Joshua’s Farewell

Joshua 23-24, “Joshua’s Farewell”
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Introduction:
Assuming that Joshua & Caleb were about the same age, by the end of the book of Joshua, the conquest has been completed for about 20 years. The major battles are over, the land has been distributed, and Israel has seen the miraculous hand of the Lord. Not that they haven’t had troubles along the way (as evidenced by the near-civil war with the Transjordan tribes), but overall the mission has been an overwhelming success & Israel has now settled in the Promised Land.

It’s upon this background that Joshua gathers the people together for 2 final addresses. The first is a reminder of God’s faithfulness; the 2nd is a reminder of God’s covenant. If Israel is going to continue to experience victory in the land God has given them, they need to always remember (1) God indeed gave it to them, and (2) they are servants of the Most High God alone. It’s when they forget this that things spiral out of control in Judges – so Joshua takes the time at the end of his life to very carefully charge them to love & serve God.

Joshua 23 (NKJV) – God is faithful; you be faithful…
1 Now it came to pass, a long time after the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age. 2 And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: “I am old, advanced in age. 3 You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you.

A. How old was he? Joshua died at 110 – we don’t know how much time passed between Ch 23-24, but we can assume he was pretty close to the end of his life at this point & thus he’s starting to say ‘goodbye’… 1st of 2 national gatherings. The location in Ch 24 is named; this is not…perhaps Shiloh where the Tabernacle was located.

B. The main theme throughout Joshua’s farewell discourses? Look at what God has done! He’s fought for you & proved Himself faithful to His promises. For all the various memorial witnesses throughout the book of Joshua, the best witnesses are the people themselves. They’ve seen with their own eyes what God has done – they knew that it was God who fought for them.
__a. So have we! Whenever it comes to our lengthy ongoing battle against sin & the flesh, if we’re in Christ, every single one of us has a witness to fall back upon. We know what God saved us from & how God made us new creations… There’s a reason Paul referred to his personal conversion 3 times in Acts – not only was it a way in which he could share the gospel, but it was a constant reminder of the utter change the Risen Jesus wrought in him. ALL the work done in our lives as believers is due to Jesus Christ – none of it is our own. All the glory belongs to the Lord who has fought for us…
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4 See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. 5 And the LORD your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you.

A. What’s left still to be completed… The major fighting is finished & the land has been allotted between the 12 tribes, but there were still pockets of enemies that remained in the land. The people were expected to go in & finish the fighting – never compromising with the Canaanites, but driving them out per the Lord’s instruction & judgment.
__a. We see something similar regarding the spiritual life. The victory has been won. Jesus has defeated death & sin, and given us new life. But we have an ongoing battle against the flesh (the old man) till the day we experience death or rapture. We are never to compromise with the flesh – we’re not supposed to get comfortable living side-by-side with it; we’re supposed to ‘possess that land’ in the power of the Lord.

B. The promise is that God will continue to fight for Israel. But this is a conditional promise, as Joshua will describe… What a glorious incentive Israel had to follow the Lord: God Himself would continue to fight for them! The same miracles they saw at Jericho & with Adoni-zedek, they could expect to continue to see if they only followed the Lord God alone.
__a. So why didn’t they do it? The same reason we fail in walking with Christ when we have the best incentives in the world: they loved their sin more than they loved their God…
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6 Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7 and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, 8 but you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.

A. This is the same charge Joshua received from God in Ch 1 – Joshua 1:7-8 (7) Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. (8) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. [] It was a good exhortation for Joshua & it’s still a good exhortation for Israel. Be courageous & walk with God as according to the Scriptures.
__a. It takes courage to walk by faith! We have temptation after temptation to do things according to what the world says is ‘best’ rather than trusting what the Lord has to say on the matter. (‘Take care of #1’ – ‘Prayer is a crutch’, etc.) Be courageous! Walk by faith & trust your Lord & Savior…

B. For Israel, this was summed up in two ways:
__a. Keep the law. Don’t turn to the right or to the left – God had given them a very specific law, detailed in the Scripture. If they wanted to know what to do to please God, all they had to do was open the book. [] For us today, this isn’t a legalistic thing – the law is fulfilled in Christ. But the principle applies…God has very specifically laid out His will for our lives; we just need to open the book to find out.
__b. Hold fast to God & don’t commit idolatry. This would be an ongoing temptation for Israel – there were a lot of false gods to choose from in the land. [] There are still a lot of false gods to choose from! … We’re to serve God & God alone – not attempt to compromise in the slightest…
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9 For the LORD has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you. 11 Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.

A. One more reminder: it’s the Lord who has been fighting for them & He will continue to fight for Israel if they hold fast to Him. Thousands shall flee from one man (as in the case of Gideon’s 300 – Judges 7). Quite a promise! Should have inspired a lot of confidence. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us?

B. The primary thing is to “love the LORD your God”. Want to wrap up what it means to keep the law (vs 6)? Love God! This is the 1st & greatest commandment – if/when we love God before all else, we naturally do the things that please Him. Legalism never helps people refrain from sin; on the contrary – it just helps them be obsessed about it. Love, on the other hand, starts with a change of the heart (through Christ) & our actions naturally follow.
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12 Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, 13 know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

A. Here’s the one condition: if they do NOT hold fast to the Lord, they can be assured that God will not fight for them. When they intermarry with pagan people & start compromising with idolatry, they will experience constant & consistent defeat.

B. Living with compromises of the flesh will always be snares and traps to us… We’re fooling ourselves when we think “I can keep this much sin in my life; it won’t trip me up.” Baloney! God calls us to be holy as He is holy – why? Because Jesus called us, cleansed us, and made us His holy people. When we continue to live in sin, we’re living in that in which we died to (Rom 6:2)…it just doesn’t work…

C. On a practical note – this is exactly why single Christians need to avoid unequal relationships. ‘Missionary dating’ is rarely successful – usually it’s the Christian that ends up falling away from his/her convictions; not the other way around.
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14 “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.

A. Lest they doubt that God really will fight for them if they hold fast to God – Joshua affirms that God is faithful. Not one word has failed… Moses affirmed the same thing – Deuteronomy 7:9-10 (9) “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (10) and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. [] God is faithful in all things! He’s faithful in judgment with those who reject Him, but He’s also faithful in mercy to His covenant people. Without a shadow of doubt, we can trust the promises of God – He is trustworthy! Not one word of His will ever fail.
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15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. 16 When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

A. What will happen if they forsake the Lord? The judgment He would have put on the pagan inhabitants of the land, He’ll put on the Israelites… And notice the “when”; not “if.” This is exactly what happened when Israel & Judah got taken into captivity.
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Joshua 24 (NKJV) – Renewing the Covenant…
1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

A. [MAP] Shechem… Significance with Abraham (Gen 12:6 – 1st promise of the land) & Jacob (Gen 33:18 – came back to the land)… This was the site where the covenant was reaffirmed in Josh 8 at Mt. Gerizim & Ebal.

B. This was basically one big family meeting… Everyone came together before God – probably brought the Tabernacle to Shechem for the occasion.
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2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. 4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

A. The majority of Joshua’s address is actually going to be God talking (much like God did through Moses). Much like the entire book of Deuteronomy, He’s basically laying out a treaty between a king & His people. Going to look at how God had proved His generosity & love, describe the inheritance God is giving them, charge them to serve God, and provide witnesses.

B. What’s interesting about God’s past work with Israel (His proof of His love for them) is that it mirrors God’s past work with us. 1st, God chose Israel. Israel did not deserve to be God’s people (they deserved His wrath on many occasions!) – they were not ‘worthy’ in terms of numbers or strength (they were weak). But God in His sovereignty God chose Abraham (and Israel) simply out of His grace.
__a. God did the exact same thing with us. We did not deserve to be saved; we have nothing of worth that God would desire us – outside of Christ, we are completely dead & tainted by sin. But God chose us for Himself & gave us new life…

C. Note that Abraham wasn’t always a Hebrew. He started life as an idolatrous pagan. Sometimes we have a tendency to think that he was just born a worshipper of God & always followed God. Not true; Abraham has a conversion story just like you & me!
__a. The point is that because of God, Abraham didn’t stay a pagan. God chose him & gave him a new life & new promise. It’s the same with us. We may look like the same person on the outside, but we are new creations in Christ. We’re different – so we ought to not act like we used to act. Instead, we should walk in the promises of our God & Savior.

D. God took – God led – God multiplied – God gave… All the work of God! We’re saved by grace… (Eph 2:8-9)
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5 Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out. 6 ‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 So they cried out to the LORD; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.

A. 2nd, God redeemed Israel…God took them out of Egypt & redeemed them from slavery under Pharaoh. Likewise, God redeemed us through Jesus Christ. We were enslaved to sin & sharing the same fate & condemnation as the devil, and God saved us. When we trusted Jesus Christ for forgiveness from sin, the blood He shed on the cross was put to our account, and God spiritually ‘bought’ us out from the condemnation.

B. Not only did God bring them out of Egypt; the Israelites themselves knew it! They were themselves witnesses…they say it with their own eyes. Same too with us – we (better than anyone else) know what Jesus did for us on the cross. We know what He saved us from – we know the new birth He’s given us. (And if we don’t, that’s a problem! That may be an indication that we haven’t yet trusted Christ for salvation!)
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8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow.

A. 3rd, God fought for Israel & equipped them for the battle… Whether it was the Amorites (Sihon & Og), or Balak & Balaam [], or any of the other enemies in the land…God was the One who defeated them. God was the One who sent the hornet (His fear) before Israel to where cities like Jericho were trembling at the news that Joshua was on his way. Was it due to Joshua? No – it was due to the Lord God!

B. Likewise, God fights for us & equips us for the battle. Jesus didn’t save our souls & then leave us alone to fight out our sanctification till the day we die… He sent the Holy Spirit as our comforter (John 14:17) – He empowers us through the Holy Spirit to walk as victorious witnesses (Acts 1:8, Eph 5:18) – He intercedes for us (Rom 8:26-27) – He sanctifies us through the Scriptures (John 17:17) – He gives us the armor of God to stand in spiritual battle (Eph 6:13)… We have truly been equipped! God has given us everything we need for the fight against our flesh…we simply need to trust Him & His work.
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13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

A. 4th, God gave Israel an inheritance…He gave the Hebrews a land & home. According to Hebrews 4, that inheritance of rest is complete in Jesus Christ in that we rest from working towards our salvation.
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14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!

A. In light of all these things the Lord did for them, what ought to be their response? 3 things:
__a. Fear the Lord: Don’t cower in terror, but respect & reverence the Lord as Almighty Creator God, the King.
__b. Serve the Lord: Don’t merely give lip-service to the word of God; do what it says. Jesus said that we know we love Him if we keep His commandments (John 14:21). Serving the Lord is putting feet to our faith.
__c. Put away false gods: Get rid of the idols, which apparently many in Israel kept lying around. They were to serve God & God alone.

B. In light of all the things Jesus did for us, what ought to be our response?
__a. Love the Lord. We do still reverently fear the Lord, but a proper fear of Him ought to move us to a love for Him. That’s the whole purpose…
__b. Serve the Lord as a living sacrifice…it’s simply a logical, reasonable response & service (Rom 12:1).
__c. Turn away from our past wickedness… (How can we live in it any longer?)
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15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

A. Joshua gave Israel a clear choice… He knew what his family would do, but everyone needed to make their own choice. God already chose Israel as His people; now they needed to make their choice in response to what God had done.

B. A choice MUST be made! It’s not that Joshua was saying that it was ok for Israel to serve other gods (it wasn’t!), but the fact is that humans are hard-wired by God to worship. His desire is that we would worship Him, but we don’t. Because of the fall, every man, woman, and child are natural idolators. Even if we don’t worship statues of silver & gold, we end up worshipping our money, our jobs, our kids, or ourselves. We need to choose to serve the Lord! This isn’t something Joshua (or we) leave to chance – we don’t stumble into faith. God calls us – God convicts us of sin, righteousness, & judgment – God gives the faith we need to trust Jesus as the Risen Son of God – and then we choose to exercise the faith God has given us. We need to choose to respond to Christ!
__i. This doesn’t stop after we become believers in Christ Jesus. Every day we wake up we have a choice to either walk with Christ or walk in our flesh. Who is it that you will serve?

C. Notice Joshua made the choice for his family. What choice has your family made? No matter how old our children are, we can always set the example for them with how we serve & worship the Lord.
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16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 17 for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

A. They swear allegiance to God…acknowledging everything He did in their sight. Their desire is to serve the Lord – the only question is: are they making a ‘piecrust promise’ & just responding to respond? Or are they truly committing themselves to following the Lord? Joshua follows up…
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19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!” 22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!”

A. Interesting interchange. Joshua says, “No you can’t.” Israel says, “Yes we will.” “Are you sure?” “We’re sure.” Is Joshua trying to dissuade them from following the Lord? No. He’s simply reminding them of their past history…they don’t exactly have a stellar track record on this point. When Moses was receiving the 10 Commandments from God on Mt Sinai, the children of Israel weren’t rejoicing in the Lord; they were molding a golden calf… Israel needed to understand that serving the Lord isn’t a part-time commitment; to belong to the Lord God is to truly belong to Him. We are not our own; we were bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20).

B. The other thing Joshua seems to be warning Israel way from is the idea that they could just serve the Lord God out of their sheer will. As Peter & John found out, our spirits may be willing, but our flesh is weak… It is impossible for us to serve the Lord God in our own strength…which is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to come upon us with power.
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23 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

A. What’s amazing about all this back & forth about Israel choosing to serve the Lord is that they had foreign gods among their people the whole time. As if they were saying, “Sure, I’ll serve the Lord. I’ll just put my Torah scroll next to all the little Baal statues in my tent.” ?!? Can’t do it!

B. We can not compromise on this point. We either serve God alone through Jesus Christ, or we do not serve Him at all. It’s not like we can pick & choose which bits of other religions we’d like to keep & what bits of sin we’d like to go on committing…it’s not a buffet line. The only way we can approach God is on His terms & He’s made it very clear what His terms are in John 14:6 – Jesus!
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25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” 28 So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

A. Covenant was renewed & yet another witness stone was set up.
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29 Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 31 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

A. Joshua died… Had the greatest title ever – just like Moses: “the servant of the Lord.”
B. The people actually kept their part of the covenant for a while…it won’t last.
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32 The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.

A. Shows the fulfillment of a 400 year old promise made to Joseph…
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33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

A. The passing of a generation & an era…

Conclusion:
Thus ends Joshua. Though his account is much shorter than his mentor’s (Moses), he ends much the same way as a faithful servant of the Lord God. He did what God called him to do & brought the people of God into the Promised Land. As he passes on, he leaves them with two very important thoughts:
(1) God has been faithful; you can trust Him!
(2) God has chosen you; choose Him!

Do you know that God is faithful? Every promise God has ever made has been fulfilled – let God be true & every man a liar. There’s no part of our lives we need fear turning over & entrusting to Him…

Have you chosen Christ? He made the invitation clear when He went to the cross… And beyond our justification, are you choosing Christ for your sanctification. Every day walking with Him & serving Him as your Lord & King in the power of the Holy Spirit…

Fear or Faith?

