Joshua: Faith Founded Upon God’s Word

Let’s set the foundation for this study.  Faith is grounded in obedience to God’s Word. What does it mean to be "grounded" in something?  According to Merriam-Webster, to be grounded in something means to be based firmly on that thing, or to have a solid foundation in it. It implies a strong understanding of the basics, a practical or theoretical basis, and a connection to reality.  Being grounded in reality means being aware of the present moment, having a strong sense of self, and knowing the difference between what is real and not real.  A grounded person is considered mentally and emotionally stable, sensible, and realistic. 

Have you ever been able to read a set of instructions for a complex board game and be able to perfectly, or even adequately, adhere to the rules without constant refreshers of rule reading?  For example how many are well-grounded enough to play a game of Monopoly without getting into conflict?  

For example did you know these little adhered to rules from Monopoly?

1. There are Mandatory Auctions in Monopoly.  The official rule book dictates that if a player chooses not to buy an unowned property, it must be put up for auction to all players. This can lead to players strategically not buying properties to force others into bidding wars or to obtain properties at a discount by buying them from others later.

2. You CAN still collect your rents while you are in Jail.  It's a common misconception that players in jail can't collect rent from other players who land on their properties. This is not true; players in jail can still collect rent. 

3. Free Parking is not intended to be an income generator. The "Free Parking" rule, where taxes or fees are collected and the player landing on it takes the pot, is a common house rule but not part of the official game. The official rules say that Free Parking is a neutral space with no effect on gameplay. 

4. "Good luck" is penalized.  If a player throws doubles three times in a row, they are sent directly to jail, even if they were already in jail at the start of those three rolls. 

5. When you unmortgage, or buy back your property from the bank, you pay interest?  When a player unmortgages a property, they pay a 10% premium, effectively paying interest on the loan.

If in even a simple game like Monopoly there are a number of rules and restrictions we are unaware of, how much more so in the 66 books that make up the Bible?  

Here we see that God says that God's Word is an instruction book for life.  It is important that we read and learn from this book of instruction if we desire to successfully play the “game” called life.  That is why today we are looking at risk-taker Joshua.

For many the idea of stepping out in faith means doing what they think or hope is the right thing to do. Faith, however, steps out based on what God says to do.  It is through the Bible, His Word to us, that we discover His commands and will. Regular reading, study, and reflection on God’s Word will keep in our minds God's will and plan for us participating in the “game” of life.  The Bible is the God’s Instruction Manual and is an illustrative guide for living.  You might want to spend time reading the instructions and absorbing the illustrations.

We look at Joshua 1:1-9, and 16-18.  The book of Joshua begins with the announcement that Moses had died. The people now faced a time of radical transition. God had called Joshua to be Moses’s successor and had been preparing him for that task for a long time. The Lord immediately charged him to prepare the people to cross the Jordan to take possession of the land the Lord had promised to them long ago.  The Lord assured Joshua he could be an effective leader and accomplish the assignment that was being given to him. The assurance rested on the fact that the Lord would give him the instructions he needed and would be present with him.  

This is quite similar to the promise Jesus gave to us. He has given us the instructions we need and promised that his Holy Spirit would be with us to lead and instruct us. 

Let's look at what the Lord told Joshua.

Joshua 1:1-5

1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea. 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.

Last week a desire for a mentor program for young men was announced. This week we see an effective result of such a program.  

Moses showed Joshua what it looks like to obediently follow God. Moses exhibited obedience to God and explained God’s promises to Joshua.  Joshua was an eyewitness to the incredible events related to the Exodus of the Hebrew nation from Egypt. He witnessed the ten plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and Israel’s forty-year wilderness wanderings. Joshua also had a front-row seat watching Moses lead this traveling nation, serving as their prophet, general, and judge even though he was imperfect and humanly sinful.

Joshua became the new leader of Israel. God would speak to Joshua as He had spoken to Moses.  God’s promise to Joshua can be summed up in three phrases: “I will give you victory on your journey”, “your victory has boundaries”, and “I will be with you and never abandon you.”  God had set Joshua up for success through Moses’s mentorship, but his success as Israel’s new leader depended on more than simply having a good example to follow.

