The most important lesson we can learn from Joshua 1 is about God’s promise. After Moses died, The Lord spoke to Moses’s helper, Joshua, and gave him a promise. God then taught Joshua
the way to make his way prosperous and to achieve success. After receiving God’s promises, people have to take actions in order acquire blessings. No action, no blessing. In Exodus, God had promised the Israelis the land of Canaan, but if they did not
cross the Jordan River, they wouldn’t have entered the Promised Land. God has a plan for everyone, but God cannot lead people to the success arranged for them if they do not follow His lead. If God is a director, will we be a good actor and honor God’s
plan?
Faith without any action is dead. We need a team so that we can help each other. We also need God’s words to strengthen ourselves. That is why we have to read the Bible, to pray, and to attend group meetings and church services; all
these are for one purpose only－to keep us persistent in our actions.
Paul said that we are the limbs of the church; that is, we are the hands of the church. If a hand is malfunctioned, it cannot accomplish anything. Christians have been through
many hardships, persecutions, and many other difficult situations, but many people in different churches persisted in their actions, and they have not been defeated by the circumstances. Many disciples in Acts, such as Paul and Peter, set up very good examples
for us.
When God gives us a promise, we will see the miracle of God if we just follow God’s command. Some people may ask, “Why can’t I see miracle?" It is because those people haven’t taken any action! Although God promised
that when a member of a family is saved, all other members will be saved, but if we do not take action, this promise would not be realized. God needs man to be the vessels, and vessels need to be filled by God in order to carry out their functions fully. Moses
was a vessel of God, Joshua was a vessel of God, and now it is your turn to be the vessel of God!
What Joshua 1 shows us is that miracles come after our actions. After giving His promise, God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous, and to
meditate the law of God both day and night and to observe it. When we take actions, sometimes we may be weak, and we need the words of God to strengthen ourselves.
We must trust God at the first place. We have to believe that God will provide us
with everything we need. When we follow God, He will solve all our problems for us. If you always focus on your difficulties and your complaints, and if you stop reading the Bible or going to group meetings or church services, you would not be able to fulfill
God’s plan for you. It would be your lost! When you do God’s work, your problems become God’s problems, and He will take care of everything. God will carry the burden for you.
In Joshua 2, Joshua sent two spies to inspect Jericho. At this time, there
must be a lot of struggling in Joshua. 40 years ago, Moses sent twelve spies to check the situations in Canaan, and Joshua was one of the spies. After their inspection, 10 of the spies became afraid, and they told the Israelis that people in Canaan were giants,
and that “we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." Joshua and Caleb were the only who held different attitudes from the other spies. They said to the Israelis that they should not be afraid, because God had already
given the land to them, and they sure would win the victory. This event is recorded in Numbers 13. Faith is the most important thing. If we have faith, we would be able to walk fast and straight. If we do not have faith, our road would be winding. Ten of the
faithless spies affected the morale of the Israelis and caused them to spend 40 more years in the wilderness.
In the previous chapter, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous, because “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads,
I have given it to you." God gives us promises, but we need to take actions so as to realize those promises. The two spies sent by Joshua went to Jericho at once, and they came to Rahab’s house. Who was Rahab? It is commonly believed that Rahab was a
prostitute, but according to a historian, Joseph, Rahab was actually a hostess of an inn. No matter if Rahab was a prostitute or a hostess, it is certain that she was a sinner, but God had chosen her. In Matthew, there are four women recorded in Jesus’s
genealogy, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah, and Mary. Rahab is recorded in the Bible, which shows that she is influential.
Because of her faith in God, Rahab courageously helped the two spies, and asked them to save her and her family. The spies
told her that all her families must hide in a house with a scarlet thread binding on the window. The night before the Israelis where led out of Egypt, God also told them to put the blood of sheep on the doorframe of their houses so that God will pass over
that house without taking any life in their families. Not all people in those houses were good or even Israelis, but the lives were saved because of the power of the Holy Blood.
