A Promise Fulfilled

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0:00 So today we will continue looking at the people of God who were called by God to do something in the world, to fulfill His promises throughout the world. And today we're going to look at the story of Joshua and look at how God used him in the world to bring about God's good work in the world. So before we dive in, join me in a word of prayer.

0:31 Almighty God, you are Creator and the Sustainer of all life. And all you do is good. You are good. You give good gifts to your children. And in these brief moments, I ask that you give us the gift of sight to see and the gift of hearing to hear what you would have for us today. Heavenly Father, by the power of your Spirit, help us to experience Your presence among us today through the reading of Your Word, the singing of songs, and the fellowship of

1:05 friends after we end. Lord, thank You for this time and thank You for who You are. Help us to see You more clearly today. In Your name we pray, amen. So before we jump into the text, I want to go through a little bit of background and context before we dive into Joshua's life. So I want to go back to Genesis briefly and talk about Abraham. And Abraham is called by God to make a covenant, God made a covenant with Abraham.

1:37 You remember that? So God told Abraham, leave your home, become a nomad, and follow me to a land that I will tell you and show you at some point in the future. And then God said to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, hey, I will make you Abraham a great nation. And I will bless you so that you will be a blessing to all the nations. So I'm going to make you a great nation. I will give you a land that I will show you so that you can be a blessing to the nations

2:08 around you. So fast forward a little bit. And Abraham's descendants, most notably Jacob and his family, they're nomadic people, they wander into Egypt and because Joshua was there and there's a famine in the land, so they end up in Egypt. And for some 30, 350 years, they were enslaved in the nation of Egypt. And then in 13th century BC, God raises up Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and

2:40 he does so in miraculous fashion, right? So they crossed the Red Sea and they're in the wilderness and what should have been an 11 day journey wound up turning into 40 years of wandering in circles in the wilderness. Why? Because so many people rebelled against God, they grumbled against their leadership and Moses and Aaron. And God, so God calls from the wonderful 40 years.

3:11 And he said that they would not see the promised land, including Moses who was also disobedient in that time period. So let's fast forward now, where are the people right now when Joshua comes onto the scene? So they finally make it there in the desert or the plains of Moab, just east of the Jordan River. And God has instructed Moses at the end of his life to speak to the people of Israel and to renew the covenant that he made with him.

3:43 Remember the covenant I mentioned just a few minutes ago? I will make you a great nation. I will give you land so that you can be a blessing to the nations. So before we go into the book of Joshua, we want to go a few pages before that. And if you have your Bibles with you, or you have them on your phone, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 31 verses 1 through 3. And we'll pick up verse 1 and it says this, when Moses had finished giving these instructions

4:15 to all the people of Israel, he said, I am now 120 years old. I am no longer able to lead you. And the Lord has told me, Moses is saying this about himself, the Lord has told me that you will not cross the Jordan River, but the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. And Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the Lord had promised.

4:46 And in verse 7 through 8, it says this, Moses called Joshua and all of Israel watched, and Moses said to Joshua, be strong and courageous. For I will lead these people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors, he would give them. You are the one who will divide that land among them as their grants of land. Again, do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you, he will neither fail you nor abandon you.

5:16 So who is Joshua? He's selected by Moses to lead the people of Israel. Moses, he died outside of the promised land, and now Joshua was on the scene, and he's now the new leader. And we know this from Numbers, the book of Numbers, that Joshua is the son of none, and he was born with a different name. He was born with the name Hoshay, which means he saves. And before Moses passed, Moses renamed him to Joshua, which means Yahweh saves.

5:56 So Abram, you remember Abram, and before God called him, his name was Abram, and God changed his name. Jacob, got changed his name to Israel. Now Joshua, Hoshay, his new name is Joshua, which means God or Yahweh saves. And Joshua is of the tribe of Ephraim. So that's a little bit of background on him. So there's one other fact about Joshua that I want to call it, bring to your remembrance.

