Take your Bibles with me tonight and turn to Joshua 1. Joshua 1 as we continue to learn about these great stories of the Bible.
We are going to start a series of stories in the Book of Joshua tonight. Joshua is the story of the conquest of Canaan - the conquest of the promised land. It is a part of Israel's history that is constantly referred to in the New Testament. For instance, Hebrews chapter 3 and chapter 4 say this:
[!bible] Hebrews 3:12, 16-18 - KJV 12. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 16. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18. And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
[!bible] Hebrews 4:1 - KJV
- Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
That is obviously talking about the events we are talking about here. The spying out the land of Canaan. The bad report. The forty years of wondering. The death in the wilderness. Then the entering in of the land.
In the New Testament, it makes it clear that Canaan is a picture of something significant to us.
God had an inheritance for the Israelites - it was promised to them back with Abraham, repeated to Isaac and Jacob and Moses. But they had never entered in. They had never taken there Canaan.
In this book we are going to see them do that.
Let's go ahead and read all of Joshua 1 tonight.
[!bible] Joshua 1:1-18 - KJV
- Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
- Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
- Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
- From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
- There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
- Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
- Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
- This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
- Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
- Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
- Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.
- And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,
- Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.
- Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;
- Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.
- And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
- According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.
- Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.
I want us to work through this story tonight and consider what it teaches us. This story has four parts, each of them has all kinds of application for us and so we will look at it in four points.
The first thing I want you to consider is...
Look at verse 2 again:
[!bible] Joshua 1:2 - KJV 2. Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
There are two problems at the outset of this chapter:
The first problem is that Moses is dead. Moses was a legend. Moses was likely the greatest man, outside of Christ, who ever lived. His accomplishments were amazing. Moses took Israel from slavery in Egypt all the way to the edge of the promised land, and when the people had no faith, it was Moses who led them around the wilderness for forty years until they died.
Moses is dead. The strong temptation in Israel was always to go back.
Remember several times in the wilderness the people were like "I don't like this, let's go back to Egypt. Remember all the free stuff we had in Egypt."
And now that Moses was no longer with them, the temptation would be for them to want to go back to Moses' leadership. But Moses is dead. Moses is not coming back.
One preacher said "God buries His workers, but His work goes on."
God's work is bigger than the workers who do it and listen God's work is for today. God's work is for tomorrow.
There is a great danger to try to plant a flag in the ground and say "I liked this leader, I liked this time, I want to stay here forever. Nothing can change." But the problem is God's work is moving on.
We take a lot of trains these days and do you know what is interesting about trains? They keep moving whether you are on them or not. If you get off at a station you like for a breath of fresh air and you linger too long - that train absolutely will leave without you. The train moves on.
And God's work moves on. If we say "I like it here" or "I like it back then" - the train of God's work is going to keep going and leave us there with nothing but hollow memories.
The task God has before us is a now task. Joshua was very different than Moses. God's work through Joshua was very different.
Moses was a lawgiver. Joshua was a conqueror. But God was behind both of them.
It's not our job to embalm the past. It's our job to learn from the past, to apply the lessons from the past to the present and the future.
The past can't be an anchor to hold us back, but it should be a rudder to guide us.
So the first problem is Moses is gone, are the people going to follow Joshua or are they going to try to go back?
The second problem we see in this verse is there is a land for them to go into, but that land is occupied.
Israel was, at this point, a bunch of people who wandered around in the wilderness. Canaan, at this time, was a pretty advanced society. They had castles. They had walled cities. They had advanced government. They had armies. They had farms.
There were something like 31 different kings in Canaan. 31 different city states that Israel would have to defeat one by one.
God's plan that He revealed to Moses and that Joshua was following through was to go right in the middle. To cut them in half. Divide and conquer.
So the first big foe they were going to have to face was Jericho. Jericho was a giant city with giant walls so wide you could ride chariots around on the top of them. It was well fortified. In other words it was impenetrable. It was an impossible task.
And that was just battle number one, after Jericho they had to do it thirty more times.
So there was this great danger in Israel to want to go back. Or to look at the task before them and say "God, this is too big for us - do we have to do this? Do we have to march into this battle?"
There was a danger of them shrinking back in unbelief and not taking the land God had for them. There was a danger for them hunkering in cowardice and relative comfort.
That's the danger.
Again, Hebrews applies this story to us. God has an inheritance for us. God has a Canaan for us. But if we don't believe, if we try to stop short and not follow God - we will never get to enter into the rest God has for us.
The danger. That's the first point.
The second point I want to make is...
Joshua was facing problems, and God came to him with promises.
In verses 3-6 God gives three specific promises to Joshua. These are three promises that are not really new. God gave similar promises to Abraham and Jacob and Moses. But not these specifics.
The first promise God gave to Joshua is that the land would be theres. You see that in verses 3-4. God basically said every part of that land, which we now call the middle east - was the right of Israel's to inherit. From the border of Egypt all the way up to the bottom of Turkey and all the way over into what is now Iraq. God said all of it is yours.
Everywhere where you step your feet - I'm giving it to you.
Listen, this is the most significant real estate on planet earth. This is the place where three different continents - Europe, Africa and Asia come together. If there was a world geography Monopoly - this land promised to Israel would be Boardwalk and Park Place.
The land is going to be yours. That's the first promise. The second promise is found in verse 5 where God said:
[!bible] Joshua 1:5 - KJV 5. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
God said, you are going to defeat your enemies. I'm going to go with you in battle and you will win. No one is going to be able to stand before you.
Now I want to stop here and make an important point. Do you realize that there were times in history where God just wiped out His enemies?
