Be strong and courageous

Transcript

okay x so we're going to talk about Joshua x tonight and it's it's going to be a lot x of information because we're going to x look at the sort of the entire life of x Joshua in the next you know 45-50 x minutes or so x um if you do have questions or comments x throughout feel free to go ahead and x interrupt me and I'll x I'll pass the questions off to Jim x Sullivan and say Jim here answer this x you can do that and then we'll move on x to the next question question but x what I want to do first is simply to Ben x asked me before class if there was a x reading and I I said yeah I've x Incorporated that into my into my class x so we're going to go ahead and just do x this quick reading here from the end of x Deuteronomy and into the first part of x Joshua so I'll go ahead and read that x now Joshua the son of none was filled x with a spirit of wisdom because Moses x had laid his hands on him and the sons x of Israel listened to him and did as the x Lord and commanded Moses since that time x no Prophet has risen in Israel like x Moses whom the Lord knew face to face x for all the signs and wonders which the x Lord sent him to perform in the land of x Egypt against Pharaoh all his servants x and all his land and for all the mighty x power and all the great Terror which x Moses performed in the sight of all x Israel x now it came about after the death of x Moses the servant of the Lord that the x Lord spoke to Joshua the son of none x Moses the servant saying Moses my x servant is dead so now arise crosses x Jordan you and all his people to the x land which I am giving to them to the x sons of Israel x every place on which the sole of your x footsteps I have given it to you just as x I spoke to Moses from the Wilderness and x this Lebanon even as far as the Great x River the river Euphrates all the land x of the Hittites and as far as the great x sea toward the setting of The sun will x be your territory no one will be able to x oppose you all the days of your life x just as I have been with Moses I will be x with you I will not desert you nor x abandon you be strong and courageous for x you shall give this people possession of x the land which I swore to their fathers x to give them only be strong and very x courageous be careful to do according to x the law all the law which Moses my x servant commanded you do not turn from x it to the right or to the left so that x you may achieve success wherever you go x this book of the law shall not depart x from your mouth but you shall meditate x on it day and night so that you may be x careful to do according to all that is x written in it for then you will make x your way prosperous and then you will x achieve success have I not commanded you x be strong and courageous do not be x terrified nor dismayed for the Lord your x God is with you wherever you go x so obviously this this theme that we x have of Joshua which is why I titled it x be strong and courageous is because x there are at my count at least there are x 15 times in the Book of Joshua where God x says to Joshua be strong and courageous x so you know an encouragement I don't x think it's a it's a knock against Joshua x that he wasn't that he was weak and x frightened but I think it was just an x encouragement for him because he had a x big task I mean he was he was stepping x into the shoes of Moses so this this x isn't something to be taken lightly x but you know when I was thinking about x this I thought well why do we care about x Joshua you know why do we care and you x know when we think about Joshua it was a x long time ago and you know two verses in x in First Corinthians 10 but it's say the x same type thing it says now these things x happened as examples for us so that we x would not create evil things if they x indeed craved them then it also says now x these things happen to them as an x example and they were written for our x instruction upon whom the ends of the x ages have come x so Joshua yes is a long long long time x ago and so what why do we care well the x lessons that are there which we're going x to look at some of those tonight the x lessons are there for a reason for us as x an example to encourage us to help us to x become strong and courageous you know we x know x in general we know about Joshua you know x the things I'm going to tell you tonight x aren't going to be brand new things that x you've you haven't heard before and you x you can probably share some things with x me that might help me and my better x understanding of Joshua but I really x wanted to take a look at Joshua one x reason is because two of my favorite x verses in scripture are in Joshua and x we'll get to those later but I just x thought you know of who Joshua was x and the some of the some of the some of x his character qualities x so I thought okay x where do we first hear about Joshua well x we first hear about Joshua x um back in the book of of um x just had a brain blip there back in x Exodus x when he was chosen by Moses when they x were about to go out to the amalekites x and fight the malachites and I've got a x funny little Side Story here to