Joshua 1:10-18
A Study of the Book of Joshua
Sermon 2
“Beyond Reason”
Joshua 1:10-18
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A.W. Tozer writes, we cannot think rightly of God until we begin to think of Him as always being there, and there first. Joshua had this to learn. He had been so long the servant of God’s servant Moses, and had with such assurance received God’s Word at his mouth, that Moses and the God of Moses had become blended in his thinking, so blended that he could hardly separate the two thoughts; by association they always appeared together in Joshua’s mind. Now Moses is dead, and lest the young Joshua be struck down with despair God spoke to him with assurance, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” Moses was dead, but the God of Moses still lived. Nothing had changed; nothing had been lost. Nothing of God dies when a man of God dies.
Henry Blackaby writes, stepping into the shoes of a popular and successful leader can be a disconcerting experience. Most people would feel somewhat inadequate when asked to assume a position vacated by a celebrated and revered leader. Joshua had plenty of reasons to feel insecure when God called him to lead the Israelites into Canaan. He faced powerful, hostile armies. His enemies were well equipped with iron chariots and fortified cities. And his predecessor had been Moses, the most famous and respected figure in Israelite history. No wonder God gave Joshua the following assurances:
Joshua 1:5-9
5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.6 “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.7 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe 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.9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
God didn’t flatter Joshua, nor did he encourage Joshua to draw confidence from his own strengths and abilities. Rather, God made it abundantly clear to Joshua that he need not fear his own inadequacies because God would be in control. Joshua could lead the Hebrew nation with absolute confidence, not in his own leadership skills, but in the assurance of the Lord’s presence.
LET US PRAY!
The party aboard ship was in full swing. Speeches were being made by the captain, the crew, and the guest enjoying the week-long voyage. Sitting at the head table was a seventy-year-old man who, somewhat embarrassed, was doing his best to accept the praise being poured on him.
Earlier that morning a young woman had apparently fallen overboard, and within seconds this elderly gentleman was in the cold, dark waters at her side. The woman was rescued and the elderly man became an instant hero.
When time finally came for the brave passenger to speak, the stateroom fell into a hush as he rose from his chair. He went to the microphone and, in what was probably the shortest “hero’s” speech ever offered, spoke these stirring words: “I just want to know one thing---WHO PUSHED ME?”…. Chuck Swindoll
There are many unwilling heroes throughout Scripture. Humble men that recognized their own incompetence, and yet God sought them out in order to use them for His glory. Recognizing these were men that would shy away from resting upon their own abilities and be inclined to seek the Lord first in all things.
But how did God orchestrate this rise to leadership for this man Joshua? We know God was grooming him for this task through leadership on the battlefield and other responsibilities. And from what we know Joshua didn’t have difficulties with being called to the other tasks that he was given. In fact, Joshua was a tremendous warrior, who to this day can be looked upon as one of the greatest military leaders of all time.
We see that in this first chapter of Joshua that God is using the phrase be strong and courageous multiple times when talking with Joshua. Which you would think would come hand-in-hand with being a military leader. Ah! But this was different; Joshua was now confronted with the reality that he was being called out to be the Spiritual leader of his nation. This brought him to unfamiliar territory in his life that caused him to second guess his ability and recognize the full weight of responsibility.
Share the experience of those that are called to ministry and recognizing the full weight of responsibility and reverence that should be rendered, not only in the pulpit but throughout the week through your daily walk. Also, how from that point forward your life will be under the microscope.
Use further examples of those that make the commitment to serve in the church and the challenges that are presented regardless of the persons success in the secular business world.
Perhaps you too are confronted with the reality of God calling you to a monumental task, something new and foreign in your spiritual journey? Maybe your fearful of being seen as a spiritual leader recognizing your own flaws and seeing them as insurmountable odds for being used by God? Let me assure you that if you will step out in faith and follow God you will live a life that is abundantly full, full of trials and more full of spiritual growth than you ever have before.
Let’s take a look at the key steps used by God to encourage and motivate Joshua to walk by faith and follow His leadership. The first of which we already covered with God reiterating to Joshua be strong and of good courage giving Joshua inspiration. Here in the second half of chapter 1 we can identify the other two steps.
READ JOHSUA 1:10-18
God begins to orchestrate a beautiful flow of affirmation over the life of Joshua. This is the second step that the Lord uses to motivate Joshua to follow His will.
