Joshua: Courage Over Fear
A Sermon Series
“Preparing To Encounter God’s Call”
Joshua 2:22-24 – 3:1-8
Part One
Introduction
When I was just learning to drive my dad would let me drive the family car – but when I would get out on the long straight highway or interstate, I would drift from one side of the road the other – back and forth between the lanes. After a while of doing this my dad said, “you are looking down the hood of the car and right in front of the car; instead look way out the horizon and focus on far away.” When I did this instead of going from side to side, my driving straightened out. I was focused on the horizon, not what was right in front of me.
When Joshua and Caleb returned from spying out the land they gave a report to Moses and the people. The people’s response to the report was “all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!” Numbers 14:1-2 Their focus was the perceived danger of inhabitants in the Promised Land. In today’s passage, after fourty years of wandering in the wilderness, and a new generation being raised up, their focus is different – now they are focused on the horizon, on God.
Prayer
What We Choose to Focus On Determines Where We Are Going (vv. 2:22-24)
22 They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. 23 Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land smelt away because of us.”
The spy’s mission was to gather information (especially about Jericho) and they now have what they need. Rahab’s retelling the stories she had heard, and her faith in God by hiding them was an encouragement to the spies “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands.” When we experience someone placing their faith in Jesus, and seeing how their lives are changed encourages us in the mission of our church – to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
What a change of heart from the first report of the spies when Joshua and Caleb reported back. The focus of the first spy report was on the stuff, the material, and on the outward superficial. Numbers 13:23 “And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs.” . . . “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large.” They brought back proof that the land was “flowing with milk and honey.”
Now in Joshua 2, the spies bring back a report of the inhabitant’s hearts, their spirit, the mentality of the people there – their courage is gone, and they are scared. It’s two different types of reports based on the heart of the spy (it’s the same land, the same inhabitants). Somehow the people in the promised land (over 40 years) have shrunk in size – they are no longer giants and God’s people grasshoppers. Now their God is huge and the enemy has become small.
“The spies violated God’s explicit command that none of the people living in the land were to be spared (Duet. 7:1-6; 20:16-18). Rahab, however, turned to God and sought deliverance. Her experience is proof of the gracious saving purpose of God. His overarching decree is that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” Joel 2:32.[1]
________________________
When we last left the Israelites they were preparing for the crossing of the Jordan. Joshua has to prepare his heart. God tells him over and over, “Be strong, be courageous.” To get ready to cross the Jordan, Joshua needs to also prepare a battle plan. Joshua has to prepare his mind by studying the Word (he studies it, meditates on it, talk about it, and do it).
Then Joshua sends in two spies and we are introduced to Rahab the redeemed Hero, but more importantly “24 They said to Joshua, “The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.” The land is ready and for them to cross-over! But the people have to prepare themselves for the crossing.
In our text God lovingly calls Israel to be a cross-over people. The transition from the wilderness into Canaan would not be an easy one. The Israelites must be a people who are willing to grow in their faith and anticipate seeing God move. This morning God is calling us to be a cross-over church. A church willing to face the impossible by keeping our eyes on God, following Him into the ever-changing future, united together in our mission of reaching Bellevue for Christ.
How Do We Cross The Jordan? How Do We Face the Seemingly Impossible?
Remember Our Commitment To God When Crossing Over (vv. 1-4)
Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
(look at Exodus 14) There is a similar story about God’s people where they were following Moses out of Egypt and they came to the Red Sea. Exodus 14:11-12 “They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Now, there is no outcry, there is no demands to return to the wilderness – only moving forward.
The first command was to follow the Lord, and it was stated in a strange way. Up until then, the people of Israel had followed the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night as symbols of God’s leading, presence, and protection in the wilderness. Now those symbols were going to be replaced by the ark of the covenant.
The ark contained the Ten Commandments carved in stone that had been given to Moses at Mount Sinai. It also held the entire Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. Thus the ark symbolized both the covenant commitment that God had made to Israel and the covenant conditions that God had established for the people of Israel. The whole covenant relationship, an entire way of life, would continue with them as they crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan. Inside the ark was also a jar of manna to remind the people that day after day for forty years God had met their physical needs.
The ark symbolized the presence and power of God with his people. The ark was the sign that God was leading them. They weren’t just a migratory people optimistically yet futilely thinking that they could go into the land of Canaan. They had to know that they were God’s people, being led by him.
The ark also symbolized the specific teaching and direction that God had given to his people. They had the assurance of his guidance and leadership as they moved into the new, completely unfamiliar territory. If they didn’t follow the Lord, as symbolized by the ark, they would get lost and disoriented; they wouldn’t know where to go or how to live.
God is with His people and they are expected to follow Him and His ways.
(v. 4) “for you have not passed this way before” – God is constantly calling us, and leading us into unfamiliar territory. He required Abraham to leave his home and “move to a land I will show you” (Gen. 21:1). Joseph was required to move from his home, then to slavery, and then to Egypt. Jesus said, “I will go to prepare a place for you, for where I have gone there you may be with me also.” The Christian life is moving from one unknown place to another.
