God’s message to Joshua Joshua 1:1-9
A man dies and appears before Peter at the pearly gates. "Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" Peter asked. "Well, I can think of one thing," the man said, "Once, I came upon a gang of bikers, who were threatening a young woman. I told them to leave her alone, but they wouldn’t listen. So, I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him on the head, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I yelled, ’Now, back off!! Or you’ll answer to me!’" Peter was impressed and he said, "When did this happen?" And the man answered, "Just a couple minutes ago."
You know the whole world is one, when an English princess with an Egyptian boyfriend crashes in a French tunnel, driving a German car with a Dutch engine, it was driven by a Belgian who was drunk on Scottish whiskey, followed by Italian Paparazzi, on Japanese motorcycles, and then treated by French doctors, using Brazilian medicines!
And just think, you heard this from a Canadian who found it on a Chinese computer with Taiwanese-made chips, and a Korean-made monitor, assembled by Bangladeshi workers in a Singapore plant.
“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.”
So as I said last day, Joshua had started his life off in slavery and then he experienced the delivering power of God as both he and the other two million people were led to freedom. And while he was still in captivity God had used Moses to warn the Pharaoh by performing certain miracles and the last one was the death of the firstborn and just prior to the arrival of the angel of death the Jewish people were commanded to observe the Passover which was where they would all sacrifice a lamb put the blood on their doorposts.
Joshua would have personally been conscious of the fact that God had spared his life and this would have given him a sense that God had a purpose for his being alive.
And when we think of the Passover as Christians we tend to view this as something God did for the Jews and what we tend to forget is that everything that happened to them is a picture of what happens to us.
I mean, think about this religious observance called the Passover. All the people would be in their houses praying while the head of the home and this could be the father or a representative put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and many assume it was done in the shape of a cross, whether or not it was it doesn’t really matter. And after that the Spirit of God went through the area and killed everyone who wasn’t obedient to this command and basically the Jews would step through the doorway or walk through the blood into life. And that describes what happens to all of us Christians. All of us are saved through the blood and there is no other way.
Can you imagine what would happen if someone back in Joshua’s time said, “Blood is too gross. If you put that on your doorway, you’ll have to live with it for years to come. I think I’ll try beet juice or something else red, so I’ll look like everybody else but I can wash it off later on.” What would happen to that person? God would have killed them with all the Egyptian first born. Listen, our salvation is through the blood or there’s no salvation at all.
So, Joshua would have been saved through the blood just like the rest of the Jews and this was a picture of the salvation we enjoy today. And then we see his life of submission first to the Egyptians and then to Moses would have formed his character and prepared him for his role as the leader of Israel.
And when you think about it, the very things that made Joshua fit for leadership are similar to what we all need in order to live the Christian life. He had to learn humility, he needed to depend on prayer rather than his flesh, he needed to recognize the greatness of God, he needed to be committed to God’s principles in spite of what the majority thought and then he also had to understand that no one was indispensable in the sight of God, not even Moses.
And when you think about it, Joshua wasn’t exactly in a position where he’d be envied by a lot of people. I mean, can you imagine having to fill the shoes of someone like Moses? Taking the place of a man who spoke to God through a burning bush, cast down his rod and had it turn into a snake, and then retrieve it, and find it a rod again. Can you imagine being the guy who followed someone who could stretch out his rod and divide the Red Sea or bring water out of a rock to keep people from dying of thirst? I mean, Moses was like a hero to everybody and especially when he died.
And not only was he following someone who was respected and feared by the people but Joshua found these very people were known for their murmuring, complaining, backsliding and always talking about how great Egypt was and how bad they had it since they left.
And yet God looks at Joshua and says “You the Man.” There are things to be done and you’re the one to do it. Moses led them out of Egyptian bondage and now you’re going to lead them into the “land of promise.”
So, Joshua knew that he had a big job ahead of him. I mean, he had to lead two million people and for the most part they all seemed to have a bad attitude. And don’t forget that he had seen all the problems Moses faced when he tried to deal with Israel. They talked about him behind his back, they questioned his leadership ability, they openly rebelled against his authority and there were times when they simply wanted to stone him to death. And listen, Moses was the most powerful leader that the world had ever known.