6:26 He was one of the twelve spies that Moses sent into the land. You remember that story? He sent twelve spies, ten of them gave a report, but they positioned that report in a way to make the people afraid, and those people got afraid, and they were ready to go back to Egypt. But there were two spies that said, hey, hold on, time out. God has given us this land. Joshua was one of those spies alongside Caleb. So that's who Joshua is. So Joshua chapter one, verses one through nine, we won't read all of that, but that's where

6:59 we'll kind of camp out a little bit today. So this is when God commissions Joshua. So Moses commissioned him once in the plains of Moab, and now God has commissioned him and reaffirmed his promise to Joshua that he will lead the people into the land that he gave him. God told Joshua, no one will be able to stand against you and the people as you move into the land, for I will be with you as I was with Moses.

7:32 I will not fail you. I will not abandon you. So Joshua's hearing the same message over and over and over again. God told him three times and verses one through nine to be strong and courageous. And in verse seven he says this, be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them turning either to the right or the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this book of instruction continually, meditate on it day and night.

8:04 So you will be able to, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. And then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. All right, so that's a lot. That's the context. That's where we find ourselves today. That's the background leading up to the people of God moving into the promise land. We know that God fulfilled his promise to make him a great nation, and he's about to fulfill his promise to give him the land. And however he chose to invite them into that process of giving them the land.

8:39 All right, so imagine if you will, Joshua is outside the land in Moab staring down that's half in front of him looking at this river that he has to cross to get into the land that God has given him, has given them as a people. Even after hearing from Moses and from God repeatedly be strong and courageous, I can imagine there's still a level of kind of fear and trepidation, right? You got all these people behind you following you into a land and you got to cross over

9:10 this river. And then once you cross over you got to fight the people that are in the inhabitants of that land. So I can imagine Joshua being very kind of tripped at some point. The God in his faithfulness shows up and God shows up in several different ways in the story of Joshua. So he shows up to Joshua and his people by providing them a way into the promise land.

9:44 And he did so through a woman in Jericho named Rahab who housed the spies. Remember that story in Joshua chapter two? Now in seminary we had a professor by the name of Richard Pratt and Richard Pratt wrote a book called The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses. So finding the shadow of Christ as you read through the Pentateuch. And what's fascinating about this part of Joshua in chapter two is that Rahab by her

10:18 simple act of faith and the God of creation and life, she's forever linked to the salvation story of all people through her descendant, Jesus. So if you go into Matthew this afternoon sometime, look at chapter one when they list the lineage of Jesus, Rahab is listed there as one of his ancestors which is fascinating. So through her the Israelites were given away into the promise land and through Jesus

10:52 we have the way into the eternal promise land that he's given us. So God shows up by providing a way. God shows up again as Lord over creation by providing a way across the Jordan River. We remember Moses leading the people of out of Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea, it splits open. So after Joshua chapter three we see that happen again. So after the spies had returned and said that the land is ready for them to take, the next

11:24 day Joshua moved the people towards the Jordan River. And he assembled the priest and had them carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord in front of the people signifying that the Lord will go before you. And Joshua tells the people in chapter three, hey you need to purify yourselves and get ready for the great work of God that's coming before us. God reminded him that, reminded Joshua that is that he will be making him into a great

11:58 leader. And Joshua reminded the people again that hey the promise land is ours. He's going to give it to us. Let's pick up in Joshua chapter three verse 14. It says this, so the people left their camp across the Jordan and the priest who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. It was harvest season and the Jordan was overflowing his banks. But as soon as his feet or as the feet of the priest who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge, the water above that point began backing up at a great distance

12:33 away at a town called Adam which is near Zarathon. Not sure what it is but it's somewhere along the Jordan. And the water below that flowed down into the Dead Sea until the river bed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho. The people crossed over the Jordan river. God showed up through creation as Lord of creation for his people.

13:07 Again, reminding him, reminding Joshua and the people that I'm the Lord your God, I will deliver you. And by doing that I'm sure the people were like okay he can be trusted to fulfill his promise to us. There's a third way to go shows up to Joshua. And it's found in Joshua 5 where Joshua is, they've just entered into the promised land

13:40 and they're about to go to war. And there's a commander of the Lord's army that says that verse 13 through 15 when Joshua was near the town of Jericho he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword. And Joshua went up to him like, hey bro, are you with me or against me? What's up? Like Joshua's ready, he's like he's going down right now.

