Sis Melinda Song
Joshua 1:1-9,
NIV
1 After the death of Moses the servant of
the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’
aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all
these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about
to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every
place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the
great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean
Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to
stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I
will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these
people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to
obey all 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. 8 Keep this 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. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be
afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will
be with you wherever you go.”
Most, if not all of us, can relate to that exhilarating feeling of
anticipation before a major event in life. Often mixed with the feelings of
excitement, are other feelings of apprehension and worry concerning what might
go wrong.
Similarly,
the Israelites experienced similar feelings of excitement and worry as they
camped on the edge of the Promised Land. After forty years of wandering in the
wilderness, they can look across the Jordan River and see the land of milk and
honey promised to Abraham and his descendants almost 500 years earlier. They
are so close—but would it ever happen?
It is a time of change - a new season, a new chapter,
a new beginning. It was a critical transition from living in tents as wandering
herdsmen and feeding on manna, to living in a land with large, flourishing
cities they did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things
they did not provide, wells they did not dig, and vineyards and olive
groves they did not plant (Deu. 6:10-11).
In the midst of the excitement and anticipation of this season of
change, one of their worst fears was realized. Moses passes away. At this point in the
narrative, they had just completed 30 days of mourning for Moses.
It is time to transition to a new leader
and the first thing God said during the commissioning of Joshua was…“Moses
my servant is dead”
Why mention that Moses is dead?
Because the people could not
let go! God took 40 years, a whole generation[MS1] , to take Egypt out of the
people and to form a people for himself. God had to raise up a people of faith
who are ready to receive the land that God had promised to Abraham hundreds of
years earlier.
Moses is dead BUT God’s not dead!
What the Israelites were about to learn,
and what is so important for us, is that the promises of God do not depend on
any individual or on particular circumstances, but only on God. God works
through people, yet He is dependent on no one individual to bring about His
purposes.
The fact that Moses was now gone would in no way
hinder God’s plans and purposes. The future God promised would still be theirs.
On John Wesley’s tombstone is written: “God buries His workmen, but His work
goes on.” The people had to learn to release the past and embrace the new thing
that God is doing in order to move forward and possess the future.
And all along God had been preparing
another man to lead the people into their inheritance.
“Now
then, you…”
The mantle now falls on Joshua. Imagine the pressure
stepping into Moses’ shoes. Not merely the high expectations but also the
impossible odds. There are numerous tribes and nations in Canaan. There are
heavily fortified cities. There are trained armies with powerful weapons. There
are even giants in the hills.
And Joshua’s army? The Israelites are
disorganized, ill-trained and quarrelsome. They won a few battles but they are
not prepared to conquer a whole country. The end of this forty year marathon is
in sight but the toughest part lies ahead.
Joshua is clearly overwhelmed.
Illustration: A sergeant in a parachute regiment
was a seasoned jumper and one day he found himself sitting next to a lieutenant
in the plane who was fresh from jump school. The Lieutenant looked a bit pale
so as they approached their jump zone the sergeant leaned over and said, “Are
you scared, sir?”
The lieutenant replied, “No just a
bit apprehensive.”
The sergeant asked, “Well, what’s
the difference?”
And the lieutenant replied,
“Apprehensive means I’m scared with a university education.”
Whichever word you want to use, Joshua was
it.
It appears Joshua needed a lot of
encouragement.
· v. 6 Be strong and courageous
· v. 7 Be strong and very courageous
· v. 9 Be strong and courageous
· In verse 18, the people encouraged Joshua
to be strong and courageous.
· In Deut. 31:7-8, Moses told Joshua the same
thing – be strong and courageous.
There is work to be done that will take
blood, sweat and tears. Ownership of the land depended on God’s faithfulness, but occupation of the land
depended on Israel’s faithfulness (cf. Deu. 30:20).
God said, “I will give you every place
where you set your foot” (v. 3). God promises them the land, but they must take
it for themselves. Joshua and the Israelites had to step out by faith to
possess the land.
Joshua will need courage to trust God and do as God
commanded. Look at verse nine: "Have not I commanded you? Be strong and
courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go." Don’t forget…
2
Timothy 1:7, NKJV
For God has not
given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
We all stand on the brink of the future. We
all have things that are looming on the horizon which may seem to us just as
important, as overwhelming, as awesome as anything Joshua had to face. We have
our career changes, our educational choices, our treatment plans, our financial
responsibilities, our relationship issues, our family plans, maybe even our
calling into some kind of Christian ministry lying ahead of us. Like Joshua, we
are excited by some of the things that might happen, but also like Joshua, we
are sacred stiff of what might happen.
BUT we can be strong and courageous when we
know that it is:
A. GOD’S PLAN
God’s plans always involve a man. Moses was the
Law-giver but God’s man for the hour has to be a military leader to lead the
invasion of Canaan.
Although groomed by Moses, Joshua did not presume upon
the Lord but waited for his specific summons. God’s calling is our sure anchor
when the storms of disappointment, frustration and opposition are unleashed at
us.
The first time the command to be bold and
courageous appears, Joshua is told that the reason for his boldness is that God
is going to use him to lead the people into the land he has already promised
their ancestors (v. 6). Joshua is standing at a particular point in the history
of God’s people. There are things which have led up to this point and there are
things will lead on from it. It’s all part of God’s will and if it’s God’s
will, it will be accomplished. Joshua and the conquest of Canaan are all part
of God’s unfolding plan.
Joshua and the Israelites could look to the
future with confidence not only because of what God had promised them about
that future, but also because they had already experienced the ways in which
God kept his promises in the past.
There’s a future to look forward to, more amazing
things in store, great plans that God has for us here and we are privileged to
be here at this time, a small part in God’s unfolding plan for this church, a
smaller part in His plan for this city, a very small part in his plans for the
world.
