Joshua 1-2

Introduction

Good evening.

Just so you know, for um probably my future embarrassment and to share the wisdom of David, Mike is recording the classes. So if you do miss a class and want to hear my ramblings after before you come again, um send Mike an email and he can send you the link. Um just so you can stay current uh if you if you’re interested in that, if you’re not interested in that. Certainly not something I’m gonna require. Uh David may require it, but I’m not gonna require. Okay. Um before we get started, Earl, would you mind saying a quick prayer for us, please, sir?

Thank you for this day and letting you do it.

Thank you, Lord, for you for us. Right. Thank you. Okay. We almost made it. We’re almost to the study of Joshua in the class that is for the study of Joshua. We might depending on how it goes tonight, we might make it. Uh I don’t know if we’re gonna make it for the whole lesson, but we’ll try. Okay, so what we did on Sunday was kind of a review to get us to where we are, to kind of set up what’s going on with the children of Israel, why we are about to go into the land of Canaan, why this was necessary. What did we say kind of the purpose of Joshua is, the purpose of the book of Joshua?

To show how God fulfilled this promise to give the land of Canaan to the nation of Israel. Remember, that’s actually, I think the quote run out of the book. It’s the redemptive history of the people, of God’s people. Right? Why did they need redemption? Why does all man need redemption? Because of sin, right? And that occurred when? In the garden. Well, basically, from the start. You know, basically, Adam and Eve started all off for the rest of us. But so, from the beginning there was a problem, and there had to be a resolution. There had to be a solution. There had to be a way to bring us back to God. And he set that process in motion when at the beginning. Well, before the foundation of the world, he knew it would was going to be necessary.

And three chapters into the Bible, boom, it’s necessary and it’s set in motion. We see the process starting. Good thing or bad thing. The Lord did it, it’s good. Okay, how? Well, I think the conquest of Canaan was the land was promised to Abraham at the very beginning. And they’re just finally after their captivity in Egypt, they’re recovering and traveling. And now they’ve got to overcome the inhabitants of the land at this point in time. God doesn’t set a plan in motion and then boom, instantly it happens. Right? And partially, I think it’s for our benefit for us to go back and us to look and to see. God sets this in motion and we can see through the faith of these people how it happens.

And we can learn, most importantly, of all things, God is faithful to his promises. If he says he’s going to do something, he does it. It may not be in our lifetimes, it may not be in a way we understand, but it’s going to happen, and we have to have that faith. And we can look from the beginning of the recorded history through the Bible, how that occurred. And that should do nothing but strengthen your faith. God said this was going to happen, and it happened. And look at look at all the ways it happened. Look at this path that it traveled. But it always was for the benefit of redemption.

Were God’s people, the children of Israel, perfect people? Yeah.

1. Not Because of Your Righteousness

Okay. We talked about this some on Sunday about how we can just look in the people, the children of Israel and shake our heads and go, oh, can you believe the things they did? When every time we do that, we need to look in the mirror and shake our heads at ourselves and say, Can you believe what I did? Because God’s made the same kind of promises to me, and I doubt, and I and I don’t have faith, and I’m stiff neck and I’m stubborn. But this is huge, uh, starting in Deuteronomy 9. Um, I’m going to start in verse 1. Hero Israel, you are to cross over the Jordan today to go into dispossessed nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakin, whom you know.

And whom you have heard it said, who can stand before the sons, who can stand before the sons of Ahan. Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you. Okay, he’s making the promises of what he’s going to do through his power. Why? Because these people are so good and so wonderful. And they deserve it. Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, it is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land. Whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you.

Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land. But because of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God is driving them out from before you. And that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. He says it again. Know therefore that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness. For you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. From the day they came out of the land of Egypt.

Had God really done anything to really strengthen their faith when they were in Egypt and leaving Egypt?

Plagues. I mean, if the plagues weren’t enough, uh crossing between two mountains of water essentially, you know. And again, that turns me back to me today, to us today. The things that God has done, and how stubborn we can be against God. Reading this really made me think of our country. And this sense of, I think sometimes entitlement that we have, this God bless America, we think God’s really only on our side. That’s why we win all the wars, because God’s on our side and we deserve it. And we’re the we’re righteous people. But really, are we? I mean, you can say, well, compared to nations that aren’t God fearing, but just because maybe we’re have a few more people that are good than another, does that mean that God gives us victory because we’re righteous?

