Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Joshua chapter 1 as we continue our study through the Word of God and we begin our second time through God’s Word verse-by-verse. This is where we began almost 14 years ago and what an adventure it has been. Now, we have just completed our study through the five books of Moses or the Pentateuch. The book of Genesis is the book of Beginnings. Here we saw the beginning of creation, of man and woman, of marriage, all that was good. And we also saw the beginning of sin, of murder, of polygamy, of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel and much more in regards to beginnings. For the believer, we too have new beginnings in Christ, the old is passed away and all has become new in Him!
Then we moved into the book of Exodus as God delivered His people from their bondage in Egypt. This is a beautiful picture of God’s redemption of His people, not only the Jews, but you and me being redeemed from the bondage of sin that this world had us in!
From there we moved to the book of Leviticus, and this book focused on the priestly duties. For us, the book of Leviticus pictures our fellowship and worship of God, that we can only approach God through the shedding of blood, through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, through Jesus and His finished work!
Next we studied the book of Numbers that focused on the wilderness wanderings for the children of Israel because of their unbelief. For us as Christians, I believe the picture being painted is the testing and trials we face as God’s people. You see, the situations we face are both trials and testing and how we respond to them will determine which one it is in our lives. You see, Satan brings about trials as he tries to draw us away from God, to get us to do things that are not pleasing in God’s eyes. On the other hand, testing relates to the same situation and yet, if we are obedient to the Lord, if we walk by faith trusting in Him, it will draw us closer to God. And even if we do fail and yet learn from it, draw closer to Him through it, it is still a test to show us what is in our heart and cause us to depend more on Him!
And we just finished up the book of Deuteronomy where Moses reviewed the Law of God before the next generation who were to enter into the Promise Land. For us, I believe the picture is that of obedience to the Lord!
And tonight we begin the book of Joshua, the first of the 12 historical books that cover Joshua through Esther. This is a continuation from the book of Deuteronomy as the mantle of leadership is passed from Moses to Joshua. And, once again we will see that this book is rich with spiritual lessons we can apply to our lives. It is as Paul said regarding the things that happened to the children of Israel in I Corinthians 10:11, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” You see, these things happened to them and we can learn from them and folks, if we don’t learn from the past we will be prone to make the same mistakes as they have done! (See also Romans 15:4).
Let me set the stage for this book we are starting tonight. Moses has been leading the children of Israel for 40 years now, he is 120 years old and now, this Law-giver was going to pass off the scene, he was going to die. Joshua will now lead the children of Israel into the Promise Land. They are on the boarder of Canaan and that is as far as Moses could take them, this great Law-giver of Israel. The name, “Joshua” means, “YAHWEH IS SALVATION” and his Greek name, interestingly enough, is Jesus, (IESOUS)!
Folk’s, that is exactly what the Bible teaches regarding our salvation. The Law cannot save us, it can only show us how far short we come to God’s standard of righteousness, which is perfection. Only Joshua or Jesus can save us from our sins. In John 1:17 we are told, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Grace is unmerited favor and thus, we don’t deserve to be saved but God freely extends that gift to us, and that is the truth, that is what Jesus taught! Paul makes this point regarding the grace of God extended to us in Romans 8:2-4, where he wrote, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
That is what the Lord has done for us and if you still think the Law can save, listen to what Paul wrote in Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” I think that is very clear, the Law does not save us but it does expose our sin!
Then why have the Law in the first place? That is a great question. It is not only there to show us what God requires and to expose our sin, but as Paul reminds us in Galatians 3:23-26, “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” You see, the Law shows us we are sinners, that there is nothing we can do about our condition and thus, it drives us into the arms of our Savior, into the arms of Jesus! The Law is good and we are not and thus, we need the righteousness of Christ imputed or poured into our lives by faith!