tell you x um many of you probably know my boys uh x Nicholas and Simeon Simeon when he was a x very young boy he and I may give this x story a little bit wrong but I asked x Dana earlier I said is this story right x and she said yeah I'll be pretty close x when Sydney I was a little boy he he's x one time said what what is that story x where is that story about Moses and and x that lady x and Dana's like what are you talking x about Moses and that lady Miriam or or x what no no Moses and that lady well x after talking a little bit they realized x that or we Dana realized that he was x asking about Moses Aaron and her x so her was the lady that Simeon was x asking about but this is also when we x first meet Joshua we meet Joshua we find x out that Joshua's name has been changed x um x and Joshua's name is going from actually x I think I've got some slides about that x let me let me just flip through here x okay we're first introduced to Joshua x Exodus 17. God changes his name from x Hosea which means salvation to Joshua x God is salvation or Savior and you know x the the Hebrew word their name for x Joshua and Brian you may correct me here x but as far as I understand it the Hebrew x word Joshua is God at Salvation the x Greek word for Jesus Is God is salvation x or savior so and again I think most of x us probably all know that x Joshua like I said earlier Joshua is x Moses right-hand man x Joshua was the only one who accompanied x Moses when he went up onto Mount Sinai x and that references in Exodus 24. so of x all the people there's one person and x that was the servant Joshua x Joshua also if you look in Exodus 33 x there's a story about about Moses and x the tent of meeting and it talked about x Moses going there and leaving but it x talked about Joshua staying there so he x was the only one that stayed there in x that tent of meeting when the Israelites x were wandering in the wilderness x we all know that Joshua is one of the x one of the 12 Spies that were initially x sent out by Moses x we know that it's just just Joshua and x Caleb that were the only ones that x actually brought back a positive report x to Moses x we know that Joshua as we just read at x the end of accident or end of x Deuteronomy beginning of Joshua Joshua x was appointed the leader of Israel of x the Israelites by Moses after they had x been in the wilderness for 40 years and x then he actually was the one who x actually took them into the Promised x Land x um he also once they got into the x promised land Joshua was responsible he x divided up the land amongst the tribes x and gave them very specific boundaries x um I mentioned already about being x strong and courageous x that's what I found interesting that x Joshua spent 20 years and there's some x debate about whether it was actually 20 x years in Egypt as a slave before coming x out of the and what age he was but let's x let's for tonight's sake for argument's x sake let's call it 20 years so 20 years x in Egypt as a slave 40 years in the x wilderness Wilderness and then 50 years x in the promised land and then we we x related that he died at 110 years old so x he really God really used his first 60 x years both as a slave as Moses's x assistant right hand man to help prepare x him x so when I think about Joshua and that x preparation I I take a look at my own x life and I say you know Joshua Was x preparing for a long time for 60 years x with small acts of faithfulness x throughout his entire life you know I I x look at I'll I'll disclose that that I'm x 60. so I think okay for all of my life x so far x what have I been prepared for x have I had those small acts of x faithfulness that helps prepare me for x something bigger you know I look at x Joshua and I I get excited when I think x about Joshua and how courageous he was x even though he was told that x he didn't shrink back in in fear he was x he was never fearful that we hear about x you know he overcame the obstacles that x were placed in front of him x and what he really did he like Jesus he x fixed his eyes he fixed his eyes on the x Promises of God rather than worrying x about obstacles and x Dana will tell you about me that I tend x to focus on the obstacles and not on the x long-term Vision you know I always point x out well what's wrong with this idea or x what's the problem and I need to change x that and become more of a man of Courage x I'd look at Joshua too and say you know x a long time Joshua didn't quit Joshua x wasn't a quitter you know Joshua x understood his purpose he understood his x calling he he focused on the words of x God and we read that we'll we'll read x more of that here in a bit but he x focused on God's word and he Faithfully x obeyed every command that was given to x him x you know Joshua didn't fight his battles x alone not only did he he have God With x Us by his side he had others around him x that he encouraged he wasn't a Lone x Ranger he didn't March around the city x of Jericho by himself excuse me by x himself so he would he was a courageous x leader taking others into battle and and x there by God's side with God bite his x side x so x when I think about a