Today, we are saved in the same way. It doesn’t matter who we
are, how talented we are, or how terrible we had been, we are saved because we are now purified by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. If we are willing to accept God, we are saved and are given eternal life.
The last verse describes that the spies
reported to Joshua, “all the inhabitants of the land have melted away." Joshua must have a strong feeling about this, because when the twelve spies came back from Canaan, his people also melted away. Now the people who melted were the ones in Jericho.
Why was there such a huge difference? Because the Israelis were equipped and strengthened by God; after 40 years in the wilderness, the old generation was gone, and a new generation rose and formed an army. God protected His people with pillar of cloud and
fire, and God is still protecting us today in the same way. Today, the pillar of cloud and fire is not shown on the outside, it is the Holy Spirit living inside and guiding us at all times.
It is written that “The one who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world." If you do not know God, it is as if you go out begging for food while holding the largest diamond. Priceless treasure is worthless to you. How can we know the value of God and bring out His true worth? The answer lies in
the Bible. God’s power and miracle will follow you once you have the words of God!
No one is fearless, so we all need our Savior. Joshua followed every command of God; it is the key to his success and victory, and it is also what we need to learn from him.
Anyone who thinks that he/she has
done enough, or that there are always someone who has done less, he/she should think about what Jesus said; “what is that to you? You must follow me." We cannot force others to follow Jesus, or to do more for God, but we have to remember that we all
must answer to God in the future.
In Joshua 1:1, God spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun and Moses’ servant, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise."
God told Joshua that the land had been given to them. God wanted them
to be strong and courageous and go in to possess the land. After God had spoken to him, Joshua did not wait for a very long time to take actions. He waited only for three day in order to build up a consensus.
Every spring, the snow on Mount Hermon
would melt, widening the Jordan River to 1 kilometer. Jordan River is not still water, it flows 10 km/hour from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. When you know the geography of this place, you would know how difficult the task of the Israelis was. Joshua
were not strangers to miracles; he had seen the Red Sea separated in front of him. However, the other Israelis were not familiar with miracles. When God says, “I will be with you," many people would still be afraid, that is why we need trainings, practices,
and examples for us to learn from.
God always lead us ahead. The Israelis were 2000 cubits behind the Ark of the Covenant, so everyone can see it from afar. The four priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant were the bravest of them. When they step
into the water, the river was stopped; it rose up in one heap, 30 km away at Adam. Not only the Israelis saw it, but also the people in Canaan.
God only told Joshua to be strong and courageous. So we know that leaders must take up responsibilities,
and the others must love each other. That is, we need to Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength. We must all fulfill our roles in order to complete our task which is to go and make disciples
of all nations.
God uses every one of us. No one is unusable for God, but we cannot be usable just by saying so ourselves. We need to be obedient to, and be equipped by God. We do not serve after we are fully equipped, but we are being equipped
as we serve. Our life and knowledge will grow as we serve.
Jordan River so fiercely flowing in front of Joshua, but the Israelis can cross it as if walking on dry land because of their faith. May God help us to receive visions from Him. May we not
only listen to the words of God, but also do as He commands so that we can all influence others with our lives wherever we go.
God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. So we must all go to win over one more soul for
the Lord.
There are three events in the Bible that involved great amount of water. In Genesis, God removed all
the nonbelievers and old creations with a flood, except those lives in Noah’s ark. The ark represents the church. We should all believe in God, and lead people into the ark, which is the church. In Exodus, God sent Moses to lead His people out of Egypt.
God then drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Egypt represents the world. We have left the world that is full of sins due to God’s salvation. When we make attempt to leave the world, the world will chase us like the Egyptian army that chased the
Israelis. The world will not let us go so easily, but God will destroy our enemy with the water of the Red Sea. The third event that involved a great deal of water is documented in Joshua. After Moses, Joshua continued to lead the Israelis, and this time God
showed us that He wants us to cross the Jordan River in our lives to removed our old selves. We have to lay down of our old perceptions and old ways of thinking, and we need to see people and things through the eyes of God.
