Mike
Scriptures
Joshua 1:1-7
John 6:45
Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou may prosper whithersoever you go.
Israel is camped beyond Jordan, a place called Bethabara where in future generations Jesus would be baptised by John. Bethabara in the Hebrew means the Place of Crossing.
Moses had delivered the people from the hand of Pharoah, they had crossed the Red Sea into the wilderness, and had lead the people for 40 years but he would not be allowed to enter the promised land because he failed to sanctify God among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah, in the wilderness of Zin.
Suddenly Joshua is faced with taking the people into the Promised Land, into the possession of their inheritance. On the surface, this would seem a very sudden and harsh ask of Joshua to take command of a nation of people that in the past had rebelled against Moses and offended God in many ways.
Joshua knew the history of the last 40 years, the wanderings in the wilderness. He was one of the spies that was sent by Moses to view the promised land and delivered a good report on the inheritance that God would provide.
Ten spies only saw the giants of the land and stopped a whole nation from entering the promised inheritance of a sovereign God who was calling them to their destiny. That whole generation died in the wilderness and the promise was never fulfilled.
But Joshua and Caleb saw destiny beyond the giants, and, during the 40 years in the wilderness, Joshua was diligent in his development and used all the tools that God had provided for him to create a new wine skin to support the new responsibility that was being asked of him.
How did Joshua prepare for this? He saw and learnt from Moses, but when Moses returned to the camp Joshua did not, he remained in the tent and worked on developing a one-to-one relationship with God, (heard and learned of the Father). Learning from Moses alone was not enough, he spent time alone with God in the tent of meeting, developed a relational understanding of the Father, spent time in prayer so that the word of God became a lamp to his feet and a light to his path.
In verse 5 of Joshua 1 God made a promise to Joshua, that as He had been with Moses, so He would be with Him, so Joshua did not enter the promised land by “hearsay”, and neither can we, we need to know that God is with us
Joshua’s desire was to die in the Promised Land, not in the wilderness, although he had seen the giants, he did not allow them to control his destiny. He sought the Lord in prayer and waited for a generation of unbelief to die. He did not allow the 40 years of history to govern the remainder of his life, but lived in the promises that God had prepared for His people.
Crossing any new Jordan, requires that we understand where we came from and how it brought us to where we are today, but events and circumstances in the world today should not be allowed to compromise the destiny that God has given. We need to have a clear vision of that destiny so that we can take God’s promises through the waters of Jordan.
Prayer: Father God, as we sow in prayer, may Your Word become a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, that lights our way wherever You direct our steps. Amen
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