Joshua 22, “Fear or Faith?”
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Introduction:
Imagine our reaction if once we moved to our new building, some other church put a giant statue in our front yard. What would be the 1st thing we’d think? Would we want to ask more questions & find out why? In essence, that’s what happens in Joshua 22. After the 2½ tribes from the Transjordan go home, they build a gigantic altar which almost causes a lot of bloodshed & the other tribes have a bunch of questions to ask.

There are many interpretations of tonight’s passage. Some scholars think both sides are wrong…others think both sides are right. Many pastors & scholars read Ch 22 & find everything right with the Transjordan tribes & many things wrong with the rest. I have trouble with that for two reasons:

(1) It goes against the established type. Israel had already entered its rest (symbolically speaking according to Heb 4 – it doesn’t fully happen till Christ), but the 2½ tribes on the other side of the Jordan stopped short. Typologically, they are not unlike worldly Christians who try to have things both ways… You would expect them to make a mess of things.

(2) Their motives are completely different. Israel is obviously taking a stand for holiness & the Transjordan tribes are obviously acting out of fear & explicitly say so. To blame Israel seems misplaced…

As we’ll see, what happens is that the Transjordan tribes commit an act of rashness, try to excuse their reasoning, and they almost face severe consequences for doing so. We’re going to face people (many times ourselves) acting rashly from time to time – and how we deal with those situations makes a lot of difference for how relationships survive in the end.

Joshua 22 (NKJV)
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them: “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

A. The Transjordan tribes kept their part of the agreement. They had left their wives & children & livestock on the other side of the river & for (probably) 5 long years had fought the conquest battles under Joshua. Now the job was complete & Joshua judged them faithful to their word & send them home with commendations.

B. Joshua sends them off with a charge – to “do the commandment and the law” of God. This included 3 basic elements: (1) to love God, (2) to obey God, (3) to serve God
__a. Love God: This is foundational! To serve God without loving Him is meaningless & to obey God without loving Him is to not obey Him at all. The 1st & greatest commandment is what they had already heard from Moses – Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (4) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! (5) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. [] If they (or we) don’t get that one right, nothing else matters.
__b. Obey God: How is our love of God expressed? Through our obedience of His commandments. Samuel told Saul that to obey was better than sacrifice () & Jesus affirmed the same – John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” [] (Is this works-righteousness? No – when we love the Lord Jesus Christ & trust Him for salvation, it will be evident by the way we live.)
__c. Serve God: What’s the outward result of our loving obedience to God? Our wholehearted service to Him. We can’t help but worship Him or minister to His people or share the gospel with the lost. It’s just a natural outworking.

C. All in all, it doesn’t sound like much does it? Even this requires the grace of Jesus Christ. Who among us can claim that we loved the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, & strength today? We’ve all failed in some way – but praise God that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). As we continue to walk with Christ, He continues to set us apart and transform us by the renewing of our mind (Rom 12:2) so that we love God more, obey God better, and serve God more passionately every day.
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6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8 and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.” 9 So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

A. Sent them away with their share of the spoil…and they had a lot! They conquered a lot of nations & they had much to take back to their families & men who were not able to go to war. They went home with Joshua’s blessing.
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10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great, impressive altar.

A. Most likely, the altar was a huge pile of rocks in the middle of a desolate area by the Jordan. Too big to be practically used for sacrifice, but big enough to be seen from a distance – which the 2½ tribes will explain later on.

B. Keep in mind that although Israel had built various altars at different times, after Mt Sinai, it was always at the command of God. As a general rule, they already had an altar: the tabernacle & it was commanded by God to be the only altar they used. Deuteronomy 12:13-14 (13) Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; (14) but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. [] Did the Lord choose this place for an altar? No…there’s no record of the Transjordan tribes consulting Him at all. They’re setting the stage for a gross miscommunication.
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11 Now the children of Israel heard someone say, “Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan—on the children of Israel’s side.” 12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.

A. Built on the Canaan side of the river…interesting placement. The 2½ tribes wanted to make sure the other tribes saw their altar. It’s too obvious at this point to miss.

B. Is this response too harsh? No…they were responding to a potential act of apostasy, which would have spelled doom for the nation according to the covenant they had just renewed at Mt. Ebal & Gerizim (Joshua 8). Breaking the covenant meant curse after curse falling upon the whole nation of Israel (outlined in Deut 27-28) & Israel wants to do everything in its power to ensure these curses won’t befall them.
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13 Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, 14 and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel. 15 Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD: ‘What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?

A. Recall Phinehas had a well-proven record for being zealous for the Lord. In Numbers 25, when Israel was committing harlotry with the Moabite women (as a result of Balaam’s advice to Balak), Phinehas had run a man & woman through with a javelin who were fornicating right in front of the tabernacle. By doing so, he put an end to a plague that killed 24,000 people & guaranteed the priesthood to his lineage. Phinehas was right man to send to investigate the possible apostasy. They also sent 10 other rulers (one from each tribe) to go with him in questioning the Transjordan tribes. IOW, they’re doing everything they can to find out the truth before resorting to battle.

B. How would building an altar for the Lord be an act of treachery or rebellion against the Lord? Because it’s not coming to God on His terms. Deut 12 makes it absolutely clear that Israel cannot pick & choose where to worship God. God tells them where to worship & they go where God says to go. If the Transjordan tribes were picking their own place of worship, they would in essence be telling God, “We’re in charge now,” – an act of rebellion against their King.
__a. Because of our sin, we cannot approach God; God has to approach us. And that’s exactly what happened through the Incarnation of Christ & why Jesus is the only way… We have to come to God on His terms; not ours. And praise God that He even gives us a way to approach Him!

C. Some argue that the 10½ tribes are jumping to conclusions & making a rash judgment. Possibly…but if that were the case, would they have even spoken to the Transjordan tribes before attacking? It seems that they really did want to hear the other side of the story, but they were prepared for the worst & ready to take a stand for holiness if necessary.
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17 Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, 18 but that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

A. Israel’s response? 1st, they remind the Transjordan tribes of their history. They had experienced the discipline of the Lord at Peor (Numb 25). Again, 24000 people died because of sin – specifically because the Moabite women enticed the men of Israel to bow down to false gods. Phinehas & the others surely remembered the day like it was yesterday. They knew the holiness & power of God – not only had they seen it demonstrated with the people of the land they just conquered, but they had experienced it 1st hand themselves.

B. 2nd, they remind the Transjordan tribes of the consequences. God would be angry not just with the east side of the river, but with all of them. They were all one people (as ironically, the altar was built to demonstrate) & thus they would all share in one punishment from the Lord. They had been brought into the land together & they would be taken out from the land together as well – the covenant they reaffirmed makes this perfectly clear in Deut 28.
__i. Historically speaking, it proved absolutely true. The Northern & Southern Kingdoms may have been taken captive at different times by different nations, but they were all eventually taken captive.
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19 Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the LORD, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.

A. 3rd, they offer a loving & God-honoring solution to the Transjordan tribes. (My favorite part!) The 9½ tribes of Israel were willing to sacrifice a part of their own lands to allow the Transjordan tribes to come in. That had been God’s plan from the beginning, and they were more than willing to see it take place. Their desire wasn’t to simply impose legalism upon the Transjordan tribes; they simply wanted the best for their brothers in the Lord.

B. It’s tough to appreciate how good this is until you’ve been the recipient of such an offer. I have in the past – and as I look back, I can see how that person truly cared for me & my walk with the Lord…
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20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”

A. 4th, they end with one more personal historical example. More recently than the plague in Peor, they all remembered the act of judgment inflicted upon Achan after he kept some of the devoted items from Jericho (Josh 7). Achan perished with his whole family & livestock.
__a. Those who continually try to claim, “My sin only affects me…it’s victimless” are fooling themselves. Sin always affects other people. Our children naturally know how to sin from the womb (ask any mother of a newborn), but they learn the nuances of the gig from watching us. Our spouses are affected by our sin – even if they aren’t aware of it, because it does something to us & now there’s something we don’t feel we can confess to the person God made us one with. Sin always affects other people.
__b. The best way of dealing with sin? Confession. Confess to God & receive His forgiveness (1 John 1:9) & confess to one another in restoration when needed. The worst possible thing we can do with sin is try to cover it up. Why? Because sin kills (Rom 6:23). Just because we don’t experience immediate consequences doesn’t mean we won’t experience any consequences. If you’re in Christ, you are not condemned; so confess it & be done with it!

B. This gives us a great example about confronting one another regarding sin. It is doubtless a tough thing to do & many people avoid it completely… But if we truly care about our brothers & sisters in Christ, we need to come alongside them & help them understand their need for repentance if they are in sin. Galatians 6:1-2 (1) Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (2) Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. [] This is exactly what the 9½ tribes were trying to do…
__a. We remind them of their history – what Christ saved them from…
__b. We remind them of the consequences of their action. Both practical & spiritual (broken fellowship)..
__c. We offer them Biblical counsel & solutions…
__d. Want to sum it up? Take them back to Jesus & His word. Where we run into problems in this area is when we keep the focus on ‘us’ & what ‘we’ think is right versus what the Bible actually has to say on the matter. If Christ doesn’t condemn them, neither should we. We ought to just point out the matter in love, address it according to the Scriptures, and help them bear the burden.
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21 Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel: 22 “The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, He knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the LORD, do not save us this day. 23 If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the LORD Himself require an account. 24 But in fact we have done it for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the LORD God of Israel?

A. Note the repetition of the Lord’s name in vs. 22. Actually saying 3 different names for God twice. Yahweh – El – Elohim… Basically saying in the strongest possible terms that they are telling the truth & are swearing so by the God of their Covenant & of the Universe.

B. Claim they did not build the altar for sacrifice, but for a specific reason: they were afraid that the 9½ tribes would keep them from worshipping God. [] Should any action we perform be motivated out of fear? (Other than the fear of the Lord) No. When we act out of panic or irrational fear, we’re very rarely going to make the right decision. [drowning people push lifesavers under water]. That’s basically what the Transjordan tribes did here – they panicked about a situation that hadn’t ever come to pass & instead of talking to anyone about it (much less the Lord), they decided to build a big altar & almost went to war over it.
__a. Keep in mind that God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7). The 1st thing we ought to do when afraid is pray! Once God grants us the peace that passes understanding (Phil 4:7), then we’re in a much better place to make a decision.
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25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the LORD.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the LORD.’

A. This is blatantly untrue. The Lord wasn’t the one who made the Jordan river a barrier; this was the choice of the Transjordan tribes alone…

B. Again, they were afraid that in time, they would no longer be allowed to come & worship the Lord. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be the western tribes that kept the Transjordan tribes from worshipping the Lord; it was their own lack of faith. By settling on the east side of the Jordan, they left themselves without the protection of the river & they were the first tribes to go into captivity & be absorbed into other nations.
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26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, 27 but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the LORD.” ’ 28 Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn from following the LORD this day, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God which is before His tabernacle.”

A. To them, the altar wasn’t an act of rebellion, but an act of prevention. But their attempt to prevent a problem had only caused a different one. Had the Transjordan tribes bothered to consult the Lord on the matter? No. They simply determined this for themselves (vs. 26)…
__i. So many troubles could be avoided if we only bothered to take the time to seek the Lord! God has given us His Scripture which is sufficient to thoroughly equip us for every good work (2 Tim 3:17) – He’s promised to give wisdom to those who ask in faith (James 1:5) – the Holy Spirit & Jesus are constantly interceding for us (Rom 8:26-27). Why wouldn’t we seek God on the matter?

B. What’s good about this is that they had no intention of rebelling against the Lord. What’s sad about this is that it was necessary at all. If they had simply followed the Lord originally to the other side of the river with the other tribes, there would have been no need for a pretend memorial-altar.
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30 Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. 31 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.”

A. Phinehas & the others accepted the explanation & didn’t pursue it further…

B. Question: was this the right decision by Phinehas & the rulers? The Transjordan tribes may not have built the altar out of rebellion, but it certainly ought not to have been built. The reality is that short of outright sin & mal intent, there really wasn’t another option for Phinehas to take. To say that the explanation “pleased” the rulers really only implies that it satisfied their questioning. The Transjordan tribes hadn’t built it in rebellion, and that was enough. Were they glad? Yes – no bloodshed needed to take place…they were certainly overjoyed not to have to take up arms against their brothers.

C. Is it significant that Joshua wasn’t there? Being a type/foreshadowing of Jesus… According to vs. 13, it doesn’t seem like the tribal leaders even consulted him. It would only be conjecture (and speaking from silence) to try to imagine how Joshua would have responded, but this resolution does seem rather like unfulfilling – like a lose-lose compromise, rather than a true God-honoring solution. Generally speaking, when we do things without consulting the Lord, that tends to be the result…
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32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. 34 The children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

A. Recap – war is averted, etc…

B. They used the altar as a witness between them that they both worshipped the same Lord – but was it necessary? No. They already had a witness – the written covenant of the Law. The 5 books of Moses were a testimony to all 12 tribes of their faith in the same God & in fact already declared how Moses allowed the 2½ tribes to settle on the east side of the Jordan. In addition, they already had a witness memorial at Gilgal when the whole nation had crossed the Jordan the 1st time (Joshua 4). In the end, this is a man-made replacement for what God had already done. (Unger), “How desperately the Lord’s people who are one in their position before God need to exemplify that unity before men in a genuine testimony of its power – not a man-made monument, but the outshining of genuine faith in God’s Word exemplifying spiritual vitality from within the heart.”
__a. We find our unity in Christ & His word! Not around an altar of man, but around the Cross…

Conclusion:
It probably wouldn’t be too difficult for any of us to look over this chapter & see ourselves on both sides. There have been times when I’ve been the one to try to lovingly confront sin & there have been other times when I’ve been the one making irrational choices needing to be confronted. And there have been times when I’ve messed up on both counts! The good thing is that we serve a gracious & forgiving God Who helps us when we fail…and hopefully the next time we encounter the same situation we do so by relying on Christ & trusting His promises in the Scriptures.

In the end, that’s where the Transjordan tribes ran into trouble. No sooner had they been charged by Joshua to love God, obey God, and serve God, they forgot what God had said about false altars & built their attempt at a monument of witness. If they had simply trusted God & His provision, they wouldn’t have needed to worry about how the other tribes would have treated them in the years to come.

May we be people who trust the Lord Jesus Christ in every occasion! Whether it be in our fears – or whether it be in our loving confrontations with one another. We may not be ready to take up swords & pitchforks against one another, but too often relationships are damaged because we proceeded in our flesh rather than in the Lord.

Finish the Job

Joshua 13-19, “Finish the Job”
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Joshua 13 (NKJV)
1 Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the LORD said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.

