Joshua's Commission

Scripture Reading

This morning we start our series in the book of Joshua. Will you turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Joshua? Joshua chapter 1. Joshua chapter 1. We find ourselves in Joshua chapter 1 as the sequel to the book of Deuteronomy. And many people will talk about how Joshua really is just that sequel. Moses is dead. What's going to happen next? Will God keep his promises? Joshua chapter 1. We'll look this morning at the first nine verses. 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, 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. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you, as I said to Moses.

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. 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.

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 to them. 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 to it from the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on 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. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage.

Prayer for Illumination

Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you might be with us this morning. Father, we pray that we would sit at your feet as children learning from you. Father, we pray that you would instruct us, that you would illuminate our minds, that you would show us where to walk. In Jesus's name, amen.

Sermon

There has been a constant presence with the people. Actually, two constant presences with the people. As they were going through the wilderness of the desert, they were going there coming from Egypt up to the Jordan River. And as they were making that travel, during the day there was a pillar of cloud, and at night there was a pillar of fire, showing that God's presence was with them. But there was also another presence there.

It wasn't just God who was with them, but the servant of the Lord himself was there, Moses. And something jarring happens in the very last page of Deuteronomy 33. Verse five, so Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord. And they buried him in a valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no one knows his grave to this day. Their leader had died. The one who was the mouthpiece of God Almighty, the one who had led them to the very edge of the wilderness, was not allowed to enter into it.

Now the question is in the people's mind, who's going to lead us? Is God going to be faithful to His promises? Was He only with Moses, or will He go with us as well? Well, God Himself had chosen a successor for Moses. His name was Joshua. Verse 1. And it was after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, But the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, God speaks. It's not like they come to the edge of the wilderness and there's silence, but immediately when you flip the page, the Lord is still speaking. And he speaks to Joshua. Now, we might not be so familiar with Joshua. Who is Joshua? Where did he come from?

Well, Joshua was one of those 12 spies. If you remember the book of Exodus, when they were going to go into the land, before they were there, they were in the south, and did you know that 40 years in the wilderness wasn't supposed to happen? That was God's punishment for the people, because they sent this 12 spies, and as they were listed, these 12 spies, and it says that Joshua was originally named Heshua, But Moses changed his name to Joshua. And so he was one of these twelve spies who goes out and ten of the spies come back and they say, can't do it.

They're too strong. There's Anakim in the land. There's giants in the land. There's no way we could conquer them. But two men, Joshua and Caleb, come back and they say, no, we can do it. The land is good and the Lord is with us and we can take this land. But the people follow the ten unbelieving spies.

And so God makes some wonder. But Joshua doesn't go off the scene. Indeed, Joshua is at the heart of the story. We find him as Moses is in the tabernacle, as Moses is there, Joshua has become his aid. He's become his assistant. See, Moses is called the servant of the Lord. Joshua is called the aid of Moses, or the assistant of Moses.

We find in the book of Deuteronomy when Moses is working in the sanctuary, he's working in the tabernacle, he's there. What does he do at night? He gets up and he leaves. He goes home. He goes to his own tent. But the text tells us that Joshua stayed in the tabernacle. He stayed there, ministering before the Lord. He stayed there, poring over the books of the law. He stayed there, learning from the Lord. He stayed there, praying.

He was this aid to Moses, this faithful one, and how does God talk to Joshua, this older man by this point? Joshua's in his 80s. He was a young man when they had gone through the Exodus, and he's one of the last two people alive. I mean, the whole generation of the disbelieving Israelites are dead now. It's just Caleb and Joshua as the old men in the crowd. And here in verse 2, God speaks to Joshua. He says, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore, you arise. Go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel.

So they had it in their mind, was God still going to keep his promises? The servant of God, Moses, was dead. The Lord had buried him himself on that mountain. Nobody knew where his grave was. Would God still treat the people like he treated them under Moses? As one commentator says, the Lord's fidelity does not hinge on the achievement of men, however gifted they may be, nor does it evaporate in the face of funerals or rivers. God's promise was still going to be there. Because as the people stood there, this promise was old.

Right, they were looking in over that Jordan River, they could see the promised land. They had already taken, right, two and a half tribes had already taken their share on the eastern side of the Jordan, but they're standing there on the river and they're looking over it, wondering, are we going to be able to conquer that land? There's fortified cities in that land. There are kings in that land. There's armies in that land.

