Joshua 1:1-18
Big Idea: Commitment and obedience to Scripture are key in our fight for faith.
Read Joshua 1:1-9
After the death of Moses
During the wilderness wanderings of Israel, Moses sent 12 spies into the land of Canaan to scope it out. Of the 12, only 2 brought back a favorable report, Joshua and Caleb. The other 10 brought back a report that induced fear in the people, and because of that the people grew restless, and began to complain about their situation. “We should have died in Egypt, or at least in our wilderness wanderings. That would have been better than being killed by the sword at the hands of these Canaanites!” And they began making plans to go back to Egypt.
As a result, the Lord brought judgment on the people, and here was the consequence, Numbers 14:27-30: “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.”
So, Joshua 1:1, “after the death of Moses…the Lord said to Joshua…Moses my servant is dead. NOW, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan…into the land that I am giving you.”
Before we go any further, I want us all to lock away a really important piece of information. In Numbers 13, we see that Joshua’s given name was Hoshea. The name Hoshea in Hebrew means “salvation.” Right before Moses sent the 12 spies into the land of Canaan to spy it out, he changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua. The name Joshua in Hebrew is “Yehoshua” and means “Yahweh is salvation.” If you take “Yehoshua” and transliterate it into the Greek, you get the Greek name “Ἰησοῦς” which translated into English is Jesus. Jesus is the Greek form of the name Joshua. They are the same name! We have to lock this in as we progress through this book. In theological terms, we call Joshua a “type” of Christ, meaning much of his life will provide parallel to the life of Christ. I don’t want to give too much away, but Joshua would lead God’s people into what is called a state of rest. Jesus leads His people into an eternal state of rest. So as we go through this book together, we are going to continue to direct our gaze upon Jesus, whom we will see so clearly.
Now therefore arise
We cannot discount the importance of action. God made a promise to Abraham, and that promise was passed down to Israel. But that promise would not come to completion until Israel stepped into the land. The fulfillment of the element of land in the promise began when Joshua and the people of Israel crossed the river and entered that land.
It’s been long enough. Israel has waited long enough. The Lord was ready to enact this part of the promise. “Joshua, get up and start moving! It’s time!”
Am giving vs. have given
This land that was to become the inheritance of Israel had a past and present implication. We see in verse 3 that the Lord had already predetermined the boundaries of the land. We’ll talk about that in just a moment. But again, the fulfillment of that promise was based on the obedience and action of the Israelites. I love what one commentator had to say about this: “God's sovereignty is emphasized here, but man's responsibility is also juxtaposed. God's way is not "let go, let God," but more accurately "let God, let's go!" Personal passivity has no place in the walk of faith and obedience. God has already given them the land, but it is their responsibility to put one foot in front of the other and start taking the territory, to step out in faith in obedience to Yahweh.”
One more thing before we get into the meat of the message today.
Border of the land (Show map)
Re-read vs. 4
The land that is laid out here, and in more detail in the later chapters of this book, is approximately 300,000 square miles. It’s interesting to note that during the conquests of Joshua Israel only claimed about 30,000 square miles, only 10% of the promised land. But we tend to think of the promise as modern day Israel. It was much more than that!
Now, as we consider this message series in light of the spiritual war that wages all around, the spiritual battle that we fight every day, for the advancement of the gospel, listen to this assurance that the Lord gave to Joshua.
1. Confidence and Assurance in the Lord (5-6)
Re-read vs. 5
Imagine being Joshua. You have seen what the Lord can do. Joshua was around 40 years old when he was freed from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea with the rest of Israel. He was in the wilderness to see all the wonders that God did in their midst. Here he stands, on the edge of the Jordan River, commissioned to lead God’s people, and God makes another promise. No man will be able to defeat Joshua as long as he lives. Essentially, Joshua will be unbeatable. Why? Because the Lord will be with him every step of the way. Does this sound familiar to you at all?
What do we hear from Paul in Romans 8:31? “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” In other words, with the Lord as our Provider, Sustainer, Protector, who can stop us? No one!! This is hugely important for us! The writer of Hebrews reiterates this truth, and confirms the 2nd part of the promise as well. In chapter 13:5-6, “I will never leave you or forsake you. So we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; what can man do to me?” We, today, can confidently say, the Lord will never leave us, He will not forsake us, what can an unbelieving world do to me?!
