Now we've sort of jumped ahead.
We're going to come back and cover the earlier verses in this
chapter six. But I want to spend some time
on verse 11 again. There are two Joshua's in the
scripture that we pay particular attention to because both of
these Joshua's and their name means saved. Same word we find
throughout the New Testament, the name Jesus. They shall call,
you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. So these two Joshua's, one is
found in the Pentateuch and in the book of Joshua, and one is
found here in the book of Zechariah. He's mentioned in a couple other
places, but he is the high priest. Zechariah, the original Zechariah
found in the book of, excuse me, Joshua, the earlier Joshua's
found a lot in the book of Joshua now we looked last week at this
Joshua the son of nun and gave The Bible gives us some wonderful
Pictures of our Savior in this man So often the Lord uses pictures
to share with us the real Joshua the real Adam and the real son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is truly
the chief captain. That's what this word captain
means. It's a chief captain and he has the right to have a capital
at the beginning of his name or at the end where we look at
the word captain. Capital is also called a captain. But let's leave that as he would
choose to leave that as a small letter. It is Joshua is only
doing what God has called on him to do and he is only saved
by the grace of God and nothing else. Joshua did not contribute
one thing to his salvation. He is like the rest of the lot
that God is going to save. We do not contribute one thread. to our robe of righteousness.
We do not contribute one work to the work of Jesus Christ.
If we do, it is not his work, and we are in vain. The Lord
Jesus is truly the chief captain of our salvation. He is the first
in line, the chief leader, the one that takes the lead. This
is the Lord Jesus. Now we're gonna spend a little
time, at four times in the New Testament, catching up with this
joshua four times in the new testament that that word captain
is used but is translated in various ways but would you turn
with me back to the book of joshua here in the book of zachariah
chapter six and verse eleven uses joshua the son of joshua
the high priest and we want to look at the two joshuas that
are found in scripture that speak to us of the true joshua our
lord and savior the salvation and high priest in the book of
joshua Chapter five, the children of Israel have crossed over the
Jordan River. They've gone through and sat
down for a time of rest. And here in chapter five, we
have the small captain meeting the capital captain. We have Joshua meeting the captain
of the Lord's hosts. Now listen as we read this, found
in the book of Joshua chapter 5 and verse 13, and it came to
pass when Joshua was by Jericho. Now Jericho was the first obstacle
in taking the promised land. We already are going to find
out though that everybody in Jericho is scared to death. They
have heard of Israel when they crossed the Red Sea 40 years
earlier. And this was a constant message
among those who lived here that someone is coming. Israel is
coming. And Rahab shares that with us. That there has been this constant
thought among the people of Jericho. Now here it tells us, Joshua
was by Jericho and he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold
there stood a man Over against him with his sword drawn in his
hand up to him Unto him and said unto him art thou for us or for
our adversaries now if this one had been for the adversaries
Joshua would have drawn his sword He is for Israel. He's the captain
of the armies of Israel. Capital, captain, small c. And he said, nay, but as captain
of the hosts of the Lord, am I now come. So we have a much
greater captain talking to this captain. We have the captain
of the hosts of the Lord. We have that word used a number
of times in the scripture. Sonia, it reminded me of going
to that verse of scripture in the book of Zechariah where the
Lord of hosts is used three times in one verse. This is the captain
of the Lord's hosts. This is the Lord's host captain,
capital C. Joshua knew what to do immediately
when he met this captain and that was to humble himself before
this great captain he fell on his face and did worship and
Seven to him now you remember what happened over in the book
of revelation when some people fell down and worshipped John
fell down what appeared to and that What appeared to be an angel
says, don't do that. I'm just like you are. I'm just
a man like you are. So we don't worship men. But
this Joshua, captain of the armies of Israel, fell down and worshipped
the captain of the hosts of the Lord. Worshipped him. What sayeth
my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
hosts said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off thy foot. For
the place whereon thou standest is holy, and Joshua did so. Now in Isaiah chapter six, these
words are used about God Almighty. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God Almighty. And here he is standing before
the captain of the hosts of Israel, and the captain of the hosts
of Israel is bowed before him, he's taking his shoes off, it's
a picture It's a it's a showing us the humility that he had before
the king of kings and lord of lords Then it tells us in verse
6 of the chapter 6 now Jericho was straightly shut up because
of the children of Israel none went out and none came in and
the Lord said unto Joshua now that's capital letters Lord Jehoshua
see I have given into thy hand Jericho and the king thereof
and the mighty men of valor what comfort the captain of the hosts
of the Lord gave to the captain of the armies of Israel there
would be no greater comfort to a captain of an army than than
to realize that the captain over all the hosts of God was going
to take care of the battle. When I walked in this evening
or was in the foyer there, there's a sign that says, the battle
is not yours but the Lord's. That's scripture. That is a great
comfort when it comes to dealing with our children and our grandchildren. and our parents, and our uncle,
and aunts, and all those friends that we have that we want to
share the gospel with, we can come to this conclusion, the
battle is not ours, it's the Lord's. If anything is ever going
to be done here, it must be done just exactly like He did it with
us, without our participation. That is the gospel. He is going
to be the Savior that saves and the Redeemer that redeems, and
He does not allow us to participate. I ask a young man today, once
again, in repetition, how much do you have to do with your birth?
