Be strong and courageous

Transcript

okay so we're going to talk about Joshua tonight and it's it's going to be a lot of information because we're going to look at the sort of the entire life of Joshua in the next you know 45-50 minutes or so um if you do have questions or comments throughout feel free to go ahead and interrupt me and I'll

I'll pass the questions off to Jim Sullivan and say Jim here answer this you can do that and then we'll move on to the next question question but

what I want to do first is simply to Ben asked me before class if there was a reading and I I said yeah I've Incorporated that into my into my class so we're going to go ahead and just do this quick reading here from the end of Deuteronomy and into the first part of Joshua so I'll go ahead and read that

now Joshua the son of none was filled with a spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord and commanded Moses since that time no Prophet has risen in Israel like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh all his servants and all his land and for all the mighty power and all the great Terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of none Moses the servant saying Moses my servant is dead so now arise crosses Jordan you and all his people to the land which I am giving to them to the sons of Israel every place on which the sole of your footsteps I have given it to you just as I spoke to Moses from the Wilderness and this Lebanon even as far as the Great River the river Euphrates all the land of the Hittites and as far as the great sea toward the setting of The sun will be your territory no one will be able to oppose you all the days of your life just as I have been with Moses I will be with you I will not desert you nor abandon you be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous be careful to do according to the law all the law which Moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may achieve success wherever you go this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will achieve success have I not commanded you be strong and courageous do not be terrified nor dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go

so obviously this this theme that we have of Joshua which is why I titled it be strong and courageous is because there are at my count at least there are 15 times in the Book of Joshua where God says to Joshua be strong and courageous so you know an encouragement I don't think it's a it's a knock against Joshua that he wasn't that he was weak and frightened but I think it was just an encouragement for him because he had a big task I mean he was he was stepping into the shoes of Moses so this this isn't something to be taken lightly

but you know when I was thinking about this I thought well why do we care about Joshua you know why do we care and you know when we think about Joshua it was a long time ago and you know two verses in in First Corinthians 10 but it's say the same type thing it says now these things happened as examples for us so that we would not create evil things if they indeed craved them then it also says now these things happen to them as an example and they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come

so Joshua yes is a long long long time ago and so what why do we care well the lessons that are there which we're going to look at some of those tonight the lessons are there for a reason for us as an example to encourage us to help us to become strong and courageous you know we know in general we know about Joshua you know the things I'm going to tell you tonight aren't going to be brand new things that you've you haven't heard before and you you can probably share some things with me that might help me and my better understanding of Joshua but I really wanted to take a look at Joshua one reason is because two of my favorite verses in scripture are in Joshua and we'll get to those later but I just thought you know of who Joshua was

and the some of the some of the some of his character qualities so I thought okay where do we first hear about Joshua well we first hear about Joshua

um back in the book of of um

just had a brain blip there back in Exodus when he was chosen by Moses when they were about to go out to the amalekites and fight the malachites and I've got a funny little Side Story here to tell you

um many of you probably know my boys uh Nicholas and Simeon Simeon when he was a very young boy he and I may give this story a little bit wrong but I asked Dana earlier I said is this story right and she said yeah I'll be pretty close when Sydney I was a little boy he he's one time said what what is that story where is that story about Moses and and that lady

and Dana's like what are you talking about Moses and that lady Miriam or or what no no Moses and that lady well after talking a little bit they realized that or we Dana realized that he was asking about Moses Aaron and her so her was the lady that Simeon was asking about but this is also when we first meet Joshua we meet Joshua we find out that Joshua's name has been changed

um and Joshua's name is going from actually I think I've got some slides about that let me let me just flip through here okay we're first introduced to Joshua Exodus 17. God changes his name from Hosea which means salvation to Joshua God is salvation or Savior and you know the the Hebrew word their name for Joshua and Brian you may correct me here but as far as I understand it the Hebrew word Joshua is God at Salvation the Greek word for Jesus Is God is salvation or savior so and again I think most of us probably all know that

