I don't have one particular text
this evening, but rather we're going to turn, if you care to
turn to all the references, to a bunch of different scripture
references to look at the life of Joshua as a type of Christ. I remember reading an article
once a number of years ago that Brother Henry wrote about preaching,
giving advice to preachers. Points of advice was, if it doesn't
bless you in a study, it's not going to bless the people from
the pulpit. And I must say, I got a great blessing the past few
days looking at the life of Joshua and seeing pictures of the many,
many, many different facets of our Savior. So I hope it will
be a blessing to you. I made mention of Joshua a few
weeks ago in Sunday school. I got thinking about him and
read through his life. And there are many, many instances
where Joshua is such a clear picture of Christ. It begins
with his name. His name means Jehovah is salvation. And so many times we read about
Joshua, scripture says, Joshua, the son of none. So I looked
that up. And his father's name means perpetuity. Joshua, in whom is salvation,
is the son of perpetuity, the eternal son of the eternal father. And salvation for sinners is
found in him. That's why the angel John preached
on Sunday, the angel told Joseph, you call that holy thing, it's
in Mary's womb, you call his name Jesus. For he shall save
his people from their sins. And you know very well the New
Testament name for Joshua is Jesus. So clearly Joshua is meant
to us as a picture of Christ. And one of the first things I
thought about Joshua, It's to take a minute and think about
this fellow just as a man, just humanly speaking as a man. He
knows for some time he knew that he would assume command and follow
a legend. He was going to follow in the
footsteps of Moses. You know, I'm a big sports fan
and people are all the time talking about how's this kid going to
follow in the footsteps of Brett Favre. Everybody's worried about
he'll crumble under the pressure. What about Joshua? finding the
footsteps of Moses, taking Moses' place. I mean, he is one of the
most revered men in Scripture. But you know, during his lifetime,
Moses was not always loved. More than once, the people murmured
against him, they complained, they wanted to find a replacement
for him, you know, they murmured, said, what have you brought us
out here for? We've been better off if you left us as slaves
in Egypt. But once Moses is dead, Oh, he's revered. You know, once
somebody's dead, they're wonderful, you know. And that's what Joshua's
facing. He's going to have to lead these
people. And he knew he would lead a stiff-necked,
rebellious nation. Look first at Deuteronomy 31.
In Deuteronomy 31, verse 16. Here is the Lord telling Moses
what Joshua was going to face. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people
will rise up and go whoring after the gods of the strangers of
the land, whether they go to be among them. And they will
forsake me, they will break my covenant which I made with them.
Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and
I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they
shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall
befall them. So they'll say in that day, Are
not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among
us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the
evils which they have wrought, in that they are turned unto
other gods." Now that's the people, Lordstown Joshua to read. Now
if this was in the workplace and somebody was offering me
this job, I'd say, No, thank you. I'll just wait for the next
opening, because this doesn't sound like a good deal to me.
But Joshua took command and he led the people because he believed
God and he did so as a picture of Christ. This description of
the people that Joshua is going to lead. Isn't that the great
description of God's elect, the people who Christ came to save?
Christ came to save sinners, idolaters, rebels against him. You talk about stiff necked and
hard hearted. That's us by nature. But that's
who Christ came to save. That's who He came to lead. And
over and over and over again, this is what I want us to see
tonight. The person is so much better than the picture. All
throughout Joshua's time as leader, he could just manage the mayhem.
He could just kind of try to contain it and manage those hard
hearts and warn them over and over repeatedly. Joshua warned
them, if you go after other gods and you forsake the way of the
Lord, you're going to be sorry. He warned them repeatedly. Christ
didn't do that. With His people, He gives a new
heart. He gives them a new nature. Christ has no unwilling servants. He has no unloving sons who are
forced into service. Because Christ, our Joshua, makes
us willing in the day of His power. No longer are we stiff-necked.
We bow to Him because of His power. And then Joshua was the
picture of Christ when he led Israel into the promised land.
Now you remember this story very well. Moses had gone to Egypt. He led the children of Israel
out. Led them into the wilderness. And they get out there in that
wilderness. They're thirsty. They're dying of thirst. There's no water.
