Valley Church Clinton
September 13th

      • Joshua 1:6-7CSB

      • Joshua 1:8CSB

      • Joshua 1:9CSB

  • Good Good Father
  • Great Are You Lord
  • Well good morning Valley Church Clinton!
    Thanks so much for being here this morning, and today we’ll be in the first chapter of Joshua, Joshua 1…
    Before we get into it, let’s pray together.
    Introduction
    So, I’m a pretty big podcast guy, I really like listening to podcasts, mostly because I’m not smart enough to sit down and read a book for all it’s worth, I need someone to literally explain it to me…
    But I really enjoyed listening to people’s stories and conversations, especially when they’re real and vulnerable.
    And a few weeks ago, I was listening to a Navy Seal talk about various things, training, missions, stuff like that.
    And this Navy Seal said every year, they all gather for a family reunion type of meal, where all the seals from all eras come and share stories, catch up, all that.
    And at these reunions, there were occasionally people pretending to be seals, they’re sometimes called stolen valor.
    Anyway, this Navy Seal loved to sniff thm out and expose them, because afterall, it’s pretty destable to pretend to be in the military when you weren’t.
    So, he goes up to this older gentlemen, and this was his go-to question to expose stolen valor, he asks “hey, what year did you go through buds?”
    Now, if you aren’t familiar with BUDS, it’s a 6 month course where you learn to become a Navy Seal. But really, it’s a weed-out program.
    You see, being a Navy Seal requires extreme mental toughness, it’s not something everyone can do,
    And this causes 80-90% of people to drop out of the program.
    During BUDS, there’s a week of extreme training, essentially it’s torture, where candidates are forced to be wet, sandy, swim, hike 200 miles, all while being screamed at and only allowed 4 hours of sleep for the week.
    Did you hear that right? 4 hours of sleep for the WEEK.
    Only about 25% make it through this week, and the seals affectionately call it “hell week”. And I can see why.
    So, this Navy Seal asks again to the older gentleman “when did you go through hell week”.
    1944, he answers.
    And now the young Navy Seal thinks he got him, because hell week wasn’t invented until after 1944,
    And he says Ha! We didn’t have hell week in 1944,
    And the older Navy Seal says “Well, we did on Omaha Beach”.
    And that story has stuck with me - one because I need to temper my young, naive pride more often than not,
    But two, there are people who we owe a great deal to in this country.
    This Navy Seal, this man was on the front lines of the WWII, in Normandy, marching toward what we call D-Day, which was the turning point of the European tour.
    I can only imagine, riding a boat up to the shoreline on that day, bullets flying around you, knowing your chances of life and death were about equal, marching straight up to a seemingly impenetrable force of enemies who do not want you on their land,
    Yet knowing, if this didn’t succeed, the allies would have a much more difficult time winning the war, the threat or atomic war looming, WWII prolongd for who knows how long, more soldiers leaving their families, more povery, more innocent casulaties,
    Everything was roding on this specific battle.
    The mission was so important, he put his own life on the line.
    The mission was so pertinent, the Allies kept pushing, because they saw the bigger picture.
    They saw the mission at hand, and no matter what happened, they knew they had to keep pressing on as far as they could, with all they had left.
    And this is essentially the feeling we get as we start the book of Joshua.
    Like we looked at last week, Moses, the great leader and prophet, the one who gave Israel their laws and the mediator between the people and God, is dead.
    He is gone, and now there is a transition to this new leader, Joshua, there is probably some confusion, some chaos, but the people of Israel are looking into the land that God promised them, the land of Canaan, and they know war is looming.
    There is a battle, actually several battles, that must be fought and won.
    And the Israelites know it’s going to be difficult. They know some of them may even perish.
    But, chapter 1 of Joshua serves as a rally cry to the mission of God, which is ever persistent, and always for good.
    There is a mission in front of the people, and they must choose to go head first into danger, no matter the cost, for the good of their people of humanity, and goodness.
    And believe it or not, we have the same exact mission today. And no, it’s not violence or conquering physical land,
    But our rally cries are the exact same, because we serve the same God, and He’s called us to a similar mission, which is gaining ground for the Kingdom of God,
    And I see four distinct rally cries…
    And the first of these is