You are part of God’s will, part of His plan. What are
the things God has prepared for you to do? When did you last reassess God's
call on your life? What are those things that God has given you a passion for?
Your courage will rise when you have
confidence in the call of God in your life, and believe that you have a part to
play in God’s plan. There are always going to be things that you, and only you,
can do – little parts of His great overarching plans for this world that can be
furthered by your participation if you’re bold enough to allow that to happen.
We can be strong and courageous because it
is:
B. GOD’S PROMISE
2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all
these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about
to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every
place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will
extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all
the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to
stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I
will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.6 Be strong and
courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore
to their ancestors to give them.
The reason Joshua could be strong and
courageous was because God had bound himself with the promise that He would
give the land to the people of Israel.
Numbers
23:19,NIV
God is not
human, that he should lie,
not
a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak
and then not act?
Does
he promise and not fulfill?
God cannot NOT fulfil his promise. God must engage to
give Israel the victory in all the battles that lie ahead; or if not in all the
battles, at least in the most important of them, so that victory for Israel was
insured, and the land would be gained for them, and they could possess it.
However difficult the opposition, God must ensure Joshua's success. And He did!
Joshua
21:45, NIV
Not one of all
the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Joshua
23:14, NIV
You know with
all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises
the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been
fulfilled; not one has failed.
Where can we find God’s promises? In God’s
Word (vv. 7-8):
“Be
strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all 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. 8 Keep this 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.”
The Word of God is the secret of being strong and
courageous. It is our reliable and constant source for guidance and therefore
confidence.
The Hebrew word translated here as “meditate” actually means “mutter”. Joshua
and his contemporaries would be constantly reciting bits of Scripture,
memorising it, mulling over it. It was to be part of the fabric of their lives.
Just knowing God’s word is not enough. We
ought to also do it. We have to read it and learn it, practice it, weave it
into every fibre of your being so that your daily behaviour is entirely
influenced by it.
Fulfilling God’s promises requires us to walk by faith
- “every step you set your foot.” God wants us to keep moving with Him. The
promises of God may have come from your past, but it is for us claim them today
and see them fulfilled in the future. We can't do anything in our own strength.
But fear not – we stand upon the promises of God.
We can be strong and courageous because it
is:
A. GOD’S PLAN
B. GOD’S PROMISE
Because it is God’s plan and His promise, we can be
assured of:
C. GOD’S PRESENCE
Confidence doesn’t come from looking at
what’s inside you; it comes from seeing the One standing beside you. In verse 9, the grace
to be strong that is given by the Lord is the assurance of God's presence.
"The Lord God will be with you wherever you go."
The presence of the Lord is not a general concept on
the basis of the omnipresence of the Lord, but rather an intimate relationship
that marks the believer in Jesus as in a peculiar relationship with his God.
God's presence gives us strength and
courage. Think of the way disciples like Peter were transformed by being with
Jesus. “How could these simple fisherman speak with such force and power?” the
people wondered. Then they remembered they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). Being with Jesus changed them. Jesus rubbed off on them. They were
scared, they were ignorant, but the presence of Jesus made them bold and gave
them the right words to say.
God is no respecter of persons. What He did
for them - Moses, Joshua, Daniel - He will do for us. His principles have not
changed. He is still in the midst of His people giving victory for every area
of life.
Some two thousand years later, the writer
of Hebrews 13:5 quoted Joshua 1: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee." We often fail to understand the implication of that statement.
Illustration: A seminarian once shared with his
grandmother that the Greek intensive form of this verse in Hebrews was supposed
to be repeated three times to say, "I will not. I will not. I will
not." In his excitement, he said, "Look, grandma, at this promise.
God is saying, ‘I will not, I will not, I will not leave thee nor forsake
thee.’" With a smile on her face she said, "Well, for you
seminarians, God may need to say it three times; but for me, once is
enough."
It has been said that God plus one is a
majority. That had been Israel’s experience throughout the 40 years. In
Deuteronomy 32:30 Moses sings:
How could one man chase
a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them,
unless the Lord had given them up?
God was ever present with the Israelites as
a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night ... leading, guiding,
teaching. As Psalm 46:1 puts it so eloquently, “God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in time of trouble.”
Just as God was with Moses, He was with Joshua. And,
He will be with you and me. Whether we will be courageous and strong totally
depends upon us. Yes, God will be with us, but He is there doing His part. We
have to do ours.
TOP is also in transition. Next year is our
40th anniversary. Winds of change are going to sweep through TOP in 2017
and 2018. God is doing a new thing. God is on the move but are we prepared to
accept the new things God is doing?
We need a renewed mindset. Don’t box God in. God is
sending new wine and new wine skins. With God we have to expect the unexpected.
Circumcision at Gilgal just before the battle? The strange strategy for the
Battle of Jericho? How would you have responded?
CHANGE
in the hand of the CHANGELESS God is safe and positive, and will yield good
fruit to those that respond correctly and embrace it.
What do you face today? This week? Whatever
is out there, good or bad, we can meet the adventure and challenge of the
unknown with courage because we belong to a faithful God. His faithfulness is
demonstrated in His Plan, His Promises, and in His Presence. We can depend on
His Word, His love, and His everlasting arms holding us through life.
Joshua
5:13-19, NIV
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and
saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua
went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of
the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the
ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your
sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
It is not only the people who enter, but it
is the Lord Himself who enters leading the people as they go. He is neither
friend nor foe. He has not come to fight but to take over.
The Lord
is in the midst of us. I am going to ask you to join me in a prophetic act. We
are symbolically going to remove our shoes to acknowledge the presence of the
commander of the Lord’s army and invite Him to take over.
 |
| Sis Melinda and the young adults praying for Dr Kio who will be leaving for Sandakan this week. |
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