Joshua 3 - The Promise of Wonders

We come to Joshua 3, and the people are full of confidence!  God's promise of presence, and success.  And Joshua’s two spies have returned from scoping out Jericho and the hill country (home to the gigantic sons of Anak), and they report that everyone is terrified of this nation Israel and its ”god”: Josh 2.23-24 Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them.  They said to Joshua, “Surely the LORD has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.”

Sadly, this is same song different verse:  [Ex. 15:1,11,14-18  Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.  Who is like You among the gods, O LORD?  Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? The peoples have heard, they tremble; anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; the leaders of Moab, trembling grips them; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; by the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone; until Your people pass over, O LORD, You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance. The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”].  Right after this Israel takes out the Amalekites.  Stopover at Mt Sinai, then they spy out the land - and overnight Israel becomes the ones who melt away [Deut 1.28*].  What happened?  How do you go from melter to meltee so quickly?

But so now here we are, a new generation, on the [overflowing banks] of the Jordan, overflowing with confidence, ready to trust the Lord.  Trusting the promise of God.  Who works wonders.  Josh. 3:5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD WILL do wonders among you.”  God promises wonders - and He delivers [13-17].  The flooded Jordan river rises up in a heap at Adam (~15-20mi north?).  And the people walk across on dry ground!

But here’s the point: Wonders are NOT the point.  Wonders are not the end.  The point of wonders is to produce wonder and awe [9-10a].  The point of wonders is ultimately to point people to the God of wonders.  The end game, if you will, of the awesome is to end in awe.  But it’s no game.  And even awe is not the end.  

Joshua says, the holy awesome God of wonders is going to do what He do - so consecrate yourselves.  The root idea of consecration is something that is holy.  Set apart.  Sacred.  Devoted TO the Lord.  Earthly things and beings come to be regarded as sacred because they have been devoted to the Lord.  The end of awe - is devotion.

Israel are promised a wonder.  And God brings it, big time.  We may not have that same promise per se, but we have the same awesome God of wonders (Who is the same today, yesterday and forever).  So the question for us remains that of devotion.  And should we not devote ourselves, consecrate and set apart OURselves, OUR hearts, OUR lives to that which is supremely awesome and wondrous?  This God of glory?  Consecrate yourselves, he says.

And does it not follow that, as we consecrate ourselves, as we devote ourselves to knowing/following/pursuing this great God of glory, that our chances of glimpsing glory increase exponentially?  A prospect of wonders...!

Some of us may wonder, what wonder has the Lord done for me?  I’ve never seen a wonder.  Really?  How about YOU?  You ARE a wonder.  A wonderful impossible.  Psa. 139:13-14  For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.  I’m not so sure we do know it very well anymore.  Each and every person is a living breathing miracle.  A wonderful impossible.  And I know, you might be thinking, well, some of these wonderful impossibles sure are impossible.  Sure would be easier if everybody were just like us, just as wonderful as we are.  But how boring would that be?  Isn’t part of the adventure of life learning to appreciate the unique fingerprint of God, the expression of His breathtakingly good image we find in each one of His precious image-bearers?  People may be messy, but we’re all messy miracles.

We need to understand what’s going on in our society today.  In our world.  A world which is desperate to remove God from the equation.  A world which wants to be free of all restraints, free to do anything it wants.  Our society has been systematically trying to dilute and remove the truth about God as Creator from the public square for generations, and look at the result.  Look at the trends, rise in hopelessness, rise in suicides, rise in violence, rise in family breakdown and disrespect of authority, rise in skepticism and cynicism and confusion.  If you remove God from the equation, what you’re left with is a fluke.  A hopeless accident.  A freak of nature.  A cosmic coincidence.  And coincidences are meaningless.  If you remove God from the equation, life becomes meaningless.  It IS just survival of the fittest, literally dog eat dog till you die and then the dogs (or the worms) eat you.

