Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Great Win Streaks

There have been a lot of great win streaks.

Probably, not surprising to you, many of those win streaks have their home in California.

· The UCLA men’s basketball team won 88 straight games under the leadership of Coach Wooden.

I think Burt Frisby played on one of those teams.

· The Los Angeles Lakers won a record 33 straight games with Wilt Chamberlain at the helm.

· However, the longest streaks belongs to the UCONN women’s basketball team with 111 consecutive wins under the coaching of Geno Auriemma.

· One of the most impressive to me is Oklahoma’s football team won a consecutive 47 games in the 1950’s, a streak that spanned years and against tough competition.

And I am no fan of Oklahoma football.

· The movie Moneyball made famous the Oakland A’s unlikely win streak.

It has a particular appeal because it defied the logic of the time.

For that reason, that might be the best comparison to the nation of Israel’s conquest of the land of Canaan.

Israel’s Win Streak

As we open our Bibles to the book of Joshua, starting in the second half of chapter 10, we see the accounts of victory after victory by the people of Israel.

Key words in those passages is the phrase “Joshua and all Israel.”

This was a collective effort.

Not Cupcake Wins

And these were not cupcake victories with lopsided odds.

If anything, Israel was at the disadvantage.

Listen to this:

When we hear the phrase “like the sand that is on the seashore,” we tend to think about God’s promise to make his descendants like that.

So when it is used here to describe the forces opposed to Israel, I believe the intention is to let us know that Israel was not at an advantage.

Sand of the Seashore

When we hear the phrase “like the sand that is on the seashore,” we tend to think about God’s promise to make his descendants like that.

So when it is used here to describe the forces opposed to Israel, I believe the intention is to let us know that Israel was not at an advantage.

The passage also indicates that the enemies of Israel had weapons of war that the nation of Israel did not, specifically horses and chariots.

Now, what you may not know is that cavalries were a decisive tool.

Horses and Chariots

In the movie Braveheart (my favorite), one of the English officers claims that no army has won a battle in two centuries without a cavalry.

Of course, that isn’t the same as ancient Israel, but the point is that cavalry was intimidating.

The Bible often notes the enemy’s access to horses and chariots as a source of confidence and fear to those they faced.

Even in this passage, we see God telling Joshua not to fear their cavalry, for He will defeat them.

God even describes exactly how that defeat will play out.

Even in this passage, we see God telling Joshua not to fear their cavalry, for He will defeat them.

God even describes exactly how that defeat will play out.

My point in all of this is that Joshua and all of Israel faced formidable enemies but just kept winning.

The Checklist

In , the list of victories sounds almost like a check list:

In my slightly off imagination, I am picturing Joshua at the grocery store checking out defeated kings.

[Maybe he was one of those collectible guys.]

I want you to notice something fairly subtle about this winning streak.

When the Bible talks about it, it begins with Moses’ victories before crossing the Jordan, tells of Joshua’s victories on the Western side of the Jordan, but also mentions that there is more to be done than will be able to be done in Joshua’s lifetime.

,

The assumption here is that Joshua would do what he could but then appoint others the responsibility to do what he wouldn’t be around to do himself.

The win streaks I mentioned at the start of the message may have spanned a few seasons or years, but God wants our win streaks to span generations.

The assumption here is that Joshua would do what he could but then appoint others the responsibility to do what he wouldn’t be around to do himself.

The win streaks I mentioned at the start of the message may have spanned a few seasons or years, but God wants our win streaks to span generations.

[I am looking at our students in the room and putting that out there.

We don’t a few successful years, we want generations of success.

That means a successful worship service, a successful youth ministry

We all want a win streak

So the key question to any win streak is “How?”

How did they do it?

Win streaks don’t just happen by chance.

UCLA wasn’t just lucky

Do you care?

One of the most common wishes I hear from people is that they wish they would have gotten in on something before it took off, like buying stock in Apple and Google when they were still trying to get started.

The old movie “Back to the Future” had the part about going back in time with all the sports scores.

We joke about things materialistic like that, but what about life in general.

Wouldn’t you want to know how to win in business, marriage, and family?

Caleb- God’s How

Well, in order to answer that question, the Bible tells us the story of Caleb.

He is the answer to the question, “How?”

Let me give you a couple of fun facts about Caleb.

His name means “dog” and he saw that as a compliment.

He was not Israelite by blood (he is called a Kenizzite), but rather his family apparently chose to become a part of the house of Abraham at some point prior to going to Egypt.

Do you remember when Abraham had a servant who was to be his heir before having a son of his own?

That servant, Eliezer, was Caleb’s ancestor.

Not Joshua

I appreciate that the model given to us for this successful campaign is not Joshua.

Not size and strength

I also appreciate that the Bible mentions nothing about Caleb’s size, strength, or military prowess.

The only things we know about him are his convictions.

Which indicates that the key to success isn’t so much our natural giftings as it is our character… our attitude.

A Man of Few Words

If you remember, Caleb was one of the men who spied out the land back when Israel first came to the Promised Land.

He and Joshua were the only ones who gave a good report of the land.

When the spies tried to dissuade the people of the goodness of the land, Caleb was the first to speak out.

We don’t hear much more about Caleb until now.

My guess is that he was a man of few words.

Caleb’s Story

We pick up in , verse 6.

And just in case you don’t know, he goes on to state it.

Caleb restates the situation at the time and the promise of God. ( & Deuteronomy 1)

He then reveals that it has been this promise that has sustained him.

He has not forgotten a word of it.

He wasn’t Impatient

I can imagine that Caleb lived for 40 years with the clear memory of where his feet tread when he briefly had the opportunity to walk in the Promised Land.

“Those rolling hills will be mine….

That fertile valley is mine…”

Still Passionate

He is as eager today as he was when he was 40.

[Pictures of Caleb]

We talked about that at our last elder board meeting.

Shouldn’t our passion for Christ and His mission increase as we mature?

If I had to put it in a statement, Caleb had an uncompromising boldness to wholly believe and live by the promises of God and do his best for his people.

Scripture says, “He wholly followed the Lord.”

An Uncompromising Boldness to Believe in and Fully Pursue the Promises of God.

Uncompromising - Wouldn’t go anyway but straight… only spoke when that was questioned.

Boldness - He was at the front, unafraid, and ready