Joshua – Lesson 6

The strong spiritual faith of Joshua and Caleb stands out in the words of their report. Why were they so confident? They believed that the battle belonged to the Lord and not the Israelites. This is one of the most powerful truths in the entire Bible. This is the secret of victory in our own Christian lives. The battle against the forces of evil is not necessarily a hard battle at all.

We think so because we attempt to fight the battle ourselves in our own strength. We ignore or forget that God has promised to fight the battle for us. Jesus has already fought the battle for us and He won. He has overcome the enemy and our task is simply to believe that and trust in Him.  

The ten spies, like Joshua and Caleb, had seen what God did for Israel before. They were in the group that crossed Red Sea and they were among those who sang the song following that crossing.

· Exodus 15:14-17, The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. 15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; 16 terror and dread will fall upon them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone--until your people pass by, O LORD, until the people you bought pass by. 17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance--the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established.

This is only a portion of the song that Moses and Israel sang after the Red Sea experience, but if you notice, it is prophetic of what would happen to the enemies in Canaan. But two years after they sang this song the faith of the Israelites was largely gone, but not with Joshua and Caleb. They believed God and the Canaanites would not be able to stand against the Israelites. You see, God had already gone before them and the outcome had already been decided. God expects us to believe his promises and to trust in Him. The question is whether we will believe God or believe Satan. Regarding Jesus, we see:

· Hebrews 2:14-15, Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil- 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Joshua and Caleb took their lives in their hands when they urged the Israelites to be courageous and to follow God. The people wanted to stone them.

· Numbers 14:10-12,  But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."

Because of Moses’ intercession Israel was not destroyed and Joshua and Caleb were protected.

I have to say that this situation reminds me of our current national situation today when as a nation we are facing a godless enemy and America’s Joshua, the President, is being vilified at every turn for his determination to defeat the enemy, yet he remains steadfast in his belief in the mission to defeat the terrorists among the Muslims. My guess is that there remains a lot of history yet to be written in this entire matter. However, there is one enormous “if” in that history, and that is, are we as a nation going to continue our current trend of denying God?

Well, the older generation that had come out of Egypt continued to murmur against Moses and Aaron. Speaking to this generation God said:

· Numbers 14:26-31, The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 27 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29 In this desert your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.

God said that the whole nation would wander in the desert for 40 years, a year for each day that the spies searched the land. During this time the older generation would die because they refused to believe God. There are consequences to rebelling against God.

Concerning the other ten spies we read:

· Numbers 14:36-38, So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it-- 37 these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

What we are seeing here is an illustration of what God teaches us in Hebrews

· Hebrews 6:4-6, It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

This is a very difficult passage for some because it seems to conflict with some basic teachings about our salvation. But the subject here is not salvation. The Lord is speaking of saved people who will not follow through and move on with Him in growing in their spiritual life.

The Israelites who had seen God’s glory and His miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness, tempted God and refused to listen to Him, were not allowed to enter Canaan. They had been enlightened. They had tasted the good things. They came through the Red Sea and saw the power of the Holy Spirit, who led them by the pillar of Cloud by day and of fire by night. When such deliberately refuse to go on with God they cannot make progress in their Christian life. Their only place is in the desert till they die.

Joshua and Caleb were the only adults who crossed the Red Sea who were allowed to enter the Promised Land, and that because they believed God. We need to learn like them how to trust God for everything.

The next significant incident involving Joshua had to do with his appointment as successor to Moses.

· Numbers 27:16-17, Moses said to the LORD, 16 "May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community 17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd."

God immediately replied:

· Numbers 27:18-19, So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence.

God chose Joshua. He was not elected by the people. His responsibility would be to lead the people out of the desert and into the Promised Land. There was another factor in Joshua’s life that pleased God. He contrasted the faith of Joshua and Caleb with that of the other ten spies.

· Numbers 32:10-12, The LORD's anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 11'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-- 12 not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.'

To live the life of faith one must be filled with the Holy Spirit. A person filled with the Spirit and under the control of the Spirit follows God. This means a growing obedience to the will of God.

The next mention of Joshua is:

· Numbers 34:16-17, The LORD said to Moses, 17 "These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

The Eleazar mentioned here is the son of Aaron. What do we learn from this? Answer: That Aaron has died.