Some of us never get to the place of wonder.  We’ve never been awed by the God of wonders.  We’ve yet to be floored by His greatness, His holiness, His awesome majesty.  We’ve swallowed the lie.  "God doesn’t do that."  "He definitely didn’t do that."  A lot of us, we just aren’t looking in the right place.  We’re looking at screens [a whole lot of them].  We’re looking at our problems.  Navel gazing.  We’re looking around at all the brokenness.  I get it.  But where we spend our time looking makes a huge difference.  How much time do you & I devote to pursuing glimpses of greatness?  We definitely need to be on the lookout for wonders.  [This is one reason I began having our family take not just play/lie on the beach vacations, but actual Adventure vacations - looking to increase the prospects for glimpsing greatness!]

God says, I promise you, this is who I am - the wonderful wonder-working God.  Consecrate yourselves, devote yourselves.  Cuz this is what I do, I work wonders.  Astonishing, awesome, supernatural wonderful impossibles.  I’ve recorded them for you in the pages of My Book.  The promise of God to you - He is the God of wonders.  And He is still in the wonder-working business.  Every morning - ponderous new mercies.  Wonderful grace.  At the cross and the empty tomb - talk about a whoa moment!  Miracles of cleansing and forgiveness and healing.  Each time a new life is conceived in the womb of a daughter of Eve - a miracle of new life, fearfully and wonderfully made [140m babies born/yr plus another 24m/yr who never make it out of the womb —> 5/sec][ Simply making it out of the womb is a whoa moment!]  And the list of whoa-moments goes on and on [read "Heavenly Man" to find a BUNCH!].  We really only need to open our eyes.  And ask…

For what wonder I wonder am I asking?  James 4:2b You do not have because you do not ask. The corollary is also true - James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.  Do you want this miracle for yourself?  Or do you have a view to others getting a glimpse of the God of glory? Eph. 3:20 Who is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine…

So the question for us as we finish today is, to what am I devoting myself?  What are my enthusiasms?  My enthusiasms.  What kind of excellence am I rooting for?  Am I devoting myself to?  Maybe some sports team?  I think we will each find that, in the light of the glory and grace of our great God and Savior, the things of earth do grow strangely dim.  Which of my enthusiasms are pointing my heart and others to the God of wonders?  

*Deut. 1:28 ‘Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.”’

Joshua 2 - "The Promise of The Thread of Red"

The Israelites are camping out near the Jordan River.  Joshua has received these amazing promises.  I will give the people the land I have promised.  You will lead the people in.  No one will be able to stop you.  And I will be with you.  And so far, their next gen army is undefeated in battle.  2 and 0.  Sihon the king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan [Deut 1.4].  Across the banks of the [flooded Jordan], what do their eyes behold?  Before them lies the plain of Jericho.  And in the distance, that [great walled city].  Fortified.  Impregnable.  Just beyond visual range?

[v1] Joshua sends out 2 men.  Why does he do this?  Lack of faith?  What is his background?  Soldier.  Joshua is using sound military strategy.  Careful consideration.  Having a promise of God doesn’t preclude the need for planning [cf 1.10-11].  Planning is not at cross purposes with faith.  Apostles made plans.  2Cor. 1:15-16  In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing; that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea. James 4:13-15 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” We make plans with the Lord’s help - and we leave the outcome in His hands.

"Enter Rehab.”  The spies stay in her house.  And she is not perfect.  Far from it.  She is unclean.  A filthy Gentile.  And even worse, she is an [ishshah zanah] - a woman of fornication.  She sleeps with men she’s not married to, for money.  Truth be told - the fallen world doesn’t always see that as wrong (unless maybe your husband is the one sleeping with the ishshah zanah…?).  Indeed, the world has a way of taking God’s sacred gifts, and turning them into all kinds of self-serving and warped forms of brokenness.  But truth be told, shouldn’t we all find traces of our own story in the narrative of Rahab?  This ishshah zanah?  Is. 64:6  For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. [And in the end, is this not a strategic hiding place?]

