Joshua: Jehovah saves!

Joshua: Jehovah saves!

Open your Bible to Genesis 12.  We’ve been walking through the OT looking at types and shadows, OT people, places and things that foreshadow realities that are found in the NT.

You may notice that we keep coming back to the promises God made to Abraham.  That’s because the Bible keeps coming back to the promises God made to Abraham.

This morning we are going to camp out on a new one (haven’t looked at in depth yet): The Promised Land.

Genesis 12:1-7 ¹ The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

 ² “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, 
   and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

 ⁴ So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

 ⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” 

GOD PROMISES THE LAND & REITERATES THE PROMISE

So here we have the promise of the Land.  God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendents.  Again, Jehovah promises the land in Gen 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

God promised to give that specific plot of land to Abraham’s descendents, the Israelites.  

Fulfilling this promise was a process that began with raising up Moses and delivering the Israelites out of Egypt.  After Israel came out of Egypt it was a journey to the Land.  The Land God promised them was the final destination.  However it wasn’t a quick trip.  They had to make their way through the desert.  That journey took 40 years to make.  Didn’t need to, but it did.  This was a 40 year period also known as the wandering in the wilderness.

Turn with me to Num 13.

DURING THIS TIME THEY SENT SPIES TO EXPLORE THE LAND

Numbers 13:1-2 The LORD said to Moses, Send some men to explore the land of Canaan which I am giving to the Israelites.  From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.

So God sent 12 men, one leader from each tribe to explore this promised land and bring back a report about it.

Numbers 13:26-33 ²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

 ³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

 ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

So God has promised to give Abraham’s descendants this Land.  Here are Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites.  They are almost there.  They have been delivered out of slavery they are making their way towards this land flowing with milk and honey.  They sent some men to spy out the land and give a report.  

Now think about this.  Imagine that God promised your ancestor that you and all your relatives were going to inherit Australia.  Could you just go to Australia and say, “hey just wanted to let you know, I am the heir of this land.  God promised my ancestor that I would take this land as my inheritance.  So yeah, here I am.  Would the people of Australia then go, oh…well, by all means, we will just move out so you can have it?  NO.  They would say, ummm…I don’t think so.  This is our land; go find your own.  Israel was told that they would inherit a land that was already established and inhabited – inhabited by those way bigger and stronger than they.  The only way the Israelites were going to possess this land is by going to war with the inhabitants of that land and taking it from them.  The Canaanites weren’t just going to leave.  They would have to go to war.  But that would require a miracle; it would not be humanly possible for the Israelites to defeat these people.

So the consensus of the spies: we cannot do it.  Those people are huge; they make us look like grasshoppers.  Let’s not take it.  How soon God’s people forget his mighty works.  

Hello…where are you right now?  The wilderness, with no food or water, it’s hot.  How did you get there?  We walked and rode donkeys and camels.  No, how?  Where were you before this?  Egypt.  What were you doing in Egypt?  Eating and drinking and making babies.  What else?  Slave labor.  So you were slaves.  Did Pharaoh just let you go?  Well…not at first.  Eventually.  What changed his mind?  First God turned the water of the Nile into blood.

So God turned water into blood but he can’t deliver these Canaanites into your hands?

Okay, so then Pharaoh let you go?  No, then God sent a plague of frogs.

Okay, so then Pharaoh let you go?  No, then God sent a plague of gnats.

Okay, so then Pharaoh let you go?  No, then God sent a plague of flies.  Did you have flies?  No, only the Egyptians.

So God can control the frogs and gnats and the flies and make sure that the Egyptians are plagued with flies and you aren’t but he can’t deliver the Canaanites into your hands?

Okay, so then Pharaoh let you go?  No, then God killed the livestock of the Egyptians but spared our livestock and then he plagued them with festering boils and then with hail and locusts and darkness and then he killed all of their firstborns but not ours.

So God did all that – he did all those miracles, but you don’t think he can deliver the Canaanites into your hands?

Oh yeah…and he parted the red sea so that we walked through on dry ground.

After all they had seen God do in Egypt, they lacked faith that He could give them victory over their enemies and deliver them into the land.  How easily God’s people forget His mighty power.  Well yeah, he did do that, but this is different.  No; it’s not.  He promised he would deliver them into your hands; he promised Abraham that his descendents would inherit the land.

Yeah, but the people in the land are huge and that means it’s gonna be impossible.  Exactly.  If you were taking the land from a bunch of little wimps big deal.  You could boast about that.  But the fact that you are going to march up against some huge dudes and take their land, well now that would take a miracle and that can only happen by the hand of God and that can only result in His glory and honor…not your own.  God promised that which was impossible for man so that God would receive the glory.

