Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 12. Joshua 12. In this chapter, the Spirit of
God has been pleased to give an exact account of the victories
that were given unto the nation of Israel victories that were
wrought totally by the Lord under the leadership and direction
of two men, Moses and Joshua. Now, we're going to look at this
chapter, all 24 verses. If you look at this chapter,
you just kind of glance over it, you're going to notice that
the vast majority of it is just the names of kings and cities. But do you know that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God? And it's profitable. It's profitable
for rebuke, correction, instruction, and righteousness. I was thinking
to myself as I was going over my notes this morning, Joshua 24 is as precious to the
child of God as Ephesians 1. We love Ephesians 1, don't we?
John 17, the high priestly prayer of our Lord, precious, precious,
precious truth. Joshua chapter 12, precious. truth. Now the first six verses
of Joshua chapter 12 relate the victories that were given by
the Lord unto Israel under the direction and leadership
of Moses. Let's read those first six verses.
Now these are the kings of the land which the children of Israel
smote and possessed their land on the other side of Jordan toward
the rising of the sun. If you look at a map of the promised
land, you look at a map and it's kind of, here's the land, it's
kind of divided. Land on the west side is when
they came into Canaan. They came from the east. and
he crossed over the Jordan River and came into the west side of
Jordan. But everything on the east side
of Jordan is what they're talking about right here. He's talking
about the land that was given, kings that were smitten by the
Lord under the direction of Moses. And as I was looking, I had the
privilege of having a map that shows this land and how it was
divided out. It says that these are the kings
of the land which children of Israel smote and possessed their
land on the other side toward the rising of the sun from the
east from the river Arnon. And I looked on this map and
it showed here's the whole land of Edah. I'm going to do it the
way you're looking at it. Here's Jordan River. The east to you would
be over here. west over the Mediterranean Sea
over here. Everything on this side, down
here was a river. I found it, looked on the map,
there was the River Arnon down here on the bottom part, and
Mount Hermon up here on the top, and it just showed, this was
the land. And here was the land from the rising of the sun from
the River Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east.
Sihon, king of the Amorites who dwelt in Heshbon and ruled from
Aurora, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from
the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even into the
river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon, and
from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, under
the sea, the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way
to Bejeth Emoth, and from the south under Ashdoth Pisgah, and
the coast of Og, king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the
giants that dwelt in Ashtoroth, and at Edreai, and reigned in
Mount Hermon, and in Salchah, and all Bashan, under the border
of the Jeshurites, and the Macanathites, and half Gilead, the border of
Sihon, king of Heshbon. Them did Moses, the servant of
the Lord, and the children of Israel smite, And Moses, the
servant of the Lord, gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites,
the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. So here's what we
got. We got an exact history of all
the land that was given unto two and a half tribes. out of
the nation of Israel, out of the 12 tribes of Israel, two
and a half tribes had land on the east side. That's where they
came from. Came out of Egypt, came on there, and they're coming,
they're getting ready. They're coming into this land right here. Here's
the Jordan River. When they cross over, they gonna
come over into the land that's promised, the Canaan, land of
Canaan. Before they got there, God gave
victory. He gave victory. under the leadership
of Moses to two and a half tribes of Israel. Now, there's a couple
of things I want us to remember. Things that we know, things we
want to hear again. Here's the first thing. Everything
that was given unto the nation of Israel was according to promise,
according to promise. Hold your place right there,
turn back to Genesis 15. Genesis chapter 15, the Lord
is speaking to a man named Abraham. Genesis 15, verse 13 to 14, this
is what the Lord told him, Genesis 15, 13, he said unto Abram, know
of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs, and shall serve them. They shall afflict them
400 years, And also that nation whom they shall serve will I
judge, and afterwards shall they come out with a great substance,
the Lord told Moses said, of a surety. Your seed's gonna possess a land
that wasn't yours. I gave it to you. You're gonna
serve, you're gonna come into a nation and you're gonna serve
them. They're gonna come into Egypt, and they did. And I'm gonna judge that man.