I like the way that Alan Redpath ties this all together as he wrote, “In other words, the deliverance from Egypt was only in preparation for the enjoyment of Canaan. The Passover, the shedding of the blood, the crossing of the Red Sea, the destruction of Pharaoh’s hosts, all would have been useless unless they led to the place of rest in Canaan. Furthermore, it was only by possession of the land of Canaan that the promise to Abraham could be fulfilled.”
I believe the book of Joshua is a beautiful picture of the blessings and victories that God’s people can obtain as they walk by faith. It truly is a Spirit-filled life or a life that is controlled by the Spirit of God and that is where we will find those victories in the battles we face! That is what Canaan, for us, is all about. Tragically, many Christians live in a wilderness and rarely move into Canaan!
Now I do understand that some feel that Canaan is a picture of Heaven, but I disagree. Even some of the old hymns speak of it that way, like the famous Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Listen to a part of this song:
I looked over Jordan, and what did I see
Comin’ for to carry me home?
A band of angels, comin’ after me
Comin’ for to carry me home.
Folk’s, I hope that Canaan isn’t a picture of Heaven because look at all the battles that are going on in Canaan! I don’t expect there to be any battles in Heaven except when Michael the Archangel casts Satan and his demons out of Heaven at the midway point of the 7 year Tribulation Period! And we don’t fight in that battle! Again, I believe it is a picture of the Spirit-filled life and the battles we face as we walk in the Spirit! Paul even speaks of this in Galatians 5:16-17 as he wrote, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
Let me also share this with you. An interesting book to compare Joshua to is the book of Ephesians. In the first 3 chapters of Ephesians Paul shows us all the spiritual blessings that we have in the heavenly places in Christ. Then, in Ephesian 4:1 we are told, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
In other words, these are the blessings that God has for you, now walk accordingly, walk in the Spirit. How can we do that? By surrendering to Him, by putting on the whole armor of God, by walking carefully in this life. Why the full armor of God? Because of the spiritual battles we will face as we walk in the Spirit! But don’t forget that the victory we have is only found in Jesus. It is as Paul said in Romans 8:37-39, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” May we not forget that! You see, what we need to do is just as the children of Israel needed to do, walk by faith, take those steps and see what God will do in you and through you for His glory!
One last point and that is who wrote the book of Joshua? The Jewish Talmud tells us that it was Joshua, but we can’t be dogmatic about that. I do believe it was Joshua as you look at how this book was written, but in reality the Holy Spirit wrote these words through Joshua. Also, the last part of the book, the last part of chapter 24 we see Joshua die and Eleazar the high priest die and thus, many feel that Eleazar’s son, Phinehas wrote the last five verses of Joshua! With that said, let’s begin reading in Joshua chapter 1, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us as we study through His Word!
VERSES 1-2
Moses served the Lord faithfully for 40 years, 40 tough years and this is all the recognition he gets? “Moses My servant is dead.” Why is that? Because he was the servant of God and servants are not exalted, their master is and in this case it is the Lord who worked through Moses and will now work through Joshua, another servant of God!
And notice the easy transition from Moses to Joshua, that is how it should be if God is on the throne and not man. Matthew Henry wrote this in regards to this issue, “God will change hands to show that whatever instrument He uses, He is not tied to any.” Also, we see A. W. Tozer write, “When a man of God dies, nothing of God dies. When a man of God fails, nothing of God fails.” I think that is an important lesson for us to understand. That we are not to exalt the men that God uses but to exalt the God who uses men!
And notice, Moses is DEAD and NOW Joshua; it is time for you to rise up and lead these people! Joshua served the Lord under Moses for 40 years and God was preparing him for the work he was now to do, but he was not going to accomplish it in his own strength. In Deuteronomy 34:9 we are told, “Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.” Joshua was empowered by the Spirit of God to do the work of God and folk’s, we too must be empowered by the Spirit of God if we are going to do the work of God!
VERSE 3
Notice how this plays out here. God has “given” them the land, past tense. In other words, it is a done deal! But they must also walk by faith into the land, believing in the promises God has given to them. You see, God’s promise and man’s responsibility working side-by-side!