A. How old was he? Somewhere between 90-100 yrs old. Keep in mind he was one of the original Israelites to leave Egypt. He had been with Moses throughout the 40 years in the wilderness. And now he has gone through the days of the conquest…

B. But that didn’t mean Israel was through! One of the most amazing phrases uttered by Jesus at the cross was “It is finished!” (glorious!… ) The price was completely paid for sin – but that doesn’t mean it’s been put out of existence. The penalty is taken care of, but we still deal with the presence & temptation of sin every day. For Christians, we are enjoying our rest in the land of salvation – but until we see Christ face-to-face, there “remains very much land yet to be possessed.” We never get so mature in our walk that we don’t stop fighting against sin…never stop!
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2 This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites, 3 from Sihor, which is east of Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron northward (which is counted as Canaanite); the five lords of the Philistines—the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites; 4 from the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites; 5 the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath; 6 all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the Brook Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians—them I will drive out from before the children of Israel; only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you. 7 Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

A. God outlines the land still to be taken by the individual tribes. In the process, God also appoints out the land to the people – not unlike how God appoints the believer’s gifts & ministry…

B. Next several chapters are going to deal with the division of the land. Going to get into some pretty deep detail (which we’re not going to read every name). Why the detail? Is it really all that important? It was to the tribes who were moving into the land! They needed to know where they were supposed to go & what they were expected to do. No one had ever been down this path in the past & God in His grace let them know very specifics about the inheritance He was giving them.

C. This was the land God had ordained for them. Their responsibility was to simply act on the promises of God & take it… That’s no different from us. Our salvation is completely won in Christ – and the Holy Spirit empowers us to walk as His witnesses & disciples. But if we’re going to walk, we still need to put one foot in front of the other… God doesn’t give us His word & His promises so that we can read it & just close the book. He gives us His word so that we would act upon it!
__a. What promises of God have we not trusted? What commands of God have we not obeyed? This isn’t a matter of legalism; it’s a matter of lordship. Do we truly trust Jesus as our LORD & Savior? If so, we need to put our faith into action! James 2:18-19 (18) But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (19) You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! []

Vs. 8-12: Summary of Trans-Jordan borders…

13 Nevertheless the children of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

A. Job was incomplete…get used to seeing this among the various tribes. They were given the land by God – the conquest had been delivered to them through Joshua – but they were content to live with & compromises with sin & sinful people. It’s going to plague them with troubles throughout Judges & the early Kingdom.
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14 Only to the tribe of Levi he had given no inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as He said to them.

A. They had the best inheritance of all: the LORD God! Physical blessing was minor compared to the spiritual blessing they received from serving God in the Tabernacle.

B. The church today could in many ways be compared to the Levites in that we are a royal priesthood of believers in Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus provides for us physically – but how much more of an inheritance have we received in the fact that we are invited to worship & serve the Almighty God? We look forward to reigning with Christ…that’s better than any “prosperity gospel” could promise!
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Going to look at the various tribes in the TransJordan…
- verses 15-21: Reuben’s inheritance… [MAP]

22 The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them.

A. Review Balaam (Numbers 22-24)… Eventually he gave up trying to prophesy against Israel & simply told Balak how to sabotage Israel through harlotry…

B. The biggest tragedy with Balaam is that he was a man that God revealed an incredible amount to…even to the point of having a vision of the coming victorious Messiah. Numbers 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult. [That’s Jesus!!] Yet Balaam’s life ended in rebellion against God & His people…
__a. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge we have about the Lord, if we don’t know the Lord. It doesn’t matter how much Scripture we have memorized, if we don’t believe its truth & the One who wrote it. … There are a lot of people (especially in the South) good at ‘playing church…’ But playing church has nothing to do with actually being the church! There will be many who cry out “Lord, Lord” to whom Jesus is going to refuse saying, “Depart, I never knew you.” (Matt 7:23)… Don’t be one of them!
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23 And the border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their villages. [summary…]

- verses 24-28: Gad’s inheritance… [MAP]
- vs. 29-33: ½ (East) Manasseh… [MAP]

A. Completes the east side of the Jordan – these were the tribes that “settled” for grazing country (what they could see) rather than the full promise of God (which they had not yet seen)…
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Joshua 14 (NKJV)
1 These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them. 2 Their inheritance was by lot, as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. 3 For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan; but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them. 4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for their livestock and their property. 5 As the LORD had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land.

A. Summary stating the land was going to be divided up by the remaining tribes on the west side of the Jordan.
B. Land was to be divided by “lot”. Not by chance; but according to the Lord…
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6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: “You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

A. Caleb was one of the original 12 spies. 40 years old at the time of the rebellion & then he watched an entire generation die off over 38 years in the wilderness…

B. What made Caleb (and Joshua) different than the other spies? After all, they saw the same things… Caleb “wholly followed the LORD” – IOW, Caleb saw the challenges, but he looked through eyes of faith. The Lord had promised them the land – the Lord had promised He would fight for them – the spies’ job was simply to go in there & see what the Lord would do…how Israel was to follow God through the conquest. The 10 spies feared man; Caleb & Joshua feared the Lord & followed Him in faith. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. []
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9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.

A. 2 blessings from God here. 1st blessing: a particular inheritance in the land. Caleb wasn’t just getting part of the land of Judah; he was getting his own home directly from the Lord.
B. 2nd blessing: the strength of a 40 year old at 85 years of age…
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12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said.”

A. I love this! “Give me this mountain”…what a declaration of faith! Prepared to keep fighting more giants as long as the Lord is with him. The Anakim had already been tossed out once & now they had come back in…Caleb is ready to take them on by himself. Why? Because if God is for us, who can be against us?
__a. (Redpath) “A faith that never wavered had enabled him to lay hold on a strength that never weakened – the very power of God Himself.”
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13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. 15 And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest from war.

A. Implies Caleb actually completed the job…unlike the rest of Israel.
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Joshua 15 (NKJV)
- vs 1-12: Boundaries of the land of Judah… MAP

13 Now to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a share among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, namely, Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from there: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. 15 Then he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir (formerly the name of Debir was Kirjath Sepher). 16 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 So Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 Now it was so, when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 19 She answered, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

A. Caleb’s daughter & future son-in-law (and judge – Jud 3:9-11)… Othniel proved his worth as a son-in-law by conquering the city of Kirjath Sepher. In essence, Caleb was promoting the same faith that he himself showed & demonstrated – teaching the next generation how to trust the Lord. (That’s part of what we teach one another within the church – Titus 2)
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- vs 20-62: lists the cities of Judah…

63 As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

A. Again, more people whom the Hebrews should have fought, but didn’t. Ultimately, they compromised and lived among the people of God…
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Joshua 16 (NKJV)
- Vs 1-9 describe inheritance of Ephraim & Manesseh & specifically the borders of Ephraim. MAP

10 And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers.
A. Notice a pattern here? More people that should have been fought…
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Joshua 17 (NKJV)
1 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph: namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war; therefore he was given Gilead and Bashan.

A. Vs. 2-11 describe the borders & cities of the other ½ of Manasseh… MAP. Includes the daughters of Zelophehad, to whom Moses had promised an inheritance (Num 36)
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12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 13 And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

A. Again, there’s a lack of a full conquest. This time, the Canaanites serve as the Gibeonites did (forced labor) – but they shouldn’t have been serving at all. God had commanded their extermination due to their wickedness & had warned Israel about compromising with them…it would just lead to idolatry & sin. He specifically told them to utterly destroy them, make no covenant nor marriages with them, to destroy their sacred pillars, cut down their wooden images & burn them with fire (Deut 7:1-5). Why? Because God loved Israel! Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. [] He wanted to protect them from idolatry & sin…

B. It’s the same with us. Why does God repeatedly tell us to live in holiness & purity in the NT? Because He loves us! He’s chosen us for His own – He’s purchased us as His own possession & people. Walking in sin only drives us away from Him, causes us pain, and grieves the Holy Spirit. Like any loving Father, God wants the best for us – and the best for us is His will & holiness.
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14 Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the LORD has blessed us until now?” 15 So Joshua answered them, “If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.”

A. The problem: the people were too big for the land… Joshua’s answer? ‘Prove you’re too big. Go fight for it…’
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16 But the children of Joseph said, “The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel.” 17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—saying, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, 18 but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

A. Joshua doesn’t back off from the challenge. They may have wanted mountains instead of forests, but they still had to go conquer it for themselves. If they wanted more, they were going to have to step out to go get it.

B. What’s the difference between Caleb & Ephraim? Faith! Caleb knew that if God was with him, nothing was impossible. Ephraim/Manasseh wanted their inheritance (and extra) handed to them on a platter…that’s not faith; it’s laziness or worse. (Walvoord & Zuck) “Caleb’s request was motivated by faith, whereas that of the Josephites stemmed from fear.” Ephraim saw the iron chariots & feared – understandably so…they were fearsome weaponry for the day. And note that Joshua acknowledges the iron chariots. It’s not that he was ignoring the challenge that Ephraim faced; but rather he knew that the God he served was infinitely bigger than their challenges… Caleb had no less challenges – he faced the giants of the land. But giants are no match for the Creator God of the Universe, and neither were a bunch of iron chariots.
__a. To walk in faith is not to deny reality. Trusting God is not to blindly proclaim that our problems don’t exist or that we can declare them gone in Jesus’ name. (That’s not faith; that’s divination.) Caleb saw the giants, but understood his God is infinitely bigger than giants. We see the job layoff – the cancer – the heart problems – the wayward children…those issues are very real & very daunting. But our God is infinitely bigger than all of them! Part of walking in faith is trusting God is still on the throne – still in command – and will glorify Himself in every situation His children go through. (Rom 8:28)
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Joshua 18 (NKJV)
1 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them.

A. This would be the home for the tabernacle until David moved it to Jerusalem…
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2 But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance. 3 Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you? 4 Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. 5 And they shall divide it into seven parts. Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. 6 You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. 7 But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.”

A. People just lying around waiting for land to drop in their lap! True laziness…
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8 Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to survey the land, saying, “Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.” 9 So the men went, passed through the land, and wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

- Vs. 11-20 deal with the borders of Benjamin… MAP
- Vs. 21-28 deal with the cities of Benjamin…
- Ch 19:1-9 deal with the cities of Simeon. Their lot was within the lot of Judah since Judah’s was so big. MAP
- Vs. 10-16 deal with the borders & cities of Zebulun… MAP
- Vs. 17-23 deal with the borders & cities of Issachar… MAP
- Vs. 24-31 deal with the borders & cities of Asher… MAP
- Vs. 32-39 deal with the borders & cities of Naphtali… MAP
- vs. 40-48 deal with the borders & cities of Dan… MAP

49 When they had made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. 50 According to the word of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked for, Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it. 51 These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country.

A. Joshua’s own personal inheritance…like a good leader, he waited till the end. As with Caleb, he got his own city as the other half of the original faithful spies.

Conclusion:
So much land & so much inheritance – to look at just the boundaries on the map, it’d be tempting to clap our hands & congratulate the Israelites on a “job well done.” But whereas we could say that about Joshua & Caleb…the rest of the Israelites still had a long way to go. They had land given them by God Almighty, but they allowed people whom God had cursed to dwell among them & drag them down into sin. They had much fighting yet to do – they were just unwilling in many ways to do it.

How often are we as Christians the same way? We’ve been given a wonderful new life in Christ! We’ve been freed from the power of sin over our lives & because of the work of the cross & resurrection, we can resist temptation, & walk in the power of the Spirit in holiness. The one challenge is that we’ve got to be willing to continue to fight. Jesus has given us everything we need to wage the battle; but we’ve still got to stand strong against temptation & not give in nor compromise to sin or our flesh.

Too often Christians (including myself) have simply not been willing to fight that battle – like the 7 tribes in Shiloh, we’re content to just keep wandering along & not step into the promise that God has for it. Instead of wandering listlessly in our walk with Christ, let us be like Caleb & finish the job. Caleb saw a legitimate challenge facing him & faced it right back.
A. He remembered what the Lord had done in the past…
B. He trusted the promises of God in the present…
C. He wasn’t willing to settle for anything less that God’s will & God’s best…
D. He faced his legitimate challenges in faith…

Let us do the same! … When faced with sin & trials, may we say to God, “Give me this mountain!”

Completing the Conquest

Joshua 11-12, “Completing the Conquest”
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Introduction:
Thus far in Joshua we’ve encountered some pretty exciting battles: the walls falling at Jericho – the defeat & ambush of Ai – the routing of the 5-kingdom confederacy, the sun standing still in the sky, and more. Tonight we get one more battle & things will slow down a bit in the next several chapters as we see the allotment of the land given to the various Israelite tribes.

The battle we do see is immense…as if all the other battles Israel had faced up to this point had been a dress rehearsal. That’s not unlike how our walk with Christ is & how we face battles against sin & temptation. We’re cruising along, learning to fight the little battles – when out of nowhere comes a massive attack from the enemy & a temptation to go back to doing things in our power rather than the Lord’s. Just as that would be a mistake with us, it’d be one with Israel…and (at least this time) they do things the right way starting out. They wait for the word of God & act upon His promises.

Joshua 11 (NKJV)
1 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard these things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings who were from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, 3 to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, and the Hivite below Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And when all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

A. Israel had just got done fighting one alliance of nations (city-states)…now they were facing another one. Except this one was a lot bigger than 5 against one – by the time the armies were assembled, Israel was in trouble. They faced “as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots…” The Jewish historian Josephus asserts that there were 300,000 soldiers, 10,000 cavalry troops, and 20,000 chariots – talk about overwhelming!

B. What do we do when we face overwhelming odds? Maybe we’re hit with a job loss and a major house repair at the same time – how do we deal with the stress? Maybe we’ve gotten to a point with some kind of recurring besetting sin that we think we’ve actually got a handle of things & then circumstances spin out of control & we’re faced with massive temptation – what do we do? [] In Israel’s case, the Scripture is silent on how they faced these odds. There’s no mention of prayer or fasting or seeking the Lord…but at the same time, there’s also no mention of acting out in their flesh or seeking poor counsel. Sometimes when we’re overwhelmed we don’t necessarily know how to react the right way – but there’s much wisdom in just waiting on the Lord if we know all the other ways are wrong.
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6 But the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”

A. To proceed in the flesh would have been suicide for Israel…but to proceed in the Lord is walking in faith. This has often been the pattern…when Moses tried to free the Hebrews in his flesh, he ended up killing a man & running for his life. God sent him back in the power of the spirit & Moses did something even more bold (give demands unto Pharaoh!) – but instead of living in fear, Moses was proceeding in the faith of God. Same thing with the Red Sea: by the accounting of man, it was foolish to end up trapped between the Egyptian army & the beach – but in the eyes of God, it was just patience in waiting for His miracle. [] For Joshua, imagine the relief he must have felt to receive this word from the Lord. No longer would he be facing a suicidal battle; he’d be walking in faith in the victory that God had already promised.

B. How to face down overwhelming odds? First, when you’re doing things God’s way – don’t be afraid. [] God gives us many things in the Body of Christ, but fear isn’t one of them. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. [] When we start experiencing fear as a result of our circumstances, the 1st thing we can be assured of is that fear didn’t come from the Lord – and that should give us hope & confidence to start seeking the Lord again in faith.