    Remember God’s Faithfulness

    This is the very first thing we encounter in Joshua.
    Let me remind you again of where we are in history:
    The Israelites have just hiked in the wilderness after freedom from Egyptian slavery, they have the law, they agreed to God’s covenant, and now they are looking at crossing the Jordan river to conquer what we call “the promised land” which is a fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham back in Genesis.
    Okay. Again, Moses is dead, and Joshua takes over as their new leader.
    This is how Joshua starts:
    Joshua 1:1–4 CSB
    1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea.
    And here’s the important part:
    Joshua 1:5 CSB
    5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.
    This is the promise of God. He’s not sending these people, or Joshua, to their pointless deaths,
    No, God is assuring them that not only will they win, and that no one can stand against them, but that God will be with them.
    And this was huge, because in that day, religion was tied to geography.
    Deities were bound to a region. I know what you’re thinking: here Seth goes on again about gods and dietieis,
    But just hear me out, okay?
    Your god was where you were, they were over the land you occupied. Each nation had their patron diety that they tried to manipulate through various means - prayer, sacrifice, etc.
    These gods had limitations, they could not cross borders in the eyes of the near eastern religious people.
    Your god was tied to your land and your people, no exception.
    This is why it was such a big deal, for example, when Abraham encountered God and God told him to move. Pick up everything and move.
    What God was asking Abraham to do was to break loyalty with whatever religious system, whatever god Abraham worshipped, and to instead place his loyalty, his faith, in Yahweh.
    Because moving lands meant moving gods.
    And we take this for granted today, but this is partially why our Old Testament exists: to prove that Yahweh was different.
    Yahweh, the most high God, Yahweh Elohim, El Elyon, God most high,
    He was different. He was the first God not bound by geography.
    He had no territory, He answered to no person, no king, no higher diety, no one.
    His territory is everything on earth and in heaven, because all were created by Him alone.
    Psalm 139 paints a vivid picture of this:
    Psalm 139:7–12 CSB
    7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, 10 even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night”— 12 even the darkness is not dark to you. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to you.
    And even this kind of God, a God who created everything, is in control of everything, can snap and make all of existence disappear and reappear,
    This God, our God, promises to be with us.
    You may be familiar with the Samaritan Woman at the well in John chapter 4, but most people miss this detail in that story,
    See, Jesus sits down at this well, in the territory of the Samaritans, hated by the Jews, and hateful toward the Jews, although the two religions were similar, they were very seperate….
    But Jesus asks for a drink from this Samaritan Women, already crossing so many normal cultural boundaries.
    And there’s this back and forth, they talk about living water, they talk about her having 5 husbands,
    And eventually, the conversation gets to the climax, which is this:
    John 4:19–22 CSB
    19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
    See, according to the Samaratins, Mt. Gerizim was the true place of worship to the most high God.
    Of course, to the Jews, it was the temple in Jerusalem.
    And this caused tenion, so much so, that about 150 years earlier, the Jews actually destoryed the temple on Mt. Gerizim, which left the Samaratins with no place of worship, as the Jews certainly didn’t let them into the temple,
    So for her entire life, this woman has been left out of worship. No where to turn, she’s been waiting on the final prophet to tell the world how to worship,
    And he’s standing in front of her, asking for a glass of water.
    And notice what Jesus is saying, he never said the Jews were right about their physical place of worship.
    He said salvation, saving, grace, it comes form the Jews.
    Jesus is saying now, no one is excluded. God is not bound by this mountain or that mountain,
    God doesn’t have a place of worship bound by geography.
    Why? Because He’s worshipped in Spirit and Truth.
    Because, quite literally, God was with her.
    And this is the promise. This is faithfulness.
    No one is excluded from worshipping the one true God.
    It matters not your family of origin, your genetic makeup, where you live, none of that.
    Because now, more than ever, God is with us. Immanuel is what they called Jesus, which literally means God with us.
    And now, the Spirit lives inside us, as the temple, who cares that the temple in Jerusalem crumbled,
    We are the temple.
    Matthew 28:18–20 CSB
    18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
    Nothing has changed. God is with us.
    This reminder of faithfulness sets up everything else in our mission.
    Because the next thing, the next rally cry, is really difficult, and it can only happen through God with us, and that is:

    Be Strong and Courageous

    Joshua 1:6–7 CSB
    6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.
    Look, in the face of uncertainty, in the transition of a leader, in knowing your going into the land of Canaan, up against literal giants,
    This was tough command to hear.
    I mean think about it, personally for Joshua, he was taking command of a nation. And we aren’t talking a small tribe here, it’s not a business where he had 20 employees on his team…
    Joshua was now in command of nearly 602k trained military men.
    Scholars estimate the total nation of Israel when Joshua took over was north of 2 million people.
    Dillon mentioned something in his last sermon about pooping his pants,
    I think this was Joshua’s pooping his pants moment.
    After spending 45 years training under Moses, Joshua at 85 years old is faced with leadership and care of a nation, with his mentor gone.
    This was a huge undertaking a responsibility.
    And God told Him that He would be faithful to Joshua, and never leave him…
    And I think this says a ton about the character of Joshua. He was absolutely the right man for the job.
    But that doesn’t change the gravity of he situation, where everything for the future of Israel hinges on the decisions of Joshua.
    This could either make or break the entire future history of the Jews.
    He could either command a nation to be loyal to Yahweh, or turn elsewhere.
    And Joshua choose loyalty to God.
    And God choose Joshua. Anointed. Full of Spirit.
    So, God has to tell Joshua - be strong and courageous.
    This, again, is a command.
    I know we usually think of this as a feeling, or as a purely phycological promblem,
    But I think that’s a mistake.
    Because this isn’t a feeling, it’s an action.
    It’s standing in front of the enemy, a seemingly impossible task, and having strength.
    Standing in boldness. having courage.
    It remind me a whole lot of John 16:33
    John 16:33 CSB
    33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
    Other translations say “take heart!”
    It’s the same command.
    We have to take heart. Be bold. Stand strong. Be courageous.
    And how do we know to do this?
    Well, that brings us to our third rally cry, which is…

    Meditate on the Lord’s Instruction

    Joshua 1:8–9 CSB
    8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
    The word of God must be central to our understanding of our religion.
    When you look at “book of instruction”, we might think Bible, and that’s not totally wrong,
    But the Hebrew behind this I bet you’re familiar with,
    It’s Torah.
    The Torah. And this means more than the Jewish Bible, what it is is the embodiment, the definition, of wisdom.
    It’s all the commands of the Lord, which are designed to show us wisdom, it shows us how to walk in righteousness.
    It’s the same phrase used in Psalm 1
    Psalm 1:1–2 CSB
    1 How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! 2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.
    Notice the common thread: meditation.
    And I know, meditation has negative connotations because of eastern religions, but guess what? Christianity is an eastern religion.
    We are meant, we are commanded, not to simply know Scripture. Not to simply have knowledge of God’s commands.
    We are to meditate, day and night.
    And that Hebrew word for meditate, its hagitha. And it comes from the root word which means to mutter.
    It’s definition is to read with an undertone, or to red it low and slow, and to really ponder the words.
    See the torah, or God’s word, His commands, they really aren’t long, or drawn out, or complicated.
    Did you know you can read the entire Bible twice a year by only reading 15-30 minutes a day, depending on your reading level?
    It’s because reading input, or information gathering, it’s not the hard part.
    The hard part is putting it to practice. The hard part is asking yourself - where am I not putting this to use? Where am I getting it wrong? When did I not act like Jesus today?
    This is why meditation is so important, and why we need to slow down our lives enough to make the word of God central in our lives.
    When is the last time you’ve read the Bible low and slow? It’s hard. Meditation is hard.
    But we must put to practice what we read, or else what’s the point?
    This was, in fact, a law given by Moses to the future kings of Israel.
    See, Moses knew Israel would want kings like the other nations.
    This is what he commanded:
    Deuteronomy 17:18–20 CSB
    18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. 20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.
    See, kings in the other nations were either gods or sons of god, claimed deities themselves. This is what Moses is fighting against.
    Kings of Israel are subject to the prophet and priests. They are subject to the law, and they are even equal to their fellow countrymen.
    Without the commands of God, we make hierarchy, we put ourselves above others, and become little gods ourselves.
    It’s the same sin of selfishness, pride, and idolatry over, and over, and over again.
    We are called, just like Joshua and Israel, to subject ourselves to the command of God.
    Our service to the Lord is meditation on his instruction and word.
    And for this reason, we can look at our final rally cry, which is…

