[Music] we are beginning now a verse by verse study through the Book of Joshua which is really an amazing and important book of the Bible if we want to consider something about the Book of Joshua we should begin by thinking about the historical setting of this book if you want to go back to the Book of Genesis in chapter 12 we see that God made a covenant with Abraham and that Covenant was passed on to Isaac Abraham's son Jacob Isaac's son and then the 12 sons of Jacob that is Israel because Jacob's name was later changed to Israel the Covenant that God made with Abraham and his Covenant descendants because it was not with Abraham alone but all those who would be his Covenant descendants Abraham Isaac Jacob and then the 12 tribes that came from Jacob or Israel that promised those Covenant descendants a land a nation and a blessing and that blessing would extend to All Nations that blessing would be fulfilled in the person the ministry the work of Jesus Christ the Messiah not only of Israel but the savior of the world now now in the time of Jacob and his sons the family moved to Egypt in Egypt they were first received as honored guests because they were related to Joseph who had saved not only Egypt but the entire region from a terrible famine but eventually the people of Israel became slaves in Egypt and after approximately 400 years Israel was delivered from their slavery in Egypt they were led by Moses and the people of Israel left Egypt and came to Mount Si where Israel received God's covenant now Israel's deliverance from Egypt became the central Act of redemption in the Old Testament God often reminded Israel that he delivered them from Egypt's bondage again and again and again it's in the Old Testament I'm the God who brought you out of Egypt I'm the God who delivered you from Egypt and God instituted feasts among the people people of Israel the Feast of Passover the Feast of unleavened bread the Feast of Tabernacles these were all instituted to remind Israel of God's Deliverance in the days of the Exodus Now The Exodus and everything associated with it those were real historical events but their meaning was greater than merely being past events God spoke through history to give an example of a greater Deliverance for his people that he would bring through the person and work of Jesus Christ a greater deliverance from the bondage of sin through the New Covenant which is a better Covenant as the New Testament tells us very clearly now the Covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Si included his law the system of sacrifice and the choice of blessing or cursing for Israel so Israel after some 400 years in Egypt most of it lived in slavery came out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses they came through the Wilderness to Mount Si and after a year at Mount Si God offered Israel the opportunity to enter the land of Canaan by faith they were supposed to trust in him to conquer the people of Canaan all this happened at a place called cadesh barnea and at cadesh barnea when offered the opportunity to take the Promised Land by faith Israel failed to take this opportunity they refused to enter the land that God promised them instead they declared their desire to return to Egypt and because of Israel's unbelief and Rebellion God decreed that Israel would remain in the wilderness another 38 years until that generation of unbelief died and a new generation a generation that would be willing to trust God to take Canaan they would enter into the promised land so through that 38 years God miraculously sustained Israel in the wilderness until a new generation was ready to trust God's promise to take the land of Canaan now the Book of Joshua that book that we're beginning now our verse by verse study through it's the story of this generation of Faith actually taking the promised land Now understand this the land of Canaan was a real place that the people of God conquered and possessed under the leadership of Joshua however in a spiritual sense Canan also represents the destination that God intends for his people a place of promised rest this is detailed quite specifically in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews specifically in chapter 4 you see as explained in Hebrews chapter 4 the land of Canan does not represent heaven but instead a place of rest and security that can be enjoyed by every believer under the New Covenant this is the promise of rest spoken of in Hebrews 4:1 the rest that remains for the people of God spoken of in Hebrews chap 4:9 and the rest that Joshua pointed towards but did not completely fulfill that's in Hebrews 4:8 I like what Charles Spurgeon said about this that great preacher of Victorian England said that Canan quote is a far better emblem of that state and condition of soul in which a man is found when he has become a Believer and by believing has entered into rest but not into an absolutely perfect deliverance from sin you see here's the point is that we say and the Bible as a matter of fact says that Canaan does not symbolically reference Heaven because there's still battles to fight in Canaan there's still failures to be experienced there's still repentance to be made none of that will be the experience of the saints that are glorified and resurrected in heaven but it will be the experience of those who are in God's rest right here and now yet nevertheless have to continue forward in the battle that God gives us now