I am fascinated by the lives of Bible characters and the lessons we can learn from them. The Bible is God’s Word and therefore, relevant for all time. It never changes and the lessons we can learn are part of our character building.
We first meet Joshua in Exodus 17, but it is strange that it is some time after the first mention of him that we are told who this Joshua is. We are told something of what he did and the type of person he was long before we are told who he was.
Joshua comes on to the scene almost unnoticed in Exodus 17v8 when the Amalekites attack the Israelites at Rephidim. It is almost as though it is taken for granted that we know who this Joshua is. We read in v9 that “Moses said to Joshua “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.””
Not much of a deal, you might say. “You go and fight and I will take my stick and stand on the hill.” But immediately we see something of the character of this man Joshua. For in v10 we see that he did as he was asked – “Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered.”
HIS FAITH AND OBEDIENCE: He shows immediately his faith in Moses, the man of God. It was of great importance that if he was going to obey the great leader Moses, then he would see the vital significance of Moses standing on the hill with the staff of God in his hands. Notice that he never questioned Moses’ command. We might have thought, even said, “No, Moses, if you don’t come with us, I’m not going”(as Moses did to God later). It clearly shows the importance of doing what God has planned. Joshua was to take the army, and Moses was to intercede with God for the army. Let us remember and recognise that each of us has a distinctive and important part to play, and what’s more, let us do it now! Exercising faith and obedience.
You will probably recall, if you have read it before, that Moses took Aaron and Hur with him up the hill and when Moses’ arms grew weary as he held up the staff of God, they supported each arm, because when his arms were high the Israelites were winning and when his arms were lowered the Amalekites succeeded. So, with Moses’ arms having been kept up (v13), “Joshua overcame the Amalekites with the sword.” I don’t know if Joshua could see Moses on the hill or not, verses 14 – 16 make me doubt that he could. For we read that “The LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and MAKE SURE THAT JOSHUA HEARS IT, because I will completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.” (my emphasis)Moses considered it vital that Joshua HEARD that the LORD IS MY BANNER (or in Hebrew – JEHOVAH-NISSI)
Let me remind you that the Amalekites were the descendants of Esau, who we are told in Genesis 26v34 married many foreign wives “Which were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah” (v35) and sold his birthright for a bowl of stew (mess of pottage); and as so often happened in Scripture, and in particular we see this in the book of Judges, the enemies of the Children of Israel were products of their own earlier family sins.
It is a fascinating and enlightening study to trace them back and certainly worth private study. For example, THE MOABITES were descended from the incestuous son of Lot – Lot’s acts of sexual intercourse with his elder daughter when she got him drunk and lay with him; THE MIDIANITES were descendants of Abraham’s polygamous relationship with his slave Hagar; THE CANAANITES were the descendants of Canaan, a son of Ham, a cursed son of Noah, as were the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites (and that is not a type of paint), the Hivites etc. etc (Gen.10v15). All these were enemies at some time or other. Does not Micah 7v6 say, “A man’s enemies are they of his own household” How careful we must be of our relationships because of what can ensue and bring trouble in the future.
The next time we see Joshua is in Exodus 24v13 where we are told that he is Moses’ aide (assistant), and Moses took him with him up the mountain with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders to worship God. The purpose was to have the Covenant confirmed – The LORD called them up and the angel of The LORD who was sent to prepare the way, told them that they were to worship from a distance and Moses was to go alone to approach The LORD.
It is evident that Moses took Joshua further than the others, for in 24v14 Moses said to the elders “Wait here for US until WE come back.” He certainly left Aaron there and the elders, so he could have taken Nadab and Abihu and Joshua, but then Moses, alone, went further still right into the midst of the cloud. Moses entered the cloud and was there forty days and nights. The 10 Commandments were written by God’s own finger whilst Moses was in the presence of God. They had previously been given verbally by God and written down by Moses, now God actually wrote them Himself. Then as a result of what happened in ch.32 (which we shall look at next) God wrote them again (ch.34), and as Moses reminds the people in Deut.5v22 that whilst these commandments were given possibly three times, they were exactly the same on each occasion, “He (God) added no more.” (my insert). I love that statement, it was complete and accurate and sufficient, no need for a rethink, or a revision or even the slightest amendment to the original. God considered it was right first time. (unlike man-made laws).
