Amen. Please be seated. This morning it is a privilege for me to be able to begin a new book with you as I have opportunity to preach here on Sunday morning. So we'll be beginning in the book of Joshua.
And here we find as Deuteronomy comes to a close and Joshua begins that God's people are on the verge of the Jordan preparing to receive every good gift and blessing that God had promised them. And yet we find the first words of the book of Joshua this morning, even as we'll consider more of the context and more of the situation over the next few sermons that I have opportunity to preach on Sunday mornings. But we see these opening words both set Joshua historically, meaning on the verge of the Jordan during this particular time in Israel's history, but it also sets it theologically after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord. That's how this book begins.
Again, this book is set both historically and theologically or spiritually we might say. And as the Hebrews were rescued and redeemed from slavery in Egypt, there was a generation that was unfaithful to the Lord. And the Lord judged them accordingly. They would not enter into the promised land, but their children would.
Even more here we find reference that Moses himself wouldn't be allowed to enter the promised land. And the Lord reminds the people in Moses and Deuteronomy, he says, because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel, at the waters of Marybokkatesh and the wilderness of Zinn, because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel, for you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there into the land that I'm giving to the people of Israel. Moses struck the rock for water rather than speaking to it, a symbol of his own disbelief and disobedience, and had come to pass that God's judgment against Moses was sure. And so this book of military conquest and promise-keeping begins with a backdrop of unfaithfulness.
And in some ways there's an implicit question here, generally speaking, how will the people conduct themselves as he leads them into the promised land? But even more so this morning, what a Joshua. What other one who succeeds Moses? Will he believe upon the Lord for all his needs and trusts in the Lord to do all that he says?
Before I read God's word, let's take a moment of prayer and that's the Lord to the lesson. For God, in heaven we thank you that you have spoken to us, that you have revealed yourself to us, most gloriously in your son Jesus Christ, the living word God. In the Lord we pray that you would indeed unstuck our ears and that you would uncover our eyes, that you would renew our minds, that you would grant life to our hearts, that we might love you and desire you and honor you and worship you and seek you. In the Lord we pray that you would be with us now, grand as your Spirit.
We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Joshua chapter 1 beginning in verse 1, this is God's word, holy and errant. Let us give you here.
After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of known, Moses assistant. Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place of the soul of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites 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. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them. Only be strong and very courageous. Being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it, and day and night, so 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 good success. Have not commanded you. Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The grass withers and the flower falls. The word of our God stands forever and ever.
Thanks be God. You know, this is going to be a theme that we'll see time and time again in this book, but can you imagine all the ways that Israel might commit themselves for preparing for battle? What about us? Surely we have boot camps and we have trainings, we have regimental practice and we practice maneuvers, we develop officers, and we even produce and outfit and equip soldiers.
Even infrastructure lends itself to military readiness. We can thank the White D. Eisenhower anyways for the interstate system, also known as the White D. Eisenhower national system of interstate and defense highways.
That sounds a little bit better, hasn't it? You know, this is the means to which our nation is connected and even every military installation or almost every military installation is accessible from each one of these roads. It's what makes this passable and reliable and apparently there's an account of White D. Eisenhower trying to get from the east coast, to the west coast, and recounting how dismal the roads were.
So even we can speak of today and we can enjoy the fact that we can hop anywhere on any highway from here in the springs, going to each corner of our great nation, that we might be able to have access and we might be able to protect ourselves and defend our borders, moving troops and equipment. But what's happening here in Israel? How are they preparing for battle? Well first we need to see that Joshua is being prepared for his leadership.
It begins with Joshua. But secondly, do you see what the substance is here of his commissioning? It's not one of military preparedness, it's not one of practicing maneuvers, it's not one of developing a battle plan. But we see here that God equips Joshua with a covenant confidence, a confidence in his promises.
God equips Joshua with confidence in his promises. One rooted in who God is, not who Joshua is, nor who the Hebrews are. See the substance of Joshua's courage is God himself. But let's unpack this passage this morning as we see really the substance of Joshua's confidence.
First I want you to see that Joshua's confidence is in the Lord's promise. You know, standard issue to Joshua here in these opening verses is not sword and shield or horse and chariot, but it's the Lord's covenant faithfulness. So Joshua is being prepared to assume command of God's people as they have set before them a campaign of conquest. And this is his commissioning.
And these opening verses might be jarring to us from a worldly perspective. But as we consider the source of these words, we'll see that this promise is the foundation of a covenant confidence or a confidence in God's promises. Joshua's strength is not to be found in his own skill, it's not to be found in numbers, it's not to be found even in his own sharpness or cunning. But Joshua's hope is not that he would be the tactical wonder kid, but that the Lord of hosts, the Almighty God that Yahweh himself has spoken and has ordained and has promised that they will receive the land.