Repeat it over and over. And I said, do you think for
a moment that the Lord is going to have us do something in a
far greater spiritual context than our physical? How much do
we have to do with our new birth? nothing We thankful to the somebody
who came along and knew something about the gospel and preached
the gospel to us Because that's what God uses now we react in
different ways the gospel brings various reactions But the gospel
must be preached and then God if he is pleased If God is pleased
he will give us the new birth. It's not because we vote for
it It's because he gives it out of grace. So we have this captain
of the hosts of Israel. And he's a great captain. He's
an honest person. He's a believer. He came back
with a good report. He came back with a report that
we can go into that land and we can remove those giants. God said he'd do it for us. And
the rest of them, unbelievers, said we can't do that. We have
to get involved. And so the story goes on. Alright, let's go over to the
book of Hebrews chapter 2 for just a moment. Four verses of
scripture and then we're going to go on to the Joshua the high
priest. In the book of Hebrews chapter
2 we have this wonderful gift given to our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and to the church. He is truly the captain of the
church. He is the captain of spiritual
Israel. He's the captain of our salvation. He is the captain. He is the
chief. He is the alpha and omega. He is the, as Hebrews is going
to share with us, that he is the author and the finisher of
our faith. He is captain in all things when
it comes to our salvation. And here in Hebrews chapter two,
Hebrews chapter two and verse 10, Hebrews chapter 2, verse
10, the scriptures share this. For it became him, for whom are
all things, and by whom all things, in bringing many sons unto glory,
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Now we realize through this that
the only way that salvation is going to be granted is that this
captain of our salvation endure the suffering of the cross in
payment for our sin. He is the captain of our salvation. He's the captain over all our
sin. He is the captain of our hope.
He is the captain of our peace. He is our captain. He is the
captain of our salvation, as Joshua illustrates there, to
the captain of the armies of Israel. Now, we've shared this
a number of times in the past, but we find out that there's
only one time that any of the army of Israel lost any of their
men, and that was trying to take Ai. The rest, we don't have anybody
dies. Isn't that wonderful to have
a captain that has all survivors? That the battle is his. Now,
there was some blood, sweat, and tears, no doubt. There was
activity. The preaching of the gospel is
our part. But the results of it, the salvation
of it, belongs to God. So those battles that they went
to, and they were intense, hand to hand. But that captain, of
the armies of Israel was such a captain in the eyes of God,
in the eyes of us as we look at it, that he didn't have anybody
die as a result of going into battle. So we're not going to
lose our salvation. He has it intact. God has it
intact. All right. So he's the captain
of our salvation. Now, three other times in the
New Testament is this particular word that's been translated captain
used. And I would like to read those
three. The first one is found in Acts chapter 3. Would you
turn with me to Acts chapter 3? As we think of the chief,
the chief captain, the word translated captain. It is here in Acts chapter
3 and verse 15. Acts chapter 3 and verse 15,
and it shares with us there, and killed the prince. Now, every
time that this particular word is used in the New Testament,
and that's the only place that we find it. It's a Greek word
used four times every time it's used with regard to Christ. He
is the captain of our salvation. And here it says, and killed
the prince of life, the captain of life. Now that seems an oxymoron,
but to us, that is all our salvation. That God the Father put upon
his son when he had our sins placed upon him, put upon him
such strenuous work that it consumed him on the cross. He is the prince
of life whom God hath raised from the dead wherever we are
witnesses. He is the prince of life. Our
life depends upon this captain. We don't get life from anywhere
else. We look back there in the Old Testament, in that Genesis
chapter 2, God breathed into that dirt baby, that dirt man,
breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and he became a living
soul. Now that's what the captain of our life does, the prince
of life does that. He is so gracious to his people
that he gives them life. All right, let's look in chapter
5 of the book of Acts. Chapter 5 and verse 3, but Peter
said, Oh my goodness. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be Prince and Savior. Is that 13? Nope. You know, I checked this twice. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand. First 31. 31, thank you. Just one numeral was missing.