bigger picture a x bigger picture those are some of the the x details a little bit a little bit into x the weeds but when I when I think about x a bigger picture and who he was and I x went back through my Bible x from doing Bible class on Joshua I don't x know five six seven years ago at the x Bible education center and I just pulled x out some character traits of Joshua to x say let's look at his real character and x who was he you know first off he was a x man of humility he never stood up and x said look at me look who I am you know x it talks about him being a servant you x know we all hear the phrase you as a x servant leader this is who Joshua was so x before he was a leader he was willing to x serve after he was a leader he was x willing to serve x also when you look at Joseph Joshua's x character just what a man of faith and x what a man of trust in God you know he x he demonstrated this when he went to spy x out the land he certainly demonstrated x it at the fall of Jericho that trust and x that faith in God x I've already mentioned you know that x Joshua was a man of God's word and you x know his I would contend that his x success was directly related to him x adhering to the word of God just he he x stuck with it he didn't didn't you know x Veer to the right or to the left and x there's there's a verse about that here x somewhere that I know I'm going to read x somewhere tonight but you know just time x and again Joshua was true to God's God's x word x we see throughout the Book of Joshua x that he was a man of prayer you know he x prayed for for his people he prayed when x they failed he prayed in the in the x midst of War x he was a man of prayer and that's who x Joshua was x he always put God first before the x business at hand before others before x himself this is who Joshua was x you know we've already talked about him x being Moses's right-hand man you know 40 x years in the wilderness a loyal follower x to to Moses x we talked about him being obedient you x know and I think that's that's one of x the final lessons we're going to get to x about Moses or about Joshua is his his x obedience x one of the things I really liked was x just thinking about I had this note x written somewhere at the end of the Book x of Joshua that he was reliable x you know in this day and age x I I would guess I know I do I come x across people all the time x they just aren't reliable x that you say you know I'm going to ask x him to do something is it going to x happen is it going to not not happen you x know I send an email to somebody at work x and say well they'll respond to me and x then all of a sudden I realize you know x a week later they've not responded and x Something's Happened there's just x there's there's a lack of reliability I x think all around us these days but not x Joshua that's not who Joshua was x so what we're going to do now is we're x going to look a little deeper we're x going to look a little deeper and what x you're going to see is you're going to x see a lot of text in front of you we're x not going to read all the text so you x can thank me for that later but we're go x I just put the text up there because you x all know the stories that we're going to x bring about but I want to put the x stories up there and I've underlined x some of the some of the highlights in x the in the passages x and then I just want to talk about each x one a little bit further we've already x mentioned some of it and it may seem x like it's a broken record but I think x repetition helps me a lot as I think x about these these people who are x examples to me x so we first think about x God's charge to to Joshua we already x read this in Joshua 1 and what I did x that the titles that I have here God's x charge to Joshua all I did was literally x go Page by Page in my Bible and say x what's the heading of this what's what's x my Bible say is beheading to this so if x you wonder how I came up with that it's x it's straight out of of the Bible that I x have anyway so this one in Joshua 1 x talks about God's charge to to Joshua x you know I sort of emphasized a little x bit as I was reading in there that I x will be with you I will not desert you x you shall give this people possession of x the land the book of the law shall not x depart from your mouth meditate on it x you will achieve success x a very clear and positive message and x when I look at it I look at here's the x secret to success the secret to success x is keep God's word in your in you all x the time meditate on it don't let it x depart from your mouth these are the x keys to success and you know that that x that true success you know how was it x somebody x I can't remember somebody one time I was x talking to said well x Give me a definition of success and I x remember we talked about it and finally x we came back to this that the true x definition of success is complete x obedience to God complete obedience to x God x you know and I think I've said it before x I know I've said it before I don't know x if I said it in these Wednesday night x classes before is that when we think x about this obedience to God there are x people