Читать книгу The Book of Joshua - Conquest and Settlement - Kenneth B. Alexander JD - Страница 8

The Book of Joshua is the sixth book of the OT - the first of the Former Prophets (i.e., the historical books, which conclude with Nehemiah). In broad outline, the book tells of Israel’s conquest of Canaan under Joshua after the death of Moses (chaps. 1-12) and Joshua’s subsequent distribution of the land among the tribes (chaps. 13-19). Six cities are then designated places of asylum (chap. 20), and forty-eight are reserved for Levites (chap. 21). The east Jordan tribes then return to their Transjordanian territory (chap. 22). In his old age, Joshua delivers a valedictory address (chap. 23). In another address, he challenges the tribes to commit themselves to God alone (chap. 24). The book ends with notices of Joshua’s death, the interment of Joshua’s remains and Israel’s faithfulness to God until Joshua’s contemporaries died (24:29-33).

The book of Deuteronomy ends with Moses going up “to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah.” There the Lord showed Moses the land that the sons of Israel were to possess. “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day” (Deuteronomy 34:5–6).

The book of Joshua opens with God’s promise to Joseph, after Moses died, concerning the same Promised Land and His intention for Israel to inhabit it. The Lord was now speaking directly with Joshua as He had to Moses. These things we will find in almost every servant of the Lord. Our present spiritual reality does not come by looking back to a dead prophet or reformer. It comes by wrestling with the Word of a live one. God has a Word to say to you now as He did with Joshua. Listen to it, and you will have a struggle over it. This is what Joshua faced when God gave him this simple statement: “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.” Joshua 1:2–3. This is what God conveyed to Moses: “I have given you all the land where your foot shall tread” (Deuteronomy 11:24).

For your foot to stand on your inheritance, you will have to “fight a troop and leap a wall” as David did (Psalm 18:29). The initiative was clearly defined to the children of Israel, along with the heritage that they had received by promises and covenants from God. Promises and covenants do not have their fulfillment until the time comes when men with the initiative of faith move in and believe that they can possess what God has promised them. The true battle is a continual contest to enter in and possess what God has given you. At no time does a promise of God look realistic, humanly speaking. Always a promise of God seems to be a future “pie in the sky” by the illusion and interpretation of men. God says, “I have given it to you.”

“Oh, thank You, Jesus. We will write a song about the promised land and sing it for the next hundred years.” Why use a promise of God as some soothing syrup, as some downer in moments of tension, or as an upper when you are so low that you must be pepped up to believe that “in the sweet by-and-by it will all come to pass.” Not so with the Israelites with Joshua. They had to possess the promise NOW no matter how unlikely the result appeared.

As we read about Joshua, we see the basis of what our attitude should be. Do not get your eye on the crowd. Keep your eye on the Word that God is bringing forth. Otherwise you will see many faults to criticize. Nothing else can ever be as important as the purpose God has to fulfill. For this reason we must have a compassion that refuses to judge harshly. Moses anger kept him out of the Land. We must contend for the fulfillment of the will of God despite the opposition of those around you. This is the attitude we see in Joshua, and in some ways he was more successful than Moses. Moses saw the glory of God, and he was transformed as few men have ever been in all of history (Exodus 34:29). Few have ever known the things that Moses experienced as he talked with God (Exodus chapters 33 and 34). In spite of all that God spoke to Moses, he had a way of focusing on the people and their problems. When he came down from the mountain after a visitation from God, and saw what the people were doing, he smashed the stone tablets (Exodus 32:15–19). Then he had to go up for another forty days to get another set. Something within his heart was constantly reacting to those about him.

At times Moses fell on his face and cried out to God. At other times, he was filled with anger. Once he smote the rock when he was supposed to speak to the rock only (Numbers 20:7–11). He reacted to the people. They drove him beyond his limitations because he was focused too much upon them, in spite of his great focus on the Lord. We never find this true of Joshua.

Joshua was so focused on the Lord that he never reacted in a bad sense to the people who were following him. The secret of his success was not how he handled people. It was not military strategy; it was not what he did in any sense. He had one key: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth” (Joshua 1:8).

God promised Joshua: “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Joshua 1:5–8). If your focus is on the things that are taking place around you, something can happen, or someone can do something against you that will offend you or make you stumble for a little while. A lot of things can reach us that way—reports of problems in the people; their focus on little undercurrents of criticism. Joshua must have had this feeling in his spirit, yet he had this simple key for success: he focused only on the Word. Diligently press in with all your heart as Joshua was told to do. You may become occupied with spiritual battles, but keep meditating on the Word continually. You may face difficult situations which require wisdom, but keep your heart focused on the Word that God is bringing. As you read this Book keep your mind of the man Joshua and apply his spirit to your life. As Paul said: “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me” (1 Co 4:16). Be imitators of Joshua and you cannot go far wrong.