The same is true for us as Christians. God has given us these victories and we must walk by faith. Alan Redpath wrote the following in regards to the Christians victory in Christ and stepping out in faith. He wrote:
Full blessing in the Christian life is not bestowed except to eager, hungry people who press in to receive it. True, God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, but the blessing is in heavenly places, and these are places to which Satan has access, and where he can still cast all his fiery darts. God does not bless His child unless He sees him eager for the blessing . . . He desires every one of His children to press in against all the assaults of the enemy, that we may lay hold of that which is our inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that every foe we shall ever meet in that battle already has been met and conquered by our Joshua.
- Alan Redpath
Here’s the thing. In these battles we face: lust, pride, greed and-so-on, God has given us the victory but unless we step forward and tread upon that territory, giving it to the Lord, we won’t see the victory! Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Do you see that Paul says we can do ALL things through Christ and not apart from Him! Also, in I John 5:4-5 we are told, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” Thus, may we walk by faith in the Spirit and see the salvation that the Lord will bring into our lives!
VERSES 4-5
Look at all this land that God had promised them. It was all theirs! One commentator estimated all the land that God gave the children of Israel to be about 30,000 square miles! And this amazed me, I did not realize this but in Solomon’s day they only occupied 3,000 square miles or 1/10th of all that God had promised them!
Before we come down too hard on the children of Israel, I wonder how much God has given to us that we are not possessing! Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” You see, I think many times we don’t realize all that we have in our hands, all that God has given to us and all we must do is walk by faith!
It is as this story illustrates for us. There was a man who tried to rob a convenience store and did manage to get away with $125 as he held the clerk up with a gun. He was finally arrested for his crime. Interestingly enough, the old gun that he used to rob the store was an old Civil War-era pistol and it was wroth around $23,000! Look at the treasure that he had right there in his hand and he did not even realize it and many Christians are like that!
Now fear can cause us to stop moving forward and thus, God tells Joshua that He will be with them, He will not leave them, He will lead them all the way! It is as Paul reminds us in Hebrews 13:5-6, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” You see, with a perspective like that, nothing will stop you from walking in the Lord!
VERSES 6-9
Why do you think the Lord told Joshua in these 4 verses to be strong and of good courage three times? Because Joshua saw himself as weak and he was fearful of what was ahead! “How can God use a person like that?” Because it is much easier for God to use a man who knows he can’t do it on his own and yet he still will walk by faith than one who is self-confident, self-assured, self-reliant, is full of self! You see, God wants Joshua to be strong in the Lord and not in himself. And as he rests in the Lord he will see the victories that God will give to him and I believe the same is true for each of us. And think about this. What Moses couldn’t accomplish in 40 years, Joshua was going to do in just 3 days, crossing over into the land of Canaan, the Promise Land!
In their wilderness wanderings, who was leading the children of Israel? It was the Lord by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day! Now, as the children of Israel prepare to enter into the Promise Land, who is going to lead them? Once again it is going to be the Lord but not by a pillar of fire by night or a cloud by day but by His Word! Now, as Christians, who is leading us? Again, it is the Lord by His Spirit through His Word! In Psalm 119 we are told, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. . . . Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:105, 133. And of course in II Timothy 3:16-17 we are told, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Folk’s, God told Joshua that if you want the victory, then know My Word, make it part of your daily life. Mediate upon it, extract all the spiritual nutrients you can from it to help you stay spiritually healthy and then walk in them, “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8.
In regards to meditating upon God’s Word it does not mean turning off your brain or empting your mind, but thinking upon God’s Word, praying about it, going over and over it in your mind so it becomes part of your life and just extracting all you can from it. One person put it like this, “Mediating on the Word of God is to your Spirit, what digestion is to your body.” Let God’s Word be nourishing to your spirit as you allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you and open up God’s Word to you! Stand strong in God’s Word, don’t deviate from it and see the victory that God will bring into your life!
