Joshua 02: The Real Hero

Joshua 1 vs 1-18

Importance of understanding how Joshua fits into the bigger story of Scripture.

The story starts at a very significant time in the leadership of Israel. Moses has just died. Joshua has been appointed the new leader God is giving instructions Joshua. Instructions telling the him to get the people ready for what is about to happen.

(2) “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

As you carry on reading, you’ll see that God promises Moses that no one will stand up against Him. He will be with Joshua just as he was with Moses. If he continues to be strong and courageous, then he will be prosperous and successful.

And by the way he is not talking about what we call the prosperity gospel, God is saying “If you obey my commands, then you will be successful, you will occupy the territories that I am giving you. You will defeat the other nations. You will fulfil my plans for you. You will be prosperous. You will live in a land that is yours.”

What is God’s promise to us today? It’s eternity. It’s a relationship with Him for eternity. It’s all of our longings being fulfilled, where every tear will be wiped away. Revelation 21 vs 4. There will be no more death or mourning or crying, for the old order of things has passed away.

Are you looking forward to eternity? Are you looking forward to the promises of God that you read in His word, being fulfilled one day? If you’re a Christian, then you should be. “are you ready for eternity?” Have you recognized your need for Jesus?

In  verse 10 and Joshua orders the officers to get the people ready. We do need to take note here that Joshua acts immediately as far as we can see. There’s no hesitation. Here Joshua has taken to heart what God has said to him.

He orders them to get the provisions ready, because in 3 days time they’re going to be crossing the Jordan, so they need to get their people ready. And once they’ve crossed the Jordan they’ll be facing the other nations in battle.

But then he has to have a separate conversation with the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Now there’s a reason he had to have a separate conversation with them because the land that they were given was just east of the Jordan. So they already had land that was allocated to them.

You can go and read in Numbers, how this all came about, how these tribes were already allocated land. But because of this, Joshua had to have a separate conversation with them, and remind them of what had happened. Because part of their mandate, was, although they were allocated land before everyone else was, this didn’t mean that they could just sit back and rest on the fact that this land east of the Jordan was theirs. No, they had pledged to Moses that they would still do their bit. When they went in to claim the territory, they would go in to battle with the rest of them. They were all in this together. They still must do their bit. So look at what Joshua says to them. Vs 13:

¹³ “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

Now if anyone was going to oppose Joshua, it would have been these guys. They already had their land. They didn’t have as much of a vested interest in crossing the Jordan to fight for territory as the others did. So what is the response?

They answer Joshua with a pledge: Look at verses 16-18:

¹⁶ Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.¹⁷ Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

In fact what we see here is God’s promises to Joshua being fulfilled. Just take note how keen people are to follow His leadership. There is no opposition.

Here’s Joshua, telling them that they’ve got to go into battle, and their response in verse 16 is: “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.”

 

They have 2 requirements. The first one is in verse 17. Verse 17: Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses.”

“Only may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses.”

And then the next one at the end of verse 18. Verse 18: “. . . Only be strong and courageous.” And of course these were things that God said to Joshua at the beginning of the chapter. Be strong and courageous, for the Lord Your God is with you.

I want us to note something about this story. Although the book is called Joshua. Although there’s this character who gets addressed at the beginning of the book. He gets given a task to be the leader of a nation. And especially to lead them through this important part of their history. He is the successor of Moses.

He isn’t the hero of the story. He’s not the one who causes the great things to happen. He’s not the one who is responsible for Israel being given the land. The real hero of the story is God.

Now I’m sure Joshua was a good guy. He was probably gifted in many ways. He had probably also learnt many skills having been Moses’ assistant for many years. I have no doubt that there was a level competence that Joshua would have had. But as you read this opening chapter of Joshua, it’s not his competence that makes him a good leader. God doesn’t ask him to hone his skills as a warrior. God doesn’t ask him to go and read a book on leadership. No, he tells him to trust and obey. He tells him to be strong and courageous for . . . “the Lord Your God will be with you, wherever you go.”

Maybe you’re in a position where you’ve been some form or Christian leadership. Youth, Kids Church, Council, Womens ministry, even in your home?

Do you know how to be the best leader? Is you lead in such a way that allows God to lead. Which means you submit to Him. Which means you submit to His word. Which means you do things His way. It basically means godliness.

A number of years ago, I had a sabbatical. And one of my sabbatical assignments was to interview various leaders. So I interviewed mainly leaders in a local church context. Mainly pastors. I also interviewed some business guys. Just to find out a little bit more of what makes them tick as leaders. And also how they lead others. It was very insightful and very helpful in many ways. And I remember one particular interview that I did with a pastor of a church. And I asked him the  question, “If you’re looking for someone to lead a ministry, or you’re looking to employ someone. What is it that you look for?”

And I waited with baited breath for his answer. And he said to me, “I look for those who are passionate. Passionate about the gospel. I look for those who love Jesus. People who show Christian character and conviction.”

And I said to him, “that’s great, but what about competency. What about ability and giftedness?”

He said to me, “You want godly people. Competency can be learnt. It grows with character and conviction.”

He said, “I want to train anyone who is passionate about the gospel to use their gifts for Jesus.”

And then he said this: He said, “godliness trumps giftedness everytime.”

Why? Because you need godly people in ministry. You need people who are more about pointing to God and His glory than their own giftedness. You want people in ministry, you want leaders, volunteers who are going to make God be the hero, not themselves.

We see that with Joshua in chapter 1. There’s nothing mentioned about Joshua’s gifting. There’s nothing mentioned here about his skill set. There’s nothing mentioned about what  a great leader He is. Maybe a bit of status having been Moses’ assistant. But that’s about it.

The chapter is all about God. The Chapter is all about God commanding Joshua what to do. To be strong and courageous. To obey the law. The land that they’re going into. It’s the land that God will give them. God is the one who is going to take them into the new territories. It’s God who will be with them as He was with Moses. It’s God who will never leave them nor forsake them. It’s God’s word that they will obey. And when you look at the obedience of the people at the end of the chapter. They’re going to follow Joshua, ‘only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.’

God is the main character. God is the hero of this story. God is the one who deserves the credit.

Who is the hero of your story? Who do you want people to know is the hero of your story? Who gets the glory? In whom have you put your trust?

Home Group Notes and questions:

Vs 1-9 Recap: Joshua is commanded to be strong and courageous, and to obey God’s word. This has obvious applications for us today. We’re not about to go into the promised land, but God is fulfilling his purposes, and we as his children are part of that, just like Israel was part of His plan back in the days of Joshua. We are called to be strong and courageous and obey, and not because of our strength, but because the Lord our God is with us.

Note: vs 10-18. The time has come, Israel are about to enter the promised land. But there is a great task ahead of them. They have to cross the Jordan river, and once they have done that, they will have to face enemies in battle. The other complication is that 2 and a half of the twelve tribes already have been given their land East of the Jordan, which means that they didn’t have incentive to join in the occupation of the new territory, yet they respond with willingness and submission.

Note how we are introduced to the theme of rest in verse 13, which God has provided by giving them land.

Note how they submit with 2 proviso’s –

1) Only may the Lord your God be with you (vs 17) 

2) Only be strong and Courageous (vs 18)

This shows us how it was more about following God and his purposes, and therefore following Joshua as God’s appointed leader.

Questions:

1. What does Joshua chapter 1 tell you about Joshua?
2. What does this passage tell you about God?
3. Who is the hero of the story?
4. How do we make ourselves the heroes of our own stories?
5. How do we make God the hero or of our stories?