Simply put, Joshua's confidence is found in the Word of God for the Lord has spoken. And what's important to see here is that God is rehearsing and reminding Joshua of the covenant promise that he made with Abraham and with Isaac and with Jacob, which he magnified through Moses and has revealed to Israel the means through which he would keep his promise, that they would indeed inherit the land of Canaan. And we consider the basis for Joshua's confidence and God's promise. I want you to look at these verses and let's consider some aspects of this promise.
First, we see there's an imperative, don't we? What God is saying is that it's time. And Joshua's not reading tea leaves or looking to the heavens to see if Jupiter is in retrograde. It's not even the gut feeling of a seasoned leader.
He's not looking to the migration patterns of birds or considering astrological signs or integram numbers, but notice the Lord has spoken the command. Go. The time has come. Not only is this imperative, but it's declarative.
What does God say? But I am giving to them. The assurance here is that the Lord will provide. Notice that it's God who gives Israel the promise land.
There is no question to what the outcome will be. The God who saw Israel freed from Egypt, rescued across the Red Sea, provided for in the wilderness. Here even brought to the verge of the banks of the Jordan River, who has granted his own law and his command, this is the God that will surely keep his promise. So the promise is not subjective or vague.
Not only is it declarative, it's also detailed. Did you notice from the wilderness in this Lebanon as far as the Great River, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites of the Great Sea toward the going down of the Sun shall be yours? It's detailed. Notice the Lord does not leave this promise open to interpretation.
He lays out the boundaries. Can you think of this as something like a coloring page? Here God traces in the boundaries or outlines what will be the promise land and he invites Joshua to color it in. Notice it's thorough.
Every place that the soul of your foot will tread. Every square inch of the Lord promises will be granted to you all the land. The Lord says. Just as he's given that coloring page again, they're called to fill it in.
Everywhere your crayon touches, I will give it to you, he says. What's the point? We see here that our hope is solely and it securely rests in the power and strength of the Lord to do what he has promised. What reason does Joshua have to believe that underdog Israel will conquer the land of Canaan?
The foes are no less fierce than what was reported. They are no less formidable. But the basis of Joshua's trust in the Lord is his promise, but even more so it's who God is. That promise brings true.
Excuse me. We find the word of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run to it and are safe. This promise brings true because the Lord is faithful to his word. It is who he is.
He is faithful and he is God. When this promise seems weak for us to rest upon, when this promise seems too little for us to find confidence in, when it seems insufficient for us to lean into righteousness and to put one foot in front of the other for the glory of God and for the pursuit of God he is. We must remember that the promise of God is sure as well as it is sufficient. It's detailed.
It's not vague or nebulous. It's not general. But we see the specificity of what the Lord promises. In fact, we see in Christ, which we'll get to soon.
What he says he will surely do and when we reflect upon the promises kept in Christ, he has surely done them and we should find confidence in the Lord's promises. Secondly, what I want you to see this morning is that Joshua's confidence is that the Lord promises provision. The Lord promises provision. We call this the commissioning of Joshua, this text.
Joshua is being set apart and granted God's promise as a sufficient assurance to do all that the Lord has commanded him. But do you notice what the Lord's provision to Israel is? Surely, it's his presence which we'll look at shortly. But look at verse 6.
He says, be strong and courageous for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them. Joshua, you will cause this people to inherit the land. Yeah, we ask a question of this text, don't we? Which is it?
Or who is it? Is it God? Or is it Joshua that causes the people to inherit the land? Well, it's good Presbyterians.
We know the answer to this question. Is it God? Or is it Joshua? Well, the answer is yes.
We can see that the Lord and his providence and his sovereign command he uses and directs and causes Joshua to be the man through which Israel will receive the promised land. You know, God doesn't snap his proverbial fingers and poof. The kennonites are gone and the people are magically transported into the promised land. What I was supposed to do that.
But the Lord reveals to Joshua and to Israel and to us that for his own glory, he will use Joshua. And we'll see God most glorified in this book as he uses Joshua and his people. Like a screwdriver in the hand of God, it's Joshua. And while it is the Lord who formed and fashioned Joshua and now wields him, he will soon place the head of that proverbial screwdriver in the screw and he will turn.
And you know that for a screwdriver to be effective, it requires someone to turn it. It also must be turned while gaining traction and purchase otherwise what happens when you strip the screw. We need to see here a principle for how we understand the world around us. Right?
That the Lord wields his people and he uses them for his glory and praise and for our good. But as he uses us, we work. It often that feels like us gaining traction or purchase. And it's not that we do our part and that God does his part.
That's not what we find here. But our responsibility and activity and God's sovereign will mysteriously are bound together. Not only ordains it, but he uses it for an end. He uses us.
But the point here is that we are often God's provision. It's Joshua that will lead and Israel should praise God for raising him up and commanding him and using him as a tool, even as a mighty weapon. Have you ever considered that as you follow the Lord faithfully, that you might be a person through whom God is providing for others? Let me put it a different way.
