God's Message To Joshua Series

On John Wesley’s grave are the words, "God buries his workmen, but his work goes on." And so, God came to him with a commission. And He spelled out what He wanted him to do and then told him how He would enable him to do it. And here’s what God says, I want you to cross over Jordan with two million people, attack these seven fortified cities without any weapons or trained soldiers, divide up the land so that everyone is happy and then make sure they’re on the right track spiritually.

Having heard all that and knowing the track record of Israel my first response would have been rather sarcastic and I would have said, "And what will we do for the rest of the day." I mean if there was ever a script for Mission Impossible, this was it. But; God also tells him that he’ll be provided with all the resources he needs to do the job as long as he is in the centre of God’s will doing God’s work in a way that pleases God.

And it doesn’t say so but it’s obvious to me that he had to finish what he was called to do. After all, look at the various stories in the Bible and how they would have been different if the people only went half way, and they thought that that half way was good enough.

David would have almost fought Goliath; Noah would have almost build the ark; Abraham would have almost went to Mt. Moriah with Isaac; Moses would have almost led the Israelites out of Egypt; Ezra would have almost rebuild the temple; John the Baptist would have almost prepared the way for Jesus. If any of these men only went part way and not all, then not only would it not have been enough but we wouldn’t even know who they were.

I So, let’s start by looking at the command he was given.

a) And it starts off by God saying, Moses my servant is dead. I am not trying to be disrespectful, but could God have said anything more obvious at this point? I mean, did anyone in the nation not know that Moses was dead? So, why would God say this? One reason might be that God knows us too well. And He knows that we know the past is past but sometimes we have to be reminded because no one can live in the past, while walking in the present. If we live in the past, we miss the present and have no hope for the future. Or if we live in the future, opportunities that are right in front of us will pass us by, and we’ll fail to learn from past mistakes. So, after 40 years of wandering God said, Moses is dead and it’s time to move on.

And this tells us that one of the ways we prepare for the future is by letting go of the past. Joshua and Moses had been very close but this was a new day. And God was telling him, Moses is dead but you’re not and He still has a plan for the Jewish people and also for you.

You see, God’s work is never hindered because someone died or quit no matter how important we thought they were or they might have been. And keep in mind that the death of Moses didn’t take God by surprise. So, from an earthly perspective it was like, "What are we going to do, Moses our leader is dead." Deuteronomy 34:10 says, "The children of Israel wept for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days." They were completely distraught. And in heaven God was thinking, "Don’t sweat it I’ve been preparing Joshua for the last eighty years."