The LORD Your God Is With You -- Joshua 1:1-9
Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 09:35AM 
The First in a Series of Sermons on the Book of Joshua
When we last took a break from our on-going series “I will be your God and you will be my people,” we had concluded the Book of Deuteronomy. The people of God had spent forty years wandering throughout the inhospitable desert of the Sinai. After a generation passed, the Lord led them out of the wilderness, taking them far to the north, where they entered the plains of Moab, just to the east of the Dead Sea in what is now Jordan. As Israel camped at Moab, God prepared his people to enter that good land flowing with milk and honey, which they would receive as their inheritance. God renewed the covenant which he made with Israel at Mount Sinai–the Book of Deuteronomy. All that remained was for Israel to cross the Jordan River, defeat the people of Jericho and then take the land. But then circumstances intervened. Knowing that his time had come, Moses pronounced his final blessing upon the twelve tribes of Israel, named Joshua as his successor, and then climbed Mount Nebo where the Lord showed him the promised land–from Gilead (to the south) to Dan (in the north). Then Moses died and was buried by the Lord.
With the death of Moses, Israel faced a major dilemma. Moses was the only leader they had ever known. What would happen to them now? Who would intercede for the people before YHWH? Who would lead Israel into the land across the river, where the dreaded Canaanites lived in great numbers? What would become of the covenant promises that the Lord had made to his people some forty-years before? How would the Israelites conquer the fortified city of Jericho, which blocked their entrance into the promised land? Many–indeed most–of those who had left Egypt had already died in the desert, and a new generation had become prominent among Israel’s twelve tribes. Despite the hope they felt as they marched north out of the wilderness in order to possess the land, and despite the renewal of the covenant on the plains of Moab, at the very moment the people find themselves on the brink of the realization of all that God promised, Moses was dead. After forty years of wandering in the desert, there were more questions than answers. They were so near, yet still so far.
During this period in redemptive history, the people of Israel begin to forget all that God has done for them. New generations of Israelites find themselves attracted to, and then influenced by the paganism and false religion all around them. In this sense, the struggle faced by the Israelites upon entering the promised land is much like the struggle Christians face today. How do we keep focused upon the promises of God? How do we resist the pull to be like the pagans around us? As we will see, there is much in the books of Joshua and Judges which relates to our own situation today.
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Reader Comments (1)
(and to all Israel), in many ways, the Christian life is same for us as entering the land was for Israel,
camped in Moab with the promised land in sight, and yet with seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the
way. Do we believe that we will inherit everything that God has promised us? Do we believe that God
will keep his word and that we will receive everything he has promised? Or, like the ten spies and the
majority of those in Israel, do we see the troubles of life, the obstacles we face, and then doubt that God
will keep his promise?" KR
You're right, Pastor Kim! The majority of the Church doesn't remember The Promise. We want "our best life NOW!"