And the Lord told Moses, take his staff and strike the rock.
And he did. And water flowed out. Life-giving
water. Can you imagine the abundance
of that water for three million people. Enough water to quench
all their thirst, for them to wash in. Water for all their
animals, herds that they brought with them. And that's such a
clear picture of Christ. He was smitten by the rod of
God's justice and life-giving blood flowed out. Life that put
away our sin. Life that washed us from all
of our iniquity. Enough to save every last one
of God's elect. To put all their sin away to
meet our every need. Well, you know what happened
a little while later? The people were thirsty again, and like
they were prone to do, they murmured. Instead of asking the Lord to
give them water, they started murmuring. And this time, the
Lord told Moses, speak to the rock, and water will come out.
But in anger, Moses took his rod and smoked the rock again.
Now, water came out for all the people, but Moses was going to
pay the price for that. Christ is only smitten once.
That's all it took, just one sacrifice. He's smitten once
and he put away the sins of his people. And the Lord's not going
to let Moses go into the promised land because he violated the
picture of Christ. He broke God's commandment, disobeyed
God. And we know why. Because Moses
represents the law. And the law can never bring anyone
into salvation. Can't bring us to glory, can't
bring us to any rest. Only Christ can do that. If you
look back in Deuteronomy 3, we'll see this is where Joshua comes
in. The law can't lead us into the promised land, but Christ
does. In Deuteronomy 3, verse 23, this
is Moses giving an account of this to Israel. And Moses said,
I besought the Lord at that time, saying, O Lord God, thou hast
begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand.
For what God is there in heaven or on earth that can do according
to thy works and according to thy I pray thee, let me go over,
and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain
in Lebanon. But the Lord was wroth with me
for your sakes, and would not hear me. And the Lord said unto
me, Let it suffice thee, speak no more unto me of this matter.
Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward,
and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with
thine eyes. For thou shalt not go over this
Jordan, but charge Joshua. and encourage him and strengthen
him, for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause
them to inherit the land which thou shalt see." Joshua shall
lead the people in. That's exactly what he did. There
can be no doubt about it. And the Word speaks about Joshua
here in the same terms it speaks about Christ in the New Testament.
He shall. He will. He shall. There's never
any doubt about what Christ is going to come to do. He will
be the victorious Savior. And that's what Joshua is going
to be, the victorious leader of his people, leading them in
and giving them the possession of everything that God promised
them. Now turn over to Joshua chapter 6. When Joshua led Israel into the
Promised Land, do you know he didn't just save the Jews? He
didn't just give the Jews rest? There's some Gentiles he gave
rest to also. That's a picture of Christ, who's
the Savior of the whole world, Jew and Gentile. When Joshua
got to Jericho, the first city that they would take there in
Canaan, he saved a Gentile harlot. I just love that. Joshua 6, you
know the story so well, verse 21. And they utterly destroyed
all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old,
and ox, and sheep, and ass with the edge of the sword. But Joshua
said unto the two men that spied out the country, Go into the
harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that
she hath, as ye swear unto her. And the young men that were spies
went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother,
and her brethren, and all that she had. Everything she committed
unto them was saved, wasn't it? Everything she committed to the
care of Joshua was brought out from that place. And they brought
her out, and all her kindred, and left them without the camp
of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that
was therein, only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels
of brass and iron they put into the treasury of the house of
the Lord. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive, and her father's household, and all that she had. And she
dwelt in Israel even unto this day, because she hid the messengers
which Joshua sent out to spy Jericho. Joshua saves Rahab and
everybody that's with her in her house, who is under the sign
of the blood, that scarlet cord that's hanging from her window.
He saves her because his spies made a covenant with Rahab. They
told her when the overflowing scourge comes in, we're going
to take the city. When it comes, you get in the house, you hang
this cord out the window, and everybody that's in the house
under the sign of the blood will be saved. His blood will be on
our head. We're responsible. Now, if you go outside the house,
your blood's on your head. But you stay under that core,
under the sign of the blood, the blood of Christ, and you'll
be saved. And Joshua fulfilled the promise. He delivered them from wrath.