Therefore, vs 6 back in Joshua chapter 1, “be strong and courageous.” Joshua had seen the power and presence of God. He believed God for His promises. He believed that God was on the move. He believed that he was called to be a part of His mission. This is what allowed him to be strong and courageous. This is what caused him to move forward, boldly. This is the same attitude that we must live by as well. We have seen the power of God. We have same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead indwelling us. God has promised that His Church would not be defeated. He promised that He would not leave us. Therefore, be strong and courageous!!
And while it will require great strength and courage to take the land that God promised, there is an extra measure of strength and courage that is required in a different way.
2. Conditions for Success (7-9)
What we see here in this section is that it requires almost a different level of strength and courage to remain vigilant in obedience to the Lord. At this point, the only Scriptures that Joshua would have had is that which was written by Moses, the first 5 books of the Bible. And even so, they didn’t have copiers, or printers, so the physical copy of the Law was scarce.
So God tells Joshua, “be very careful. Be watchful, be diligent in keeping your eyes on the mission at hand. Don’t get distracted. Don’t stray off the path. And if you do that, Joshua, you will have success wherever you go.” Context is key here. This has no application towards prosperity gospel. The mission that has been assigned to Joshua by the Lord is to lead the Israelites into the possession of the land the God had promised them. Therefore, if Joshua was careful to remain obedient to the Lord, he would have success as he led the people forward.
And how is Joshua supposed to do that? The same way that we are supposed to do it.
A. Keep truth on our lips
We must know the Scriptures so well, that we can’t help but talk about them. We talked about this a few weeks ago. When we wake up, go about our day, share meals together, go to bed, we talk about the Lord. When faced with a challenging situation, the words of God provide wisdom. When someone is going through something difficult, the words of God provide encouragement. We want to stay the course and live on mission for the Lord? We keep His words on our lips.
B. Keep truth in our minds
We must know the Scriptures so well, that we can’t help but think about them. I don’t know about you, but this last week really wrecked me. There were no answers that the media could offer. There were no answers that friends could offer. The only thing that provided any semblance of peace and comfort for me were the promises of God. When culture tries to pull us into it’s false view of morality, the words of God provide stability. When social media tells us to be or act a certain way, the words of God remind us of our identity. When the world seems like it’s falling apart and there is no hope, the words of God remind us that this life is but a vapor, and one day we will enter our rest, forever in the presence of Jesus.
C. Let truth influence how we live
We must know the Scriptures so well, that we can’t help but live them out. We study the life and teachings of Jesus, we pour over the gospels, and through the working of the Holy Spirit, we are formed more into the image of Christ. We are empowered to love like Him, to respond like Him, to serve like Him.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)
After this commissioning by the Lord, Joshua, being a man of action, immediately starts moving.
Read Joshua 1:10-18
3 days…
What about the 2.5 tribes?
There’s a bit of context needed here. In Numbers 32, the leaders of the tribes Reuben and Gad come to Moses and request an inheritance of land to the east of the Jordan River. Moses took this as them abandoning God’s mission of taking the land, so he got pretty heated with them. In the end, an agreement was reached, if their tribes would help the other 10 fight and take the land, they could settle to the east of the Jordan. Somehow half of the tribe of Manasseh was included as well.
This is why Joshua makes sure to hold them to their promise to Moses. They were about to go over, and they needed all the able bodied men to fight. And they would fight until Israel finally had rest. We can’t ignore the parallels here. Rest does not come until the fight is done, and we hear those words, “well done my good and faithful servant.” But until then, we fight.
So these 2.5 tribes confirm their commitment to their word, and at the same time affirm Joshua as their leader.
Joshua’s leadership confirmed (16-18)
“We will follow your lead. We will obey your commands.” Interesting that they would say they obeyed Moses “in all things,” because they definitely didn’t. They declare a death sentence for anyone who rebels against Joshua, and then they reiterate that phrase, “be strong and courageous.”
Application
Like Joshua, we can be strong and courageous. We can be bold in our pursuit of Jesus, and our proclamation of the gospel. We do that by believing that God is faithful to His promises. We do that by believing that God is with us, and will never leave us or forsake us. And we get to that level of unwavering faith by keeping the Word of God close. We dwell on it, we speak it, we live it out. We are so immersed in it that it can’t help but flow out of us.
When the brokenness of our world becomes loudly apparent, the first thing we think about is Scripture about the character and nature of God. When we speak, our words are covered in love, dripping with the sweetness of the gospel. The spiritual battle that wages, and the fight that we fight, that Jesus already won on the cross, we see success in our fight when we keep the Word of God close. Let us be a people who meditate on the Word, who love it so, who can’t get enough of it’s richness. Let it influence our thoughts, our words and our lives.