Is God going to give it to us? But as they're wondering this in their heart, as they're thinking about this in their lives, they've got something in their hand. They've got the deed for that land in their hand. God had promised it to their father Abraham when he had tread in that land in Genesis 17. The Lord had promised to Abraham that that land was going to be theirs. And for hundreds of years, they held that deed in their hand. They knew that the Lord had promised on this.

And as they're there with the title in hand, knowing that that's theirs, God has said, I'm going to give it to you. 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. It was theirs, but God was going to give it to them.

And who was going to be their leader and what was going to be the bounds of that land? Well, it's everywhere. God's going to give them the entire land. His portion for them is that whole area. And it gives us like a map. If you stay for Chocotoc after lunch or come back, we'll show you this map.

Up in the north, it will be Lebanon up in the north. And in the south, the wilderness, that will be the southern border. And the Mediterranean Sea on the east will be the other border. Or on the west will be the other border. And all the way to the Euphrates River. on the west, no, west, east, and I'm backwards because I'm opposite of you guys anyways, but that whole area is going to be theirs.

Everywhere that they tread was what the Lord was going to give them. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, verse 4, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites into the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

And then this promise in verse 5, the promise in verse 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. See, the God of the promise was the God who told them, I'm going to give you this land, but I'm not just going to leave you on your own to take it. I'm going to go with you. I am going to be with you.

What was the confidence that Joshua could have? What was his confidence? Was it his ability to keep the law? Well, he had seen his mentor Moses fail at that. Was it his military prowess? It wasn't going to be that. We don't know anything about him being schooled in military techniques. What was his confidence as they were going to go over this Jordan?

It's as if God is pointing out the river with his finger and saying, that one, you're going to go over there. I'm going to give you all of it. You're not going to be alone. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Remember your mentor, Joshua? Remember the man that you were the aid to, who you helped, who you saw commune with the Lord, who God saw face to face? Remember the man who was my very own servant? I'm gonna be with you just like I was with him.

I don't know about you, but that would give me a whole lot of confidence if the God who created the heavens and the earth told me, I'm gonna be with you wherever you go. But this is exactly what your Savior has told you, isn't it? Matthew 28, therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them all which I have commanded you. What does he say at the end of that Great Commission? And lo, I am with you always, even unto the ends of the age. Your God is with you now. God in the flesh has not left you as an orphan, but has given you His Holy Spirit.

How is the Lord with Joshua? Well, we know that the pillars, right, the pillar of fire and the cloud weren't there anymore. Once the tabernacle was packed up, it was gone. It wasn't leading them through the wilderness anymore. So how was Yahweh himself, how was the Lord with Joshua?

How could he know this? Because his spirit was still with him. Because the Lord was still with him. See, we want to think about these great and mighty miracles about, oh, you know, they had these amazing signs and we had those amazing signs. Brothers and sisters, Joshua had faith. God told him that he would be with him and Joshua listened to it and believed it. How could he have strength and courage? How could he lead the people well?

Because God was with him and God had promised never to leave him nor forsake him. So in response to that, if that's the truth, if God would be with him, if God would not leave him and the Lord would not forsake him, what's Joshua's obligation? What is the Lord's command of Joshua in verses 6 through 9? Three times in these verses, God repeats this phrase. Be strong and of good courage, verse 6. Be strong and of good courage, verse 7. Only be strong and very courageous. Verse 9, "'Have I not commanded you, be strong and of good courage?'

Joshua's responsibility as he was to respond to the Lord's promise was to stake strength in the Lord, to have confidence in his God." This is exactly what God had promised the patriarchs He had promised Isaac that he would be with him and he would never leave him. And because of this, Isaac could live his life.

This is what he promised Jacob in Genesis 31.3.

This is what he promised Moses in Exodus 3.12. Indeed, this is what Moses had even told Joshua, that God would be with him always in Deuteronomy 30 verse 8.

In light of that, He could be courageous. I need you to get this firm. What was the foundation by which Joshua's courage was built? Or what was the strong rock upon which he could stand and face the enemies that he was going to see on the other side of the Jordan? It was God himself. He could have strength and he could have courage because God himself was going to be with him. Where do you go for courage and strength in your life?

Is it because you're good enough? Oh, go talk to your kids and see how your parenting's been this week. Hope it's not that. Is it because you're just so great of a spouse? You know how to keep all the commands of Christ and loving your spouse. I hope that's not where your courage is at. Maybe it's in how hard of a work ethic you have. Maybe it's in any other thing.

