Joshua: Servant of the Lord - Lesson 2
Overview
Who Is Joshua?
Before he ever leads Israel across the Jordan, Joshua has already been formed by years of faithful service. Scripture introduces him as a military organizer Exodus 17:9, as Moses' personal assistant Exodus 24:13, as one who stood near when Moses came down from the mountain Exodus 32:17, and as a young man who lingered in the tent of meeting where the glory of God descended Exodus 33:7-11. He was one of the two faithful spies who urged Israel to trust the Lord Numbers 14:6-9, was commissioned to succeed Moses Numbers 27:22-23, and was charged with bringing Israel into the promised land Deuteronomy 31:23. The man God raises up has been quietly shaped over decades.
Real Challenges, Specific Promises
When Joshua takes command, the obstacles are genuine: the Canaanites are strong and entrenched in fortified cities, the people he leads are stubborn and rebellious, he himself is roughly eighty years old, and the Jordan is at flood stage. To these realities God speaks specific promises in Joshua 1:1-9: they will conquer, no one will stand against them, the Lord will be with Joshua as He was with Moses, He will not leave or forsake them, and they will indeed possess the land. This unilateral pledge echoes the covenant first given to Abraham in Genesis 12—what God Himself accomplishes for His people. Alongside these promises, God gives Joshua a single command: be in the Word. Meditate on it day and night, do not turn from it, and you will be successful. By God's reckoning, success is not measured by worldly outcomes but by faithfulness. Apart from Scripture, all that remains is human opinion and the error-filled valley of human reason.
Same Land, Two Reports
The contrast between the two sets of spies is striking. Thirty-eight years earlier, ten of Moses' twelve scouts saw fortified cities and giants and concluded, "we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers" Numbers 13:25-33. When Joshua sends two spies into essentially the same land, they return with confidence: "Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands…all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before us" Joshua 2:23-24. The conditions had not changed; the lens had. The first group looked through doubt and unbelief. The second looked through the promises of God.
Living as Realists with Joy
This is the pastoral heart of the lesson. God never asks His people for naïve optimism that pretends hard things aren't hard. The walls really are tall; the river really is at flood; our struggles really are our struggles. But when we view those facts through the lens of God's promises—that He works all things together for good for those who love Him Romans 8:28, that He is sovereign, that He will never leave us nor forsake us, that He has claimed us in the waters of baptism—we can be both clear-eyed realists and people of genuine optimism and joy. Whatever the next minute holds, God remains on His throne. Be in the Word. Trust the promises. Define success as faithfulness, and let God receive the glory for what only He can accomplish.
Transcript
Good morning. 6s
Let's have a word of prayer, please. 9s
Gracious Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this, your day, in which you call us and 12s
gather us to receive word and sacrament. 19s
Blessed we pray, our time now when your word as we continue, our walk through the book 22s
of Joshua, speak to us, O Lord, for your servants listen in Jesus' name. 28s
Amen. 35s
Well welcome back. 37s
Last week we began our walk in the book of Joshua and we took a look, we laid some pavement 38s
for the weeks ahead here in taking a look at two different forms of covenants. 45s
There was the Abrahamic covenant you'll recall that goes back to Genesis the 12th chapter 53s
and the Abrahamic covenant is what is called a unilateral covenant. 59s
In other words, God is saying this is what I will do for you. 65s
It is not dependent upon the reaction of Abraham and Sarah. 69s
It is simply God saying this is what I will accomplish for you. 76s
Then we took a look at the mosaic covenant. 81s
The mosaic covenant is bilateral. 85s
In other words, people's obedience now becomes part of the equation. 88s
We also saw that the covenant established with Moses was never intended as a vehicle 95s
unto salvation. 104s
In other words, if you follow the Ten Commandments perfectly, then you will receive eternal life. 106s
No, the covenant with Moses was given long after the fall into sin, long after the reality 114s
of sinfulness in the world. 120s
The covenant with Moses was to reveal our sinfulness. 123s
That's what the covenant with Moses was because we can't obey fully. 129s
That is oftentimes a misunderstanding, especially when you're talking with non-Christians 135s
