Joshua Who? | Sunday, February 5, 2023

Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel and he said to them, "I am 120 years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, 'You shall not cross over this Jordan.' The Lord your God himself crosses over before you... Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said... Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage..." (Deuteronomy 31:1–8)

Before we can follow Joshua into the Promised Land, we have to ask: Joshua who? The answer reaches all the way back to creation.

A Character Shift in Deuteronomy

Three years ago, at the beginning of 2020, we began a study in the book of Deuteronomy, and we have worked our way slowly through it—even venturing out from time to time to address the unusual things our church and nation have been going through. Deuteronomy is really a prolonged sermon, Moses's final message to Israel as they stand in the plains of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan, with the Promised Land before them.

When we left off at the end of November, we had finished Moses's core message in Deuteronomy 30. Now in chapter 31 we are introduced to someone new. For three years Moses and the children of Israel have been the major characters of our study—Moses, the great lawgiver who delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt and led them faithfully through the wilderness for forty years. Now, at 120 years old, he prepares to hand leadership to another. No longer will it be Moses and Israel; now it will be Joshua. But that begs the question: who is Joshua?

Back to the Beginning: Creation and Command

To answer that, we need to understand the larger story. Some of you know it well; others may not. So we go back to the very beginning—Genesis chapter 1.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1–5)

In six days God created everything we know. Christians discuss exactly how—six literal days, epochs, a gap, theistic evolution—and we'll take that up another time. The orthodox view held by all true believers for all time is that there is a God and He is the creator of all things.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness"... So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26–27)

Then we move from creation to a command:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16–17)

Corruption and the First Gospel

In Genesis 3 the serpent—the devil, the one who opposes God—tempts the man and woman to eat of the very tree God forbade. When they see it is good for food and desirable to make one wise, they take and eat. Their eyes are opened, they are separated from God and divided from one another. This is the fall. Corruption by sin enters the world, and death through sin spreads to all humanity.

So when we ask why there is evil and suffering in the world—whether natural evil from a fallen creation or the malevolent evil of wicked people—the Christian answer goes all the way back to Genesis 3. Yet in the very chapter of the fall, a light shines in the darkness:

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

Many theologians, myself included, see this as the initial unveiling of God's redemptive plan—what is sometimes called the Protoevangelium, the "first gospel." From here the plan unfolds, and it involves a people and a place.

The Call of Abraham

Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:1–3)

This is the call of Abram. God promised in Genesis 3:15 that a male child would descend from a woman and crush the work of Satan. Now He identifies the family: He calls Abram to follow Him by faith, and through him will come blessing for all peoples. Abram is the father of our faith—the New Testament calls him the father of all who believe. He stumbled as we all do, but he followed God faithfully.

On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates..." (Genesis 15:18–21)

A people and a place. Why? Because God's redemptive plan is bigger than saving one man and his family. In Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. But before God could redeem all the families of the earth, He first had to redeem the descendants of Abraham. That brings us to Exodus.

Exodus: Redemptive Power in Bondage

In Genesis we see the beginnings of God's redemptive plan; in Exodus we see His redemptive power, exercised through Moses. By the end of Genesis, Abraham is dead, and his descendants—a family of about seventy people—are living in Egypt rather than the Promised Land. By the opening of Exodus, four centuries have passed, and that family has grown into a nation of hundreds of thousands, no longer free, but enslaved.

Pharaoh, fearful of their numbers, gave a decree:

"Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive." (Exodus 1:22)

Why kill only the males? Pharaoh's aim was to absorb the Hebrews into Egypt—eliminate the men who could fight and reproduce, and let the daughters marry Egyptians. What is striking is that this is exactly what the enemy often does: he doesn't always set out to obliterate God's people; he wants to absorb them and make them just like everyone else. This is why Paul exhorts us, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12). The mindset of Pharaoh is the mindset of the enemy still at work in the world.

The Cycle and the Call of Moses

Pharaoh's plot sets the conditions for Moses—and reveals a cycle we'll see throughout the Old Testament. God's people begin in right relationship with Him; through unfaithfulness and sin they descend into bondage; in their bondage they cry out; and God raises up a deliverer to redeem them. Watch for it everywhere, especially in Judges. It points to Jesus, the Redeemer, the fulfillment of the promise that in Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. God brings order; man sows chaos; God redeems and restores—creation, fall, redemption, restoration, the meta-narrative of the Bible.

Moses, rescued as an infant from Pharaoh's decree, was drawn up out of the river (his name means "drawn out of the water") and adopted into Pharaoh's household. At forty, after taking an Egyptian's life, he fled to the wilderness of Midian, where he shepherded sheep for another forty years—ironic, since Egyptians despised shepherds. At eighty, God appeared to him at Mount Horeb in a burning bush.

"I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt... So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good land and a large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey... Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:7–10)

This is the call of Moses, just as there was a call of Abraham. God is narrowing down to a people and a place to bring about His redemptive plan.