As we see here, the end result of obedience to God’s Word, walking as He leads, and that is the blessings. But obedience is born out of trust and the only way you will be able to trust the Lord is when you get to know Him. Say you were blind and you got a new Seeing Eye dog. It is going to take some time for you to learn to trust him, that he knows what he is doing, that he is going to stop at an intersection. But the more you spend time with him the more you will get to know him and you will learn to trust in him even though you can’t see where you are going, but he can! You will end up obeying his leading and that is faith! The same is true with the Lord. The more we spend time with Him, the more we allow God’s Word to strengthen us and encourage us, the more we will take those steps of obedience in accordance with His Word!
And the result of trusting in the Lord, walking as He leads, is His blessings will flow into your life. It is as Psalm 1:1-3 tells us, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” May we do that, may we walk according to the high calling by which we have been called, trusting in the Lord as He leads us!
And look at Joshua 1:9 once again. There is the encouragement, God is with us, He is by our side, He is leading us, just as He was with Joshua and the children of Israel! Paul tells us in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” The reality is this and we have talked about it before. There is no one who can stop the work of God in our lives except us! We can harden our hearts to what God is doing, we can ignore God and that will halt what God is trying to do in us and through us! Thus, may we learn to walk by faith, trusting in the Lord and see all He can and will do in us and through us for His glory!
VERSES 10-11
Can you imagine the excitement, the anticipation of entering into the Promise Land? They waited for 40 years and now in just 3 days they would see the fulfillment of what God had promised them. Yes, they could have entered 40 years earlier, but unbelief kept them out and that generation who refused to enter by faith died in the wilderness. Now it was time for this next generation to enter in, to walk by faith into the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
For us as Christians, God gives to us promises and sometimes it is a 3-day wait and other times it may be longer, 11 years or more! But He is faithful. For us, as God makes the promise and He prepares us for the work during that time, when He tells us to go do we stop in unbelief and wander in the wilderness until we are willing to walk by faith? I think we have all experienced that!
For me, you know the story of how God brought me up here from Chicago and no, it was not on I-43! Right after I got saved God spoke to my heart and told me that He would bring me to Wisconsin one day to be a pastor, that is all He told me. My wife, my pastor and his wife were the only ones who knew that. And for 11 years or so He was preparing me for the work and then when He called me to go, there was an instant of hesitation, but I stood upon God’s promise to me and I walked by faith and here we are almost 14 years into the ministry here in Wisconsin! All the children of Israel had was God’s promise to them, His Word and folk’s, that is what we have! God prepares the work for us, He prepares us for the work and then He calls us to go and walk by faith!
VERSES 12-15
Remember back in Numbers chapter 32 where Ruben, Gad and the ½ tribe of Manasseh told Moses that they did not want to enter into the Promise Land. The cities, the land that the children of Israel captured on the east side of the Jordan River was fertile, good grazing land for their livestock. And they were happy where they were at! This is an amazing statement by these 2½ tribes after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years because of unbelief and not entering into this land. And now, they were doing what their fathers had done!
And Moses was not happy, not at all! He felt that their actions, their compromise would discourage the rest of the nation and no one would enter in. Thus, maybe another 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and Moses couldn’t take that; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But they told Moses that they would enter in, the fighting men, to assist their brethren in the battles and once they obtained their victories in Canaan, they would return home to the east side of the Jordan River where their families remained. And Moses accepted their request and the vow that they made. And so Joshua is now reminding these 2½ tribes of the promise they made to Moses, that it was now time to fulfill this promise and come alongside and assist their brethren in the battles that they will face in Canaan!
These 2½ tribes that were living outside of the land of promise are a picture of Christians who refuse to enter into the land of promise or that Spirit-filled life, that walk of faith. They are content to remain on the boarder of the Promise Land and yet refuse to go any further. And like these 2½ tribes, the enemy is quick to attack them. For Ruben, Gad and the ½ tribe of Manasseh, they were the first to go into captivity because they didn’t have the protection of the nation. And for Christian’s who live outside of the Promise Land, they are outside of the protection of the body of Christ and it is easy for them to be taken into captivity. They are walking in the power of their flesh instead of the Spirit!