He pulled them out of the burning and made them part of Israel.
Rahab, the harlot, married a man named Salmon. And Salmon, the
scripture has called a prince in Israel. That harlot became
a princess in Israel. And that's such a clear picture
of what Christ does for his people. He takes harlots like you and
me and saves us because he's faithful. He's faithful to his
covenant. He saves us by taking us out
of the burning, washing us in his blood, imputing his righteousness
to us. And he takes harlots like us
and gives us a new nature. He marries us, gives us a new
name. And Scripture says He makes us royalty. Kings and priests
unto our God. Just exactly what Joshua did
for Rahab. And one day we're going to be
brought to perfect rest and peace with Him. I wrote down my notes and I thought
that's why the songwriter said, what a wonderful Savior is Jesus
my Lord. To do that for a harlot like
me. But you know, before Joshua was
the Savior, before he was the leader, before he was the ruler
in all of Israel. You know, Joshua spent a long
time as a servant. He was a servant of Moses, a
servant to the man who represented the law. And for 40 years, Joshua
was a faithful servant. And that's a picture of Christ.
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. But for a time, he
made himself a servant. He came as a servant to his father.
He must be about his father's business. He's his father's servant.
He was a servant for his people's sake. He showed us that and he
took the disciples' feet and washed them. Did the job of a
servant. He was a servant to the law. Born of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. Look
at Philippians chapter 2. The king, the ruler, made himself
a servant. Philippians 2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought
of not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. He became a servant, just like
Joshua did. Now look back in Numbers chapter
27. In Numbers 27, here's a prayer
of Moses for the people, and God's answer to the prayer is
Joshua. Numbers 27, verse 15. And Moses spake unto the Lord,
saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh,
set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them,
and which may go in before and which may lead them out, and
which may bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord
be not as sheep which have no shepherd." God's people need
a shepherd to be set over us. And Joshua was that man for Israel.
He's a picture, a clear picture of Christ. He's the great shepherd
of the sheep who leads his people, the elect, in and out to find
pasture. Now hold your finger there because we're coming right
back, but over in John chapter 10, Notice the similarity here between
what the great shepherd of the sheep is going to do and what
Moses prayed for Israel. In John chapter 10, John 10 verse
2, But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the
sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice.
And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them. And the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. Now look at verse 9. I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. And he shall go in and out and
find pasture. And that's exactly what Moses
prayed for. Somebody lead him out. Somebody lead him in. So
they go in and out and find pasture. And that's what Joshua did. See
verse 18. Here's what the Lord said to
Moses' prayer. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun. The man in whom is the Spirit,
and lay thine hand upon him." Now, Joshua is the man of God's
choosing. You see that? Moses didn't choose
him. The people didn't choose him.
The people didn't vote and decide who they were going to take as
their leader. When the people voted, God one
day let the people vote, and you know who they got? Saul.
When God chose, they got Joshua. This is the man of God's choosing.
The man in whom God's put His Spirit. This is where His Spirit
dwells. Isn't that such a clear picture of Christ? The Lord Jesus
Christ is the man of God's choosing. He's God's chosen Savior. He's
God's chosen Lamb. And He's the God-man in whom
God's Spirit dwells without measure. He's God's chosen one. In Isaiah
42. Isaiah 42, verse 1. Behold My servant. Look upon
My servant. whom I uphold. He is mine elect,
my chosen Savior, in whom my soul delighted. I have put my
spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles."
