Joshua Series #5
The Amazing Race to Rest & Reward
“The Faith that Works”
Review / Introduction
Joshua is the culmination of a very long journey. Actually forty years longer than it needed to be. Disobedience always delays blessing. The book can be divided into two basic movements.
I. Purging the Land
II. Possessing the Land
Why should we take the time to even study this ancient page out of Israel’s history?
There are some similarities from God’s interaction with Israel back THEN and God’s interactions with us NOW. Spiritual truths declared in the New Testament were pictured or illustrated in Old Testament through actual events.
Deliverance from bondage in Egypt by trust in God and a sacrificial lamb
Testing and training in the wilderness
Trust God to deal with difficult circumstances
Trust God to deliverance us from fierce opposition
Offered blessing and rest through faith and obedience
Some pressed on into greater blessing
Some took the easy out and stayed in the wilderness.
Egypt represents salvation through trust in God and the blood of the Lamb.
The wilderness represents a period of testing and training after salvation.
Canaan represents the life of full blessing which awaits us all here and now through faith and obedience. And the ultimate rest hereafter.
Just as God didn’t just bring them out of Egypt but brought them into the Promises Land so God doesn’t just deliver us out of the kingdom of darkness but transfers us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
There are some who persevere and continue to engage the enemy and face difficult circumstances through trust in God. There are others content to live a wilderness life on the other side of full blessing. Saved but living less than God intended. Like the eastern tribes, they become more vulnerable to attack.
Joshua teaches us numerous principles as to what it takes to live victoriously in the spiritual realm through daily trust.
The book begins with Joshua’s commissioning by God after Moses death.
I. Purge the Land 1-12
A. God Prepared Joshua for leadership 1
1. The Lord personally commissioned Joshua 1:1-9
God reminded Joshua that Moses was now out of the picture. He assigned a humanly impossible task. He affirmed His full participation in carrying out the task. He charged Joshua to:
Be strong and courageous
Meditate on His word day in night in order to learn about and do God’s will.
If he would do that, God assured him of success in whatever he set out to do.
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
This part of the account finds the Israelites camped in Shittim, a city on the east side of the Jordan River not too far from Jericho a walled city strategic to the capture of occupied territory. Jericho was inhabited by Canaanites. In spite of intellectual and societal advancement, the people were morally and spiritually depraved due to their worship of the fertility gods. In order to connect with these gods and enjoy prosperity they would regularly engage in sexual connection with temple prostitutes considered the god’s emissaries.
Moses previously 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
Joshua instructed the people to get ready to move forward in three days. Why the delay? God postpones the judgment on Jericho. The spies thought they were doing reconnaissance.
God was accomplishing redemption. Sometimes our delays are other people’s deliverance.
The Bible includes other examples of delayed judgment. He held off judgment on the earth until every man’s heart was evil continually. He was willing to withhold judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah if only ten righteous could be found. When they couldn’t he rescued those few who were. Jesus delayed His agenda for the sake of those who need His touch. Sometimes delays or side trips ARE the point. Technically we are currently in a “delay” in the divine chronology called the “church age” or the “are of the Gentiles. The 70 weeks predicted in Daniel got up to the 69th week and have stopped there is still on week of years (7year) period before the culmination of all prophesy.
In this case the delay is in response to one out of thousands of people who exercised faith.
The delay was to make arrangements to rescue a specific woman from the judgment to come.
What a demonstration of the great mercy of God and perfect illustration of the New Testament truth that…
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
Rahab
The two spies had a divine appointment with a prostitute of all people. We the contrasted the faith of a pagan Canaanite prostitute to that of the people. The difference is stunning.
They had tons of previous encounters with God on which to base their faith.
She had none, only a perception.
They had great superior knowledge of the true God through experience and revelation.
She had very little, only the stories of others (hearsay).
They demonstrated little fear of God.
She showed great fear and reverence of God.
They failed to act on their beliefs.
She was willing to risk being executed as a traitor in order to protect them based on the strength of those beliefs.