if you say Do you believe in God x a lot of people will say yes x but then the follow-up question is do x you believe God x because there's a difference because if x I truly believe God I will be in x complete obedience to him because we x know that he does keep his promise and x so remembering God's promise I think is x is huge in all this when we think about x do I believe God and about this these x this adherence and this obedience to God x and just staying there staying there in x God's word and not letting it depart x from our mouth x so that's that's passage one the next x passage is in Joshua 2 and it's about x Rahab x I just I find this an incredible story x you know we we read the story he says x Joshua x um sent two minutes spies just just a x little aside here and we can maybe talk x about this later if you have any more x insight if you've got any more insight x feel free to share that with me because x I would love it but I find it x interesting that back in numbers 14 I x believe it is where where Moses sent out x the spies into the land and Joshua and x Caleb were among them it said that God x told Joshua to send out the spies here x it doesn't say that it said Joshua sent x two men as spies don't know what that x means don't know if that was good or bad x I mean we don't see anything bad x happening so I've got to believe it it's x okay but I just found it found it x interesting x um but here it's really x I think it's unusual to say the least x that God is choosing Rahab a harlot or a x prostitute to to become the the this x liaison for Joshua and the Israelites x and you know Joshua that the spies went x there the women the she hid the two men x um she said I don't know where they went x she told she she lied about it x um but she says in verse 9 x I know that the Lord has given you the x land x for we in verse 10 for we have heard how x the Lord dried up the water of the Red x Sea the faith that she shows and there x that where I underlined in verse 11 for x the Lord your God he is God in heaven x above and on earth below x so that incredible faith x you know if we would look at this x situation we would say she's a harlot x she's a prostitute why x God could see her heart x and when you really think about her x destiny x you know who was she she married one of x the princes of Judah she was in the x lineage of King David she was in x Millennium lineage of Jesus you know it x talks about her and the the chat Hebrews x 11 the chapter of Faith you know that x Rahab has mentioned so you know just the x the amazing x follow-up to this instance where Joshua x set the spies x and then all this happened you know and x we know God can see the the end from the x beginning but for us I think one of the x lessons is we need to say I need to let x God lead this and not look on the x outward appearances but say you know x maybe God knows better x you know maybe God knows better you know x I I always wonder what if the spies had x gone into Jericho x and had gone to had gone to rehab I mean x why they even went there to begin with x maybe it was just a nobody would think x about think twice about it but if they x would have gone back to Joshua and said x hey are we good going to the house of x the Harlot x Joshua said I I don't know x I would have said I don't know I don't x think it's a good idea but it happened x so x next Israel crosses the Jordan in Joshua x 3. you know here x Joshua is saying you know x come here hear the words of the Lord you x will know that the Living God is among x you you will know this and then he gives x them instructions how to do this he says x you know put the Ark in front of you he x says when you go down verse 12 I didn't x underline that verse 12 or 13 it will x come about when the souls of the feet of x the priest who carry the Ark of the Lord x rest in the waters the Jordan the Jordan x will be cut off you know God opens the x way I mean it wasn't that long ago that x the Red Sea was part of it I mean in x reality the whole scheme of things so x here Joshua and Caleb had to say hmm I x can see this happening again a similar x type thing but again for us having the x faith to know that God opens the way for x us and we need to then follow and we x need to step forward you know we always x we hear the phrase x um x about Peter you know the at least get x out of the boat well here I would say x the phrase is at least get your feet wet x you know get your feet wet step into the x water and see what happens they saw what x happened they they walked walked into x the the promised land they needed to x recognize for themselves that God x brought them here at this time in this x place even though the water uh where is x it verse uh 15 x um step down to the edge of the water x for the Jordan overflows all its banks x all the days of the Harvest I mean a x rushing torrent of water x um you know we were in Israel I always x like Jason's classes about about Israel x we were in Israel x 2006 uh five or six maybe and my older x son Nicholas we actually he was baptized x I baptized him in the Jordan River and I x think about how peaceful and calm it was x that