C. Second, when you’re doing things God’s way, He’s the One doing the work. God would “deliver all of them slain before Israel”…the wording almost makes it seem as if all Israel would have to do is show up & they’d see a battlefield full of dead enemies. Obviously God was still calling Israel to fight, but He Himself was the One responsible for their power & victory…Israel simply had to show up.
__a. Keep in mind that all of our battles are foundationally spiritual battles – we do not battle against flesh & blood, but principalities & powers (Eph 6:12). And when it comes to spiritual issues such as sin & spiritual attack, Jesus has already won the victory – that was proven at the Resurrection & with His ascension. Thus we fight from victory; not for victory. We simply show up in the power of the Spirit, standing on the word of God, trusting in God to be true to His promises.
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7 So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them. 8 And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, to the Brook Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. 9 So Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

A. As with the previous battle (Ch 10:9), Joshua & the Israelites take the enemy army by surprise… They defeat them in battle & pursue them to their utter destruction. [MAP] Exactly what the Lord said would happen happened. Go figure.

B. Why hamstring the horses? Couldn’t the Israelites have adopted them as their own – like taking their weapons & put them into their own arsenal? From a human point of view, that would have made a lot of sense… From a spiritual point of view, it would have been exactly the wrong strategy! They were fighting a spiritual battle & God was the one fighting for them. For them to take the enemy’s horses & chariots would have been like using the enemy’s tools to fight the Lord’s battles…
__a. Ultimately, this comes down to an issue of trust. Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. [] Do we trust God to be sufficient in Himself with whatever promises He’s given? Is His word true? Or does He need help from us & whatever methods we think best? Take political issues for example…there’s nothing necessarily wrong with petitions & phone campaigns, etc. Christians & non-Christians alike use them with great success. The problem comes in when it’s the only method of activism we’re using, when the 1st things we ought to be doing is praying & sharing the gospel… When people’s hearts are changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, their actions will follow.
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10 Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.

A. Remember the city of Hazor was the instigator behind all this – Joshua completely destroys the city & burns it with fire…
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12 So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded. 13 But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing.

A. Why didn’t Joshua destroy the other cities? Because Israel was supposed to live in them! That was part of the promise of God – that they’d live in houses they didn’t build & harvest vineyards they didn’t plant (Deut 6:11)…they were inheriting a home; not a barren wasteland.
__a. We need to keep the same thing in mind when we think of the Promised Land as our salvation & walk in Christ (as per Heb 4). Sometimes the Christian walk is made out to be some sort of legalistic list that no one would want to take part in (Do this; don’t do that…) – but we weren’t given a wasteland of a life by God; we were given a glorious life in the Spirit! It’s not a matter of being jealous for the things that were killing us in the past – it’s the joy & privilege of living as a child of God today. Keep in mind the Hebrews were supposed to keep the houses; not the high places & idolatrous altars from before. The life we have in Christ we ought to enjoy in Christ – we have the wonderful privilege and invitation to worship God in spirit & truth – to pray directly to Him without any interference – to give glory to Him through our lips & our actions – to walk in the power & joy of the Spirit. There’s nothing ‘barren’ about the Christian life…God has given us an inheritance not just for the future, but for today!

B. The people were utterly destroyed. Was this just? Absolutely – it was the justice of God. They had filled up on the measure of their wrath & God used Israel as His instrument to pour it out upon them. As harsh as this may look from a 21st Century mindset, this was the will of God – and thus we can trust that the Judge of all the earth always does right.
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15 As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.

A. Joshua did everything God had told him to do: he brought the people into the land – he had faith in the Lord – he fought the battles – he divided the land among Israel…truly Joshua was faithful. Keep in mind that Joshua is in many ways a type (foreshadowing) of the Lord Jesus. If Joshua was faithful in everything God had commanded him to do, we can be assured that Jesus was even more so! Jesus did everything God wanted Him to do (John 5:19), and keeps everyone God calls Him to keep (John 6:39). Our salvation (rest – inheritance) is absolutely complete in Jesus Christ because it’s absolutely dependent on Jesus Christ & He is absolutely faithful!

B. Does that mean there wasn’t work for Joshua & Israel to do? No – Just because they were in the land didn’t mean that Israel was supposed to sit on their hands & become couch potatoes – and as Judges proves, they didn’t get off the couch near enough!
__a. We receive new life in Christ – praise God! But as long as we draw breath, we will always be engaged in a battle against sin. The Lord Jesus paid the price for it at the cross & won the victory in the resurrection – our battle has nothing to do with the penalty of sin (that work has already been fully accomplished). Our ongoing battle has to do with dealing with the dead body of sin that remains with us as long as we live in these fleshly fallen bodies. [Paul’s struggle in Rom 7] Romans 7:23-25 (23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (24) O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (25) I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. [] Never give up the fight against sin! We don’t fight against it due to guilt or condemnation (because there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus – Rom 8:1); we fight against it because it’s dead to us & we have something so much better to live for – Christ! And to settle for anything less than the life He has for us is to settle for 2nd best.
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16 Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain—the mountains of Israel and its lowlands, 17 from Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, and struck them down and killed them. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

A. Summary of the general conquest…

B. God did give huge decisive quick victories to Israel; but they weren’t all that way. With these kings, “Joshua made war a long time…” Scholars estimate the time based on the accounts of Caleb’s age (listed in Ch 14:7,10)…he was 40 years old at the time of the spying at Kadesh – 38 years in the wandering – 85 y.o. at the end of the conquest…makes for a 7 year total conquest. (Interesting prophetically…) However long it was, it was a long time with hard fought-out battles along the way.
__a. Are we ready for a long war against the flesh in the power of the Spirit? I praise God for the testimonies of people who get saved & then never struggle a day against their previous besetting sin…but those testimonies are far & few in-between. Most of us experience what Israel did…there are massive victories that are only due to the miraculous intervention of God – and then there are longer drawn out battles in sweat & tears clinging to the promises in His word.
__b. That’s not to be scary or depressing – simply real life. But we need to remember that in all of this, we’re never alone. Jesus never leaves us to fight these battles out by ourselves. He sent us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever (John 14:6) – the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us (Rom 8:26) – Jesus Himself constantly makes intercession for us (Rom 8:34) – and He promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:15).
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19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle. 20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

A. Not even Gibeon should have received peace from Israel [review]… But it’s interesting that no other nations even bothered asking for peace. They simply weren’t interested in anything other than fighting against the people of God at all costs.

B. Why? God hardened their hearts. This is the same word & phrasing used of Pharaoh when Moses repeatedly asked for the Hebrews’ freedom. Throughout the 9 plagues, Pharaoh would appear to relent, but his heart was hardened. At first, the Scripture makes it clear that Pharaoh heart was hardened on his own (Exo 7:13, 22, 8:15, etc) – but over time, Scripture also makes it clear that God hardened his heart (Exo 9:12).

C. To many of us, this starts to get into some tricky territory. After all, if God hardened their heart, how can we say that God gave them the opportunity to repent? I suggest that those are two separate questions.
__i. Did God give them the opportunity to repent? YES! It was 400 years earlier to Abraham that He first mentioned the iniquity of the inhabitants of the land & said at that point that the “iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Gen 15:16). They had 4 centuries to repent! The fact God waited for so long only goes to show His mercy…
__ii. Did God have the right to harden their hearts? Yes…He’s God. Because He is God, in some senses He is wholly unlike us & has rights we do not have. Part of His rights include to harden some & show mercy to others. But let us beware that we do not accuse God of wrongdoing – as with the Amorites & with Pharaoh, His hardening only serves to showcase His far greater mercy. Romans 9:14-17 (14) What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! (15) For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” (16) So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. (17) For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” []
__iii. “So where does free-will come in?” The same place it always does. Simply because God hardens some does not change the reach of the gospel in the slightest. He still is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9), and there’s no indication that this promise is any less true for Pharaoh or the Amorites than it is for us. Our hearts are already hard due to sin – and in Pharaoh’s case (at least) we know he hardened his heart 1st. God simply completed the work Pharaoh had already begun.
____i. Whatever the case, we can be assured that God is good – that He’s merciful – that He desires men to repent – that He’s made provision for men to repent through Christ – and that He’s given witness of Himself through creation, conscience, & the Scripture. The workings beyond that of what actually takes place in a person’s heart prior to salvation is a mystery & reserved for God to know…and that’s ok. God is God; we’re not.
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21 And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.

A. Who were the Anakim? The reason Israel balked from entering the land the 1st time. When the 12 spies went into the land, they complained that the children of Anak were giants & the Hebrews were like grasshoppers in their sight (Num 13:33). Now after all this time, Joshua & the Hebrews come in the power of God & wipe these guys out like they could have done 40 years before.
__a. Interestingly, the Anakim remained in Gaza & Gath – the lands that became home to the Philistines. Who was the giant warrior from Gath who fought for the Philistines? Goliath.

B. Did Joshua really take the whole land? Yes – scholars will argue about the extent of land promised & whether or not Israel ever took every single square inch, but as a whole, Joshua did take the whole land. Every part of the land that God commanded Joshua to go into, he went into & claimed a victory. The individual tribes were supposed to take it from there & complete the task in their individual inheritance.
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Joshua 12 (NKJV)
1 These are the kings of the land whom the children of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed on the other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the eastern Jordan plain:

A. Going to list out the various kings & lands defeated by God through Israel…starts with the kings defeated by Moses; moves on to Joshua. (Quick)
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2 One king was Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon and ruled half of Gilead, from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, from the middle of that river, even as far as the River Jabbok, which is the border of the Ammonites, 3 and the eastern Jordan plain from the Sea of Chinneroth as far as the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), the road to Beth Jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

A. Review: (Num 21) Sihon had refused passage to the Hebrews through his land, as had Edom & Moab before him. However, Sihon wasn’t under the protection of God & had no family relation to Israel. This was Israel’s 1st taste of victory in the promised land.
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4 The other king was Og king of Bashan and his territory, who was of the remnant of the giants, who dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, 5 and reigned over Mount Hermon, over Salcah, over all Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and over half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

A. Review: (Num 21) Og was next on the list & apparently didn’t even get a chance to refuse Israel if he had wanted to. God simply delivered their army into the hands of Israel. Both Sihon and Og were crucial 1st battles for Israel as they learned to trust the Lord & walk in His power & victory.
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6 These Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel had conquered; and Moses the servant of the LORD had given it as a possession to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

A. Tribes that settled on the east side of the Jordan. They truly did “settle” because they saw that the land was good for the livestock, but they were stopping short of what God truly had intended for them.
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7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan, on the west, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon as far as Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions, 8 in the mountain country, in the lowlands, in the Jordan plain, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the South— the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: (vs. 9-24 list 31 kings conquered by Israel)

A. Quite a list! Why the details? After all, all these kings are lost to history. That’s the point. At the time, they most definitely were NOT lost to history – they were the powerhouses in Canaan, and going down the list of names, it’s obvious that God miraculously took the land from their hands and gave it to Israel. We may not know their names, but the people around them at the time certainly did. But for today – who’s still here? When was the last time you met a citizen of Aphek? Or Tirzah? They’re gone – God judged them. But to name a Jew is easy. Even before the nation of Israel was re-established, the Jewish people never died out…God kept them and preserved them through the centuries as a testimony to His covenant and His power.

Conclusion:
Congratulations Joshua! The land has been conquered. The very thing that they’ve been working towards for close to 50 years has finally come to pass: they now have a home of their own.

So how did they get there?
A. It was a sovereign work of God. He had judged the inhabitants of the land for their sin, hardened their hearts, and had miraculously delivered the land into the hands of His people.
B. It was a completed work of God. Everything He had commanded Joshua to do, He had enabled Joshua to do – not a single thing was left undone.
C. It was an ongoing work of God’s people, empowered by God. The land was theirs, but there would be pockets of Canaanites who remained for years. Unless God’s people continued to do things God’s way, their enemies would continue to plague them (which historically, is exactly what happened).

How similar it is to our own salvation & walk with Christ!
A. It is a sovereign work of God. God alone sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins – raised Him from the dead – draws us to Christ through the gospel – convicts us of sin, righteousness & judgment through the Spirit – and gives us the faith needed to respond to the gospel. We are not absolved of the responsibility to respond to His glorious offer, but our salvation is completely due to His work & not our own.
B. It is a completed work of God. When Jesus hung on the cross, He declared “It is finished!” Not a single ounce of effort more was needed for salvation – as the hymn declares, “Jesus paid it all!”
C. It is an ongoing work of God’s people, empowered by God. We are justified fully at the cross, but we are sanctified throughout our lives – growing in holiness, living in purity, and maturing in our walk with Christ. Till the day we die we will struggle against sin – not to justify ourselves from it’s stain, but to continue to reckon ourselves dead to it & alive in God.

Are you trusting in His work & relying on His power? As with Israel, to face the world’s temptations & sin without God is suicide…of course we’re going to fail – why wouldn’t we? When we were without Christ we always failed before; that doesn’t change. But in Christ, empowered by the Spirit, and holding fast to the promises of God we can face sin & temptation in faith & walk in the victory God has already won.

Won’t Get Fooled Again

Joshua 9-10, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” The Gibeonites
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Introduction:
So far, Joshua & the Israelites are proceeding with in the invasion of the land with a rather interesting track record. 1st they experience miracle; then they experience defeat; then they experience miracle again. The pattern isn’t going to change much tonight.

In our own walk with Jesus as we’re being sanctified apart from sin, we find much of the same thing. One day we’ll walk in tremendous victory over temptation & the next day we’ll falter. What makes the difference? Usually, it hinges on whether or not we’re doing things our way or God’s way. Israel did things their way with the Gibeonites & got fooled, big time.

Joshua 9 (NKJV)
1 And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon— the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, 2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.

A. Heard about what? Heard about what happened to Jericho & Ai. It was obvious to the entire land that God was fighting for Israel, so they thought their only chance would be to combine forces and attack Israel all at once.

B. Keep this alliance in mind for Ch 10…it’s going to get interesting.
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3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, 5 old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. 6 And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”

A. On one hand, Gibeon’s deception is far more wise than the rest of the nations. They knew that there was no way they’d be able to defeat Israel with God fighting for them (who can?), so they knew their one chance was guile & trickery. Took painstaking steps to disguise themselves and pretend they had been on a long journey…
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7 Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?”

A. Good question…too bad Israel didn’t ask much more. They were indeed forbidden to make peace with Gibeon or any of the inhabitants of the land… (Deut 7:1-2)

B. Keep our typology in mind. The inhabitants of Canaan represent sin & the flesh; Israel represents the believer walking in faith in the Lord. Just as Gibeon tempted Israel to compromise, we will always have a temptation to compromise with the flesh. There will always be an occasion when we’re faced with a choice of selfishness or sanctification & we have an enemy that is chomping at the bit for an opportunity to see us fail. We need to beware… Israel seemed wary, but they weren’t wary enough to take it before the Lord.
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8 But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?” 9 So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, 10 and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11 Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ 12 This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. 13 And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”

A. Gave a sob story about where they had supposedly come from, lying the whole time… They were pretty shrewd about the whole event, considering that any mention of Ai or Jericho is conspicuously absent. If they had mentioned it, it would have been a dead giveaway since they could not have heard about those recent events in their supposedly ‘far’ country.
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14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. 15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

A. They didn’t ask of the Lord! BIG mistake… [] Ps 37 exhorts us to “delight… commit… rest” in the Lord & God will bring His will to pass in our lives. Proverbs 3:5-6 (5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. [] The Israelites were trusting in themselves & their own knowledge – which for anyone else probably would have been all they could do, but they had access to the One Who has ALL knowledge & they passed Him by.
__a. We have a blessing that the rest of the world could only wish for: unfettered access to the throne room of God through prayer because of Jesus Christ. What a tragedy when we don’t use it more often! We’ll act 1st & pray later, and it almost always ends up as a bad decision. God has promised to give us wisdom in abundance (Jas 1:6), but we need to ask…

B. Keep in mind, the Israelites weren’t necessarily acting recklessly. They did at least a preliminary investigation. By the standards of man, everything checked out. The problem wasn’t in their knowledge of what they thought should be done; they forgot that they weren’t supposed to be the ones who made the decision in the 1st place. They were supposed to be under the authority of God & HE was the One to tell them what should be done.
__a. We are a people under authority. We’ve been bought with a price & we are not our own. So every decision we make needs to be made with the understanding that Jesus is Lord & whatever His word says, we do.
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16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. 17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. 18 But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

A. Found out the truth. Too late to do anything about it.
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19 Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.”