God had told Joshua,
from the first chapter of Joshua, to rise. Have you heard God’s calling for you to rise up? Get equipped, get ready to serve, and be prepared to cross the Jordan River! If we go to church just to sit there and listen to the preaches, and if we do not
practice what we hear, we could not experience God or establish a relationship with Him. Even if we have gone to church for years, and we may be seniors on the outside, our lives would still be like that of a child if we do not take actions about what we have
been preached. Joshua knew the law, and he understood God’s principle, because he was Moses aid for a long time. Joshua was trained and equipped, so when God told him to rise, he could stand up and lead the Israelis with wisdom.
We may be
afraid when we come to the billowy Jordan River, however, God does not ask us to cross the river alone. God commanded that the Ark of the Covenant cross the river first, which shows us that God is always ahead of us. Each one of us is the carrier of the Ark
of the Covenant today. When we follow the footsteps of God, we need to have the faith to cross the river, and we need to have faith in our leader. Remember that God has given leaders the authority to lead His people.
There are two kinds of God’s
works on us. The first one is visible, and the other is invisible. The Israelis took 12 stones to Gilgal in memory of God’s miracle; this is a visible work. When The Israelis were crossing the river, they also set up 12 stones at the spot where the priest
had stood; this is a invisible work because the stone were covered by water afterward. God’s influence on us can be both outwardly and inwardly. In many cases, the invisible works are more important than the visible ones.
We often ask, “is
God on my side?" or “Does it mean that God doesn’t love me if He is not on my side?" It is common that we pray and think in our own ways, but we seldom realize that our ways are often the wrong ways. Now, will you choose to be on God’s side?
Will you choose to stand by the Bible? Every decisions God makes for us can only be right and good for us. Although you may feel uncomfortable at first, but when you are willing to be on God’s side, you will find that the blessings are more than what
you’ve asked for or imagined.
Jericho is one of the oldest cities recorded in the history. It was really prosperous. When God led His people
into Canaan, He did not have them attack a little city at the beginning, instead, He started by His people a large city. From the scriptures, we learn that even the kings melted in fear. Those kings wasn’t afraid of the Israelis or of Joshua. What they
were afraid of was the God behind the Israelis.
When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sward in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?" This is
a common reaction for human. When we see other people, we usually start automatically analyzing, “are they with me? Or are they against me?" During the American Civil War, leaders of both North and South, Lincoln and General Lee, were Christians. It
goes without saying, the leaders of both sides prayed for the victory of their side. Yet, only one side could win, and God could not support and oppose the same thing simultaneously. One day, a reporter asked Lincoln, “Which side’s prayer would
God answer? Which side is God on?" Lincoln answered, " Don’t pray that God’s on our side, pray that we’re on his side." Dear brothers and sister, pray not God is on our side, but we are on God’s side! Remember that we all make mistakes,
but God is never wrong. God will fight for whoever is on His side.
In Genesis, God made a covenant with Abraham. Every man in Abraham’s household must be circumcised 8 days after their birth. Later, Jacob took 70 people to Egypt because of
a famine, and his offspring stayed in Egypt for 430 years. After that, God led His people out of Egypt and into the wilderness. They were in the wilderness for 40 years, and all men born during that time hadn’t been circumcised, so God asked that they
all be circumcised before they took Jericho. This may seem a strange order to man, because having a circumcision was very painful. It is recorded in Genesis 34 that Simeon and Levi tricked Shechem and Hamor into having circumcisions, and Simeon and Levi killed
every man in the city three days after their circumcisions, while they were still in pain. Now, in the face of such a powerful enemy, the Israelis had their circumcisions. What if the soldiers of Jericho attacked the Israelis while they are still in pain?
They would all be killed!
This is the lesson all God’s children should learn: do as God commands, and He will take full responsibility.
To have a circumcision is to remove our flesh. By removing our flesh means eliminating our strength,
talents, life, and self. Through his own method, Abraham had a child called Ishmael. However, Abraham had to remove his old self in order to have Isaac. Therefore, God had to teach the Israelis, before leading them into the Promised Land, that they should
rely on God, not on their own flesh or strength.
