Joshua Series #4
The Amazing Race
“Saving Faith”
Review / Introduction
It is important that you have some background for the events of Joshua. I would rather not take the time to backtrack too much. So if you have not been here for that background information, I have prepared a special set of notes located in the back to help you catch up with the most important information you need to become oriented to our study in Joshua.
The book begins with Joshua’s commissioning by God after Moses death. One qualification for that job was his faithfulness to Moses and to God over the long haul. He, along with Caleb, were the only two out of millions willing to confront the people occupying the land promised to them by God. Joshua and Caleb’s enjoyment of rest got delayed for forty years because of the unbelief of the majority in the community. God is all about community. It can work for us but sometimes against us. Another other qualification required by God for success is recorded in chapter one.
I. Purge the Land 1-12
A. God Prepared Joshua for leadership 1
1. The Lord personally commissioned Joshua 1:1-9
a. God pointed out a glaring Reality – Moses is dead
b. God assigned an Impossible task
c. God affirmed a Powerful Promise
1) No one will stop you.
2) I will be with you
3) I will not fail you
4) I will not forsake you
d. God issued a clear Charge
1) Be strong and courageous
2) Continually talk about, meditate on and obey the word
The term for meditate means to murmur or mull over and over, ruminate. You know how you get something stuck in your head and you think it to death. That can be positive or negative depending on what is churning around in your head. We are to interact with Scripture until it becomes like a tune in our head that won’t go away. The truth of God is to be available at any time. Paul prayed that the Colossians would find strength and courage through saturation with God’s will and a strengthening with His might to attain all steadfastness and patience and a deep gratitude they had been qualified by God for an eternal inheritance. (Col 1) Paul, in Ephesians 6, instructed Christians to apply the truth of God with the empowerment of God.
e. God assured a certain outcome
God promised that Joshua would effectively lead the people if he would both know and do God’s good pleasure.
Paul told timothy to focus on the teaching of the word.
Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:15-16
Paul reminded him of the purpose of the Word of God.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (success?). 2 Tim 3:16-17
Paul indicated in Philippians that this is the core element of spiritual maturity.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13
Notice the similar elements. Obedience --- Diligence to live according to God’s design
God is working in us until we get to the point where we focus on His pleasure not only doing it (work for) but delight to do it (will).
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:15-18
Jesus said,
I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. John 6:38
"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. John 4:34
"THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'" Hebrews 10:7
What drives us? What is our focus? Why do you do what you do?
Chapter one provided the basic path to faithfully accomplishing the task we are given by God.
Here are some of the principles that could be drawn from chapter one.
• God’s plan can be furthered by anyone of His choosing at any age.
• Whoever God employs, God empowers.
• God looks for proven faithful servants.
• We must take possession of what God provides.
• God calls and uses people to fulfill His purpose.
• God sometimes asks the humanly impossible to demonstrate the divinely powerful.
• Our failures may affect our temporal plans/dreams but not God’s eternal purposes.
• Our failures may bring temporal discipline but not forfeit our eternal inheritance.
• Regular interaction with the Word of God brings greater awareness of the person, presence and purposes of God.
• Profound awareness of the presence of God imparts courage in the face of difficulties.
• Success comes from the courage to confront obstacles with the presence and power of God.
• God operates in community.
• Sometimes our personal realization of inheritance is influenced by the actions of others.
Nothing will bring success that does not include a courageous encounter with whatever blocks our inheritance motivated by a realization of God’s active presence derived from a continual interaction with and practice of His truth. Hebrews indicates that maturity comes through the training of our senses to discern good and evil through practice. Heb 5:14 Without a realization of His presence there will be fear and anxiety and reluctance to engage the obstacles of the world, the flesh and the devil. This is true of individuals; it is true of a church.
2. Joshua assumed command 1:10-15
3. The people committed to follow Joshua as they did Moses
B. Joshua prepared the people to possess the land 2
1. Joshua commissioned spies to gather intelligence 2
BACKGROUND
We need a bit of background information to help us understand this chapter. Some new players and places enter the narrative along with Joshua, and the Israelites.
? Shittim
The Israelites camped at this site to prepare for the claiming their promised territory.
The usual arrangement of a camp looked like this illustration.
