Bible Talks - Family Church (9:45am)
Series: The Promised Land - 6 Sermons From Joshua
A Man and a River
Sunday, 13 April 2003
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In Genesis 12 we are introduced to God's covenant with Abraham in these words:
The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
This covenant has 4 parts
- A land to live in
- Offspring who will become a great nation
- Fame and blessing
- The whole earth blessed through him
As we follow the history of Abraham and his decendants through the Genesis, we see these covenant promises sometimes drawing near, at other times receding.
Abraham and his wife Sarah, grow very old without having any children. Eventually when Sarah is 90 and Abraham 100, God gives them a Son, Isaac.
A couple of generations later Jacob, Abraham's grandson, has 12 sons by 4 wives but because of a famine they are forced to migrate to Egypt. They settle in Egypt for 450 years. In this time the 70 or so who go down to Egypt multiply to become a nation of 2 or 3 million but out of fear, Pharoah, the king of Egypt, enslaves them.
God chooses Moses to rescue his people from slavery. Their escape from Egypt by God's miraculous intervention is recounted in the book of Exodus. They travel to Mt Sinai where God reiterates his covenant with the Israelites, as they are now called. He gives the Law, summarized in the 10C's, but in fact, a whole code of how to relate to God through the rituals of sacrificial worship and how they must conduct themselves in the dealings with each other and with non-israelites. They are the chosen people of God and God will take them into the promised land.
They approached the promised land from the south, sending out spies. The spies reported that the land was as God described it but there were fortified cities and the giant descendants of Anak and the spies reported, "We can't attack those people. They're stronger than we are" and they spread bad reports amongst the people. Of the 12 spies from the twelve tribes of Israel, only Caleb and Joshua reported, The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
But the people continued to rebel and God sent them to wander in the desert for 40 years until all of the adult generation had left Egypt had died except Caleb and Joshua.
Last year as we looked at the book of Deuteronomy we saw that Moses had nominated Joshua as his successor to lead Israel into the promised land. Today we start a new series of sermons that will take us through the books of Joshua and Judges with an excursus into Ruth. We will be looking at the historical working out of God's covenant promises, particularly as regards to the land but also at people and events, trying to draw out lessons for us, God's people of the New Covenant.
Let's start with Joshua, the man.
Joshua is first mentioned in Exodus 17 in the account of the war with the Amelekites. He leads Israel to victory in this, Israel's first war after leaving Egypt and he becomes the commander of Israel's armies and it is he who selects the men for the army and fights and overcomes Israel's enemies. As we read through Exodus and Numbers we see Joshua becoming Moses' right hand man. Joshua accompanies Moses onto the mountain at Sinai when Moses is given the law on the stone tablets and it is Joshua who first remarks on the noise from the Israelite camp when they descend the mountain to find that the Israelites have made the golden calf.
In spite of his young age Joshua has a place in the tent of meeting, normally only given to the elders of the tribes. When he is sent out with the spies we learn that Moses had changed his name from Hoshea, meaning "salvation", to Joshua, meaning "Yahweh is salvation' or "God is saviour". The name Joshua or Yeshua is actually the Hebrew form of the name Jesus. Several times we are told that Joshua is the son of Nun but we don't know anymore about Nun other than he was Joshua's dad.
In Numbers 27:18-23 Joshua is commissioned to succeed Moses in these words, "So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.
"Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses."
It was God who commanded that Joshua succeed Moses and Joshua is said by God to have the Holy Spirit in him. Joshua is given not just leadership of the armies of Israel but also spiritual leadership. At the end of Deuteronomy where we read of Moses handing over final authority to Joshua we're told, "The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”
So Joshua is a man who is seen to have leadership qualities, he has undertaken specific tasks under authority from Moses and has been appointed by God as the leader who will take God's people, the Israelites, into the land God has promised them.
As you read through the book of Joshua you will notice a number of other themes as well as that of Joshua's leadership. These include holy war and the ban, the inheritance of the land, God's covenant with Israel, and the holy and redeeming God. Some of these will be brought out in subsequent sermons but given the events of this week I believe I should make some comment about the theme of holy war.
Few of the issues raised by the book of Joshua create more difficulty than the question how could a loving God command the wholesale extermination of cities and nations who inhabit the Promised Land. In Joshua 2:10 there is a reference to how Israel completely destroyed Sihon and Og and it introduces the concept of cities being "devoted to the ban." This phrase recurs throughout the record of Joshua's conquests as god claims the conquored people and their possessions for himself. The Canaanite people and their possessions were forfeit to God because of their sinful behaviour. Archeologists have found records that reveal their brutality, corruption, child sacrifice, serpent worship, and male and female temple prostitution. God used Israel as his instrument of judgement on the Canaanites. In Genesis 15 Abraham received a vision from God concerning the Israelites exile and enslavement in Egypt and later return to the Promised Land bringinging God's judgement on the people their whose sin "had not yet reaced its full measure."
Because of this element of God's punishment on the Canaanite peoples which was specific to that time you cannot build a theology of holy war that allows you claim that a war today is holy. You may be able to build a case for a just war to curb an oppressor but you cannot claim it to be a holy war. In the New Testament the concept of holy war moves into the spiritual realm where Christ is the holy warrior fighting for the people of God against sin, the world and the Devil. As Christians we are engaged in a lifelong struggle against these powers which may manifest themselves as particular individuals, regimes or nations. However our chief weapon against them is prayer and our own godly living.
Back to Joshua the man and the movement of the Israelites into the promised Land. Next week we'll hear about events related to the conquest of Jericho but let me read the description of the crossing of the Jordan, the actual entry into the land from Ch. 3 and 4 of Joshua.
Notice that at the crossing of the Jordan the power of God at work is shown by the sequence of events. First to enter the river were the priests, whereupon the water stopped flowing even though it was in flood at the time. The priests were the special representatives of God and they carried the Ark of the Covenant, the unique symbol of God's presence. God, if you like, preceded the people in the crossing of the Jordan and enabled them to cross. Then the representatives of the people crossed.
Read Joshua 3 & 4.
Let us pray