That's exactly what Joshua did for Rahab, isn't it? That was
God's description of him. He's God's chosen man and God's
spirit dwells on him. Well, verse 19, here in Numbers
27, And you take Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest
and before all the congregation and give him charge in their
sight. Moses, you give Joshua. You make
sure in the sight of everyone, everybody sees you give Joshua
command. Joshua is in charge. He has all
authority. Well, that's Christ. Who else
has all authority but the Lord Jesus Christ? The Father has
given all judgment into His hand. He said in Matthew 28, all power
is given unto me in heaven and earth. all power, everywhere
in God's dominion. He is the sovereign Savior. He's
been given all authority. In verse 20, God tells Moses,
Now thou shalt put some of thine honor upon them, that all the
congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. Joshua
was given some honor so the people would follow his leadership and
obey his demands. Look over in Philippians chapter
2. We just read this a minute ago. Joshua was given some honor.
Here the person is a whole lot better than the pictures. Christ
is not given some honor. He is given all honor. Philippians
2 verse 9, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and
given him a name which is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. Joshua, Lord Jesus Christ, our
Joshua, is given all honor, all glory. And we gladly give obedience
to our King. We gladly follow Him. Happy to
do it. Happy. So happy that He's allowed
us to be in His kingdom. I happily swear allegiance to
Him. Follow Him. Well, verse 21, back in Numbers
27, And he shall stand before Eliezer the priest, who shall
ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord. At his word shall they go out,
at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children
of Israel with him, even all the congregation." Joshua had
total command of the people. His word is law. What he says
goes. The people go and they come at
the word of Joshua. We're God's people. God's elect. We come and go. at the command
of our Lord. His Word is not just our law,
although it is, it's our delight. Oh, our delight in His Word.
But again, the person is so much better than the picture. We always
have to remember, we look at these Old Testament pictures,
what Brother Henry used to say, none of them stand on four legs.
None of them are as good as the person. Israel was kindly forced
to obey Joshua. There'd be pretty severe consequences
if they didn't. And there's consequences, severe
consequences for people who do not obey our Lord. But God's
people, spiritual Israel, they delight to obey Him. It is our delight to follow His
command. We come and go at His command. We come into this world at His
command. I'm telling you, when Shawn's
daughter's coming into this world at God's command, that's when
it'll be. You hope it's sooner or later, but she'll come into
this world at God's command. The elect hear His voice, hear
the gospel at God's command. We repent at His command. We
believe at His command and we follow Him and believe His baptism
at His command. At His command, not only are
we given natural life, we're given spiritual life. And at
His command, we'll leave this world to go be with Him, come
in and out. Now Joshua, probably most of
all, is known to be a mighty warrior, the mighty conqueror. The very first time Joshua is
mentioned in Scripture is in Exodus 17. Look over there, Exodus
17. This is when Moses sent Joshua
out to fight Amalek, the king of Amalek. First time he's mentioned
is as a victor in battle. In verse 13, in Joshua, discomfited
Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord
said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse
it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." Joshua so completely
destroyed Amalek, everybody is going to forget about him. Nobody
is going to remember him unless people tell the story because
he is destroyed. Hebrews 9 verse 26 says, "...once
in the end of the world." hath he, our Lord, appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself." And Wayne Reddick,
here in our Scripture reading, he put away sin so completely
that God says, there's sins and iniquities who I remember no
more. They're gone, wiped out because of the mighty victor.
Now look over in Joshua chapter 1. We'll see more of this mighty
conqueror and victor. Now after the death of Moses,
the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto
Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant,
is dead. Now therefore, rise, go over
this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I
do give them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the
sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto
you, as I said unto Moses. from the wilderness in this Lebanon,
even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land
of the Hittites, and unto the great sea, toward the going down
of the sun, shall be your coast. 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." Everywhere Joshua placed his foot. As soon as his foot
landed on that land, it belonged to him. The battle was already
over as soon as Joshua just appeared on the scene. Wherever he put
his foot, God gave it to him. The battle was over. And no one
was ever able to stand before Joshua. At the end, the children
of Israel possessed all the land. We read he defeated 31 kings. Kings with great armies, kings
of well defended cities, Kings who had a long time to know Joshua
was coming. They didn't just sit there waiting
for the guy to come take everything they had. They worked hard building
up their defenses and doing everything they could to put every obstacle
in Joshua's way. None of it did any good. As soon
as he set his foot down, the army just took it. The battle
was always theirs. And that's our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherever He is, there's no more battle. That's what King Nebuchadnezzar
learned. He said, God's dominion is an
everlasting dominion. Everywhere he goes, it's his
dominion. He does according to his will in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. Everywhere he goes,
he does according to his will and none can stay his hand or
ask him, what doest thou? He's king, the mighty conqueror. In the very first city, we read
this a minute ago, the very first city Israel took once they entered
the promised land was Jericho. Look over in Joshua 5. Now the day before Israel would
go and surround that walled city, Joshua got off to himself. Now
you can think of him as a man. I can see him doing this. There's
excitement and the hubbub of everything that was going on
and the excitement. And he just can't think. He had
to get off to himself. Get off to himself to pray and
to think. Maybe he's spying out the city
one more time and just making sure in his mind everything was
done the way it had to be. And there he is by himself. And
the picture from face to face with the person. In Joshua 5,
verse 13, And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that
he lifted up his eyes, and looked. And, behold, there stood a man
over against him with a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua
went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us? or for
our adversaries. I think for his adversaries,
Joshua is ready to fight him right now. Because he believed
God. This man had courage to go face
this man who already had a sword with him, a sheath. He was drawn.
