Judges chapter two. We're gonna
be looking at Judges chapter two tonight, and specifically
verses six through 10. Now this is a repeat of what
we find in the book of Joshua, and it just lends itself to the
importance that we find it repeated again here about some things
with regard to our dear brother and friend, Joshua. in the book
of Judges chapter two, and I want to begin reading with verse six.
Judges chapter two, verse six. And when Joshua had let the people
go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance
to possess the land. And the people served the Lord
all the days of Joshua, in all the days of the elders that outlived
Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord that
he did for Israel. In verse eight, in Joshua, the
son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died, being 110 years old. And they buried him in the border
of his inheritance, in Temnath-Harith, in the Mount of Ephraim, on the
north side of the hill Gesh. And also all that generation
were gathered unto their fathers. And there arose another generation
after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which
he had done for Israel." Well, we'd like to spend our time not
so much on that verse 10 and the effects and the reasons for
the judges and so forth, but I'd like to spend our time on
this dear friend that we find in the scriptures by the name
of Joshua. As we have noted many times in the past, Joshua in
the Old Testament and Jesus is in the New Testament, one's Hebrew,
one's Greek, but they both have the same meaning to their name,
Savior or Deliverer. And it's very specific when it
comes to the Lord Jesus that they shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. When Joshua
was born, that's not mentioned, but he is used to bring the children
of Israel into the land that God had promised Israel. So it
was a wonderful experience for us to see that, and that Moses
was not permitted, the law was not taking the children of Israel
into the land of promise, but Joshua would be leading the children
of Israel into the promised land. And we have to just consider
what a Bible character Joshua is, and much is said about him
in the scriptures, And what a follower of Jehovah God that this man
Joshua is. And what a sinner Joshua is. He's a saved sinner. He's a sinner
saved by God, but he is a sinner. And the reason we know that,
and we'll mention that just a little later, The reason we know that
he was a sinner is we have the word D-I-E-D written about him. He died. You know, that's just
a fool's fills everything God ever had to say about the fall
and he died. All right. And then what a person
that God made with this person, Joshua, he made an everlasting
covenant, just like he did with David. Now, every one that God
has ever saved, he's made that same everlasting covenant. In other words, he lets us know
what he has already taken care of. And that is the everlasting
covenant. He lets us know. He let David
know. He let Joshua know. He lets every
one of his children know. that there is an everlasting
covenant that has been made on your behalf. And that covenant
is made between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We're
the recipients of it, but we are never the participants of
it. And we must be quickened by the Holy Spirit in order to
appreciate what God did for us in that everlasting covenant.
We don't have a lot of background with regard to Joshua. We find
that he's a young man when he's introduced to us in the book
of Exodus, in the book of Numbers, in the book of Deuteronomy. He's
a young man when he's introduced to us. He seems to be a very
Good minister to Moses. He's called that word. In fact,
he's on the Mount with Moses He's the one that recognizes
the problem that's going on down with the children of Israel and
the golden calf he's the one that brings that to Moses's attention
and We find that we read all of these things about
him, Joshua would have to say exactly. And he would agree with
the words of the Apostle Paul when he wrote the letter to the
Corinthians, that he had nothing to brag of in himself. He never had a braggable point
about him. No one would ever find Joshua
saying, you know, I was one of those guys that came back with
a good report. By grace, he came back with a good report. By faith,
he came back with a good report. And that faith is the faith of
Jesus Christ. But look with me, if you would,
over in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for just a moment.
