Joshua 1 Verses 1 through 9 I) God Spoke To Joshua
Week #1 26 May 2010 Week 22 of Teaching Ministry
1Now 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, 2Moses 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. 3Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4From 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. 5There 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. 6Be 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. 7Only 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 withersoever thou goest. 8This 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. 9Have 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.
What an awesome experience it must have been for Joshua. God, The Great I Am, had spoke to Moses in the past, but now here He is speaking to Joshua! This was God’s new man for the job of delivering His people safely home into the “Promised Land”. The Generation of doubters and malfeasants had now passed, God’s people purged of those involved in the heathen acts of idolatry. It was now time for God’s people to move, and take what He had given them through the Promises spoken to Moses. Joshua himself had come of Spiritual Age, to lead in such a way that would be pleasing to God. An inheritance was about to be passed on, and claimed!
In his opening paragraph of his Commentary on the book of Joshua, Harold A. Ironside stated that “the book of Joshua is distinctly the book of the inheritance”. He went on to say that “Joshua links very intimately with the Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament”. We will further investigate that comparison further on down the road.
Let’s step back for a second…
Can anyone tell me the meaning of the name Joshua?
(Jehovah the Savior / or / Jehovah our Salvation /or/ “Yahweh Saves”)
1) As we open this Book of Joshua, we see the Divinely appointed Leader of God. His mission, to Lead or Pilot God’s chosen people out of the wilderness. His name, Joshua, the model or “old testament type of Jesus”, that God wanted to fill His purpose. Moses led the people to the very outermost boundaries of the Promised Land, but it was Joshua that took up where Moses left off.
2) Before we enter the study of Joshua, we must first understand the impact of these two people on us today. Thirty-six times in the Old Testament Moses is called “servant of the LORD.” He was servant in the sense of being totally loyal and obedient (with but one exception, Num. 20:10-13) to God’s commands. But the title was an honorable one; a “servant of the LORD” was a privileged person who could look to the Lord for protection, and who on occasion had a direct hearing of a divine message. GOD – Literally spoke to Moses.
3) Now, while the Relationship Moses had with God was not the same as the physical sight & manifested contact that the 1st Adam had with God in the garden, it was indeed none the less a relationship. Moses loved God, feared God and honored God. God also Loved Moses, once again calling him “My Servant”.
4) The scriptures tell us that God commanded Moses to climb Mount Nebo, where He (God) showed Moses the Land to which He promised His people.
5) We are told that Moses died there on that mount and that GOD buried him. God buried His servant; God loved this man, and in spite of his failure with the water at Meribah (Num. 20:10-13) – GOD Buried Moses. A symbol to us today of the importance of our faithfulness, the importance of obedience and the importance of devotion. That even though we travel in this flesh – GOD Loves us, He provides to us Mercy and Grace to cover our failures in His Son’s redemptive work at the Cross.
6) God said to Joshua, 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… Verses two & three obviously call Joshua into action, to get up and move out in military terms. Commanding him to get his troops formed up and all their belongings and head over the Jordon. However; if read too quickly and mechanically you may miss an important statement implying Authority, Ownership and Validation of Genesis 1. “Unto the land which I DO GIVE to them”. This statement implies that I YOUR GOD, have the Authority to carry out this transaction. That I YOUR GOD have current deed and title to this land and all that is. And finally, it validates the creation story by the previous statements. GOD gave this land to the nation of Israel. To that point, every place that the sole of their foot shall tread upon was theirs. Then at the end of verse three, He – Almighty God verifies and secures the promise He made to Moses. He spoke these words to Joshua, how reassuring it must have been for Joshua. I wonder if he (Joshua) contemplated the magnitude of the event at that time, or if he just stood in awe? God has fulfilled His Promise, sealed by His Word – the Truth of Life.
Manifested before their eyes, the Land they had dreamed of for many years. In verses 3 and 4, God lays out the real estate, giving Joshua the boundaries and borders of this new promise land.
7) In verse 5 God tells Joshua that “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 was saying to Joshua that NO Man from these other areas will stand in their way. That victory or conquest would be certain and somewhat easy if they keep their focus on God. When we go with God, He assumes all the risk, He shoulders the responsibility of Success, His Promises and Word are at stake. Once again, all He asks or commands is our Fear, Respect, Reverence, Praise and Obedience. He told Joshua, that just as He was with Moses, He would be with him, that God would not fail him, nor forsake Him.
a. Faith requires a level of submission that does not come easy. For wrapped in our faith, we must embolden our Trust in the unseen, unheard being of GOD. 1st – Trusting His written word to be True and Valid, literally breathed by our Heavenly Fathers own words to the humans holding the pen.
b. Faith requires a spiritually healthy level of Fear, Respect and Reverence for the Creator, while in awe of His power and wisdom revealed to us in all His creation.
c. Faith requires a level of reliance upon establishing and proving our Trust, we must move to rely on His ability to provide victories in the battles that we face every day.
d. Then our Faith should produce a heart of Thanksgiving, Praise and Obedience to the Father. That Obedience produces the Joy in our Father that He Blesses us then with Victories to vast to mention.
