Pastor Nate continues our study through the Bible in the book of Joshua.
[00:00:00] You are listening to the Through the Bible Studio Series with Pastor Nate Holdridge.
[00:00:13] Join us as we continue our study through the Old Testament book of Joshua.
[00:00:18] Here's Nate.
[00:00:22] The Old Testament book of Joshua is a powerful book.
[00:00:28] It's of course a book that is filled with war, three military campaigns specifically
[00:00:35] with thirty plus pagan armies.
[00:00:39] It records for us a seven year conquest of the Promised Land.
[00:00:44] God had of course prepared a people for himself from Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob.
[00:00:52] That people grew of course in their slavery and sojourn in Egypt and that people then
[00:01:00] was set free from Egypt and given a governing law.
[00:01:04] So they had a governing law.
[00:01:06] They had directions, leadership.
[00:01:08] They had numbers.
[00:01:11] They had a covenant with God.
[00:01:13] The one thing that they did not have that God had promised to them originally was a land.
[00:01:18] And so here the book of Joshua records for us the actual possessing of the land that
[00:01:25] God had promised to the people of Israel.
[00:01:29] This book is the first of twelve historical books in the Old Testament and this book
[00:01:34] links the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament with the rest of Israel's
[00:01:41] history nationally.
[00:01:43] We see how it began to come to pass that they began to live in the land of promise.
[00:01:51] Now Joshua is going to be the central figure of this book.
[00:01:57] His name means Yahweh is salvation.
[00:02:00] It's interesting because he actually was named Hosea at first which means salvation but Moses
[00:02:07] changed his name to Yahoshua or Joshua which means Yahweh is salvation.
[00:02:15] Which is beautiful because in the Greek language his name would be Jesus and the angel of course
[00:02:21] announced to Joseph in Matthew 1 verse 21 that Mary would bear a son and you will
[00:02:27] call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.
[00:02:33] In other words Jesus' name is indicative of the salvation that he would win for his people.
[00:02:40] And Joshua, his name as well is indicative of the victory or the salvation that he would
[00:02:47] bring for the people of Israel of course as an instrument in the hand of God.
[00:02:54] Now probably Joshua is actually the author of this very book that bears his name.
[00:03:02] Probably picking up the same tradition that Moses picked up as Moses wrote down the history
[00:03:07] and wrote the Word of God.
[00:03:09] Joshua with a deep respect for the Word of God more than likely actually wrote this
[00:03:14] himself as he went through the various stages and record of the victory that God gave
[00:03:22] to the nation of Israel.
[00:03:24] Now the book begins with a beautiful conversation between God and Joshua and really it's a way
[00:03:33] for God to at the beginning of this book greatly, beautifully, wonderfully exhort Joshua
[00:03:40] to be a man of courage.
[00:03:42] He's here commissioned by God in this first chapter to lead the people of Israel into
[00:03:48] the promised land.
[00:03:49] And so many Christians throughout the years have turned to Joshua chapter one for courage
[00:03:54] and instruction and sort of a pep talk from the living God to embrace the role that he
[00:04:03] has given to each one of us.
[00:04:05] It begins this way in verse one of chapter one by saying, after the death of Moses,
[00:04:10] the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of none, Moses' assistant,
[00:04:17] Moses, my servant is dead.
[00:04:19] Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I am
[00:04:25] giving them to the people of Israel.
[00:04:30] Now there are a couple things worth noting there in those first couple of verses.
[00:04:34] First of all we just notice of course the natural flow of human life.
[00:04:40] After the death of Moses we have this record.
[00:04:44] God says frankly, Moses my servant is dead.
[00:04:49] In other words the thing I'm attempting to highlight is that Moses had faithfully
[00:04:54] served the Lord for over 40 years now through the plagues, through the exodus,
[00:04:59] through the giving of the law, through the wilderness wanderings,
[00:05:02] through the construction of the tabernacle.
[00:05:05] He'd faithfully served the Lord but he of course dies but God is still alive
[00:05:11] and God's kingdom and God's people and God's work must still go on.
[00:05:17] And so Moses here even though he dies the work goes on.
[00:05:23] Now another thing worth noting is the beautiful title that God gives to Moses.
[00:05:28] He refers to Moses as his servant, as his servant.
[00:05:34] And at the end of Joshua's life, Joshua would also be referred to as the servant
[00:05:42] of the Lord.
