DAY TWENTY-THREE: 

Joshua Succeeds Moses 

Joshua 1:1-18

Yesterday we looked at the golden calf incident, just one of many times when the people of Israel broke faith with their God while in the wilderness. Yet for a period of two years He was preparing them to enter the Promised Land and take what He had promised to Abraham 600 years earlier. During this time Moses received and then taught God's Law to the people. Finally the day came when they arrived at Kadesh, on the border of Canaan. Moses sent twelve spies, one from each of the tribes, to explore the land and gather intelligence on the inhabitants. God told His people that He was bringing them into "a land flowing with milk and honey," and that was no exaggeration. They brought back a single cluster of grapes that was so big they draped it over a pole and it required two men to carry it. But that's not all the spies reported. "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." (Numbers 13:32-33). Only two of the spies, Moses' personal assistant Joshua and Caleb from the Tribe of Judah. They pleaded with everyone to take heart and remember that the Lord is with them. But the people were afraid. Again they wished they were back in Egypt and were ready to choose a new leader who would take them back. The Lord rebuked them and said, "How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, 'As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.'" (Numbers 14:27-30) The Lord sent them back into the wilderness until everyone over the age of twenty had died. God would prepare the next generation to take the Promised Land. Let's think about this for a moment. Are we afraid to follow God's leading? What might that cost us?

Even Moses didn't get to enter the land. Remember his temper? One day when Israel was grumbling because there was no water, God told him to speak to the rock and water would come forth. But Moses had had enough of their griping and instead yelled "How long do I have to put up with you, you rebels?" and he took his staff and struck the rock. The Lord honored Moses' leadership and gave Israel water, but He was not pleased with what Moses had done. The Lord said, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them." (Numbers 20:12) Moses' little temper tantrum distracted the people from looking to God as their Lord. Moses pleaded with the Lord to let him enter, but He was firm. He did allow Moses to see the land from atop Mt. Nebo on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses died there on Nebo, and the Lord Himself buried His servant there.

The Lord told Joshua that Moses was dead and that he now was Israel's leader. The Lord said to Joshua, "Head 'em up, move 'em out! Go into the land and take it. Don't be afraid- trust in Me and I'll see you through." That's what Joshua wanted to do years earlier, and now he has the all-clear. But those giants they saw haven't gotten any shorter. Their walled cities haven't gotten any weaker. Humanly speaking, the odds are very much against Israel taking the land from all of the "ites." But since when have the odds meant anything when God is with us?

The Lord tells Joshua three times in verses 6 through 9 to be strong and courageous. The word strong comes from a root that means rigid or unbending. Stand firm, Joshua! Don't bend and break in the face of the enemies overwhelming power. And be courageous. The word means to be bold, to push forward no matter what. Anything repeated three times in the Bible, especially in such a short space, has to be very important. At Kadesh so many years ago the peoples' hearts melted when they heard that there were giants in the land. Joshua and his fellow spy Caleb didn't let that stop them. They were ready to go in and take the land. But the people weren't. Joshua must project strength and courage, even at times when he doesn't feel strong and courageous, for the sake of the people. We see at the end of the passage that the people encourage Joshua to be strong and courageous, too. This is more than just a football coach's halftime pep talk. This is the God of the universe, promising to back Joshua's play.

God calls each of us to be strong and courageous. That's easier said than done! We, too, face giants in our lives. We're tempted to back off, to play it safe, to go along to get along. The same God who told Joshua to conquer tells us to do the same. Romans 8:37 says, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."

Tomorrow we'll see this courage in action, and God's help supporting courage, as Israel crosses the Jordan.

I pray this video of the Melbourne, Australia Mass Choir will fire you up as much as it did me. I couldn't get it to embed, so here's the link. Aussies got soul! Who knew?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwGOPe3hYvU