Possessing The Land

Possessing The Promised Land

Joshua 1:1-11 and 16 & 17

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country— to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No-one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; 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. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’"

16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.

Genesis 12:7

The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Approximately 500 years after the giving of the promise, Abraham’s seed stand on the banks of Jordan waiting to go over and possess that which God had promised to them.

The remembered that their Fathers had received the same opportunity 40 years earlier, and because of a majority vote they had wandered around in the wilderness wasting precious time. Now they were again being offered the land that God had promised would be theirs. Before they went into the Promised Land, a tremendous event took place - God spoke to Joshua! Let us constantly bear in mind that it is always an event of great importance when God speaks to us!

Joshua was a new leader for the people, and before he could lead the people into the Promised Land there were certain conditions to be met.

There are certain similarities with in the life of the Christian. I would not suggest that many years have been wasted in wandering around in a wilderness experience, but there is always much ahead of every one of us still to be possessed.

The points I wish to draw to your attention are these;

I. There Must Be A Call

v.1 “The LORD said to Joshua son of Nun”

God spoke directly to Joshua.

Joshua had previously learned to recognise the voice of the Lord; for he had he worked closely with Moses. Now he had a personal call.

There are many ‘general calls’ in God’s Word that we may all apply to our own lives, but in this instance a definite personal call was required. Trading on God’s call to Moses would not do.

We must personally know God’s call in our own lives, for it is only then, when we have heard from the Lord for ourselves, that we can stand the great pressures that can come upon us, as we seek to fulfil that call.

Disciples: - Mark 16:15 Then he said to them, "You must go out to the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. [JBP]

Philip: - Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."

Paul: - Acts 9:5 & 6"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

II. There Must Be A Commencement