Joshua 1:1. Israel is at the Jordan River and have completed the mourning period for Moses who has just died [De.34:7-8]. The disobedient generation has died and now a new generation is there waiting to possess the land. They have been taught to obey God’s laws. They have learned that faith and obedience bring victory, while unbelief and disobedience brings tragedy. Joshua.1:2. “Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them….”
GET UP AND GO. Sometimes the best thing we can do in a situation is sit and quietly wait for directions from God. However, when those directions come, there is no reason to wait any longer. There is a time for waiting, and there is a time for walking. There is a time for introspection, and there is for action. There is a time for reading and there is a time for working. There is a time for planning, and there is a time for carrying out the plans. There is a time for thinking, and there is a time for speaking. There is a time for finding out what is wrong, and there is a time for fixing what is wrong. There is a time for defining the problem, and there is a time for doing something about the problem. There is a time for preparing, and there is a time for carrying out the work.
In the remaining time I have, let me not just sit and observe, but arise and go over the obstacles that are in the way of full blessing and joy. If this can be done, the effect will be seen by others and they too may act in a positive way.
“Longsuffering God and Father of infinite patience: How I praise Thee for not walking away disgusted with me when I have been dragging my feet; for encouraging me to get with it when You had probably wanted to demand an explanation for my sloth. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me opportunities again and again to
start over and get it right this time. And all praise and glory to Thee, for continually doing “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Amen.”
The Bible is a book of divine revelation through which God reveals His plan to redeem mankind. In it God's love, our sin, God's justice and mercy lead us to understand His plan for our salvation. God dealt with Israel before Christ came in a similar way as He deals with us today through the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though the Old Testament is ancient history, it is not a dry description of facts and dates, but a revelation to us of the way God deals with people. We have been made in His image so we can know Him, love Him, and enjoy Him forever. Through these historical accounts of His dealing with Israel, we understand how He expects us to respond to Him and His word. When we read the scriptures, we are challenged to live them out each day in holy living and ethical conduct. The book of Joshua is the book that teaches us about the faithfulness of God to His people.
Seven nations held the land of Canaan that had to be defeated and destroyed. God had, in mercy, given the witness of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the forefathers of those nations. But there had been no acknowledgement on their part of the Lord God. Because of their sins of worshiping snakes, religious prostitution and the sacrificing of their children to their gods, they were to be destroyed. Mercy had preceded the coming judgment that was about to fall on them because reports of God's mighty acts toward Israel in the wilderness for forty years had reached their ears and again, they were made aware of the One True God. Rahab knew that God had miraculously brought them through the Red Sea and no doubt other miracles were known by the people of those nations. The defeat of Sihon and Og was well known. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers." True believers today do not fit in well with all that is going on in the world. Our convictions are different, our conduct is different and our religious activities are different. The book of Joshua illustrates what believers can be, and do, when we are yielded to the Lord and are led by the Holy Spirit.
The power of the Holy Spirit does not cancel out the need for discipline in our lives nor excuse us from pressing forward in spite of difficulties and opposition. His power keeps us from defeat and empowers us to conquer those who want to conquer us. The Bible is accurate in its historical accounts and is authentic in describing how God uses and guides His people successfully through the pitfalls and snares that Satan, the world and the flesh use to try to conquer us. It describes how holiness of life, ethical conduct in the events that we face, lead us into effective living that glorifies God and satisfies us.
We have choices to make in our Christian life. We can live in the defeat of wilderness living or in victory in the promised land. It depends on us whether possess our possessions in Christ and enjoy those spiritual blessings, or live without knowing the blessing of enjoying the promises of God which He gave when He saved us. The blessings are provided and are given already, but they have to be taken and used to accomplish the purpose for which they were given. We have been brought out of the world and the wilderness of purposeless living, to be brought in to a life of victorious Christian living. Defeat in the wilderness or victory in Jesus depends on us. Victory in Christ does not come by making resolutions. Consecration sets us apart but it does not take us in to experience what God already provided and made ours to have. Even prayer and fasting doesn't make these blessings a fact. We have "all things" in Christ, now which we need to take hold of them for ourselves.
What God's people need is to move forward in faith and the power of the Holy Spirit and use what we have been given in Christ for full victorious living. The problem most believers have is we have a tendency to settle down to premature rest before we have fulfilled God's will for us. That leads to indifference and worldly living. The exhortations to go forward in this effort to claim what God has for us, is founded on God's grace toward us. The things He gives us to do, He gives us the power to perform. Those things are made known to us by reading what He wants of us and then looking at how He accomplished His purpose through others. These will become personally ours by experience and that is what makes the "land of Beulah" such a joy and blessing to us. The book of Joshua instructs us as to entering the promised land, conquering the foes in the promised land and dividing the promised land to where we can participate in the things of God as He intended. This teaching is put into New Testament context in Hebrews 3 and 4, and in Ephesians where the scriptures speak of the "heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
An overview of the book of Joshua is given in the few words of verse 2. The cross and empty tomb tell us of victory already attained so we are not to stay moping about in the wilderness of worldly living and unclaimed promise. Three times Joshua was told to "be strong and of a good courage." The first time was because of God's grace in giving them the land already. The second time was because God said to, and He has that right. The third time was when God authorized Joshua to carry out this commission. When God gives directions to His people, they need to be acted upon. The leadership of God's people may change but the objectives before us do not change.
God recognized and sanctioned the change of leadership from Moses to Joshua. Moses had changed his name from Oshea, which means "deliverance," to Joshua, which means "the Lord's salvation." He is an Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the "Captain of our salvation." Joshua had proved himself for years by experience all the way from Egypt to the promised land. He was one of two, the other one was Caleb, who came the whole way from Egypt to Canaan. Leaders need to be faithful and experienced, and also ethical before they can be effective. We will have to stand up to pressures to compromise, even from our brethren on occasion, but every leader needs to remember the One who has called us to lead His people.
A leader needs to know the objective before us as the people of God. They need to know their own people well enough that they have the confidence of the saints. They also need to know their own strengths and weaknesses. Faith and courage are needed for effective leadership, not an inflated ego. An intelligent, spiritual man who is submissive to God will be listened to and obeyed because he has listened to God himself and has obeyed God. Spiritual maturity takes time and experience. Unnatural growth that takes off like a shot leads to problems in sustaining that growth and experiencing what has been learned by words rather than practice.
One who goes before God's people to guide them has first gotten his guidance from God. Occupying what has been given us takes time, and the boundaries of God's intention have been described to us by God, not our own view of things. Consistent, unchangeable leaders are never to be selfish and stubborn, but sensible, diligent and determined to stay the course as God has revealed it. God appoints the leaders of His people knowing that such persons can be trusted, have been trusted before and have their confidence in God. God can trust them with success in conflict and service. He will be with them in conflict and service, and He assures them He will not abandon them in conflict and service.