Background to passage: It’s called the metanarrative of scripture; the overarching story; the point from beginning to end. There are high points—creation, the fall, the flood, the patriarchs, and so on. They all tell the story of scripture up to this point. God has been working his mighty acts to bring a chosen people into the land. We begin a book today at another significant point in the story of God’s redemption: the reception of the gift of the promised land.
Joshua 1:1–9 ESV
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant,
“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Opening illustration: “Yahweh’s fidelity does not hinge on the achievement of men, however gifted they may be, nor does it evaporate in the face of funerals or rivers.” -OT scholar and Pastor D. R. Davis from his book No Falling Words: Expositions on the book of Joshua
Main thought: We will look this morning at the faithfulness of God to the promises he made/makes
Joshua 23:14 ESV
“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.
1 Kings 8:56 ESV
“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.
Matthew 5:17–18 ESV
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
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1) God’s Promise of the Land (v. 1-4, 6)
Joshua 1:1–4 ESV
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant,
“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.
Joshua 1:6 ESV
Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
1) God’s Promise of the Land (v. 1-4, 6)
Explanation: For over 400 years the promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of the land had been the expectation of the people, especially since the bondage in Egypt and the last 40 years wandering in the desert.
Argumentation:
Illustration: some story about when we are children, it seems to take forever to get to that thing that we want so badly.
Application: It’s hard for us to have a concept of this, not just because we have not had a covenant with God that involves land, and the covenant we do have is perceived as simply going to heaven when we die. The idea of generations waiting for a promise is very strange.
Yet, there are things in our lives that we pray for and await related to our convictions and our desires. Three keys to how to approach these things: 1) how we view God, 2) how we view prayer, and 3) the exercise of faith.
How we view God relates to the level of faithfulness that we believe him to be. Some of us are like Eve when she was asked, “did God really say.” Initially we believe God, but are easily talked out of our belief and become skeptical of his motives or abilities. Some of us know the right answers, we recite them, or answer properly when asked, but down deep, where we never allow anyone to go, we really are not sure that God is faithful to do everything he says. We can’t imagine God answering a prayer that you have lifted up for years three generations later. What kind of God do you believe in? He is a God who never forgets his promises or his people.
How we view prayer relates to our understanding of how we approach this faithful God. Do we come boldly to a heavenly Father who loves us and desires the best for us, and grants us good gifts in his abundant mercy? Or do we come cowering before an cold, begrudging God that we must convince and grovel before in little hope that he would look upon a wretched sinner. We are told some come with our petitions to God who has adopted us into the family. Christ is our elder brother and one day we will reign with him as co-heirs because he has reconciled us to God with a selfless sacrificial death in our place.
How we exercise faith. Jesus said all things are possible for God to them that believe. The great cloud of witnesses
Hebrews 11:33–40 ESV
who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
We don’t realize the power of and the necessity of faith as we approach God. We don’t fully trust in him and lean not to our own understanding. We want to scheme, and manipulate and plan and strategize, when it's about trusting him to provide the things that he already knows we need, and us focusing on the kingdom of Christ here on earth and the eternal kingdom to come. Do you truly believe when you seek the face of the Ruler of the Universe?
As a church, do we believe God will revive our hearts, and use us to impact our town and the world?
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2) God’s Promise of His Presence (v. 5, 7-9)
Joshua 1:5 ESV
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
Joshua 1:7–9 ESV
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
2) God’s Promise of His Presence (v. 5, 7-9)
Explanation: This is probably the immediate point of this text. You have the aspect of the metanarrative of scripture, but you also have this man who is far from the spiritual stature of a man like Moses. (Men, are you a spiritual rock that casts a large shadow in the eyes of men?) He has this incredible task of leading hundreds of thousands of people into a land that is full of the unknown. The fear, worry, concern, uneasiness of a dozen different things could grip him.
God simply reiterates about 3-4 times, I will be with you. No one will stand against you. As I was with Moses… Be courageous and not frightened, I am and will be with you. Stay in the word, practice the commandments, meditate on its passages and teachings, but I will be with you. I will fight the battles, I will go before you. I will provide you needs. I will encourage you will it has been a rough day.
Argumentation:
Illustration: “Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”
? Saint Patrick
Application: Theologically, God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all the time, no more here than there. God is also immanent, and that relates to his connection to man. For us who are his adopted children, His dwelling place is within us. The Psalmist might say “selah”.
We pray, God be with us as we…, but He is, and will be. But we mean in a special way. What special way? Point is, those of us who are Christians following Christ, He is with us in a special way, and nowhere you can go, nothing that you can do will he be absent. Oh no, he will know what I think, what I do, this is terrible! But his love is present, his forgiveness is granted to those who you who know him personally. He will go before you! He is for you!
He is for us. He desires that we share our faith collectively with our community. He desires to use us to advance the kingdom. Advancing means here and there. It means externally and internally. It means each one serving, giving, and bringing their friends and acquaintances. It also means, we must get this, us as a whole walking close enough to Christ to be a vessel fit for his use. The Spirit will fill those who are prepared, willing, and able to do amazing things. Or we will languish because of business as usual approach to our life in Christ and our life in church.
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Closing illustration: Found a coin this week. Praying for men in the city. Believing that he has given us the city — Molinos, Peru in the Yacus Valley.