A. There would be vows in Israel’s history that it would have been better to reject & repent from (Jepthah’s daughter!), but this was a covenant made with another people in the name of the Lord God. 2 wrongs don’t make a right – to break the covenant would have just compounded their sin.

B. Christians ought to be people who tell the truth & honor our word. Even if we make a commitment that’s inconvenient or uncomfortable, we need to follow through with it. Let your yes be yes… (Matt 5:37)
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21 And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.”

A. Gibeon had pretended to be Israel’s servants, so Israel said, “Ok.” Joshua is going to narrow it down a bit further…
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22 Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell near us? 23 Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” [not just for the congregation; but for the tabernacle] 24 So they answered Joshua and said, “Because your servants were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25 And now, here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us.”

A. Was it a curse or a blessing? After all, the Gibeonites lived to tell the tale… Not to mention there were servants for the house of God… Temporarily, it surely was a curse, as they went overnight from being a mighty royal city to servants of Israel. But ultimately, it was a blessing in that they were privileged to serve the Lord in ways that many Israelites never did. Although they began in deception, they left themselves in the hands of the Lord, seeking His mercy.
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26 So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. 27 And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which He would choose, even to this day.

A. I.e., as of the time of the writing of Joshua, the Gibeonites were still serving as woodcutters & water carriers, etc. Israel was still caring for Gibeon through the Kingdom years & Saul is punished by God when he kills them – Gibeon is even still present with Nehemiah when Jerusalem is rebuilt (Neh 3:7).
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Joshua 10 (NKJV)
1 Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it— as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.

A. Jerusalem’s king figured that if Gibeon (of all cities) unconditionally surrendered to Israel, what choice would he have? Decided to call upon other kingdoms to unite & fight…

B. Unusual name for the king, especially for one of the enemies of Israel: Adoni-Zedek = “Lord of righteousness”. Unlike Melchizedek (“king of righteousness”) who blessed Abraham, Adoni-Zedek ends up fighting against Israel. Possible picture of Antichrist? Interesting parallels throughout the chapter.
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3 Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” 5 Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it.

A. Note they made war with Gibeon; not Israel… Why? It seems they were using Gibeon to draw Israel into battle on their terms. Israel’s covenant forced them to come to Gibeon’s defense, and now the allied enemies could set the battleground, etc.
__a. Often we think that after we confess our sins & appropriate the forgiveness of God, that means the whole slate is wiped clean & we can have a “do-over.” Not true. Whenever we compromise with the flesh, there are consequences to face. Not that God can’t use those consequences to glorify Himself (He can & does!), but we still need to walk through them.

B. If this is a picture of Antichrist, it becomes interesting that he arranges a confederation of nations to come against Israel in one massive battle…almost like a dress rehearsal for what’s to come at the Battle of Armageddon.
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6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.” 7 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.

A. Was this a problem for Israel? Yes & no. Granted, Israel would have fought all of these countries eventually… But if Israel hadn’t been duped by the Gibeonites, they probably would have taken on the battles in their timeframe & with their own advantage…

B. Although this is appears to be a disadvantage, it’s also a great opportunity which the Lord is going to use. Instead of going after each king individually, Joshua is able to address 5 kings at once.
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8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. 10 So the LORD routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

A. Joshua’s army pulled an all-nighter hard march & took the enemy by surprise. And with the Lord’s empowerment, they were still stronger than 5 armies put together. (If God is for us, who can be against us?)

B. What seemed to be a problem for Israel wasn’t a problem for the Lord! He actually turned it into a massive, overwhelming victory… To the point of supernaturally fighting for them. Apparently a miraculous hailstorm broke out, and God killed off more of the enemy soldiers than anyone did from Israel. (The hailstones give one more tie with Armageddon as outlined in Rev 16:21.)
__a. Was it a sin that brought them to this place? Yes. Was God glorified through it? Absolutely. Just like Joseph with his brothers, God meant this evil for good (Gen 50:20). And we have the same promise in every circumstance that we find ourselves. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. [] ALL things…even our mistakes.
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12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel. 15 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

A. Talk about supernatural warfare…God made the sun stand still! How was this accomplished? No one knows…conjectures range from the most literal interpretation – to a miraculous refraction of light to keep the day going – to the appearance of the glory of the Lord Himself giving light to the battle. If the text is absolutely literal, then it means God suspended massive laws of the physical universe to make it happen. The earth would have had to stop rotating on its axis (or slowed), yet the law of inertia would have been suspended in order to keep the planet from ripping to shreds… Or the Earth’s axis tilted… Or time itself would have stopped except for the battle… Whatever happened, it was truly miraculous!

B. Did this really happen? Yes – we may not know all the details, but we can rest assured that this is part of the inspired word of God. The “Book of Jasher” was a Hebrew book that recorded the event (obviously not unbiased, but still independent). Obviously, if this was a literal event, we would expect cultures around the world to reflect it (much like a global flood with Noah) – and sure enough, they do. Scholars have found accounts in Greek & Egyptian myths talking about a long day & Mexican & New Zealand myths about a long night (on the other side of the world).
__a. Be wary of emails proclaiming scientific proof of this…many are rumors… Ultimately, we don’t need independent proof of this miracle. If God can create the entire universe in 6 days, surely making the sun stand still isn’t a big deal for Him…

C. Some scholars (even evangelical ones) attempt to explain the miracle away with naturalistic explanations (such as eclipse), or a different translation (the sun was “silent,” i.e. darkened), but besides the issue of inspiration, they run into trouble at verse 14: there has never been another day like this day in all of history. What made it unique was not that God heeded the voice of a man speaking in faith (this happened with Elijah & the rain), nor because God fought for Israel (He would continue to do so), but because the Creator God threw a wrench in His creation for this particular moment & event. This was huge…but even something of this scale pales in comparison with the Resurrection! When Jesus rose from the dead, it was more than the sun standing still; it was death going backwards – it was sin being removed – it was the ultimate victory of the grace & goodness of God.
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16 But these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was told Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18 So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them. 19 And do not stay there yourselves, but pursue your enemies, and attack their rear guard. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand.”

A. The kings turned tail & hid…real brave of them. Joshua had them blocked off & imprisoned while the Israelites pursued the rest of the army. Effectively took out their leadership…
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20 Then it happened, while Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who escaped entered fortified cities. 21 And all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah, in peace. No one moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.

A. HUGE victory for Israel! 5 kingdoms defeated in 1 day…
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22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought out those five kings to him from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” And they drew near and put their feet on their necks. 25 Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26 And afterward Joshua struck them and killed them, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging on the trees until evening.

A. Seems like a rather brutal execution…but this wasn’t unusual for the day. Putting their feet on the king’s necks symbolically shows the king’s utter defeat & the Israelites’ superiority. … And that’s exactly the attitude we’re to take regarding sinful temptations in our lives. We’re not to compromise (as with Gibeon); we’re to war against it & kill it.

B. Imagery carries forth throughout the Bible – even regarding Jesus in His millennial reign! Psalm 110:1-2 (1) A Psalm of David. The Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” (2) The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! [] Jesus didn’t merely override death; He defeated it. He doesn’t just outrank Satan; He overwhelms him & casts him into Hell. Our God is a conquering awesome God!
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27 So it was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, cast them into the cave where they had been hidden, and laid large stones against the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.

A. As a warning/memorial…

- Vs 28-39 outline the southern campaign & the various cities that were conquered as a result of this particular battle. [MAP] Over the next days or weeks, Israel conquers Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir.
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40 So Joshua conquered all the land: the mountain country and the South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded.

A. Summary of vs. 28-39…

B. This time, Israel is doing things the way the Lord commanded it. No more treaties; just fighting against the enemy as God told them to do.
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41 And Joshua conquered them from Kadesh Barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even as far as Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

A. The reason for all their success? “the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel”…that was it!

Conclusion:
When they did things with the Lord, they saw victory. When they did things without the Lord, they got duped. Not too much different than us… When we’re willing to compromise with the flesh – when we open up the door to enjoy temptation a bit, it shouldn’t surprise us when we end up stumbling. Like Israel, we may even find ourselves with consequences to work through.

The question is: will we remain in that place of defeat & compromise? Or will we repent, seek the Lord & start over? His mercies are new every morning & He promises that if we confess our sins, He’s faithful & just to forgive us. God can turn that defeat into an overwhelming victory; we just need to wise up, stop relying on our unfaithful flesh & upon the faithful wisdom of God.

Man’s Defeat; God’s Victory

Joshua 7-8, “Man’s Defeat; God’s Victory”
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Introduction:
When we left Joshua & the Israelites, we read of one of the most famous exploits in the OT…what children’s Bible storybook doesn’t have the battle of Jericho? Not too many go on to the following chapters. What follows the miraculous victory of Jericho is the ignoble defeat at Ai…and the spiritual battle against sin among God’s people. God wants us to live in spiritual victory, but we can’t do it when we’re hanging on to secret sin in our lives. And that’s what is so vividly illustrated here.

Joshua 7 (NKJV)
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.

A. “accursed things”: Remember that Jericho was a ‘firstfruits’ city in the promised land. Its defeat was absolutely guaranteed by God, but all of the spoil belonged to Him as well. The Israelites were to take all of the gold, silver, and bronze & put them into the treasury of the Lord (Ch 6:19). Achan broke this command by stealing some for himself. As a result, the entire nation shared in his sin.
__a. Is this fair? Wrong question. This is simply reality. We are the Body of Christ. If our hand sins & steals a watch from a jewelry store, our entire body goes to jail. When one of us in the Body is in sin, it invariably affects the rest of us.

B. Can the anger of the Lord burn against His own children? It did with Israel. Can it with us? Perhaps not in the same way – but we ought to praise God for the fact that He cares when His children sin. Like a good Father, He wants us to walk rightly & won’t hesitate to discipline us to bring us to that place (Heb 12:6).
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2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

A. Seems like a good idea…this is what they did for Jericho. Drastically different results…
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3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.

A. Ai was a small city compared to Jericho…but that didn’t mean they weren’t formidable. Ch 8 tells us Ai had 12,000 people…the spies obviously weren’t very accurate in their report.

B. Is this cockiness or faith? Considering there’s no record of them praying at this point, or any time before they go to battle with Ai, it doesn’t seem that they’re proceeding in faith. They were flush from a miraculous victory, but thought that they could simply proceed however they wanted to at this point & consultation with God wasn’t really necessary. Consultation with God is ALWAYS necessary! (Redpath) “If you pray in time of victory, you will never have to plead in a time of defeat.”

C. Ultimately, what they were doing at this point was relying on their own strength. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise when they failed.
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5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water. 6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

A. What happened? Defeat! Not just any military loss – a humiliating defeat by most likely a smaller army…obviously God’s hand of protection had been removed.

B. What was the effect on Israel? They had the same reaction as the Canaanites did when they 1st crossed over into the land. Their hearts melted. Here they were with nowhere to run to (the Jordan River blocked them) & the rest of the nations would hear how God no longer protected Israel. They were sitting ducks.

C. Joshua’s response? Repentance & Prayer. Even though Joshua had no idea what was going on, he knew that was the place to start…
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7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”

A. Is Joshua accusing the Lord? It sounds awfully similar to what the Israelites typically accused God of while in the wilderness… He actually does the same thing he condemned the nation for doing when they rebelled at Kadesh (Num 14), he blamed God & accused Him of fulfilling His promise to Abraham just to kill Israel…

B. Knowing that Joshua is in many ways a type (forerunner) of Jesus, what does this tell us about Christ? Nothing. When Joshua was acting in faith, and moving in the power of the Spirit, his parallels to Jesus are quite obvious. When he was acting out in his flesh, he looks like the rest of us.
__a. Actually, it does tell us one thing. The fact that God responded to him (even in his accusation) tells us that God still loved him. Want one more reason to thank God for your salvation in Jesus Christ? God is still your Father even when you’re being a jerk.

C. Ultimately Joshua put it back in the hands of God – “what will YOU do?” The way he got around to it may not have been very good, but this is the right question to ask. It’s never “What will I do for God?” – because (especially in our flesh) our works aren’t worth anything. It’s always, “What will God do/what has God done?” And the answer is always in Jesus Christ! Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world – He already paid the price for our salvation at the cross – He currently offers forgiveness and new life to those who trust Him – He empowers with the Holy Spirit to walk with Him – He will receive us to Himself – He will raise us from the dead – He will allow us to reign with Him forever. It’s all about HIS work!
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10 So the LORD said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. 13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the LORD God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”

A. Why was God so rough in vs 10? Was He telling Joshua not to worship? Yes & no. Obviously Joshua was right to repent & seek the Lord’s face – but he was wrong to blame the Lord for Israel’s defeat. It was Israel’s own sin that caused Ai to run over them, but Joshua’s 1st response was to accuse God of wrongdoing.
__a. How often have we done the same regarding our sin? ‘Lord, why did You put me in this place? Why did You make me this way?’ …

B. Explained their sin & the results of it. Why was Israel “doomed to destruction”? Because the Lord wasn’t fighting for them… He was the only reason they would experience victory; without Him they would always experience utter defeat.
__a. Application to our struggle against sin & the flesh……

C. What to do #1…Destroy the accursed: There can never be any compromise with sin. We can’t sing “I Surrender All” when we keep a closet full of things we have no intention on surrendering to the Lord. Sin must be dealt with – and the only way of dealing with sin is death. Jesus died because of our sin; we walk with Jesus when we die TO our sin.

D. What to do #2…Sanctify yourselves: Set yourself apart for the Lord & His purposes. This is the flip side to the same coin. Paul sums it up – Romans 6:8-11 (8) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (9) knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (10) For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (11) Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. []
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14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes shall come according to families; and the family which the LORD takes shall come by households; and the household which the LORD takes shall come man by man. 15 Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”

A. Going to be done one-by-one – family by family…

B. Burned with fire? To demonstrate the absolute judgment of the Lord. Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29) – praise God that in Christ, all our sins are burned away!
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16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

A. Found the culprit…in the tribe of Judah. We don’t know how exactly – they may have cast lots…perhaps used the Urim/Thummim.

