By Faith, Joshua – Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11 series, By Faith, Joshua, October 6, 2019, Cornerstone Community Church, Kouts, IN.

Hebrews 11:29-30

By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. The Egyptians attempted to do this, and they drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after the Israelites marched around the city for seven days.

About Joshua

The author of Hebrews doesn’t even mention Joshua by name. His original name was Hoshea (like Hosea), meaning “to save”. Numbers 13:8, “Hoshea son of Nun”.
Numbers 13:16, …”Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.”, meaning “Yahweh is salvation”.
Aramaic and and later Hebrew, “Yeshua”, or English, Jesus. He was of the tribe of Ephraim, in Joseph’s line.

Joshua not only shared the same name as Messiah, Joshua was also a type of Christ. While Moses gave them the law, Joshua led them into the promised land. He conquered Jericho, and subdued Canaan, symbolic of the “old man”. Jesus passed through Jericho on his way to the cross. He met Zaccheus there and brought salvation to him. Joshua was a warrior in the flesh, Jesus was a warrior in the Spirit.

Assistant to Moses

Joshua is first mentioned in Exodus 17, where he is revealed as the general of the Israelite army, defeating the Amalekites. In Exodus 24 he is called “Moses’ assistant” and went up Mt. Sinai with Moses as he received the Law. Numbers 11:28 refers to him as Moses’ assistant from his youth.

In Numbers 13 and 14, Moses chose him as one of 12, and sent them to explore the land of Canaan and bring back a report. Only Joshua and Caleb were positive, and urged them to go and take the land. The other 10 were negative, afraid, and spread discouragement through the whole community.

When Moses was about to die, the LORD told him to appoint Joshua as his successor.

Joshua In Charge

Joshua goes on to provide great leadership as he leads God’s people across the Jordan, conquers Jericho and many other cities of Jericho. God does many signs and wonders through Joshua, including parting the Jordan river so they could cross, supernaturally tearing down the walls of Jericho, and even extending the daylight hours by making the sun stand still over Gibeon.

He divided up the land, allotting portions to each tribe.

Near his death at 110 years old, he spoke to the people from his heart, challenging them to follow the LORD and not the gods of the people around them.

His life was truly a life of faith and dependence on God.

Qualities of Faith

Joshua loved to worship God – he loved God’s presence. For him, being in God’s presence was everything!
Exodus 33:10-12
As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent. The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend, then Moses would return to the camp. His assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent.
Chapter 3: the memorial stones 3:21-24.
Chapter 5: the commander of the LORD’s army.

Joshua Had the Spirit of God

Numbers 27:18-19 The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. Have him stand before the priest Eleazar and the whole community, and commission him in their sight.
Deuteronomy 34:9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Confidence in God

Joshua 1 “Be strong and courageous”. God told him this many times. Even the people echoed it at the end of chapter 1. He believed that those qualities were in him and he acted on it.

Throughout the first few chapters of Joshua, he says “The Lord will, etc.” He often spoke as if God’s word were already fulfilled, “shout for God has given us the city” (before the walls fell down). That’s the original definition of faith that Jay presented at the beginning of this series: God speaks a word, and we believe that it will be fulfilled.

Teacher and Encourager

Joshua 3:5-9ff The Lord will do wonders among you tomorrow…Come closer and listen to the words of the LORD your God…you will know…
Joshua 7:19 Achan – My son, give glory to the LORD, tell me everything..

Joshua 8:30-35 He read all of the words of Moses
Nehemiah 8:17 the whole community that had returned from exile made shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not celebrated like this from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. And there was tremendous joy.

Josh 23-24 He reviews the history of the Israelites from Abraham on.
Strongly encourages them to commit their lives and families to God. Challenges them.
24:15 Choose for yourselves today who you will serve… as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

His Shortcomings (we all have them)

Jealousy. Numbers 11:27-29 A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Joshua son of Nun, assistant to Moses since his youth, responded, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place his Spirit on them!”

He sometimes forgot about God’s guidance. In Joshua 7, he failed to seek God’s direction for conquering Ai, and complained about their defeat.

Summary

Joshua’s time serving Moses prepared him for his great work. From his youth on. He spent time in God’s presence, in worship.
Like Mary of Mary/Martha, he chose the better thing, and his time with God fueled his heroic actions.
He believed what God spoke about him and his people, received His encouragement, and became a man of action, a warrior, a teacher, and an encourager.

Application

The foundation for Joshua, and for us, is spending time in His presence. Everything flows from that, including being filled with the Spirit who enables all of the works that God has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10)

In the Old Testament, God’s presence was represented by the tabernacle/temple. His Spirit was said to “come on” people, not necessarily indwell them (Samson, Gideon, etc.). However, Joshua is said to have the Spirit IN HIM (Numbers 27:18) which makes him stand out from most.
David even implied that God’s Spirit and presence could be withdrawn. Psalm 51:11 Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

In the New Testament era, Jesus said he would be in us, and would send the Holy Spirit to also be in us. At Pentecost, the 120 in the upper room were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
What were they doing before that? For about 50 days, they were “continually united in prayer” in the upper room. They were seeking God, wanting to know him and his purposes, waiting for the promise of Jesus.

What has triggered major revivals in church history? Prayer, seeking the presence of God.
So, I thought, since Jesus said “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age”, and If we have the Holy Spirit in us, aren’t we always in the LORD’s presence?

Hebrews 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

What We Need To Do

It’s a matter of AWARENESS and FAITH that what God said is true. Then drawing near and seeking Him, like Joshua in the tent.
James 4:8 draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
He does live in us, our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Our bodies ARE temples of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 3:16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

We must, BY FAITH, believe what God said, and act on it.

Brother Lawrence, a kitchen worker in a convent in the 1600s, wrote about this in what became a book, The Practice of the Presence of God. He literally practiced seeing God in everything, including the dishes he washed every day.

Practice is important in things like sports, music, learning trades, etc. How much more do we need to practice in our relationship with God? As we learn to dwell in his presence, we will be more filled with the Holy Spirit, more equipped to do what God has prepared us to do.

Practical Things

Like the first disciples, wait in prayer when something big has been promised. Praise and worship him. Psalm 22:3 But you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

Find time each day to seek him Psalm 5:3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you and watch expectantly.

For you non-morning people, Psalm 134:1,2 Now bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand in the Lord’s house at night! Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the Lord! AND, Psalm 41:2 May my prayer be set before you as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering.

Throughout the day, practice thinking about God. Put everything in his hands, ask Him for his help and fellowship. Teach and share with others. We have the Spirit to be His witnesses!

Joshua’s main purpose was as a warrior. His warfare was physical, our warfare is spiritual. Like Joshua, we need to establish the foundations. To live in God’s presence, and be filled with the Spirit.