The Land of Promise-Part 2- Faith in Action

Introduction-Joshua 1:10-3:17

Last Sunday night we looked at the time of transition as God spoke to Joshua and called him from the background to the foreground to be the leaders of the children of Israel.

Joshua was at first hesitant and unsure of himself and yet God spoke to Him and multiple times told him to be strong and of good courage.

In the passages we will look at tonight we can begin to see Joshua acting upon the promises of God, believing that God will indeed do as He has said.

Joshua’s Confidence (Ch. 1 Vs. 10-11)

God has told Joshua that He will use him to lead the children of Israel into the promised land.

Joshua 1:2–3 KJV 1900

Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

After God has challenged him to be storng and courageous and has assured him that He will be with Him, Joshua begins to act upon what God has promised.

Joshua now commands the leaders and instructs them to have the people prepare for the crossing of the Jordan river into the promised land within three days time.

Joshua was confident that God would do exactly what He had promised and now Joshua confidently commands the people to prepare for what he is sure that God is going to do.

He also reminds the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh that had settled on the other side of the Jordan of the commitment that they had made to fight with their brethren until they possessed the land.

Joshua’s confidence in God ultimately produces confidence in the people as they commit to following Joshua’s leadership just as they had followed Moses.

Joshua’s confidence cause him to prepare for God to do what He had promised He would do.

If God has spoken to us, we can be certain that He will do what He has said and we ought to confidently prepare for God to do it!

God’s Confirmation (Ch. 2 Vs. 9-11)

Joshua then sends spies into the land to go into the land to bring a report of the strentgth of their foe.

These men ultimately end up in the home of Rahab where they learn that the people of Jericho are already fearful of the Israelites and they are ready to faint because of what they have heard that God has done.

Rahab is also confident that God will deliver Jericho into the Israelites hands, so much so that she is ready to risk everything to give the spies safe passage and to save her life and the lives of her family from the impending destruction.

Remember that nothing has happened to this point. No arrow has been shot, no sword has been swung, not battle has been fought in Jericho and yet Joshua and Rahab are both confident that Israel will have victory.

In Verses 23-24 the spies return and report all that they have seen and heard. Joshua was confident before but now he has confirmation from God that the Lord has truly delivered the people of Canaan into their hands.

Often when we begin to step out in faith believing that God will do as He has said, He will then give us additional confirmation that what He has said will indeed come to pass.

Any doubts Joshua may have had at this point were removed because of the report that he received from the spies confirming what God had already promised.

Joshua’s Courageous Advance (Ch. 3)

Now Joshua and the peopel must begin to advance towards the land of promise believing that God has given the land for their possession and that God will enable them to defeat their enemies and to inhabit the land.

The ark of the covenant which was a symbol of the presence of God among them would go before them and once it had passed each tribe they would take up their positions behind it following it across the Jordan river.

This particular time of year the Jordan river had overflowed its banks and was not easily crossed but God would do a miracle here to demonstrate to the people that they were truly following Him.

The priests would carry the ark to the brink of the Jordan and then they would stand still in the edge of the Jordan and God would then withhold the waters so that they could cross over.

This was again confirmation that God was with them and that they would be able to do as God had said driving out the inhabitants of the land.

As the priests and the people moved forward to the brink of the river God did exactly as Joshua had told them He would and He held back the waters so that the people could cross over to the other side.

This was a huge moment for the people of Israel because with the exception of Caleb and Joshua none of the Israelites had been on the other side of Jordan moving toward the promised land.

Conclusion

There are valuable lessons in this passage for you and I.

When God has spoken we must take Him at His Word and prepare for Him to do what He has said.

We must be confident enough that we are willing to do what is necessary to prepare for the work God is going to do.

Often when we begin to take steps to prepare for God to do as He has said we will see God offer confirmation to reassure us that He will do as He has promised.

We must have the courage to move forward believing that God will do as He has said being willing to step out on faith and watch God move.

Notice that the waters of the Jordan were not stopped until the feet of the priests were in them. Essentially this demonstrates to us that if we do as God has said He will do exactly what He has promised.

There is no doubt that God desires to do miraculous things in our individual lives as well as in our church.

We must listen for the voice of God as Joshua did and then when God speaks we must have the confidence to act in faith believing that God will do what He says.