Exodus 32 is when we next see Joshua. Maybe Joshua had also been alone somewhere on that mountain waiting for Moses. We are not told what Joshua was doing for those forty days or whether he may have had the company of Nadab and Abihu for some of the time, but certainly Aaron was with the rest of the people when Moses and Joshua come down the mountain together. They approach the foot of the mountain, the two tablets of stone containing the Testimony in Moses’ hand. In v17 “And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. And he said (Moses or Joshua) It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery (or victory) it is not the voice of them that cry for being overcome (or defeat) but the noise of them that sing do I hear.” (my emphasis) (v18). Be careful that you are not led astray into thinking that singing (of itself) is WORSHIP. It can be the very opposite. How many times have you heard the service leader say, ‘Now we will have a time of worship’ (meaning singing). I always ask myself, ‘what have we been doing up to now?’
When they arrived at the camp, they found that the people were worshipping (clearly their singing wasn’t true worship) the golden calf that Aaron had made at their request for they got tired of waiting for Moses. Joshua witnessed Moses’ godly anger as he threw down the tablets of stone and broke them. Not only did he break the two tablets, but he also destroyed the golden calf. That’s how to deal with idolatry.
It is interesting to note that Moses acted first and asked questions later. We might often say it is wiser to do the opposite – ‘act in haste repent at leisure’, but to Moses the most important thing was to get rid of the evil first and then to find out how it came to be there. Delay could have spelt disaster. Whenever we are dealing with idols or anything that comes between God and ourselves, or takes priority before God, it is vital that we FIRST of all GET RID of the offence. If we sit down and first discuss the matter, there is a danger that we might convince ourselves and others that there was a reasonable justification for its presence and that it could be harmless.
This is exactly what the devil would have us do. So, if there is sin in our lives, perhaps a particular sin that is keeping us from being the person God wants us to be, it is vital that we stop and get rid immediately. This is REPENTANCE – turning from sin. Such a necessary action, but one which is seldom seen or preached about today.
Moving out – The place to be:
In ch.33 The LORD told Moses to leave with the people and go on to the Promised Land. The LORD gave them distressing news that He would not go with them because of their stubbornness, and if He was to go with them, He might destroy them (v3,5). Moses pitched a tent and called it ‘the Tent of Meeting’ where the people could go to enquire of The LORD. Whenever Moses entered the tent the pillar of cloud (signifying The LORD’s presence) would come down and stay at the entrance. (v9) “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend”. (v11). What a place to be? “But his young aide Joshua did not leave the tent.” I gather this to mean that he stayed there all the time. He wanted to be where The LORD. What better place could he be in than in the Tent of Meeting? Especially as God had threatened that He would totally abandon the people because of their sin. No doubt Joshua continually watched Moses as he sought The LORD for his people. Eventually The LORD said that He would go with them, and Moses utters those wonderful words in v 15 “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” In other words, “If You don’t come with us, I don’t want to go.” How vital it is that we seek the presence of God EVERYWHERE WE GO. How vital it is that we determine to go nowhere unless God goes with us. That should be our desire. AND THAT SHOULD GOVERN THE PLACES WE GO TO!
YOUNG AND PRIVILEGED? – DON’T ABUSE YOUR PRIVILEGES.
It is evident that there is something special about this young man Joshua. He is an outstanding character despite his youth – v11 makes the point that he is ‘a young man’. We have seen him go up the mountain with Moses and stay for the forty days, possibly alone while Moses entered the cloud to speak with God. Now we see him staying in the Tent of Meeting. He clearly has a great desire to learn and to be where God is. It is a privilege to know God, to learn of God, and what better place to do this, than with godly men and women and in the place of ‘meeting’.
What a contrast is seen in the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu. You will recall that they too went up the mountain with Moses, Aaron and Joshua. In ch.24v10 we read they also “Saw The God of Israel….” They had similar privileges to Joshua although it is not absolutely clear whether they went all the way with Joshua or stayed with Aaron and Hur and the other elders, but because Moses only mentions that he and Joshua would go further, it is probably safe to say that they stayed at some ‘middle’ level. However, despite their privileges in seeing God and still being alive, as ch 24 makes the point that … they saw God…and ate and drank and despite being sons of Aaron, and despite being priests themselves, they were guilty of “Offering strange fire before The LORD …… and they fell dead before The LORD.” (Num.3v2-4).
SERIOUS STUFF THIS OFFERING STRANGE FIRE!
Leviticus 10 expands a little on this and it is apparent that they disobeyed The LORD; they had offered fire which He commanded them not to. And fire from The LORD came out and devoured them. They too were evidently relatively young men because we are told that they died before their father and were left without any sons to continue the priesthood.
