April 10, 2021
My Favorite Thing About JOSHUA is a promise ------ “I Will Be with You Wherever You Go.”
Deuteronomy 31:1-8 - Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 "I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross the Jordan.' 3 The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said…. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." 7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 34:7-12 - Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over…. Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt -- to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
The book of Joshua picks up where Deuteronomy left off. Joshua was the newly appointed leader and Israel was finally on the border of the Promised Land. It was just there, on the other side of the Jordan River.
Can you imagine? You have been a front row witness to the past 40 years. You have been by Moses’ side throughout the wilderness wanderings. You have become a faithful and courageous leader AND you have watched as the people rebelled and complained and grumbled along the way AND you, yourself, were the target of an assassination suggestion and NOW ---- YOU’RE OLD {at least 100} and IN CHARGE!!!
Your resume will be measured by Moses’ resume and everything you do … “that’s not how Moses would have done it.”
Fear can wreak havoc in your life. Fear makes you run when you should stand. Fear paralyzes you into in-action. Fear causes you to distort a “Possible” and turn it into an “Impossible”. Fear cost Israel 40 years of wandering around in the same desert instead of being HOME. What God needed was a fearless leader, but perhaps in that moment Joshua was a bit intimidated --- a bit scared --- a bit overwhelmed, which is exactly why God showed up to encourage him with these words:
• Joshua 1:2-9 - Moses my servant is dead. Get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua took Jesus at His word and moved forward with faith and courage.
Israel crossed the Jordan river at flood stage and experienced another “Red Sea” crossing.
Israel marched around Jericho and the walls fell down.
• Joshua 6:27 - So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
After the defeat at AI because of Achan’s sin, God came to Joshua again:
• Joshua 8:1 - Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army and attack Ai. I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.
Even when Joshua chose not to consult God regarding the men from Gibeon, God hung in there. And when the Gibeonites needed to be rescued from Jebus and the Amorites, He told Joshua:
• Joshua 10:8 - Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. They will not be able to withstand you.
The Lord gave the Amorites into the hands of Israel. But it was getting dark and the battle wasn’t over, so Joshua said to the Lord, in the presence of his men, “Sun stand still over Gibeon and moon over the valley of Aijalon.”
• Joshua 10:13-14 - So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!
Joshua 11:23 - So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.
The rest of the book is dedicated to the division of the land between the tribes of Israel.
• Joshua 19:49-51 - When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them, 50 as the LORD had commanded. They gave him the town he asked for-- Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built up the town and settled there…. And so they finished dividing the land.
• Joshua 21:43-45 - So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Now Joshua was very old. He called all the people together {Joshua 23-24}:
He encouraged and warned them.
He recalled their history with an emphasis of God’s interventions on their behalf.
At the close of his speech he issued his famous challenge: Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods of your forefathers and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves whom you will serve -- the gods of your forefathers, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. {Joshua 24:14-15}
Joshua was 110 years old when he died.
Joshua had the qualities of a Godly leader: – courage, perseverance, promptness, fidelity, honesty, unselfishness, wisdom and active faith, but the secret to his success is found in the first few verses of the book:
Joshua 1:3-9 - I will give you every place where you set your foot, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Why is this promise My Favorite Thing about the book of Joshua? Because it’s a personal promise. It’s not general, it’s specific and it’s the secret to all true success: “I will be with YOU.”
God has made the same promise to you that He made to Joshua all those years ago. Will you believe Him? Will you do what He says because you believe that His promises are true and that they apply to you personally? Will you choose faith over fear because he has said to you, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