day and I think about this and I x think wow there's a difference that x really had to take Faith to step out x but when they did that like Peter x remember it says he kept his eyes x focused on Jesus here they were keeping x their eyes focused on the ark and saying x okay this is what our focus is this is x what we're going to go forward with and x then at the end of it they they make a x memorial they built they build up the x stones and I think that's another good x lesson for us is to always have a I'll x call it a touchstone but something to go x back and think and have the memories to x go back to to say x I remember that time in my life where I x was faithful to God and God was faithful x to me and I mean this is one of the x reasons that Joshua's that God told x Joshua to to take these stones and and x make this Memorial x the next is the story of Jericho so we x we could we could all sing the song but x probably a good idea not to do that as x Jim mentioned earlier not not to sing x here during class x but when we look at the story of just x Jericho and the walls came tumbling down x you know x it's just an incredible story of Faith x an incredible story of faith that x how did the Israelites feel walking x marching around the city of Jericho for x a week instead of just going straight x into battle you know did they feel x foolish x did they feel uncertain of what God was x doing with them x but God's instructions were clear x and the Israelites chose to obey x there's the lesson for us x and you know do I think sometimes in my x life that God's instructions just aren't x making sense to me why would I do that x why would I do that why is this x happening to me at this time x you know I I still remember goodness x 40 years ago maybe we were going to a x Bible school over in Indiana and driving x through Indianapolis and we got stuck in x horrible traffic x finally got through the traffic and x right past Indianapolis on the other x side there was a huge huge huge wreck x you know I was impatient with the x traffic but then I said maybe this is x God telling me don't be impatient listen x to me calm down slow down I'm going to x protect you x so you know when these walls came x tumbling down and just the the people x that did obey they followed the x instructions that they were given and x the logic of it logically it just x doesn't make sense but maybe once we've x completely obeyed God's word then in x hindsight 2020 we can certainly see that x logic that God had x with the story of AI and in Joshua 8. so x right after right after Jericho x there's a little bit of a problem a x little bit of a problem Aiken did not x fully obey the word of the Lord x so they go through that whole process of x finding out who it was and it was Aiken x but then God says okay now I want you to x go back x I want you to go back x um there that I've underlined I've x handed over to you the king of AI x um you shall take only only it spoils in x his cattle as plunder for yourself x um so that's that's just a snapshot of x the the picture x but when I when I look at that and I say x you know what what might Joshua have x done after they were defeated and I I x actually I'm going to look that up I x didn't write that down x I don't know I sort of you know laugh at x it but you know in Joshua 7 it says that x what is this inversed x three of Joshua 7. it says do not let x all the people go up oh this is going up x to AI only about two or three thousand x men need to go up to AI x um and then it says about 3 000 men went x up from the people uh they fled from the x men of AI the men of a I struck down x about 36 of their men so of all these x people they're in the land and you know x that were there and they chose just two x or three thousand I mean 36 we're still x talking one percent of people I mean x that's loss of life is loss of life x but x first point is Joshua didn't turn and x run in fear he didn't run from AI in x fear because of this defeat x he planned another attack but I find it x interesting when you go into verse or x chapter eight in chapter eight God said x to Joshua do not fear or be dismayed x take all the people of war with you x arise and go to Ai and then it says x remember he took it says two or three x thousand and he said three thousand but x in verse three of Chapter eight it says x Joshua chose thirty thousand men x Valiant Warriors if you have any insight x on that later I'd like to know why he x took thirty thousand here and three x thousand before you know was he x overconfident before after disco or x after defeating Jericho x what was it but then with that 30 000 x that um he took it says in verse 24 25 x of Chapter eight it says all who fell x that day the men of AI both men and x women were 12 000 all the people of AI x so first off x took 3 000 against 12 000 and then took x thirty thousand against twelve thousand x so just an interesting x um dichotomy there of the numbers of x people but the main lesson I have there x is that Joshua didn't turn and run in x fear Joshua said I need to have God by x my side and I need to follow the x instructions that are given me x