Joshua like I said earlier Joshua is Moses right-hand man Joshua was the only one who accompanied Moses when he went up onto Mount Sinai and that references in Exodus 24. so of all the people there's one person and that was the servant Joshua

Joshua also if you look in Exodus 33 there's a story about about Moses and the tent of meeting and it talked about Moses going there and leaving but it talked about Joshua staying there so he was the only one that stayed there in that tent of meeting when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness

we all know that Joshua is one of the one of the 12 Spies that were initially sent out by Moses

we know that it's just just Joshua and Caleb that were the only ones that actually brought back a positive report to Moses

we know that Joshua as we just read at the end of accident or end of Deuteronomy beginning of Joshua Joshua was appointed the leader of Israel of the Israelites by Moses after they had been in the wilderness for 40 years and then he actually was the one who actually took them into the Promised Land

um he also once they got into the promised land Joshua was responsible he divided up the land amongst the tribes and gave them very specific boundaries

um I mentioned already about being strong and courageous

that's what I found interesting that

Joshua spent 20 years and there's some debate about whether it was actually 20 years in Egypt as a slave before coming out of the and what age he was but let's let's for tonight's sake for argument's sake let's call it 20 years so 20 years in Egypt as a slave 40 years in the wilderness Wilderness and then 50 years in the promised land and then we we related that he died at 110 years old so he really God really used his first 60 years both as a slave as Moses's assistant right hand man to help prepare him

so when I think about Joshua and that preparation I I take a look at my own life and I say you know Joshua Was preparing for a long time for 60 years

with small acts of faithfulness throughout his entire life you know I I look at I'll I'll disclose that that I'm 60. so I think okay for all of my life so far what have I been prepared for have I had those small acts of faithfulness that helps prepare me for something bigger you know I look at Joshua and I I get excited when I think about Joshua and how courageous he was even though he was told that

he didn't shrink back in in fear he was he was never fearful that we hear about you know he overcame the obstacles that were placed in front of him and what he really did he like Jesus he fixed his eyes he fixed his eyes on the Promises of God rather than worrying about obstacles and

Dana will tell you about me that I tend to focus on the obstacles and not on the long-term Vision you know I always point out well what's wrong with this idea or what's the problem and I need to change that and become more of a man of Courage I'd look at Joshua too and say you know a long time Joshua didn't quit Joshua wasn't a quitter you know Joshua understood his purpose he understood his calling he he focused on the words of God and we read that we'll we'll read more of that here in a bit but he focused on God's word and he Faithfully obeyed every command that was given to him you know Joshua didn't fight his battles alone not only did he he have God With Us by his side he had others around him that he encouraged he wasn't a Lone Ranger he didn't March around the city of Jericho by himself excuse me by himself so he would he was a courageous leader taking others into battle and and there by God's side with God bite his side

so

when I think about a bigger picture a bigger picture those are some of the the details a little bit a little bit into the weeds but when I when I think about a bigger picture and who he was and I went back through my Bible from doing Bible class on Joshua I don't know five six seven years ago at the Bible education center and I just pulled out some character traits of Joshua to say let's look at his real character and who was he you know first off he was a man of humility he never stood up and said look at me look who I am you know it talks about him being a servant you know we all hear the phrase you as a servant leader this is who Joshua was so before he was a leader he was willing to serve after he was a leader he was willing to serve

also when you look at Joseph Joshua's character just what a man of faith and what a man of trust in God you know he he demonstrated this when he went to spy out the land he certainly demonstrated it at the fall of Jericho that trust and that faith in God