How important it is that we are careful that we do not abuse our privileges. Nadab and Abihu were blessed with a knowledge of God, an involvement in the worship of God, and even a SIGHT of God (which only a privileged few received), yet they disobeyed with fatal results. Note that the very thing they dabbled in, fire, devoured them. This ‘strange fire’ is something that we too must be careful about. We can be guilty of disobedience in our worship; we can be guilty of offering ‘strange fire’. We must come to God on His terms and in obedience to His Word.
We live in a time of ‘strange fire’- many are including in their worship things which are not in full accordance with God’s Word. We can be guilty of treading on dangerous ground – things like – PROSPERITY GOSPEL – Kenneth Copeland and others who teach that if you are a Christian then you will prosper in this world’s goods. And if you are NOT prospering then there is something amiss with your profession of faith. Whilst sorting some of my late mother’s collection of papers, we came across a letter from an organisation offering ‘prosperity’ – the ‘Name it, Claim it brigade’ (not that she would have had anything to do with it) ‘Send your money, the more you send the more you will get!’ Now of course, they get this from the book of Joshua ch.1v6-9. “Be strong and courageous…. then you will be prosperous and successful” But there was far more to it than that – The context of this is the inheritance of the land promised to their forefathers (v6). They were to obey the law to the letter, not one deviation (v7), they were to meditate on it day and night and do everything in it. (v8).
Now, if we followed that to the absolute letter, we could expect prosperity and success. Of that, I am sure. The question is, how many of us do? And further – What is prosperity and success? From my reading of the Bible, it is NOT wealth, health and never making a mistake, and everything turning out just as we wanted it, fine and dandy. The Bible does not promise us those things; in fact, it invariably promises us the opposite. We are told that we can expect tribulation because we are not OF the world even though we are IN the world. And in Philippians 1v28, 29 Paul actually says that ‘If we are being persecuted and attacked for Christ’s sake, it is proof that we are Christians. It only happens to Christians’. But he goes further to say that it is even more wonderful because “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him.” So, when you are suffering for Christ’s sake do you thank Him for being counted worthy of that? You may say, ‘Now hang on a minute that’s something we can all do without’ But there it is – it is a privilege. So where is this ‘prosperity and success’?
We do not measure prosperity and success by our standards, but by God’s. James says 1v2 “My brethren count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.” It is a gift, just as any other gift. The important thing is that we stand fast for He has said He will never leave us nor forsake us.
For Joshua and the people of Israel their prosperity and success was to enter the land which God had promised to them. The fact that God promised did not override the need for obedience and trust. If they did not obey, they would not enter, as was seen in that many did not, including Moses himself who disobeyed God’s command to speak to the rock to obtain water, instead he struck the rock with his rod. They got water, but Moses was precluded from entering the land, he could only view it from afar. To be what God wants us to be, that is success, and it only comes through trust and obedience.
There are many other ‘strange fires’ – Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, New Age, Transcendental Meditation, Unification Church (Moonies), etc. etc. Most of them we would never allow in our churches, (except to preach the gospel TO them). But there are some practices which are being allowed in. They are creeping in, and we must be on our guard. One such was The Toronto Blessing which, in my opinion, is not Scriptural and is ‘strange fire’. I could say a lot about it from personal experience, this business of falling down, sometimes being called being slain in the spirit. (This means that it is not new, this ‘being slain in the spirit’ came on the scene and was around before the Toronto version). They fall down, usually in a trance-like state, sometimes they laugh, make animal noises, even snore.
From what we saw, it was similar to hypnosis and auto-suggestion. I don’t want to go into detail, except to say that the proponents of it deceive people by the use of verses or phrases from God’s Word to support it, by which they mislead people by taking phrases out of context. E.g. Ezekiel 1 v28, – “…. this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of The LORD, and when I saw it, I fell upon my face,” (Note: NOT upon my back as most if not all of them do.) Daniel 8v17,18 Daniel had seen several visions, and he heard a man’s voice say “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision. So, he came near where I stood; and when he came I was afraid and fell upon my face …… Now as he was speaking to me I was in a deep sleep on my face to the ground.” There are other references used, but these will suffice. In both of those references (and others) they stop there, but in Ezekiel, the very next verse which is 2v1 and obviously a continuation, we read “And he said unto me, ‘Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you, and the Spirit entered into me when He spoke and set me upon my feet, that I heard Him that spoke to me.” And in Daniel 8v18 “…. But he touched me and set me upright.” Now if that’s not taking things out of context, I don’t know what is?