We need to be careful about things like that and think that God is on our side all the time because we’re so good and everybody else is so bad.

Especially in this case. But I think oft times we think maybe higher of ourselves than we should. And we need to recognize that God’s grace is because of wickedness. If there wasn’t wickedness, there wouldn’t be a reason for it. And do we all need God’s grace? Absolutely. Why do we all need God’s grace? Because there’s that in us that pulls us away from God. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’re wicked. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we are sinful people. Yes, we sin. But we battle daily.

Not just going in to possess a land. We’re fighting daily to stay on God’s side. Yes, how? I think oftentimes we as of this country are blessed so abundantly in so many ways and we’re ungrateful. We’re not a preacher. We tend to expect it, right?

And we and I think often, you often hear people thank God and praise God and thank him for this nation that he’s given us. But we have to be careful thinking that God thinks we’re more special than anybody else. Does he love America more than he loves the Buddhists in China? He loves them too. He wants them to come to him. And we have to have that same attitude towards people that we know that are wicked. Oh, there’s no chance for them. Never in a million years. Well, we’re going to read about somebody, maybe today, might be Sunday, who was kind of wicked. But her life was changed. Yes.

2. A Point Where God’s Patience Wears Out

But that all should come to be able to do it. Exactly right. Exactly right. But we’ll see the evidence that there does reach a point where God’s patience wears out. As it is for these people.

But who will by no means clear the guilty?

Specifically about the people here, but how does that apply to us today? Just like it did to them then. Is he merciful to us? Is he patient with us? Yes, he is, but he can reach a point with us just like he did with them. I mean, if we go against God, we’re just as guilty as anybody else. I think every day we take another breath, it’s God being patient with us. It’s another opportunity we have to do better. But he says of himself, he will by no means clear the guilty. What’s the difference? In the people he has patience with and the people that he won’t clear, the people that are guilty. What’s the difference? Obedient faith. Okay, what does that mean? Okay. They have the ones who obey without faith in God, and we’re talking about the faith like Abraham had.

Okay. The faith. The faith that believes is the faith that obeys. And uh that is the good side. The other side are those people who know what to do. No one’s expected to do not do it. But in a way, aren’t we guilty? Are we guilty of transgressing? Yes, we are guilty. And if he knew we would be guilty, and that’s why he said Jesus. Okay. I think the distinguish, what’s distinguished between who has God has patience with and the guilty is the attitude, is the heart, right? It’s the effort to try to serve God and the lack of effort to try to serve God. The disobedience. So much of this with the children of Israel. They talk about the children of Israel, and I wonder if it’s a constant reminder from God for us to.

It is to me to compare it to children. There’s a difference between your child being disobedient and being a disobedient child. Right? A disobedient child is in trouble all the time. A child being disobedient occasionally does things wrong, which any child that’s not, maybe there’s something not quite wired right in there, because that’s just part of being a kid, right? You’re gonna disobey.

And it’s hard, it’s intent. It’s I don’t care, right? But with that kind of an attitude, you’ve got to bring it out. Right, but that’s what the children of Israel became. They became I don’t care. We’re gonna do whatever we want to do. And that’s when God lost his patience with them. But even when they had these hearts of just complete, he says they’re stubborn. He says, from the day you left. But he was still patient. Partly because he had a plan to carry out, I think. Partly to give them an opportunity to give them time to give to show patience to them. And whatever, whatever reasons God had, God was patient. God was more than patient, and then his patience was exhausted, and we just gotta remember that about ourselves.

3. Just as Susceptible to Turning to Other Gods

Yes, sir. The thread of this all the way through, the very first commandment, thou shalt have no other gods before me. And they just totally turned against God in so many ways. And God wasn’t going to stand for that. Why? Why do you think they did that? I don’t have a clue. Okay. I mean, I think about myself. What if I turned against God? What would I what would I gain by turning against God? The devil. I mean, hell is what I gained. You might gain uh wealth, you might gain pleasure, you might gain success, you might gain friends, you might gain popularity. Right. But I’m not I’m not thinking temporarily. I’m thinking we’re not. And that’s the attitude we have to have, but we’re just as susceptible to turning to other gods today as the children of Israel did.