And he did. And you're gonna come out with
a great substance. And they did. And how they walked
in the wilderness for 40 years. You remember why they walked
for 40 years? Because they sent some spies over into the land
of Canaan and 12 of them, only two of them, only two of them
said, we can take this. Ten of them said, no, no, no,
no, no. I don't think we can do this. We're going to, we're
going to, those people are big over there. I don't know. They're walled cities that go
up, oh, into heaven. They just can't take it. Forty
days they were over there. And the Lord said, you're going
to spend forty years in the wilderness. But Jacob Caleb and Joshua, those
two that believed him, you can go in. You others, you're gonna
die in this wilderness. And they did. But this land was
given by promise. So that's the first thing I want
you to remember. But here's the second thing I want you to remember. Though these victories, and that's
what we did, we just read in first six verses of Joshua 12,
and it was talking about the kings. And the cities that were
smitten through the means of the leadership of Moses, smitten
by the Lord. And these cities, kings that
were overrun, God Almighty did that. He did it according to
promise. But here's the second thing I want you to remember.
Though these victories were declared to be accomplished, under the
leadership of Moses, who was a type and a picture of what?
The law. The law came by Moses. The law
came by Moses. Though these cities were overthrown
under the leadership, direction of Moses, though the worship
of God that was held in the wilderness and was set forth in the types
and shadows and pictures, the victory over all of our enemies,
now and then. Satan, the flesh, this world,
false religion, death, hell, grave, everything that opposes
us. Though they were seeing victories
under the direction of Moses. Remember this, by the deeds of
the law. there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Of whom was Moses speaking? Who was Moses talking about?
I want you to turn over to Luke. You've seen this before, Luke
24. Somebody says, well, you see, those victories were wrought
by Moses, and Moses is a picture of the law. And so there's got
to be some credence. There's got to be something.
about keeping the law because they were given under Moses'
direction. Luke 24, verse 12, whenever the
Lord was meeting those two men on the road to Emmaus, Luke 24,
27, and beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures, all the scriptures, all the scriptures,
beginning with Moses, Moses. And in all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. The law of God is holy, just,
right, and good. And the law does two things for
us. Number one, it shows us God's demand for righteousness. That's
what it does. God's law is good. I've said before, God forbid
we speak of the law of God as if that's something bad. The
law of God is good. It's right. And we love it. We love God's law. But here's
the second thing we know about the law. We cannot keep it. We cannot keep it. The second
thing I know is I need Christ. because he is the only one that
has ever, as man, as a man, as a man, kept the law. God Almighty made flesh, kept
God's law. He alone was the one in whom
God trusted. He alone did fulfill all the
demand for righteousness, for keeping the law. The glorious victories wrought
by the Lord under the leadership of Moses pointed to one person. The victories wrought by God
under Moses' leadership. The Lord said, Moses spoke of
me. People that start to look and
say, well, you know, Moses had victory. Consider all the types
that we see in the Old Testament. I just listed a few of them.
I'm just thinking. The Ark of Noah. Who's that talking about? The
Ark of Noah. Christ. Found in Him. Secure in Him. The wrath of God
falling. All that rain. Rain fell on that
Ark. Who was safe inside? Noah, his
wife, his three sons, their daughters, those animals. Was there safety
anywhere outside of that ark? No, sir, no, sir. That Red Sea,
when they were all at that point by a high road, here comes the
Egyptians, and the Lord told Moses, take your staff, hold
up, wind blew all night, that Red Sea was parted. Who was that? A Christ. His side riven, He was opened
up, safe passage was one way across that Red Sea, dry ground. That's the only way, that's the
only way. If those walls don't stay up, we're dead, we'll drown. That brazen altar. All those sacrifices that were
offered under the law. Who did that speak of? That brazen
serpent that was lifted up in the wilderness, who was that
speaking of? The Lord said, he said, that
was me. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That rock that was stricken,
who'd that speak of? Christ, our rock. That cloud
by day and pillar of fire by night, who was that talking about? What was the purpose of the law? What did God reveal the purpose
of the law to be? To show us God's righteousness,
to show us our inability. So what did the law do? What
was it doing? When Moses was leading the people
in that first six verses, what was happening? What was happening?
What was that saying? Here it is right here, Galatians
3.24, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster. to bring us unto
Christ that we might be justified by faith, by faith. Do we look
to the law for righteousness? No, sir. Do we look for the law
for the demand of God Almighty as what God demands? Yes, sir.