God begins this affirmation by the fact that He has chosen Joshua. God hand picked Joshua for the task that was before the nation Israel. There is nothing that can be more affirming to an individual than being affirmed by the Lord Almighty. And yet God recognizes our weaknesses and that of Joshua as well. In verses 16-18, God uses the people of Israel to affirm Joshua and echo the same words of encouragement to him. Be strong and of good courage.
We are just like Joshua in our need for affirmation. We can be fully confronted with the fact that God has called us to deal with an obstacle in life and yet we pray for more signs of proof that this direction is correct. Tragically, we often wait too long and miss the opportunities God places before us to experience great victories and glorify His name. We can see this demonstrated in Joshua’s mentor Moses and how he chose to listen to the majority as opposed to the minority report with regards to entering the Promise Land. More importantly Moses failed to listen to the heavenly Father at this crucial point in his life. The result was forty years in the wilderness and never experiencing God’s Promised Land.
How many of you can look back on the history of your life and recognize crucial decisions made that altered the course of your life or caused you to miss out on a true blessing from God? What is God calling you to do? How long will you wait? More importantly, why are you waiting at all? If God has given you a vision or a passion for anything, what other authority are you waiting for? Is God too small to accomplish big things with simple people? The Bible clearly demonstrates time and again how he take the weak to confound the wise.
I’ve heard it phrased this way, that there are two types of Christians. There a big godders and there are little godder’s. There are those that believe in God’s Word and cling to such verses such as, “I can do all thing through Christ who gives me strength.” There are others that are little godder’s who would hesitate to believe that anything with boldness in regards to their faith would ever be directed towards them. They have placed God and the Word into the category of a fairy tale in their heart. Their lips move and speak of faith, but their heart and actions reveal their true feelings.
Where do you fall this day? Are you a big godder or are you a little godder?
This is a very similar question that Joshua was confronted with. He was inspired by God to carry out an act of faith that was so far removed from human capabilities and yet he went forth. He began to bellow out commands to the people of Israel acting in faith. So God affirms his obedience and compels the people of Israel to affirm Joshua and rally behind him. I can only imagine that as Joshua heard the people say be strong and of good courage that chills ran down his spine as he recognized that it was truly the hand of God working through the people.
I believe that each one of us here have great spiritual victories to be won. We have opportunities that are placed before us day in and day out to experience true intimacy with God by carrying out our lives as big godders. I can’t help but to reflect upon the life of Stephen as he spoke the truth before the Sanhedrin only to be stoned to death, but through the tremendous persecution he received the greatest inspiration and affirmation by God in the vision of seeing Jesus Christ standing and applauding his faithfulness to his call.
Some of you have been inspired by God and yet you stay in your seats during invitation. You stay lurking in the backgrounds hoping not to be seen as though you were Peter on the night of Christ trail. Wanting to see what’s taking place with the Lord and his work but yet your unwilling to fully commit and make it known that you’re a disciple of Christ.
Others that are inspired by God vocalize their intentions and inspiration given to them by God for a specific task, but never make a plan or move towards that goal. They allow time to become an enemy as opposed to their ally. The days turn into months and months into years until the one day they longed for has passed them by. Complacency claims another victory in the life of a Christian.
There are others who jumped head first into what God had inspired them to do. With great vigilance they seized the opportunity to be involved in the Lords work. They had the faith to rely upon the Lord and the Lord affirms them that their going in the right direction, adding more fuel to the little engine that could. The individual becomes confident in the direction that their heading and then adversity comes. Like the hill in the story the little engine that could. God allows an obstacle to come your way with the full intention to strengthen you in your faith and to develop your dependency on Him. Unfortunately, many quit at this point seeing no point in going on if there going to be challenged in this endeavor. Thus missing the full measure of spiritual success God intends for them.
Here in the life of Joshua we see a man that is inspired by God, he is affirmed by God and finally he is moved by God. Joshua understood that God was the engine that could do all things and that he was simply to carry out the task God gave to him, whether shoveling coal or build track ahead. Joshua understood that if he was to be effective in his personal walk, for the nation Israel, and for God he was to be actively obedient to God.
Joshua was a man of action that thrived by the guidance and direction of God. He was fully fixated on the truth of God. Recognizing the fact that God had never steered him wrong through the many years that Moses led the people by the direction of God and that the only times that they faltered was when they failed to heed God.
Today brother’s and sister’s be inspired by the love of God through the giving of his only Son on the Cross.
Be affirmed that God will never leave you nor forsake you.
Be moved into action in whatever the Lord calls you to do. You were not created to be a spectator of godly events, rather you are to be a participant.
