After Death and on the Edge
Joshua • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
<tree with shadow>
<cross with shadow>
Shadow of the Christ to come
Shadow of the Christ to come
<blank>
After Death
After Death
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide:
Death of Moses… Deuteronomy 34:4–8 “4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” 5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. 6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.”
Moses sin… Numbers 20. Speak/struck (NIV) 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
Moses was a great leader for the people, but he knew God would raise up another prophet like him.
Genesis 3:15 “15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.””
(seed)
This promise from God at the fall of people into sin had not been fulfilled. Moses was raised up to save God’s people from Egypt, but he wasn’t the one to crush the serpents head.
Book of Joshua…
Book of Joshua…
Like Deuteronomy, it is a covenant document. In Chs 8 & 24, Joshua leads the people in renewing/affirming the covenant.
As Kenneth Mathews outlines:
The format of [Joshua] corresponds generally to a royal land grant from the early second millennium. . . . The land grant and the structure of on Joshua share in these major features:
(1) a narrative explanation for the land grant (chaps. 1-12);
(2) description of the allotment (chaps. 13-21);
(3) an oath of loyalty by the vassal (chaps. 22-23); and
(4) witnesses to the completion of the transaction (chap. 24).
The correlation in Joshua shows that the Lord is the great King who bestows Canaan on his vassals, the Israelites, conditioned on their exclusive and continued loyalty to God. (Joshua, 13).
Outline
Outline
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.
Chapter 2-5 - across Jordan and into the land
Chapters 6-12 - defeat of all the city-states
Chapter 13-21 - old age of Joshua highlighted and sharing of territory
Chapter 24 - Joshua’s death, like Moses, God had been with him, yet like Moses, he died.
Genesis 12:1-3; 13:17; 15:7; 17:8; 28:4; 35:12; 48:4; Ex 6:8; Dt 9:5
LOB
LOB
<maps - exodus and land>
Joshua
Joshua
spy… faithful. (Numbers 13)
9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.
Joshua, the only person born in the Bible that had no parents, and he was most likely Catholic.
Hoshea… salvation
Joshua… Yahweh helps/delivers/saves
Joshua 24 - Choose whom you will serve!
Joshua, as good as he is, is not the one to bring lasting blessing - salvation, peace, rest.
Jesus is though…
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus (English) = Ἰησοῦς (Greek) = יְהוֹשׁוּעַ (yĕhôšûaʿ) (Hebrew) = Joshua (English)
Jesus gives true rest… the promised land for us as Christians is life in Christ with God.
Jesus is greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1–6 “1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” )
Jesus is greater than Joshua…
6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Hebrews 3:12–15 “12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.””
While Joshua is not the real salvation and rest needed, he was the one that God had raised up for that day. These were his instructions…
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.”
Why does he need to be strong and courageous?
Big people (Numbers 13:30-33)
God’s people (Deuteronomy 31:14-29)
Foreign God’s
How will Joshua be strong and courageous?
The LORD is with him
He has been given his instruction… the book of the law… lead, guide him, give him wisdom.
<blank>
Potential fears we face…
People (save face, look good, sound relevant, impress)
God’s people (expectations, ungodliness)
Our own weakness
Other ways, religions, idolatry
Being on the edge of change?
Joshua and all the people are on the edge of something big, something extraordinary, will they be ready? Will they live up to God’s plans, promise, his word?
On the edge
On the edge
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’ ”
There is no mucking around, Joshua is ready, he has been planning for this as Moses’ apprentice for years.
Joshua’s conversation with 2 1/2 tribes shows us that they were all ready.
12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this land.’
Reubenites, Gadites and ½ tribe of Manasseh had been given land east of the Jordan and had promised to pay provide fighting men to cross the Jordan before enjoying rest in their land.
Deuteronomy 3:12–17 “12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. 13 The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites. 14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.) 15 And I gave Gilead to Makir. 16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. 17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.”
18 I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of the other Israelites. 19 However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives rest to your fellow Israelites as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”
Important! Setting the tone for all of Israel to follow Joshua, the new Moses, a continuation of the work begun by God.
They were on the edge, with potential for great fear, with the potential to turn back… they had done it before, but this time, they were ready to be faithful to God.
<blank>
We live on the edge; on the precipice of time; know Jesus will return at any moment to take us to be with him in glory.
Are we on the edge ready for Jesus’ return?
Are we ready for the true rest to come in Christ?
Will Jesus find our hand at the wheel, serving as he has called us to? Faithfully living his way? Courageously giving ourselves to God’s plan of salvation for the world?
So, we will come back to our fears…
People (save face, look good, sound relevant, impress)
God’s people (expectations, ungodliness)
Our own weakness
Other ways, religions, idolatry
Being on the edge of change?
But who are we in relation to the book of Joshua?
Joshua?
Israel?
The nations?
We are not Joshua!
Remember, Joshua is a shadow of Christ who came for us.
We are more like the people… the apostle Paul encourages to see this…
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
So can we be strong and courageous?
Only as we are in Christ can we be strong and courageous. Christ is our salvation, he is our leader into the promised land/rest, he is our life, he is our strength!
Remember the apostle Paul’s words…
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.