? Jericho / Canaanites
THE CITY
Jericho is historically on of the oldest cities of the ancient world. (2000BC)
Jericho is situated in the lower Jordan Valley, which, according to Gen. 13:10, “was well-watered everywhere … like the Lord’s garden” (HCSB). The OT town lies near one of Palestine’s strongest springs which issues some 30,000 cubic feet of water daily which falls about 160 feet in the first mile of its course down many channels to the Jordan River six miles away, irrigating about 2,500 acres. The combination of rich alluvial soil, the perennial spring, and constant sunshine made Jericho an attractive place for settlement. Jericho could be called “city of palms” (Deut. 34:3; Judg. 1:16; 3:13; 2 Chron. 28:15) and has plenty of palm trees today. Only about 6.4 inches of rain fall there per year (mostly between November and February), and the average temperature in January is 59°F, while it is 88°F in August. Jericho is about 740 feet below sea level (accounting for its warm climate) but well above the Dead Sea, eight miles southward, which at 1,300 feet below sea level marks the earth’s lowest point.
It would be like the Palm Springs of Israel. The city plays a role both in the Old Testament and New Testament and it mentioned in several places. In Joshua’s time, it became a kind of marker both geographically and spiritually. It was a geographical reference point (opposite of Jericho) and a military reference point (Just as God has done to Jericho and its king Josh 8:2; 10:1, 28, 30). Jericho was symbolic for victory and the power of God. We all have markers in our history. It is like when… It will be like when God supplied for us…
THE PEOPLE
The people living in Jericho shared a similar culture established all through the Promised Land region identified by the Bible. The Bible specifically mentions seven regions which is most likely a representative of the whole; similar to the seven churches mentioned in Revelation as a representation of all churches. For the Canaanites, Amorites and Hittites, considerable extrabiblical evidence goes back many centuries before Israel’s occupation of Canaan. For the Girgashites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, however, the Bible is the only source.
Sometimes the Bible uses the term Canaanites to refer to the whole region. (Gen 10:19; Num 34:29; Ezek 16:3)
Their society was established well before 2000BC, had several classes, ranging from the ruling nobility to the peasants. Their land was dotted with walled cities. Several of these served as the centers of city-states, each having its own king, or mayor, and army. The Canaanites were a highly civilized people in many ways when Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River to conquer the people and settle the land.
Religions System
The Canaanites worship a whole group of deities. Each had a clear duty but the lines were often blurred between them. El was acknowledged as the chief god. He was considered both the creator god and a fertility god and often portrayed as a bull. El was joined by Athirat (Asherah, Asheroth), apparently his wife was acknowledged as the mother of the deities, having given birth to some 70 gods and goddesses. These female deities figured prominently in Israel’s defection from the true God. Baal was the chief god in the popular worship of the people. Baal means “master” or “lord”. The religion of these pagan people was basically a fertility cult. At temples scattered throughout their land, Canaanite worshipers actually participated in lewd, immoral acts with “sacred” prostitutes.It was a depraved form of worship that appealed to the base instincts of sinful human nature. They also practiced human sacrifice, and their religion sanctioned unbelievable cruelty in warfare.
Moses clearly warned the Israelites not to associate with the people or their practices.
but you shall devote them to complete destruction…that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God. Deut 20:17-18
They were spiritually, morally and physically thoroughly corrupt.
The tragic thing is that despite the many warnings God gave them not to get mixed up with the practices of the Canaanites, they continually struggled with it all throughout their history. In fact, the majority of the population practiced a mixed form of religion that resembled the Canaanite’s practices than the Biblical ones. They continually gravitated to a sensual self-centered, experiential form of worship. They regularly abandoned the mandate to worship the one true God with all their heart soul and mind. The priests and prophets regularly begged the people to return to God. They preferred the sensual brand of religion not only learned in Egypt but now practiced by those they were supposes to purge from the Promised Land. The Canaanite influence can be recognized all throughout Israeli culture including Solomon’s temple.
I can’t help but make a comparison to today’s church and how much our actual practices gravitate to self-centered sensuality. Worship styles, daily practices, pursuits, what we spend our money on etc. The writers of the New Testament continually challenged their readers to abandon their pagan cultural practices and live differently as those set aside and purified for Gods use.
? Rahab
Rahab was a Canaanite living in Jericho. Most peg her as a prostitute; perhaps one of the temple prostitutes. If so, she would not have been viewed as we would view prostitutes today.