[2-4] What we see with Rahab is that she is actually trying to do the right thing, offering shelter to Joshua’s spies.  Altho even as she does the right thing by hiding these men of Israel, she is lying to the authorities.  But she knows.  She has heard.  Here comes this new nation. The news has preceded them [2.8-11]. They have this foreign god.  But THIS god is clearly far superior to any god or spirit Rahab has ever known.  THIS is the almighty holy God with Whom we have to do.  This is the One Who put the knowledge of Himself deep down inside each of our hearts, and gave us this innate knowledge of Who He is, of what is right, and what ain’t right.  [Rom. 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.]

Most people try to do the right thing.  [Rom. 2:14-16 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts…]  But we ALL fall short.  We are unable to maintain even the most minimal morality we design for ourselves.  Don’t we all like sheep stray in our hearts from the God Who made heaven and earth and all that is in them?  Don’t we all find ways to enjoy the life HE has created APART from Him?  And like He does for Rahab, God in His mercy sends us a warning - destruction is coming.  Yes, destruction is coming, but there IS a way for you to be spared/saved: hang this scarlet cord from your window [2.17-19].

A strange promise, a scarlet cord.  This Thread of [Red].  But through this promise of the thread of red, Rahab’s house will be the only part of the mighty wall of Jericho that survives divine [destruction].  Thru this, Joshua - Yeshua - saves her family.  The promise of God.  This thread of red will mark out your house - and the ones in it - as those to be saved, spared from destruction.  Shelter in this place with the thread of red when the destruction comes - if you go out, your blood is on your heads.  Is it possible that we see another passover in this? [Ex. 12:21-23  Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.].

But do you see what the Lord does for Rahab?  He provides a promise of deliverance, a way for her to be saved from the coming destruction.  And clearly she has come to this place of faith, revering the Lord God of Israel, trusting in Him FOR deliverance, and in His promise to save her [2.21].  So much so that, simply by virtue of her simple faith, Rahab, this ishshah zanah, gets included in the “Faith Hall of Fame” [Heb. 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.]!  Amazing!  Remember, Joshua didn’t even get in!  God has changed Rahab’s heart - and He changes her life.  Look ahead: Matt. 1:4-5 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.  Judah, Perez, Hezron —> Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon —> Boaz by Rahab… Boaz, Obed, Jesse —> David —> Jesus.

Check this out - so, after the Exodus, Nahshon was the leader of Judah, the largest tribe in Israel: Num. 2:3-4 “Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab, and his army, even their numbered men, 74,600.

[Nahshon] for his part died in the wilderness w all the rest of the adults who did not trust in the Lord’s promise of deliverance.  But his son Salmon enters in to the Promised Land.  And Salmon marries Rahab, the ishshah zanah, this filthy Gentile.  Which by all accounts he ought not have done.  But the promise of the God Who saves is for even the filthiest among us.  Rahab - saved by the thread of red, cleansed by the grace of God through faith - gets included in the family of the Messiah.  And so does everyone who trusts in the promise of God.  Yeshua.

Note that she didn’t need to be perfect.  She didn’t need to clean up her life first, before she trusted in the Lord.  Trust first.  Grace first.  Then, a new start.  God does the cleaning.  The Lord washes our own unfaithful hearts whiter than snow by the thread of red, the precious blood of Jesus.  He gives us a new heart, then He gives us the strength every day to follow Jesus, and become more and more like Him.  He changes our heart, He changes our life, then He changes the world!

The [thread of red] is a beautiful picture that looks to God’s promise to make a way for each of us to be delivered from destruction.  [Rom 3.23, 6.23].  But Yeshua.  God saves.  The promise of God.  The blood of the perfect Lamb, Jesus the Son of God, was poured out on the cross and covers our hearts when we trust in Jesus.  He takes away the sin of the world!  And what we celebrate this day, is [new life]!  Isn’t that true for Rahab as she and her family was out of that place of death? Jesus rose from the dead - He guarantees our forgiveness, and He gives us a new heart for a new start.