Lord, help me. Answer for me. Answer for me. So the possession of the land
on the east side of the Jordan River, to Reuben, to Gad, to
the half-tribe of Benassa, Was it given because of obedience,
their obedience to the law? Christ alone spoke of him. It
is true that Moses, as a type of the law, couldn't lead Israel
into the land of promise. Joshua must do that because salvation
is by grace in him. But Moses spoke of Christ. Well,
there's the first six verses right there. And then, verses
seven to twenty-four. These are the kings of the country
which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side,
Jordan, on the west, from Baal-Gad, in the valley of Lebanon, even
into the Mount Halak, and goeth up to Seir, which Joshua gave
unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their
divisions, in the mountains, in the valleys, in the plains,
in the springs, in the wilderness, In the south country, the Hittites,
the Amorites, the Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites,
the king of Jericho, one, king of Ai, which is beside Bethel,
one. You know, we remember that, we
looked at that. Remember when they first went across, they
took, what was the first city they came to? Jericho. What'd they do? God told them,
march around, and gave them the instruction one time a day, And
after that seven times, blow the trumpet, shout. God delivered
one woman and her family. Remember that? Rahab. We read
about that. Then Bethel. And then verses
10 to the first half of verse 12. You remember those five kings
that raised themselves up and there was only one city. Remember
that? The city of Gibeon. Remember
that? Came to Joshua and they said, we're, you know, we come
from a far country. Look at this bread, bread's all
moldy. Everything's, our clothes are tore up and we're not from
here. And Joshua, by the grace of God,
showed him mercy. Here's a picture of the Lord
showing us mercy. But these verses 10 to the first
half of verse 12. That's who's talking about it.
It's relating, it's bringing to remembrance what we've studied.
Verse 10, the king of Jerusalem, one. The king of Hebron, one.
The king of Jarmuth, one. The king of Lachish, one. The king of Eglon, the king of
Gezer, one. The king of Debar, one. The king
of Jeddur, one. The king of Horma, one. The king
of Arad, one. The king of Lebna, one. The king
of Adullam, one. one, the king of Makeda, one,
the king of Bethel, one, the king of Tepua, one, the king
of Hefor, one, the king of Aphek, one, the king of Lassaran, one,
the king of Maidan, one, the king of Hazar, one, the king
of Shimron-Miron, one, the king of Akshaf won, the king of Tananak
won, the king of Medido won, the king of Kedesh won, the king
of Jokneum and Carmel won, king of Dar in the coast of Dar won,
the king of the nations of Gilgal won, the king of Tirza won, all
the kings, 30 and one. It was a rehearsal. All of these victories that were
given on the west side, the west side of the Jordan River, and
were made to remember. Those victories, again, salvation,
we see on the east side, on the west side, pictured one thing.
Salvation is by the grace of God through the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. for a people of God's everlasting
love, a people of God's choosing, a people of Christ's redemption
by the Spirit's regeneration. All of this was prophesied in
the garden. Hold your place right here. Turn
to Genesis 3. Genesis 3. All of this was prophesied. It spoke always of Christ, always
according to God's will. Genesis chapter 3, here's when
the Lord told Adam and Eve, while Satan was right there being cursed
of God, He told them in Genesis 3 verses 14 and 15, the Lord
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, above every beast of the field. Upon
thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days
of thy life. I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise
thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel. What'd he say? Christ's
gonna redeem all my people. In Adam's fall, God's got a people,
got an elect. We don't know who they are, but
God does. And he's going to save them.
He's going to call them. And he said, this is how I'm
going to do it. You're going to bruise the seed of the woman.
You're going to bruise his heel. But he's going to crush your
head. He's going to destroy you. And all of the promise of God,
all of this land, that land of Canaan, it was a picture, a revelation
of all that which God had purposed So here's Joshua, he's going
in, and he's promised total victory. In Joshua chapter one, this is
when the Lord promised Joshua, in Joshua one and verse five,
this is what he said, he said, there shall not any man be able
to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee. So Joshua. Beautiful picture
of our precious Savior. Joshua, by faith, led of God's
Spirit to come in, cross over the Jordan River, and take city
after city after city after city after city. God had given it
to him. That was Joshua's heart. The
Lord promised him. The Lord Jesus Christ said of
himself, John 4, 34, he said, my meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work. Joshua crossed over
the Jordan River to finish that which the Lord had told him.