in this sense you could say that the Book of Joshua relates to the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians in the New Testament Ephesians describes a spiritual Walk Of Promise wealth and security for the believer in Jesus Christ and the Book of Joshua is the story of God's material provision of his promise to Israel in the land of Canaan and think about this for a moment even as the place where the law was given you could call it the place of the law that is Mount Si and even as the Wilderness was not intended to be the destination for Israel under the old Covenant so under the New Covenant the law is not God's intended destination for his people no the Abundant Life God intends for people is not found by focusing on the law though it still has its important and rightful place in the life and the understanding of the believer but instead the foundation is not built on law but the promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ whom Joshua points to that's something I want you to remember throughout all our time here in the Book of Joshua please remember this the Hebrew name Joshua translates as Jesus into the Greek language of New Testament times you see Joshua is an enduring picture or type of Jesus leading God's people into the Fulfillment of God's promises whatever Israel received in the promised land they received through the hand of Joshua and whatever Believers receive from God in the New Covenant is received through Jesus Christ who it can truly be said he is our Joshua I want to remind you again the names are the same Joshua Yeshua that's simply a Hebrew or Old Testament way of saying the name Joshua is the englishization getting into the Book of Joshua verse by verse we're starting at Joshua 1 verse 1 let me read that to you after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of nun Moses's assistant saying stop right there please notice the first few words of the book after the death of Moses Moses was indeed the great servant of the Lord and a leader of Israel his death was recorded in Deuteronomy CH 34 and as great as Moses was and you would have to agree he's one of the Great Men of the Bible indeed of all history Moses would never lead the people of God into the land of promise that wasn't Moses's job not his role not his calling that was for Joshua his successor nevertheless Moses died I think of something that Alexander McLaren said you've heard me reference Charles Spurgeon many times Charles Spurgeon was a great preacher of Victorian England Alexander McLaren was a contemporary of Spurgeon and also had a church in London Alexander McLaren said this no man is indispensable God's work goes on uninterrupted the instruments are changed but the Master Hand is the same and lays one tool aside and takes another out of the tool chest as he will that's exactly what he did in reference to Moses Moses was a valuable and important tool in the hand of the Lord but he set Moses aside and picked up Joshua now to continue his work however notice this phrase used of Moses in verse one it describes him as Moses the servant of the Lord Lord that phrase servant of the Lord is used of Moses at least 12 times in Joshua it's used of Joshua himself only once at the end of the book chapter 24: 29 if you're interested Abraham and David also received this honored titled the servant of the Lord and once Moses had died then verse one tells us the Lord spoke to Joshua now Joshua who by no means was a young man at this time he was an old man he had spent his entire career previously as the assistant of Moses Joshua found that now it was his time to lead but only after God had prepared him you see Joshua previously in his career some 40 years before this was the leader of the group of 12 Spies that Moses sent into Canaan before Israel's first opportunity to enter the promised land that's back in Numbers Chapter 13 you see the numbers 13 passage explains that Joshua was originally named HOSA that means salvation but Moses changed his name to yosua or yahushua meaning Yahweh is salvation and among those 12 Spies only Caleb and Joshua returned from the land of Canaan with a faith filled report confident that God would Empower Israel to overcome the challenges in the conquest of Canaan because of their faithfulness Joshua and Caleb were the only adult Israelites of the generation that left Egypt to survive the Wilderness years and to enter into the land of Canaan Numbers Chapter 14:30 makes that very clear you see some 38 years before the events of Joshua chapter one Joshua believed God would work through Israel to give them the land and he still believed it Moses was not allowed to lead Israel into the promised land because of his specific occasion of Disobedience but now Joshua will lead them in this um wonderful truth that we remind ourselves of that the Conqueror of Canaan Joshua and the Redeemer of the world Jesus Christ they bear the same name the Jesus whom we trust he was a Joshua now again get back to who Joshua was verse one tells us that he was Moses's assistant you see at God's command Moses had already formally recognize Joshua as his successor to lead Israel that was back in Numbers chapter 27 now though Joshua was not of noble birth nor was he a literal son of Moses there were many things that qualified Joshua to be the successor of Moses Joshua had a great training from the Lord to do this great task of leading Israel into Canaan if you go back to Exodus