How God Makes Men: Joshua
(Discussion Notes Below)
Joshua’s leadership was the fulfillment of a 600 year old promise. Way back in Genesis 12, God promised to give Abraham land and make him into a great nation. Joshua is the fulfillment of that promise. Joshua follows the leadership of Moses and brings the rag-tag group of nomads (wandering in the desert for 40 years) into the Promise Land.
Joshua – He is all in!
Perhaps Joshua’s greatest character trait is, he’s all in! Joshua’s singular commitment and confidence in God creates a big enough wake for an entire nation to follow behind. The church and our country are in desperate need for this kind of leadership!
Three Examples:
1. Numbers 13: 40 years earlier, Moses sent 12 spies into the Promise Land and when they came back, 10 reported, “It’s a great land, but the people are giants and we are grasshopppers!” Their fear of man was greater than their fear of God. The other two men (Joshua and Caleb) saw the same thing, but their confidence in God dwarfed their fear of man. They report back to Moses, “Let’s go up at once!” Joshua was all in!
2. Joshua 1:2-9: God speaks to Joshua just before entering the land, encouraging him by saying, “Don’t be afraid, be strong and courageous, I will be with you!” I absolutely love Joshua’s response.
And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Joshua 1:10-11
It doesn’t read as exciting as it must have been. Joshua gets his orders from his commanding officer, God, and then turns and tells his officers – Let’s roll! No matter the danger, no matter the personal cost to himself, Joshua had complete confidence in God so when God said go, his response was “let’s roll!”
3. Joshua 24 – Joshua was “all in” to the very end. Joshua looked at the people and told them there would be great powers and great competition for their allegiance. There will be a great temptation to turn back to old ways, but as for me and my house, I’m all in for the Lord.
One man’s confidence and commitment created a big enough wake for an entire nation to follow behind. Men, are you creating enough wake for at least your family to follow?
The God-centeredness of Joshua’s life
This first book of history in the Bible is named after Joshua, but I am sure he would want you to know it was all about God, not about Joshua. We see this theme at the beginning and the end.
The Beginning:
Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” Joshua 3:5
God gave Joshua the signal that the next day he would finally leave the 40 years of wilderness, cross the Jordan river and enter the Promise Land. Try to imagine the excitement, energy, fear. What a buzz! Yet, notice Joshua’s wording. Joshua didn’t say, “Get yourself ready because YOU are going to do wonders.” He said, “The Lord will do wonders.”
The End: Not surprisingly, you see the same God-centeredness at the end of Joshua’s life. Joshua is an old man and his last speech is a history lecture. Reading Joshua 24:3-8, you don’t have to be an English professor to figure out the central character. Twelve times in six verses, “I” is referring to the LORD.
Joshua knows his time on the world’s stage is rapidly coming to a close. He wants the nation to remember God is the main actor on the stage. God never leaves. All Glory goes to God. We live in a completely self-absorbed culture. Today, when you watch football you will likely see men point to the name on the back of their jersey when they score.
Sin and Sincerity
Neither Joshua or the people he leads are perfect. You will find two very familiar actions of the people:
Sin – Despite God’s faithfulness, the people continue to sin with disastrous consequences.
Sincerity – Despite their sinfulness. the people are sincere in their desire and recommitment to follow the LORD.
Sin of Commission – Meaning you do something you know you shouldn’t do (Joshua 6-7). When Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho, God gave instructions that all the precious metals recovered would go to God and everything else (even if it was valuable) should be destroyed. It was the very first battle and God planned on giving the entire nation to the Israelites. Yet, he wanted this one city, this one city in an entire nation, to be off limits. It would serve as a constant reminder that God was truly in charge. God is the true owner of the land.
God generously supplies his people a land, it will be fully stocked with cities and livestock, it will be a land flowing with milk and honey, but God requires just one city to remain off limits. Not because it’s bad, but to remind people of God’s absolute sovereignty. Do you think the people will be able to keep their hands off this one city? Aaaah…NO!
A man named Achan couldn’t keep his hands off some of the silver and gold and a valuable coat. He took them for himself. In an effort to hide it from God and others, he buried them in his tent. Do you hear an echo of Genesis here? The results were disastrous! Your sin, my sin – it doesn’t just affect you! It costs your family, your church, your community.
Sin of Omission – Something you didn’t do, you shouldn’t have done. Joshua and the other leaders are deceived into mistakenly making a treaty with a group of people called Gibeonites. Gibeonites were enemies and didn’t want Israel to succeed. Please underline Joshua 9:14b in your Bible.
So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord.
The leaders analyzed the situation, talked among themselves and came to what they thought was a wise decision. Instead, it was a foolish decision which cost them and the entire country because they relied on their own intelligence rather than asking the Lord. Have you ever done that? Assumed your analysis was correct and went with it rather than seeking counsel from the LORD?
Remember Proverbs 14:12 – “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
In several places in the book of Joshua, the people remember and sincerely recommit themselves to the LORD (Chapters 5, 8 and 24). Read the recommitment ceremony at the end of Joshua’s life in Joshua 24:16-24. This back and forth is not questioning the commitment, it’s a way of strengthening it. Although the people are imperfect, they sincerely desired to follow the LORD.
Questions:
- Joshua’s commitment, confident and courage created a wake big enough to influence an entire nation. We are not all called to be Joshua but we are called to create a wake that others might be influenced by. What wake are you creating? How?
- Is there something/someone God is calling you toward, to enter into like Joshua and the Promised Land, that you are hesitant to enter because of fear or apathy. Are you Ready to Roll?
- Sin & Sincerity: Anything you are trying to hide? Any agreements with people/habits which seek your destruction? Any need for recommitment because you trusted your own counsel?
- In a very self-centered culture, how do we live Christ-centered lives rather than lives which arc back and point to ourselves?
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