Wednesday 10/16/19
Series: Thru the Bible
Message – Joshua…as I was with Moses
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Joshua 1 – How different we would be!
“1 After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, who had served Moses: 2 “Moses My servant is dead.”
Moses’ servant – a chief assistant to an authority figure, such as Joshua was to Moses (Exod. 24:13);
“9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself. 11 God did not harm the Israelite nobles; they saw Him, and they ate and drank. 12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and went up the mountain of God.”
Like the disciples for Jesus (“go ahead into the town and prepare the room for us.”)
Or Paul as a teacher in the church at Antioch Acts 13:1
Or Timothy & Titus as pupils and servants of Paul.
There is a general pattern of service before ministry.
When God is beginning a new work it may appear as though the one He calls has not been formally trained as someone’s apprentice, but be certain God Himself becomes such peoples trainers and teacher.
David what’s a shepherd for a good number of years in his youth and then served King Saul whom he was going to replace and then fled for his life taking refuge in small villages and caves all the while remaining under the authority of the king he was going to replace . This was his Crucible and this was his time of training.
You have Elijah with Elijah.
Even Moses was under Pharaoh for 40 years and his father-in-law as a Shepherd for 40 years before he was entrusted as The Shepherd of Israel for 40 years.
This represents one of the biggest mistakes we’ve made in the modern church. We place education before training, degrees before experience, charisma before proven service and performance before relationships. The church needs mentors and apprentices more now perhaps than ever before. As I told you before, it is a remarkable truth that the one office in the New Testament to whom the chief Shepherd delegated authority to represent him before his sheep is the elder and it is the one office that has the greatest amount of requirements listed in the whole of scripture. It is also remarkable by today’s standards that that list only briefly mentions the advantage of having any gift the rest is dedicated to noteworthy character and a traceable well-documented history of Godly character.
As for Moses, he was called the servant of the Lord.
This word servant is different then the one applied to Joshua. It is the Hebrew word eḇeḏ: A masculine noun meaning a servant, a slave. Although the most basic concept of this term is that of a slave, slavery in the Bible was not the same as the slavery of modern times. The period of slavery was limited to six years (Exod. 21:2). Slaves had rights and protection under the Law (Exod. 21:20). It was also possible for slaves to attain positions of power and honor (Gen 24:2; Gen 41:12). In addition, the people under the king were called his servants (Gen 21:25); as well as his officers (1Sa 19:1); officials (2Ki 22:12); ambassadors (Num 22:18); vassal kings (2Sa 10:19); tributary nations (1Ch 18:2, 1Ch 18:6, 1Ch 18:13). This word is also a humble way of referring to one’s self when speaking with another of equal or superior rank (Gen 33:5). The term is also applied to those who worship God (Neh 1:10); and to those who minister or serve Him (Isa 49:5-6). The phrase, the servant of the Lord, is the most outstanding reference to the Messiah in the Old Testament, and its teachings are concentrated at the end of Isaiah.
Have vs. Will
“Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River–all the land of the Hittites–and west to the Mediterranean Sea.”
- Given, from the moment the promise was made.
- Given, in terms of God’s Sovereign power to give or take anything since all belongs to Him.
- Will give in that it is an event that is in Joshua and Israel’s future it is an absolute certainty as though head that already happened in human history.
Words of affirmation, power & certain destiny
“5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.
I will be with you, just as I was with Moses.
I will not leave you or forsake you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.
7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.
8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth;
you are to recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.”
For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Oh if these words inspired us as it did him! What different purple we would be!
” 10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you to inherit.'”
Joshua remembers the agreement & stipulations
” 12 Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh: place 13 “Remember what Moses the LORD’s servant commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest, and He will give you this land.’ 14 Your wives, young children, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But your fighting men must cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers and help them 15 until the LORD gives our brothers rest, as He has given you, and they too possess the land the LORD your God is giving them.
Hebrews 11
“32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented- 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
“15 You may then return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of what Moses the LORD’s servant gave you on the east side of the Jordan.” 16 They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. 17 We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. And may the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. 18 Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”
Chapter 2
Joshua 2
“1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.” 4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) 7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. place 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.” 15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.” 17 So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.” 21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window. 22 They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. 23 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”
The Hall of Faith
Heb. 11
“23 By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter 25 and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-lived pleasure of sin. 26 For he considered reproach for the sake of the Messiah to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since his attention was on the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for he persevered, as one who sees Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute received the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.”
…Blessings!
I hope this message will bless you richly…not because I taught it, but because it reveals Christ. He alone is our blessing and if in any way – whether big or small, 100% accurate or even just partially so – I have revealed our great God and Savior to you in a relationally knowable way, then this was time well spent on both our parts.
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Blessings!