Joshua goes up to him full of confidence. Because God said,
I'll be with you. Everywhere your foot lies, you'll
win. So if this guy was an adversary, Joshua was going to fight him
right then and there. But he said in verse 14, Nay, but as
captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell
on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him,
What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."
Joshua met the same one who spoke to Moses out of that burning
bush. He came face to face with the great I Am. This is a pre-incarnate
appearance of Christ. He gave the same order to Joshua
that he gave to Moses from the burning bush. Take off your shoes.
You're on holy ground. You're on holy ground because
holiness is standing here. You take off your shoes as a
sign of reverence. And Joshua asked him, his first
question, are you friend or foe? Well, not only is he friend,
he's the commander in chief. The battle is well in hand. The
commander-in-chief is there. The troops are always glad when
that five-star general shows up. They just feel better. The
commander-in-chief is here. And it's no surprise. They won
the battle. The commander-in-chief was there.
But what happened as soon as Israel won their very first battle
in Canaan, in the Promised Land? What's the very first thing they
did? They sinned against the Lord. A man named Achan took
gold and silver and clothes from that city. Now, the Lord said,
Destroy it all except what you put in the treasury of the Lord.
He'd destroy it all. Don't you take a thing. And it was too
good. He couldn't pass it up. There
was a good-looking wedge of gold and some good-looking clothes.
And he took them and hid them, buried them under his tent. He
didn't hide it from the Lord. The Lord knew what he did, and
the Lord judged the people for it. And Joshua did the same thing
he'd seen Moses do several times. He interceded for the people.
He begged mercy for the people. And if he hadn't interceded for
them, they'd all been destroyed. Look over at Joshua 7, verse
6. Joshua ran his clothes and fell
to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the
eventide. He and the elders of Israel,
and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said alas,
O Lord God, Wherefore hast thou all brought this people over
Jordan, to deliver us to the hand of the Amorites, and to
destroy us? Would it be God we had been content
and dwelt on the other side of Jordan? O Lord, what shall I
say when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies? For
the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it,
and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth.
And what wilt thou do unto thy great name? If we ever want to
plead with the Lord, it's always a good idea to plead His name.
Plead your namesake. And that's what Joshua did. He
interceded for the people. And Achan was destroyed, but
the rest of Israel was spared. Aren't we thankful for Christ,
our intercessor, who intercedes for us? All the sin, the rebellion
that we have, and He intercedes for us. And the Father always
hears Him, because He always pleads His blood. The Father
always hears the prayers of His Son, and He'll always accept
the blood of His sacrifice. That's our only hope, that He's
our intercessor, that He's our Savior, just like Joshua was.
Now Moses was known as the lawgiver. Joshua is known as the law keeper. Look in Joshua chapter 1. He's
the law keeper. Joshua 1 verse 7. Only be thou strong and very
courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all
the law which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from
it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper,
whithersoever thou goest." Now look over in chapter 11 verse
15, we'll see another example of this. Joshua the law keeper. As the Lord commanded Moses his
servant So did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua. He left nothing undone of all
that the Lord commanded Moses. What the law could not do, and
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh by perfectly keeping God's law. This is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. He kept every single jaw and
tittle of Moses' law. He left nothing undone that was
commanded of the Lord. And He left nothing undone that's
required of us, His people. He did it all. So we can rest
in Him. Look in Joshua 11, verse 23.
So Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord
had said unto Moses, And Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto
Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land
rested from war." That's Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. The
battle's over. We live in a land of peace. There's
no more battle. The victory's already been won
by our Savior, the mighty Conqueror. And you know the believers rest.
This is just a picture of the rest. Our rest is not a place
on earth. It's a person. Our rest is a
person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And you don't have to turn to
it, you know it very well. Hebrews chapter 4. For if Jesus,
Joshua, had given them rest, then would he not afterward have
spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest
of the people of God, for he that is entered into His rest
into the rest of Christ. Our rest is a person into His
rest. He also ceased from His own works
as God did from His. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our
peace. Now look over at Joshua chapter 5. This is interesting.
Everyone that went into the promised land, all the men that went into
the promised land, Joshua circumcised them before they went into the
promised land. Now look at Joshua 5 verse 2.
At that time the Lord sent unto Joshua, Make these sharp knives,
and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And
Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children
of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause
why Joshua did circumcise. All the people that came out
of Egypt that were males, even all the men of war, died in the
wilderness by the way after they came out of Egypt. Now all the
people that came out were circumcised already. But all the people that
were born in the wilderness, by the way, as they came forth
out of Egypt, then they had not circumcised. For the children
of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the
people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were
consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, unto
whom the Lord sware that he would not show them the land, which
the Lord sware unto their fathers, that he would give us, a land
that floweth of milk and honey. And their children, whom he raised
up in their stead, Then Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised,
because they had not circumcised them by the way. Everyone that
Moses circumcised, everyone who was circumcised after the tradition
of Abraham, died in the wilderness. Everyone that Joshua circumcised
went into the promised land and had rest and prosperity. And
you know what that's a picture of. We try to enter into rest
with our of the law and our works and our little filthy excuse
for righteousness, we're going to die in the wilderness. But
if the Lord Jesus Christ circumcises the heart, you enter into rest. If He cuts away that heart of
stone and gives you a heart of flesh that loves Him, you enter
into rest. Now, after Israel was in Canaan
for a little while, the Gibeonites came. And they tricked the men
of Israel into thinking they'd come from a long way. They put
on old shoes and old clothes and got some moldy bread and
they put wine and old cracked skins. And they came to Israel
and they said, we've traveled a long way. All this stuff was
all brand spanking new. We left home. We've traveled
so far. See how old it's gotten, all this time we've traveled?
And we've come to make peace with you. So Joshua made peace
with them, swore peace unto them. Three days later, they found
out those giving nights were from just around the corner,
that they'd tripped Look over in Joshua chapter 9. See, these
fellows knew what Rahab knew. God had given the land to Israel,
and they were going to kill everyone in the land. Joshua 9, verse
22. And Joshua called for them, and
he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying,
We are very far from you, when ye dwell among us? Now therefore,
ye are And there shall none of you be free from being bondmen,
and hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the house of my
God.' And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly
told thy servants how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant
Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants
of the land from before you. Therefore we were sore afraid
of our lives because of you, and we have done this thing.
And now, behold, we are in thine hands. And as it seemeth good
and right unto thee to do unto us, do. And so he did unto them,
and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel,
and they slew them not." That's not a picture of our sovereign
Savior. I don't know what it is. We are in his hand to do
with as he pleases. And whatever he pleases is right
and good. It's right if he damn us. It's
right if he saves us in the sacrifice of his Son. But either way, we're
in his hand. Whatever he does is right. And
the only reason we won't be destroyed and get what our sinful deeds
deserve is the covenant of grace, God's promise. That covenant
of grace has been sealed in the blood of Christ. And again, the
person is so much better than the picture. Joshua spared these
men's lives. He made them servants, didn't
he? They had to cut wood and draw water and everything. Christ
gives us life and makes us sons. Not servants, but loving sons.