On top of all of this; Moses, who was so great in the sight of Joshua and all the Israelites had been forbidden by God to enter the Promised Land. And when he thought about that Joshua must have said to himself, what’s going to happen to me. I could end up failing miserably and make a fool of myself, the people could rebel en masse like they did to Moses or I could do something wrong and end up having God punish me. You see, Joshua was a sinner dealing with sinful people, so, he had every reason in the world to be worried.
On John Wesley’s grave are the words, "God buries his workmen, but his work goes on." And so, God came to him with a commission. And He spelled out what He wanted him to do and then told him how He would enable him to do it. And here’s what God says, I want you to cross over Jordan with two million people, attack these seven fortified cities without any weapons or trained soldiers, divide up the land so that everyone is happy and then make sure they’re on the right track spiritually.
Having heard all that and knowing the track record of Israel my first response would have been rather sarcastic and I would have said, "And what will we do for the rest of the day." I mean if there was ever a script for Mission Impossible, this was it. But; God also tells him that he’ll be provided with all the resources he needs to do the job as long as he is in the centre of God’s will doing God’s work in a way that pleases God.
And it doesn’t say so but it’s obvious to me that he had to finish what he was called to do. After all, look at the various stories in the Bible and how they would have been different if the people only went half way, and they thought that that half way was good enough.
David would have almost fought Goliath; Noah would have almost build the ark; Abraham would have almost went to Mt. Moriah with Isaac; Moses would have almost led the Israelites out of Egypt; Ezra would have almost rebuild the temple; John the Baptist would have almost prepared the way for Jesus. If any of these men only went part way and not all, then not only would it not have been enough but we wouldn’t even know who they were.
I So, let’s start by looking at the command he was given.
a) And it starts off by God saying, Moses my servant is dead. I am not trying to be disrespectful, but could God have said anything more obvious at this point? I mean, did anyone in the nation not know that Moses was dead? So, why would God say this? One reason might be that God knows us too well. And He knows that we know the past is past but sometimes we have to be reminded because no one can live in the past, while walking in the present. If we live in the past, we miss the present and have no hope for the future. Or if we live in the future, opportunities that are right in front of us will pass us by, and we’ll fail to learn from past mistakes. So, after 40 years of wandering God said, Moses is dead and it’s time to move on.
And this tells us that one of the ways we prepare for the future is by letting go of the past. Joshua and Moses had been very close but this was a new day. And God was telling him, Moses is dead but you’re not and He still has a plan for the Jewish people and also for you.
You see, God’s work is never hindered because someone died or quit no matter how important we thought they were or they might have been. And keep in mind that the death of Moses didn’t take God by surprise. So, from an earthly perspective it was like, "What are we going to do, Moses our leader is dead." Deuteronomy 34:10 says, "The children of Israel wept for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days." They were completely distraught. And in heaven God was thinking, "Don’t sweat it I’ve been preparing Joshua for the last eighty years."
They probably thought to themselves, "Where are we going to find another Moses" but God didn’t need another Moses, He needed a Joshua. Moses served in his time with his Egyptian upbringing and his unique personality he was used by God to bring Israel out of Egypt but Joshua would be the one who would lead them into the Promised Land. Matthew Henry wrote," God will change hands to show that whatever instruments He uses, He is not necessarily tied to any."
Did you ever stop to think that maybe Mr. Rogers was right when he said," You’re the only you there ever was." You see, no one else can do what God created you to do. Each of us has our own combination of strengths, weaknesses, talents and abilities. Each of us has been created with a purpose in mind and if we’re obedient God will use us, now maybe it won’t be to the same extent that He was able to use someone else but He’ll use us none the less.
b) And we see the first command, when He said, "Arise and go over Jordan."
The name Jordan was taken from a Hebrew word that means ‘to descend’ and that’s exactly what this river does. The headwaters of the Jordan are found in underground springs and melting snow from Mount Herman. The water flows downward for about thirty miles to the Sea of Galilee and from Galilee the river rushes downward about 65 miles to the Dead Sea which is somewhere around 1400 feet below sea level. So, in 95 miles the drop is approximately 10,400 feet.
And in chapter 3:15 we’re told that the Jordan was at the flood stage and crossing it was a command to do the impossible. Normally, it was about a hundred feet wide but during the flood stage it filled the entire valley. On top of that, crossing the Jordan was equivalent to a declaration of war on those who lived on the other side. And let me tell you, they certainly noticed two million people gathered just across the river.
