Joshua
There are leaders in human history who stand head & shoulders above others. There are leaders in God's Word who did the impossible through their simple faith & union with God.
Out of all the OT leaders, Joshua in particular demonstrated the qualities that are vital to moving forward in God & overcoming every challenge. From his early years of serving Moses to his farewell as the leader of this holy Nation, Joshua was a man who was mighty in God.
I. By examining the principles he lived by & the power that was in operation in his life & even by looking at his character, can help all of us to move from where we are now to where we need to be in God.
A. Joshua as a young man faced the hardship of the wilderness.
1. I remember Kenneth Hagin saying that people that have everything handed to them almost never learn to walk in faith. Sometimes it's a blessing when we experience hardship.
a. God has a way of turning things around, through the hardship we grow in the area of faith. We learn to stand in faith.
2. During these hardships Joshua Possessed the courage & the simple faith to rise up in God to greatness.
3. The qualities that were already present in him would prove to be very valuable when he was put in leadership.
B. One of the these qualities is found in EXO 24:12-13, 18.
1. Then Moses ascended alone into the presence of God, while Joshua waited on the slopes of the mount.
a. If this was you or me, we probable would have gone down the mountain & back to camp after a short time, maybe an hour, maybe at dusk.
b. But Joshua with his unshakable loyalty to God & to the man of God stayed 40 days & 40 nights.
i. He could have returned to the camp. No one said that he had to stay there.
ii. This shows us something else about Joshua. He didn't just do the minimum for the Kingdom of God, but he went the extra mile for God.
c. Joshua stayed on the slopes of the mountain. He remained confident in God, even when he felt forgotten & unimportant.
i. He was there 40 days & 40 nights, thoughts must have come into his head of feeling forgotten.
2. Can you remain steadfast when there seems to be no manifestation of God's presence?
a. Stability & faithfulness are very important characteristics in the Kingdom of God.
b. Whether we're going through a time of a demonstration of His Spirit or a time of spiritual stillness, will we continue without staggering or questioning God?
i. It's the people that know their God, know that He is Faithful.
ii. We need to be a little more like Abraham. (ROM 4:21) Says that Abraham “being fully persuaded that, what God had promised, he would bring it to pass.”
iii. ISA 46:9-11 God's telling us that when He speaks out something He will do it.
iv. (NUMBERS 23:19) Says, “God is not a man, that he should lie.”
c. We can have that confidence, that stability, & that faithfulness to God because we know if He said something He will do it.
II. In (EXODUS 31) Moses came down the mountain with the tablets of stone, He could hear a sound coming from the camp.
A. EXO 32:1-7, 15a, 17-18
1. In this case, Joshua's perception & sensitivity were deeper than that of Moses.
a. There was a war in the camp of Israel.
b. It was a spiritual war that was going on.
i. A spiritual war that was designed by Satan to destroy God's nation.
B. This same understanding of spiritual battle or spiritual war that Joshua had was the 2nd characteristic that aided him in conquering the Canaan land.
1. We must be aware of our Enemy's spiritual strategies.
a. 2COR 2:11
i. Many people are ignorant of Satan's devices & his plans.
ii. Many marriages could have been saved, many tragedies could have been avoided if this area had not been overlooked.
b. You can find out what Satan's actives & plans are if you read God's Word & if you listen to the HS. Turn to EXO 33
III. In (EXO 33) we see a 3rd facet of the character of this man of faith.
A. After the destruction of the golden calf & the execution of the rebels, Moses again separated himself to meet with God.
B. EXO 33:11
1. Notice that Joshua also separated himself from the people.
a. He preferred to be in God's presence, to be identified with God.
b. This man who demonstrated his loyalty & his devotion to God chose to stay where God would manifest His glory.
C. After some time passed Moses died. Joshua had to follow in the footsteps of Moses.
1. Joshua never wavered.
a. The character that God built in him made him to be 1 of the greatest leaders in all of Israel's history.
b. We want to have to character of Jesus, & we do need to press toward that, but we also need to realize that we can't do it in our selves, we also need to let the HS mold us & shape us to be the person that He wants us to be.
2. We see something else about Joshua's character.
a. The 1st words that God spoke to Joshua after Moses death were significant.
C. JOSH 1:2
1. The time had come for Joshua to move.
a. The mantle of leadership was now on him.
b. Not only did he have God's direction, but he also had the courage to act boldly as God's appointed man.
2. Before Israel could ever cross the Jordan, they wandered in the wilderness 40 years.
a. The reason they wandered 40 years was to get rid of the doubt & unbelief, the wrong thinking.
b. They had to overcome what I call “Grasshopper Mentality.”
c. NUM 33
i. Remember when Moses sent out 12 men to spy out the Canaan land.
ii. 10 came back with an evil report of defeat, our sure doom, but only Joshua & Caleb came back with a good report. “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
c. But listen to part of that evil report.
d. NUM 13:33
i. The children of Israel saw themselves as grasshoppers, Unable to take the land.
ii. Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years to get the unbelief out.
3. JOSHUA 5:1, 11-12
a. Israel began to move from Provision to Promise.
i. Just prior to this time the Children of Israel still had “Grasshopper Mentality.”
ii. Even though they had been freed from Egypt for 40 years, they still thought like slaves.
b. Up till this point they saw themselves as inferior & not as conquerors.
4. Look at JOSH 5:9
a. Through the powerful leadership of Joshua & the new generation of fearless followers, the reproach that dominated their fathers was removed.
i. They saw themselves as inferior, but now they saw themselves as conquers.
b. The way you see yourself is what you will become.
i. We should see ourselves in light of God's Word.
ii. See ourselves the same way that the Word says we are. The head not the tail, above not beneath and so on.
iii. The way you see yourself is the way that the world is going to see you.
iv. The 10 spies said we saw ourselves 1st as grasshoppers, then our enemies saw us as grasshoppers.
c. PRO 23:7
i. The word “Heart” in this V would better translated “Soul.”
ii. In other words, However you see yourself that's what you are.
iii. See yourself the way God sees you.
IV. JOSH 5:13-6:2
A. This was God's promise of victory, & you know the rest of the story.
B. For them to get the victory they had to see themselves as conquers.
1. They had to see themselves in light of God's Word.
C. We need to have these same characters that Joshua had.
1. 1st Joshua had loyalty, Stability, & faithfulness to God. He went the extra mile.
2. 2nd He had a perception, a sensitivity & an understanding of spiritual warfare.
3. 3rd Joshua also separated himself from the people.
a. He preferred to be in God's presence, to be identified with God.
4. 4th He had courage to act boldly.
5. 5th he saw himself as conquers.
i. We can be those conquers if we reflect the same character.
WOLCC SUN AM 8/22/93 almost the same as Conqueror # 1 and Conqueror #4