And from those verses it is clearly upon my feet that God is going to speak to them, but worst of all, they use as their authority for trying this and other phenomenon, Acts 5v34-39 – the words of Gamaliel, a Pharisee, a doctor of the law, and, perhaps most tragically, an unbeliever – ‘If this is of men it will come to nothing, but if it is of God, you cannot stop it’. On the face of it is good advice, but we must look further into it. It means that you can do anything or allow anything to take place and do nothing because ‘if it is of man it will come to nothing but if it is of God, you cannot stop it’. Think of the dangers of that in your personal life, your church, and you don’t need me to tell of the dangers in the world because of such a policy. In exercising such a principle in the church, you would have to allow Jehovah’s witnesses to occupy your pulpit, David Koresh (Waco), and other cults, even Satan Himself. And therefore, absolutely anything to go on with impunity and wait for God’s approval or otherwise. It could be fatal, just as it certainly was at Waco.
Gamaliel was Saul’s teacher, (Saul, later to become the Apostle Paul) and think of the havoc he caused before his conversion to Christ! Sadly, unlike his pupil, we do not read anywhere that Gamaliel became converted.
It is the ONLY advice that a pagan world can give or take, but certainly not the best advice for Christians. Paul himself gives much better advice – Philippians 4v8 “whatsoever things are true… honest… just… lovely…of good report….” Ephesians 6v10-….”Put on the whole armour of God…….. for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities… powers… rulers of darkness… spiritual wickedness in high places….” Ephesians 5v11 “…have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness…… understanding what the will of the LORD is.” (v17)
And the apostle John – 1 John 4v1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false spirits are gone out into the world………” AND HOW DO WE ‘TRY’ THEM? – It is certainly not by letting them in, BUT BY MEASURING THEM AGAINST GOD’S WORD. This is the only yardstick, because God WILL NOT GO AGAINST HIS WORD. There are many other examples, many are in the (Christian) music business, making lots of money, but when you examine their doctrinal practices are very questionable.
There is no shortage of advice and instruction in God’s Word as to how we go about testing whether people or things are genuinely of God. It may be necessary sometimes to wait, but more often than not it will be obvious when measured and checked against The Word of God. God does not want us to wallow around in false doctrine, but sometimes the Devil will deceive us, he did in Bible times. The Apostles often had to write letters to believers about false doctrine entering in. God wants us to be wise and with His indwelling Spirit and His Word we can be sure.
Joshua is zealous for the truth, but learns that God is in control:
Numbers 11v28 gives us a little more insight to this man Joshua. The people grumbled about the food. They longed to be back in Egypt for the variety of food, saying that they had lost their appetites because of this manna. You may remember that it was called ‘manna’ which means ‘what is it?’. They didn’t have a name for it so it was so called, and I suppose we could refer to it as ‘wotsit’. They were sick of this ‘wotsit’. God, therefore, provided quail, so much of it that they became sick of that and sick with it. During this time The LORD told Moses to bring together 70 elders and that HE would put His spirit on them to help Moses carry the burden of this rebellious and complaining people. When they received this outpouring of The Spirit they prophesied. (v25)
However, two elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go to the tent of meeting to receive The Spirit, but for some reason remained at home but the Spirit fell on them also and they prophesied. Joshua, in his desire to be obedient, was concerned and puzzled by this, as he didn’t think that they had received the Spirit because they had not gone to the tent of meeting. He showed his commitment by telling Moses of this and suggesting that they should be forbidden. But as it was clear to Moses that they were genuine, he commended him and explained that God could choose anyone and anyway He desired to work His will.
An important lesson for Joshua and for us, that we cannot compartmentalise God. He will work in His way. We are often guilty of trying to set patterns for God to work. He may not always work as we expect, but He will always be faithful to His Word. If He goes against His word, He would not be God. And if it is against His word, it is a fraud.
Joshua was one of the twelve spies chosen by Moses upon God’s command (Numbers 13:3-16), one from each tribe. Caleb was another and these two were the good spies, who came back, from Canaan, with the message that God would give them victory. The other ten brought back the depressing stories of how they could never conquer the occupants of the land of Canaan because the cities were large and fortified and because there were giants (the sons of Anak). Caleb and Joshua came back showing their faith in God and reporting that if God was with them, they would conquer and take the land. The people grumbled against Moses and God again. ‘Fancy bringing us out here – awful food, and now – faced with this so-called Promised Land and there are giants there, there’s no chance for us against them’. Joshua and Caleb were different; They had no doubt that their God was able. And He surely was.