next and in my Bible it's called the x guile the gibeonites and this is one of x the long passages we're not going to x read through but if you'll remember the x story uh the the Kings Kings came out to x fight against uh Joshua and the x Israelites but then the gibeonites heard x about it and so they were they were x crafty it says oh or is it uh x line that somewhere it says they're x crafty oh there it is in verse says they x met together with one purpose to fight x with Joshua with Israel or with Israel x that's those are the the Kings x um but then it says the inhabitants of x giving also heard what Joshua had done x to Jericho and AI but today on their own x part acted craftily they said we have x come from afar country now then they can x Covenant with us then they said your x servants have come from a very distant x country because the fame of the Lord x your God we have heard of the report x about him and all that he did in Egypt x and then they go on x um at the end of that piece it says we x are your servants now then make a x covenant with us x but then in verse 14 so the men of x Israel took some of their provisions and x did not ask for the counsel of the Lord x so there's the lesson for me in this x whole passage this whole long passage is x that we have to listen to God before we x make decisions you know they had a they x had a direct attack from their enemy and x then they have this crafty attack from x their enemy who are pretending to be x friends x and you know people they the the the the x Kings have heard about what had happened x the gibeonites have heard about what had x happened but the gibeonites were x crafty and they they tricked them but I x think x you know what would have happened what x would have happened if Joshua and the x Israelites would have asked God's x counsel in this place so I think to me x again the main lesson that I draw from x that is that you know we can really we x can make costly mistakes if we if we x don't consult God you know we have to x consult God at every turn no matter what x it is we have to consult God x I always find this just a very x intriguing story and again there's I've x heard a lot of things about it I don't x have the answers again if somebody else x has the answers to this and how or why x but you know to me when I look why x about Joshua spoke to the Lord the son x stood still the moon stopped there was x no day like that before it or after when x the Lord listened to the voice of a man x for the Lord fought for Israel x you know x physically actually maybe maybe John x with his his physics can tell us why and x how this could happen but x for my for me as a layperson I don't get x it I don't understand why and how that x could have happened without nothing x short of a miracle but it wasn't a x coincidence you know God was helping x Joshua God was helping the army they had x fought hard and long and Joshua knew he x needed to ask God for help x so Joshua spoke to the Lord and x you wonder I wonder x what the reaction was of Joshua I don't x I didn't look I don't think we have a x reaction you know the Joshua says wow x wow what just happened that's incredible x but what about for me what about for us x when something happens that we've prayed x about and it actually happens x how quickly like the Israelites do we x just chalk it up to coincidence do we x forget that we ask God and that he x answered our prayer do we find it hard x to believe that God really cares about x some of the details in our lives you x know scripture tells us repeatedly that x God does care about the details and that x God will respond when we pray x we've always had God can say yes no x maybe not now you know those are all x responses x but God does respond and so with this in x mind when we pray to God let's not be I x don't want to be surprised when x something happens and say wow I want to x look for those God moments in my life x and then to thank God for his response x to my prayer x this is where one of the my favorite x passages in scripture is this is when x Caleb just made a request about the land x that he wanted x um x so Joshua 14 it says Caleb says verse 7 x I was 40 years old and Moses the servant x of the Lord sent me from kadish Barney x to spy out the land and I brought word x back to him as it was in my heart x but then my this is one of my favorites x in verse 8 he says but I followed the x Lord my God fully x I followed the Lord my God fully what a x beautiful x self-confidence x but I think still humble attitude that x Caleb had because at the end of this x passage he says give me this Hill x Country verse 12 give me this Hill x Country about which the Lord spoke on x that day for you heard on that day that x Anakin were there there with great x fortified cities perhaps at 85 years old x the Lord will be with me and I will x drive them out just as the Lord has x spoken I mean again I don't think it's a x it's a a boasting arrogant thing I think x it's a humble thing because Caleb had x been there from the beginning x and Caleb's life of 85 years x is encapsulated in the verse but I x followed the Lord my God fully that x