chapter 16 Joshua had led the army of Israel against the amalekites uh Exodus chapter 24 tells us that Joshua was an assistant to Moses Exodus 33 tells us that Joshua helped Moses at the Tabernacle after the golden calf disaster numbers 11 tells us that Joshua was zealous to preserve the authority and Leadership of Moses numbers 13 and 14 tells us that Joshua was one of the two faith-filled spies among the total of 12 who spied out the land of Canaan Numbers chapter 27 tells us that Joshua was a man in whom is the spirit of God again that's numbers 27:18 which is is perhaps the most important qualification of all the Holy Spirit would have to empower Joshua and enable him to fulfill this challenging role of leading the nation of Israel into the land of Canaan you see when we consider all the steps and stages that God brought Joshua through before we see that God Ed the consistent demonstrated faithfulness of Joshua in many small things to to prepare him for this essential role of leading Israel into the land of Canaan because it was a land with strong enemies who were of course reluctant to leave their land I like what James Montgomery Boyce in his wonderful commentary on the Book of Joshua has to say about this man let me read this to you quoting Joshua was a soldier he was a brilliant Soldier one of the most extraord orinary military commanders of all time but he was not an exciting person as far as we can tell he was probably just a bit of a plugger a rather straightforward man who was chiefly concerned with carrying out his Divine commission to the letter he had no great sins and made very few mistakes in short he was not the kind of person who would make a good hero for a novel yet Joshua was eminently God's man yes he was and as we continue on here in Joshua chapter 1 we're going to see more about this now uh starting at verse two we're going to read verses two and three here this is what God Said to Joshua Moses my servant is dead now therefore arise go over this Jordan you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them the children of Israel every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon I have given you as I said to Moses again I want to emphasize what the Lord first said to Joshua in verse two Moses my servant is dead God recognized the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua Moses had been appropriately mourned you could read about that in Deuteronomy CH 34 but now it was time to look ahead to the new work that God would do through Israel's new leader I like what G Campbell Morgan had to say about this he said quote God's instruments are men and high indeed is the honor of being such each will take up a work already begun and each will leave it unfinished each is a debtor to those who have gone before and a creditor to those who will follow therefore it behooves us to be filled with humility and restfulness do you see the point that g Campbell Morgan was trying to make there it's as if he recognizes that Joshua and every servant of the Lord is taking part in a relay race he received a baton from Moses and he's going to pass that baton off to somebody else that's how it is for every one of us so we should be humble we should be filled with faith and again I think it's fascinating that here they were ready to go on this great work that God would enact through the nation of Israel and as they would head on now in these few verses verses two and three that I just read to you and on into verse four as well it actually gives us an outline of the Book of Joshua in verse two the phrase is used go over this Jordan that was God's instruction to Joshua so in the first five chapters of the Book of Joshua we have the crossing of the Jordan then it says in verse two the land which I am giving that's the Lord giving the land to the people of Israel starting in the middle of Joshua chapter 5 we have the conquest of the land of Canaan and that continues on in through chapter 12 then the boundaries of the land that are going to be discussed in verse four which I'll read to you in just a moment that implies the distribution of the land that takes place in chapters 13- 22 again God says send them into the land which I am giving to them that's the phrase in verse two now God had promised this land to Abraham Isaac Jacob and to the sons of Israel these promises are very prominent in the Book of Genesis look I I can count many times where this promise of God giving them a land is repeated Genesis 12: 1 and 3 chap 12: 7 chap 13: 14-1 17 chapter 15: 7 CH 15: 18- 21 chapter 17:8 chapter 24: 7 chapter 26: 3 and 4 chapter 28: 3 and 4 chapter 28: 13 and 14 chapter 35: 9-13 chapter 48: 3 and 4 in chap 50:4 those are all just in the Book of Genesis again and again and again God repeated his promise to give the land of Canaan as an inheritance to the Covenant descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob but by title deed you could say by legally recognized title the people of Israel had never possessed any of the land of Canaan except the burial place of the Patriarchs in hibron that's described in Genesis CH 23 they lived Abraham lived in the land of Canaan uh Isaac lived in the land of Canaan Jacob lived for some of the time in the land of Canaan but they lived as sojourners traveling BN traveling herdsmen they didn't actually own any of the land except the burial place of the Patriarchs in hibron and they had not had any presence in the land of Canaan