This is what you're going to do. I'm going to give you victory.
I'm going to be with you just like I was with Moses. I'm not
going to fail you. I'm not going to forsake you.
I'm not going to leave you. What was the will of the Lord
Jesus Christ? The will of Joshua, I'll tell
you this, Go over according to God's will and do what God said. What was the will of the Lord
Jesus Christ? John chapter six. We've read this. It's just so
good to read it again. John chapter six, verse 39 and
40. This is the Father's will which
has sent me. You know, as many times as we've
read that, You know, isn't it refreshing to read it again?
This is the Father's will which has sent me. Christ Jesus came
into this world to do something. What did he come here to do?
To do the Father's will. What was the Father's will? That everyone
which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have
everlasting life. and I will raise him up at the
last day. Verse 39 is where I meant to
start, and I started in 40. This is the Father's will which
has sent me, all which he hath given me. Now you know God's
got an elect. I should lose nothing. He's not
gonna fail. I'm gonna read that out of Isaiah
42 in closing, just a moment. But you'll raise it up again
at the last day. That accomplishment, I'll go
ahead and turn there to Isaiah and I'll read this and I'll wrap
it up. Isaiah 42. Here's the spiritual revelation
in the Old Testament of what Christ came to do and did. Isaiah 42, wonderful. Behold
my servant. Behold the servant of Jehovah. I was thinking when Paul the
Apostle said, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. Do you realize
what a high calling that is? All God's people are his servants.
We're servants, bond slaves, bond slaves. Why does God's people serve him?
Because they want to. Why do they want to? because
he's made them willing in the day of his power. He's given
them a new heart. I want to be found faithful. I'm disappointed in myself, believe
me, when I see how frail I am. But it doesn't change my want
to, to be faithful. Behold my servant, whom I uphold. Oh, can you imagine? I can't. the submissiveness and
the submission. He humbled himself, made himself
of no reputation. Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him
without measure. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. What does that mean? It means
he's going to cause the counsel of God's will and pleasure to
save a people from every nation, tribe, and kindred, and tongue
throughout all this world. God's got a people. The Lord
told some Jews, he said, I've got some sheep, they're not of
this fold, not of the Jewish fold, and them I must bring.
He's gonna bring. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. He's not gonna
speak in a manner of strife and contention. but as the meek servant
of Jehovah, he's going to go about his path in submission
unto the Lord, in meekness. That's what meekness means. He's
going to be meek. He's going to be submissive in
a spirit of humility and peace unto the Lord. And those that
are depressed, made to know something Those, number three, those bruised
reed. A bruised reed shall he not break. Aren't you thankful for that?
You feel like that? What am I? I'm just a bruised
reed. If the wind blows too hard, I'm
falling over. I'm just, a bruised reed shall
he not break. Smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring truth, bring forth
judgment. unto the truth. He's gonna cause
that which Jehovah has everlastingly purposed for his people to be
completely finished, victoriously finished. And the sheep through
him recognize he is the victor. That's what God's people say.
That's what the Lord's people say. They see by faith victorious
triumph over all the opposition. And look at this last one. Here's
some good news. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. He's not going to be broken till
he have set judgment in the earth and the isles shall wait for
his law. He's not going to be discouraged.
He's not going to be restrained. He's not going to be broken down.
He's going to accomplish the purpose for which he was sent. And the Isles, those islands,
the Gentiles that he spoke of earlier, of God's mercy, they're
gonna see him. They're gonna believe him. They're
gonna come to him. This is the message of God's
total victory. When you look at Joshua chapter
12, this side of Jordan and that
side of Jordan, under the leadership of Moses, under the leadership
of Joshua, they all spoke of Christ. A mighty victor. And when he went to the cross,
was on that cross, cried out, he said, it's finished.
It's finished. Finished. Old death, where's
your staying? Grave, where's your victory?
We're more than conquerors through him that loved us. and gave himself
for us.