And we find that no doubt Joshua, if he had been permitted to read
this, he would have agreed with it. But since he didn't get to,
God also gave him that same wonderful blessing as in the Old Testament. They were not hindered from the
blessings of God in the Old Testament. They were blessed by God, by
the Spirit, by the Word, and much of the Word was spoken directly
by God to them. But here in the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, if you join me there, we find that the Apostle Paul
was led to write this as a secretary. He was led to write this by the
Holy Spirit, and for his benefit, as well as our benefit, and for
the benefit of everyone we find in the Old Testament, that had
the name of Christ, that had that faith granted to them and
given to them, as we do find with Joshua. Here in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and verse 10, but by the grace of God, I am what
I am. So we're gonna see, and we've
noticed in the past, Joshua was someone that young people could
look up to. Joshua was someone that honored
God. He was a servant of God. In fact,
we found that Here in the book, in our reading, in Judges chapter
two, he was a servant of God, and that word servant is what
we also find over in the New Testament, a bondservant, a bondslave
of the Lord. Now, he didn't fight against
that. You know, it's a wonderful blessing
to be a bondservant of the Lord. Now, we found out how terrible
it is to be a bondslave of sin, but to be a bondslave or a bondservant
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not onerous. It is a blessing. It is a blessing to bow before
the king. It is a blessing to serve the
king. And it's a blessing to serve the king out of service
and not out of demand. It's a blessing to serve the
Lord, not for payment, not for reward, but just because he loved
his people so much that he gave his son a ransom for us. And
we're thankful for that. So being a bond servant, so it
says, Here in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, I know it's written many,
many years later after Joshua, but he would raise his hand and
say, I agree with that. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet I, not I, but the grace of God which was
in me. We can just say, well, there's Joshua and there's Moses
and there's David and there's all the saints of the Old Testament
would agree with that passage of scripture wholeheartedly because
we are what we are by the grace of God and not by our own works
or own efforts or own doings. It's always been by the grace
of God. And Joshua knew where he came from. We find in 1 Corinthians
chapter 4, if you turn there with me, 1 Corinthians chapter
4, we read these words, and again, Paul was used of the Holy Spirit
to write these things for our benefit, but they also reflect
upon every believer in the Old Testament. that they too were
blessed with every spiritual blessing, that they too had the
Holy Spirit, they too had the new birth, they too, though we
may not read it as evident as we find it in the New Testament,
we come to the conclusion they had to be saved just like we
are. they had to be saved just like anybody else is, and not
by some special dispensation, or by obedience to law, or by
sacrifices, animal sacrifices, or all the other things that
people attribute their salvation to. It is by grace and grace
alone. Here in the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter four, verse seven, we could hear Joshua say, as well
as with Paul, or any other believer, who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? So as
we follow Joshua's life, we're going to say, well, he certainly
believed that. I only got what I am what I am
by the grace of God, and everything I have was given to me. I didn't
have anything to put into the equation. As one preacher said,
the only thing we contribute to our salvation is our sin.
We have nothing else to give, and that's all we have is sin. Joshua knew where he came from.
We find out that he was made to differ only because of God.
We find as in Acts chapter 13, as we follow the generation of
Joshua, and what a statement is made about him, that the children
of Israel at least nominally served the Lord all the days
of Joshua. They nominally did. They give
consent, they assented to the facts. I don't know how many
of them actually knew what it was all about, but the Bible
tells us that they did serve the Lord all the days of Joshua
and all the days of those fellows that outlived Joshua, those who
knew the great works of God. There was something about them
that caused the rest of these people to at least consent to
the fact that God was in charge. Well, here in the book of Acts
chapter 13, Acts chapter 13, we read this about David. Acts
chapter 13, and in verse 36, verse 36, as we think about these
things, about what Joshua did. Now, it says, for David, after
he had served his own generation, Now, Joshua couldn't do a thing
but be faithful to the next generation, and he couldn't do a thing for
the previous generation. It says here, and this is in
the midst of a quite lengthy statement by the Apostle Paul
when he's on a first missionary journey, and if you notice, we're
in Acts chapter 13, and it's not that far to verse 48 right
here. He's gonna bring that up to a
bunch of Gentiles. He's gonna tell the Jews he's
talking to, you have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life. But your king that your fathers
had, when after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, he served his generation by the will of God, fell on sleep
and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. So he served