for about 400 years all that time they were in Egypt yet it was the land that God had promised to Israel so now he was going to give it to them now notice in verse three God says to Joshua I have given you the land you see the whole land was given to Joshua and to Israel but they could only possess what they would claim verse three says every place that the soul of your foot will tread God gave it but they had to possess it what they possessed would have to be fought for against a determined opposition I want you to think about this God States it in the singular in verse three speaking of the whole land of Canaan he speaks to Joshua and he says I've given you this land it's as if God says Joshua you have this land and you will distribute it to Israel I want you to think about that for a moment applying this spiritually speaking even as the inheritance of Canaan was entrusted to a leader a representative so it is true for God's people under the New Covenant all they spiritually possess they have in Jesus Christ who is both their leader and their representative but make no doubt about it Israel could only possess the land as God worked in them and through them they could never conquer Canaan in their own wisdom and strength yet God would not eliminate their enemies as Israel just sort of passively Sat by no God called Israel into partnership with him to see his will done I like what FB Meyer had to say about this he said quote all the land was given but every inch of it had to be claimed Israel had to put her foot down upon the land whether Wilderness or Lebanon plain or Hill and say this is mine by the gift of God and as the right was asserted God made it good but because taking the land would take effort the challenge ahead of them and the conquest of Canaan was not for those who would be content to live in Egypt not for those who would be content to live in the wilderness no it was for those who would press ahead for what God had called them to possess now let's begin at verse four here's God going to promise Victory to Joshua and to Israel uh continuing in these words that the Lord spoke to Joshua here verse 4 and 5 from the Wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the Great River the river Euphrates all the land of the Hittites and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life as I was with Moses so I will be with you I will not leave you nor forsake you in these verses God describes the precise territory of the land that God G of Israel a couple of the markers mentioned in verse four from the Wilderness as far as the Great River this specific geographical boundary is evidence that this was not a spiritual land that God gave to Israel those there's definitely a spiritual aspect involved but this was a material land it had real wilderness real mountains real Rivers real Earth and we also see that even though this refers to a literal land for us as Believers under the New Covenant it has a spiritual application as God promised to Joshua verse 5 as I was with Moses now again Moses was one of the Great Men of the Bible he had a very important role in God's unfolding plan of the ages but the work of Moses was now finished and now the work of Joshua would begin and again do not miss this correlation Moses who represented the law could not lead Israel into the promised land Miriam who you could say represented the prophets because on at least a she prophesied Miriam could not lead God's people into the promised land Aaron the brother of Moses Miriam was the sister of Moses so you Moses Miriam and Aaron Aaron who represented the priesthood could not lead Israel into the promised land only Joshua that is Jesus could lead them into the land of God's promise and he does this based on on a promise the promise of his presence did you see that phrase in verse 5 the Lord spoke to Joshua and said I will be with you you see Israel was assured of success in this Venture not because it was easy it wasn't easy at all it was a very difficult thing to conquer the land of Canaan and not because Joshua was a great leader or because Israel was a great nation no they would Triumph because God is a great God and the Lord himself promised Joshua I will be with you friends that is enough for anybody who seeks to do God's will you see we need to understand and embrace the presence of the Lord you see I will not leave you nor forsake you God said that to all Israel in Deuteronomy 31:5 and it's also quoted later on in Hebrews 13:5 applying that to all believers God speaking to us speaking to his people saying I am with you as Jesus promised to his disciples before he left the Earth and ascended to Heaven he said behold I am with you even unto the end of the age dear brother or sister in Christ that is our confidence it's no confidence in our own strength our own wisdom our own power but rather rather in the promise that Jesus Christ will be with his people even as the Lord promised to be with Joshua right now starting at verse six going on to verse 9 I'm going to read to you these verses that describe the conditions God makes for the promise of Victory we saw that God promised them Victory but there were conditions to This Promise look now starting at verse six be strong and of good courage for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may Prosper wherever you go this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night that you May observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you