[00:05:44] But three times here in this chapter and 13 times elsewhere in the book of
[00:05:51] Joshua, Moses is called the servant of the Lord.
[00:05:55] And of course the question for each one of us is would the Lord or will
[00:05:59] the Lord say this of us?
[00:06:02] Will we be known as servants of the Lord?
[00:06:05] But God speaks here at the beginning of this book to Joshua and tells him,
[00:06:11] now's the time.
[00:06:13] Rise, go over the Jordan River, cross the Jordan River, you and all the people
[00:06:18] with you into the land of promise that I am giving to them to the people of Israel.
[00:06:26] Now I think it's important to mention in any study beginning the book of Joshua
[00:06:33] that Joshua did not have his beginning right here in Joshua chapter one.
[00:06:39] In fact when you read the Pentateuch, you discover eight different moments
[00:06:45] that Joshua appears.
[00:06:47] And Joshua appeared and learned many things that became seemingly foundational
[00:06:54] for the role of leadership and great victory that God was going to win through him.
[00:07:01] One of the first times or the first time that you see Joshua is as a younger man
[00:07:05] when the people of Israel were exiting Egypt and the Amalekites met them in their
[00:07:13] departure from Egypt and in Exodus 17 it records that the Amalekites came
[00:07:19] to snuff out the people of Israel, they came to fight with them.
[00:07:24] Now referencing scripture together with scripture it appears that from Psalm 83 verse 4
[00:07:31] the idea of the Amalekites was to wipe out the people of Israel as a nation
[00:07:37] and for Israel to be remembered no more.
[00:07:40] And then secondly from Deuteronomy 25 verse 17 to 19 it appears that the way
[00:07:46] of attack was to find the faint people, the weary people, those who were
[00:07:51] lagging behind and to attack them first.
[00:07:56] And so sort of an underhanded kind of way to confront Israel in the battle.
[00:08:03] And when they came out to fight against Israel, of course Joshua was the man
[00:08:09] who led the forces into the battle against the Amalekites and Moses went up
[00:08:16] to top of a hill and held his hands up as a symbol really in one sense of prayer.
[00:08:23] And as long as Moses' hands were held high as he held the staff in the air
[00:08:28] then the people of Israel through Joshua were given victory but when his hands
[00:08:32] went down they began to lose the fight or lose the battle.
[00:08:36] So Aaron and her came and lifted up the hands of Moses so that
[00:08:42] his hands could be held high and victory was then given.
[00:08:47] Now it was in that moment that God then promised that he would utterly
[00:08:52] blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
[00:08:57] And so Joshua there in that moment in his life he would learn a few
[00:09:01] powerful lessons.
[00:09:02] First of all he'd learn that God cannot tolerate rebellion against his plan.
[00:09:08] The Amalekites saw and heard of the plagues that God had wrought there in Egypt.
[00:09:14] They would have known that the God of the universe was on the side of the
[00:09:18] people of Israel.
[00:09:20] They would have heard of this plan of God but still in the midst of all of
[00:09:24] that they wanted to snuff out the nation of Israel.
[00:09:29] And so God's anger was directed toward them at their rebellion against his
[00:09:34] obvious plan that he had revealed.
[00:09:38] Also with Moses' hand held high the victory coming Joshua would have
[00:09:44] discovered in military battle that the power belongs not to the armies of God
[00:09:49] but to God himself.
[00:09:51] In other words not to the Israelites but to God.
[00:09:54] And then Moses of course wrote this down.
[00:09:57] God said to Moses write this as a memorial in a book and Joshua would
[00:10:01] have discovered that the book is all important, the value of scripture.
[00:10:08] But on and on you could go through the Old Testament before the book of
[00:10:11] Joshua and see the different moments that Joshua appeared.
[00:10:15] He was with Moses on Mount Sinai in Exodus 24 where he would have
[00:10:20] learned that God is real and that God is glorious.
[00:10:25] He was there when coming down from the mountain he heard the sound of
[00:10:30] the people of Israel worshiping the golden calf.
[00:10:33] He actually mistook it for the sound of war but Moses knew that it was
[00:10:38] the sound of singing and he would have watched Moses take the golden calf,
[00:10:44] throw the tablets to the ground, break them.
[00:10:47] And he would have watched Moses take the golden calf and burn it with fire
[00:10:52] and grind it to powder and scatter it on the water and make the people
[00:10:56] of Israel drink it.
[00:10:57] He would have learned a lesson there about the terribleness of sin amongst
[00:11:02] God's people and he would have learned the lesson that there is a place for
[00:11:06] godly anger amongst God's people especially God's leaders.
