Series: Renewal
Joshua 1:8-9 ESV
Exodus 33:19-23 ESV
Joshua 1:2-7 ESV
Time and again reference is made in scripture that by and through scripture we can meditate on God’s Word and in doing so we will be encouraged, we will be blessed, and we will be filled with the hope of God.
In Joshua 1:8-9 we are told, “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 have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Putting Joshua’s words into context tells us a great deal about why those words were so important.
In Joshua, Chapter 1 we are told that Moses has died.
Consider this was their leader who fought to free them from Egyptian enslavement. He fought for them.
Then he led them into the wilderness. We must understand how difficult that would have been for the people of God. They only had two options…remain in Egypt as slaves or follow Moses into the wilderness. In order to be free they had to trust Moses, so they followed him.
In the wilderness they remained at the foot of the mountain when Moses went to meet God. The commandments were given to Moses.
Moses saw God on the mountain and he lived. Note here that seeing God isn’t a frightening thing. Consider this as a possibility or even a probability…seeing God is such an amazing thing that once we gaze on God we would not ever want to leave God. When Moses saw God he did not look into God’s eyes. He only saw the back of God.
In Exodus 33:19-23 God told Moses, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Moses was also unique because he had been given a great task…to free the people of God. Moses knew he had a job to do.
On the mountain, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The Ten Words to live by were essential to Israel in the wilderness.
Overall, Moses was THE connector between the people and God.
Now, in Joshua 1, we are told the man who had been their leader was gone.
The man who saw God and lived to tell them about it was gone.
So now, Joshua will lead them into the Promised Land. In Joshua 1 the Lord spoke to Joshua and gave him specific instructions.
In Joshua 1:2-7 God told Joshua, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.”
We wonder who inhabited the land Joshua was told to conquer?
Israel was promised land that belonged to the Hittites. “The Hittites were an ancient group of Indo-Europeans who moved into Asia Minor and formed an empire at Hattusa in Anatolia (modern Turkey) around 1600 BCE.” The Hittite Empire ended around 1180 BCE.
In Joshua’s time much of the land of Canaan was conquered by the people of God.
Around 400 years after Joshua under Kings David and Solomon more land came under Israel’s control.
The remainder of the land has not yet been conquered.
The entire prophecy has not yet been fulfilled.
As a sidebar I love learning and I learned a lot when I did the research for this lesson.
It was a reminder for me (and for you) that when God makes a promise it will be fulfilled. We do not know when the remainder of the land God promised to Joshua will be fulfilled, but we know it will happen!
Today I am ever so grateful for God’s promises!
Spiritual Practice: Your Promise
Do you have promises that are yet to be fulfilled? Thank God for the promise and the fulfillment.
In God, Deborah
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