Verse 31, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince
and a savior, a captain and a savior, that same word, to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Now in religion, the religionists
are asking us to repent of our sins and have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And in reality, those are gifts
of the new birth. They're gifts of God. They're
an impossible thing to do without regeneration. But as it shares
with us here in that verse of scripture, he to exalted with
his right hand to be a prince and a savior. Now this word applies
to the Lord Jesus Christ once again. And then if you'll turn
with me to Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2. Hebrews chapter
12 and verse 2. As we look at this Joshua, as
he pictures the Lord and as we find him as the captain or as
the prince of our salvation, the prince of life, here in the
book of Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2, can you see the word that has
been translated here from that word prince? 12 and verse 2,
there's only one and that's the word author. He is the prince
and finisher of our faith. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. That's how great a captain he
is. Without this great captain, we'd not have faith. He's the
one that gives it to us. So he's the author. He's the
one that creates it, gives it to us, places it within us, and
we are able to respond to him in faith. It's the faith of God's
elect. It is the faith of Jesus Christ.
It is the faith of the captain. So how Joshua inspired those
troops. Knowing full well that his conversation
had just been with the captain of the host of the Lord and he
came down and said to his troops The battle is not ours, but it's
the Lord's now. This is what he's going to ask
you to do march around the city and Be quiet about it March around
the city again and be quiet about it did that, did that. Seventh day march around the
city seven times and be quiet about it. Now no captain would
do that to his army unless he was absolutely convinced of success
and Joshua was absolutely convinced that the Lord of hosts was winning
the battle. So that's what he instructed
him to do. Gave a great shout the seventh time around. And
you know, I saw pictures in my Sunday school papers of how that
wall went out like this. That wall was so thick that if
it had done that, it was worse rubble than we have. It went
down like this. And Rahab, whose house was attached
to that wall, was on ground floor when it was over. No wonder they
could easily find her. So the captain of the host of
the Lord won the battle. And this captain of the hosts
of the armies of Israel is a tremendous picture for us. Now, Joshua the
son of Nun pictured Christ in reality. Christ is the reality. And he pictured him as a captain.
Now in Zechariah chapter 6 and verse 11, we're introduced again
to a Joshua. Now this Joshua has been introduced
to us before here in the book of Zechariah. In Zechariah chapter
3, would you turn there with me? this is joshua the son of
joshua this is joshua has a title of high priest we have met this
high priest in the book of zechariah chapter three now this this joshua
joshua chapter three verse one it says and he showed me joshua
the high priest standing before the angel of the lord and satan
standing in the right hand to resist him Wonderful thing about
the captain of our salvation. He takes care of even this enemy
We don't have any power over this enemy in the book of revelation We
read those wonderful verses they overcame him by the power by
the blood of the lamb It's the only way that will overcome this
enemy It's by the blood of the lamb now either the blood of
the lamb took care of it, or it didn't and The blood of the Lamb took care
of this enemy, or it didn't. The blood of the Lamb took care
of this enemy. And Joshua was caused to stand there by the
Lord, even though there was this raised hand against him. Silence. I like it when we go into the
courtroom and we're able to say, take that up with my lawyer. He's representing me. I'm keeping
my mouth shut. Well, what about all those things
you did? Take that up with my lawyer.
And the scripture says, who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elected is God that justifieth. So who can do that? Nobody. God's satisfied with the work
of and ministry of the Savior, the Lord Jesus. Verse three of
that same, now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments. Stood before
the angel well. He this Joshua is particularly
a man He does have natural filthy garments on we're born that way,
and then it tells us in verse 6 the angel the Lord Protested
unto Joshua saying now that word protest there doesn't mean like
we're protesting. It's just speaking to him now
we noticed in there that the Lord said take away the filthy
garments verse 4 and And unto him he said, behold, I have caused
an iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a
change of raiment. How wonderful it is to have our iniquity taken
away. Now that could only happen by
the true Joshua, our high priest, the Lord Jesus. All right? And
then it tells us in verse 8, hear now, O Joshua, the high
priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they
are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant, the branch. What this illustrate the branch
we know who that is that's the Lord Jesus Christ? Mentioned
several times and we'll look forward to the time when we get
to that word over here again in the sixth chapter But this
Joshua the son of joshua dick the high priest has had these
things Brought to his attention and has been taken care of now
Aaron was the first high priest over Israel when the children
of Israel came out of Egypt they came into the into the wilderness.
They're there by Mount Sinai. They're instructed to build the
tabernacle and all that went with it. And when we were going
to the book of Leviticus, we went over to the book of Numbers
and looked at this high priestly garments that Aaron was required
to put on. And they were significant garments. They pictured so much about the
salvation and the Savior that we have, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, Aaron was the first high priest. Now he had four sons.