So the majority of the explorers of the land lacked faith and saw conquest over these giants to be an impossible feat even though God had just done miracle after miracle after miracle.

However, 2 of these 12 spies did not lack faith.  They had full faith that Jehovah could deliver on His promises.  If we keep reading in our text into 

Numbers 14…

 ¹ That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. ² All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! ³ Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

 ⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. ⁸ If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. ⁹ Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

So we see a glimmer of hope in these 2 men Caleb and Joshua.  They believe God.  They believe that God will make good on his promises and deliver their enemies into their hands and give them the land he promised them.

But because that generation acted in unbelief God did not allow that generation to enter the land.  Numbers 32:13  The LORD’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

In Deut 1, Moses recaps a lot of Israel’s history from the book of Numbers.  In Deut 1:34-38 ³⁴ When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: ³⁵ “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, ³⁶ except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”

 ³⁷ Because of you the LORD became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either. ³⁸ But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.

This Joshua, one of the 12 spies, Moses’ assistant succeeds Moses in leadership of the people.  God does not allow Moses to lead the people into the land, but gave that privilege to Joshua.

This Joshua is a type of Christ.

We see all kinds of types and shadows in our context.  Just about all Christians will agree that these are types, but may differ on the nuances of their fulfillment.

My view is this:

• Joshua is a type of Christ
• His generation is a type of Christ’s generation
• 40 years wandering in the wilderness is a type of the 40 years between 30 and 70 ad 
• the Promised Land is a type of the kingdom

• JOSHUA IS A TYPE OF CHRIST

• He foreshadows Christ in his name.  
• Joshua is the English rendering of the Hebrew Yeshua.  So in Hebrew they would have called Joshua Yeshua.  Christ’s name in Hebrew was also Yeshua.  The reason we say Jesus Christ is because the NT was written in Greek and so we went from the Hebrew Yeshua to the Greek Iesoos, then transliterated that into Jesus.  Same name.  in Hebrew Yeshua, in Greek Iasoos in English Joshua.  In fact, Heb 4:8 reads in the NIV If Joshua had given them rest, where the KJV reads If Jesus had given them rest.  It’s the same name.
• The name means Jehovah saves.  Names have meanings.  This particular name is particularly glorifying to God and His power to save.  Not only can God save, but only God can save.  If a nation falls it is because the Lord has done it.  If a nation is delivered it is because the Lord has delivered it.  If men are saved it is because the Lord has done it.  It is Jehovah who saves.  Man doesn’t save himself.  There is no salvation in man.  Salvation is in Jehovah and Jehovah only.  Jehovah saves.  We find this reality expressed in the beautiful name and work of our beautiful Savior, Yeshua, the Messiah and foreshadowed in the name and work of Joshua, the type of Christ.  It was Jehovah who saved Israel and delivered her enemies to her.  It was Jehovah who trampled their enemies underfoot and caused the walls of cities to collapse.  It wasn’t the trumpet.  It was Jehovah, who is mighty to save.  Jehovah saves.  That is what Joshua means.  That is also the name of our Messiah our Christ.  That is the first way we see Jesus foreshadowed in Joshua.
• Another way Joshua foreshadows Jesus is that under him Jehovah reigns as King.  Under Joshua’s leadership, Jehovah was the king of Israel; and under Jesus’ leadership Jehovah is King of Israel.
• JOSHUA BROUGHT GOD’S PEOPLE TO THEIR INHERITANCE, into the Land where they find freedom and rest
• Moses (who represents the Law) could not bring God’s people into the promised Land, so also, the Law cannot bring people to the righteousness of God
• Moses succeeded by Joshua as Law succeeded by grace
• Jesus also brings God’s people into their inheritance, the heavenly Canaan, the Kingdom.
• JOSHUA’S GENERATION IS A TYPE OF CHRIST’S GENERATION
• Deuteronomy 1:35  “Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers
• Psalm 95:10  For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.”
• Luke 11:29  As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
• Matthew 17:17  “O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

• 40 YEARS IN WILDERNESS IS A TYPE OF TRANSITION FROM AGE TO AGE
• The Israelites were in the age of slavery under the yoke of Egypt.  This 40 years was a transition from slavery in Egypt to freedom and rest in the promised Land.  They had been delivered, but didn’t fully have freedom and rest until their enemies were conquered and they were securely in the Land.
• The generation of Jesus were in the age of the Law, the OC age, which Galatians 4 identifies as slavery.  Rev 11 identifies 1^st century Jerusalem as figuratively called Sodom and Egypt.  So the 40 years between 30 and 70 ad was a time of transition from the old age, called slavery in Egypt to the new age of the kingdom.  At the cross, they were delivered, but didn’t fully have freedom and rest until their enemies (which were at that point the unbelieving members of their own household) were conquered and Jerusalem and her temple fell in 70 AD.
• 1 Cor 10 YLT

 ¹And I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,

 ²and all to Moses were baptized in the cloud, and in the sea;

 ³and all the same spiritual food did eat,

 ⁴and all the same spiritual drink did drink, for they were drinking of a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was the Christ;

 ⁵but in the most of them God was not well pleased, for they were strewn in the wilderness,

 ⁶and those things became types of us, for our not passionately desiring evil things, as also these did desire.