[00:11:12] He was there in Exodus 33 at the tent of meeting with Moses.
[00:11:17] It actually says that Moses would go in to speak with God face to face
[00:11:22] as a man speaks with his friend but then Moses would return to the camp
[00:11:26] but Joshua would not depart from the tent.
[00:11:29] Exodus 33 verse 11.
[00:11:32] He would learn there in those moments that God could guide and would guide
[00:11:38] his leaders and that God is a personal God, not just interested in them
[00:11:43] nationally but interested in them individually.
[00:11:47] There was another moment in Numbers chapter 11 when Joshua appeared.
[00:11:52] It was a moment when through various means the spirit of God was shared
[00:11:58] not just with Moses but with a surrounding group of elders and leaders in Israel
[00:12:03] and two of them specifically remained in the camp, Eldad and Medad
[00:12:08] and began to by the power of the spirit prophesy amongst the people.
[00:12:14] Joshua actually went to Moses and said,
[00:12:16] hey they're prophesying in the camp sort of as a way of rebuke
[00:12:20] and told Moses to stop them.
[00:12:23] And Moses said to him, are you jealous for my sake?
[00:12:28] Would that all of the Lord's people were prophets
[00:12:31] that the Lord would put his spirit on them?
[00:12:34] And there that day, or excuse me, Joshua would have come to understand
[00:12:39] that God's glory comes first and that the leader, Moses,
[00:12:44] was not there for his own self-glory but was there exclusively
[00:12:50] for the glory of God.
[00:12:52] And if God so chose to spread his spirit out to other leaders,
[00:12:57] Moses would celebrate that reality.
[00:13:01] Of course a famous moment in Joshua's life
[00:13:05] was when Moses sent the twelve spies into the Promised Land
[00:13:09] and Joshua was of course one of the twelve spies that God had sent
[00:13:16] and when they came back and brought a report,
[00:13:19] Joshua and Caleb gave a good report.
[00:13:23] They said, the land is good, it's beautiful, God delights in us
[00:13:28] but of course there were the ten spies who sowed seeds of doubt
[00:13:33] in the hearts of the people
[00:13:35] and the people went along with the ten spies
[00:13:39] who were filled with no faith rather than two who had faith.
[00:13:43] They believed the report that we are like grasshoppers
[00:13:47] in their sight.
[00:13:48] But Joshua along with Caleb, it says in Numbers chapter 14,
[00:13:52] they tore their clothes and they disagreed
[00:13:55] and because of that, because they took that stand,
[00:13:58] they were the two from that generation
[00:14:01] who did not die in the wilderness wanderings
[00:14:04] but who were allowed to enter into the Promised Land.
[00:14:08] And so Joshua would have learned there in that moment
[00:14:12] that it is important to stand with God
[00:14:15] against the majority if need be.
[00:14:18] He would have seen the seriousness of the rebellion
[00:14:23] of God's people.
[00:14:24] That whole generation died for one thing you could say
[00:14:28] about Joshua's life, is that for 40 years
[00:14:30] he became a professional at attending funerals,
[00:14:34] person after person going to the grave
[00:14:37] without entering into the Promised Land.
[00:14:40] Joshua would have seen in a very first hand kind of way
[00:14:45] that God's people must not rebel against him
[00:14:49] and must have faith and trust in him.
[00:14:52] Of course, Joshua in Numbers 27, a seventh mention
[00:14:57] is at his ordination which was so God ordained.
[00:15:02] God ordained him, God called for him.
[00:15:05] Numbers 27 verse 18 to 23 tells us
[00:15:09] that the Lord said to Moses
[00:15:12] and the Lord commanded him
[00:15:15] and the Lord directed Moses.
[00:15:18] In other words, Joshua would have understood
[00:15:21] my ordination has nothing to do with Moses
[00:15:24] and it has everything to do with God.
[00:15:27] God ordains and God calls not man.
[00:15:31] This would have been important for Joshua
[00:15:33] to understand and receive
[00:15:35] as he led the people of Israel.
[00:15:37] He was not there by vote.
[00:15:38] He was not there by committee.
[00:15:40] He was there by the sovereign hand and selection
[00:15:43] and calling of God upon his life.