We are like rocks, and we need to be connected to the Lord in order to be built into a spiritual house. If we are not willing to lay ourselves down, and if we all held on to our insistence, we would
be like a pile of rubbles, and we would be nothing more than a ruin, not even close to a spiritual house!
Through Joshua 6, God shows us that the Israelis took
Jericho not by force, but by their praises toward God. In the troop of the Israelis, a group of honor guard was in the front of the line, followed by seven priests carrying trumpets of rams’ horns, and the Ark of the Covenant was at the back. Priests
were different from the Levites. Only people born in the household of Aaron can become priests. That is, priests had to be Levites, but Levites were not necessarily priests. Among so many priests, Joshua selected only 7 while the Israelis were marching around
the Jericho. It is not recorded in the Bible how these 7 priests were chosen. However, it reveals a Truth, that is, we need to obey God’s order.
During the first 6 days, the Israelis had to circle Jericho once each day. So many people in the
troop, only the 7 priests could blow the trumpets, and no one were allowed to talk. It must have been difficult for them to remain like this for 6 days. Therefore, we need persistence before we can see miracles. The same goes with the healing of Naaman’s
leprosy. In fact, we all have leprosy, which is the dark side we hide deep inside us so that others cannot see. Nevertheless, God knows everything. God asked Naaman to wash in Jordan River in front of everyone. Naaman had to reveal his uncleanness to the public.
When Naaman came up from the river the sixth time and his leprosy wasn’t healed, he could have lost his faith. In order to see the true miracle of God, we need to hold on to our faith till the end. Like Paul said, “We are hard pressed on every
side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." When Naaman came up from the river the seventh time, it is written in the Bible, “his flesh was restored and became clean like that
of a young boy." This is a miracle; “For He spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm." In men’s mind, healing takes place gradually and slowly, but for God, totally healing can take place instantly. This is how God works.
After six days of marching around Jericho, the Israelis received a different order on the seventh day. On that day, they had to circle the city for seven times. So the Israelis marched around Jericho 13 times in total. In the first six time, only the
7 priests can blow the horn, and others had to be quiet. On the seventh time, the priests blew the horn for a longer time, and when they did, all the Israelis had to shout. Shouting is not the same as calling out. Shouting requires loud voices. Like it is
written in Psalm 33, “Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy."
After the Israelis shouted, the city wall collapsed. God said to them that “only
Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared," and the rest must be destroyed. Rahab then went with the Israelis, and married Salmon. Rahab gave birth to Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of King David.
This woman who was about to be destroyed, became the great great grandmother of King David. This is the grace of God! We are all sinners who are about to perish, but we become the decedents of Abraham and God’s children because of our faith. Our identity
has changed, we once walked toward hell, but now we are blessed sinners. These are all through the grace of God!
God is love, but He is also fire. In Joshua 7, Achan was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things, and was stoned to death. He only took a robe, two hundred shekels of silver,
and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekel, did he deserve to die? Why was God so harsh on him? We need to know that Achan’s sin was not in taking those things but in disobeying God. In a crucial time of an era, God has to be very strict and precise in
executing His orders. His principles must be observed with extra care in such a critical moment. This is like an army that is engaging in a war; in such a crucial moment, every order must be strictly obeyed.
Let us look back to Joshua 6. In that
chapter, the Israelites took down the most powerful city in the land of Canaan, Jericho. In fact, we all have to face our enemies and different difficulties, just like the powerful Jericho. The difficulties can be the weakness of our flesh. Our body is our
life, which should be good. However, because of the disobedience of man, sin came into our flesh. Our difficulties can also come from our families, neighbors, or bosses, but there would be only one or two real problems to be dealt with. The Israelites’
taking down of Jericho symbolizes that God wants us to deal with the most serious and difficult problems in our lives. When we solve the core issues in our lives, other minor problems will also be solved. Even though our bodies will deteriorate gradually,
but our spirit will become stronger because of God. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Nothing is impossible for God.