 ⁷Neither become ye idolaters, as certain of them, as it hath been written, `The people sat down to eat and to drink, and stood up to play;'

 ⁸neither may we commit whoredom, as certain of them did commit whoredom, and there fell in one day twenty-three thousand;

 ⁹neither may we tempt the Christ, as also certain of them did tempt, and by the serpents did perish;

 ¹⁰neither murmur ye, as also some of them did murmur, and did perish by the destroyer.

 ¹¹And all these things as types did happen to those persons, and they were written for our admonition, to whom the end of the ages did come.

• PROMISED LAND IS A TYPE OF THE KINGDOM
• Inheritance of the Land in Joshua
• Leviticus 20:24  But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations.
• That inheritance of the land was simply a type of the ultimate inheritance of God’s people: the kingdom
• Inheritance of the saints is kingdom
• Colossians 1:12  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
• Matthew 25:34  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

APPLICATION

As his name indicates, Jehovah saves.  Only Jehovah saves.  Buddha doesn’t save.  The gods of Hinduism don’t save.  Acts of self righteousness don’t save.  Jehovah saves.  He saves by providing purification from sins by the blood of His own son Jesus Christ.  That is good news.  Trust in Jehovah for your salvation, because as Joshua’s name indicates, Jehovah saves.  Meditate on that.  Share that with others.

Further, without faith it is impossible to please God Heb 11:6.  We see this in the life of Caleb and Joshua.  They lived like they really believed that Jehovah is the one who brought plagues on Egypt and delivered Israel with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm splitting the red sea that his people might cross over on dry ground.  Nothing is impossible with our God, we can certainly take the land from these giants.  Let’s live with the faith of Joshua.  His God is our God and nothing is impossible with our God.  Let’s live with that kind of faith.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Like Joshua, let’s stand up for what is right regardless of what everyone around us is saying and doing.  Even God’s people err.  Joshua and Caleb were 2 of 12 spies.  The other 10 of those 12 spies who were God’s people did not act in accordance with the truth and their words and actions did not reflect faith in Jehovah.  Yet, Caleb and Joshua stood up for what was true and noble and right.  Let’s be like Joshua and Caleb and in the midst of a world that is believing and behaving in ways that are not in line with the truth let us stand up for what is true and noble and right.  You who have been saved by Jehovah’s mighty hand have the Holy Spirit’s convicting, you have the word of God, you know in your inner conscience what is right.  Believe and act on those convictions.  Those 12 men were leaders of the people.  10 of them were not right.  That’s a huge majority.  Their example before the people was wrong.  Dustin and I are your leaders.  We’re humans.  There may be times when Dustin and I are wrong.  We may say, think, do wrong.  At that point, don’t follow either one of us down a path that you know is wrong.  Test our teaching by the word of God.  Test our actions by the word of God and act on your own convictions as the Spirit guides you.  Like Joshua and Caleb let us love God enough and have enough faith and enough courage to stand up for what is true and noble and right even when those around us don’t, even when God’s people don’t, even when the majority of God’s people don’t, even when your leaders don’t.

Finally, we have rest and freedom in Christ.  Enjoy it.  Now don’t misunderstand me.  When I say we have freedom in Christ, that doesn’t mean we have freedom to sin it means we have freedom from sin.  You are not under the law.  The pressure to try to earn God’s favor by your own actions has been done away with because we have God’s favor in Christ.  Rest in Christ.  Just as Joshua gave the people rest in the land from their enemies, Jesus gives us true rest in the kingdom, as he has done the work.  We have a Sabbath rest in Jesus.  Rest in him and enjoy freedom in him.

Don’t look back to Egypt and try to put yourselves under the yoke of a law that has been abolished for centuries.  We are drawn to legalism because it feels productive and it feeds our pride and makes us feel righteous.  We want a list.  When I was in youth ministry I got a lot of questions from people like: is it okay to go to clubs?  Is it okay to date?  Is it okay to drink?  We want the checklist of do’s and don’ts.  But the real litmus test for NC believers in Christ who have been delivered out of slavery is not is this allowable per a written code?  But will this be showing love to God?  Legalism chokes the life out of a believer.  Again, the freedom we have in Christ is not a license to sin but a freedom to serve God in love as a child of God.