Moses was dead. And the Lord had chosen
Joshua as Moses' successor in leading
the children of Israel.
The children of Israel were now in sight
of the Promised Land after forty years
of wandering in the wilderness.
Now all these things happened unto
them for ensamples:
and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
(1 Cor 10:11)
All these things happened to them as examples
for others, and they are written down as
a warning for us. These examples show how
God dealt with them. And we can learn
from these warnings.
These examples have great spiritual
Significance because there are spiritual
Parallels in these interesting events.
The promise of the Lord has been
given in the beginning with Abraham and
then to his descendants to the same promise
have been repeated.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will show thee:
(Genesis 12:1)
And Joseph said unto his brethren,
...and God will surely visit you,
And bring you out of this land unto
The land He sware to Abraham, to Isaac
And to Jacob (Genesis 50:24).
And the LORD said,
I have surely seen the affliction of my people
which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry
by reason of their taskmasters;
for I know their sorrows;
And I am come down to deliver them
out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that
land unto a good land and a large,
unto a land flowing with milk and honey;
unto the place of the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the
Amorites, and the Perizzites,
and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (Ex 3:7-8)
And I will take you to me for a people,
and I will be to you a God:
and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God,
which bringeth you out from under the
burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring
you in unto the land, concerning the which
I did swear to give it to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob;
and I will give it you for an heritage:
I am the LORD. (Ex 6:7-8)
The children of Israel have to have faith in
the Lord. The children of Israel have to believe
in the word of God. The children of Israel
have to claim the promise of God.
God�s promises need to be redeemed.
We have to personally claim God�s promises.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
It is by their faith that the people
of ancient times won God�s approval.
But without faith it is impossible to please
God ; for he that comes to God must believe
that He is , and that He is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek Him.
Behold, his soul which is lifted up
is not upright in him: but the
just shall live by his faith.(Hab 2:4)
The just shall live by faith. The power
of the righteous life is faith.
It is by the faith in God that the
righteous person lives .
The key to the victories of Joshua is
His faith in the Lord.
Faith is acceptance to God�s standard
of holiness and righteousness.
Faith is submitting completely to
The will of God. Faith is achievement
In the strength of the Lord.
If a person is to have the victories of
The righteous life he must win it
by faith in the Lord , by accepting
God's standard of holiness ,
by submitting completely himself to
the will of God. Only then will he win
victory in God's power.
Behold the proud . His soul is not right
within him. But the righteous shall
live by his faith.
Behold. As for the conceited person,
crooked is his soul within him.
But the righteous by his
faithfulness shall live.
A persons inner and deepest things will
Always manifest sooner of later
In the external things. If a person is
crooked in soul, people will find
it out by his conceit.
A conceited person is puffed up
His soul is crooked within him.
He is not upright. He is swollen
with pride, greed, lust, and vanity.
All things of pride and self-seeking are
Made drunk with selfish ambition,
covetousness, idolatry, lust, violence,
insolence, and envy
The self-centered life may seemed
to be rising higher and higher.
But the truth is that the proud
is working toward self-destruction.
The conceited person is dead to
the things of life. The puffed
person destroys all that he touches.
The just shall live by faith.
Faith works by love. God is love.
For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son
that whosoever believes in Him
shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus saith unto him,
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(John 14:6)
The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
(Ex 15:3)
The children of Israel were commanded to
Battle. They were led in battle. And
They were punished the enemy in battle.
And the children of Israel were governed by God.
But God is love. How can God be God of war?
All the war activities attributed to Him
Come from the undying love in His heart.
God is at war with sin. That is the main
reason for the extermination of the Canaanites.
The people who dwelt in Canaan were very
wicked. The Lord warned the children of Israel
again the evil things they would find in the land.
Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. (Lev 18:24-5)
The Lord said, Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.) Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God. (Lev 18:26-30)
The Lord clearly said that these wicked people
Were cast out of the land because of the evil
Existing in the land. The Lord commanded
The children of Israel to cast out the
corrupt people who occupied the land.
God is seen in this book of Joshua as
warlikle God going forward to battle not for
enlargement of territory, for the entire earth
belongs to Him. But God is going forward against
sin.
God is not merely clearing a land in
order to find a place for the
children of Israel. God clearly warded
the children of Israel that If they turned to the sins of the corrupted people
they had cast out , they in their turn should
be cast out. God is a terrible enemy of sin , refusing to
make truce with it. God is righteous. God�s rule is the expression
of His righteousness, worked by His love.
God is preparing the way for the coming
of Christ in whom His love was incarnate,
and His anger against sin to be most
perfectly manifest.
The purpose of the Lord is righteousness.
His methods are righteous. The Lord is at war against sin.
The Lord is fighting in fury against sin, in
the interest of nations, in the interest of
man so that man should not perish but have life.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Rev 19:11-16)
God is the foe of sin. God is fighting sin unabated, unceasing , undeviating hostility against
sin.The Lord is smiting sin, because He loves us.
Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.) From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (Josh 1:1-9)
The book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth ;
But you shall meditate therein day and night,
that you may observe to do according to all
that is written therein;
for then you shall make your way prosperous,
and then you shall have good success.
Have not the Lord commanded you ?
Be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid,
Neither be dismayed, for the lord your God is
With you wherever you go.
Moses was dead. And the Lord had chosen
Joshua as Moses� successor in leading the
children of Israel.
The law represented by Moses , serves its
Purpose in showing us what sin is.
The law can not save any person. The law
Defines what is sin. The law can not
conduct us into the Promised Land.
Moses represented the law. The law
Can lead us to the threshold of the
Land of promise but no further.
For the law was given by Moses,
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ must take us into
The promised land.
Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man comes unto the Father , but by me.
Jesus is the way to God. Jesus is the way to
To eternal life.
For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son that whosoever
believes in Him shall perish but
have everlasting life.
Because he was faithful in a few things,
the Lord made Joshua ruler over many
greater things.
The children of Israel wandered forty years
In the wilderness. Only Caleb and Joshua
who would still be living would enter
the promised land.
They were allowed to enter the land of promise
Because of their strong faith in the LORD.
Many years ago when they were sent by Moses
To search the land, they came back and said to
The people.
And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. (Num 14:7-9)
His good report of the Promised Land,
his battle with Amalek,
his patient obedience to the Lord
as the attendant of Moses proved Joshua�s
faithfulness in the Lord.
And having been found faithful in smaller
things, Joshua was promoted to greater
things.
God comes to us in the little things
equally as in the great things.
We must meet them cheerfully as doing
the work of the Lord.
peoplebible