shall make your way prosperous and then you will have good success have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go now God specifically pointedly and repeatedly gave Joshua a command to be bold in the Lord did you see that phrase in verse six be strong and of good courage and the emphasis that's given to this command uh repeat it at least four times just in the first chapter of the Book of Joshua this suggests that Joshua needed this strong encouragement he would need God's strength he would need God's courage to conquer Canaan and to divide the land as an inheritance in Israel you see the sense here is that Joshua would find this strength and this courage in Yahweh he wouldn't find it in himself as the Apostle Paul would later explain in Ephesians chapter 6:10 Joshua was to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and friends that's a pattern for believers to find their strength in God and not in self and that is exactly what Joshua needed to do now verse seven gives another condition okay Joshua you got to be strong you got to find your strength your boldness in the Lord but secondly now in verse 7 it says that you may observe to do according to all the law now as a people People Israel was bound to God in Covenant that Covenant at Mount Si is recorded in Exodus 24 and a significant part of that Covenant was God's promise to bless and obedient Israel uh you can find those promises a blessing in Leviticus CH 26 and Deuteronomy chapter 28 but God also promised to curse a disobedient Israel you can find those promises to curse in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy CH 28 when Israel and their leadership did as verse 7 says according to all the law then they were Invincible with God's blessing and strength you see you could say that what God promised Joshua and Israel right here in Joshua chapter 1 was the repeating of a promise that God made to Israel previously at Mount Si there God promised to defeat the Canaanites and to give Israel their land let me read to you Exodus chapter 23:22 where it says this that if Israel would obey him if you indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries friends wouldn't you love that wouldn't you love God to be a strong enemy against your enemies a strong adversary to your adversaries that's what God promised to do for an obedient Israel that's why it was important for them to not as verse S says do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left there's going to be an extreme on either side that you can fall off to but don't turn instead put your focus on obeying what is written verse 8 here in Joshua chapter 1 says in this book of the law now since obedience to God's law was required for Israel's success it was very important for them to know and to Value God's word you see it wasn't only Joshua that needed to read God's word he needed to have it more than just read it had to be on his lips verse 8 says it shall not depart from your mouth it had to be in his mind uh verse 8 says you should meditate in it day and night and then Joshua also had to do it verse 8 says that he had to observe to do according to all that is written you see he didn't only need to read it he had to speak it think it and do it now Joshua would have a copy of the law according to the law of Moses laid up in the sanctuary but he had to have that copy for himself and he needed to read it speak it meditate on it and do it constantly I I love what John trap the old Puritan commentator said about Joshua at this point noting Joshua's ability as a soldier John trap said this that Joshua was a Bookman as well as a swordman man friends what a great thing to have said about a man or a woman of God that they are a Bookman as well as a swordman I I don't know what it is that you do for a living uh if you're a mechanic is you hold a wrench you turn a wrench well it's fine for you to be a wrench man but you need to be a Bookman as well um you're a chef in a restaurant you work with a saucepan all the time great that you're a saucepan man but you also need to be Bookman you need to be a man or woman of God's word so friends they had God's word they appreciated God's word they regarded it as God's word and they truly received it and accepted this and I want you to understand something this is a great Point brought up by Francis schaer in his uh commentary on Joshua Joshua and the flow of Biblical history schaer points out that Joshua was to regard the writings of Moses as the phrase is used there uh the book of the law he was to regard it as the words of God and this was true even though Joshua knew Moses intimately he knew his strengths he knew his weaknesses Joshua knew very well that Moses was a sinner and that Moses could make mistakes yet he was to regard that what he received from Moses the law the penet the first five books of Moses that he was to regard that as the words not just of Moses but as the words of God the writing of God this is very significant so uh Joshua had to be bold he had to be strong he had to give obedience to God's word and if he would do those things he and the nation of Israel then verse eight says for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success this promise to prosper and give success to an obedient Israel that just simply repeats themes that God had previously spoken to Israel again we saw it in Leviticus chapter 26 in Deuteronomy chapter 28 God promised Israel if