As Christians, we are always to be people through which God is providing. It is very seldom on the scale of Joshua, but the Lord provides as he promises. You know, parents, you are the provision to your children for love and for care and for nurture for their needs and for their wants and for their spiritual life. Members, you are the means to which our church functions and should function.
Worshipping and serving and learning and growing, you might be the one who even puts food on someone's table or in their stomachs. You might be the one who shares the gospel with someone and as they believe upon Christ, they're saved. You might be the one who aids and assists through a time of grief and sorrow who is present and near in their loneliness who speaks truth and challenges when one goes astray or is caught in gross sin. What you see here is that oftentimes we are the means of God's provision.
Joshua is the provision to Israel. And oftentimes the Lord uses us as well according to his sovereign will and for the glory of his name. I really want you to see here, Joshua's confidence is in the Lord's presence. He promises to be present with his people.
Now what's interesting about these verses is we don't have any insight into Joshua's reception per se of these verses from Joshua's perspective at least, but we do have the word of the Lord. Do you wonder perhaps Joshua's nervous, scared or afraid? Maybe he's worried or anxious or overwhelmed. Maybe he has doubts.
Maybe you've been called to some sort of leadership situation and you can empathize or sympathize with Joshua here. The fear that can grip us when we are called to do a heavier mighty task. What seems to the Lord anticipates this at least, do not be frightened, do not be dismayed. This provision to Joshua is supported by the Lord's provision of his presence.
And so we read in verse five, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. We read it again in verse nine, don't we have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
And often when you read in the scriptures that the Lord is promising to be near his people, it's when they really need to hear it or even consider what Jesus says in the great condition as he's about to depart into glory and ascend and to heaven, I am with you always until the end of the age. And he promises to send the helper, the Holy Spirit to be with us, doesn't he? The great comforter. You see friends, this covenant confidence is not only that the Lord promises, not only that the Lord will provide, but that the Lord is present with you.
This presence is a support for confidence for Joshua and it should be for us. This is all swirling and coalescing and coming together to give us a picture of faithfulness and trust. What could possibly make Joshua think that his ragtag band of Israelites could cross the Jordan River and conquer a number of nations to establish for themselves a land where they will prosper, and grow? Well, it's the Lord that promises his presence.
You think through those who are brave enough or foolish enough, depending on how you see it, to pay good money, to hop on a plane, to fly thousands of feet into the air, to open a door and to jump out. If you think about it, it's pretty crazy. You know that someone would leap from a perfectly good airplane only because they have a perfectly good parachute. Regardless of what the person jumps with a look of terror on their face or that strange look of joy as they descend to the earth, it's the parachute that lands them safely upon the earth.
You've not known plenty of folk who look to God and they think faith is this. It's flying thousands of feet into the air. It's stepping to the edge of the plane without a parachute and jumping because if they believe hard enough or pray hard enough or do good enough, the Lord will see them safely to the ground. And sure, that's not faith, is it?
It's actually foolishness. And this foolishness ignores just how the Lord is present with his people, that he gives us tangible promises to which we are to hold to and to trust in and even to see leading us. Joshua is not taking it upon himself to lead his people into the promised land. He's trusting in the Lord who is there and who is with him.
And so what is revealed to us in these verses is that God is present with his people in and through his word. And it seems to be worth our consideration that before sword is ever swung or at charge is ever issued that the Hebrew's strength is in the Lord's presence. That's nothing new. This should not be a surprise to them.
They had the ark. They had the cloud of smoke and fire, the pillar of smoke and fire. But their hope isn't purely only for when they lose their arrows that the Lord might direct how their flight path or it's not that he might direct the blows of their blades. Notice the Lord doesn't really strengthen them in battle but strengthens them for battle.
And as they march and as they fight as the Lord commands and they do as the Lord commands, not turning from the left or to the right, he is with them and he will provide. There are many battles that the scriptures recount and they're often not won by brute force but by the way in which the Lord commands. We should pay attention to how these battles are fought. They're often not won by brute force but by the way in which the Lord commands, which is not always how we might imagine it to be because God's people were never to rely on the side of their armies or the numbers of their chariots.
The Lord was with them. They fight not by fierce force but by faith. And so lastly, our fourth point this this morning, we see that Joshua's confidence is in that the Lord promises a plan. The Lord promises a plan and I think this is one of the most important aspects of this passage, really of this book that the Lord promises a plan and the Lord's plan is faithfulness and obedience to his word.
I want you to miss this. Consider the Lord's words beginning in verse 7, be strong and very courageous, be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave to you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left that you may be successful wherever you go. And this book of law always on your lips meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it then you will be prosperous and successful.