unshakable faith I think that Caleb had x throughout his life we don't hear a x whole lot else about him we don't hear x certainly not like Joshua but just that x one little piece showing that an x unshakable Faith the special place the x the the that Caleb had I think in God's x heart x and that example you know we started x back looking at First Corinthians 10 x about these things are set there for our x examples this is one of my examples that x I think of frequently and to say to x myself I'm never too old to trust God x to trust God for whatever he's going to x put in front of me for the victories for x the defeats x but whatever is going to happen I want x to act out my faith x we're getting toward the end of Joshua x now x and in Joshua 21 x we read about Again by my Bible it says x possession and rest it says Lord God the x lord gave Israel all the land which he x had sworn to give to their fathers he x gave them rest on every side verse 45 x not one of the good promises which the x Lord had made to the house of Israel x failed everything came to pass x you know a couple couple weeks ago a few x weeks ago we always for in our x Collegiate I won't bore you with all the x details but typically we listen to you x all every Sunday except the first Sunday x of the month we have our own meeting and x in our small Ecclesia during the summer x we have it outside at our house with x with the pandemic and in the winter time x we just do it via Zoom like this so my x last exhortation was about the promises x and when you're talking about Hebrews x 11. and you know just the fact that x these are promises x I mean we can almost x diminish the meaning of a promise x sometimes you know we just sort of throw x it out well I I promise I'll do this oh x I promise I'll do this these are God's x promises the promises that the Lord God x Almighty made to Abraham to Isaac to x Jacob passed down to Moses pass down to x Joshua pass down to the Israelites x passed down to us and here we read not x one of the good promises x failed everything came to pass what a x beautiful lesson what a beautiful x ending as we're starting to come to the x end of Joshua's life x in Joshua 13 again this long passage x we're not going to all this but you x know Joshua's farewell address x you know it talks about the Lord giving x rest to all Israel from Israel from all x their enemies x um you've seen all the Lord your God has x done x um he's been the Lord your God it's he x who has been fighting for you you know x remember Joshua didn't fight his battles x alone x um the Lord your God he will thrust them x away from you drive them from you be x very determined to do it to keep and do x everything that's written in the book x and the law of Moses so that you won't x turn aside from it to the right or to x the left I knew that verse is in here x somewhere x um I think that's that's right in the x middle of the page there in verse 8 x claim to the Lord your God I mean I x don't know why whenever I think of x clinging I think of koala bears just x clinging around a tree like holding on x for dear life and just holding on to God x with all our might wrapping our arms x around him it is the Lord Our God who x fights for us you know love the Lord x your God and then in verse 14 not one x word of all the good words which the x Lord your God spoke concerning you has x failed x whatever happened to Joshua in his life x the ups and the Downs the battles the x difficulties the the problem the issues x with the Israelites where they're x they're back and forth and you know x waning in their face sometimes but x Joshua overcame all this he knew at this x point that his life was coming to an end x he recognized that there was still work x to be done x in for the Israelites to claim that land x that God had promised to them and so he x had to remind the people that God is x going to help you to to keep driving out x the enemies x and you know Joshua was a different x person Joshua was just a different x person you know he he x I've got a note written here and x probably the next class I'm going to do x and I'm just going to talk about it for x a second x but I think about it as an overriding x Fame the the the the phrase I've got x here is called assimilation versus x different differentiation x and I was listening to a book at some x point in the last year I only listened x to the first chapter or so and then I x just set it aside and forgot about it x now I can't find it but in that book The x the person talked about scripturally x um you know spiritually assimilation x versus differentiation x and how x the Israelites were supposed to x differentiate themselves from the people x of the land they were supposed to dry x them out x unfortunately there was some x assimilation going on x and you know I think the same thing x happened throughout scripture throughout x history throughout the Israelites x history and I think it's a lesson for us x it's a lesson for me certainly that x do I assimilate in my life into the x world or do I become different I've got x a I've got a co-worker who I don't know x a few months ago x she said to me she's