and even some Christians that believe that if they adhere to the Ten Commandments perfectly, 142s
then they will receive salvation. 150s
As we confess each and every week, we fall short of that all the time. 154s
We are in the condition of sin. 159s
Our sin is simply an expression of the condition that by nature we are in. 160s
The two different covenants, one unilateral, that's the Abraham covenant and bilateral, 166s
that is the covenant with Moses. 172s
We also talked about how the book of Joshua continually points to the Lord Jesus Christ, 175s
that Jesus is the new Joshua that leads us into the new promised land of New Heaven and 183s
New Earth. 190s
Well, let's take the first part of our class today and ask the question, who is Joshua? 192s
Who is Joshua? 199s
Let's start in Exodus chapter 17. 201s
Exodus 17, verse 9. 203s
And what we see in verse 9 is he was an organizer of Israel's military force. 207s
So Exodus chapter 17, verse 9. 218s
Moses said to Joshua, choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. 226s
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. 234s
That is the first place in Scripture that Joshua is mentioned. 240s
And it reveals to us that he was a military leader. 244s
He was an organizer of the military force. 250s
Second thing we learn about Joshua is that he was Moses' assistant. 255s
Let's go to Exodus chapter 24, verse 13. 262s
Exodus 24, verse 13. 268s
So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 276s
So he was the organizer of Israel's military force. 285s
Third thing we learn about him is he was with Moses when Moses returned from the mountain. 291s
Let's go to Exodus chapter 32, Exodus 32. 298s
And we'll look at verse 17. 312s
When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, there's 320s
noise of war in the camp. 326s
Now remember what was going on here is in the absence of Moses when Moses didn't come 330s
down from the mountain having received the law of God in accordance with the timetable 335s
of the people. 339s
They took matters into their own hands literally and formed the idol around which they were 340s
dancing and worshipping, saying here then is the God that led us out of Egypt. 348s
And so it's this incredible expression of idolatry. 355s
Moses comes down from the mountain, discovers it. 359s
So Joshua here as his assistant was with Moses when he returned from the mountain. 362s
Here's another aspect. 369s
He experienced the manifestation of the divine glory with Moses. 372s
He experienced the manifestation of the divine glory with Moses. 377s
Let's go to Exodus chapter 33, picking up in verse 11. 382s
He had verse 7, rather. 395s
33, verse 7. 397s
Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp. 400s
He called it the tent of meeting. 406s
And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside 409s
the camp. 413s
Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each of them, 415s
at the entrance of their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 421s
When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance 426s
of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 431s
When all the people saw, the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, 436s
all the people would rise and bow down all of them at the entrance of their tent. 440s
Thus, the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend. 446s
Then he would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua, son of Nun, 453s
would not leave the tent. 460s
So he experiences the manifestation of divine glory upon Moses. 463s
Here's the next thing we learn about Joshua. 468s
He was one of the spies that Moses sent into Cana that comes back with a report, and he 471s
comes back with a favorable report. 479s
Let's go to Numbers, chapter 14. 481s
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and then Numbers, Numbers, chapter 14, verse 6. 484s
In Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jihuna, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes, 503s
and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, the land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. 512s
If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 520s
Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land, for there no more than bread for us. 529s
Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us. 537s
Do not fear them. 542s
Let's go to Numbers, chapter 27, verse 22. 545s
We learned there that he was ordained the position of leadership, succeeding Moses, so Numbers 27, verse 22. 550s
So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. 567s
He took Joshua and had him stand before Alizar, the priest, and the whole congregation. 571s
He laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord had directed through Moses. 578s