14:12 But the person, the man standing in front of him with the sword said no, I'm neither for you or against you. And Joshua knew at that moment, okay, I'm standing in front of God. And at that point he fell to the ground with his face to the ground in reverence. And asked what do you want your servant to do? And the commander of the Lord's army told him this, take off your sandals for the place where your standing is holy.

14:44 And Joshua did what he was told. So we see God, he promised the people of Israel that I'm going to give you a letter to the land, I'm going to go with you. And not only do you promise him that, he followed through with that by showing up multiple times. And having experienced God's promise to be with the people on the way to possess the land, they had to do the dirty work of joining God and taking the land. Now for us, I know as we look at the story of Joshua and there's a lot of battles where

15:19 the people that they were fighting with are completely annihilated and it's very uncomfortable for us to read through that, read the account of Joshua because it's very detailed about how they destroyed the people that inhabited the promised land. And there's, unfortunately, there's no way around that fact, the violence and the genocide and the story of Joshua. Now I was looking at that and I was stuck when I was preparing and I was like, how do you reconcile this violence, this genocide that these people are doing?

15:51 And a couple of people smarter than me, most people are smarter than me these days, but some theologians kind of looked at that as the fact that God is a holy God and evil cannot be in his presence. So if God is holy, evil can't be anywhere near him. And so throughout the Old Testament, we see story after story of God dealing harshly and violently with evil in the world.

16:26 And another thing that was pointed out too was that God's reputation at that point in time was taught to this people. These formerly enslaved people coming up out of Egypt and wandering around in this desert for 40 years, they're God's people. So if you're in the nations around them, you see these people wandering around in the desert, you're like, who are you worshiping? I don't know if I want to worship that God, right? Because you don't have a place to call home, you're nomadic, you're just destitute. I don't want to worship that God. But God in his faithfulness to his people has to show that he is to be worshiped, revered,

17:03 and worshiped. So the other nations of the world had their gods, but God in his holiness had to show his strength through his people so that they, the nations would be eventually blessed through the people of Israel. So God violently dealt with not only the nations of the world around Israel, but he also dealt with the evil amongst Israel.

17:34 So God's his sword of justice cuts both ways. And you remember the story of Aiken? Aiken took the spools from the Battle of Jericho and hit them in his tent in Joshua. God led Joshua to him and his family. And was like, look dude, while you have, we got told us specifically not to hoard anything or take anything. You did. Now you got to go. So God through Joshua destroyed Aiken and his household.

18:10 Going back to the holiness of God and his story, uncomfortable as it is, the fat remains. God is holy and we're not. And again, thinking about the shadow of Christ and the law of Moses, we are spared because of Christ, taking on that full judgment and justice. So we're halfway through here and I know there's a lot in the story of Joshua that we can

18:42 camp out on, but there's one battle in particular in Joshua chapter 10 that I want to camp out on. And Joshua chapter 10 verses one through three, thinking about this and looking at the fact that there were five kings, so they just conquered Jericho. They've conquered another city, A.I. and they've conquered one more city. I think three cities they had just conquered. And now there are five remaining kingdoms around that that were like taking notice.

19:13 And so those five kings of those particular places, they all formed a pack together. They joined forces and they joined their armies together. So you got five kingdoms, massive armies ready to do battle with Israel. And God reminded Joshua again in this story in chapter 10, where you can read it some time later today or sometimes week if you like. But God reminded Joshua again, do not be afraid of them for I have given you victory over

19:44 them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand with you. So Joshua and his army traveled throughout the night and they surprised those five kings in their armies, their combined armies. He surprised them and the Lord threw them into a panic and the Israelites defeated them. So as the Amorites, those five kings in their armies were running away from the slaughter, guess what happens? The heavens opened up and the hail storm came down.