[00:15:46] Then finally, the eighth appearance of Joshua there
[00:15:50] in the Pentateuch came in Deuteronomy 31 verse 1 through 11
[00:15:56] when Moses gave his final word to the nation
[00:16:00] when Moses died
[00:16:02] and Moses installed Joshua as the next leader
[00:16:08] and some of the things that Joshua
[00:16:09] would have discovered at that moment
[00:16:11] is that it is God who goes before the people.
[00:16:16] It is God who continues to direct the people.
[00:16:19] Moses said, the Lord your God himself
[00:16:21] will go over before you.
[00:16:23] He would understand that God would give the victory
[00:16:27] and he would also understand the importance of the Bible,
[00:16:30] the word of God, the scripture
[00:16:32] because Moses read it to the people
[00:16:34] and then commanded that every seven years
[00:16:36] this law would be read nationally to the people of God.
[00:16:41] And so even at the time of Joshua, you have a book,
[00:16:45] you have the Bible that is being written
[00:16:48] and recorded and read from to the people
[00:16:52] and that book of course is growing
[00:16:54] and developing as Israel's history unfolds.
[00:16:59] But all of these elements in Joshua's life
[00:17:01] had prepared him for this moment
[00:17:03] that God would say to him, go over this Jordan,
[00:17:07] you and all the people into the land that I'm giving them
[00:17:10] to the people of Israel.
[00:17:13] So here now in Joshua, God commands Joshua
[00:17:18] to take the people over into the promised land,
[00:17:23] a land that God says, I am giving to them.
[00:17:27] It was a progressive gift
[00:17:30] that God was going to give to the nation of Israel.
[00:17:33] Now, God in verse three gives Joshua a beautiful promise.
[00:17:38] He says every place that the soul of your foot
[00:17:41] will tread upon I have given to you
[00:17:44] just as I promised to Moses
[00:17:46] from the wilderness, Negev desert in the south
[00:17:50] and this Lebanon, the Lebanese mountains
[00:17:53] as far as the great river, the river Euphrates,
[00:17:56] all the land of the Hittites, Palestine
[00:17:59] to the great sea, that's the Mediterranean
[00:18:02] toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.
[00:18:08] Now the beautiful thing here
[00:18:10] is that there is this already not yet experience
[00:18:13] in Joshua's life.
[00:18:15] God had said I am giving it to them
[00:18:19] and then he says I've given it to you.
[00:18:22] In other words, you need to go get it
[00:18:25] but it is actually positionally already yours
[00:18:29] and that kind of concept is beautiful to the Christian
[00:18:32] because it reminds us of our sanctification experience.
[00:18:37] Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are
[00:18:39] in Ephesians two currently seated with Christ
[00:18:43] in the heavenly places.
[00:18:44] In other words, we have in the mind and eyes
[00:18:47] and sight of God the full justification,
[00:18:51] sanctification, glorification process.
[00:18:54] We are fully like Christ and glorified
[00:18:57] in the mind and heart and sight of God.
[00:18:59] However, we now in this life on this side of eternity,
[00:19:04] even though that is ours,
[00:19:06] we are to Romans 6 verse 11,
[00:19:09] consider ourselves to be dead indeed to sin
[00:19:13] and alive to God just like Jesus is.
[00:19:17] In other words, we are to enter into this process
[00:19:21] of giving our bodies over to the Lord
[00:19:24] and surrendering our members to him
[00:19:27] as living sacrifices and allowing him
[00:19:31] to systematically give us the victory
[00:19:35] that has already been won for us at the cross of Christ.
[00:19:40] And so he just announces, look, you have this victory,
[00:19:43] you have this land, it's for you, all this territory,
[00:19:47] it belongs to you.
[00:19:50] And the course of question that might be asked
[00:19:53] is God lays out for Joshua the extent of these borders
[00:19:58] is that we would say, well, how far do these boundaries go?
[00:20:03] Now, the land that they actually conquered
[00:20:06] and possessed in Joshua's time was much less
[00:20:09] than what was promised here or promised in Genesis 15.
[00:20:12] And even in the time of David and Solomon
[00:20:15] when the land reached its greatest extent,
[00:20:19] even the outlying districts were only within Israel's
[00:20:24] fear of influence.
[00:20:25] So it doesn't seem that they have ever fully possessed
[00:20:30] everything that God promised for them.
[00:20:34] Personally, I believe that the prophets have declared
[00:20:37] a time is coming where Christ will return
[00:20:40] and he will regather the Jewish nation
[00:20:42] and reign in the land over a converted
[00:20:46] and redeemed Israel and that full possession
[00:20:50] of all that God promised for them will occur
[00:20:53] at that moment and at that time.