You see it's not boot camp, it's not military training, that will make Israel strong. Understand Israel will fight with faithfulness. And you can imagine Joshua the commander of Israel bearing a military sensibility. You might wonder what might be rolled out on his war table in Israel's headquarters.
You know, is it this rough drawn topographic outline of the promised land with various cities and people's marks? Would it have had little pieces that show battle plans and tactics like contingencies and guerrilla warfare? I don't think so. If you were to walk into that Hebrew war tent and look at the battle table you more likely find rolled out on the war table the scrolls of the law of Moses.
You notice how it is to be used in verse 7. It's to be obeyed and followed and in verse 8 it is to be spoken and meditated upon. The way of victory or prosperity is not by the way of the sword here but by the way of the word. And it's here I think there's an implicit point for us.
True prosperity, true blessedness is the result of living life by the law of God. And we see that the end of this prosperity, the end of this prosperity we trust that the Lord will provide and we trust that the Lord will care for us and we believe that the Lord will give us everything we need. But that's not what is considered prosperous. We tend to think of that as abundance or joy or ease.
Our prosperity is marked by something in the world or something worldly in a sense. As we misunderstand that blessedness and faithfulness the Lord commands us. We think of it like a math equation. Faithfulness plus patience equals everything I've ever desired.
You can put it this way. I go to church every Sunday. I've read through my Bible at least once. I volunteer to the church.
And so now I'm waiting for the Lord to give me that promotion or to bless this relationship or to have that check up here in the mail or for my kids to get into their dream college with a full scholarship. You want to know more about my testimony. I'd love to tell you how this described me before the Lord called me to himself. We think prosperity is the reward for faithfulness.
I've heard another way. I tithe and now I wait to be blessed with more money as tithing and giving is like a divine investment strategy. Getting out more than I put in. Prosperity is not the reward for faithfulness though it does sometimes accompany it.
But we need to see here that true prosperity is delighting in and seeking to be in the presence of the Lord and obeying his word. Faithfulness itself is prosperity. The thing we get when we are faithful to God's word is a life lived as God intended in as he commands. And maybe I've used this illustration before but you understand that faithfulness is our means of flourishing and of thriving like a fish thrives and flourishes in the water and shrivels and dies on the land.
So the Christian lives and thrives in pursuing faithfully the things of God because our true blessedness being redeemed from the bondage of sin is that we might not only have a new standing before the Father, one of being justified before him in his sight, but also that we might live righteous lives and holy lives as the Lord intended us to do. That's where we thrive. That's true blessedness. True prosperity.
Will it meet a bank account bursting at the seams or a pool in the backyard or an executive position or a luxury car? Well, no, probably not. But it will be a life lived in the will and of the Lord and that is a glorious thing of blessedness. Even for the Hebrews who were to shortly enter into and begin to possess and receive the promised land, a land that would have been flowing with milk and honey one ultimately fertile.
Understand that this is but tight or shadow. It points to the promised restoration of all things and the future in which God will dwell with his people. It's but a prototype of the new heavens and the new earth where there will no longer be sickness or sorrow or pain or death or sin and we will dwell with our God forever. Even presently as the Lord is sanctifying us and inshizzling us more and more into the aims of Christ that we might be conformed to his likeness.
Our growing in grace and godliness means that we are knowing a future reality not yet fully realized, a taste of a future blessedness of glory. We know that our covenant confidence comes through believing God's promises, rejoicing in God's provision, trusting in God's presence and following God's plan. Yet we see this most gloriously displayed in Christ, don't we? We have not only the promises that having been made but promises being kept of whom Moses and the prophets foretold Jesus tells us.
But even more those promises we have I have been made sure that God in his provision has given us the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, that God in his presence has given us Christ who dwelled among us and so reveals the Father to us. That God has indeed given us a plan to not only repent and believe upon Christ and be saved but we have marching orders. In our union with Christ who walk in faith, we hear the words of Jesus, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore make the cycles of all nations, baptizing them to name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and be hold I am with you to the end of the age.
Friends we are called to stir each other up to faith in good deeds, all the more as we wait for that dawning day to draw near. To equip the saints for ministry of the church we have been granted a plan. And surely you and I have a greater case for confidence than even Joshua. Mr.
Peter tell us and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until that day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Friends the Lord blesses Joshua with confidence but all the more he grants us a rich, constant confidence in Christ. Might we love him, might we cherish him, and might we honor him. Let us pray.
Lord I thank you for every good blessing that comes from on high. Lord you are the God who gives good gifts and you there is no variation. We have not given us a scorpion, we have not given us a serpent, but you have given us your son Jesus. And Lord we pray that you would shore us up that you would increase our faith, that we would delight and know your word, where we know your promises.
And God that might be how you form us and fashion us by the power of your Spirit. God bless you and you all the more. Would you bless us now and would we return praise to you? And Christ am I praying?
Amen. Let us stand and sing together how firm a foundation.