20:18 And it wiped out the majority of the remaining army. Again, God and his power. I promise you I'm going to do this for you. I'm going to be with you and I'm going to deliver this to you. And God did that. And Joshua prayed and asked God, hey, can you cause the sun to stand still for a period of time while we finish the job? And God did that. The sun stood still and the moon stayed in its place until the nation of Israel defeated its enemies.

20:50 So you can read the story. Joshua, they went on to conquer southern and northern Canaan and the entire region in miraculous and violent fashion to fulfill his promise to his people. So you may be asking now, like, what does this have to do with us? What does this have to do with me today? As we've been talking over the course of the last few months that God has historically done and is currently doing his good work in the world through people.

21:26 And oftentimes his people live living out the specific calling on their lives, experience moments of confusion, moments of fear, moments of hardship and suffering, moments of insurmountable odds, like we're faced with something that's not surmountable. And the temptation for us in that, as I'm assuming it may have been for Joshua, is to ask for clarity. Like, show me exactly what I need to do in this moment.

21:59 And as I was thinking about this, the story of the life of Joshua and talking with Ben about it, he shared with me a story about a Jesuit priest and famous ethicist by the name of John Kavanaugh. So John Kavanaugh wanted to go to Calcutta and spend time with Mother Teresa and to learn like how can I live out the rest of my days like she's living out the rest of her days? So he went there for three months to Calcutta, met with Mother Teresa.

22:30 And when he met with her, he asked her to pray for him. This is what he said. He uttered the request. He cared thousands of miles from his home in St. Louis. And he said this, clarity, pray that I have clarity. Mother Teresa quickly quipped back at him, no, I will not do that. Clarity is the last thing you're clinging to and must let go of.

23:05 So when Kavanaugh said that, she always seemed to have clarity, the very kind of clarity that he was looking for, she laughed at him and said, I have never had clarity. But what I have had was trust. So I will pray that you trust God. Joshua and the people of Israel wandering through the desert, cross over the Jordan, into the promised land, fighting all these crazy battles to receive the promise.

23:37 I'm sure along the way, questioning, doubting and even afraid. We're called, they were called to do that and they did it. But trust was the one thing that they held onto and Joshua held onto. And at the end of Joshua's life, like Moses before him, he recounted all that God had done from the time of Abraham until now. He recounted all of that.

24:10 And he also charged the people to do something and he renews the covenant that God made with him. So in chapter 23 of Joshua, you don't have to turn there, but some of the high points in that is the Lord brought rest to his people. And Joshua bears witness to all that the Lord had done. The Lord had fought the battles for them. The Lord gave them land and Joshua divided that land up to all the tribes. And God continued to give him through, like he gave Moses, the command to the people to

24:42 be strong and do all that is written in the law of Moses. Clean to your God. Be very careful to love the Lord your God. And lastly as Joshua's about to pass from this earth, I'll just read it in chapter 24 verses, verse 14. I had it marked.

25:15 Here we go. Joshua chapter 24 verse 14. Joshua said this. Fear the Lord. Serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped. When they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods of your ancestors whom you serve beyond the Euphrates?

25:49 Or will it be the gods of Amorites and whose land we now live in? And he concluded with this, but as for me and my family and my house, we will serve the Lord. As we find ourselves with God's call in our lives, living out what he's called us to do, we find ourselves maybe even wandering in the wilderness places at times, or battling souls, or building homes in peace.

26:21 The prayer is for us that we too, like Joshua can say, as for me and my house, we will trust the Lord. We will cling to him only and we will be a blessing to the world. How will we, people who are called by God, be a blessing to the world around us? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word to us.

26:52 I know for me it was very hard to think about the destruction of people and the taking of land, but your thoughts and ways are higher than my thoughts and my ways. So at the end of the day, Lord, help me, help us to trust you. There's fear, there's despair, there's sadness, there's grief, there's so much happening in our world today that brings about those emotions and feelings. But Lord, help us to not beg for clarity or insight or whatever, but help us to trust

27:28 you. By the power of your spirit, may we do so. Thank you for your good word to us. May it be a lamp or two hour feet, a light into our path that we may hide it in our hearts and not sin against you. In your name we pray.