I've already mentioned you know that Joshua was a man of God's word and you know his I would contend that his success was directly related to him adhering to the word of God just he he stuck with it he didn't didn't you know Veer to the right or to the left and there's there's a verse about that here somewhere that I know I'm going to read somewhere tonight but you know just time and again Joshua was true to God's God's word

we see throughout the Book of Joshua that he was a man of prayer you know he prayed for for his people he prayed when they failed he prayed in the in the midst of War

he was a man of prayer and that's who Joshua was

he always put God first before the business at hand before others before himself this is who Joshua was

you know we've already talked about him being Moses's right-hand man you know 40 years in the wilderness a loyal follower to to Moses we talked about him being obedient you know and I think that's that's one of the final lessons we're going to get to about Moses or about Joshua is his his obedience

one of the things I really liked was just thinking about I had this note written somewhere at the end of the Book of Joshua that he was reliable you know in this day and age I I would guess I know I do I come across people all the time they just aren't reliable that you say you know I'm going to ask him to do something is it going to happen is it going to not not happen you know I send an email to somebody at work and say well they'll respond to me and then all of a sudden I realize you know a week later they've not responded and Something's Happened there's just there's there's a lack of reliability I think all around us these days but not Joshua that's not who Joshua was

so what we're going to do now is we're going to look a little deeper we're going to look a little deeper and what you're going to see is you're going to see a lot of text in front of you we're not going to read all the text so you can thank me for that later but we're go I just put the text up there because you all know the stories that we're going to bring about but I want to put the stories up there and I've underlined some of the some of the highlights in the in the passages and then I just want to talk about each one a little bit further we've already mentioned some of it and it may seem like it's a broken record but I think repetition helps me a lot as I think about these these people who are examples to me

so we first think about

God's charge to to Joshua we already read this in Joshua 1 and what I did that the titles that I have here God's charge to Joshua all I did was literally go Page by Page in my Bible and say what's the heading of this what's what's my Bible say is beheading to this so if you wonder how I came up with that it's it's straight out of of the Bible that I have anyway so this one in Joshua 1 talks about God's charge to to Joshua you know I sort of emphasized a little bit as I was reading in there that I will be with you I will not desert you you shall give this people possession of the land the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth meditate on it you will achieve success

a very clear and positive message and when I look at it I look at here's the secret to success the secret to success is keep God's word in your in you all the time meditate on it don't let it depart from your mouth these are the keys to success and you know that that that true success you know how was it somebody

I can't remember somebody one time I was talking to said well

Give me a definition of success and I remember we talked about it and finally we came back to this that the true definition of success is complete obedience to God complete obedience to God you know and I think I've said it before I know I've said it before I don't know if I said it in these Wednesday night classes before is that when we think about this obedience to God there are people if you say Do you believe in God

a lot of people will say yes

but then the follow-up question is do you believe God

because there's a difference because if I truly believe God I will be in complete obedience to him because we know that he does keep his promise and so remembering God's promise I think is is huge in all this when we think about do I believe God and about this these this adherence and this obedience to God and just staying there staying there in God's word and not letting it depart from our mouth

so that's that's passage one the next passage is in Joshua 2 and it's about Rahab

I just I find this an incredible story you know we we read the story he says Joshua

um sent two minutes spies just just a little aside here and we can maybe talk about this later if you have any more insight if you've got any more insight feel free to share that with me because I would love it but I find it interesting that back in numbers 14 I believe it is where where Moses sent out the spies into the land and Joshua and Caleb were among them it said that God told Joshua to send out the spies here it doesn't say that it said Joshua sent two men as spies don't know what that means don't know if that was good or bad I mean we don't see anything bad happening so I've got to believe it it's okay but I just found it found it interesting

um but here it's really I think it's unusual to say the least that God is choosing Rahab a harlot or a prostitute to to become the the this liaison for Joshua and the Israelites and you know Joshua that the spies went there the women the she hid the two men um she said I don't know where they went she told she she lied about it

um but she says in verse 9 I know that the Lord has given you the land for we in verse 10 for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea the faith that she shows and there that where I underlined in verse 11 for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above and on earth below so that incredible faith

you know if we would look at this situation we would say she's a harlot she's a prostitute why