his generation. He couldn't do much for the next,
he couldn't do a thing for the past, but he served his generation. Now, in the book of, In Acts
chapter 13 and verse 25, verse 25, here's an interesting verse
of scripture. In Acts chapter 13, verse 25,
we're talking about John the Baptist, and it's in that same
message that Paul is preaching, and this is the same period of
time that he started as Saul and he ended as Paul in this
chapter. And so that's who we find for
the rest of the New Testament in the epistles of Paul. But
here in Acts chapter 13 and verse 25, it says, and as John fulfilled
his course, He said, whom think ye that I am? I'm not he, I'm
not the Messiah. But behold, there cometh one
after me whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose, as
John fulfilled his course. And you know what? Joshua fulfilled
his course, David fulfilled his course, and you and I are fulfilling
our course. We are, day by day, we're fulfilling
our course. We're fulfilling exactly as God
has determined. All right, as we think about
this, again, as we follow this through, we find that Joshua
would confess with all his heart when he saw what went on after
those 10 tribes came back with a negative report, and for the
next 38 years, He and his friend Caleb and a few others were prevented
from going into the promised land. They didn't get to go in
early. They didn't get to go in a month
early. They're with those near-do-wells
for 38 years. But we find All right, I understand this
completely. I understand that even so then
at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election
of grace. I'm a witness to that. Those
10 guys came back with an evil report because they were not
given faith to believe God. Joshua and Caleb could say they
had faith, but that faith was the faith of Jesus Christ. That's
the faith of Jehovah. That was given to them to permit
that for them to come back. And then he could also agree
wholeheartedly with the Apostle Paul, as he wrote in the book
of Romans chapter nine, God's the potter. God is the potter. You could agree with that. Isaiah
was going to agree with that sometime after Joshua's time,
but Joshua completely, if someone brought that up, what do you
think about God being a potter? Well, he is the potter, and we
are the clay. And He makes vessels of honor
and He makes vessels of dishonor, and I've witnessed that this
day. I have seen the vessels of dishonor. God did not give
them faith to believe. And we read in the book of Deuteronomy,
I think it's chapter 22 or 32, I have it written down somewhere,
that says, I did not give you a heart to believe. Now, that's
God. And I've had people say, well,
why would God do that? And I have to answer like I did
last week. It's above my pay grade. I can't go there, I can't
figure that out. Why did he save me? I don't know. Only by grace are
we saved, through faith. Hath not the potter, and that
he might make known the riches of glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he hath afore prepared unto glory. So Joshua could say,
there I am. I'm just a vessel God made merciful. His mercy was poured out on me.
Let's turn with me, if you would, over to the book of Numbers chapter
14. Joshua, as Paul, was certainly
a pattern of how God saves his people. There is going to be
such a a difference between being able to take God at his word
and not believing God. There's such a difference that
God would provide faith to Joshua and Caleb that they would come
back with a good report and believe God. All right, here in the book
of Numbers chapter 14, turn with me to the book of Numbers chapter
14. Numbers chapter 14, and reading
there in verse six, verse six, the result of Joshua and Caleb,
what did they do when they heard the 10 men, cousins, come back
with a report? It wasn't that they didn't have
the same national lineage or the genealogy. It was exactly
the same. There was through different branches
of Jacob and Jacob was straight from Isaac and Isaac was straight
from Abraham and boy, that's about as close to you can get
from perfection according to some people. Well, here we have
Joshua and Caleb coming back, and it tells us here, and Joshua
the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were
of them that searched the land. You know, it's kind of like Judas
going out with the rest of them. I don't believe any of Joshua
or Caleb ever had any idea of what was going to be said once
they got back to the, back to Moses. I don't think that they,
well, these guys, I don't know about them. We better knock them
all off because they're going to go back to the evil report.
No. They came back, they just, they're spying out the land.
They've never seen grapes like this. They've never seen fruit
like this. They've never seen a land like
this, a land that flowed with milk and honey. It was everything
God declared about that land. And when they got back and they
came back with an evil report, it says, they rent their clothes
and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel saying,
the land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding
good land. Who told them that? God did. He'd already told them it's an
exceeding good land, and they got to see it. It was an exceeding
good land, but they believed God. And then it goes on, if
the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into the land.
Who told him that? God told them that, but they
also got to witness it in their soul. If the Lord delight in
us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us,
a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye
against Moses. Oh, good. Against the Lord. Don't rebel against the Lord.
Neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bread
for us. Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with
us. Fear them not." So they came back, and the only way that they
could come back with that kind of report is that they had faith
given to them. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. Those 10 guys had never pleased
God. If they ever prayed, it was not
pleasing to God. If they ever went through some
repentance, it was never God. He was not pleased with it. And
here we find without faith, we cannot please God. And that faith
has to be given to us. It's not a reward, it is a gift. And then we find in Romans 14,
23, whatsoever is not a faith is sin. So they, besides sinning,
they continued on to sin. And then we find out that those,
that whole generation was gonna spend 38 more years And that
also pinioned Joshua and Caleb for 38 more years, and Moses
and Eliezer for 38 more years, and the faithful ones that were
among Israel for 38 more years. Well, I don't find any place
in the scriptures that they complained about the purpose of God. They
did not complain about the sovereignty of God. He told them that this
is what's going to happen, and they said, let God be God, never
mind a liar. And so they went on. In Numbers
chapter 27, join me in Numbers chapter 27, if you would, in
verse 15. Numbers chapter 27, verse 15. Speaking of Numbers, you pray
for me as we look for somewhere else to go, because we're approaching
the end of the book of Numbers. One more Sunday on the cities
of refuge, and then the last chapter, and we must go somewhere else, since
we don't have quarterlies. All right, Numbers chapter 27,
verse 15. The scriptures share this. And
Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, let the Lord, the God of the
spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation." Now,
why was he saying this? We've already been there. Moses
is gonna be being told, you're a sinner, you're gonna die. You're
gonna die. You're going up on a mountain
and you're gonna die. So, and as we looked at this, when we
went through here, what a compassion he had for the people of God.
We need someone else to take over, to be their leader. Let
the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over
the congregation. Now, what does he mean when he
says the spirit of all flesh? God knows every heart here. pick
out someone who can take this people through. Which may go
out before them, which may go in before them, which may lead
them out, which may bring them in, that the congregation of
the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord
said unto Moses, take ye Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom
is the Spirit. Now I wish our translators had
capitalized that S in that word, because he doesn't have just
another little spirit about him, he has the spirit of God about
him, and lay thy hand upon him. So Joshua has been set aside
by God, chosen by God, he has been set aside to be the one
to take the children of Israel into the promised land. Now for
38 years, he's wandered with them, he's ate with them, he's
ate manna, you know, I can just, Never hear from the mouth of
Joshua, oh man, I'm tired of this manna. You know, most of
the Israelites, it was the bane of their existence. We loathe
this light bread. And in other words, we loathe
Christ. We loathe the gospel. We loathe
God. We loathe what he does for us.
And Joshua said, this is the best bread I've ever had. It's
sweet, it has taken care of all my nutrients, it has taken care
of all my needs, everything is great, and so everything else. The Lord said unto Moses, take
thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay
thy hands on him. And so we find this Followed
out for 38 years, Joshua followed the Lord. He was a servant of
the Most High God. He was a preacher of righteousness
in many ways by just what he did. He was someone that God
had touched among all that mass of people. And how many funerals
did he get to hold during that period of time out there in the
wilderness? Thousands of Israelites died
in unbelief. They did not believe God. Well,
as we follow this through, let's go back to the book of Judges
there in chapter two, Judges chapter two. In Judges chapter
two, we find this said, Judges chapter two, it is a repeat of
Joshua chapter 24. In Judges chapter two, verse
six, it says, excuse me, in verse eight, and Joshua, the son of
Nun, the servant of the Lord, died being 110 years old. You know, from our standpoint,
that's pretty old, but it was, he was like Moses. He was still
a strong man at 110. Join me, if you would, over in
the book of Joshua chapter 24. Joshua chapter 24. Ooh, excuse me, 23, Joshua 23, verse
one. He's waxed old and stricken in
age. came to pass a long time after
that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies
round about that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. And
Joshua called for all Israel and for their elders and for
their heads and for their judges and for their officers and said
unto them, I am old and stricken in age. And ye have seen all
that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations because
of you. For the Lord your God is he that
hath fought for you. What did he say before? God will fight for us. That's
what he told the 10 spies and all the rest of the folks. God
will fight for it. Well, now he's saying that he did. Verse
four, behold, I've divided unto you by law these nations that
remain. and be an inheritance for your
tribes from Jordan, which all the nations that I have cut off,
even the great sea westward. And the Lord your God, he shall
expel them from before you and drive them from out of your sight.
And you shall possess their land as the Lord your God hath promised
unto you. Once again, by faith, that's
the promise. Be therefore very courageous
and keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law
of Moses, that you turn not aside, therefore, from the right hand
or to the left. that you come not among these
nations, these that remain among you, neither make mention of
the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve
them, nor bow down yourselves unto them. For things," he says,
they're about these idols, and leave them alone, leave them
alone, leave them alone, and leave them alone. That's what
he's sharing with them. Don't even mention the names
of these gods. Don't give them credence. But
cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day.