Joshua 1.5 - The Promise of Success (Josh. 1.5-9)

Today in our study of Joshua (the Promises of God) we're looking back at God’s charge to Joshua.  Previously in ch1 we looked at the promise of presence.  The King of the universe promises Joshua, I WILL BE WITH YOU! Just as I was with Moses!  God’s presence is what fuels up Joshua (and us!) with strength and courage!  To move forward.  To keep going.  Flooded rivers, fierce sons of Anak.  He is with us, the great I AM!  [v5] And God’s promise of presence is part of what positions Joshua for success.  God says, I will be with you AND I will not fail you.  You WILL give this people possession of the promised land.  I promise.  There's no better guarantee anywhere.  The promise of God.  God’s presence quashes fear, and it sets us up…for success!  This is what we see throughout Scripture: God’s presence with His people is linked to their success  [Gen. 26:23-24  The LORD appeared to [Issac] and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of My servant Abraham.”  [Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.][1Sam. 3:19  Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fail.][1Sam. 18:14 David was prospering in all his ways for the LORD was with him.][2Chr. 1:1  Now Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and exalted him greatly.].

In these passages we do see worldly success.  And given a choice between success and failure, which would you choose? [cue videos of fails...]  And God here gives Joshua a double scoop of yet another amazing promise: Joshua, YOU will have success (2x).  BUT, the Hebrew word actually means understanding or insight.  This is the ability to process through complex thoughts and options, resulting in wise dealing and good common sense.  In other words, this is more about the decisions we make, less about the results.  It’s the ability to understand the situation and make the best possible decision.  Eve infamously sought to get this from a tree [Gen. 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise].  But no, this wise discerning insight comes from God Himself [Psa. 32:8  I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.].  Yes, Great decisions usually yield good results. [1Kings 3:5,9 The LORD appeared to Solomon; and said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.” “Give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil.”] It’s not a guarantee of worldly success per se - but for the person who accumulates divine insight from the Lord, their life trajectory will generally be trending up.  AND they will experience the joy and peace of the Lord, no matter what results.  [Isaiah 48:22  “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the LORD.  Psa. 16:6  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places…].  This is the hard-to-find ability to enjoy life, however the lines appear fall for us.  Many are those who have climbed the ladder of earthly success only to reach the top and find it hauntingly empty [Eccl. 2:11 Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.].  Worldly success is the proverbial carrot-on-a-stick - we think catching it will fill our cup, but no matter how much carrot I think I got into my cup, the carrot is still out there dangling in front of my face.  

This promise of success that God gives to Joshua is actually a conditional promise, i.e. there’s a condition which must be satisfied in order for the promise to be fulfilled… [7] Be careful… Do according to ALL the Law… Do not turn from it… So that (You will) have divine insight.  [8] This book will not depart from your mouth… Be meditating on it DAY AND NIGHT… So that (You will) be careful… Do according to ALL… because then/that is how (You will) succeed and then (You will) have divine insight.  The key to success is found [right here], in God’s Word.  Literally.  Being careful to do according to all of God’s Word (2x).  This is how the lines fall for us in PLEASANT places.

Now, can you and I achieve worldly success apart from the Lord, apart from carefully doing God’s Word?  Of course.  But material/worldly success without divine insight is sort of like [the lottery].  There’s NO promise of hitting it, it’s hard to repeat, it’s easily squandered.  AND it leaves you empty [what Pascal called the "infinite abyss" in our hearts…].

So God says, be careful (2x) - be watching.  Be watching what tho? [For pool lifeguards - job #1 is patron surveillance; check out marydonahue.org/not-rescue-ready for some lifeguard fails].  For Joshua (and all of God’s people) - job #1 is [Scripture surveillance].  The key is meditating day and night [8].  Be careful, be watching.  Makes us Rescue Ready.  Ready to bless others - with Good News.  This is the promise of Yeshua, the God Who saves.  This is OUR vital life-and-death mission [it's the two paths which diverge in the woods and taking the one less-traveled, which makes all the difference].  

Scripture surveillance.  What we think on and look at is what we talk about.  What goes in will come out.  Have you ever woken up with a song stuck in your head?  Often it was one you were listening to before you went to bed.  Day and night, God says.  Day and night.  What do you think meditating “day and night” should look like? [and let's not forget that there is a verbal element - Deut. 6:7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.]