God could see her heart and when you really think about her destiny

you know who was she she married one of the princes of Judah she was in the lineage of King David she was in Millennium lineage of Jesus you know it talks about her and the the chat Hebrews 11 the chapter of Faith you know that Rahab has mentioned so you know just the the amazing

follow-up to this instance where Joshua set the spies and then all this happened you know and we know God can see the the end from the beginning but for us I think one of the lessons is we need to say I need to let God lead this and not look on the outward appearances but say you know maybe God knows better you know maybe God knows better you know I I always wonder what if the spies had gone into Jericho and had gone to had gone to rehab I mean why they even went there to begin with maybe it was just a nobody would think about think twice about it but if they would have gone back to Joshua and said hey are we good going to the house of the Harlot Joshua said I I don't know I would have said I don't know I don't think it's a good idea but it happened so

next Israel crosses the Jordan in Joshua 3. you know here

Joshua is saying you know come here hear the words of the Lord you will know that the Living God is among you you will know this and then he gives them instructions how to do this he says you know put the Ark in front of you he says when you go down verse 12 I didn't underline that verse 12 or 13 it will come about when the souls of the feet of the priest who carry the Ark of the Lord rest in the waters the Jordan the Jordan will be cut off you know God opens the way I mean it wasn't that long ago that the Red Sea was part of it I mean in reality the whole scheme of things so here Joshua and Caleb had to say hmm I can see this happening again a similar type thing but again for us having the faith to know that God opens the way for us and we need to then follow and we need to step forward you know we always we hear the phrase um about Peter you know the at least get out of the boat well here I would say the phrase is at least get your feet wet you know get your feet wet step into the water and see what happens they saw what happened they they walked walked into the the promised land they needed to recognize for themselves that God brought them here at this time in this place even though the water uh where is it verse uh 15 um step down to the edge of the water for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of the Harvest I mean a rushing torrent of water

um you know we were in Israel I always like Jason's classes about about Israel we were in Israel

2006 uh five or six maybe and my older son Nicholas we actually he was baptized I baptized him in the Jordan River and I think about how peaceful and calm it was that day and I think about this and I think wow there's a difference that really had to take Faith to step out but when they did that like Peter remember it says he kept his eyes focused on Jesus here they were keeping their eyes focused on the ark and saying okay this is what our focus is this is what we're going to go forward with and then at the end of it they they make a memorial they built they build up the stones and I think that's another good lesson for us is to always have a I'll call it a touchstone but something to go back and think and have the memories to go back to to say I remember that time in my life where I was faithful to God and God was faithful to me and I mean this is one of the reasons that Joshua's that God told Joshua to to take these stones and and make this Memorial

the next is the story of Jericho so we we could we could all sing the song but probably a good idea not to do that as Jim mentioned earlier not not to sing here during class but when we look at the story of just Jericho and the walls came tumbling down you know

it's just an incredible story of Faith an incredible story of faith that

how did the Israelites feel walking marching around the city of Jericho for a week instead of just going straight into battle you know did they feel foolish did they feel uncertain of what God was doing with them

but God's instructions were clear

and the Israelites chose to obey there's the lesson for us and you know do I think sometimes in my life that God's instructions just aren't making sense to me why would I do that

why would I do that why is this happening to me at this time

you know I I still remember goodness

40 years ago maybe we were going to a Bible school over in Indiana and driving through Indianapolis and we got stuck in horrible traffic

finally got through the traffic and right past Indianapolis on the other side there was a huge huge huge wreck

you know I was impatient with the traffic but then I said maybe this is God telling me don't be impatient listen to me calm down slow down I'm going to protect you so you know when these walls came tumbling down and just the the people that did obey they followed the instructions that they were given and the logic of it logically it just doesn't make sense but maybe once we've completely obeyed God's word then in hindsight 2020 we can certainly see that logic that God had

with the story of AI and in Joshua 8. so right after right after Jericho

there's a little bit of a problem a little bit of a problem Aiken did not

fully obey the word of the Lord so they go through that whole process of finding out who it was and it was Aiken but then God says okay now I want you to go back I want you to go back um there that I've underlined I've handed over to you the king of AI

um you shall take only only it spoils in his cattle as plunder for yourself

um so that's that's just a snapshot of the the picture but when I when I look at that and I say you know what what might Joshua have done after they were defeated and I I actually I'm going to look that up I didn't write that down