Out of Egypt—and Egypt Out of the People

The next eleven chapters chronicle God's redemptive mission to rescue Israel. Through a series of plagues, God systematically destroys the false gods of Egypt, for He is greater than all that man might worship. The people cross the Red Sea on dry ground in Exodus 14, and now it is no longer a matter of getting the people out of Egypt, but of getting Egypt out of the people—and that is often the harder task.

This pictures a general principle of life. At any stage, we generally find ourselves in one of three places: enslaved in bondage like Egypt, wandering aimlessly in a wilderness, or at rest in the land of promise. God's aim is to rescue us from bondage, guide us through the wilderness, and bring us into a life of victory and rest. So a simple question: where do you find yourself today—enslaved, wandering, or at rest?

Lessons in the Wilderness: The Lord Provides

At Mount Sinai God gives His law to purify His people and prepare them for the Promised Land. But along the way, in the wilderness, He teaches them who He is. In Exodus 15 they are dehydrated at the bitter waters of Marah, and God miraculously makes the water sweet. In Exodus 16 they lack food, and God provides bread from heaven—manna. In Exodus 17 they lack water again, and God provides water from a rock.

The common denominator: Israel has a lack, and God provides. Why? Because He is Redeemer, Deliverer, and Provider. This is the very lesson Abraham learned centuries before—Jehovah Jireh, "the Lord will provide." It's the lesson God wants Israel to learn in the wilderness, and the lesson He wants you to learn as you move from bondage toward rest. Some of you are learning it right now.

"Joshua Who?" — Exodus 17

Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand." (Exodus 17:8–9)

Here, for the first time, two new characters appear: the Amalekites and this man Joshua. Scholars call this the principle of first mention, and Joshua's name is vitally important. Just as Jehovah Jireh means "the Lord our provider," Yahushua—Joshua—means "Jehovah is salvation." When you are in a wilderness without food or water, you need the Lord your provider. When you face an enemy you are powerless to stand against, you need the Lord your salvation.

This is remarkable, because Israel had been slaves for four centuries; none of them were soldiers. Yet Moses tells Joshua to gather an army, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur go up the hill.

And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands became heavy... and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. (Exodus 17:11–13)

Sovereignty and Responsibility Intertwined

This is one of my favorite passages, because it shows the intertwining of God's sovereign power and man's responsibility. There are endless debates in Protestant circles between sovereignty and free will. My answer is: yes—both, woven together. At Marah, God's power changed the water through Moses casting in a tree. In the manna, God's power provided food, but the people had to go gather it. At the rock, God's power gave water through Moses striking it. And here, God gives victory, but Joshua leads the army, and Moses lifts his hands while Aaron and Hur hold them up.

So who won the victory against Amalek? Was it Joshua fighting in the valley? Was it Moses on the hill? Was it Aaron and Hur holding up his hands? The answer:

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, "Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Exodus 17:14–16)

Notice this is the first time God says, "Write this in the book"—perhaps the very beginning of the written Scriptures. And notice the third name: Jehovah Nissi, "the Lord is my banner." We now have three names: the Lord our provider (Jehovah Jireh), the Lord our salvation (Yahushua), and the Lord our banner (Jehovah Nissi). Who won the victory? Ultimately it was all dependent on God's sovereign power—yet there was an essential place for Moses, Aaron, Hur, Joshua, and the army of Israel.

Meet Joshua

Let me introduce you to Joshua. He was a former slave in Egypt, rescued by the redemptive power of God. We later learn he was forty years old, and here in Rephidim he learns a lesson that will shape everything to come: God is my salvation, just as my name means; God is my provider; God is the banner over my life.

It is the same lesson his father Abraham learned when he faced enemies in another wilderness. God said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward" (Genesis 15:1). And it is the lesson that David, who came centuries after Joshua, learned when he fled into the wilderness from an enemy within his own household:

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!... But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy hill. (Psalm 3:1–4)

Where Are You Today?

As we begin to be acquainted with Joshua, consider: where are you at this very moment—not physically, but spiritually? Are you bound as a slave in Egypt, which Scripture often lifts up as a picture of the world? Are you wandering aimlessly in a wilderness? Or are you living a victorious life in the land of rest?

Wherever you find yourself, these essential truths about God that Joshua began to learn in Exodus 17 are for you. The Lord our God is our salvation, our deliverer; He is our provider, Jehovah Jireh; He is the banner over our lives. Have you learned what Joshua learned in those earliest days of the Exodus?

That is all I want to do today—introduce you to Joshua, whose name means "Jehovah is salvation," and whose life has much to teach us. It is there, back in Deuteronomy 31, that Joshua is named as the one who will bring Israel into the Promised Land. So be strong and of good courage; do not fear the enemies before you, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you—because He is your provider, your salvation, and the banner over your life.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would stir in us a desire to get into Your word, the Scriptures, and to allow Your word to get into us and transform us by the renewing of our minds, so that we would not be conformed to this world. The enemy, just like Pharaoh wanted to do with the children of Israel in Egypt, simply wants to absorb us into this world. But God, I pray that You would help us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, as we take heed to Your word, and that You would teach us to walk in Your will and to trust You as our provider, our salvation, and the banner and shield over our lives. For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.