One last observation.  We see Joshua repeatedly referred to as Moses’ servant.  [v1] Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ servant.  It’s a special word [sharat] used for higher ranking servants, those who serve an important person, a ruler or a leader of some sort, or those who are serving the Lord more directly, who stand in a special position in the temple.  And this person is more focused on the job…

The other word for servant in Hebrew is [eved].  Eved involves the idea of possession.  It’s not about the job.  It’s about who owns them.  And a few people God calls “My Eved”: Gen. 26:24  The LORD appeared to [Isaac] the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of My servant Abraham.” Num. 12:7-8  “Not so, with My servant Moses, he is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?” Num. 14:24 “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.  (NOTE: The Lord does NOT describe Joshua in this way at that point.)  Job in Job 1:8.  David in 1Kings 11:34.  Messiah in Is. 53:11.  Jesus in the garden: "not what I want, but what You want".  For these "eveds", their supreme motive is to please the Lord Who owns them.  James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 2Cor. 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. Phil. 2:13 For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Heb. 13:21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.  Success is not about results - it’s about a decision to please the Lord…to put Him first in everything.  Seek first [what?]…

Scripture surveillance, day and night.  Pleasing the Lord.  A desire to please the Lord, and a hunger for His Word go hand in hand.  They fuel each other.  And both of these come from the Lord.  With an assist from our brothers:  [1.14] “Help your brothers…”  We go farther [together].  i.e not in rows per se, but IN A CIRCLE!!!

18x throughout Joshua's book, Moses is called "Moses the Eved of Yahweh" (3x just in this first chapter, "Moses MY Eved" - talk about living in a big shadow!).  For his part, Joshua is never once referred to as the the Eved of the Lord.  Not until after he is dead (most likely a postscript).  Josh. 24:29   It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.  So a question as we close today: whose Eved am I?  Whose Eved are you?  And the real question is, who owns who? [There's a great old hymn which says, "I am His and He is mine"].  Do I see myself as belonging to the Lord, do I exist to serve Him, or does He exist to serve me?  For the Promise of Success, the answer to that question makes all the difference...

Joshua 1 - The Promise of Presence (Joshua 1:1-6)

1  Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2 “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. 3 “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. 4 “From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. 5 “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. 6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.  [NASB]

So, it's been 40 yrs since the Exodus.  Joshua is in his 60s.  Moses is dead.  NOW, arise.  Get up.  NOW is your time to get up, to step up.  Joshua is God’s appointed person, for this place, for this time, for this specific purpose.  Cross this Jordan (2)… This is no small feat.  Ch 3 says the river is at [flood stage].  Lead these 2 million people with all these kids and all these animals through this flooded river.  Red Sea 2.0.

Here is the foundational Promise of God: Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, Joshua, I have given it to you [3]: All land of the Hittites (4) - ie all the Hittites.  The Promised Land [map] [Deut 11:24 “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea.][Gen 15.18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.]

Remember Joshua (with Caleb) did not let appearances tempt him to doubt this promise of God.  But what did the rest say? [Num 13:28-29,31 “Nevertheless, the people in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”  The men who had gone up said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”].  Not to mention, how do you think all these Hittites are going to feel about these foreigners coming in and taking their land?  No, c’mon in and help yourself.  Yeah, we were just leaving, it’s all yours.  Not a chance.

Walking in God’s land of Promise is not always easy.  Entering in can be scary.  There can be giant obstacles.  At least they can look like giants.  And those giants can make us feel small and weak [We became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight, Num 13.33].

