JOSHUA THE MISSIONARY
Joshua 1:1-9 NET.
1 After Moses the LORD’s servant died, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! Cross the Jordan River! Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. 3 I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to resist you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone. 6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. 7 Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do. 8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. 9 I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the LORD your God, am with you in all you do.”
We are still bunny-hopping our way through the Bible, stopping every Sunday at the place where we are in our reading—two chapters a day. This week, we finished Deuteronomy and began Joshua on Friday. Because I am planning two special messages for Palm Sunday and Easter, this will be our only message based on the book of Joshua. I am focusing on these introductory words from Joshua 1 as the text for my message.
It is essential at the outset that I establish the relevance of the study of Joshua. Some Christians find it difficult to study Old Testament books like Joshua because they fail to see what these ancient narratives have to do with them in their modern setting. We might remember some of the stories in Joshua from Sunday School lessons or past sermons, or cartoons. But aside from these little dips into the pool, we tend to shy away from Joshua because we might be tempted to think of it as a relatively shallow book. The truth is that Joshua is just as deep as the other biblical books we are studying. It had a purpose in the canon of Scripture, and that purpose is still as crucial today as it was when its words were first written.
But what is the purpose of the book of Joshua? Why are its words relevant for 21st-century Christians? The Bible teaches that every Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for us. But how can we profit from these old words and ancient stories?
The key to answering that question might be to come at the question from the other end first. Before asking what the old stories have to do with us, maybe we should take a closer look at what we are doing to see if there are some points of contact. There are lots of things we do today that are different than what God’s people were doing in the time of Joshua. What are some things that are the same?
One thing that is the same is that we are serving the same God that Joshua did. Marcion was wrong when he suggested that the God of the Old Testament was an evil, wrathful God and that a loving, compassionate God had replaced him. Remember, God does not change. He is immutable. Times change, circumstances change, but the God we believe in does not change.
When they asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, he indicated that loving God wholeheartedly is #1. The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those two life priorities were valid and relevant in Joshua’s time, and they are still valid and applicable to us today.
So, what has changed? The simple answer is that the mission God has called us to is different than the mission God was calling Joshua to. Jesus calls us all to a mission of cross-cultural evangelism. He commanded us to disciple all the nations. God called Joshua to a different mission. We are going to examine that mission this morning. However, the thing that we need to keep in mind is that even though our mission is different from Joshua’s, there will be points of contact. Some of the things that Joshua learned about his mission are helpful for us to keep in mind as we seek to fulfill our mission.
Joshua’s Mission
Instead of outlining every task Joshua was to do, the Lord described Joshua’s mission by summarizing the first three steps of that mission. We find that summary in verse 2. The Lord said that Joshua was to “Get ready! Cross the Jordan River! Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them.” The first phase was to get ready. This involved Joshua getting himself ready. You cannot get your team prepared if you are not ready yourself.
The principle of personal preparation applies to us in our mission as well. We should not expect to step into the task of global evangelization without preparation. Jesus prepared his apostles for the task over several years of training. Then he challenged them to feed the sheep – to get the other disciples trained so that they could continue the mission by being disciplers.
Joshua was encouraged to be ready emotionally and physically for the task of leadership. He was commanded to be strong and brave. He was told to resist the temptation to be afraid and panic when things got rough. He had to build up the strength he needed because the mission he was called to would not be an easy one. He was expected to display the confidence that comes from knowing that God was with him.
The second phase of Joshua’s to-do list in today’s text is to cross over the Jordan river. He could not do that himself. The command to him (as leader) was a command to the whole people of Israel. It was going to be a miracle that only God could accomplish, but the people needed to be prepared for it. The leaders needed to prepare the people. That is part of the job for anyone called into ministry. Our task is not simply to maintain the status quo, but it also requires us to prepare the church for the next thing God is going to do among us.
The third phase for Joshua was to lead the people into the Promised Land. He was not to merely point in the direction and drive the people into it. He was to be a frontline leader. It is one thing to be an armchair general. It is another thing to strap on the sword and tell the soldiers to follow you into battle. As I said, these three commands do not encompass all of Joshua’s mission. God did not reveal everything to Joshua. We should not expect him to do that for us either. If we knew all the details, most of us would go hide in the woods. Our Lord is wise to only show us the next few steps in our path of following him.
Joshua’s Master
Notice how many times the word “I” shows up in today’s text. These words are God’s words. He is challenging Joshua to lead his people to where he wants them, but the emphasis is not entirely on Joshua. Joshua is challenged to be strong and brave, but notice what God says he will do:
- God says he is ready to hand over the land to them. He promises to give them all the land that they set foot on.
- God promises to be with Joshua the same way he was with his predecessor, Moses.
- God reminds Joshua that he solemnly promised his ancestors to hand the land over to their descendants. Now was the time to fulfill that promise.
- God promises to be with Joshua in all that he does.
There are two truths that every Christian should remember every day. These two things seem like diametrical opposites, but they are both true. The first truth is that we are slaves of God. He is our owner and our master. That may seem to be a depressing reality, but it is actually quite freeing.
The second truth is that our Master is Almighty God. He controls the universe. Nothing happens that he does not allow. We pray to him because only he can make the impossible possible. We can face any challenge—not because we are able, but because our Master is always able.
Joshua’s Manual
Note also how God stresses to Moses his absolute reliance upon the holy Scriptures. God tells him to obey all the laws his servant Moses carefully charged him to keep! He said that Joshua should not swerve from it to the right or to the left so that he may be successful in all he does. He said that the law scroll must not leave Joshua’s lips! He had to memorize it day and night so he could carefully obey all that is written in it. Then, he would prosper and be successful. God was sending Joshua on a mission, and the word of God was to be his mission manual. He did not have the whole Bible, but every word he had was the Holy Bible.
What Joshua the missionary had for his missionary work would help him accomplish that work. The same is true for you and me today. We read and study the Bible not to entertain us – not even to inform us. Our goal is not to learn the Bible as if it were an encyclopedia of religious trivia. It is our mission manual. It empowers us to do what God has called us to do.
As we read Joshua this month, let’s remember that its words do not describe a king or a military general. Joshua’s work was missionary work. May its words help us to be strong, brave, and faithful in the missionary work God has called us to do.
Holy Communion
1 John 2:14 NET.
“I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.”
As we consider the death of our Lord this morning, let us remember that what Jesus did for us on the cross is enough, no matter where we are in life’s journey.
If you are new to the faith – a mere child of God – you might wonder if you are going to survive the challenges of life and come out on the other end with a genuine faith. God’s word to you is that you have known the Father. That is all you need because your confidence is in Him, not yourself.
The same promise applies to the old-timers in the faith—the Fathers and Mothers who have fought most of their battles—their mission is almost accomplished. But their confidence is not in their own accomplishments. It is in the fact that they have come to know the Father because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.
And what about the young men and women? Those who are going to be first into the battle, claiming territory for God and his kingdom? The manual tells them that they are strong, that the word of God resides in them, and that they have conquered the evil one. Their battle is fresh, and they are in the front of it, but from God’s perspective, they have already won. They are challenged to let the word of Christ dwell in them richly because it is the manual that will take them from the present battle to the future glory.
Lord, we thank you for your finished work of redemption. We pray for your power to take us to the finish of our mission for you. We ask that you make us strong and brave warriors and faithful slaves of our Almighty Master. Amen.
jeffersonvann 