He had four sons and two of them offered strange fire. In other
words, they preached the false gospel. That's as clear as can
be. They preached a false gospel
and God showed what he does to people that preach a false gospel.
Now I'm thankful that as Peter denied the Lord Jesus and the
Lord was merciful to him and Judas did almost the same thing
and he had no mercy upon him because he was not one of his
children. I'm thankful that even though I used to preach the false
gospel, God was merciful to me and saved me out of that mess.
And now I can share the gospel of a savior that actually saves
his people from their sins. Now this one son was called Eleazar. Now I'd like to look at three
or four places in the Old Testament that have to do with this particular
son who is going to be the next high priest. Now he is going
to illustrate some wonderful points about our Savior as the
true high priest. Even before he is made a high
priest, he does fulfill a priestly office and says some things so
blessed about our Savior, the true high priest. So turn with
me, if you would, over to the book of Numbers. Numbers, as
we look at Eleazar, the high priest. Joshua, the son of Josedek,
is the high priest in the days of Zechariah. Joshua is a picture
of our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here
in the book of Numbers, we're going to look at a, he's not
quite high priest yet, he will be. He's the son of Aaron, and
he's going to take the place of Aaron. Aaron is not going
to be permitted to go into the land. He is going to die on a
mountain, but before he does, and we'll read that, he is required
to take off his clothes and put them on his son. All right, Numbers
chapter three in verse 32. Would you read that with me?
Numbers chapter three. And Eliezer, the son of Aaron,
the priest, shall be chief over the chief of the Levites. Now
notice that. Eliezer has an office that we
don't find with regard to Aaron. Here we have in Numbers chapter
three in verse 32, Eliezer, the son of Aaron, who's going to
be the next high priest, The priest shall be chief over the
chief of the Levites. Now, what does that mean to us?
He is the high priest over all his priests. He is the king over
all his kings. We're called kings and priests
in the book of Revelation. The church is called that. But
we have one that is over us, and he is the chief of the Levites. Elijah, the son of Aaron, the
priest, shall be chief over the chief of the Levites. He has
an office, and this office has been granted to him, given to
him, and we look at our Savior, He has an office, and His office
is prophet, priest, and king. And we'll find him pictured in
kings of the Old Testament, prophets of the Old Testament, and priests
in the Old Testament, and here's one. He will have the oversight
of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary. Isn't it wonderful
to know that our great high priest has charge over the sanctuary
and charge over the people? It's pictured here by Eliezer,
but we have him, the true high priest, our savior, pictured
by Joshua there in the book of Zechariah. He has all control
over everything that, who has the oversight of the church?
Who is the head of the church? Who is the chief of the church?
Who is the pastor of the church? Who is the atonement for the
church? Who is, it's Christ. And everything else, we are submit
to him. Well, let's travel along this
course in Numbers chapter 4 and verse 16. Numbers chapter 4 and
verse 16, it says, and to the office of Eliezer, the son of
Aaron, the priest, pertaineth. Now, look at this list. There
is just message after message in this one verse of scripture,
the book of Numbers. We're going to get here eventually.
We'll get here eventually. But look at this list. And the
office of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest, pertaineth
the oil for the light. Did you see that? Pertaineth
to the oil for the light. Numbers chapter 4, verse 16. Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the
priest, pertaineth the oil for the light, and now notice, and
the sweet incense, This is his responsibility. This is what
he is over. He is over the oil for the light.
Our great high priest is over the oil for the light. And the
incense, the sweet incense, over in the book of Revelation, that
incense is the sweet odors, is the prayer of the saints. He
is over that. If we've ever prayed a prayer,
it's because God has prompted us. And then it goes on, and
the daily meat offering, the daily meat offering, he's over
that. Our daily manna, he's over that. And the anointing oil, and the
oversight of the tabernacle, and of all that therein is in
the sanctuary and in the vessels thereof. Look at the responsibility
that Eliezer, the son of Aaron, has here. Now to some, he's got
too much authority. But the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the church says, you've taken care of all the offices.
Thank you. We're not going to have a vote
here. You've taken care of all the offices. You are over the
light. You are over the incense. You
are over the sanctuary. You have the oversight of the
tabernacle of the church. And all that therein is, all
the members in there and the sanctuary and the vessels thereof,
He is over it all. That's what Zechariah is a picture
of. Now turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Numbers chapter 10. Now, I'll be glad when we
get here, because I've always wanted to look at the red heifer.
I was looking online today, and the red heifer was born in 2020. The world is looking, religious
world is looking for a red heifer so they can build a third temple.