    Push for the Collective

    We always push for the collective, the bigger picture, even it it puts ourselves at risk.
    Joshua 1:10–13 CSB
    10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit.’ ” 12 Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, 13 “Remember what Moses the Lord’s servant commanded you when he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest, and he will give you this land.’
    Joshua 1:14–15 CSB
    14 Your wives, dependents, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But your best soldiers must cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers and help them 15 until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they too possess the land the Lord your God is giving them. You may then return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of what Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”
    You may be wondering, what does this have to do with the collective?
    Well, this is really interesting, or at least I think it’s interesting, because we see here that Joshua is taking command. He’s going to his people, and taking charge, personally.
    This is actually very common in ancient times, where a king, if being succeeded by a non family member, would go around to each group he was over, and force them to swear allegiance.
    This is a similar picture of what Joshua is doing, except approved by the Lord, not doing it under the treat of death, but under the goodness of following God.
    I always thought the worst job in the world was being a substitute teacher. I mean, you really have no control of the class, you’re on your own, it’s like Lord of the Flies in most of these classrooms,
    But the worst job in the world, as I came to find witness, was actually being a substitute bus drive.
    Talk about no control, total lack of power, you have no authority on a bus of 40 kids.
    Not only can they beat you up and take control of the bus, they can do and say some of th meanest, more vile things in a short 20 minute ride.
    This is, I’m sure, how Joshua felt commanding these people.
    But it worked.
    Because here’s the thing about these specific tribes mentioned:
    They were already settled.
    The Reubenites, the Gadites, and half of the Manesseh tribe, they were where thy were going to be.
    Show Map.
    Look, they’re already there.
    They had no incentive to fight the battles, but, Joshua ralied them for the collective.
    For the sake of your fellow Israelites, go fight with them.
    This is bigger than your comfort. This is for the greater mission.
    I think this is so easy to do in the church today.
    To get comfortable, whether it’s on your spiritual journey, or in your personal life, or in your friend group….
    We see people struggling, and we stop helping.
    Because in our mind, we’ve made it.
    We’re done, we’re settled, we’re comfortable, we’re camping out in our promised land.
    Church, this is not the collective. This is not the community we’re called to.
    Galatians 6:2 CSB
    2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
    This doesn’t help us, individually. It helps us, the collective.
    And guess what? It fulfills the law of Christ. The torah. Wisdom.
    Romans 12:10 CSB
    10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.
    Acts 20:35 CSB
    35 In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
    Imagine, how disheartening it for Rueben, Gad, and Manasseh, to say: good luck guys! We’re gonna stay on this side of the Jordan, but we’ll root for you from over here!
    We’ll put you on our prayer list!
    This is not how we’re meant to operate in the church today, we are meant to carry one another’s burdens, that means practically, and in the way Jesus did,
    Which is inconvenient, and laborsome, and most of the time messy.
    But that’s why Jesus became man, to help us.
    Do you know why his yoke is easy and his burden is light?
    It’s because he shoulders what you can’t.
    We need to do the same for others.
    Okay, just to recap, here are our four rally cries for the day:

    Remember God’s Faithfulness Be Strong and Courageous Meditate on the Lord’s Instruction Push for the Collective

    You may still be asking the question: what is our mission today?
    How on earth does Joshua entering the land of Canaan, entering the promised land, have anything to do with us?
    Well, remember, God is not bound by geography. The entire world, all of creation, we stand as a church, and we look into it as the promised land.
    And we have a clear mission: to make it God’s kingdom.
    And no, again, we aren’t warring. We aren’t taking up arms and forcing people to convert.
    We are conquering the world like Jesus did-through loyalty and love.
    As Jesus was gathering his disciples, he told them this:
    Mark 1:17 CSB
    17 “Follow me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”
    So, if we are God’s mini, mobile temples, the place where we worship is wherever we are, that means the promised land isn’t a nation,
    But rather, people. It’s soul winning.
    It’s sharing the gospel. We are commanded, as also found int he great commission verses, to make disciples.
    And how do we do that?

    Fish for People

    Remember that God is with us
    Stand firm, take heart
    Meditate on God’s Word
    Push for our community
    It really is that simple. How do we conquer this land in love? Simple. We do what Jesus did. We do what God has been commanding all along.

      • Joshua 1:1–4CSB

      • Joshua 1:5CSB

      • Psalm 139:7–12CSB

      • John 4:19–22CSB

      • Matthew 28:18–20CSB

      • Joshua 1:6–7CSB

      • John 16:33CSB

      • Joshua 1:8–9CSB

      • Psalm 1:1–2CSB

      • Deuteronomy 17:18–20CSB

      • Joshua 1:10–13CSB

      • Joshua 1:14–15CSB

      • Galatians 6:2CSB

      • Romans 12:10CSB

      • Acts 20:35CSB

      • Mark 1:17CSB

  • Holy Spirit
Valley Church Clinton
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