Joshua - A Life of Trusting Faithfulness
Joshua was someone who put his whole trust in the Lord and stepped forward into His promises without hesitation.
After being commissioned by God, Joshua immediately assumed leadership and commanded the officers of the people, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to posses.’” (Joshua 1:11).
Joshua is a book of fulfillment of God’s promises to the people of God. The people of God passed over the Jordan into the Promised Land. The day after Passover, the people began to eat the produce of the land and there was no longer manna for the people (Joshua 5:11-12). The people experienced many victories in battle under Joshua’s leadership.
Joshua is also a book of God in the midst of His people, making Himself evident to the people of God. Joshua tells the people in Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” The next day Joshua told the people, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites…when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap” (Joshua 3:10,13).
In Joshua 6, the walls of Jericho fell flat when the people of God followed in obedience to God and for seven days marched around with the ark of the Lord and seven trumpets and then on the seventh day, marched around the city seven times and then shouted. It was so evident that God was with the people of Israel, the Gibeonite’s deceived Israel in order to make a covenant of peace with them. In Joshua 10:13, the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation of Israel took vengeance on their enemies.
Joshua was someone who showed character both in defeat and in his successes. Joshua never took the credit for success that God gave him and the works God did in their midst. When Israel was defeated under his service, Joshua cried out to the Lord and sought His will. Joshua did not quit or become discouraged. Also, when Joshua was successful, he acknowledged that it was God’s doing and not his own.
In Joshua 23:3,9-10, Joshua says to the people of Israel, “And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you… For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.”
Joshua continually exhorted the people to be obedient in their walk with God. Joshua did not compromise or cut corners in his relationship with God. He was completely confident in God and did not shrink back when facing the enemy. Him (and his household) served the Lord wholeheartedly and he exhorted those who followed him to do the same. In Joshua 23:5 he tells the people, “The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.”
Psalm 84:12 says, “blessed is the man who trusts in you.” Joshua was greatly blessed with God’s presence and signs and wonders around Him. He was not blessed in being comfortable and having a convenient life. His life was filled with battles and circumstances that called him to step out in faith. But in the midst of it all, God was profoundly present in his life and the life of people of God he served.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 says, “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
I often think of loving God wholeheartedly and observing his commands as getting everything right. I think that if I work really hard and get everything right, I will have more of God’s presence in my life. And if my life seems absent of Him, I need to work harder at getting it all right. However, Joshua, as well as Abraham, demonstrate that it is not getting everything right that matters to God. What matters is trust in God. Abraham and Joshua were willing to step out and trust God, taking risks and not shrinking back in following after Him.
In Galatians 3:5-6 (MSG), Paul asks, “Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don’t those things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.”
And in Galatians 5:4-6 (CJB), Paul tells the church, “You who are trying to be declared righteous by God through legalism have severed yourselves from the Messiah! You have fallen away from God's grace! For it is by the power of the Spirit, who works in us because we trust and are faithful, that we confidently expect our hope of attaining righteousness to be fulfilled. When we are united with the Messiah Yeshua, neither being circumcised nor being uncircumcised matters; what matters is trusting faithfulness expressing itself through love.
Lord, thank you for your truth. I know this but I somehow keep forgetting it and turning back to trying to get everything right. What I really would like is more of your presence in my life. Forgive me where I stumble along the way and set me free from legalism. Teach me to trust you and be willing to step out in faith when you ask.
After being commissioned by God, Joshua immediately assumed leadership and commanded the officers of the people, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to posses.’” (Joshua 1:11).
Joshua is a book of fulfillment of God’s promises to the people of God. The people of God passed over the Jordan into the Promised Land. The day after Passover, the people began to eat the produce of the land and there was no longer manna for the people (Joshua 5:11-12). The people experienced many victories in battle under Joshua’s leadership.
Joshua is also a book of God in the midst of His people, making Himself evident to the people of God. Joshua tells the people in Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” The next day Joshua told the people, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites…when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap” (Joshua 3:10,13).
In Joshua 6, the walls of Jericho fell flat when the people of God followed in obedience to God and for seven days marched around with the ark of the Lord and seven trumpets and then on the seventh day, marched around the city seven times and then shouted. It was so evident that God was with the people of Israel, the Gibeonite’s deceived Israel in order to make a covenant of peace with them. In Joshua 10:13, the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation of Israel took vengeance on their enemies.
Joshua was someone who showed character both in defeat and in his successes. Joshua never took the credit for success that God gave him and the works God did in their midst. When Israel was defeated under his service, Joshua cried out to the Lord and sought His will. Joshua did not quit or become discouraged. Also, when Joshua was successful, he acknowledged that it was God’s doing and not his own.
In Joshua 23:3,9-10, Joshua says to the people of Israel, “And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you… For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.”
Joshua continually exhorted the people to be obedient in their walk with God. Joshua did not compromise or cut corners in his relationship with God. He was completely confident in God and did not shrink back when facing the enemy. Him (and his household) served the Lord wholeheartedly and he exhorted those who followed him to do the same. In Joshua 23:5 he tells the people, “The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.”
Psalm 84:12 says, “blessed is the man who trusts in you.” Joshua was greatly blessed with God’s presence and signs and wonders around Him. He was not blessed in being comfortable and having a convenient life. His life was filled with battles and circumstances that called him to step out in faith. But in the midst of it all, God was profoundly present in his life and the life of people of God he served.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 says, “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
I often think of loving God wholeheartedly and observing his commands as getting everything right. I think that if I work really hard and get everything right, I will have more of God’s presence in my life. And if my life seems absent of Him, I need to work harder at getting it all right. However, Joshua, as well as Abraham, demonstrate that it is not getting everything right that matters to God. What matters is trust in God. Abraham and Joshua were willing to step out and trust God, taking risks and not shrinking back in following after Him.
In Galatians 3:5-6 (MSG), Paul asks, “Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don’t those things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.”
And in Galatians 5:4-6 (CJB), Paul tells the church, “You who are trying to be declared righteous by God through legalism have severed yourselves from the Messiah! You have fallen away from God's grace! For it is by the power of the Spirit, who works in us because we trust and are faithful, that we confidently expect our hope of attaining righteousness to be fulfilled. When we are united with the Messiah Yeshua, neither being circumcised nor being uncircumcised matters; what matters is trusting faithfulness expressing itself through love.
Lord, thank you for your truth. I know this but I somehow keep forgetting it and turning back to trying to get everything right. What I really would like is more of your presence in my life. Forgive me where I stumble along the way and set me free from legalism. Teach me to trust you and be willing to step out in faith when you ask.
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