In Joshua 7, the Israelites attacked Ai, but they failed to take it down. It was because
they underestimated the enemy. Comparing to Jericho, Ai was indeed a small city, but pride goes before a fall. The Israelites sent only 2000-3000 people out to take the city; they underestimated their enemy, so they failed. The second reason for the failure
of the Israelites was that they ignored God. They forgot how they took down Jericho through the power of God, and they didn’t pray to God before they set out to take Ai.
People from Ai killed 36 Israelites, at this the hearts of the Israelites
melted in fear and became like water. Joshua cried to God, and God told him that they were defeated because the Israel had sinned and disobeyed God’s command; they took things they should not have taken. The Israelites must consecrate themselves and
remove the devoted things among them, otherwise God would not be with them anymore and they would not be able to stand against their enemies.
In this chapter, we learn that we need to repent and consecrate ourselves. We also learn that we should
not be proud and underestimate our enemies. We should always stand in awe of God and pray to Him. We should take God’s words as food. We should gradually equip ourselves, and train ourselves step by step. We all have different gifts, in a sense, we are
like different kinds of vessels, but we will all be used by God. People will know God through you; if we take our belief and service to God seriously, people will see our good behaviors and follow us to God.
" Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai…." At the beginning of Joshua 8, God told Joshua who had torn his clothes and sprinkled dust on
his head to rise up from the failure of the war. In fact, God asks us to do everything we do. It doesn’t matter if we fall; the important thing is to get up again. It doesn’t matter how we fall; the important thing is how to get up again.
There are several reasons for Israelites’ failure to take Ai: 1, They disobeyed God. 2, They underestimated their enemy. 3, they sinned against God. Joshua and the Israelites confessed their sin and repented. They learned the lesson and turned
the negativity to positivity, and this was laid the foundation for their success of taking Ai. God said to Joshua, " I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land." So Joshua reorganized his army, and marched to Ai with
faith and hope. Joshua listened to the words of God, and he received them with faith.
Today, God also speaks to us, “Go and make disciples of all nations. Be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Have we heard what God said? God wants us to spread the Gospel, starting from Jerusalem. Jerusalem represents our families which is closest to us. Is there any non-believer in your family? Are you taking their lives seriously? Are you working hard enough to
take them to Jesus? Have you ever shed tears of worry for them? Do you just let be, even if they still don’t believe in Jesus.
Because of his faith in God, Joshua led his army to fight again. This time, Joshua had a very wise strategy; he
had his people ambushed behind the city. At the front Joshua’s people faked a defeat and ran away. When the people from Ai chased after the Israelites, those who ambushed behind the city came forth and attacked the people from Ai, and the Israelites
killed all of their enemies. Not even one was left.
Why was God so cruel and asked the Israelites to kill everyone from Ai? Actually, God has already given them 800 years! From the time when God called Abraham to the time when Joshua led his army
to fight for the Promised Land, 800 years has passed. God has given enough time to the sinful people of Canaan to repent. However, they did not confess their sin, nor did they repent, that is why God had to wipe them out. God is a consuming fire, which cannot
be mocked!
The scrolls is about to be unfolded. Those whose name is not on the book of life will be damned forever in exactly the same way Ai was destroyed. Our lives come from God, and so He has the sovereignty, and he can take our lives away anytime
he wants. There is nothing unfair to it. If you think God is harsh and strict, you should be worried for the lives of your families who still do not believe in God. While there is still time, weep and pray for your family members who still do not belong to
Jesus so that they can turn to God.
One sister once said, “I have to influence in my family. I am not like a son, nor am I married to a rich man. My family would never listen to me. If I had married to the richest person, I would have had
power over my family, and they would have listened to me and gone to church." Actually, what she said is not true. If we act out of God’s love, we would show God’s glory, and people would see God through us. If so, people will believe in our Lord
Jesus. Don’t underestimate your power. God loves us all. God has chosen us, and He wants us to spread the Gospel to our family that we love as well.