She was one in service of the temple and probably well known. Others think she may have been and innkeeper. That’s enough for us to dive into the narrative.
Some initial observations stand out.
Spies
The spies were commissioned by Joshua to check out the city in order to map strategy.
Why only 2? They got more than what they were sent out to do. They discovered that the general population were sequestered in fear at the news of the approaching conquers who defeated the major power of the time as well as some of the Canaanite kings nearby.
Rahab
There are few things that stand out concerning Rahab even before we consider insight from the New Testament. The Lesson to concentrate on in the Rahab story has to do with the value of faith. The contrast of the faith of a pagan Canaanite to that of the people of Israel is staggering.
They had tons of background experience on which to base their faith. She had none only a perception.
They had great superior knowledge of the true God. She had very little.
They had little fear of God. She had great fear of God.
They failed to act on their beliefs. She was willing to risk being executed as a traitor in order to protect them.
The previous generation had the same knowledge of God and His promises but failed to act on them. Hebrews says they were not able to enter their inheritance because of unbelief. Hebrews also warns us to encourage one another lest we develop an evil unbelieving heart.
God’s Grace
God’s great grace is so evident here. He delayed entrance into the land because one woman of questionable morality acted on the truth He offered her. She acted on the knowledge that this God was the true God. She even used both names for God. She acknowledged Elohim (similar to a god familiar to her) but also believed Israel’s God was not just Almighty but also Yahweh the eternal I Am covenant-keeping God. He was not just the god of the mountains or the plains of the sea but the God of heaven and earth. She pled for mercy and received a promise on which she also acted. The proof of her unseen trust was her visible actions. Here visible actions (works) were a demonstration of the reality of her trust.
Saving faith involves trust at the risk of personal loss. Saving faith puts full weight on the promise based on the person and power of the promiser. She was willing to risk her life to protect these representatives of the Almighty God. She was willing to take their word that she would be protected. The New Testament uses Rahab as an example of faith in two places.
First she is a distinguished member of the hall of the faithful along with Daniel, David, Abraham, Moses, Enoch.
By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace. Hebrews 11:31
The external proof of Rahab’s internal trust in the one true and living God was when she risked her life to “welcome” the spies. Trust comes first, actions follow.
James basically is teaching the same thing using Rahab as an example.
Was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? James 2:25
He is saying that Rahab had a genuine trust in the true and living God that motivated her to risk welcoming the spies resulting in her salvation. Belief that is not followed by action is not really faith at all. Demons believe in God’s existence and even tremble at the reality but don’t embrace Him. They certainly are not considered part of God’s kingdom.
If I say I trust your driving and yet refuse to ride with you do I really trust you?
If I say that I trust God to take care of my health and yet worry all the time, do I really trust Him?
If I say that I trust God for my salvation but never do the things He asks, am I really saved?
The Bible is clear that WITHOUT faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. God is pleased by our trust in Him. That trust includes action. We ask Him for help. He tells us what to do. We don’t do it. How do you think He feels? Probably the same way we feel when people ask us for help but never follow through on our recommendations.
Not only was Rahab saved by Joshua, but the true trust of this pagan, Canaanite also won her a place in the line of Jesus the ultimate savior. Of all the men recorded in the line of Jesus recorded in Matthew, only four mothers are mentioned. All four rose out of difficulty in life; Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba. Neither Rahab nor Ruth was Israeli.
What an amazing illustration of God’s grace and plan for all peoples. God told Abraham that through him ALL the world would be blessed. Gentiles would be included in God’s plan of salvation. Here, God graphically pictures the salvation of one individual who courageously responded to the light she had been given out of a whole city that did not. You see, according to Rahab, the whole city knew the facts but only she acted on them. Salvation comes by faith in the promise of God based on the sacrifice of Jesus for our sin.
There is saving faith and there is living faith. We will look at the difference next week.
Today, put trust in the God who saves.
Examine your relationship with this loving God who wants to have relationship with you.
Do you trust Him to save you? Do you trust Him to keep you? Do you trust Him to direct you?
Do you trust Him to fill you? Do you trust His plans for you? What are you doing about it?
What external actions prove your internal trust? Without such faith it is impossible to please God. There is rest available to those who will fully trust Him.