you obey me I'll bless you if you disobey me I'll curse you obey God Israel and you'll be blessed and you can take Canaan the promised land that was God's message to Joshua and Israel here in Joshua chapter 1 now under the New Covenant that's what the community of Jesus Christ the church Christians the New Covenant Community that's what we live under under the New Covenant God's people are not blessed primarily because of their OB obedience but because of their relationship of love and trust in Jesus Christ yet because God's commands are inherently good and wise you could say that there is a builtin blessing when we conform to this good and wise design of the plan of God there is great blessing for the believer in knowing and in obeying God's word and God spoke another great word to Joshua here I'm going to conclude this here in verse 9 even though we got the rest of the chapter to go verse 9 it says for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go that final encouragement is repeated from verse five it reminds us that Joshua's success did not depend solely on his ability to keep God's word the the presence of God with him was an even greater Factor all right let's pick it up here now at verse 10 then Joshua commanded the officers of the people notice this Joshua had received his instructions from the Lord now he's passing it onto the people let me Begin Again verse 10 then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying pass through the camp and command the people saying prepare Provisions for yourselves for within 3 days you will cross over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess now Israel had arrived at this general area that is the Eastern side of the Jordan River back in Numbers Chapter 20 they were there for the Book of Numbers Chapter 20 to the end of the book they were there for all the book of Deuteronomy and now they're there for the first chapter of the Book of Joshua and after remaining at that place The Plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan River for this extended period now Israel was about to cross over this Jordan and enter the land of Canaan so he speaks to the officers of the people that's what the description there is in verse 10 these leaders probably military leaders hey get ready we've got to get the people ready we got to get the Army ready here we go we're going to go in to possess the land land that's what it says there in verse 11 to possess the land and this possession was going to come by Conquest friends the land of Canaan was not empty and the people who lived there weren't just going to give most of the land to the people of Israel now the wars of Conquest against the Canaanites began way back in Numbers chapter 21 with the victory over arod the Canaanite that's where it began but most of the fighting was ahead of Israel you see ahead of Israel were many battles with the Canaanites in order that they would take the land that God promised to Israel and they were called to carry out a unique war of judgment against the Canaanites you see the tribal groups of Canaan were a particularly sinful and depraved people whom God literally gave hundreds of years to repent as indicated by Genesis 15: 13-16 and just as God would sometimes later use other nations to bring judgment against Israel so in this period uniquely the Lord used his people to bring judgment against the Canaanites this was a great work that they were to do now Joshua spoke to the officers in verses 10 and 11 now starting at verse 12 he's going to speak to the Eastern tribes let me read these verses and then I'll explain what that means starting here at verse 12 and to the reubenites the gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke saying remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you saying the Lord Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land your wives your little ones and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan but you shall pass before your brethren armed all your Mighty Men of Valor and help them until the Lord has given your brethren rest as he gave you and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it which Moses the Lord's servant gave you and on this side of the Jordan towards the sunrise verse 12 Joshua addresses the leaders of the reubenites the gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh you see these were the tribes that chose to settle on the Eastern side of the Jordan This was land that Israel had already conquered and these two and a half tribes had promised to cross over and help the rest of the nation take the land on the west side of the Jordan River that was back in Numbers chapter 32 but here Moses excuse me Joshua calls them to obey their prior commitment that's why he says in verse 14 but you shall pass before your brethren armed all your Mighty Men of Valor and help help them again that was to be a fulfillment of the promise that they made back in numbers 32 even though those tribes already occupied their own land on the Eastern side of the Jordan they were to help their brothers who had yet to conquer their lands friends this same principle operates in the body of Christ among the community of Christians when one member has a need it's the common need of the body Believers should never refuse to help a brother or a sister in need because their own state is settled the the two and a half tribes on the Eastern side of the Jordan could say hey we've