But check out this next promise (5): NO MAN, no one, will be able to stand against you - BECAUSE I will be with you!  There is no giant or plan of man that will ever be able to KEEP us away from the promise of God.  There is actually only one being who could ever pull that off.  And that’s me.  Me (and you) - we are the only people who could somehow derail one of God’s precious powerful promises in our lives.  Those are guaranteed never to fail.  But God here give a promise that helps Joshua (and us!) move forward in the face of giants and other seeming insurmountable obstacles and enter into all His promises:

I will be with you = The Promise of Presence.  God has promised this previously.  First direct communication from the Lord to Joshua: Deut. 31:23 Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”  But now, on the banks of this raging river, the massive fortified [walls of Jericho] on the horizon, where the rubber meets the road (and actually there is no road, definitely no bridge), the first thing God says (again) is, I will be with you.  He renews the promise.  I will be with you - just as I have been with Moses.  I will not fail you or forsake you.  And God repeats the promise, twice.  I will be with you (5).  I am with you wherever you go (9).  Even the people affirm this promise one more time in v. 17.

And so, Joshua - Be strong and courageous.  Be strong and courageous.  3 times in this chapter.  Strength and courage.  And why is Joshua going to need to be strong and courageous?  Do you think Joshua was weak?  Or was he normally timid?  [v9] “Do not tremble or be dismayed”.  Think about what he is about to undertake.  Filling huge shoes, and leading God’s chosen people - Joshua had a front row seat for 40 yrs, seeing what a pain in the donkey it was for Moses to try and lead these people.  How many times did they want to kill Moses?  And now the Jordan, Jericho, the Hittites.  Complete with the sons of Anak, the Nephilim.  Giants.  Fear is debilitating.  Fear can get any of us off track, holds us back from entering into what God has for us.  It makes us cautious, passive, tempts us to compromise.  Fear of failure.  Fear of rejection.  Fear of reprisal.  Fear of the Bites.  I’m afraid.  I can’t do this.  I can’t go there.  I can’t love that person.  I can’t forgive that person.  I can’t respect that person.

The promise of God’s presence is the fountainhead of strength and courage - these flow out of a heart and life that taps into the gracious, all-sufficient presence of almighty God.  Especially when things look hard.  And scary.  Anyone can keep going when the going is easy.  In fact when the going is easy, we can tend to be oblivious of God’s presence.  Unmindful of our need for Him, to depend on Him apart from Whom Jesus says we can do nothing.  But in our [toughest times], our deepest valleys, facing our biggest giants - God’s presence helps us say no to our fear, to the giants, helps us keep going.  You CAN’T do this, Joshua - but I can.  I will be with you - don’t be afraid.  The promise of presence.

Pharaoh hot on your heels with an angry army of 600 chariots - God is with you, right there in a pillar of cloud and fire.  Rack Shack and Benny in Nebby K’s fiery furnace - God is with you, He shows up IN the fire, right there with them!  David: Psalm 23:4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me. God with us [quashes] fear in us.  Daniel in the lion’s den, an angel shows up - God is with you.  Paul in Corinth, major opposition, the Lord is says to him, “Do NOT be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you…” [Acts 18.9].  And what is the last thing Jesus says to His disciples as He sends into all the nations?  Evil regimes, zealous jihadis, hungry headhunters, skeptical neighbors?  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age…” [Mt 28.20].  Rom. 8:31  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  And He’s not only FOR us, He’s WITH us! [Heb. 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU”].  I.e. when we know God is with us, we can be absolutely certain that we have everything we need [Psa. 23:1  The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.].  He’s a Good Shepherd - the BEST - and where DO we find the shepherd?  Where does He spend his days - and nights?  The promise of presence.  I will be with you.  I will not fail you or forsake you (8x to Joshua!).  You and I will NEVER be the first one to be forsaken by the Lord.  I will be with you.  The question is, are we with Him?  Is He our Shepherd?  He’s the Good Shepherd, but is He MY Shepherd?

[Psalm 91:1-9  Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.  For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.  He will cover you with his feathers.  He will shelter you with his wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.  Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.  Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.  Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.  Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished.  Make the LORD your refuge, make the Most High your shelter.] The Lord so wants us to make Him our dwelling place.  It’s not a physical place, but a mindset of trust.  In other words, I am with Him - and He is with me.  Not saying the road ahead, the next step God has for you, isn’t scary.  But trust puts fear in the rearview mirror.  My refuge and My fortress, My God Who is with me, in Whom I trust…