And on there, it said it's been born. Well, that is poppycock. That is just, to have animal
sacrifices again after the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is terrible,
terrible. He is the perfect sacrifice. We don't need to go back to animal
sacrifices. But anyway, here in the book
of Numbers chapter 19, There in verse 1 it says, now
there is a lot to be said about this red heifer. One of the few
times we have a female, the only time we are looking at a specific
color, red, and that means red. There was no mixture. And it's
to be without blemish. The word for red here, I believe,
is the same word we find over in the book of Genesis chapter
2, when Adam was created. Adam's name means red. We're
talking about someone who is going to picture the humanity
that Jesus Christ is going to die for. But let's look here.
This is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord hath commanded,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee
a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which
never came yoke." The requirements. Red heifer, without blemish,
without spot, and never been in a yoke, never worked in a
field. And ye shall give her unto Eliezer
the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp. This is one of the few offerings
that are taken without the camp, which fills us in when we get
to the book of Hebrews and find out he was taken without the
camp, our savior. The one shall slay her before
his face. He is going to watch the process. And Eliezer the priest shall
take up her blood with his finger and sprinkle her blood directly
before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times. And
that tabernacle under this circumstances represents the church and the
blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on the behalf of our sin. And
then it goes on, and one shall burn the heifer in his sight.
Her skin and her flesh and her blood and her dung shall he burn
completely. There is nothing left out. This
is one of the few sacrifices that some pieces were not taken
out of and given to the priest to eat. This red heifer was completely
burned. Now they do something else towards
the end of this that is different than all of the other sacrifices
and it tells us there in verse six, and the priest shall take
cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet and cast it into the midst of
the burning of the heifer. There's significance here. Then
the priest shall wash his clothes and he shall bathe his flesh
in water and afterward he shall come into the camp and the priest
shall be unclean until even. Now there's so much about Christ
in this, but notice who's in charge of this? Aliezer, the
priest. Aliezer's in charge. Now, at this point, he's not
even the high priest. Let's go just a little bit further
in Numbers chapter 20. See what we have looking ahead
of us in the book of Numbers? This is good stuff. Numbers chapter
20, verse 23. And the children of Israel, even
the whole congregation, journeyed from Kedesh and came into Mount
Hor, and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the Mount
of Hor by the coast of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered
unto his people. In other words, Aaron's going
to die. For he shall not enter into the
land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because
he rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron
and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor, and strip
Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son, and
Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
And Moses did as the Lord commanded, and they went up into the Mount
Hor, in the sight of all the congregation, and Moses stripped
Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son, and
Aaron died there in the top of the Mount, And Moses and Eliezer
came down from the mount. And when all the congregation
saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron 30 days, even
all the house of Israel. So we have Eliezer as the new
priest. Now there's something really
interesting about Eliezer. You know, I've said a long time,
there were two people out of that first generation that got
to go into the promised land, Joshua and Caleb. I got to find
out that Eliezer went in as the high priest. What a tremendous
statement about our Savior. He goes in. He is part of. And that is brought out here
in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse
6. Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse
6, and the children of Israel took their journey from Baroth
of the children of Jacob, of Moserah. There Aaron died, and
there he buried, and Eliezer's son ministered in the priest's
office in his stead." Deuteronomy chapter 10, and there in verse
6. And then Joshua, jump to Joshua
chapter 14. Joshua chapter 14. He's ministering
in the priest's office. How beautiful all of these illustrations
give us of Joshua, the high priest, and truly of our Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, as our high priest, after the order of Melchizedek. And our time is running out tonight,
so we'll have to save that for next week. But look here in the
book of Joshua chapter 14 and verse 1. And these are the countries which
the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which
Eliezer the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads
of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed
for inheritance to them." Isn't it interesting that Eliezer the
high priest is participating in the dividing of the land or
giving every spiritual blessing unto his people. How beautiful
our Savior is in all these types and shadows and pictures and
we find that the Lord Jesus Christ our true High Priest. These represented Christ is our
High Priest and We're going to look a little
more next week at that very subject in the book of Hebrews. But our
time is escaped tonight. So, Aliezer, the priest, high
priest. Joshua, the son of Joshadeck,
the high priest. What they had in common and how
they illustrate our savior, the Lord Jesus. Joshua, the captain
of the hosts of the armies of Israel. And Joshua, Jesus Christ,
the captain of our salvation. Joshua, the high priest. Jesus, Joshua, our high priest. Our true high priest, the one
that could do something for us. Joshua could do no more than
offer animal sacrifices. Jesus Christ offered himself. the true sacrifice to pay for
the sins of his people.