got our land good luck with your own no the need of the tribes on the western side of the Jordan was a need for all of Israel and even those who had already occupied their land they were obliged to send over their fighting men to help with the conquest now what would be the response of the Eastern tribes here we go starting at verse 16 so they answered Joshua saying all that you commanded us we will do and wherever you send us we will go just as we heeded Moses and all things so we will heed you only the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses whoever Rebels against your command as does not heed your words in all that you command him shall be put to death only be strong and of good courage don't you find it wonderful that the response of these two and a half Eastern tribes in verse 16 they respond to Joshua and they say all that you command us we will do wherever you send us we're going to go there that that was a display of unity in Israel that would be essential for them to fulfill God's calling and promise for them they overcame the temptation to see the Eastern tribes as something separate from the rest of Israel and therefore the leaders of those Eastern tribes promised verse 17 just as we heeded Moses and all things so we will heed you the willingness of the people to receive Joshua as their leader is really notable here I mean Moses was a great man a great leader with a tremendous track record they had trusted in moses' leadership for some 40 years now they look at Joshua and go we know you're God's man we'll follow you the same way but I also love this that the representatives from the tribes of Reuben Gad and half of Manasseh also encouraged Joshua they spoke to him the same thing that Joshua had previously heard from the Lord they said to him in verse 18 only be strong and of good courage so God himself encouraged Joshua with those words previously in this chapter now the people of God Echo it and they say Joshua what the Lord told you to do do it and this is an example of God's people encouraging one another with God's word isn't that a marvelous thing that we can do these leaders of the Eastern tribes they said Joshua we're going to encourage you with what the Lord spoke to you we're going to repeat God's word to you and encourage you with that what a great thing we can do with our Bibles with the word of God we can encourage one another with God's promises friends I hope you take the promises of God for yourself but don't be selfish with them you can share them encourage others with them as well now before we leave Joshua chapter 1 here let's consider just a few ways that Joshua 1 points to Jesus Christ I'm not going to pretend for a moment that just the couple points I'm going to give you right now exhaust how this chapter points to Jesus and if you have additional thoughts beyond what I share here just in the next few moments uh we invite you to give a response in some way or another but check it out here I thought of just a couple ways that Joshua 1 points to Jesus number one obviously Joshua represents Jesus Christ leading his people into God's Promised Land of rest and security there's still going to be battles to be fought but there is a place of inheritance a place of security for the people of God that's number one number two I want you to see a contrast here Moses was the leader who died that idea is repeated twice in the first couple verses Moses was dead but Jesus is the leader who never dies do you see the contrast Moses passes away but not Jesus Hebrews chap 7: 16 says that Jesus serves his people not according to the law of a fleshly commandment but according to the power of an endless life that's our Savior Jesus Christ and in Hebrews 7: 24 the writer of the Hebrews says that Jesus because he continues forever has an unchangeable priesthood AR aren't you grateful that God's never going to pass us off to another savior another Redeemer a replacement no no no no in God's work among men the Baton gets passed but not with our savior Moses was the leader who died Jesus is the leader who never dies and then finally I don't know if you noticed this when we read verse 11 heaven but Joshua told the people of Israel hey we're going to cross over in 3 days think about that three days God promised A New Beginning for Israel crossing the Jordan and entering into Canaan and that points to a completely new beginning that God had for Israel back then but for all his people you could even say for all creation in the three days between the death of Jesus and his glorious Resurrection listen after Jesus Christ died on the cross in three days God made all things new because everything that comes with the newness of Life both for individual Believers and creation as a whole comes in and through the Glorious resurrection of Jesus which happened in three days 3 days after his death now there's just a couple ways I can think that Joshua chapter one points to Jesus Christ we're going to see a lot more as we continue on in our verse by verse study through the Book of Joshua thank you Lord thank you for your word thank you for your presence thank you for your power and we ask Lord that we would look to Jesus Christ as our Joshua our conqueror the leader whom we will follow the leader whom we will obey so that we can honor you and give you glory and that we can possess everything that you have for us in Jesus Christ work that in US Lord we pray in Jesus name [Music] amen