8) Verse 6 is awesome for those that love to study the Bible, because the King James version or interpretation of the original Hebrew text is quite intriguing. God told Joshua to be “strong and of good courage” which must have been so encouraging to Joshua. The God of the Universe was showing him, you have all this as your inheritance, this land my people will divide amongst themselves. Then the neat part, look at the tense in “which I sware unto their fathers to give them”. The King James says “sware” current tense that God sees time all in the same frame, which in itself is so deep we could park there for a night or two.
BUT, I would rather believe that GOD made his promise at that moment in time while speaking with Joshua. At that point in eternity present GOD made His promise known and concrete to the fathers of Israel. For their Faith had sealed their salvation in Christ’s Blood yet to be spilt. It is so wonderful, so delightful to study this concept in the light of the knowledge that God has given us through His word. The fathers of Israel heard God’s promise to deliver, the promise land. His promise of the Messiah yet to appear in eternity future was already known to God – as we have been told so many times, in God’s time and will.
To all those men that stood in Faith and Service to and with GOD. That at that very moment He rewarded their faith and obedience with the Promised Land. Verse six gives us a glimpse of the immensity and timeless state of Eternity from God’s perspective. All the while showing us the reward of Faithful Service, and Obedient Living… Praise God.
9) Verse seven we see God’s conditions of Israel’s acceptance of the Promised Land. God is saying here that total victory depended on FIRM and CONSTANT Obedience by Joshua and the people, to all the Laws of God. ***(For in God’s Economy of Time – Christ’s work on the cross had already been completed – Faith would save these people for the Spotless Permanent Lamb had already been slain in Eternity Future. Remember, from God’s perspective reality is Timeless)*** Notice that once again, God refers to Moses MY Servant, and the Laws that Moses delivered unto the people of Israel. One thing to remember here – Joshua and the people were to stand strong in GOD’s strength, God’s Power through His Word. He set the tone, and exhorted them that it would take a greater strength of character to obey His Word faithfully, than it would be to win battles on the battlefield.
10) GOD Cannot Fail! His Word is the Only Truth! Verse eight informed Joshua that the law shall not depart from his mouth or his mind / memory. That Joshua and the people are to Meditate on it Day and Night!!!
They were to learn the Law so that it would become 2nd nature to them. It would be only then that they would become prosperous and have success in their battles and endeavors. This too is a model for today. For it is only when we read God’s Word, hide it in our hearts, and live in it each day that we can fully understand and successfully live our lives in Christ. As I am teaching our teens every week for the last nine weeks – YIELD and SURRENDER! Read and Learn His Word.
11) Our final verse for tonight’s Study, verse nine, God questions Joshua. “Haven’t I commanded you?” “Have I not encouraged you and instructed you to be Strong and of Good Courage?” “Have I not said to thee, Be NOT Afraid, and don’t be dismayed?” He said again, Joshua – “I AM THE LORD thy GOD, and I am with you where ever you go.”
I don’t have time to unpack all of this tonight, but these words of encouragement and command to Joshua also apply to our lives here today in June of 2010. He is our God, and He does go with us – we must have Faith and must not Fear the world. We must stand in courage and be strong to the end – in His Strength. God does not condone any actions we take on our own apart from Him. He doesn’t understand when we choose our own way over His. He does not accept any service where we seek our own reward. He is God, and He carries His own reward, we must learn!!!! This is not for the faint at heart, for as we learn our Responsibility and Accountability increase. Hence the “fear and trembling”, for when we truly understand the magnitude of the responsibility we have for the Truth we hide in our heart – it is indeed humbling. We are first responsible to God for the knowledge He allows us to have. We then have a responsibility to our Christian Brothers and Sisters, and we have a responsibility to those around us that do not know Christ.
We must learn and understand that it is not brainless to blindly follow the will of God when our intellect cannot discern His way. He is God. Not too long ago I heard Alistair Begg make statement concerning a quote that he had heard. “You know you have heard it said that God Said It, I Believe It, and that Settles It For Me! Well folks, I must tell you tonight, that I must disagree! For I believe God Said It and that Settles It period, I don’t care if you agree!” We as a corporate church in this world and this country have lost our direction of UP!!! God is to be revered, He is to be feared, He is to be Loved!!! He is God and I am not, therefore as His Creation He is my Father, and I will obey out of Fear and Love for the Father. Praising Him all the time for giving me Christ, who painfully and bloodily paid the price for my sin. He said it – that settles it. I am lost without Him, and with Him and In Him I am His joint heir in the Fathers Gifts and Blessings. When God Speaks – WE SHOULD LISTEN!!! Praise God, Amen.
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