "Therefore I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men. "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 
He was faithful to the end as was true of Joshua and Moses and those faithful Prophets and Apostles. They would not let their ideas and their concepts and their thoughts stand between them and complete obedience to the Word of God that was given to them. They honored and obeyed the Lord with all their hearts and minds and beings. They followed through with the every ordinance of God. They set themselves apart from the defiled consequences of this age in order for the complete and manifested glory of God to be evidenced in their lives, for His sake Alone. So be it!
Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Ps 71:19. For Thy righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, Thou who hast done great things; O God, who is like Thee? Amen.