JOSHUA: GOD IS SALVATION (part 2)

BE STRONG AND OF A GOOD COURAGE
"For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Whom we preached among you... was not Yes and No; but in Him it is always Yes.  For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him. That is why we utter the Amen through Him, to the glory of God."  (2 Corinthians 1:19,20 RSV).

Joshua had proven his faith in God's promises.  He and Caleb were the only two who had actually seen the Promised Land and were ready 40 years earlier to actually go in and take it.  That was when Moses was the one hearing from God and leading the Israelites forward, however.  Now, Moses was dead, and Joshua was anointed by God to lead the people.  It is one thing to simply follow someone who is hearing from God, and another thing to have to hear from God for ourselves.  It is important for every child of God to learn this however.  Though we depend on other believers to admonish and edify us in the Lord, we must always remember that it is Jesus Christ Who we have been called to follow.  We can, and must, make the effort to know the Lord for ourselves and "work out our own salvation."  A true leader will not demand (or tolerate) that you follow him blindly, but like the apostle Paul will encourage you to follow him only to the degree to which he is following Christ.  This puts the responsibility on each of us to know God for ourselves.  It is impossible for someone who knows the truth to believe a lie.  Jesus is the Truth; and if we abide in Him, then the light of His presence will expose any lie that we are confronted with.

Our Father in heaven knows our frailties and self-doubting, and He encourages us along the way.  He constantly reminds us that it is not by our own strength that we will prevail, but by His.  Three times God spoke to Joshua before they crossed the Jordan River and said, "Be strong and of a good courage."  Joshua evidently needed that encouragement going forward, and we do too!  It is an awesome responsibility to be used of God and to speak His words.  We must first take the time out of our busy schedules to hear from God ourselves.  If we are not drawing fresh water out of the wells of salvation we will not have anything fresh and alive to share with others.  Oh, we can quote Bible verses and "Christian" sayings; but if we aren't feeding on the heavenly manna ourselves, our words will be hollow.  Because God told Joshua to be strong and courageous, Joshua could then encourage those he was leading to do so also.  As the Apostle Paul said, "Blessed be God...Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."  (2 Corinthians 1:3,4) 

MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD

After 40 years of wandering in the desert of Sinai, the generation of Israelites who refused to believe God's promises at Kadesh-Barnea all died.  It was their children who now stood at the threshold of the Promised Land.  Only three men of the original host who escaped from Egypt now survived.  They were Moses, Joshua, and Caleb.  These were the men who had believed God all along.  Two of them would cross over the River Jordan and possess Canaan, but Moses was refused admittance because of his actions at the waters of Meribah where he took out his frustration on the people of God.  Moses chose his own actions over God's direction on that occasion, and paid a price for his error.  God did lead him up into a nearby mountain where he could see the Promised Land, but then he died there without ever entering in.  After Moses' death, God said to Joshua, "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."  (Joshua 1:2) 

Joshua is representative of Christ and of the New Covenant which leads us into this promised new land of victory, joy, and peace.  Moses is representative of the Law and of the Old Covenant which were incapable of leading us into the promises and into the overcoming life.  Moses (representing the law) was forbidden to enter into the Promised Land.  By this the scripture is indicating that those promises could only be attained by faith and not by the works of the law, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ... for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Galatians 2:16).  What the law couldn't do because of the weakness of mortal flesh, Christ was able to accomplish through faith.  The righteousness of the law can only be fulfilled in us by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:3, 4).  "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God."  (Hebrews 7:19)  Under Moses (the law), the people could not enter in.  Once Moses was dead, Joshua (Jesus) was free to lead the people in.  As long as we rely on the keeping of commandments as the means for our entry into the righteousness of God, it will never happen.  The law must be dead to us and us to the law in order for us to proceed into all that God has promised His children by grace.  “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.” (Galatians 2:19).  This is just one more example of how the Old Testament history of God’s people Israel typifies and points to the eternal principles of God’s Kingdom and their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

How do we become dead to the law and alive to Christ?  We must die daily and be resurrected.  As Paul says in Galatians 2:20, " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me."  Through baptism, we  identify ourselves with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.  Just as He was crucified and buried in a tomb, we are placed in the water and "buried" under the surface.  Once buried, we are then dead to sin, the flesh, the devil, and the law.  In the same way, then, that Jesus was raised from the dead, we are raised out of the water in the likeness of Jesus' resurrection.  The Christian's life must be completely wrapped up in Christ in order for him to be totally successful and victorious.  Our flesh wants to rule our life and our actions.  Its choices are not based on God's goodness or will, but its own best interests.  The only way we can oust the lordship of our old, carnal nature over our life is to reckon him to be dead in Christ.  Again, Paul expresses it best in Colossians 3:1-3, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