Moses led the people across the Red Sea away from their enemies but Joshua was to lead them across the Jordan to face them. And if he had any question about whether it was a good idea there were two million graves in the desert as a sign that it was time to go forward.
And with this command came three promises.
i Verse 3 says, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you." In other words, the farther they went and the more they fought the more land they possessed. So, the land they got was according to their faith.
ii And then came another promise in verse 5: "There shall not be any man to stand before you all the days of your life." And this was an awesome promise. Can you imagine going out to fight your enemies and never having to worry about losing? This was what God was promising.
iii And then God promised that He would be to Joshua everything that He had been to Moses and He said," I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Listen, you can sum up these promises by saying, don’t worry, you can’t lose!
So, here he was told what to do and then secondly we see the charge he was given and here he’s told how he was to do it.
II The charge
And it’s interesting to see that twice in Deuteronomy 34:7,23 Moses says to Joshua, "Be strong and of good courage." And then God repeats the same words four times in chapter one. In verses 6,7,9 and 18.
General John Gavin who was the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and the Commander-in-Chief of US European Command and he was asked what was it like to be in charge of so many and different kinds of forces and he said, “I often feel like the director of a cemetery. I have a lot of people under me, but nobody listens.” And maybe that was one of the reasons Joshua was told so many times to have strength and courage.
Well, what is courage? The word courage has several synonyms: there’s bravery, valor, fearlessness, heroism, confidence and nerve and it also has several nicknames like guts, grit and backbone but there’s one very important thing that we need to see about courage. You will never witness courage in someone who is taking it easy and enjoying themselves.
Courage is seen in the person whose back is against the wall, when the odds are against them, when the pressure is on and when they’re in dangerous situations. We see courage in David when he walks into the Valley of Elah with a slingshot in his hand to take a stand against Goliath. We see courage when Moses stood eye to eye with Pharaoh, a man who could have given the word and he’d be dead. And then we see courage in Elijah when he challenged the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Courage can only be seen in the midst of conflict and struggle. So, why did God tell Joshua that he needed to have courage? It was because from a human perspective he was about to do the impossible.
There were seven nations living in the Canaan region and by human standards Joshua was facing impossible odds and this was why God encouraged him so many times.
And I also think there are two other reasons God repeated His message. First, he had been the second man for so long that he didn’t know what it was like to be on the firing line. For forty years he had heard the people complaining about Moses and they may even have complained to Moses about him but he was never in the direct line of fire.
I spent five years as an assistant pastor before going to Main Street and during those five years I was asked my opinion about various controversial matters that arose in the church but when the difficult decisions had to be made or explained it was the senior pastor that took the heat, not me. So, it was like both God and Moses were saying to Joshua, "Buckle up, you’re going to have a rough ride ahead."
And when God said, “Do not be discouraged” I think Joshua had every reason to be discouraged. For forty years he heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. They complained about the manna, they complained about not having enough water and they complained about not having meat. And after hearing all this Joshua needed all the reassurance he could get, so, God said to him, “Do not be discouraged.”
The second reason he was told to be strong and courageous was that God knew that some of the things he had to face were things he had never faced before. He’d have to motivate the Israelites to leave the security of the desert and even though it was desert, don’t forget they had lived there for 38 years during which time God had provided them with manna, their clothes never wore out and they had enjoyed a certain degree of peace. And when people have been doing something for forty years it’s hard to convince them of their need to change. (I think of the guy who was beside the pool of Bethesda waiting for a healing and Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” And maybe, He was saying, “You’ve lived here so long and as miserable as it is, you’re used to it. So, do you want to be healed and get up and go looking for a job or do you want to stay here sick and have other people feed you?)
So, these people might have wrestled with the same thought. As bad as the desert is, at least they were all alive and provided for.
And not only the Jews but even Joshua would have a lot of challenges on the other side of the river. He’d face defeat at Ai and then have to lead the people in stoning Achan to death and then they would engage in unconventional warfare at places like Jericho where they walked around the city for seven days. He needed strength and courage because he and the nation were about to face things they never had to face before.
So, if Joshua was to be “strong, and courageous” he had to stay on the right the path, he couldn’t turn, he couldn’t compromise, he couldn’t become distracted and he couldn’t disobey the will of God.
I heard a story about a violent thunderstorm and a mother was tucking her little boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he said, “Mommy, will you sleep in my bed tonight?” His mother smiled and gave him a hug and said, “I can’t dear, I have to sleep with your daddy.” And then the little boy said, “The big sissy.”
