Joshua

     After the Israelites leave Egypt and cross the Red Sea, the first enemy they encounter is the nation of Amalek.  This is an interesting battle, one which the Israelites win as long as Moses raises his hands but lose when Moses lowers them.  So Aaron and Hur stand on either side of Moses and support his hands until the battle is over.
     But another thing that is interesting about this battle is the leader that Moses selects to direct the army.  This man is named Joshua.  In Exodus 17:14, God instructs Moses to make a written record of the event and recite it to Joshua.
     In Exodus 32:17 we learn that Joshua accompanied Moses at least part of the way when the great leader went to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments.  Exodus 33:7-11 informs us that Joshua stayed near a tent erected by Moses as a place to talk with God.  According to Numbers 11:28 this Joshua was the attendant of Moses from his youth.  Moses changed the name of the young man from "Hoshea" (meaning "salvation") to "Joshua" (meaning "Jehovah is salvation") as we learn from Numbers 13:16.
     When it is time to send twelve spies into the Promised Land, Joshua is selected to represent the tribe of Ephriam.  While ten of the spies discourage the Israelites from entering Canaan, Joshua and Caleb try to convince the people that they can conquer the land with the help of God.  Even after Moses and Aaron join with the discussion on the side of Joshua and Caleb, the Israelites refuse to trust in God and are required to wander in the wilderness as a result.
     As the Israelites complete the 40 years of wandering and approach the Promised Land, Moses dies and, not surprisingly, Joshua is appointed to take his place.  This is where the book of Joshua begins.
     The first thing that the new leader does is make arrangements for the tribes who have selected land on the east side of the Jordan River to go with their relatives to fight for the land across the river.  Then he sends two spies to scout the great walled city of Jericho.
     These two find a hiding place in the house of a harlot named Rahab.  The comments of this woman prove to us that theories about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea at a shallow point or during low tide are, at best, ridiculous.
     "I know that the Lord has given you the land," she observes in Joshua 2:9-11, "and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.
     "For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
     "And when we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath."
     Would the people really be so upset if there were a logical, natural explanation for what the Israelites had done?  No, the events happened exactly as the Bible says they did.
     Because of her kindness the two spies make a deal with Rahab to spare her and her family when the city is taken.
     Of course this story is recorded because this is the way it happened.  But is there any more significance in the account of Rahab?
     The genealogy of Jesus given in the first chapter of Matthew records only a few women.  One of these, listed in verse 5, is Rahab.  She is the mother of Boaz, the husband of Ruth.  David is the great-great grandson of Rahab.
     Rahab is also recognized in the New Testament as an example of faith.  In fact, she is listed in Hebrews chapter 11, the "hall of fame" for faith.
     "By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace," Hebrews 11:31 notes.
     Rahab is also cited as an example of acting on her faith.
     "You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone," James 2:24 teaches.
     "And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works," the next verse adds, "when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?"
     "For just as the body without the spirit is dead," this passage concludes, "so also faith without works is dead."
     Rahab's house is built on the wall around Jericho, so she assists the spies in escaping from the city.  They return to the Israelite camp and preparations are made to conquer the city.

     The conquest of Jericho is a story that is well known among children who have had even a small amount of biblical education.  For six days the Israelites march around the walls one time each day.  The only noise is the sound of seven rams' horns.  On the seventh day the Israelites make seven trips around the city.  Then the people shout and the walls fall.  Only Rahab and those with her are saved from the city.
     God orders that nothing be taken from the city except articles of silver, gold, bronze and iron that can be placed in the treasury of the house of the Lord.  Everything else is to be destroyed.  But a greedy man named Achan covets some gold, silver and clothing and takes them for himself.
     The Israelites decide that Ai, the next city they encounter, is not large enough to require a big army.  So only about 3000 men are sent to take the city.  These men are routed by the people of Ai.
     Had the Israelites taken the time to consult God before making their plans about Ai, they would have learned that there was sin in the camp.  Achan had done what God had forbidden.  Only after this sin is removed from the camp are the Israelites able to conquer Ai.
     Is there a message here for us?  Do we ever feel that our disobedience to God will not affect anyone else?  Achan felt this way.  And Achan was wrong.
     The book of Joshua continues with the account of the conquest of Canaan.  In chapter nine we learn about a group of people who trick the Israelites into making a peace treaty with them on the pretense of being from a long distance away.  In fact, they are from the neighboring city of Gibeon.  And God has ordered the Israelites to not make peace with any of the inhabitants of the land.  As we learn from Joshua 9:14, the Israelites are once again guilty of not consulting with God before making an important decision.  They must honor the treaty, and the only thing they can do to the people of Gibeon is force them to serve by cutting wood and drawing water.
     "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit,'" James 4:13-17 warns.
     "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow," the passage continues.  "You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
     "Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.  But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
     "Therefore to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin."
     Are we ever guilty of making decisions without consulting God?  Are we ever guilty of making decisions about religious matters without bothering to consult the Bible to learn what God has to say?
     In Joshua chapter 10 the kings of other surrounding cities plan an attack on Gibeon in retaliation for the peace treaty.  So the Israelites are forced to defend their allies.  There is not enough daylight to complete the battle, so Joshua requests that the sun stand still.  God grants the request and the sun does not set for an additional day.
     Remember Caleb, the man who, with Joshua, spied out the land of Canaan and insisted that God could conquer the land?  Joshua and Caleb are the only adults at the time who are allowed to enter the Promised Land.
     In Joshua chapter 14 we meet Caleb again, this time as an 85-year-old man.  The land is being divided, and surely he has earned a place to sit back and relax.
     But, no, Caleb requests a mountainous area that is one of the most difficult to capture.  This is the same area that discouraged the ten spies so much that they insisted it would be impossible to conquer the land.
     "I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me;" Caleb says in Joshua 14:11-12, "as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.
     "Now, then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord has spoken."
     Is Caleb as strong physically at 85 as he had been at 40?  It's not likely.  But, then again, he never relied on his own strength, did he?  From beginning to end he relied on the strength of the Lord.  This why he could claim to be as strong at 85 as at 40.  Does it work any differently for us?
     Toward the end of the book Joshua makes his farewell speech to the people.  This speech contains one of the greatest phrases ever uttered.
     "And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord," he offers in Joshua 24:15, "choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served when they were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
     "We will serve the Lord!" the people reply.
     "No, you won't," Joshua responds wisely, perhaps because of all that he has seen during his life.
     "Yes, we will!" the people insist.
     "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him," Joshua states in verse 22.
     "We are witnesses," the people promise.
     Of course, they people don't remain faithful.  That's why we have the book of Judges that we will look at next week.
     But what about us?  Like Joshua and the Israelites we must make a choice.  We must choose whether or not to obey God.  To simply say, "Yes!" is worth about as much as the claim of the Israelites.
     We must truly obey the truth if we hope to be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)