THE MIRACLE OF JORDAN

Before the Israelites could enter into the Promised Land, they first had to find a way over the Jordan River which was swollen past its banks at that time.  Just as their fathers faced the Red Sea, they now faced this obstacle.  In both cases, these bodies of water represented death by drowning to God's children.  If they stayed put, they could not possess the land.  If they tried to swim it, most would surely drown.  This was a dilemma, but God had the answer.  He would dry up the river at the point where they must cross.  God's answer is always life from death, strength from weakness, and wisdom from foolishness.  Like baptism, the Israelites had to enter the river (death), but God would bring them through and grant them life (resurrection).  It is the only way that we can enter in.  We must die to our old life so that we can embrace God's new life in Christ.  At the Red Sea the Israelites were fleeing Pharaoh and Egypt and leaving them behind forever.  At the Jordan River they were leaving something much more.  Before the Jews could enter into Canaan, the whole generation that left Egypt (save three), had to perish in the wilderness.  “But with whom was He [God] grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?” (Hebrews 3:17).  This is symbolic of something extremely important.  It reveals that our old man (our carnal nature) must be put to death so that our new man (our spiritual nature) can enter into the victory that is in Christ.  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  It was a whole new generation that entered the Promised Land with Joshua.  Jesus said it plainly enough, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.”  (Matthew 10:39; see also Luke 17:33).  Beloved, we must forsake our old life, our old ways, and our old nature if we want to move into the promises of God and start to mature as Christians.  We cannot pretend that it’s possible to do the Lord’s will and our own will at the same time. 

The priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant were the first to go down into the water.  God said that He would not roll the water back until the feet of the priests touched the brink of the river.  The priests are those who had dedicated their lives to the service of God.  They were all in for God.  This is what our commitment for God must look like also.  As Christians, we are all considered kings and priests to God today (1 Peter 2:9).  As members of Christ's body, we all have a crucial function to perform within that body.  So, as priests, we must be willing to "get our feet wet" in the river.  In other words, we must be willing to believe God and trudge forward even if we don't see God's miracle immediately.  If God intends for us to walk right into Jordan before He rolls the water back, then our faith must be up to the task.  Faith is our victory!  We must walk by faith and not by sight.  We who believe need to be the examples for those around us, proving that God is faithful to them who trust Him.  We would all rather see God work the miracle before we step out into those raging waters, but He won’t move until we do!  We must remember that we are bearing the very presence of God with us into the waters.  Christ Himself (symbolized by the Ark) goes with us and therefore we can do all things through Him Who strengthens us.  He has said that He is with us always, even to the end of this earth.

Just as God promised, as soon as the priests stepped into Jordan, God divided the waters before them, and the priests stayed right there in the middle of the dry river bed until every child of God had crossed over.  Right at the beginning, before any city was taken in Canaan, and before any giant was slain, the people had to learn to pass from death to life.  Only then could they be victorious over their enemies.  What a glorious picture for us who, through Christ's death and resurrection, have also passed from death to life.  Now we are prepared to put every enemy and every obstacle to flight through Christ.  We can indeed do all things through Christ Who strengthens us!

TWELVE STONES

While the priests were still standing in Jordan with the Ark upon their shoulders, the Lord commanded Joshua to do something very specific.  He was to select twelve men, one from every tribe, and they were each to carry a large stone from the wilderness side of Jordan and place it in the riverbed where the priests were standing.  They were then instructed to collect a large stone from the riverbed and carry it over to the far side of Jordan and pile them together in the Promised Land.  God said, “…these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.” (Joshua 4:7).  The stones were to be a sign for all generations from that time on of what God accomplished for His children on that day.  The stones that went into the Jordan were never to be taken out again, and the stones that came out of Jordan were never to be placed back in.  Also, because a man from every tribe of Israel was selected to represent his tribe and perform these acts, it meant that every individual in every tribe was represented by these acts.  There was a stone in the River Jordan for every member of each tribe, and likewise, there was a stone for every member on the other side of Jordan.  No one was left out! 

Now these twelve stones are significant for much more than just a notable miracle that God performed for Israel to usher them across the Jordan and into the Promised Land.  God made them a perpetual memorial for the children of God.  This means that we are included also in this blessing because believers in Jesus, whether Jews or Gentiles, have been placed in one body in Christ.  “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Romans 2:29).

The significance of these stones to the children of God today is profound.  The twelve stones that were once on dry land and were placed in Jordan were completely submerged once God released the waters of the river, and the stones that once were underwater were now forever raised up on dry land.  For every Jew there was a stone that was buried forever, and for every Jew there was a stone that was forever raised up.  Similarly today, our old man is forever buried with Christ in the waters when we were baptized, and our new man is forever raised up with Christ from those same waters.  The Apostle Paul tells us that we should reckon ourselves to be dead to sin (along with our past life), but alive to God through Christ (Romans 6:8-11). 

It is our faith that is the active ingredient in our Christian experience.  Without it we cannot please God at all.  Paul cautions us in the third chapter of Hebrews not to be like those Jews who died in the wilderness because they had hardened their hearts against God’s will for their lives.  He tells us to fear lest, having received the promises of God like they did, we, too, might not be able to enter in.  “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Hebrews 4:2).  It is high time for us, the Church, to awake out of sleep and embrace all that God has promised and freely given us in Christ.  If we don’t go forward, we are going to go backward; and the only thing behind us is bondage again.  “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.” (Hebrews 3:14).  Christ is the Captain of our salvation, and He is leading us into the Promised Land to vanquish all our foes.  Let us follow Him into victory!