I don't know I sort of you know laugh at it but you know in Joshua 7 it says that what is this inversed

three of Joshua 7. it says do not let all the people go up oh this is going up to AI only about two or three thousand men need to go up to AI

um and then it says about 3 000 men went up from the people uh they fled from the men of AI the men of a I struck down about 36 of their men so of all these people they're in the land and you know that were there and they chose just two or three thousand I mean 36 we're still talking one percent of people I mean that's loss of life is loss of life

but

first point is Joshua didn't turn and run in fear he didn't run from AI in fear because of this defeat he planned another attack but I find it interesting when you go into verse or chapter eight in chapter eight God said to Joshua do not fear or be dismayed take all the people of war with you arise and go to Ai and then it says remember he took it says two or three thousand and he said three thousand but in verse three of Chapter eight it says Joshua chose thirty thousand men Valiant Warriors if you have any insight on that later I'd like to know why he took thirty thousand here and three thousand before you know was he overconfident before after disco or after defeating Jericho what was it but then with that 30 000 that um he took it says in verse 24 25 of Chapter eight it says all who fell that day the men of AI both men and women were 12 000 all the people of AI so first off

took 3 000 against 12 000 and then took thirty thousand against twelve thousand so just an interesting um dichotomy there of the numbers of people but the main lesson I have there is that Joshua didn't turn and run in fear Joshua said I need to have God by my side and I need to follow the instructions that are given me

next and in my Bible it's called the guile the gibeonites and this is one of the long passages we're not going to read through but if you'll remember the story uh the the Kings Kings came out to fight against uh Joshua and the Israelites but then the gibeonites heard about it and so they were they were crafty it says oh or is it uh

line that somewhere it says they're crafty oh there it is in verse says they met together with one purpose to fight with Joshua with Israel or with Israel that's those are the the Kings

um but then it says the inhabitants of giving also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and AI but today on their own part acted craftily they said we have come from afar country now then they can Covenant with us then they said your servants have come from a very distant country because the fame of the Lord your God we have heard of the report about him and all that he did in Egypt and then they go on um at the end of that piece it says we are your servants now then make a covenant with us but then in verse 14 so the men of Israel took some of their provisions and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord

so there's the lesson for me in this whole passage this whole long passage is that we have to listen to God before we make decisions you know they had a they had a direct attack from their enemy and then they have this crafty attack from their enemy who are pretending to be friends and you know people they the the the the Kings have heard about what had happened the gibeonites have heard about what had happened but the gibeonites were crafty and they they tricked them but I think you know what would have happened what would have happened if Joshua and the Israelites would have asked God's counsel in this place so I think to me again the main lesson that I draw from that is that you know we can really we can make costly mistakes if we if we don't consult God you know we have to consult God at every turn no matter what it is we have to consult God

I always find this just a very intriguing story and again there's I've heard a lot of things about it I don't have the answers again if somebody else has the answers to this and how or why but you know to me when I look why

about Joshua spoke to the Lord the son stood still the moon stopped there was no day like that before it or after when the Lord listened to the voice of a man for the Lord fought for Israel you know

physically actually maybe maybe John with his his physics can tell us why and how this could happen but for my for me as a layperson I don't get it I don't understand why and how that could have happened without nothing short of a miracle but it wasn't a coincidence you know God was helping Joshua God was helping the army they had fought hard and long and Joshua knew he needed to ask God for help so Joshua spoke to the Lord and

you wonder I wonder what the reaction was of Joshua I don't I didn't look I don't think we have a reaction you know the Joshua says wow wow what just happened that's incredible but what about for me what about for us when something happens that we've prayed about and it actually happens

how quickly like the Israelites do we just chalk it up to coincidence do we forget that we ask God and that he answered our prayer do we find it hard to believe that God really cares about some of the details in our lives you know scripture tells us repeatedly that God does care about the details and that God will respond when we pray we've always had God can say yes no maybe not now you know those are all responses but God does respond and so with this in mind when we pray to God let's not be I don't want to be surprised when something happens and say wow I want to look for those God moments in my life and then to thank God for his response to my prayer