Joshua appears in various places as Moses’s assistant and eventually as Moses’s apparent successor to the leadership of the people of Israel.  He is first introduced in Exodus 17. Later, Joshua and Caleb were the only two faithful spies when Moses sent twelve spies into the promised land. Ten of the twelve spies returned in fear and trepidation, declaring that while the land was beautiful, there were giants (powerful men, or men of POWER) who would crush the people of Israel if they attempted to enter the promised land. Meanwhile, Joshua and Caleb, while not denying that the task would be difficult, professed faith in the Lord. The Lord would deliver these mighty men into the hands of the people of Israel. Joshua and Caleb’s faithfulness earned them the wrath of their countrymen, but the Lord was pleased with them.

The crossing of the Jordan River is an echo of the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus. Moses’s leadership brought the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt crossing through the Red Sea. Joshua’s leadership would take the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, crossing through the Jordan River, where they would continue to have a Tabernacle where God's presence would dwell.  In time, however, they would seek to build a permanent Temple where God’s presence would dwell. 

From the beginning of God’s dealing with Abraham and his descendants, God had always promised that His people would have a place of their own. The land that Joshua was leading the people into would be the culmination of that promise. It was in this land where God would enter the temple of Solomon and where His special presence would dwell. Ultimately, however, God’s presence—not the physical land or even the temple where He would dwell—was the most important part of God’s promise to Abraham. Allowing the Israelites to have a close relationship with God was.

God was with Moses during every stage of his life and during every phase of his ministry to the people of Israel. Joshua was given an example of what it meant to obey and experience God’s presence, and he would now lead as an example of an imperfect but faithful servant who served the Lord.  But HOW could he lead these people?

The next passage spells it out for us in God's own words. 

Joshua 1:6-9

6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God told His new commander, Joshua, to be strong and courageous no fewer than three times and for different reasons.

1. God told Joshua to be strong and courageous because Joshua would distribute the land to tribes to fulfill God’s promise.  

 

2. To observe and carefully adhere to God's instructions to Moses.  The key was Joshua’s obedience to God’s word to do exactly what God had told Moses. 

 

3. To persist in leading in GOD'S pathway. The old saying is true: “it’s lonely at the top.” Joshua was God’s appointed successor of Moses. Although he had been promised victory, he would still experience fear and discouragement. So he needed to be strong and courageous or remain obedient when all else says "take it easy!" 

 

The call to be strong and courageous was a common theme in the book of Joshua. The two ideas are similar but not identical. The manner in which one is courageous depends on the context. For example, when Joshua and the people of God would be called into conflict with warring neighbors, the idea of strength is most appropriate. When the people were called to keep the law, a more precise translation for the second verb, “courageous,” is probably “resolute” with the idea of firmness. The Christian life is full of opportunities to be courageous, but even more so, the Christian life is a call to resoluteness—standing strong in the midst of cultural and societal pressure to accommodate to worldly norms rather than biblical guidance.

The success spoken about here is a cultural victory, which would allow the Hebrews to possess and live in the promised land unhampered by their neighbors. God’s promise of success was that they would achieve this victory in accordance with their  obedience to God’s commands. 

The phrase this book of instruction refers to the Torah—the five books that Moses wrote down; God’s Word for His people consisting of the first five books of our Bible. At this point in the storyline of Scripture, the Torah was the only written revelation of God to His people. The people of Joshua’s day had five books, we have avalable a complete Bible (library)—sixty-six books of God’s revelation to us. Additionally, we also have been given God’s Holy Spirit who illumines the meaning of the entire Bible to us. We also have two thousand years of examples from church history to instruct and inspire us to trust and obey God’s Word.

As believers, once we have been united with Christ by faith, we keep in step with the Spirit as we meditate on God's Instruction Book with the help of the Holy Spirit. To meditate is more than just "emptying the mind".  The word mediatate is from the late 1500s meaning "to plan in the mind", or "to employ the mind in thought or contemplation." God is telling Joshua, and us, to ALWAYS keep in mind GOD'S instruction as we go about our day.     

So Joshua "takes the lead" and tells people what God expects from them, and the plans God has for their people.  Let's look at how they respond.

Joshua 1:16-18

16 They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. 17 We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. Certainly the Lord your God will be with you, as he was with Moses. 18 Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”

Joshua must have been encouraged to hear the response of his subordinates to this much-anticipated order. The people of Israel professed they would obey everything Joshua told them to do.  As we know from the Old Testament library of Biblical books, they did not keep this promise.  On more than one occasion they failed to carry out their assignment. This is one of the many lessons we learn from the Old Testament: humanity cannot obey God in their own human power. Only when empowered by the Spirit of God can humans carry out the mission of God. Even the disciples who received the Great Commission did not obey this command of Jesus until after they received the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.  