Those other gods they turn to, they turn to them for reasons. Our gods today, for the most part, is just the materialism that consumes us. Um and the gratification we can get from things we can possess, whether it’s a person or a thing or whatever it is, those become our gods. And we come and we sit in these pews and we pray and we sing, and we may even study our Bible, but we’ve left God for other lives.

Well, and I’m just trying to bring that back to today. We can be just as susceptible and probably more blind than they were. It’s so blatant. When you’re worshiping uh false gods and participating in prostitution, that’s obvious you can see it. But when everybody else that’s in a pew is working double shifts so they can get the new car or this or that, or or or or maybe in a relationship they shouldn’t be in, or whatever it is, when we’re all mixed up in it, then we start to become blind to it and think, well, that’s what everybody else is doing. And they’re in the same church I am, and if they’re doing it, it must be okay. But it doesn’t just because everyone else is doing it, just because the entirety of the world we talked about with Noah was doing things.

4. Be Strong and Courageous

Did God say, oh, that’s okay? Everybody else is, if everybody’s doing it, it must be okay. No, it’s not. And he passed judgment upon that. And that’s the same judgment that we will face at some point. Doesn’t matter how many people were participating in it. We leave God for other gods for other things. We’ll be held accountable. Okay. Let’s move forward. On to Joshua, finally. Tell me, uh, he brings up this point in the book. How could a loosely organized confederacy invade and conquer the land of Canaan, which was settled by a people with a superior army and defended by a wall of cities? They had God not. They had God on their side. There you go. Was it a reasonable expectation for them to think they could go in and take all this land?

I mean, what’s going to happen when you go in and fight a battle? What’s going to happen? People are going to die, right? You’re going to have casualties. So the next battle you’re facing is going to be with fewer people. And then the next battle with fewer people. The next battle, pretty soon, when you’re when you’re conquering this huge land, you’re getting to the point where you don’ve got anybody left. Maybe that was part of why they questioned it from the beginning. How can we? We have this many fighting commands. We have to take over this much land. Hello? I’ll do it for you. I’ll take care of it for you. You need to go out and have faith and do what I tell you to do.

But God was on their side.

Yes, yes.

And he doesn’t just say it once.

An interesting point again that I think of that we’ll talk a little bit more about. God didn’t just give it to them. God didn’t just wipe the people out. They were involved. If God just wiped the people out, would that really have built their faith? Would that have made them stronger? Did it build their faith in Egypt when God just wiped them out? No. You’re responsible. Get in there. Get involved. See that what I said is going to happen is going to happen with insurmountable odds. When things that seem impossible, I’m on your side. And you’ve got to believe me. Okay. Joshua chapter 1, starting in verse 1. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nan, Moses’ assistant, Moses, my servant is dead.

Now therefore arise. Go over this Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that is in the sole of your foot will tread upon. I have given to you. Just as I promised to Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

Only be very strong, be strong and very courageous. Being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful 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. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Why repeat this over and over?

This is not a nation of warriors. They’re slaves. It’s a nation of slaves. And while they’ve had 40 years in the wilderness and someone themselves, they they don’t have the training or the mindset, or they’ve been controlled by someone else for a whole while.

And really know nothing else.

Okay.

He’s 20 years older than all these questions. And what real kind of experience has Joshua had? He’s been following the real. Yeah, I so you’re right, there’s not a whole lot of experience and a whole lot of expectation. Was there more experience and expectation 40 years ago? Not really.

There was less 40 years ago, and uh we we recall 40 years ago was the first battle, so and uh there were skirmishes and other battles after that, so there was some experience, but uh they’re somehow along the way there has to be an acquisition of the implements of the war. Right. And we uh I mean we’re not total that we don’t understand exactly where it came from unless it was that capture. But I think they were gonna see some things they had not seen, and I think they were gonna see some pretty intimidating things that they weren’t prepared for, and that’s why we tells him over and over to have courage and be strong. And he said it’s so many times. And I like uh the last words of the class in Joshua’s class.