In Deuteronomy 31, let's go there, we see that he was the leader that brought the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the promised land. 587s
So Deuteronomy 31, verse 23. 601s
Then the Lord commissioned Joshua, son of none, and said, 616s
Be strong and bold for you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them. 621s
I will be with you. 628s
There's a little snapshot then of who is Joshua. 631s
He was the organizer of the military force. He was Moses' assistant. 634s
He was with Moses when he returned from the mountain. 639s
He experienced the divine glory with Moses. 641s
He was one of the spies that Moses sent into Canaan and came back with a favorable report. 646s
He was ordained to the position of leadership, succeeding Moses. 652s
He was named as the leader to bring the Israelites into Canaan. 657s
Okay. 664s
Now, let's go to Joshua, chapter 1, verse 1. 665s
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers of Deuteronomy, then Joshua. 669s
Joshua, chapter 1, and we'll pick up in verse 1. 683s
After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of none. 691s
Moses is assistant, saying, 699s
My servant, Moses is dead, now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, 703s
into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. 710s
Remember back to that covenant, unilateral covenant, that God had established with Abraham, land, offering blessing here. 715s
So now here they're going to come into the land. 723s
Joshua faced some very specific challenges as he is leading the people. 728s
In numbers 13, we learn that the people of Canaan, in other words, the people that were already in the land, 736s
the people of Canaan were strong, that they lived in large, fortified cities, 742s
and that they were much larger than the Israelites. 750s
So there's a challenge for Joshua. 754s
Deuteronomy 31 tells us that the people that Joshua was leading are a stubborn and rebellious lot here. 757s
So not only does he have challenges with regard to the people he's going to face as they move into the land of Canaan, 768s
he's got his own internal struggles with the stubbornness and the rebelliousness of the people. 776s
Joshua 24 tells us that Joshua was not the youngest of men, that he was most likely at this time, 783s
he's about 80, 80 years old at the beginning of the conquest. 792s
So what wouldn't necessarily call him a young man at this point? 796s
And Joshua 3 tells us that the Jordan was in a flood state. 802s
So here you go. 808s
He's in leadership now and he's got challenges. 811s
People of Canaan are stronger, large, fortified cities, they're larger. 815s
He's leading a stubborn and rebellious people. 819s
He's 80 years old at the beginning of the conquest and Jordan was in a flood stage. 822s
In contrast to these challenges, the Lord gives Joshua specific promises. 830s
So the Lord is fully aware of the challenges here that Joshua is facing and the Lord gives specific promises to Joshua. 839s
Back in chapter 1, verse 3, 850s
every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you as I promised Moses. 857s
From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the Great River, the river Euphrates, 866s
all the land of the hitites to the great sea in the west shall be your territory. 873s
No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life as I was with Moses, 880s
so I will be with you. 888s
I will not fail you or forsake you. 890s
Let's break down these promises again. 896s
Verse 3, 901s
every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you as I promised to Moses. 902s
From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the Great River, the river Euphrates, 909s
all the land of the hitites to the great sea in the west shall be your territory. 914s
Here's the first promise. 922s
Joshua and leading the people, they will conquer. 932s
They will conquer. 936s
Go down to verse 5, please, the very first part. 937s
No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. 944s
Here's the second promise. 952s
No one will be able to stand against them. 965s
Let's go to the second part of verse 5. 970s
I will not fail you or forsake you. 974s
Or excuse me, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 981s
Here's the third promise. 987s
That God is going to be with them. 991s
Last part of verse 5, I will not fail you or forsake you. 997s
God will not leave or forsake. 1013s
Verse 6, Be strong and courageous for you shall put this people in possession of the land 1019s
that I swore to their ancestors to give them. 1026s
They will possess the land. 1036s
Remember, it's a unilateral covenant. 1038s
God says, this is what I'm going to do. 1042s
And see exactly what he is going to carry out. 1045s
Conquer, no one's going to be able to stand against with, not leave or forsake, 1049s