[00:20:57] But here, God announces to Joshua this huge promise
[00:21:02] of what he's giving to them.
[00:21:03] Then he says to him in verse five,
[00:21:05] no man shall be able to stand before you
[00:21:09] all the days of your life.
[00:21:11] Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
[00:21:15] I will not leave you or forsake you.
[00:21:18] Be strong and courageous for you shall cause this people
[00:21:22] to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers
[00:21:26] to give to them.
[00:21:28] Here, God begins to make a beautiful promise to Joshua.
[00:21:34] He announces to him, no one will be able
[00:21:37] to stand before you.
[00:21:37] No man will be able to stand before you.
[00:21:40] Now the Canaanite people were a warrior people
[00:21:45] and they lived in a harsh and sometimes mountainous territory
[00:21:51] and Joshua was going to have to lead
[00:21:53] a fairly untrained army into this land
[00:21:58] to interact and face in war those people.
[00:22:02] And so for God to say, no one will stand before you.
[00:22:06] The secret of course of all of this,
[00:22:09] how could he have such success?
[00:22:11] He says, I will be with you and I will not leave you
[00:22:15] or forsake you.
[00:22:17] In other words, I will not drop you.
[00:22:19] I will not abandon you.
[00:22:21] I will keep my promises and I will be with you.
[00:22:24] Now this was the secret of Moses' success
[00:22:27] and it would be the secret of Joshua's success
[00:22:30] and it is of course the secret
[00:22:32] of the church's success as well.
[00:22:35] Jesus said, I am with you always
[00:22:37] even to the end of the age.
[00:22:39] He is with us by the presence personally
[00:22:43] and the power corporately of his Holy Spirit
[00:22:47] upon us as the church.
[00:22:48] We must not forget the power of God.
[00:22:51] Our great resource is God himself.
[00:22:54] He's the one who resides within us.
[00:22:56] He is the one who calls and draws a human being.
[00:23:00] He's the one who convinces their heart.
[00:23:02] He's the one who convicts them
[00:23:05] of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
[00:23:08] He is the one who helps a person live obediently
[00:23:11] before the Lord.
[00:23:12] It's not about our information.
[00:23:14] It's not about our teaching or our instruction.
[00:23:18] These are things that are helpful
[00:23:20] but unless the Spirit of God is involved
[00:23:23] in using those elements as mere weapons in his hands,
[00:23:27] it will be all for naught.
[00:23:29] The Lord must go before us
[00:23:32] and he promises that he will.
[00:23:33] I will be with you.
[00:23:35] He says to Joshua and he says this as well
[00:23:38] to his church in the great commission.
[00:23:40] I will not leave you.
[00:23:43] He announces to this man.
[00:23:45] Now he tells him to be strong
[00:23:47] and courageous as a result.
[00:23:50] Three times God is going to tell Joshua
[00:23:53] to be strong and courageous
[00:23:55] and the people will then reaffirm it later
[00:23:58] and say, Joshua, be strong and courageous.
[00:24:01] Perhaps he has to emphasize courage
[00:24:04] because Joshua is experiencing some intimidation.
[00:24:07] This is a huge role.
[00:24:09] He's taking over for Moses.
[00:24:11] He's leading a nation of people
[00:24:13] that is God's nation of people.
[00:24:15] And so God repeats verse seven,
[00:24:18] only be strong and very courageous,
[00:24:20] being careful to do according to all the law
[00:24:23] that Moses my servant commanded you.
[00:24:26] Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left
[00:24:29] that you may have good success wherever you go.
[00:24:32] This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth
[00:24:35] but you shall meditate on it day and night
[00:24:37] so that you may be careful to do according
[00:24:40] to all that is written in it.
[00:24:42] For then you will make your way prosperous
[00:24:44] and then you will have good success.
[00:24:48] And so God announces to Joshua, listen,
[00:24:53] part of being strong and courageous for you
[00:24:56] means that you must be careful to do and apply
[00:25:00] and speak the law of Moses, the book of the law.
[00:25:05] So the emphasis that God has here
[00:25:08] is that there is a written body of truth.
[00:25:12] Some people think that the Bible
[00:25:14] wasn't written till much later
[00:25:16] but in Joshua's time there was a known
[00:25:19] written body of truth
[00:25:20] and Joshua's entire life demonstrates
[00:25:24] in a practical way that he lived according
[00:25:27] to the teachings of the law of Moses.