In Joshua 20, Joshua established the cities of refuge where the
man-slayer could flee for safety from the avenger of gloom. And
that's Christ, our city of refuge. But once again, the person is
so much better than the picture. You know, you might be out working
in the field, and you can imagine how they may max at that time.
drawback is to cut something and that axe head falls off and
hits your buddy and the head kills him. Well, you didn't mean
to kill him. That wasn't a willful, no, I guess, you know, you're
guilty of bad action, but you didn't mean to. Well, you run
to the city of refuge and you'd be safe there. You can live there
and the Avenger cannot touch you. But, you know, you kind
of got to live the rest of your life with that guilty feeling. I hate that I did that. You never
get over it. You can't make it right. was opposed to that fellow, you
and me, we've sinned willfully in every way, at every opportunity,
yet we're still safe in Christ, our city of refuge. And in Him,
we don't live a life of guilt. He's made His people not guilty.
Justified. Live a life free from guilt.
In Joshua 21, here's the end of the story. Joshua 21. Verse 43, Every promise of God was fulfilled
through this man, Joshua. The people possessed the land
that was promised centuries ago to Abraham. They enjoyed peace
and prosperity. God kept His word. Despite their
sin, despite their rebellion, despite all their unbelief, God
kept His word. And every promise of God that's
made to God's elect is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. All
the promises of God in Him are yea and in Him, amen. What he
promised, he's also able to perform. He promised to deliver you, he's
able. He's able to deliver you. He
said my counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. I've spoken it, I'll bring it
to pass. I've purposed it, I'll do it.
He's able to say to the uttermost all that come to God by him.
Oh, if anybody wants salvation, if they just come to God by him,
he'll say them to the uttermost. He's able to keep us. to keep
us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy. He's able and He's faithful. That's our Savior. And then here
at the end, Judges chapter 2. Judges 2 verse 7. And the people
served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of
the elders that outlived Joshua. who had seen all the great works
of the Lord that he did for Israel. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the
servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance, in ten Nathirahs,
in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gilgash. And also all that generation
were gathered under their fathers. And there arose another generation
after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which
he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did
evil in the sight of the Lord and served Balaam. As long as
Joshua was the leader, the people worshipped the Lord. As long
as there were elders in Israel who served with Joshua, the people
worshipped the Lord. But trouble started when there
arose another generation, elders that did not know Joshua. The
problem wasn't so much that they didn't know Joshua. The problem
is what it says in Scripture. They didn't know the Lord. They
didn't know him. So the people didn't know him.
The people will worship as long as there's preachers who preach
the Lord Jesus Christ. As long as they know the Lord
Jesus Christ, there will be worship. As long as Christ is the message
of the pulpit, as long as Christ is the center of activity, there
will be worship. But what's soon, I mean as soon
as a preacher rises who does not know Christ, idolatry is
sure to follow him every single time. And the people will fall
into it. They'll fall into that idolatry
because they don't know the Lord, nor yet all the works that He's
done unto Israel. And they don't know because nobody's
telling them. I feel so sorry my heart breaks
for them. Nobody's telling them. That's
why they don't know Him. Thank God He's delivered us from
that. To give us a sight of our Savior. The Savior of God's choosing.
The Savior who gives us rest. The Savior who is the faithful
shepherd of his sheep. The Savior who has all authority,
all glory, and all honor. The Savior who is the mighty
conqueror. The Savior who graciously intercedes
for his people. Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our
peace. The Savior who is faithful to his covenant. The Savior in
whom all the promises are fulfilled. And one last thing about Joshua.
I thought about this this evening. Joshua led his people across
the river Jordan when it was time. And, you know, we talk
about crossing Jordan's river at the time of death. You know,
when that time comes, it won't be a hard trip. You go home tonight
and read in Joshua 3. It wasn't a hard trip when Israel
crossed Jordan. The priest put his foot at the
start of that river and the water started pouring. And just like
they walked out of Egypt on dry ground, they walked into Canaan
on dry ground. It wasn't a hard trip, because
Joshua was living there. When Joshua comes to bring his
people across that river, it'll be alright. It'll be a peaceful
trip. It'll be a trip we look forward to. Alright, well I hope
that'll bless you.