B. How long did this take? No one knows. There seems to be an indication that Judah was the 1st tribe examined, but it’s just speculation. (Walvoord and Zuck) “But since God knew who was guilty, why did He not simply reveal his identity to Joshua? The answer is that this dramatic method would impress on the nation of Israel the seriousness of disobeying God’s commands. Since the method took time it would also give the guilty person an opportunity to repent and confess his sin. If Achan had responded in this way and thrown himself on the mercy of God no doubt he would have been pardoned as was the guilty David centuries later.”
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19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

A. How would Achan’s confession bring glory to God? Because Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). This whole incident was brought about by deception, and it needed to be brought into the light. Joshua knew. God knew. Achan knew. For Achan to hide it would have only compounded his sin…he had already stolen from the Lord, rebelled against the Lord’s commandment, been responsible for the death of 36 men, and lying about it to cover it up. He didn’t need to lie some more.

B. Notice Joshua approached Achan gently & compassionately, even knowing the punishment that was about to come. That’s how Jesus deals with us… That’s how we ought to deal with others…
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20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

A. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was quite a haul. Compared to current market values, Achan had about $17K worth of material that should have been consecrated to the Lord.

B. Achan’s sin cost the lives of 36 men – but who had he sinned against? The Lord! Sin is primarily vertical…it’s rebellion against our Creator God who gives us life. Are other people affected? Sure – but our relationship with God is the 1st thing to address.
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22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

A. The deed was exposed…

B. His entire family was destroyed along with him! The forbidden items were hidden in the family tent. Most likely, they were accomplices through their silence.

C. Achan had confessed – should he have been forgiven? No. Achan confessed; but he certainly didn’t repent & seek forgiveness. No remorse was shown over the 36 lives that were lost due to his sin. Although he realized he had sinned against God, he showed no contrition over it. Compare that with David, when he had also been caught in sin. Psalm 51:14-17 (14) Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. (15) O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. (16) For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. (17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. []
__a. When we sin as non-believers, it only is logical for us to justify ourselves. After all, we’re already in rebellion against God & we believe we’re our own judge. But a Christian should truly be able to see the sinfulness of sin! We know what Jesus endured on the cross for our sake, and it should grieve our souls to know what we’ve done. (I worry about “Christians” who have no contrition about sin!)
__b. But once we’ve seen what we’ve done – once we’ve confessed it to God, we can be done with it. Jesus paid the price – hallelujah!
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26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

A. Translation of “Achor” = “Trouble”…similar to “Achan” = “troubler”

B. Serves as a warning to those who come after. The message? The Lord is Holy!
__a. This isn’t just limited to the OT…NT gives a very similar story of someone who attempted to lie to God in Ananias & Sapphira (Act 5). God is still holy!
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Joshua 8 (NKJV)
1 Now the LORD said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.”

A. Same thing the Lord told Joshua regarding Jericho (Ch 1)… Shows that His justice was satisfied & they could continue on in the conquest.

B. This time, Israel could take of the spoil. If Achan had only waited one city, he would have been able to enjoy what he had taken… It’s been often said that 30 minutes of sin can take someone down for 30 years. Sin just isn’t worth the cost!
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3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night. 4 And he commanded them, saying: “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them. 6 For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. 8 And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the LORD you shall do. See, I have commanded you.”

A. First example in history of the rope-a-dope … Basically described an ambush & pincer grip. Was the ambush necessary if God had given the city into their hands? Yes – God commanded it in vs. 2. It may not have looked like the bravest method of attack, but they needed to go back to doing God’s work God’s way & relearn the lesson from Jericho.

B. Why doesn’t God command the people to march around Ai like they did at Jericho? Because God wanted to do it differently this time. Be careful not to limit God to working in only “certain” ways… (various ways Jesus healed the blind…) The one thing that’s assured in whatever way God desires: it’s going to give Him the glory!
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9 Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people. 10 Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near; and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai. 12 So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13 And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
14 Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16 So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. 17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel.

A. It worked…Ai got duped & started after Joshua…
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18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. 19 So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire. 20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

A. Ai got jumped, realized what happened, but it was too late…
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21 Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape. 23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. 24 And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

A. Ai was surrounded & completely overwhelmed & defeated…

B. No survivors of Ai left. Keep in mind, this is not an apologetics for genocide & merciless warfare. This is a specific instance of God’s judgment on a specific people…
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27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day. 29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

A. Ai was burned. This time they were able to keep the spoil, but not the city. You can bet Achan’s example was at the forefront of anyone who thought about going back.

B. Hanging wasn’t pretty back then… This is a reference to impalement; not strangulation & was a sign that the person was under a curse. That’s exactly what Jesus took on for us, when we were the accursed ones under the law, He willingly hung on a tree and became a curse for us (Gal 3:13)…
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30 Now Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal, 31 as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

A. Mt Ebal is near Shechem – and most likely the spot (if not, very close to it) where God promised the land to Abram after 1st calling him out of Haran. (Gen 12:6-8)
__a. God always keeps His promises!!

B. Why was Israel to make an altar on Mt Ebal rather than use the Tabernacle? Because God through Moses had commanded them to do this in Deut 27:4-5. What type of altar? One made out of uncut, whole stones. The focus was to be on God; not artisanship & carvings. There’s nothing wrong with beauty in worship; there IS a problem when we worship beauty. At this point, there weren’t to be any distractions – there wasn’t to be a hint that man’s work could improve on God’s word. Just a stone altar & sacrifice, pointing to God’s fullness of His work through Christ Jesus.
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32 And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

A. What exactly was written on the stones? Speculation… 10 Commandments, to the blessings/curses of Deut 27-28, to the entire book of Deut. No one knows – but what IS certain is that the law governing the land was now very publicly written for everyone to see.
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33 Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.

A. This is what Moses told them to do in Deut 27-28… [PIC] In a sense, Israel was renewing the covenant. As half the nation would stand on one mountain & half on the other, they would recite the blessings & curses found in the law, saying “Amen” to each one. Publicly declaring their desire to be the Lord’s people & to be governed by His law.

B. How much of the Law did Joshua read? All of it! Every man, woman, and child heard every word that the Lord had given to Moses. (Talk about a long sermon!) But all of it was necessary… If they broke just one commandment, they were guilty of the whole thing (Jas 2:10), so they absolutely needed to be reminded of what it said.
__a. How much of that Law did Jesus fulfill? All of it! It’s complete in Him! When we read the OT (or NT), we’re really reading about Jesus & His work – the whole of the book is about Him!

Conclusion:
Good change of direction from the beginning of Ch 7. They began the siege of Ai in disobedience; they ended it with dedication. They began in sin; they ended in sanctification. And praise God, this is exactly what can happen with each one of us in our battle against temptation. Too many Christians fall into disobedience, but they never come back out to dedication. Instead of dying to the sin, and sanctifying themselves away from it in Christ – they compromise with it & live in defeat after defeat. Their walk looks exactly like a bunch of Ai’s.

But it needn’t be that way! Jesus doesn’t give us new life or fill us with the Holy Spirit in order that we would walk in constant defeat & depression. His forgiveness is available… His grace is sufficient… His work is enough… His power is available… And His word is right here before our eyes. May we daily die to sin & present ourselves alive in Christ!

Jericho: a lesson in trust

Joshua 5-6, “Jericho: a lesson in trust”
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Introduction:
Everything’s set for the beginning of the conquest… God has commissioned Joshua & told him not to fear… He took a step of faith & sent spies to the land, and they got a great report of how Jericho feared what was coming… God miraculously dried up the Jordan River & brought them over dry ground – somewhat duplicating the parting of the Red Sea & symbolizing their new walk in the Spirit… Israel took up memorial stones from the riverbed to remember God provision & care over them for the future… Now all that’s left is to fight the battle.

Joshua 5 (NKJV)
1 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.

A. You bet their hearts melted! They had already heard how God had delivered the Hebrews out of Egypt & the parting of the Red Sea, and according to Rahab, their hearts had melted then & had no more courage (2:11). You can only imagine what the Canaanites would have been thinking when God virtually duplicated the miracle at the Jordan River…
__a. When God’s people are walking in the will of God & with God, the world can’t help but take notice…
__b. What does it say about the state of the church today that the world DOESN’T take notice?
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2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD—to whom the LORD swore that He would not show them the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

A. The need to get circumcised again…not that they had to do it twice – but anyone who wasn’t circumcised needed to be. Those coming out of Egypt (under 20 at the time of the rebellion) had already been through it – the men who had been born during the 40 year wilderness time had not.

B. Why circumcision? It was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17), and God was about to fulfill the Abrahamic promise…everyone participating in the benefits of the promise needed to be a part of the covenant.
__a. Spiritually speaking, circumcision is a symbol of cutting away the flesh – separating oneself from the world & unto God. What physically took place on their body was to spiritually take place on their hearts (Deut 10:16) & that inward circumcision was the sign of a true Jew (Rom 2:29).

C. Keep the typology in mind. Israel has crossed the Jordan in a picture of being baptized in/filled with the Holy Spirit… Now they’re sanctifying themselves unto the Lord & away from fleshly things. That’s exactly what we need to be doing as Christians, as well. It’s not hard to find Christians (I’ve been one myself) who fall on their face before God – are filled with the Holy Spirit anew for power – and then turn back to old habits almost overnight, and then wonder what happened when they fail or fall into temptation. If we’re going to walk with the Lord in victory over sin, we need to cast off the flesh & be removed from it. (Writing of baptism…) Romans 6:11-13 (11) Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (12) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (13) And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. [] When we present ourselves to those old habits & sinful things – we’re engaging in those things that we should have died to. So through the power of the Spirit, we reckon ourselves dead & crucify our flesh…
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7 Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.

A. “Gilgal” = “rolling”. This was where they had set up the memorial stones.

B. What did circumcision have to do with Egypt? During their time of wandering, the people apparently didn’t keep up with the covenant of circumcision – even though Moses had commanded it (Lev 12:3). It was as if even though they were free, they still behaved as slaves (evidenced through their constant complaining about how ‘good’ it was in Egypt). The circumcision was a demonstration that they did not belong to Egypt; they belonged to God…

C. Keep in mind that just the act of circumcision was a declaration of their trust in God. With every fighting male newly circumcised, they were completely vulnerable to attack during the time of healing & thus completely dependent upon the Lord for protection.
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10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

A. About Passover… (Walvoord & Zuck) “Without circumcision they would have been unqualified to participate in this important event (Ex. 12:43-44, 48). Interestingly the nation arrived across the Jordan just in time to celebrate the Passover on the 14th day of the month (Ex. 12:2, 6). God’s timing is always precise!” What better miracle to be reminded of prior to going to battle against the Canaanites than the Passover? That was the night God purchased their freedom out of Egypt & reaffirmed His promise of a new home…
__a. What do we need to continually remember? Our purchased freedom & salvation in Christ. And we do that through our own Passover celebration: Communion…the body…the blood…pictures of our salvation…
__b. The gospel is not just something given to the unbeliever – it’s for the believer as well! We need to constantly be reminded that our sins have been paid for – that there’s forgiveness at the cross – that we belong to Christ Jesus – that one day we’ll see Him face-to-face. Every day we wake up and walk with Jesus is another day we can be thankful for our salvation – that we now have peace with God. The way we know that God is equipping us for our day-to-day battle against sin is because we’ve been bought with the blood of His Son to begin with. We can rely on His promises regarding sanctification because we’re reminded of His promises & work in our justification. And that’s what Israel was doing…

B. No more manna – a miraculous stop in the same manner of its miraculous provision… Did this mean God stopped providing for Israel? No – He was just providing in different ways. Before, He provided through the manna; now He was providing through the Promised Land.
__a. Be careful not to miss His provision because we were looking for it in a specific way…
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13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” 14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” 15 Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

A. Who was the “Man”? Jesus! Some have suggested this could have been an angel, but Joshua’s behavior makes that impossible. Angels in Revelation make it a point not to receive worship – yet the “Man” standing before Joshua said nothing about it. This was nothing less than a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ…
__a. This wasn’t as uncommon as we might think. Sometimes we get the false impression that Jesus just suddenly appeared on the scene in Matthew – but Jesus had been appearing in the Scriptures throughout the OT. Jesus walked before Adam & Eve in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8) – Jesus had supper with Abraham & shared the news of the judgment of Sodom (Gen 18) – Jesus wrestled with Jacob & crippled him (Gen 32) – Jesus showed His glory to Moses (Ex 34) – and the list goes on & on. This shouldn’t be surprising to us… The whole Bible message is about Christ & the salvation available in Him – it only makes sense that we see His bodily appearance throughout the Scriptures.

B. Whose side is Jesus on? God’s! We ought not expect for God to be on our side because we’re not the one in control…God is. We want to be on God’s side…

C. Jesus has many roles as the Christ… One of them is as the “Commander of the army of the LORD”. His 1st incarnation was as a meek servant that wouldn’t break a bruised reed; His 2nd coming will be with power & war. Even in His meekness, the Lord Jesus was never weak. At one moment, He’d pick up a child & encourage them to come to Him – or show compassion to a leper & touch the untouchable. The next moment, He’d be flipping over tables in the temple & blasting the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. This is not a weak Man!
__a. As much as I appreciate people’s affection for Warner Sallman’s famous portrait of Christ, it’s left many people with the idea that Jesus is a weak, doe-eyed wisp of a man. But that’s not the picture that the NT paints of Him at all! Revelation 1:14-17 (14) His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; (15) His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; (16) He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. (17) And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. [] This is the Commander of the army of the Lord! This is Who we worship! Is He loving? Yes. Is He meek? Absolutely. But He’s also infinitely powerful, invested with all authority in heaven & on earth, and is coming back to judge!

D. BTW – what made the ground holy? God was standing on it. This was basically Joshua’s burning bush experience. God had told Joshua that He’d be with Joshua just as He was with Moses (1:5) – and this was further proof.
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Joshua 6 (NKJV)
1 Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.

A. Completely secure and sealed off. Jericho apparently had a multi-tiered wall system, which made it incredibly resistant to attack. [PIC]
B. Why was it “shut up”? Because of Israel – they knew that God was on the way…
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2 And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

A. Victory is already certain. Note the past tense in vs 2…

B. In what manner does God desire to show the victory? A strange one! Take the army & march around the city once per day for 6 days – the whole time having 7 priests blowing the shofar while carrying the ark. On the 7th day, do the whole thing 7 times – sound one long trumpet blast & have everyone shout. At that point, the wall is going to fall & the people were to rush inside to do battle. Strange? Yes…but it’s the very word and command of God. If that’s what He says to do, then the people need to trust God & do it.
__a. Bottom line, that’s exactly the issue: trust. Over & over again leading up to this point, God has emphasized that HE was the reason that the Hebrews were going to get the land; it wasn’t going to be due to their might (they were weak), nor their righteousness (they had none), nor their skills (what skills?) – it was going to be solely due to the grace of God. He had provided for them on a daily basis with the manna & now He was going to provide for them in a military battle. Now it was time to put shoe leather to their theology & actually trust God when it counted. (They didn’t exactly have a good track record on this…) …
__b. Do we trust God & His word? Really trust Him? God today hasn’t changed since the day He knocked the walls of Jericho down – yet sometimes we pray in the hypothetical (“God, if it’s possible… God, if you can…”). Of course He can…He’s God! The real question is whether or not it’s His will – and often we know exactly what the will of the Lord is when we read the Scriptures; we simply need to trust Him.
__c. It’s been said that if you locked a new convert inside a room with a Bible & didn’t give him any other books on theology, it would be absolutely certain that he’d come out believing that God works in supernatural ways through His word & the gifts…there’s simply no indication given that God ever stopped working that way. So why do we pray as if He had? Take God at His word!
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6 Then Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.” 7 And he said to the people, “Proceed, and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the ark of the LORD.”