Probably the thing that cripples most people is fear. Some fear the past and others the future. Most people fear change, confrontation, poverty, aging and dying but when David listed some of the characteristics of those who feared the Lord in Psalm 112:7, he said, "He will not fear evil tidings: his heart is steadfast trusting in the Lord." And when we have what the scripture calls the fear of the Lord, we won’t fear anything else.
Paul said that he had learned contentment in any state he was in and that’s admirable but there’s also a destructive kind of contentment where people can become satisfied with mediocrity, content with failure and even content with a form of sin. And here I think the Israelites had become content to take the easy path.
Adrian Rogers tells about the man who bragged that he had cut off the tail of a man-eating lion with his pocket knife. When he was asked why he hadn’t cut off the lion’s head, the man replied: “Someone had already done that.”
Listen, God knows about every problem we face and every fear we have and either He is on the throne and working all things together for good as the scripture says or life is hopeless and meaningless. There’s no such thing as a halfway point. That’s a lesson these people had to learn and it’s also a lesson for us.
III And here’s the condition for God’s blessing. It’s found in verses 7 and 8. "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."
There is a common desire within every person to feel successful. We often measure our worth on the basis of how successful we are. And how we measure success is often based on a worldly standard rather than a godly one. Success by the world’s standard often means luxury, wealth, possessions, achievements, notoriety, fame, beauty, brains and strength. God’s standard of measurement is nothing like the world’s standard. There are tons of books at bookstores on How to Succeed in Life. And they can all be summed up by saying, “We become what we think about. We have to decide exactly what we want. We have to determine the price we have to pay. And then we commit to paying the price. And we work hard every day and never give up.” And do you know what the interesting part about these books is, you’ll find most of them on the clearance table.
God’s formula for success is completely different from that of the world. And His formula works for every person, in every situation, whether it’s at school, in business, in our families, or even in church. And His formula for success is found right here. And God says, Joshua, you can have all My blessings if you’re willing to do this.
And Joshua’s life was to be guided and governed by the word of God. His goal in life according to verse seven was to be totally obedient to the scripture and the promise he was given was that he would prosper in everything he did.
And then verse eight tells us how this was to be achieved. It says, the book of the law was not to depart out of his mouth but he was to meditate on it day and night. His meditation on scripture would give him the spiritual strength to do what he’s expected to do. And then he would be prosperous and successful in everything he attempted.
Listen this is not a promise that everyone who does this is going to be a multi-millionaire but it’s a promise that if you do this you will prosper and succeed in the will of God. And you say, do what? And the answer is to meditate on the word of God.
The question you ought to be asking now is, "What is meditation? And why isn’t everyone doing it? Meditation means to ponder or think deeply about something. And in the Biblical sense meditation is filling our minds with the truth about God. It’s just the opposite of the world’s version of meditation which is to empty your mind.
The word meditate is defined by Webster as “to think deeply.” And the application is to read with thoughtfulness, or to linger over God’s Word. In the Hebrew language it means to allow the word to become a part of your very being. Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head and you can’t stop thinking about? It keeps coming back over and over again. It happened to Sally a couple of weeks ago in the mall with one of those mindless Christmas songs. Well, that’s the idea. Can you imagine having God’s Word got stuck in our heads the same way?
God tells Joshua “you shall meditate” and listen, I don’t think Joshua had any choice in the matter. And when you think about it, if Joshua could accomplish all he did with just the first 5 books of the Bible what can we with the whole book?
And when He says, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth” the best application for this would be that Joshua had so absorbed the Word of God that it had become a part of his very being and he couldn’t stop talking about the truth of the Word. The application for us should like Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 20:9: “But if I say, I will not mention him or speak any more in his name, His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”
One author compared the act of meditation to a cow chewing its cud. It takes a mouthful of grass and chews and chews and chews some more until all it gets all there is to get out of that grass and then the cow swallows it. And then a little while later the cow brings up the grass again and chews on it some more.
So, when God tells us to meditate on it day and night, that means we are to think seriously about the word of God. Meditation is like digesting the word in your mind. And if you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate because worry is negative meditation.
So, how do we do this? We begin by memorizing a verse or two of scripture. Try a couple of verses of the twenty-third psalm. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Then after we memorize it, visualize the passage. Imagine how the principles or character traits would appear in your life. And then personalize the verse. Rather than say, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly." say, I am blessed when I don’t take the advice of the ungodly.