and he will lead them into the land. 1053s
So there's the challenges. 1059s
There's the promises. 1061s
Now look at verse 7. 1063s
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law 1066s
that my servant Moses commanded you. 1073s
Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left so that you may be successful 1077s
wherever you go. 1083s
This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. 1087s
You shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to act in accordance 1091s
with all that is written in it. 1097s
A way of meditating in ancient day was to read scripture out loud. 1101s
And the reason for doing that was so that you would read the word, you would then hear the word, 1110s
and it would become part of you. 1118s
You know how we are taught in school silent reading? 1122s
Not so much, I think, when it comes to meditating, right? 1127s
Because meditating, there's a lot of wisdom in that, to actually speak the word so you can hear it, 1131s
and it fills the mind with meaning. 1138s
That's a helpful, helpful way for us to meditate. 1143s
Challenges, promises, and what's God calling Joshua to do? 1150s
Now be in the Word. 1155s
Be in the Word. 1157s
Look at verse 7 once again. 1160s
Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, second part. 1162s
Do not turn from it from the right hand or the left so that you may be successful wherever you go. 1169s
First part of verse 8. 1178s
This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. 1179s
You shall meditate on it day and night. 1182s
God's saying so you'll be what? 1189s
So you'll be successful. 1191s
There is a huge difference between what God says is success and what the world defines as success. 1194s
God defines success in terms of faithfulness, full stop. 1206s
That's how God defines success, faithfulness. 1214s
You look at some of the people in Scripture that God called. 1220s
They didn't see much, quote unquote, success as the world would define it. 1226s
But they were faithful to proclaim the Word. 1234s
And that's what God calls as success. 1242s
Faithfulness. 1248s
Success is faithfulness. 1250s
It is what God empowers us to be. 1253s
Apart from Scripture, there is just the error-filled valley of human reason. 1257s
Apart from Scripture, there's just mere human opinion. 1263s
It's very dangerous sentences that start with, you know, I think. 1269s
Because in the end, what does God think? 1275s
What does God think on the subject? 1279s
Apart from Scripture, there's a whole host of different heresies that one can fall into. 1282s
The challenge is to find the promise is given and God directs then Joshua into the Word alone. 1290s
Joshua sends two spies into the land. 1303s
Let's go to chapter 2, verse 23. 1307s
Then the two men came down again from the hill country. 1318s
They crossed over, came to Joshua, son of none, and told him all that had happened to them. 1322s
They said to Joshua, truly, the Lord has given all the land into our hands, 1330s
moreover all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before us. 1337s
Contrast that with the report from the spies that Moses sent in 38 years before this. 1345s
Let's go to numbers, chapter 13, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers. 1353s
Numbers, chapter 13, verse 25. 1360s
So this then are the spies that Moses sent in. 1366s
It's 38 years before the two spies that Joshua sent in that came back with good news. 1370s
Joshua came back with good news. 1377s
Here's the report from the spies that Moses sent in. 1379s
Numbers 13, verse 25. 1385s
At the end of 40 days, they returned from spying out the land, 1388s
and they came to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Perin and Kadesh. 1392s
They brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 1399s
And they told him, we came to the land to which you sent us. 1407s
It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 1411s
You just kind of feel there's a butt coming here though, don't you? 1416s
Yet, the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified, and very large, and besides, 1422s
we saw the descendants of Enic there. 1433s
The embellicites live in the land of Negib, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country, 1439s
and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan. 1446s
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, let us go up, and at once occupy it, 1453s
for we are well able to overcome it. 1458s
Then the men who had gone up with him said, we're not able to go up against this people, they're stronger than we. 1461s
So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out saying, 1469s
the land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, 1475s
and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. 1481s