A. Why does the ark go forward? It symbolizes the presence of God. God Himself was the One fighting the battle – He was the commander of the Lord’s army.

B. The rams’ horns were similar…these weren’t military bugles; they were the priests’ trumpets used in religious ceremonies. This was another symbol that the battle was a religious battle. They also symbolized the provision of God… (Abraham & Isaac)…
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8 So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the LORD advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. 9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.

A. Joshua doesn’t hesitate in commanding the people to do what the Lord commanded. He had been around long enough to know what would happen if they disobeyed…

B. Beyond the understanding the consequences of disobedience, Joshua also understood that he was a man under authority. (As a military man, he knew that better than most!) He may have had the responsibility for leading Israel, but ultimately he answered to God Almighty – his job wasn’t to debate the commands of the Lord; it was to carry them out.
__a. Obedience is important….. 1 Samuel 15:22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. [] Notice the obedience here wasn’t for the salvation of the people; it was to experience victory in the land God had given them. Likewise for us. We don’t obey God in order to earn our salvation; we obey God in order to experience the victorious life He has for us in Christ. Like any loving Father, He doesn’t desire His children to continually be in sin & failure – He desires for us to live in blessed communion with Him.
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10 Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”

A. First silence; then a shout. In the 1st 6 days, the people were to be silent among the sounding of the trumpets & probably enduring the taunts & jeers of those in Jericho looking down on them. They weren’t to respond – at that point, they were to be silent & simply wait on the Lord’s timing. On the 7th day, they were to let loose a shout!

B. Why the shout?
__a. It was a shout of faith: They didn’t have catapaults or battering rams; they simply had faith that God was going to do as He promised.
__b. It was a shout of victory: God had already delivered Jericho into the hands of Israel; it was just that Jericho didn’t yet know it.
__c. It was a shout of Christ: Considering the number of times that Jesus is called the “logos” of God & the fact that Jesus had Himself appeared to Joshua, affirming that He would personally lead the battle, it’s hard to escape the imagery of Christ Himself being pictured in that shout – immediately delivering the death blow to the city. Very similar to how John saw Christ in His 2nd coming (Rev 19:11-16), riding in victory with a sword coming out of His mouth…
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11 So he had the ark of the LORD circle the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp. 12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. 14 And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days. 15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times.

A. Followed the instructions perfectly…
B. Note they marched on the Sabbath Day. Were they breaking the 4th Commandment? No…they weren’t working; God was. This whole event was a demonstration of the power of God to deliver Israel into the land. And that was the whole point of the Sabbath…to show that God was delivering us into His rest…
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16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city! 17 Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.”

A. The city was doomed… The people were doomed… Rahab was spared…

B. The gold, silver & other metal items belong to the Lord… [Firstfruits…] Keep this in mind for next week. When they don’t completely follow through with this, they get into trouble at Ai.
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20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

A. Man, woman, child, and animal were destroyed in the siege. Was this right? Yes… God is God; we’re not…
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22 But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, “Go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her.” 23 And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. 24 But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25 And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

A. What happened to Rahab? She went on to be the great-great-grandmother of David…
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26 Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.” 27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country.

A. The city was cursed! (1 Kings 16:34)
B. The word spread…the rest of the countryside was fearful of the God of Israel too – which makes next week’s failure all the more tragic.

Conclusion:
What a way to begin the conquest! You couldn’t ask for a more successful 1st outing. What this should have done was emphasize that the Lord was the one fighting the battles for Israel & all they needed to do was to continue trusting in Him, and they’d see victory. They didn’t quite learn the lesson – as we’ll see in Ch 7-8.

But it was an immense victory! Israel came up against overwhelming odds & experienced an overwhelming triumph. Why? Because the Lord Himself was the One fighting their battles. Israel didn’t do a thing except to trust God and walk in obedience with His word.

We’re no different today. We experience overwhelming odds in our battle against sin. Every time we turn on the TV, there’s sexual imagery. Every time we read the newspapers, we’re bombarded with temptations of power & ego. We can’t drive down a highway, turn on a radio, or walk in a store without seeing temptation to materialism. Every where we look there’s another temptation to sin – and even though we’re freed from the slavery that sin brought, we are engaged in a constant battle against it.

Here’s the good news: our battle isn’t against flesh & blood, but against powers & principalities – and although we are face overwhelming odds, we serve an Overcoming Savior. Jesus has given us everything we need to experience victory over sin – He’s empowered us by the Holy Spirit – we’ve been given the word of God – now we need to walk in victory. The question facing us is the same question that faced Israel: are we going to trust God at His word?
* He promises a way of escape from temptation – do we look for it?
* He promises peace that passes understanding when we pray – do we bring our needs to the feet of Christ?
* He’s promised us power to be filled with the Spirit – do we ask?

The greatest victory Joshua & Israel will experience in the promised land come as a result of simply trusting the word & promise of God. May we do the same & walk in victory.

Crossing the Jordan

Joshua 3-4, “Crossing the Jordan”
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Introduction:
Moses has died & been buried by the Lord, but the Lord affirmed Joshua’s calling when He spoke to Joshua in Ch 1 & gave Him a charge: be strong & courageous… Joshua demonstrates this, acting out in faith by sending spies into Jericho. There they are received by the harlot Rahab, who demonstrates her own faith in God by hiding them from the authorities. She tells how all of Jericho is terrified of the Lord and the coming of Israel & the spies leave her with a promise of protection, as long as her house remains marked by a scarlet cord… The spies return to Joshua with the good news & Joshua’s now ready to lead the people into the land.

Only one obstacle remains: the mighty Jordan River. To be sure, the river itself isn’t all that wide (between 50-75 wide in most places) – but it has a strong current & over 2 million people needed to cross it. Combine that with the fact that River was in its flood stage (Josh 3:15) & it becomes a major issue that Israel had to deal with before beginning the conquest. What can they do? Nothing – it’s what GOD can do & does…

Joshua 3 (NKJV)
1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over.

A. [MAP – blowup of Jordan]

B. It doesn’t say what exactly set Joshua off to moving that direction, but he had just received the news of the Canaanite’s “faintheartedness” (2:24) – so it seems that Joshua didn’t waste any time. God had already told Joshua that He had already given them the land; so now Joshua is again acting in faith & heading in the direction he needed to go, knowing that the Lord would give him direction when he needed it.
__a. Our problem is that we generally don’t start moving at all. We turn into ‘spiritual couch potatoes’ waiting for a hand-delivered letter from heaven to drop into our laps to tell us where & when to go… But sometimes we’re just to get moving & let God guide us & direct us along the way. (Paul & the man from Macedonia – Acts 16:9)
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2 So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

A. The Ark had gone before Israel before & led them through the wilderness (Num 10:33)…at this point, there’s no indication that Joshua & the officers knew exactly what God would be doing, but they did know He would be leading them, and His presence was symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant.

B. When the ark nears, make some space. 2000 cubits x 18 inches = 1000 yards (10 football fields or over ½ mile). Why so much space? (1) So everyone could see how the Lord was leading them. (2) Because God is holy! Supremely holy… Yes, the people were the people of God, His children whom He had brought out of Egypt, but their relationship with God was never to be flippant. He isn’t “The Man Upstairs” or any such nonsense…He is the LORD GOD. Just as the people were to make room around the base of Mt Sinai as God gave the 10 Commandments, they were to make room at the Jordan River for the Ark to pass through the camp.
__a. Also underscores the fact that this was a special event…God Himself was in their midst. It’s sad how much we end up taking this for granted today. Wherever 2 or 3 are gathered, Jesus is in our midst – we’ve been invited to worship the Holy God of the Universe – we’re indwelt by the Spirit of God, present at Creation…and yet we often treat worship or prayer as boring, or rote, or flippant. We’re worshipping/praying to GOD! What an honor – what a privilege! It doesn’t get any more special than that…
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5 And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” 6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

A. To the people: be sanctified. “Sanctification” has the idea of being “set apart”…we are set apart by God, and we also set ourselves apart from sin through repentance. This is what Israel was to do – set themselves apart for a period of repentance, worship, and cleansing from sin, and wait to see what the Lord God would do. Again, remember Joshua doesn’t know at this point – he just has faith that God was going to do something miraculous at this stage.

B. To the priests: be ready. Joshua may not have known exactly where the priests were going to go, but he knew that God was going to work…at this point, all eyes were going to be focused on the Lord.

C. Keep in mind we’re not just the people of God; we’re His priests (1 Pet 2:5). If we want to walk in the power of the Spirit (which we’ll see in a minute), we need to be sanctified & we need to be ready. IOW, we are set apart by Christ & made holy by Him, but we also set ourselves apart from sinful practices – and then we need to be ready to follow the Lord where-ever He would have us go.
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7 And the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”

A. Note God was exalting Joshua (not Joshua exalting Joshua). For Joshua to raise himself up in the eyes of the people would not only be extraordinarily difficult, but it’d be fleeting. Any pedestals we set ourselves on generally crumble, simply because we’re human. But when God lifts us up, it makes all the difference. At that point, it’s not a matter of ego, but elevation.

B. Why? So that they would see God through him. God doesn’t elevate people in order that we might be glorified; He elevates those He chooses in order that HE might be glorified. The 1st shall be last & the last 1st – which flies in the face of our human nature, and ends up giving glory to God. After all, how else would it happen? How does a runt of a shepherd end up becoming King of Israel? To the glory of God. How does a persecuting Pharisee end up writing ½ the NT? By the glory of God. How are we who were once the enemies of God end up as His sons & daughters, and co-heirs with Christ? By & to the glory of God.
__a. Interesting parallel with the Greater-than-Joshua – it was at Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan when God testified of His Son & exalted Him before the people…

C. One short command: just tell the priests to stand in the water. This is all that’s recorded for us, but surely God told Joshua more because Joshua gives much more detailed instructions…
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9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”

A. Question: had the Israelites already been given examples of why they should know their God was the living God? Yes – many! The Egyptian plagues – the Passover – the Red Sea – the Manna – the water – the 10 Commandments & the list goes on. Why another one? Because we’re human… We see God work & provide & we’re still nagged with doubt each time a trial comes along. God understands…

B. Keep in mind they’re about to enter into a conquest of the land. They are a ragtag nation of a few million without a home just wandering through the desert for a generation. They’ve had little to no formal training in warcraft or strategy & they’re about to take on the entrenched, battle-hardened nations of the land. The ONLY way they’re going to conquer is if the Lord is fighting for them – this is a grand reassurance that God is going to be the one to drive out the existing nations. And not a nation is left out of God’s listing – all of them had filled up the measure of their sins, and their iniquity was now complete (Gen 15:16).
__1. Is it moral for God to destroy whole nations of people? Yes! (1) He’s God & we’re not. (2) He gave them well over 400 years to repent. (3) He’s being merciful on future generations by not allowing children to be brought up in sin & eventual damnation.
__2. Ultimately, these nations represent our struggle against sin & the flesh. We aren’t to compromise with temptation; simply to defeat it in the power of the Lord God.

C. What’s the main difference between the Jordan & Red Sea? (Aside from the Egyptians ) The Red Sea is completely tied with Passover – where the Angel bringing death passed over the houses covered by the blood of a lamb. Passover purchased the Hebrews’ freedom from Egypt; the Red Sea sealed it when Israel passed through the waters & the Egyptian pursuers were utterly destroyed. Bring it to the NT: when we are covered by the blood of our Passover Lamb (Christ Jesus), our sins are forgiven & our salvation is purchased & assured. When we are baptized into Christ (spiritual work; demonstrated through physical baptism), we are now dead to sin & alive in Christ…identified with His death, burial, & resurrection.

D. But now what? For Israel, it had been 40 years since the Red Sea, wandering around in the wilderness experiencing failure after failure in their walk with God. Sure, they had the word of God, worship through the Tabernacle, and freedom – but their 40 year journey was marked far more by failure than victory. Now that they’re ready to enter Jordan, God prepares a “2nd baptism” for them in anticipation of the enormous victory He’s going to bring them. Keep in mind the typology here: the conquest is a picture of living the Spirit-filled victorious life. Sin is vanquished in the power of Christ. What does crossing the Jordan have to do with it? The filling/baptism of the Holy Spirit!
__1. Jesus used the same word-picture – John 7:37-39 (37) On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (38) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (39) But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. []

E. Note the priests have to get their feet wet. This is different from the Red Sea where Moses simply raised his rod over the Sea (Ex 14:16). But this time, the priests need to step into the river as an act of faith.
__1. This is the way the filling of the Spirit works. As born-again Christians, we are all indwelt & sealed by the Holy Spirit for salvation (2 Cor 1:22), but we also have a promise to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a witness for Christ (Acts 1:8) & we have a command to be filled with the Holy Spirit for walking with Christ (Eph 5:18). So how do we appropriate the filling/baptism of the Spirit? By faith! Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” []
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14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

A. Why only a heap on one side? It was a river; not an ocean/sea…drainage. Apparently, the river was cut off from some distance upriver (which has been duplicated by modern earthquakes in the area). Was it still a miracle? Absolutely.
__a. There was no record of an earthquake that day.
__b. The timing was miraculous in beginning & ending
__c. The people walked across “dry ground”; not muddy ground.
__d. Be careful about ‘needing’ a naturalistic explanation for miracles of God. The very fact God does it makes it supernatural, by definition. And our God is a supernatural God…our salvation depends upon it!

B. Was it the Ark that stopped the waters? Of course not – it was God, Whom the Ark symbolized. Ultimately, it was God bringing Israel through as a testimony to His own grace & goodness.
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Joshua 4 (NKJV)
1 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

A. Each tribe was to take 12 stones from the bottom of the dry riverbed. Why? Apparently the Lord told Joshua, who revealed it to the people…
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4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

A. The stones had significance: as a teaching opportunity. Sooner or later, their descendents would ask, “Dad, what are all those rocks doing stacked up over there?” And the Israelites were to respond with the testimony of God’s greatness and provision.
__a. Apparently, these memorial stones stayed in the area for quite a while – Gilgal is mentioned several times in the OT as a place where people went to pray & worship God. There may even be a reference in the NT with John the Baptist as he was known to baptize in the Jordan in Bethabara (John 1:28), which is very close to Gilgal. Matthew 3:8-9 (8) Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, (9) and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. [] Which stones? Possibly the memorial stones! It could be Jesus was baptized in the same place that Joshua crossed…

B. We all have “memorial stone” moments in our walk with God. It’s never a good thing to “live our lives in the past” – but it IS very important to remember key times of God’s past provision; it’s how we trust Him for present & future trials… [personal testimony] What are your memorial stones?
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8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. 10 So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over.