Brothers and sisters, if our courage or our strength is in anything else but the Lord, that thing has become an idol. It's in the Lord that we have courage. It's in the Lord that we can face the trials that were coming before us. It's in the strength of the Lord that he could know, when I'm going against this fortified city, and we're about to read about when he goes against Jericho, and God is going to tell him some wackadoodle thing, go and march around a town seven times, And you're not allowed to do anything, you're not allowed to touch the wall, you're not allowed to, you know, take chips out of the cornerstones as you're going. No, none of that. You're gonna trust me entirely. Yeah. That's where his courage was going to be. His courage had to be in the Lord.

For God has sworn that He would give the land to them. God himself had made this promise to Abraham. Do you remember that promise? What does the book of Hebrews tell us? That when God made that promise to his people, he made it by an oath. And he sealed it by his very own name. Because there's nothing more he could swear on than his own self. The promise was sure, because God had promised it, and God does not change. Thank the Lord, God always keeps His promises.

He could have courage, and He could have strength. But it's interesting in verse 7, I want you to notice what changes in verse 7. I pointed out that in verse 6, verse 7, and verse 9, it gives us command, be strong and of good courage. But notice what verse 7 says. It's heightened, isn't it? Verse 7, only be strong and very courageous. 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 hand that you may prosper wherever you go.

What was going to be the key to Joshua's military success? I don't want to pull us out of the story and so spiritualize it that we forget that these were real people, really standing at the edge of the Jordan, really about to go to war. Do you know what happens in war? People die. How would Joshua have success?

Would he have success by going and reading military tactic books? Would he go and have success by being more intelligent and more crafty than his neighbors? Would he go and have success because of the number of people, because he was bringing a horde of Israelites in with him? Was he going to have success because they would have better armor, better weapons, or more chariots than their enemies? No. What's their tool for attack?

What does verse seven say? 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. As he did God's word, he would have success. Do you remember what the Israelites were like?

Do you think it would take a little bit of strength and courage to lead a people who had just grumbled and complained in the wilderness, heard their parents do this and teach them these patterns of disbelief for 40 years? Yeah, it would take a lot of courage to say, no, no, no, I know that you might think that we should do things this way, but this is what the Lord has said. And in this way there's success. If you don't think that takes courage, Go walk into any college campus on America, go to the University of Iowa, go sit in on a women's study class and say, and I dare you to have the courage to stand up and say what the scriptures say about the family. Oh, it takes a lot of courage to do what the Lord says. It takes a lot of courage to stand before people as they want to move you towards pragmatism.

Well, it might work better this way. Oh, we might be able to defeat them if we just did things this way. You know, we wouldn't make people so upset in the congregation if we just, you know, ease these commandments over here a little bit. No, be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. All the law. All of it.

Even the parts you might not like. Even the parts you might think are counterintuitive. Even the parts that you might think don't make sense to you. Not just the parts that are culturally acceptable. Not just the parts that might seem like they're going to actually prosper you. But even the parts that God says, this is what's good and right. And yeah, it might mean that you lose some of your things.

Because you have to repay someone seven times when you steal something. but you'll be more rich for that repentance. The law was hard. And he needed to know, Joshua needed to know that there was going to be strength. He needed to know that he needed to have courage to do these things. I'm convinced we pray this often, almost every week. We like that verse, right?

Matthew chapter 18, for where two or three are gathered together, there I am in the midst of you. Do you know what that follows after? when Jesus tells us about how we confront one another about sin. Jesus is giving us instruction in Matthew 18, how we confront one another about sin, one-on-one first, then two or three witnesses, then take it to the church, and behold, where two or three are gathered together, there I am in the midst of you. Because God promises when we do things according to his word, he sends blessings.

Now we might say, well, that sounds a little bit Health, Wealth, Prosperity, you know. Is this really talking about physical prosperity? Right, when we get into verse 8 and 9. Right, this law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Does prosperity there really mean that they're going to get stuff? Yeah. Yeah, it really does. We need not be so afraid of talking about blessings that come from obedience that we talk away the text.

They really were going to cross over that land. And if they were obedient to the Lord, He was going to give them houses that they did not make. They were going to have vineyards that they did not plant. God was going to graciously give them these things. He had promised it to them. He was going to do it, but they had a responsibility to do.

This is one of the things that we need to be careful about. Yes, we have been saved by grace alone. Right? Ephesians chapter 2, we know it. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, but as a gift of God, not a result of works, lest anyone should boast. But then what does verse 10 say in Ephesians 2? That you got good works to do. And God prepared them in advance for you to walk in them. You're not saved by your works, but you are saved to do good works. You are not saved by your good works.