For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations
and strong. But as for you, no man hath been
able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall
chase a thousand for the Lord your God. He it is that fighteth
for you as he hath promised you. Take good heed therefore unto
yourselves that you love the Lord your God, else if you do
in any wise go back and cleave unto the remnant of these nations,
even these that remain among you and shall make marriages
with them and go unto them and they to you, know for a certainty
that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations
from before you. but they shall be snares and
traps unto you and scourges in your sides and thorns in your
eyes until you perish from off the good land which the Lord
your God hath given you. Behold, this day I am going the
way of all the earth." What's he saying to them? You're going
to join me soon. Everybody's going to die here.
Without faith, it's going to be a miserable death. With faith,
it's a pleasantry. Enter into his presence with
gladness. That one thing shall, let me
see, and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls
that not one thing which hath failed of all, not one thing
hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake
concerning you. All are come to pass unto you
and not one thing hath failed. Therefore, it shall come to pass
that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your
God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil
things until he have destroyed you from off this good land,
which the Lord your God giveth you. And when ye have transgressed
the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you and
have gone and served other gods and bowed yourselves to them,
Then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and you
shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given
unto you." It wasn't a promise of eternal existence. He said, follow me, and that's
the covenant he made. They made, we'll follow you.
Okay, you follow me, or this is the judgment. And that's what
happened. Well, we noticed there. I wanted to read that one more
time. Verse 14, behold, this day I'm going the way of all
the earth. You know that David said the
same thing in first Kings chapter two, I'm going the way of all
the earth. We find as we follow this out that they buried Joshua in his inheritance. And I am
convinced that Joshua was like Job and was able to say, I know
my Redeemer liveth, and on the earth again shall stand, and
though my body go and decay. I shall see him with my eyes."
It was not a tragedy to Joshua to go the way of all the world
because of the faith that God had given him. He was able to
call on the Lord. He was able to cry unto the Lord. And the Lord heard him because
he was one of his children. He was buried, he's waiting for
the resurrection, just like everyone else that God has ever called
out of darkness to his marvelous light, and have passed through
Jordan, buried in their inheritance. They have been promised the resurrection. Now, join me, if you would, over
in the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter four. They buried him. I think it's either here in Judges
or it's over there in Joshua. At the same time, they buried
Joseph's bones. What a statement. Joseph said,
do not leave my bones here. When you leave this place, he
knew that they were going to leave. He says, you take my bones
and you bury them over in the good land, not here in Egypt. All right, another whole different
section. 1 Thessalonians, would you join
me in 1 Thessalonians? 1 Thessalonians chapter four. He could rejoice in these words.
He died, he died because he was a sinner, but he died a safe
sinner. And he could look forward to
these words just like we look back at what the Apostle Paul
wrote to the Thessalonians. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Now he's
been in the grave for several thousand years. The bones have
gone. It's gone. But God says, concerning
them which asleep, that ye sorrow not as others which have no hope.
But if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." You
know, it's more, it's why God? Why did Jesus die? Who did he
raise for that is so necessary that we believe? It's not just
believing that he died and he rose again, it's what was he
doing? How that Christ died for our
sin according to the scripture and was buried and rose again
the third day. How did he do that? Why did he? Who for who
did he do it? And you know, it doesn't take
very long to find out you're pretty standing alone when you
bring those subjects up. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say, I was asked
if I was a preterist today and I said, what is a preterist?
What is a preterist? And he said, well, do you believe
that Jesus already rose from, has already returned to the earth?
And I says, if he had, I would be in the air. So I'm not worried about it.
Paul dealt with a bunch of people that had said the resurrection
was already over and all that nonsense coming along. For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede or
prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and
with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Doesn't that sound like a silent coming? Trump of the Lord, gonna
raise the dead with that trump. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. In his dying moment, he was comforted
that he knew his Redeemer lived. He was comforted that even though
he's gonna be buried and put in the dirt and all the, well,
all the stuff that didn't happen to Jesus is gonna happen to all
of us. He didn't decompose, we will. But he's gonna call us
out of that tomb and Joshua could say the same as Job did, I know
my redeemer liveth. On the earth again shall stand,
and though the skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God. That was before his first coming.
And so the same words could be said by Joshua before his first
coming, but they had confidence he was coming the first time.
And then when the last elect one was saved, he would come
the second time. And so Joshua, Thank you for
being an example. And then he would say, I am what
I am by the grace of God. We'll pick this up next time.