[00:25:30] He took the word of God that he had
[00:25:32] and it would not depart from his mouth.
[00:25:35] He would cling to the word of God
[00:25:38] and he would actually moderate to himself.
[00:25:41] It would not depart from his mouth.
[00:25:43] He would be thinking about the word of God constantly.
[00:25:49] God then says, verse nine, have I not commanded you?
[00:25:53] Be strong and courageous.
[00:25:55] Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed
[00:25:58] for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
[00:26:03] And so all of these commissions that God is giving
[00:26:06] to Joshua would help him to know
[00:26:08] that I have the presence of God
[00:26:10] and I have the word of God.
[00:26:12] And these of course are the great weapons
[00:26:14] of modern believers.
[00:26:15] We have the spirit of God
[00:26:17] and we have the word of God.
[00:26:19] Now the people who would read this book originally
[00:26:22] would be encouraged.
[00:26:24] The land is ours, God is with us as we walk with him.
[00:26:29] If we stick to his word, he will be with us,
[00:26:33] he will fight for us, he will give us the victory.
[00:26:37] Now verse 10 tells us that Joshua commanded
[00:26:41] the officers of the people
[00:26:43] and here's what he told them.
[00:26:45] Pass through the midst of the camp
[00:26:47] and command the people, prepare your provisions
[00:26:50] for within three days you're to pass over this Jordan
[00:26:52] to go in to take possession of the land
[00:26:55] that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
[00:26:58] So here we see that they're organized enough
[00:27:01] to have officers and he speaks to the officers
[00:27:04] and gives them some directions.
[00:27:06] He begins to lead right away at this moment.
[00:27:10] And the Rubinites, the Gadites
[00:27:13] and the half tribe of Manasseh,
[00:27:15] Joshua said to them,
[00:27:17] so now no longer just the officers,
[00:27:21] but these other tribes and these two and a half tribes,
[00:27:24] the Rubinites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh,
[00:27:28] they had made a deal that God had sanctioned with Moses
[00:27:33] to send their military men, fighting men
[00:27:39] with Joshua across the Jordan
[00:27:41] to help take the promised land
[00:27:43] but that their wives and their children
[00:27:46] and people who are men who are not of fighting age
[00:27:49] would stay behind on the other side of the Jordan River
[00:27:53] and occupy that part of the land.
[00:27:55] We call them the Transjordanian people.
[00:27:58] They lived on the other side of the Jordan River
[00:28:02] but Joshua commanded them and said,
[00:28:04] remember the word that Moses,
[00:28:06] the servant of the Lord commanded you
[00:28:08] saying the Lord your God is providing you
[00:28:11] a place of rest and will give you this land.
[00:28:13] Your wives, your little ones in your livestock
[00:28:16] shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan
[00:28:19] but all the men of Valor among you shall pass over armed
[00:28:22] before your brothers and shall help them
[00:28:25] until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you
[00:28:28] and they also take possession of the land
[00:28:30] that the Lord your God is giving them.
[00:28:32] Then you shall return to the land of your possession
[00:28:35] and shall possess it,
[00:28:37] the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord gave you
[00:28:40] beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, so toward the east.
[00:28:45] He's giving them a great theme here, the theme of rest.
[00:28:49] He's saying look you'll rest over there
[00:28:51] but not until you come over here and you war with us
[00:28:55] and they verse 16 answered Joshua,
[00:28:59] all that you have commanded us we will do
[00:29:03] and wherever you send us we will go
[00:29:06] just as we obeyed Moses in all things
[00:29:09] so we will obey you only may the Lord your God be
[00:29:15] with you as he was with Moses
[00:29:18] and whoever rebels against your commandment
[00:29:20] and disobeys your words whatever you command him
[00:29:24] shall be put to death only be strong and courageous.
[00:29:30] So here they basically repeat the promise
[00:29:32] and the exhortation of God and say God is with you
[00:29:35] be strong and courageous and oh how good it is
[00:29:40] when we remind one another be strong,
[00:29:43] God is with you as you walk and step with him
[00:29:46] as you stick to his word as you obey him
[00:29:49] he is with you and he will fight on your behalf
[00:29:53] have that strongly and firmly placed within your mind
[00:29:58] and your heart, God bless you.
[00:30:04] Thank you for listening.
[00:30:06] For additional resources and teachings
[00:30:08] or to contact us please visit us at nateforwitch.com