Joshua was not loved by God because Joshua was good enough to be loved by God. But because he was loved by God, he needed to show his love for God by walking in his ways. This is what he's saying, don't depart from my law, either to the right or to the left, don't vary a little bit, pay careful attention to my word, Joshua, is what the Lord's saying to him. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. This is the idea that God is giving to Joshua.

He needs to read it, he needs to think about it, he needs to say it. The word for meditating there is more like murmuring or chewing it over. There's a book that I've, an author I like, his name is Chaim Potok, and he's this Jewish author. He writes about this Jewish mother as his, her... brother is possibly going into a concentration camp out in Eastern Europe during World War II, and this Jewish boy is watching his mother by the window, and there's rain coming down, and they're in Brooklyn, and he sees a street light, and he sees his mother's mouth moving, and he moves a little bit closer to his mother to figure out what's going on. He hears her just saying the Psalms over and over and over again. His word was in her mouth, and he knew that this was what was deep down in her heart. This is what Joshua is being commanded here by God.

Chew it over. Put it in your mouth. Think about it. Some practical applications for you. It's August. You still have time to jump on the Daily Devotion bandwagon if you want. You still have time to pick up one of the Bible reading plans tacked on the back. You still have time for me to send you text messages Monday through Friday. I can give you a question from the Proverbs each day. You still have time to be in God's Word every day this year.

Brothers and sisters, what did Jesus do when He sparred one-on-one with the devil? Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We come to the Lord. We hear from Him. He's our Father speaking to us. He gives us His word. We follow after Him. And there are a multitude of stories in the Scriptures that show us this. There is a general principle.

Just last night, I did Proverbs chapter 10, and there's a proverb there that talks about the righteous with their prosperous life. And we might think, well, you know, again, we don't really like to talk about prosperity and evangelical Christian, especially, you know, conservative churches like us. Brothers and sisters, the reality is if you live a righteous life, the general principle from God is you will have security in your life. It's one of those principles that why 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we looked at that. Go work with your hands. Earn an honest day wages, and guess what you'll have in your pocket at the end of the day? An honest day of wages.

Joshua, if you do the book of this law, if you meditate on it, if you memorize it, if it's in your mouth, if it's in your heart, if you're walking according to it, you're going to have success in this endeavor. As you go into the land, you're going to have success. You're going to accomplish the goal I set out for you. Walk according to my word. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you." God had given this land to them. There was promises made, there was work to be done.

Yeah, we need to keep God's law today. We're just letting you know, as I was meditating on these passages and working through these, We're going to be spending today finishing this out in Joshua chapter 1, but next week is going to be more of a topical sermon. Right after that, we're going to get into what was the law that he was supposed to be meditating on. So spend 10 weeks looking at the Ten Commandments.

But there's one greater than Joshua. I told you how Moses had renamed Joshua. This is somewhat rare in the Old Testament, but his name originally, when it was listed amongst the spies, was Heshua, which meant deliverance. And Moses changed his name to Joshua. Yeshua. Yahweh saves. That name is translated into the Greek as Jesus. Jesus. Jesus Christ. is the one who meditated on God's Word day and night.

Not coming to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law, to fill every jot and tittle, to live the perfect life of obedience, to accomplish all the promises of God. When we look at this passage and we see what is commanded to Joshua here, we see that as we go through the book, they're not going to accomplish this perfectly. But yet God would still remember his promises. God would send one even greater than Joshua. He would send his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. And it'd be Jesus Christ who would fulfill all these promises. The Israelites would only know this in part.

But brothers and sisters, you have one greater than Joshua who lives within your soul today. Our King Jesus Christ is the one who has accomplished, who has fulfilled all the promises, and it is Jesus Christ who we look to as our promised rest. We don't look for a land in Israel anymore that we might go and immigrate to and find rest. No, we find rest in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the true Joshua, the one who has been commissioned as the King of our souls, and the sovereign of the universe.

Closing Prayer

So brothers and sisters, let us walk after him. Let us trust in him. Let our feet be firmly fixed on the rock of Jesus Christ and let us have strength and courage to do the work that God has told us to do. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you that we are not Joshua, but you have sent us a Joshua. And Father, we thank you that you have called us to march in his war. He is our commander. You have given us Jesus Christ. And Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit might press these truths upon our heart. Lord, I pray that we would have a firm foundation, a rock to stand upon, that we might be strong and of good courage, that we would enter into the promised rest that you have given us as we follow our commander. as we trust in His finished work.