this is where one of the my favorite passages in scripture is this is when Caleb just made a request about the land that he wanted

um so Joshua 14 it says Caleb says verse 7 I was 40 years old and Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from kadish Barney to spy out the land and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart but then my this is one of my favorites in verse 8 he says but I followed the Lord my God fully I followed the Lord my God fully what a beautiful

self-confidence

but I think still humble attitude that Caleb had because at the end of this passage he says give me this Hill Country verse 12 give me this Hill Country about which the Lord spoke on that day for you heard on that day that Anakin were there there with great fortified cities perhaps at 85 years old the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out just as the Lord has spoken I mean again I don't think it's a it's a a boasting arrogant thing I think it's a humble thing because Caleb had been there from the beginning and Caleb's life of 85 years

is encapsulated in the verse but I followed the Lord my God fully that unshakable faith I think that Caleb had throughout his life we don't hear a whole lot else about him we don't hear certainly not like Joshua but just that one little piece showing that an unshakable Faith the special place the the the that Caleb had I think in God's heart and that example you know we started back looking at First Corinthians 10 about these things are set there for our examples this is one of my examples that I think of frequently and to say to myself I'm never too old to trust God to trust God for whatever he's going to put in front of me for the victories for the defeats but whatever is going to happen I want to act out my faith

we're getting toward the end of Joshua now and in Joshua 21 we read about Again by my Bible it says possession and rest it says Lord God the lord gave Israel all the land which he had sworn to give to their fathers he gave them rest on every side verse 45 not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed everything came to pass

you know a couple couple weeks ago a few weeks ago we always for in our Collegiate I won't bore you with all the details but typically we listen to you all every Sunday except the first Sunday of the month we have our own meeting and in our small Ecclesia during the summer we have it outside at our house with with the pandemic and in the winter time we just do it via Zoom like this so my last exhortation was about the promises and when you're talking about Hebrews 11. and you know just the fact that these are promises I mean we can almost diminish the meaning of a promise sometimes you know we just sort of throw it out well I I promise I'll do this oh I promise I'll do this these are God's promises the promises that the Lord God Almighty made to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob passed down to Moses pass down to Joshua pass down to the Israelites passed down to us and here we read not one of the good promises failed everything came to pass what a beautiful lesson what a beautiful ending as we're starting to come to the end of Joshua's life

in Joshua 13 again this long passage we're not going to all this but you know Joshua's farewell address

you know it talks about the Lord giving rest to all Israel from Israel from all their enemies um you've seen all the Lord your God has done um he's been the Lord your God it's he who has been fighting for you you know remember Joshua didn't fight his battles alone

um the Lord your God he will thrust them away from you drive them from you be very determined to do it to keep and do everything that's written in the book and the law of Moses so that you won't turn aside from it to the right or to the left I knew that verse is in here somewhere um I think that's that's right in the middle of the page there in verse 8 claim to the Lord your God I mean I don't know why whenever I think of clinging I think of koala bears just clinging around a tree like holding on for dear life and just holding on to God with all our might wrapping our arms around him it is the Lord Our God who fights for us you know love the Lord your God and then in verse 14 not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed

whatever happened to Joshua in his life the ups and the Downs the battles the difficulties the the problem the issues with the Israelites where they're they're back and forth and you know waning in their face sometimes but

Joshua overcame all this he knew at this point that his life was coming to an end he recognized that there was still work to be done in for the Israelites to claim that land that God had promised to them and so he had to remind the people that God is going to help you to to keep driving out the enemies and you know Joshua was a different person Joshua was just a different person you know he he