It reminds me of another woman of questionable morality in the New Testament who Jesus offered the kingdom and some powerful teaching on worship in the entire bible. God delayed entrance into the land because the faith of one woman of questionable morality who acted on the truth she knew. 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. She recognized that the God of the Israelites was not just the god of the mountains or the plains or the sea but He was 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. Her visible actions (works) did not produce her trust but proved the reality of her trust.
Specific actions
She welcomed and protected the spies.
She pled for mercy based on her belief that if not, she was doomed.
She followed instructions given and trusted that doing so would save her.
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. Saving faith humbly acknowledges that without trust in someone stronger, there is no hope.
It is interesting to note that the whole city had the same information expressed by Rahab.
This difference is that she acted on that information. She exercised a faith that works; that responds, that follows through. What if they had responded like Rahab and cried for mercy to the only true God? Nineveh is a prime example of God’s response to working faith of a city.
Salvation comes by God’s grace through a working faith stimulated by God’s word.
The New Testament references Rahab as an example of genuine faith in two places.
HEBREWS 11
God includes Rahab as a distinguished member of the hall of ordinary people who trusted God for extraordinary things. They trust God for life and deliverance in the midst of difficult situations and fierce opposition.
The writer began the chapter with a definition of faith or trust.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
The first part tells us that we can be sure that what God promises, God delivers.
The second part of the verse adds; “The conviction of things not seen.”
They embraced a sense of surety of God’s promise even though they had not yet seen it or how it could possibly come about. That conviction inspired action in the face of difficulty. God said it so that settles it and I’m going to act on it. God grants faith (prompting to trust God) and it results in our belief which is demonstrated by a conviction of God’s loving heart even though we cannot yet trace His sovereign hand. Such trust is usually connected to some difficult circumstance that challenges that trust.
Faith is the gift of God’s implanted persuasion to believe
that He is able to bring about in my life what He has spoken to my spirit.
Hebrews examples of trust.
? It is God who bears witness that it was He who created the world in good working order out of nothing by the rhema, the spoken word of God even though we weren’t there.
? It was God who implanted the persuasion in Abel to offer God his best.
? It was God who implanted the desire in Enoch to walk with God resulting in his rapture.
The writer paused to clarify some things about faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6
There are two basic truths that God implants within that we must embrace.
I AM the eternal God.
I reward those who trust me.
That is exactly what Rahab understood and acted upon it. Yahweh is the true God and He rewards those who believe in Him.
? God warned Noah about an unprecedented future event that required immediate action.
? God implanted the desire to heed His warning in spite of ridicule by those around him.
? God implanted the faith in Abraham to leave everything and travel to a place yet to be revealed and not settle down anywhere else.
? God implanted the faith in Sarah to believe God’s rhema to her about having a baby long after child bearing years had passed.
? God implanted the faith to not doubt God’s promise to the point of sacrificing his own son.
? God implanted the faith in Moses’ parents to do what they could to preserve him.
? God implanted the faith in Moses to identify with the Hebrews rather than the Egyptians.
? God implanted the faith to trust the instructions concerning the Passover.
Rahab is specifically mentioned.
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. She had working faith that worked. It was death to anyone welcoming the enemy without informing the authorities. (Hammurabi Code)
Trust comes first, actions follow.
The writer cites others who trusted God to carry them through unimaginable trials. Conquering faith or enduring faith. Some were delivered to live another day on earth. Others were delivered to live eternally in a celestial city prepared by God. The common thread was their trust in God to do exactly what He promised. Their internal trust was verified by their external action. These chose to act against all odds and reason to confront the impossible merely at the word (rhema) of an unseen God.
Through faith, the believer hears the inaudible, sees the invisible and comprehends the incomprehensible. There are two aspects to this concept; God’s side and man’s side.
God’s side has to do with implanting persuasion (rhema/faith) concerning God’s truth in our heart. Implanted faith is the divine enlightenment concerning the will of God.