Now, why couldn’t Moses or Joshua force these 2½ tribes to enter into the Promise Land? Because you can’t force anyone to enter in just as you can’t force anyone to live a Spirit-filled life. Now what do I mean by a Spirit-filled life? One that is controlled by the Spirit of God, that we surrender our lives to Him, our will becomes His will in our lives as we walk by faith. Paul put it like this in Ephesians 5:15-21, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
You see, it is a walk of faith as we are obedient to the will of God for our lives. His will, not ours and in reality, His will becomes our will, as we desire to follow Him! And out of that there is the tremendous blessings of God that a life lived outside of the Promise Land, in the wilderness you might say, will never experience!
VERSES 16-18
These 2½ tribes tell Joshua that they will follow him, they will assist their brethren in these battles as they promised Moses, but they did have one pre-requisite. Here we go again, but this is a good one. This precondition was that they would follow Joshua as long as Joshua was following the Lord. Folks, there is nothing wrong with that, in fact, it is 100% correct! Yes, they did recognize Joshua as their leader as long as he was walking with the Lord, if he didn’t walk with the Lord, then they were not going to follow him any longer!
Tragically today we see Christians follow pastors and teachers that are not following the Lord! How can I say that? Because if what they are saying, if what they are teaching is not found in the Word of God, then it is not of God and they are not following God but they many times end up teaching doctrines of demons! And if you don’t believe it then just turn on TBN and watch the doctrines of demons many of these teachers are speaking forth and yet, people are still following them! Folk’s, that is why I tell you to search the Scriptures, to test them to see if what I am saying, what I am teaching can be found in the Word of God! And don’t exalt me, I am a servant of God just as you are and as a servant, we are not exalted, but our Master is, Jesus is! Don’t follow leaders who are leading you away from God, and they would never say they are but if their teaching is contrary to God’s Word, I don’t care what they are saying, that is exactly what they are doing! We need to use the discernment that God has given to us! What an important lesson for us to apply to our lives!
One last point as we close tonight. Notice the encouragement these 2½ tribes give to Joshua as they told him, “only be strong and of good courage.” Yes folk’s, even leaders need to be encouraged. They need your prayers. Maybe these 2½ tribes saw that Joshua was a little anxious with the task that was before him, would the people follow him. And they are encouraging Joshua that they would follow him as long as he followed the Lord. Thus, don’t be fearful because God is with you and we are following! I like their hearts in this!
In Nehemiah 4:10-23 we are told, “Then Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.’ And our adversaries said, ‘They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.’ So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, ‘From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.’ Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.’ And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.
Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, ‘The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.’ So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. At the same time I also said to the people, ‘Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.’ So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.”
Did you see that? The enemy was discouraging the work and Nehemiah; their leader was encouraging them. The work was difficult; they were trying to rebuild the walls after their return from the Babylonian captivity. But this work was not to be done on an individual basis, but they were to work together in this task. If one was in trouble, the enemy was trying to get in, they would sound the alarm for others to come and assist them. Do you know what we call this in the church today? A fictional story but the reality is, it should be the body of Christ working together for the betterment of the entire body! That is what it is about folk’s. Christ is the head, He is leading us and we don’t exalt the part we play in the body of Christ but we use it to help the entire body! We need to come to the aide of each other. If there is someone in need, go to their side, encourage them, walk with them, help them.
What a great lesson for us to learn and apply to our lives. And let me say this, here at Calvary Chapel I am blessed and we are blessed. We do see that, not a perfect body because I don’t believe there is one, but a body that is working together for the glory of God and the edification of each member, looking out not for our own personal interests and needs, but of the needs of others! Paul put it like this in Philippians 2:1-4, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Lord, help us to put on the mind of Christ and be others centered instead of self-centered as we walk by faith in that Spirit-filled life!