“But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them, then know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive them out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the LORD your God has given you. [Joshua 23.12-13]
There are those who believe the Bible, and this passage from Joshua, is about race. Nothing is further from the truth.
Joshua's warning here is not about race or nationality, but about spiritual purity.
Spiritual purity has everything to do with faith. Israel's whole deal with God centers around Abraham and Abraham's whole deal with God was about faith.
The Bible, taken in its entirety and without need for supporting documentation, demonstratively reveals God's love for, and plan to redeem, the entire human race. This is first confirmed beginning with the earliest Messianic prophecies in Genesis and then fleshed-out in the person of Jesus.
Israel carried the title "chosen" because of Abraham. Again, Abraham's legacy was and is faith. All Israel's history then points us to Christ, Who, unequivocally and unironically taught "faith." All who operate in faith in Christ are the fulfillment of Israel's prophetic existence.
Any teaching that denies God's entire Word as it reveals God's love for the world is simply and eternally short-sighted and is to be avoided. Joshua's warning above is a timeless reminder about spiritual purity. It has nothing to do with race whatsoever.
Father in heaven, may the Truth of Your entire Word transcend short-sighted fallacies arising from out-of-context focus!
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