Joshua 24:31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.

Joshua was a very effective leader! What was his secret?

He understood clearly his role as a servant of God. He never confused who the leader was in his relationship with God. He demonstrated a complete subserviance to the commands of the heavenly Captain of the Hosts, whom he met at the beginning of the campaign.

Joshua 5:14 (and the LORD said to Joshua) as the captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
5:15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Joshua was a military man, and he immediately recognized Who carried the greater authority!
In this encounter Joshua received some pretty strange instruction as to how to conquer Jericho, but Joshua never argued. He didn't try to tell the LORD that things just weren't done that way. He didn't argue like Moses before the burning bush. He listened to the commands and then set about to organize the people so that they would be fulfilled.

He fully trusted God, and fully followed His directions.

God told him that all males needed to bear the physical sign they were partakers of the covenant. Joshua could have countered with "but Lord that will render them weak for several days. Why would you ask us to do that NOW, in the very face of the enemy?
No, Joshua didn't argue. Not only did he NOT argue, he showed so much trust and confidence in God, that no one else seems to have argued either. The whole congregation seems to have willingly and loyally obeyed all Joshua's commands as coming from the LORD.

That is FAITH!
Being certain that God is always right and has our best interest in mind.
Being certain that to follow God's commands and directives is the best way to do things.
Moving forward to do God's will fully confident that He will enable it to be done.
Doing what God asks, even when it doesn't make sense, but having full faith that it is the right and only way.
It is full submission of self under the control of the LORD!

That's the faith that brings down walls! It's the faith that brings victory,
It's the faith that inspires others who see our relationship with God is genuine.

The Last Lesson
Lesson 13, Choose Ye, This Day.

The book of Joshua is basically a book of success!
A fulfillment of God's promises.

It's a grand ending
A covenant made to Abraham that his descendants would inhabit the land is fulfilled.
A promise to a nation of slaves that they would be delivered and led to the land of "milk and honey, had come true.
The promise that God would enable them to take the land was fulfilled.

All the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel came to pass, none failed. (Joshua 21:45)

But sadly it is not the end of the story.
As long as Joshua and those who had worked with him, were alive, Israel remained faithful to God. But then comes the book of Judges -- with its cyclic falling away, resulting in loss of God's protection, and enemies harassing them, Israel crying out to God to deliver them, God sends help and delivers them, they serve God for a short while, then fall away and the cycle begins all over again, and again, and again.

What is the key to success?
What would (in their future) always causes serious trouble to come upon them?

Joshua feared for the people that they would become careless and drift into idolatry and adopt the practices of the remaining nations around them, and thus be led to depart from God. With deep solicitude he exhorted them: "Take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." (Joshua 23:6)
"You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them, you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to the LORD your God as you have done this day. (Joshua 23:7-8)

Near the end of his life, Joshua again calls all the people together to exhort them to remain faithful to God.
There were danger signs already that were spelling future departure from God.

1. Once the army was disbanded and the tribes sent to their inheritance, they were to continue to clear the land of idolaters. But they had largely failed to do so.
"There remained yet very much land to be possessed" (Joshua 13:1). This was a rebuke to them. God would have had this land filled with His own people who loved and feared Him, but to their shame the land was not taken up, and the idolatrous Canaanites were permitted to live among them and gain strength, until God's name became less and less a power in their midst, and His glory less and less manifested with them. {see 9MR 168.2}

2, The Israelites, themselves were not entirely free of having other gods in their lives.
Joshua admonished them "Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel. (Joshua 24:23)

Joshua did his best to help them remember the true God.

He had them build several "witnesses" -- Memorials to remember crossing the Jordan, (Joshua 4:20) memorials in Shechem as reminder of the blessing and curses ceremony, and another at the time of his last message to them. On one memorial He had the whole law of Moses written on it's stones (Joshua 8:32) He read the whole law of Moses to them at least on two occasions.
He was recounting their history several times, emphasizing God's power and leadership, urging them to remember. He warned them that just like God faithfully fulfilled all the blessings, even so, when they depart from God, He will also fulfill the curses. (Joshua 23:15-16)

He calls them to choose to serve the true God.

Choose ye this day Whom you will serve.

It's a matter of deliberate choice. Before the temptation comes, determine in your heart whom you will serve. Then when temptation comes the answer is "no" I've chosen to serve my God, and Him only. This choice is not just a one time thing. It needs to be done daily, every morning before embarking on the days activities, choose whom you will serve, and ask Him to direct your day. Cling to Him!

Of ourselves we cannot serve God properly, but with Him, when we chose to walk with Him, His promises will be fulfilled.

It is actually titled, "Choose This Day!."

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15, NKJV).