As we come to the middle of the book of Joshua, the book of Joshua takes a sharp turn.
From the beginning of the book until the middle of the book we have:
• Heard about victory after victory. Some of those victories occurred on the other side of Jordan, but most of them occurred after they crossed Jordan.
• Seen miracle after miracle. And all of these miracles in the book of Joshua would have to be classified as major miracles.
Look at the miracles:
(1) Crossing Jordan
(2) Sun standing still
(3) Hail stones God sent down to destroy the five armies in Joshua chapter 10
But now as we come to chapter 11-12, and throughout the rest of the book, Joshua deals primarily with the dividing of the land.
The dividing of the land is not as exciting for us as it was for them. They have been waiting for years for this to happened.
We will not go verse by verse through the remaining chapters, but as you scan these chapters where the land is being divided, you will find some wonderful spiritual nuggets are nestled in these chapters if you choose to dig them out.
Let’s look at some of the highlights in these remaining chapters.
For example, let’s look at -
I. THIS GREAT LEADER
Joshua has to go down in Bible history and Ancient history as one of the greatest leaders that mankind has ever had.
WHY DO WE SAY THAT?
Because of two things:
(1) HE HAD TO BE A GREAT LEADER TO STEP INTO THE SHOES OF MOSES AND LEAD THE NATION AFTER HIS DEATH
But in some ways he surpassed Moses. How?
(2) IN THE MIRACLES THAT TOOK PLACE IN HIS LEADERSHIP
He goes down in history for doing something that no man has ever has done before or since.
That is, when the sun was going down in the heat of the battle, as he was fighting five armies at one time, he needed some more time to get the job done.
Look what he did in Joshua 10:14, we read, “And there was no day like that before it or after it, THAT THE LORD HEARKENED UNTO THE VOICE OF A MAN: for the Lord fought for Israel.”
Never in the history of mankind has God allowed a man to take the controls of nature and say, “Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.”
But there is another reason that Joshua has to be considered a great leader.
Joshua is around 80 years of age.
Look at Joshua 13:1, we read, “Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.”
It was the desire of this man’s heart to be used of God as long as he had breath in his body.
It is disturbing how many people use the one life they have, and when their life is over, they really have not done anything for the Lord.
Now if they were like a cat, as people say, and had nine lives and chose to waste one of their lives, we could understand that!
But the fact is, we only have one life.
Illus: And the old saying is still true today, “Only one life twill soon be past, and only what is done for Christ will last.”
Illus: There is a television commercial that shows the black youth of this nation wasting their lives when it comes to education, and the advertisement says, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste!”
But equally bad, if not worse, “A life is a terrible thing to waste!”
Illus: Preachers are more conscious of this than ordinary people, because they are the ones who have to preach the funerals of these people who have wasted their lives.
They are the ones that have to analyze these lives that have been lived, to see what they can say as they stand over them. About the only thing that can be said for some people is:
• They lived
• They ate
• They breathed
• They died
Illus: Some elderly people’s lives remind me of a big delicious steak. Imagine someone sitting down at the table with a big delicious steak. Every bite they take is enjoyable, but when they have eaten half of that steak or two-thirds of that steak, they take the other part and throw it into the trash can.
This is what many folks in this congregation that are 30 or 40 years of age have done. That is, they use their life to promote the work of God, but then when they reach the middle age of their life, they take the other half and throw it away. WHAT A WASTE!
But those in our history books that have achieved greatness in their lives, were people that understood that God put us here to accomplish something with the life He has given us.
We are all going to grow old one day, if God is gracious enough to allow us to live long enough, but we need to be determined that in our old age we are not going to waste the precious years God gives us.
Listen, remember the rich man in hell. Once he was there he wanted to come back and witness to his five lost brethren, but it was to late. He could not, because his time on earth was spent.
• But I am satisfied that in heaven there are some parents who would love to come back and witness to their children
• There are some Christians who would love to come back and witness to their friends
As many people grow old, they throw away those precious years!
But Joshua is eighty years old and still is being used of God.
Some said:
• 21 is the old age of youth
• 50 is the youth of old age
Look at some of the accomplishments of this great leader. Look at all the kings he dethroned.
Look at Joshua 12:7-24, we read, “And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; The king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; The king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; The king of Shimronmeron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; The king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one.”
What a track record Joshua was able to achieve in his life time.
We have looked at THIS GREAT LEADER, but now let’s look at-
II. THIS GREAT GOD
The reason Joshua was a great leader was because he served a great God.
Israel won unbelievable victories because of the God they served, who gave them these victories.
Look at Joshua 10:42, we read, “And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.”
They were a great people because they served a great God.
When you get to Joshua 11:1-17 again, you see other armies that came up against them.
What tremendous victories.
But notice the difference in the battle of Joshua 10 with the five armies led by Adoni-zedec, and the battle with King Jabin. He did practically the same thing that Adoni-zedec did and rallied the other armies to support his effort to destroy Israel.
But while Joshua and Israel destroyed the five armies in chapter 10 in a day, it took seven years to wipe out the other coalition in chapter 11.
Look at verses 18-21, we read, “Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses. And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.”
There are some battles that we engage in and God gives us immediate victory. But there are other battles that we engage in that go on for years.
Conclusion:
Joshua was an old man, but God told him in Joshua 14:1, that there were many more battles yet to be fought.
Listen, after we are dead and gone, there will always be many more battles to fight. We can not fight all the battles that need to be fought, but we can fight those during our life time.
I. THIS GREAT LEADER
II. THIS GREAT GOD