Throughout their time in the wilderness the people of Israel were inconsistent and even fickle in their obedience to God. The Lord tested the people of Israel during their time wandering in the wilderness in order to train and instruct them, which gave them an opportunity to know the Lord as their God. That testing and training now benefits us as ones who have been given the whole counsel of God.

The Israelites’ promise to obey Joshua just as they had obeyed Moses might have been sincere, but it also rings hollow. The people who were rescued from slavery in Egypt by God through Moses frequently did not obey Moses. God’s people take comfort and hope because of God’s presence with them. Such people are reassured not by their own abilities or power but by the presence of God. God’s presence was what motivated and permitted the people of Joshua’s day to carry out the mission that God had given them to conquer the land He had promised to Abraham.

The people of Israel were confessing that they were supportive of Joshua as being a legitimate successor to Moses. As we have seen throughout this passage, the people’s confession was sincere at the time. However, due to their own sin natures, they did not have the ability to follow through with their commitments. We can never live in holiness in our own power or by relying on works of the law. We can only live righteous lives when we live and walk by faith and not by works.

God referred to His Word as a book of instruction. God has clearly laid out the recipe for a successful spiritual and physical life. All we have to do is make God’s Word the foundation for ALL of our actions.  

Faith is grounded in obedience to God’s Word.

Choose one of the following applications in the coming week to help you to grow:  

Observe. Faith can be strengthened by observing people who live a faith-based life. Choose someone in your life who walks with God and carefully observe how this person follows Him.

Focus. Observing others’ beliefs is a great first step, but ultimately your faith should be centered on God’s Word. Focus your attention on God’s Word, and your faith will grow in a manner that pleases God. Read, study, and make God’s Word the guide book by which you make ALL of your plans.

Display. Let your faith practice be an example for other people to follow. Seek out others to mentor and be their example of living a life of faith. Remember to be strong and courageous!  

Included below is a timeline of Joshua's Life.

Timeline of Joshua’s Life

THE BOOK OF EXODUS

• Born a slave in Egypt, then redeemed along with the Israelites (Ex. 5:15).
• Chosen by Moses to lead defensive attack against Amalek (Ex. 17).
• Moses’s assistant
• On Mount Sinai when Moses received the law (Ex. 24:13).
• Stayed in the tent of meeting (Ex. 33:11).

THE BOOKS OF NUMBERS/DEUTERONOMY

• Chosen as one of the spies to scout out Canaan, the promised land (Num. 13:8,16).
• Moses renamed him from Hoshea (“Salvation”) to Joshua (“The LORD is salvation”) (Num. 13:16).
• Joshua and Caleb alone gave a positive, faithful report of the land (Num. 13–14).
• Joshua and Caleb alone from their generation were promised to enter the land (Num. 14:30).
• Chosen by the Lord to succeed Moses (Num. 27:12-22; Deut. 31).
• Encouraged to be strong and courageous (Deut. 31:7,23).
• Chosen by the Lord to help distribute the land to the tribes (Num. 34:16-29).
• Moses died; Joshua assumed leadership (Deut. 34).

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

• Reaffirmed by the Lord as the leader to succeed Moses (Josh. 1).
• Encouraged to be strong and courageous (Josh. 1:6,7,9,18).
• Led the Israelites across the Jordan River on dry ground (Josh. 3–4).
• Officiated over a covenant renewal in circumcision and Passover (Josh. 5).
• Obeyed the Lord’s instructions for conquering Jericho (Josh. 6).
• Army defeated at Ai because of Achan’s sin; Achan judged (Josh. 7).
• Obeyed the Lord’s instructions for conquering Ai (Josh. 8).
• Fulfilled blessings and curses ceremony at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (Josh. 8:30-35).
• Made an ill-advised covenant with the Gibeonites without seeking the Lord’s counsel (Josh. 9).
• Conquered southern cities of the promised land (Josh. 10).
• Conquered northern cities of the promised land (Josh. 11).
• The land had rest from war (Josh. 11:23).
• Released the two and a half tribes to return to their homes on the east side of the Jordan River (Josh. 13).
• Distributed the promised land to the remaining nine and a half tribes (Josh. 14–21).
• Officiated over a final covenant renewal with all the Israelites (Josh. 23–24).
• Died at the age of 110 (Josh. 24:29).