I had no idea how large, how wide the wall is around the city. It’s amazing to me even though you read that right have a lid of a wall, but we just don’t realize how they went up at an angle and everything. It’s amazing. How? Well, when you stop and compare Moses and Joshua, Moses grew up in the in the fail in favor of home household, and so he had all kinds of training. Here Joshua had nothing like that. So the two men, their personalities were different. And here Joshua was inheriting all of his responsibilities of two and a half million people in a new land, a new home. And so you think of the offer the awesome uh responsibility that he had to undertake in hoping no one would try to annihilate him or get rid of him because God spoke to him directly and told him what was going to happen, and that he would be with him all the way.

And so much of this rested on Joshua’s shoulders. This was kind of his responsibility to lead these people. They’re gonna look to him as the figurehead. This is who we’re gonna follow. Is that that’s incredible pressure on on a human being? That is he endowed with any miraculous faith, any miraculous God gives him the ability to perform things that we call miracles, but he’s just a man. And he’s got this awesome responsibility. And he’s got to stay faithful. Yes, Nick. I have it written in my mind that he’s 80 years old at this time. And that’s pretty ageable. Pretty old under. Well, I mean, that’s comparable to Moses. But he’s. I mean, he’s not what he wants to do. Well, sure, sure. I mean, he it’s it’s an awesome responsibility.

And what is the key to God being with them? Obedient. Following the law. Following what he said to do. That’s the stipulation. Just do what I ask you to do, and I’ll be with you. It sounds easy. In theory, what?

Sure. Takes a lot of faith and trust when things don’t make sense. In our minds, again to us today, in our minds when things don’t make sense. It’s hard to be faithful. I think if anyone needed a formula for success, Joshua needs one right now. Sure.

I find ironic though, all these things that God tells them, you know, to do. And to not do. They’ve already shown that they do. They’re not faithful to God. They’re not strong. They’re not courageous. They turn away from God. They turn away from him so quickly. And again, we’re going to unfortunately continue to see that pattern with the people. Let’s move ahead.

5. Why Jericho? Why Do They Need Reconnaissance?

Let’s talk about Jericho. Why Jericho?

As they march over the land and they get everybody organized and they’re going to go toward Jericho. What’s significant about the city of Jericho? Why is that an important city?

Yeah, but what’s significant about the city of Jericho? It’s a strong city, and it’s kind of right there in their way to get to where they’re going. I read somewhere where it said Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. It lay about five miles west of the Jordan and about seven miles north of the Dead Sea. The trade routes from the east cross the Jordan at this point and then branched out in three directions.

You gotta go through here to get to where you’re going.

Kind of basically, yeah. In relation to sea level, Jericho is the lowest city in the world. 800 feet below sea level. I didn’t know that, okay. Alright, so what are they gonna do again here? Here in Joshua 2. What’s the plan? What’s the big unique new plan? Sending out the flags. They’re going to send out five. Did they do that once before? Yeah. How’d that go?

This time they only said two. We’ve probably said 12 and only two sentences. But this time they only said two. Why send spots? Isn’t this something God’s just going to do for them?

Why do they need why do they need reconnaissance? If God’s promised them the land.

I think it’s showing some responsibility, right? Okay, if okay. We’re gonna do this. I guess we need to go check it out and see what we’re expected to do. They’re making an effort, they’re trying to follow what God is is expecting them to do. And maybe maybe not just sit back and say, okay, go ahead. Do your thing. They’re expected to move forward and make an effort. Well, I first told it. God said it would be pleasures that they sent by, and I think that he allowed it so that they saw how insurmountable the city was, and then they were going to defend what God had done for them what they felt. If they didn’t have the five to tell them exactly what they were up in yet, they might not have just been the magnitude of what Nora did for them later.

I would agree. I would agree with that. And also, they get some information that I think helps their faith as well. Some of the things that they that they get from Rahab, the information that they hear from her.

6. Who Was Rahab?

Let’s start in verse 2. And when it was told the king of Jericho, behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land, but the woman has taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly for you were overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax, and she had laid an order on the roof.

So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan, out as far as the forest. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. Okay, so who was this they were with? Who was Rahab?

Who were the two spots? But who was Rahab? The spies went to go see Rahab and was she?

