Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Yesterday we stepped way back in time to begin a new season of “Walking with Jesus”. For the next few weeks, we’ll walk the miraculous story of Joshua and the Israelites as they enter the land of God’s promise. Yesterday we stood with Joshua as he heard God give him one of the greatest promises of all time even though Moses was dead, and it would have been easy for the people to have lost hope.
We saw God challenged Joshua to ‘get ready’ for action. What action? Moving one million people forward to cross a flooded Jordan river. And more, God told Joshua to help the people, ‘get ready’ with a great sense of expectation, for soon they would be taking possession of the land God promised 5 centuries before to Abraham and his descendants.
I believe it was these words that propelled Joshua into action with confidence: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” (Joshua 1:5,6)
As I’m sure you are well aware, that statement from God has been at the very center of a global debate for many centuries. The key question has been this: Whose land is the region of the middle east today known as Israel and Palestinian Territory? If you’ll notice God’s geographical description to Joshua, it’s a region much, much larger than modern day Israel: “Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates…to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.” (Joshua 1:4) Perhaps the closest the nation of Israel has ever come to actually possessing this ‘land of promise’ of God is during the reigns of King David and his son King Solomon. This drawing is one Biblical scholar’s estimation of the scope of the kingdom of Israel in about 1000 bc.
It may help us to trace this promise of land from God’s first call and promise to Abram recorded in Genesis 12:6,7 “Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canannites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So Abram built an altar to the LORD who had appeared to him.” Shechem became very significant in Israel’s history. In Joshua’s time it was in this place, at the end of Joshua’s life, that he called the Israelites together, challenging them to choose whether or not they would serve and follow Almighty God or some other false idol god of the nations around them. We’ll look at that event next week. (Joshua 24:15) For now, here’s another map of what this land of promise was like after Joshua led the people in conquering it. You’ll notice Shechem is in the area between Manasseh and Judah.
God repeated His covenant of land with Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21 and a third time in Gen.17:8. Then a generation later God confirmed the continuation of this covenant of land with Isaac, Abraham’s miracle son, in Genesis 26:3,4. Then another generation later, with Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, God confirmed this land covenant yet again, not once but twice. (Gen. 28:13,14; Gen. 35:11-13)
It’s important we remember, my friends, that about 500 years of time passed between God’s first call to Abram in Genesis 12 and God’s confirmation of Joshua as the successor to Moses and the man who would lead the Israelites from the desert into the land of promise.
No matter what part of the world you consider, a great deal changes in 500 year of history doesn’t it? And thus by the time Joshua and the Israelites camped on the bank of the Jordan River, the land of God’s promise to Abraham was inhabited by 7 nations of people with great walled cities, and vast open grazing lands for their flocks and herds, and well-developed lands of agriculture.
More than that, each of these nations of people had reputations of being viciously violent and grossly immoral. That is why the words of God to Joshua were so significant for Joshua and the people he was now leading, after the death of Moses.
After God’s great promise of always leading and never leaving Joshua, God continued with His challenge for Joshua’s effective leadership: “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey the law My servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep the Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful… Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7-9)
Now do we see my friends, an even wider scope of what God meant when He challenged Joshua with these words? “Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give them – to the Israelites.” (Joshua 1:2) Yes, God promised to lead and accompany Joshua and the people. But God also challenged Joshua that his effectiveness in leadership would be directly tied to the priority Joshua placed on knowing the laws of life God had given to Moses.
But more than knowing, Joshua was to have those truths, God had given Moses, so impressed on his mind and heart that he would be able to follow them as guidelines in every aspect of his leadership and he would never deviate, never turn away from God’s law of truth.
May I ask my friends, when you consider your roles in life… being a God honoring person; being a faithful spouse; being a wise parent or grandparent; being a reliable, trustworthy employee or employer; being a law abiding citizen of your country; being a person who is making a difference in our world by bringing the hope and help of Jesus, do you see God’s words of challenge and promise to Joshua are words you and I need to cling to today?
For us in 2023 the ‘law of Moses’, which God challenged Joshua to follow, is expanded to now be the entire Bible, the Word of God, as applied into your heart and mine by the Holy Spirit of God for wise living! Have you learned that my friends and are you living, holding tightly to the promise God made to Joshua, that God is with you as you follow His leading of your life? That’s what it means to ‘walk with Jesus’ everyday!
Now let’s pause here again and consider the world in which we live and the promise God made to Joshua. Did you notice it is almost exactly the promise the resurrected Jesus made to His disciples before He ascended back to heaven.
Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Now you go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I will be with you always…” (Matt. 28:18-20) Let’s thank Jesus for that promise with this worship song and I’ll see you back here tomorrow, with Joshua.
Today’s Scripture is Joshua 1:1-9.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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