Memorization affects the mind. We experience what Paul describes in Ephesians 5:26 " the washing of water by the word." And it I believe it’ll also give us power to overcome our sinful desires. As David wrote in Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." So, it cleanses the mind and redirects the desires.
Then visualization will affect your will. The more we focus on something the more we become like the thing we focus on. This is why you read so many biographies of successful people who say, the thing they achieved has been a lifelong goal. They visualized their achievement long before it was a reality. And rather than focusing on money we focus on the word of God and bring our will in line with His.
And then personalization will affect your emotions. And as I’m thinking through and seeing the word in action in my mind I’m praying that God will make these things real in my life and my emotions will fall in line. I’ll want to obey the will of God.
All this is summed up in those familiar verses in Romans 12:1,2, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Meditating on the scriptures is the key to transforming your mind and keeping you from being conformed to this world. And as Paul says, "it’s your reasonable service." It’s the least you can do.
Let me point out a few other verses that mention other benefits of meditating on scripture. In Psalm 1:1-3 it says, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." True prosperity means that everything will be fruitful and the leaf won’t wither. Not only will life be good but it will even appear to be good.
Paul tells Timothy of the need to meditate in the New Testament. In I Timothy 4:15 he says, “Meditate upon these things; give yourself wholly to them; so that everyone can see your progress." So, what Paul telling him to meditate on? Well, two verses before he tells him to give attention to reading, exhortation and doctrine. And all three of them are related to the ministry of the scripture.
So, if we have all these promises and all these benefits then why isn’t everyone doing it? Some aren’t aware of them but most of us are lazy. Listen, discipline of the mind is hard work. Some of us would rather do eight hours of manual labour than memorize a verse of scripture let alone go through the process of visualizing and personalizing it. But the scripture says, if we this, then God will bless our lives. After all, it worked for Joshua.
Maybe you’re thinking, "I’m too busy to study the Bible every day." But remember, Joshua was leading a couple million people and he made time to get in the word every day.
And then God said, “Be careful to obey ALL the law.” It would really be convenient if we could pick and choose which of God’s laws we could follow and which ones we might find to be too demanding or too harsh. But God doesn’t give any options. We are to learn and obey all of His word. Now, when you hear that you probably think, well, that’s a lifetime study and that’s exactly right.
When we try to live without God’s word, we’re guilty of voluntary ignorance and yet, that ignorance won’t stop us from suffering the consequences of being stupid. The wisdom we need is available.
It’s not just about reading it; it’s about meditating on it and letting God’s word saturate our hearts and minds.
Conclusion
1. The Israelites had been saved from the bondage of Egypt and now they were wandering around the desert. Has that been your experience? You’re saved from sin but your Christian life has been as dry as the desert sands?
The scripture teaches us that there are resources at our disposal in the word of God and all it takes is a little bit of work. As Solomon said," it’s like a prospector mining for gold." And everybody knows you don’t find gold on top of the ground but its well worth the effort when you get it. Turn Proverbs 2:1-5 and watch the progression.
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
Accept my words, store up my commands, turn your ear, apply your heart, cry after knowledge, lift up your voice, seek it as silver, search as for hidden treasure, then do it - practice what it says. In other words, be a living Bible. Someone once said that "A Bible that is coming apart is usually owned by somebody that’s not." I always get a kick out of the Pastor’s bible. If you haven’t seen it, make sure you do. It looks like an original copy of the Dead Sea scrolls. It’s marked up and weathered with age.
I like how someone said, “If you want to be distressed - look within. If you want to be defeated - look back. If you want to be distracted - look around. If you want to be dynamic - look ahead but most importantly, look up.”
A Haitian pastor told a story about a certain man in a village who wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door. After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail. The Haitian pastor’s conclusion: "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation." Listen, we have to get into the word and get the word into us so there’ll be no room for the devil’s hooks.
Let me finish by saying, we have a simple lesson in this passage for all of us. Joshua knew that the voice he listened to would determine the direction of his life. If he listened to his emotions he’d be content to stay in the desert. If he could hear the voice of the Canaanites he’d be intimidated. If he heard the criticism of his troops he’d be distracted, but if he heard the voice of God he’d have the courage to do the impossible. Let me ask you in closing. Who are you listening to?