She was a prostitute. What on earth were they doing there? She later married and out of the sun. Okay, yes. But why were they there? It’s fairly common for the hills.

Okay. They may have also had a place to stay. Where would you go if you go into a land to spy it out? You’re gonna go to the mall where everybody’s gonna see you? You can’t be seen. You’re gonna go somewhere where number one, you’re not gonna be seen. How did they know? Do maybe did they look different? Was it obvious they were people of a different nationality? Did they dress different? There was something about them that stood out. You want to breathe in with them? You go where everyone else goes. And who do you think maybe had visited Rahab? Maybe the king, maybe some government officials, maybe some military officials. Maybe they had information. Maybe they could go in and say, tell me about this army of this people.

Tell me about this land.

We can assume that they went there for immoral purposes, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think they were there because it was the place to go to be noticed the least and possibly harvest uh vital information about the city. And as you said, she’s she lives on the wall. That would kind of be a key point. Yes, sir.

What about that?

Okay. That bother anybody? Everybody okay with that? It bothers me because I don’t want to explain it. She lied and she lied and I don’t know what the I I don’t know how she could get by with that lie in the eye of God. Shh, she was a prostitute? And we’re concerned about her lying? That’s just another thing. That’s a sign thing. The prostitution or the lion? The prostitution is a side picture lying.

And I know the prostitution isn’t plain food. Yeah, poor is a lying, the prostitution just dislikes a little bit. No, it’s just as bad when I’m concentrating on the line right now. Okay, which I think we tend to do. We tend to concentrate on that line. What about the lying?

It’s just a little white line. Okay. No, it’s not. Go ahead. We don’t know why people sometimes women have any choice in what they were made. And the slight and she may not have been about to play. Okay. John? I think the story of right now here is a picture or a guidance of the good things that are doing and the fact that the Lord does forgive sin. And yes, lying is sad. If in fact she was a prostitute, that would be a sin today in either that. But I believe that this is uh the way the Lord works to show us and them at the time that people can face together and draw at the disposal. I think we can obsess over her being a liar, we can obsess over her being a prostitute, we can obsess over why were they visiting a prostitute?

Was this a God-fearing land? Were these moral people? That’s why they were being destroyed. Prostitution, I’m sure, was readily accepted. I’m sure the city was filled with them. And that was okay. Nobody cared. When you have no morals, what’s your standard? You have none. So there’s no right and wrong. So anything that you do, well, that’s kind of what our world’s turning into, right? Well, if that’s the way you are, why can I tell you to be any different? Sorry, just whatever. Yes, sir, and the chair. Well, one thing she had was an opportunity to demonstrate great faith, which is a downfall of many of the people of God at the time, who didn’t have such great faith. She explained to them how they felt about their God.

Who delivered them who when they crossed the Red Sea and what they did to the other kings? And so you need to go all the way back to Pharaoh. When Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey again? God said, I will show Pharaoh who the Lord is. And I will show, I will show the world by my power and my works who the Lord is. And so God demonstrated to all who he was. And when he delivered them, this was the result of even these people understood who the Lord of heaven and earth was. And it was the God of these Israelites who were prostituted. That’s exactly right. She can have faith in God, but not understand his law. Not understand what’s expected.

And then when she learns that, her faith will cause an alteration in her behavior. But at this point, has she been taught the law of Moses? She’s heard of this God. She has faith that this God is strong and powerful, that is the God, and she’ll understand how to worship him. She comes to that knowledge as we know. Sharon? Well, that’s what I was gonna say. Is the important thing to remember here? It’s not what you have been. What and even the New Testament in Hebrews points out that it’s by it’s the faith of Rhab that’s important. Um keep in mind here, that’s why. Was she putting herself at risk? Yeah. She’s putting herself at extreme risk. Are these Canaanites? Technically, are they Canaanites? I guess they’re just outside the land of Canaan, kind of aren’t they supposed to destroy all the Canaanites?

No exceptions. That’s a good question to end on. We’ll talk about that on Sunday. Okay, obviously, we didn’t get through. Ugh. Um, it’s good though, remember? We only have 18 lessons and we have 26 classes, so who knows? Maybe this first lesson will go on for five weeks. So we will finish this on Sunday for sure. Um