How many soldiers had to fight against Sodom and Gamorrah? None. God did all of that.
There were times later when giant armies came against Israel and God took them out with just a few angels.
How many of you believe that if God wanted to, He could have just puffed on Canaan and wiped them all out? God could have just cleared the deck for Israel. No battles necessary.
Could God have done that? But was that God's plan for Israel?
No! God wanted them to fight. God wanted them to face their enemies. God wanted them to believe and take that belief into battle.
And so it is for us church. There are battles we have to fight. There are times we have to step out in faith and do things that are big and scary, counting on the promises of God.
God doesn't promise to remove the obstacles for us. He promises to give us the strength to fight them and to ensure our victory - but we have to do our part.
There is a third promise here in verse 6 and that is that Joshua would divide the land among the tribes. I think this is mostly for Joshua - it's like God is saying to Joshua "you are going to make it through this."
Now, one interesting thing is that if you look at the rest of the book of Joshua, it is God fulfilling these promises:
God keeps His promises - but we have to follow them. We have to live by them.
So we've talked about the problems, we've talked about the promises. Let's look next at...
Or in other words, what did God want Joshua to do?
God is going to prescribe at least three things in this chapter.
First, in verses 6, 7 and 9 - three times - God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous.
Listen, whatever we do for the Lord you have to do with strength and with courage.
There are always adversaries. There are always problems. There are always fights to be fought. And if we shrink back and wimp out from them - we'll never enter our promised land.
This isn't just for Joshua either. Paul ended the book of Ephesians with this challenge:
[!bible] Ephesians 6:10 - KJV 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
1 Corinthians 16:13 says this:
[!bible] [1 Corinthians 16:13 - KJV](https://bible-api.com/1 Corinthians+16:13?translation=kjv) 13. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
Do you you know what "Quit you like men" means? It means "act like a man."
Paul told Timothy to "be strong" and to "endure hardness" like a good soldier. He told Him
[!bible] [2 Timothy 1:7 - KJV](https://bible-api.com/2 Timothy+1:7?translation=kjv) 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
We need courage too church. It takes courage to stand for the Lord. It takes courage to share the gospel. It takes courage to fight against peer pressure. It takes courage to follow the Lord into some of the places He leads us.
When following God get's scary, do you know what you need to do? be strong and courageous.
So the first thing God prescribed for Joshua was to be strong and courageous. The second thing God prescribed is found in verse 8. Look at that verse:
[!bible] Joshua 1:8 - KJV 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
God told Joshua that he needed to have courage and that he needed to have God's word in his mouth.
Now, isn't that a weird place to carry your Bible?
But there is a meaning here. The hebrew word for meditate literally means "to mutter." Every been deep in thought and just kind of muttered about it?
"ooh, I see....Maybe that will work....I don't know."
That's how we are supposed to treat our Bible. We are to think about it, to meditate on it, to mutter it in our mouth.
It's like God was telling Joshua - here are some promises - now you put them in your bag and you chew on them.
Do you want to be a successful Christian? Pick up a chewing habit. As you go about your day, put a little Bible in there and just chew on it. Get every last bit out of it.
Church, it's not enough for us to know the promises - we have to live on them. They have to be our daily bread. Man shall not live by bread alone but by what? Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Joshua had to be strong and courageous. Joshua had to meditate on the word. One more thing. Look at verse 9:
[!bible] Joshua 1:9 - KJV 9. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua had to remember that God is with Him. He wasn't going alone. He had God with him.
What a promise - and we have the same promise. "And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20)
Right?
for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)
Remember God is with you and if He is with you, you don't have to fear. He can lead you through the valley of the shadow of death. He can set you up a picnic right in the presence of your enemies. He is with you.
So Joshua had to be strong and courageous, chew on the word and remember God was with Him.
That's a pretty good prescription for us if we want to get our inheritance.
Alright, number 1 was the problems. Number 2 was the promises. Number 3 was the prescription. Let me give you number 4 and bring this home:
The rest of the chapter gives us what Joshua did next. He brought the elders of the people together and he told them to get ready, because they were going to be moving out in three days.
Joshua did not waste time. He said "forty years is long enough - let's go." Let's move out and take our inheritance. Let's go over Jordan and take what is ours.
But there were a few people that had a problem - namely the two and a half tribes that Moses had told could stay on that side of Jordan. So in verses 11-15 Joshua is dealing with them.
They wanted to stay on the side of Jordan, it was good enough for them - but Joshua said "you still have to fight with us."
By the way, it was a mistake for them to stay on that side - they would more or less be wiped out long before the rest of Israel.
The chapter ends with the people recognizing the leadership of Joshua. Look at verses 16-18:
[!bible] Joshua 1:16-18 - KJV 16. And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 17. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 18. Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.
We started the message tonight talking about problems. The problems were Moses wasn't here anymore and the enemies were.
But God gave them a leader - God gave them Joshua and we are going to see them follow Joshua into the promised land.
Let me quickly say this - Joshua is a picture for us of Jesus. Actually, the name Joshua is the Hebrew version of the greek name Jesus.
Moses brought them the law, but couldn't bring them into the promised land. Only Joshua could do that.
And for us as Christians, the law cannot save us. The law can make us aware of our sins. It can show us where we don't measure up. but it cannot save us.
Do you know what? It cannot sanctify us either. The law cannot bring us into spiritual Canaan. You can't rules people into being right with God. Rules can show people where they aren't right with God - but they have no power of themselves.
Our salvation and our sanctification is not by the law - but by our Joshua - by Jesus Christ.
Are you following Christ? Are you inheriting your Canaan?
Let's stand for a time of prayer.