A. Not only did the people take memorial stones, Joshua set up a group of stones in the middle of the Jordan River. Interesting – because who would have seen them? No one. Was it still a testimony? Yes! God knew they were there & so did Israel.
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11 Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. 12 And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. 13 About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho.

A. Apparently, the ark had been on one riverbank, and now the priests crossed over to the other side.

B. Not everyone crossed; only the soldiers from Reuben, Gad, & ½ Manasseh…the others stayed behind.
__a. God doesn’t force us to come to Him to be filled with the Spirit. He certainly makes it available to every born-again believer in Christ through faith; but if we don’t want to humble ourselves and rely on His grace, He’ll let us rely on our flesh…
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14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

A. Exactly what God said would happen – this was the defining moment that the Hebrews understood that God had picked Joshua.
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15 Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 16 “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” 17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18 And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.
__A. The river stayed miraculously stopped up until the priests left the riverbed… Interesting that even the end of a miracle is a testimony to the Lord!
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19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; 23 for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, 24 that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

A. Reiteration of the memorial stones…what were they to teach?
__a. God previously dried up the Red Sea: This is never very far from the mind of the Hebrew – and rightfully so. They viewed this event much like we do the Cross of Christ. It was the moment their freedom was purchased and the day they passed from death into life.
__b. God dried up the Jordan: Showing that God had brought them into the land – fulfilling the promise He made to Abraham, and prepared them for a victorious conquest over the Canaanite countries that remained there.
__c. As a witness to the nations of God: God’s work in the life of the Hebrews wasn’t merely to benefit the Hebrews, but to continue to provide a witness to the world that they may repent and fall on their knees before the Lord God.
__d. As a witness to the people of God: God’s work in the life of the Hebrews didn’t end at the Red Sea, but continued into the Promised Land, where God affirmed that He would give them the victory.

Conclusion:
We all can learn/remember the same things from our walk with Christ.
1. God dried up our Red Sea: We were dead in our sin, enslaved to our own fleshly desires, awaiting physical & eternal death, when the Lord Jesus Christ saved us! Through His death on the cross & His resurrection on the 3rd day, He purchased our salvation, and we passed from death to life.
2. God dried up our Jordan: Many of us have been at the place where we’ve been wandering from place to place in our own power, always giving into temptation, and failing in our sin. We know we’re forgiven (and rejoice in it), but we just don’t know how we can walk with Christ. At that point, we go to Him to be filled with the Spirit……
3. God works in our lives as a witness to the nations around us: Each of us has a testimony of God’s goodness & grace….
4. God works in our lives as a witness to us: He saved us – He sealed us – He empowers us – He equips us… God will give us the victory……

Are you walking in the power of the Spirit? Do you have rivers of living water flowing out of your life? So often, we find ourselves falling into the trap of “There’s no other choice…this is just the way it’s going to be,” & we don’t HAVE to do that. We can life in victory – in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Be Strong & Courageous

Joshua 1-2, “Be Strong & Courageous”
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Introduction:
Welcome to the 1st OT book NOT written by Moses! For many Christians, the most they know of Joshua is that he “fought the battle of Jericho & the walls came a-tumblin’ down.” But there’s a lot more to the book – and a lot more we can learn as we see the various types throughout Joshua.

Biblical typology can be a tricky thing to nail down as it can easily get into very subjective areas…but some things are plain, because the NT makes certain OT types perfectly clear. For instance – we know that the Rock that Moses struck in the wilderness was a type pointing to Christ because Paul explicitly tells us so (1 Cor 10:4). Knowing this, what can we know for certain regarding the types found in Joshua?
1. We can know Moses represents the Law & the Law does not deliver rest. (John 1:17)
2. We can know that Joshua is a type pointing to Jesus in many ways – primarily because “Iesous/Jesus” is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew “Yeshua”…and the name means “Yahweh is salvation.”
3. We can know that Canaan does not represent heaven (as per many gospel hymns), but rather ‘rest’ from battling against sin (Heb 3-4). To an extent, we will have final rest from sin when we it is removed from our presence in heaven (glorification) – but the NT makes it clear that this rest is available today & that we are to be diligent to enter into it (Heb 4:11).

What does that tell us about Joshua? It tells us that although Joshua is absolutely a record of historical events, that it is also a teaching book. The moment we were born again, God freed us from the penalty of sin in our lives – in addition, He also frees us from the power of sin over our lives…we don’t have to give into its temptations. Yet many of us do – like Paul, we cry out, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24). And his answer is the same as our answer: the Lord Jesus Christ! Just like Jesus had to deliver us from death & hell, He also has to deliver us into victory and the abundant life. Our salvation is completely due to His gracious work through faith & not ours! Thus Joshua is an extended word-picture of what this looks like. What does it mean for us to walk in faith & conquer sin? Joshua & the Israelites demonstrate it in success & failure – and there’s much for every NT believer to learn from them in the process.

Actually, we don’t take very long to get into things at all…Joshua starts off with a bang as God calls the Hebrew leader to courage & the nation makes final preparations to enter the land by spying out what’s already there.

Joshua 1 (NKJV)
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.

A. 1st recorded instance of God speaking to Joshua personally…we know that Joshua had been with Moses on many occasions when God spoke – including on Mt. Sinai when Moses received the 10 Commandments & the Law. But this seems to be the 1st time that God directed His words at Joshua. [Remember the 1st time God spoke to you? ] What did God say? A lot of comfort, as we’ll see…

B. What’s God’s description of Moses? “My servant…” Amen! Moses was a prince, a shepherd, a husband & father, and the greatest prophet of God seen till the NT (other than John – Matt 11:11). Yet how did God know him? As “My servant” – there can be no greater description any of us could dream of! That we would be called by God as His own – and yet we’re not just His servants; we’re His friends & sons & co-heirs. The grace we’ve experienced in Christ is truly unfathomable!

C. Reaffirms the area of conquest… [MAP] Did Joshua fully conquer the land? There’s a bit of debate here – it does seem that the conquest was somewhat incomplete, though there may have been Hebrew settlements all over the region, even if living among other peoples. The point, though is that God is the One giving it to them – this is the fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham & the rest of the patriarchs. Note the past tense “I have given” – God’s act had already been done; Joshua simply needed lead the Israelites in obedience in God’s completed work of victory.
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5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

A. 3 calls to be strong & courageous. Call to courage #1: to take the land. God had promised it & provided for it, but if the Hebrews were to actually live there, they needed to go over & possess it. And this took courage – as does walking in the Spirit and abundant life that Jesus promised. It’s really easy to go back to old habits & old ways of doing things – after all, sin is what comes naturally to us. But to go forward & walk after Christ, that takes true courage.

B. Question: is Joshua expected to do this in his own strength? No – God is with him. What a wonderful promise! “I will not leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua is operating in faith, but his faith is not without a solid foundation – he’s going be trusting in the Lord God the entire time. Just as we ought to be…
__a. Understand that we have the same promise: Jesus never leaves us nor forsakes us. Heb 13:5 uses these exact words in reference to Jesus & Jesus Himself told us something similar in the Great Commission – Matthew 28:19-20 (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. [] There is nothing that we’ll face in our Christian walk that we need to fear; Jesus is with us! And if God is for us, who can be against us?
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7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

A. Call to courage #2: observe & obey the law. Considering the pressures our world gives us to disregard the word of God, it’s obvious why we need to be strong, courageous and resolute in our desire to do things God’s way.

B. How is Joshua expected to observe the law? He’s got to know it – God tells him to “meditate in it day & night…” What does it mean to meditate in God’s word? Hebrew could be translated “to growl/moan” – it’s like a rumbling in our mouths that doesn’t go away, we’re chewing & considering & pondering the Scriptures.

C. What’s the result of following God’s word? Prosperity…per Ps 1, Joshua would be like a tree planted by the waters – contextually, God is referring to success in the Promised Land & conquest.
__a. God was not promising financial riches & blessing for giving to the church (which always seems to be the focus – you can’t just give to any church; you’ve got to give to MY church or MY ministry if you want to be blessed). God was promising prosperity in the goal of resting in Canaan – true prosperity is living in peace with the God who saved us. John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. []
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9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

A. Call to courage #3: Don’t be afraid or dismayed. Why? Because God is with him. God basically went over this in the 1st call, but He emphasizes it again with Joshua. Even beyond the idea of possessing the land – whatever it is that God calls Joshua to do, Joshua doesn’t need to fear because God will always be with him. Israel was affirmed of the same promise later through Isaiah – Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ [] We’re grafted into that promise as well…

B. Keep in mind that God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Tim 1:7) – there may be legitimate challenges & problems we face that cause us to be afraid, but we can be assured that fear hasn’t come from the Lord.
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10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’ ”

A. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the time has come to enter the land. Can you imagine what they were feeling?

B. Most importantly, Joshua reminds them why they’re getting the land: because the Lord their God is giving it to them… We’re going to see this reiterated time & time again throughout Joshua – for good reason: we need to be reminded of God’s work, so that we don’t end up thinking we can do it on our own. [King Asa – 2 Chr 14-16]
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12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying, 13 “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, 15 until the LORD has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’s servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

A. Review – Reuben, Gad, ½ Manasseh on far side of Jordan (Num 32)… They specifically promised Moses their men would go over to fight & Joshua is reminding them of their promise.
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16 So they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”

A. Oath of allegiance to Joshua’s leadership…it’s hard to say whether or not they were speaking truly or with empty promises. After all, they hadn’t followed Moses too well either. But the intent is good – and at least in one case, actually followed through (with Achan & Ai).

B. Interesting that Reuben, Gad, and ½ Manasseh ended with the same exhortation the Lord had been giving to Joshua: be strong & of good courage. Scripture doesn’t tell us if the rest of Israel had been listening in on the exhortations from the Lord; just that they confirmed it.
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Joshua 2 (NKJV)
1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.

A. [MAP] Jericho

B. Is the use of spies a lack of trust in God? No – faith is not inaction…waiting on God to hand us His promises on a silver platter. James tells us faith without works is dead (Jas 2:26) – what better way to act on their faith than to send spies into Jericho to see how they ought to proceed in the conquest God commanded them?
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2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.” 4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) 7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

A. Flax was dried on the roof in order to separate the fibers in preparation to make linen. It may not have been a comfortable hiding place, but it was effective!

B. Rahab gave an outright lie in order to hide the Israelites. Was it wrong? The fact that we ask the question means we’re only looking at two options: either she lie about the Israelites, or turn them over to the authorities. But perhaps there may have been a 3rd option that didn’t involve sin – we don’t know. We do know that she saved the lives of the spies, though the Bible never praises her for her dishonesty; just her obedience (Jas 2:25) & faith (Heb 11:31). Keep in mind that God showed grace to Rahab – she’s included in the genealogy of Christ as the great-great-grandmother of David.
__a. It does raise an ethical question for us: do the ends justify the means? Does having a noble cause justify sinful actions in order to achieve it? No. God knows our thoughts, motives, and heart – and though we may have the best of intents, a sin is still a sin…for which we praise God for our salvation!
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8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

A. Was Jericho afraid of Israel? No (though the spies didn’t quite realize that – see vs. 24). They were afraid of the God of Israel…and for good reason! However the news travelled, it was well known how God demonstrated His power in rescuing Israel from Egypt. He sent 9 massive plagues, destroying the imaginary powers of the Egyptian gods – He sent the 10th plague of Passover demonstrating His future salvation in Christ & the exact punishment of sin – He parted the Red Sea, baptizing His people & drowning their enemies – He brought them through the wilderness fighting bigger & stronger armies – and finally He had brought them to Jericho. It’s no wonder that their “hearts melted” – who can stand against the Lord?

B. We don’t think about it often, but our own testimonies declare the same thing: God showed His power in rescuing us! We all have different backgrounds & were saved out of different places & sins (comparatively), but the exact same events took place with all of us. God reached out to someone who was His violent enemy – who despised God & His holiness – who was completely dead in sin – who was enslaved to the devil…and God rescued us! He crushed the head of the serpent at the cross, paid the wages of death with the empty tomb, breathed life into our doomed souls, and brought us into His very own family. A Christian testimony is a powerful thing!
__a. So don’t be afraid to share it. Often we think that we have to have myriads of apologetics memorized & honed persuasion skills to be able to share our faith with someone & that’s just not true. If you’re born-again & belong to the Lord Jesus, then you have a testimony – and all God calls us to be is witnesses of Him. Paul shared his testimony in evangelism repeatedly – to Jews & Gentiles alike. Do apologetics help? They can’t hurt – but don’t put your stock in what you know; put it in what Christ has already done.

C. Interestingly enough, Rahab seems to already be a believer at this point. She saw the work of God, and placed her faith & trust in the “God in heaven above & on earth beneath.” We don’t even know if the spies had said anything at this point – like Peter with Cornelius, God had already gone before & done the work.
__a. Reminds us of a key point in evangelism: it’s impossible to talk anyone into the Kingdom. We’re simply to be faithful in witnessing & leave the results to God… Keep in mind God wants people to be saved; He’s not going to ‘drop the ball’ on us…
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12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

A. Covenant between them – Israel was to spare her life (and family) & she was to keep quiet.
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15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.” 17 So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.” 21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

A. How would the Israelites know her house? By the scarlet cord. Just as God’s Angel knew the houses of the Hebrews in Egypt by the blood covering the doorpost, Israel would know Rahab by the blood-colored cord marking her house.

B. The scarlet cord runs more than just in Joshua 2…it runs through the whole Bible! From the very moment that Adam & Eve fell into sin, God gave a promise of a Redeemer. That promise was carried over through Noah to Abraham to the patriarchs to Moses & all the prophets – all the way Jesus Himself.
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22 They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. 23 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”

A. The mountains were a good hiding place – the Jericho soldiers had already gone down to the river to look for them, and the Israelites spies had a good head start to go to the mountains. The range referred to has peaks from 1200-1500 feet & is dotted with caves. It would have made a great hiding place…

B. Note the difference in reaction between this time & 40 years earlier in Kadesh Barnea! Before, 10 of the 12 spies saw giants in the land & were focused on their own lack of military strength. Now, the 2 spies spoke of the assured victory of the Lord. He had already “delivered all the land into our hands”. The difference between walking in defeat in the wilderness & victory in the land? Faith. The inhabitants of the land hadn’t changed; God’s people hadn’t gained any further military prowess – the only difference is that this time they had faith in God…which is exactly what God wanted! Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. []

Conclusion:
Joshua showed his faith when speaking to God & sending the spies. Rahab showed her faith by hiding the men & trusting God. The spies showed their faith when they came back with a good report in the face of overwhelming odds.

There are some things we face that appear to have overwhelming odds… But our call is the same one that God gave to Joshua: be strong & courageous! Our fear is IN the Lord; it hasn’t come from Him – we can have courage as we trust in His word & trust in His promises. The best promise: our Lord Jesus is with us & will never forsake us…He’ll always be with us, and no one is going to snatch us out of His hand. Have faith in Him & in His work…and then walk in faith!