like Ray I x I just sense that you and Dana are x different x and you know I laughed and Steve Davis x probably says well yeah of course you're x different but you know I I I sort of x took that and said I think that's a good x thing I think it's a good thing I think x it's a good thing for us to be different x and not to assimilate ourselves into the x world and that's what Joshua I think one x of the messages he's trying to get here x in the toward the end of his life you x know God knows our weaknesses and God x wants to allow us the the latitude to x serve in the way that we want to serve x but there are parameters like there were x parameters in the land when when and x we're not we didn't look at any of these x but you know when when Joshua said okay x Judah here are your parameters from here x to here to here to here you know Dan and x you know all the others these are your x parameters x but within those parameters we can serve x God always x the last x section is the last scripture that we'll x look at is in Joshua 24 and again x another this is the second of my x favorite verses in verse um x verse 15. choose for yourselves today x whom you will serve x um as for me and my house we will serve x the Lord x but earlier than that in verse 14 it x says Joshua is saying to them fear the x lord serve him in sincerity and Truth x serve the Lord x and then you make a choice you make your x choice x my choice is x my house we not May x but we will serve the Lord period and x then at the end of this passage he says x again we also will serve the Lord for he x is God x you know just a a beautiful thing and we x know unfortunately that shortly x thereafter it says that I don't have x these verses written down but it says x the the elders that were with Joshua x they continue to serve God but then x after that it all went by the wayside x then we get into the Book of Judges and x then every man does what's right in his x own eyes so it didn't take too long even x though x they had all these examples in front of x them all the examples of Moses the x examples of Joshua the example of Caleb x the elders stuck with it in Joshua's x time after he died x but then that was it it just didn't x continue x so x to finish I've got a couple lessons to x to very simple lessons other things x we've already talked about x for me at least the primary lesson that x I draw from Joshua's life x is that God is faithful to his promises x and that comes back to the do we just do x we believe in God or do we believe God x you know and and when I think about what x that means for me it's to take out the x challenge that Joshua plays before the x Israelites x and that challenge is Worship the Lord x obey him x and always be faithful x it's a simple message and you know I x think it was maybe Jim Sullivan talking x about a friend maybe sometime recently a x friend said no I couldn't understand the x Bible I started in Revelation I couldn't x understand the Bible was just too x complicated it's not x it's Worship the Lord obey him be x faithful God keeps his promises God x wants our hearts he doesn't want the x outward appearance he doesn't want the x just the words the Israelites you know x we see so many times oh yeah yeah yeah x we're gonna follow you and then they x turn around and complain or they turn x around disobey or whatever they do x and you know I think I think about the x fact that I go back to one of those x earlier slides x where I said that x Joshua x for the first 60 years of his life x was in training x he was in training to show those little x little steps x and then x it was the real test to come you know as x an athlete you know a lot I was reading x an article sometime recently about this x but in an athlete a lot of times will x practice harder x or work harder in practice than in a x game x you know in practice things go wrong x but you just the team repeats the x fundamental skills they but for x basketball football whatever lacrosse x you know they they repeat this x fundamental skills they repeat the plays x over and over just to eliminate mistakes x on game day x and it's the practice sessions where the x stamina is built up so that the players x are in shape for the real contest x you know once upon a time I was a I was x a track and field athlete I was a high x jumper and we did things that were just x like in practice that you know it's like x oh we're just gonna die you know now I x run marathons and I go out and I just x run and run around and run and run x but it's for that race that's coming up x so that it makes that race easier well x Joshua in his 60 years he was doing all x these things he was preparing for game x day he was preparing for race day x and he was prepared he was ready after x that 40-year practice session in the x desert x so he he was ready he knew that God was x going to keep his promise x so those are the lessons that I drew x from x the Book of Joshua and from Joshua's x life x so I will stop sharing my screen I x remembered x and I will let you ask questions or fill x in the blanks that I left blank or x enlighten me on whatever you'd like to x enlighten me on