I've got a note written here and

probably the next class I'm going to do and I'm just going to talk about it for a second but I think about it as an overriding Fame the the the the phrase I've got here is called assimilation versus different differentiation

and I was listening to a book at some point in the last year I only listened to the first chapter or so and then I just set it aside and forgot about it now I can't find it but in that book The the person talked about scripturally

um you know spiritually assimilation versus differentiation and how the Israelites were supposed to differentiate themselves from the people of the land they were supposed to dry them out unfortunately there was some assimilation going on and you know I think the same thing happened throughout scripture throughout history throughout the Israelites history and I think it's a lesson for us it's a lesson for me certainly that

do I assimilate in my life into the world or do I become different I've got a I've got a co-worker who I don't know a few months ago she said to me she's like Ray I I just sense that you and Dana are different and you know I laughed and Steve Davis probably says well yeah of course you're different but you know I I I sort of took that and said I think that's a good thing I think it's a good thing I think it's a good thing for us to be different and not to assimilate ourselves into the world and that's what Joshua I think one of the messages he's trying to get here in the toward the end of his life you know God knows our weaknesses and God wants to allow us the the latitude to

serve in the way that we want to serve but there are parameters like there were parameters in the land when when and we're not we didn't look at any of these but you know when when Joshua said okay Judah here are your parameters from here to here to here to here you know Dan and you know all the others these are your parameters but within those parameters we can serve God always

the last section is the last scripture that we'll look at is in Joshua 24 and again another this is the second of my favorite verses in verse um verse 15. choose for yourselves today whom you will serve um as for me and my house we will serve the Lord

but earlier than that in verse 14 it says Joshua is saying to them fear the lord serve him in sincerity and Truth serve the Lord and then you make a choice you make your choice my choice is

my house we not May

but we will serve the Lord period and then at the end of this passage he says again we also will serve the Lord for he is God

you know just a a beautiful thing and we know unfortunately that shortly thereafter it says that I don't have these verses written down but it says the the elders that were with Joshua they continue to serve God but then after that it all went by the wayside then we get into the Book of Judges and then every man does what's right in his own eyes so it didn't take too long even though they had all these examples in front of them all the examples of Moses the examples of Joshua the example of Caleb the elders stuck with it in Joshua's time after he died but then that was it it just didn't continue

so

to finish I've got a couple lessons to to very simple lessons other things we've already talked about for me at least the primary lesson that I draw from Joshua's life is that God is faithful to his promises

and that comes back to the do we just do we believe in God or do we believe God

you know and and when I think about what that means for me it's to take out the challenge that Joshua plays before the Israelites

and that challenge is Worship the Lord

obey him

and always be faithful

it's a simple message and you know I think it was maybe Jim Sullivan talking about a friend maybe sometime recently a friend said no I couldn't understand the Bible I started in Revelation I couldn't understand the Bible was just too complicated it's not it's Worship the Lord obey him be faithful God keeps his promises God wants our hearts he doesn't want the outward appearance he doesn't want the just the words the Israelites you know we see so many times oh yeah yeah yeah we're gonna follow you and then they turn around and complain or they turn around disobey or whatever they do and you know I think I think about the fact that I go back to one of those earlier slides

where I said that

Joshua

for the first 60 years of his life

was in training

he was in training to show those little little steps

and then

it was the real test to come you know as an athlete you know a lot I was reading an article sometime recently about this but in an athlete a lot of times will practice harder

or work harder in practice than in a game you know in practice things go wrong but you just the team repeats the fundamental skills they but for basketball football whatever lacrosse you know they they repeat this fundamental skills they repeat the plays over and over just to eliminate mistakes on game day

and it's the practice sessions where the stamina is built up so that the players are in shape for the real contest you know once upon a time I was a I was a track and field athlete I was a high jumper and we did things that were just like in practice that you know it's like oh we're just gonna die you know now I run marathons and I go out and I just run and run around and run and run but it's for that race that's coming up so that it makes that race easier well Joshua in his 60 years he was doing all these things he was preparing for game day he was preparing for race day and he was prepared he was ready after that 40-year practice session in the desert

so he he was ready he knew that God was going to keep his promise

so those are the lessons that I drew from

the Book of Joshua and from Joshua's life

so I will stop sharing my screen I remembered and I will let you ask questions or fill in the blanks that I left blank or enlighten me on whatever you'd like to enlighten me on