As we cross the Jordan as a church, we must remember that God is committed to us in His provision for our needs, His salvation, grace and forgiveness of sin – but we must also remember our commitment to Him. Out of love and loyalty we follow and commit ourselves to an ever-deepening relationship with Him.
Consecrate Yourself Before Crossing-Over (v. 5)
“Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
Some of God’s promises are unconditional, and all we have to do is believe them, while other promises have expectations and consequences attached. In meeting these expectations, we are not earning God’s blessing. Rather, we are making certain that our hearts are ready for God’s blessing. The promise was that God would demonstrate miraculous power, but it was contingent on the people’s willingness to consecrate or sanctify themselves.
In the Old Testament, sanctification was usually tied to ritual cleansing, and God gave very specific instructions for ceremonial cleanliness. If the experience of Israel at Mount Sinai was the pattern, then “sanctify yourselves” meant that everyone was to bathe and change their clothes, at least in part. In the Bible this imagery of washing one’s body and putting on fresh clothes symbolized a new beginning with the Lord. Sin is a picture of defilement.
God has to cleanse us before we can truly follow him. When Jacob made a new beginning with the Lord and returned to Bethel, he and his entire family washed themselves and changed their garments (Gen. 35). And after King David confessed his sin with Bathsheba, he bathed, changed his clothes, and then worshiped God (2 Sam. 12:20). This imagery is carried over into the New Testament. Colossians 3:9-10 speaks of the necessity of being forgiven for sin, putting away the old patterns of behavior and attitudes, allowing those things to be washed away by the blood of Christ. Then there is the wonderful invitation to put on the new person, to clothe ourselves in the righteousness of Jesus (Eph. 4:24).
Whenever we face new opportunities, God’s voice calls us to sanctify ourselves. God calls his people to holiness, purity of life, and separation from sin. For us today, the invitation to be cleansed means that we come once again to claim the cleansing of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which washes away all defilement, uncleanness, and sin.
That requires a willingness from us to admit our sin, to live an examined life, to be open to truth. It means opening ourselves to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, because after our confession of sin, repentance, and experiencing forgiveness, then the Holy Spirit enables us to be used by God.
As we enter into a time of crossing over, you must cleanse yourself of all sin, and truly seek His will, if you are to ever hear from him as to the direction we are to go. There are some who will not do this, they want to counted among God’s people but are unwilling to give up certain sin, it is these individuals who like the 1st generation of Israel have doubt, cause dissention, and see giants where there are none!
Keep Your Eyes On God When Crossing Over (vv. 6-8)
“And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. 7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”
The instruction to keep a thousand yards away shows the need of some degree of separateness between the people and a holy God. The people were commanded to never touch the ark, to never treat the things of God lightly.
The ark was a holy piece of furniture from the tabernacle. It wasn’t to be treated carelessly. And there is an implication for us today. God is our Abba, Father, our companion as we go through life, but we dare not relate to him casually or superficially. Hebrews in 12:28-29 “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.”
Also, of importance for Israel at this point was the logistical issue of staying far enough away from the ark so that it could be seen as it was held up by the Levites during the crossing of the Jordan. The ark was to lead the way across the treacherous river and into unfamiliar land, and therefore the eyes of the people would be focused on the presence and power of God and not on their dangerous circumstances as they crossed the Jordan River.
We must be focused on the God of mercy, not the held back water! There is safety in the middle of the Jordan when it is God’s hand that holds back the water! It is only perceived as dangerous if God were not in it.
If we are to be a people who are willing to follow the Lord today, we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. Remember, his offer of salvation to each of us was basically a call to begin a lifelong process of following him. The writer of Hebrews describes following Jesus Christ as running a race with perseverance, “…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author [pioneer] and perfecter of our faith….” (12:2).
He pioneered the way; he has been across the Jordan and in the unfamiliar territory himself; he has been tempted in every way that we can possibly be tempted. Jesus suffered, was humiliated, died, and then rose again for our sakes. And his being the perfecter of our faith means that he goes with us, teaching and enabling and encouraging us.
______________________
God has a calling upon your life, so as we “Prepare To Encounter God’s Call” – how do we face this incredibly difficult task?
- What We Choose to Focus On Determines Where We Are Going (vv. 2:22-24)
- Remember Our Commitment To God When Crossing Over (vv. 1-4)
- Consecrate Yourself Before Crossing-Over (v. 5)
- Keep Your Eyes On God When Crossing Over (vv. 6-8)
Closing
When a researcher started interviewing hospital workers—the people who cleaned out the patients’ rooms each day she assumed they would only have bad things to say about it. That was partially true, but she also found a second group of workers with the same jobs who felt their labor was highly skilled.
They described the work in “rich relational terms,” talking about their interactions with patients and visitors. Many of them reported going out of their way to learn as much as possible about the patients whose rooms they cleaned. “It was not just that they were taking the same job and feeling better about it … It was that they were doing a different job.”[2]
_________________
[1] Madvig, 264.
[2] https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2024/june/dirty-jobs-turned-into-meaningful-callings.html