Man’s side has to do with an appropriate response to that implanted faith. Belief is our response to that inner enlightenment (rhema) from God.
Satan’s first objective is to keep us from hearing God’s inner voice and direction.
Satan’s next step is to keep us from trusting God’s direction by whatever means possible.
JAMES
James focused on the external action part of faith that validates the internal persuasion.
Claim
What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
Illustration
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Principle
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Trust that has no corresponding action is not really trust at all.
Claim
But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Illu stration
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Principle
But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Illustration
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God.
Principle
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Illustration
In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Principle
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:14-26
He is saying that these, including Rahab, had a genuine trust in the true and living God that motivated them to risk everything on the basis of God’s promise. In Rahab’s case, she welcomed the spies resulting in her salvation. The principle stated three times in this passage is this. Belief that is not followed by action is not really faith at all.
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. We don’t really trust Him. 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 genuine trust of this pagan Canaanite in the supremacy of the true and living God also won her a place in the line of Jesus the ultimate savior. Of all the men recorded in the genealogy 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. The whole city knew the facts but only she acted on them. Salvation comes by trust in the promise of God based on the sacrifice of Jesus for our sin. God drew this woman of ill repute to Himself and she responded resulting in Salvation.
Salvation comes by grace through a working faith stimulated by God’s word.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word (rhema) of Christ. Rom 10
Faith is the gift of God’s implanted persuasion to believe
that He is able to bring about in my life what He has spoken to my spirit.
There is saving faith; we hear His promise of salvation and respond.
There is living faith; we hear His promise of continued work in our life and we respond.
Not only are we saved by grace through a working faith stimulated by God’s word but maturity and rest also come by grace through a working faith stimulated by God’s word.
GALATIANS
The Galatians applied the principle to their salvation but applied legalism when it came to their spiritual growth and maturity.
You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Galatians 3:1-6
It is not really an issue of law verses grace. It is law keeping verses promise trusting. We do not gain God’s favor by keeping the law (we can’t anyway). We please God by trusting in His promise to do in us and through us what we can’t do. It is He who writes His laws on our heart so we follow them instinctively and willingly out of a changed nature and new longings. That is the heart of Christianity and regeneration; new birth.
Rahab was saved by her trust in the unseen God’s person and power as well as His promises (through the spies) to spare her from the coming judgment. Israel was saved by the application of the blood on the door posts according to the promise. Israel experienced victory and possession of the promises through trust in the directives and promise of God.
• Without this trust there is no salvation. (Gal 3, John 1:9)
• Without this trust there is no spiritual growth. (Gal 3)
• Without this trust you cannot please God and actually stir His wrath. (Heb 11)
• Without this trust there is no true peace and rest. (Heb 3-4)
• Without this trust there is no spiritual life. (Gal 2:20)
• Without this trust there is no victory. (1 John 5:4)
• Without this trust there is no endurance. (Heb 11)
• Without this trust there is no answered prayer. (James 2)
• Without this trust God views our self-effort as sin. (Rom 14:23)
• Without this trust there is no hope, joy or peace. (Rom 15:13)
• Without this trust we are unprotected and vulnerable (1 Pet 1:5; 2 Tim 1:12; Eph 6)
Conclusion
To be honest, the church does not live by such unflappable trust today. We decided that such a life of faith is too hard and we should rather settle for the wilderness. The reality is that wilderness living is much more miserable in the long run. We live off the energy of our own ingenuity.
Two sobering passages:
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:7-8
For indeed Jesus was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you. Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
2 Corinthians 13:4-6
This is the faith that works. This is the faith that acts on the inner persuasion of God.
This is the faith that produces corresponding action.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word (rhema) of God.
Can people identify you as a person of faith by your corresponding life? Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a person of faith?
This is the faith that results in changed lives. This is the faith that produces results. We are saved by grace through a working faith stimulated by God’s word. We grow by grace through a working faith stimulated by God’s word.
When Jesus returns, will He find faith on the earth or will we be among those who shrink away in shame at His coming.
Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1 John 2:28
