GOD SPEAKS TO JOSHUA ABOUT THE LAND

Part 30

Joshua 1:2-4

Morning Meditation 12/1/16

Verses 2-4 say, “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. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 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.”

The Lord says, “Moses my servant is dead . . .” This is what the LORD said about Moses. Deuteronomy 34:5 says, “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.” The word “word” translates “peh,” and means “mouth.” This can mean “word,” it can mean, “mouth as an organ of speech,” and it can mean, “the extremity, i.e., the lips.” I believe it means that the LORD bent over the battlements of glory, put his loving arms around Moses, gave him a loving embrace, and kissed him into eternity! Someone please hold my mules!!!

It is one thing to claim to be the LORD’s servant, it is quite another for the LORD to say that is what you are. Joshua was Moses’ servant. Joshua understands the language of the LORD. Joshua needs to begin his leadership of the nation with this principle in mind. He is stepping into a place created by the death of another. The other was a servant of the LORD. The LORD is addressing Himself to the servant of Moses. The LORD just simply changed the one Joshua was a servant to. He will still be a servant. Men of God are servants. Servants serve and when one becomes a leader he is not a boss, he is a servant of the BOSS. The LORD said, “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore . . .” This means Joshua will have to change how he says things. He will not say, “Moses told me to tell you this.” He will say, “Thus saith the LORD”. Because Joshua will now begin to get his leadership information and direction from the LORD.

The words “.. . . now therefore arise . . .” means a need has been created by the death of Moses. God does work through leadership. The LORD didn’t begin to speak to Joshua until Moses was dead. During the time the LORD was preparing Joshua for the job, He always spoke to Moses and Moses spoke to Joshua. Numbers 27:18 says, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him.” Every man of God needs to have Joshuas he is training and there will be one in particular that the Lord will say, “. . . lay thine hands upon him.” And he will be God’s choice for the work. The Lord will say to him as He did to Joshua, “. . . Now therefore arise . . .”

The LORD now gives orders to enter the land. This is the key to entrance into that which the LORD has given. It has been theirs since way before the wilderness wanderings. But a generation of people forfeited their inheritance by unbelief. They wandered for forty years until every one from twenty years old and upward died in the wilderness. This teaches a tragic truth. Many saved people never enter into God’s best for their lives because of unbelief. Jesus was constantly dealing with unbelief in His disciples. Jesus said to Peter the time he walked on the water for a short distance: “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matt. 14:31). I struggle constantly with the problem of accepting the circumstances as the will of God, and not considering that these circumstances are God’s opportunity to demonstrate His power, and work when the circumstances say it is impossible. Faith walks against contradicting circumstances. God is not dead. But I am convinced that many do not need His power to do what they are doing and He could die and be dead for a year and they would never miss Him. God will not die. I know that and you know that. But to a man who walks by sight and not by faith, God is dead. God is not needed for a man to walk after the flesh.

God says to Joshua, “ . . . 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.” Joshua had orders to go. The time had arrived.. The LORD will be committed to Joshua and Israel as they cross the Jordan and enter the land by faith. It is necessary in the Christian life to operate under orders. We do not serve the Lord our way. Repentance at salvation was supposed to put us under His authority. This is so necessary that Psalm 1:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he MEDITATE DAY AND NIGHT (Caps mine for emphasis).” It is completely unreasonable for the man who says he has repented of his sins to ever question God’s Word about anything. God says, “ . . . arise, go over this Jordan. . .”

Verse three says, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.” The death of a leader does not nullify the promise of God to His people. The LORD says, “What I promised to Moses still stands.” Thank the Lord, God’s Word to the early churches still stands today. Amen?! Note the words, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon . . . ” The gift of the land must be claimed. There must be entrance into and walking through the land. We must walk through our inheritance. The believer’s inheritance is spiritual but it is no less an inheritance: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” (Eph. 1:3). God is saying to us “arise and walk through your inheritance, and every place your faith takes you, it is yours.” But it is a promise to faith.

Someone may ask, “Does God have the right to give someone else’s land away?” Does He have the right to uproot all the Hittites and all the other “ites” in the land? Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Romans 9:20 says, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” There may be some things we don’t understand. However, there is one thing I understand real clearly. God does not do wrong. He is holy and righteous in all that He does. It doesn’t have to make sense to me to be right.

Verse 4 states the boundaries. God says, “From the wilderness of 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.” This land is still a gift of God to the nation of Israel. Israel has been under the judgment of God for centuries. In these last days, God is leading His people back. They remain in unbelief. But they are still His people and the land is still theirs. The nations can argue all they want to. They can divide it up any way they want to. But when God’s time is right, He will not consult them and try to arrive at a compromise. He will just take the land and give it back. God is God and no one can successfully win against Him.. If I were a believing Arab and lived in that area of the world, you can be sure of one thing, I would not try to claim the land that God has given to Israel. I would simply move for safety purposes!!!

The Lord speaks to Joshua personally, tells him it is time to cross Jordan and go into the land, and that even though the land is given him, the soles of his shoes must walk through what is going to be his. The LORD gives Joshua and Israel something to believe. This is the way the Lord works with us today. He gives us something to believe that He is willing to stand behind.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White