The ten spies held the day, and the people followed their report and grumbled against God and Moses. As a result, they wandered around in the wilderness for thirty-eight years, when they could have been there in the land of promise in a matter of weeks. Because of their rebellion, the people received God’s judgement, in that none of them over the age of twenty years would enter the land of promise except Caleb and Joshua. The ten bad spies were struck down with a plague and died (v37) as The LORD had said (vv20-35) “They will never enter the land, except Caleb and Joshua” (v30)
Charles Price says that Joshua and Caleb had learned and tried to appropriate a fundamental principle of spiritual effectiveness. ‘Do not attempt merely what is possible; attempt what you believe to be right. It is God’s business to make possible what is right!’ If Canaan was to be theirs, then the fact that there were enemies along the route…. was irrelevant: God would intervene and give the victory to them. Merely to live in the realm of the possible would make Israel no different from any pagan nomadic tribe in the desert who also lived by what was possible. But to live with the confidence in what is right and to step out in obedience to God, confident of His ability to bring it about, would make the impossible possible. It would be another thirty-eight years before the question, ‘What is possible?’ would be become almost irrelevant to Israel, for by then they would be concerned with what was right.’
Joshua and Caleb learned that to stand up for God could be a dangerous and lonely business. In v10 the congregation wanted to stone them for their trust in God. It may be dangerous for us when we stand up for The LORD before this evil world, things haven’t changed, and people haven’t changed, and God hasn’t changed. We live in a so-called democracy, in fact, I’m not sure that there is such a thing. Most decisions are based on a minority decision when one person can hold us all to ransom. Joshua learned that to be a leader, decisions are not made on the basis of the majority verdict. He had to learn what God wanted and do His will.
God was clearly becoming exasperated with their disobedience and slowness of belief and Joshua would see that God was God of His Word and was to be obeyed and trusted, as he and Caleb would eventually enter the land of Canaan but no other of their contemporaries did. (see Numbers 26v65)
In passing it must be stressed that Canaan, the Promised Land, is NOT a picture of heaven, despite all the songs that would have us believe the contrary – ‘crossing the river Jordan into the ‘heaven’, figuratively speaking of course. It cannot be, for there was sin in the Promised Land; and what’s more Moses never arrived there, yet in the New Testament when Jesus went up the mount of transfiguration, He was met there, by Moses and Elijah from heaven. It is a picture of God’s provision for us on earth, His leading and our need for obedience to His commands in our lives down here, and a picture of what God can do when we are faced with various enemies that would seek to spoil our lives and make us ineffective for Him down here.
Joshua is chosen as the next leader. (Numbers 27) Moses was commanded to go up Mt Abarim and view the land promised to the Israelites. God had told Moses and Aaron (Numbers 20) that because of their disobedience they would not enter the land.
Moses quite clearly accepts God’s punishment. No doubt very disappointed, he says in 27v15-17 “May The LORD God…… appoint a man over this community….so that The LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” He was told by The LORD (v18) to take Joshua, “A man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. Have him stand before the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him……. Moses did as he was commanded (v22) He took Joshua, had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he (Eleazar) laid his hands on him and commissioned him as The LORD had instructed Moses.”
In Deut.31v1-8 Moses speaks to the people reminding them of God’s faithfulness despite their disobedience and unfaithfulness. He summoned Joshua before them and said “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that The LORD swore to their forefathers to give them … The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.”
Deut 34v9 We are told that Joshua was FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM because Moses had laid his hands on him. So, the Israelites listened to him and did what The LORD had commanded Moses.
You can see how important it is to look at the background of this man Joshua. Then what is written by him in the book which bears his name will make much more intelligible study. Perhaps we will see why he acted like he did. 1v7 He was obedient “turn not from it to the right or to the left…. this book shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate on it day and night…… ….observe to do all that is in it (v7, 8), and why he said at the end of his life ch23 v11 “Be very careful to love The LORD your God” HE REMINDED THEM and warned them that if they turned away and allied themselves with idolatrous nations and intermarried, for then The LORD would not drive out their enemies and they would become snares and traps”. He also reminded them that “You know that…. not one of all the good promises The LORD your God gave you has failed “(v14) But just as God is faithful in His promises He is just as faithful in His justice and judgements. And he finishes with that well known statement ……..”Choose you this day whom you will serve……but as for me and for my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”(24v15) (my emphasis)
HAVE YOU DECIDED? WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SERVE? AND HOW?
After the long but necessary introduction, we come to the book itself.
