THE BOOK OF JOSHUA
(Introduction: Part B)
Calvary Baptist Church
July 20, 2003
I wish to thank Warren Wiersbe for much of the material in our study today. I highly recommend to you without reservation His Be Series, now being collected as the Bible Exposition Commentary, His Expository Outlines, and his With the Word.
Warren Wiersbe reminds us that in the book of Joshua, the children of Israel will receive:
1) A New Leader - This was the Title of our message last week.
2) A New Land - This is the title of our message for today.
3) A New Life - Next week’s message. Don’t miss this one!
REVIEW:
• Last week we looked at the preparation and calling of Joshua as the new leader.
• We learned that you do not appoint men to leadership to make them faithful.
• Rather, faithful men are appointed to leadership.
• We learned that leaders are not developed overnight!
• We learned that Joshua had proven himself faithful to God, to Moses, and to Israel.
• We learned that sometimes, a man is most faithful when he tells us what we DO NOT want to hear!
• We saw that Joshua had served as a son, a slave, a solder, a servant, a spy.
• He will in our study be seen as a savior, a statesman and a saint!
• Finally, we learned that when God must bury His worker, His work will go on!
• NOTE: In our message today, you will need to keep a finger in the book of Deuteronomy!
• A * will mark passages for the congregation to turn to.
II. The New Land
• Wiersbe reminds us that the word “land” is found 87 times in the book of Joshua.
• In the book of Deuteronomy, the second giving of the law, the word “land” had been used 200 times and the word “possess” over 50 times.
A. A Precious Land
Ezekiel 20:6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
1. Because of Its Production
*Deut. 8:7-10 For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; [8] A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; [9] A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. [10] When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
*Deut. 11:8-14 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; [9] And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
floweth - This means, “A place of peaceful pastures and gardens where the herds could graze and the bees could gather pollen and make honey.” (Wiersbe)
[10] For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, [irrigation] as a garden of herbs: [11] But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: [12] A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
[13] And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, [14] That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
2. Because of Its Position
*Ezekiel 5:5 Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
midst - Heb., navel, or lifeline. The suggestion is that Israel is the worlds’ lifeline to God!
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
3. Because of Its Potential - “Rest”
After all of the years of slavery and wandering, finally a place to “park” and rest.
a. The Peace of God
*Deut. 12:9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you.
b. The Presence of God
*Deut. 12:11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord:
B. A Possessed Land (By Israel’s enemies)
• We have already notes that the word “Possess” occurs in Deut. over 50 times.
• We have been given the land, a free gift.
• But we must possess the land, and that requires labor.
• To enjoy the fullness of the Christian life requires work.
• This world is not going to roll over and play dead.
• Your flesh will not leave you alone.
• We must “possess” the land!
*Deut. 31:3 The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.
SAVE MOST OF THIS THOUGHT FOR THE NEXT MESSAGE.
C. A Promised Land
• Promised to . . . Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all their descendents! (Cf., Gen. 12:1-7, etc.)
• Not one word of God’s good promise will fail.
1 Kings 8:56 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
• This is the most precious thought of all. God wants them in THIS land.
• Why all the big deal?
• This is where the drama of redemption would play out!
• Tribe of Judah - in this land.
• Line of David - In this land.
• Bethlehem - In this land.
• The birth of the Messiah - right here!
• The payment for all men’s sin - right here!
CONCLUSION:
• Wiersbe reminds us that the four geographic locations in Israel’s history serve as a spiritual thermometer, revealing the nations spiritual health.
1. There is Egypt
• This is the place of death and bondage.
• It is the lost condition.
• God must deliver by the blood of the lamb.
• He must miraculously make the way by OPENING the RED SEA.
• This is a picture of our salvation experience.
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
2. Then, There is the Wilderness.
• This is a picture of the believer who lives in unbelief and in disobedience!
*Exodus 16:1-3 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. [2] And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: [3] And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
• NOTE: 4 marks of a wilderness Christian.
1) His body is with the church, but his mind and heart are still in Egypt!
ILLUS: They are like a compass in a land of two norths. They vacillate between the two readings and thus constantly wander!
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
2) Wilderness Christians do not have enough faith to believe that God can deliever!
3) Wilderness Christians contribute little to the Lord’s work, but constantly complain.
4) Wildness Christians unite to oppose God’s leadership!
Isaiah 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!
QUOTE: Instead of marching through life as conquerors, the meander through life as wanderers and never enjoy the fullness of what God has planned for them.
3. Then, There is Canaan
• This represents the believer in full obedience and faith.
• While it may not be Heaven, it is a bit of Heaven on earth.
• Our heart is fully assured that Christ is our all powerful Joshua, and we will follow him!
• In Egypt, the enemy was around Israel, making them miserable.
• At the Red Sea, the enemy was put behind them.
• Now in Canaan, the enemy is before us.
• We must fight to take possession. (More next week!)
• Joshua’s question to Israel is a good one for the Church!
*Joshua 18:3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?
4. Finally, There is Babylon
• When God’s children persist in their disobedience.
• When they refuse God’s admonitions.
• When they ignore is lighter chastening IN THE LAND.
• Then they must be cast OUT of the land.
*Jeremiah 39:8-10 And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem. [9] Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained. [10] But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
*Hebrews 12:5-8 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [6] For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. [7] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? [8] But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
APPLICATION: WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU?
• Egypt - unsaved.
• Wilderness - God in your heart but the world on your mind.
• Canaan - enjoying sweet rest in obedience to Christ.
• Babylon - God’s chastening hand is upon you.
2 Cor. 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