There we saw the Nephilim, the Amorites, came from the Nephilim, and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, 1485s
and so we seemed to them. 1495s
38 years later, Joshua sends the two spies in, they see the same basic conditions in Canaan, 1501s
that the group saw 38 years earlier. 1514s
It's the same basic conditions, and yet they come back with a different report. 1517s
The early spies that Moses had sent in 38 years before Joshua's were operating out of a stance of doubt and unbelief, 1527s
doubt and unbelief. 1538s
If the two spies, the Joshua had sent in, had not accepted the Lord's promise of ultimate triumph. 1541s
What would they say? They would have said. 1553s
Walls are strong there at Jericho, really strong. 1558s
Or the water is surging at the Jordan, or there's narrow escape routes from pursuers. 1562s
They saw the same condition through the light of God's promises. 1575s
So the same conditions through the light of God's promises. 1584s
Let's go to Joshua chapter 1 verse 24. 1589s
Joshua 1 verse 24. 1601s
I don't know why I wrote that. There is no verse 24. 1605s
Well, I never mind. 1608s
I'll figure out what that arrow was this week. 1611s
To the obstacles and the challenges here, that the same spy saw 38 years after the spies to Moses, 1615s
they approach it through the lens of the promises of God, and that God keeps his promises. 1626s
Faith makes all the difference in how we report the condition of our lives. 1637s
38 years before, I can't do it. 1647s
38 years later, they've melt right in front of us. 1651s
They melt right in front of us, and here are the promises for us. 1656s
Romans chapter 8 tells us that God works all things together for good to those who love the Lord. 1661s
It is easy to make a negative report with regard to our situation in the world. 1669s
But when we see our situation in the world in light of the promises of God, 1678s
that changes what it is then, that we believe and we say. 1685s
When we rest on God's promises, we can be both realists and people of optimism and joy. 1693s
See, God never calls us to some kind of polyanish look at life. 1708s
God never calls us to an understanding of, well, maybe things aren't as bad as they are. 1715s
Sometimes, they're as bad as they are. 1724s
We can look at the world realistically. 1726s
We can look at our own situation realistically, and then you put on the glasses of the promises of God, 1729s
and what it is that you see is you look at the problem through the lenses of the promises of God. 1736s
You can look at them squarely, not deny them, not try and convince yourself that somehow, maybe they're not as bad as it seems, 1744s
you can look at them squarely and through the promises of God. 1752s
One can live with optimism in God who holds our future and rejoice. 1758s
Two groups of spies, same conditions. 1769s
Joshua's group, look through the lenses of the promises of God. 1774s
We can do the same thing. 1781s
If God promises to us and He does that He will never leave us nor forsake us, we can take that to the bank. 1783s
That's an absolute promise. 1790s
If God promises us that He is sovereign and He is, then we can take that to the bank because He is sovereign. 1792s
If God is absolutely in control, we can take that to the bank. 1801s
He is absolutely in control. 1807s
And that whatever He allows in our lives is for our ultimate good, Romans 8, and His ultimate glory. 1810s
And so we can look at everything realistically and walk away as a people of optimism. 1821s
Optimism. 1829s
That even if things don't turn out in terms of how we have in our mind that they should turn out, 1831s
is God still on His throne? 1840s
Does God still love us? 1841s
Has God called us His own in the waters of baptism? 1842s
Absolutely He has. 1845s
And that's the optimism that whatever happens in the next minute God is still on His throne. 1847s
And so we can live with that sense of optimism and joy in who God is that God has us realistically, optimistically, and joyful. 1857s
To the challenges that Joshua faced, there were promises. 1871s
God said meditate on the Word. 1876s
God freed Joshua and freed the people to say, you know what success is here? 1879s
Success is faithfulness. 1886s
Faithfulness. 1889s
Because God will not share His glory with any human being that says, look what I accomplished. 1890s
God says, no, this isn't a sharing of glory arrangement that we have here. 1900s
That which occurs is my doing. 1906s
And God is the one that gets the glory. 1911s
We can live seeing the facts of our lives through the light of His promises. 1914s
And that allows us to be both realists and optimists with joy. 1921s
Well, next week we're going to see several instances of the Lord building up the confidence of His people crossing the Jordan to that we go. 1928s
Next week. 1939s