When Joshua led the Israelites to take Jericho, they won the war simply by praising God. However, a little
strategy was used when the Israelites took Ai. We can see that sometimes God allows us to use our means as well. Sometimes God cures people only with His words, but God also cures people through actions. For example, Jesus made mud with his saliva and put
it on the blind man’s eyes, and Jesus asked the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam. Our God is not like the other idols, and Christianity is not the same as other traditional religions in Taiwan. Our God doesn’t have to work through certain rituals;
He is very flexible. God can work in many different ways. God allowed people of Gibeon to use trick to protect their lives, because He is full of love and mercy.
Why was God so cruel to the people in Canaan? In Deuteronomy 21, God commanded Joshua
not to leave alive anything that breathes, including the Girgashites mentioned in Deuteronomy 7. God asked Joshua to do this because He wanted to protect the Israelites from the idols and sins of the Gentiles. If the people of Canaan were left alive, they
would led the Israelites away from God. In fact, God had been very patient with the Canaanites; from the time Abraham left Ur at the age of 75 to the time when Joshua came, God has given the Canaanites at least 685 years to repent, but they did not seize the
chance.
Pride is the most difficult thing to deal with. It is common for people to be unwilling to believe in God’s righteousness, or to think that they do not need God because they consider themselves gods. Righteousness for man is to see
themselves as above everything, but righteousness for God is to believe in His plan with pure faith. So as to let us understand Him and to let us know His will and purpose for us, God allows us to know His heart, which is why we have the Bible. Man like to
rationalize everything, but there are so many things in the Bible that cannot be rationalized. All we can do is to obey God’s words. When there are things we don’t understand, we just need to trust God. Pure faith will lead us to God’s blessings.
Christians believe that God has a plan for everything, because God controls all things. Therefore, no matter if we encounter good or bad things, they are all in God’s hand, and nothing happens coincidentally. All things God works for the good of
those who love him, so we should give thanks to and praise God for everything at all times. By doing so, you surely will witness a changed life, because you will know for certain that God has control of all things. The ruse of the Gibeon succeeded, but it
wasn’t an accident; it was permitted by God. Throughout all Canaan, only the Gibeon and Rahab’s family were spared because they believed in God after hearing about Him. Christians are also sinners who were once damned, but now they will receive
a hundred times as much as what give to Christ in this present age, and they will receive eternal life in the age to come; all these just because of their faith in God.
God’s predestination for you will create a different life for you because
of your conscientiousness.
Many people may ask, “why was God so cruel to the five Amorite kings but so kind to the Israelites?”
Actually, God has given the Canaanites sufficient time to repent; however, they did not turn towards God. While reading the Bible, we should not interpret out of, but within, context; who, when, where, what, why, are all important elements. When we read the
Bible closely, we would find that God does things in very different patterns from ours. Therefore, we should not use our limited knowledge and wisdom to judge the way of God. God is kind, loving and forgiving, but He is also a consuming fire. Let’s hope
that when the judgement day comes, we are not among those who regret. Let us try as hard as we can to spread the Gospel among our families; otherwise, when the gate closes, all those nonbelievers will be like the Canaanites; they will lost their chance of
being saved.
We spread the Gospel not only by our words, but also by the changes in our lives. If a man is familiar with the Bible but does not evangelize or bear any fruit, he may become condemning and judgmental, yet without life of Jesus Christ;
he can easily become a Pharisee.
Satan knows the power of God best, but He chose to disobey God. What makes us different from the devil is that we know God, and we choose to revere and obey Him.
When we accept Jesus and become part of His
family, our identity was changed. While the world is cursed, we are all blessed become of God’s protection. We were sinners walking toward destruction, but because of our faith, we are now blessed sinners.
After God changes our lives, we should
all sow the seed. The seed is the word of God; we cannot say whatever we want. We need to study and understand God’s word. Reading the Bible and getting some training can help us understand when to speak and how to sow the seed in the right place. When
the seed fall on good soil, it will yield a hundred time what was sown.
When Joshua rose up and act, God said to him, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” God helped
Joshua and put his enemies under his feet. Because Joshua was obedient toward God and followed God’s every command, the Lord fought for the Israelites. If we do not obey Him, God will not fight for us. Dear brothers and sister, let us rise up and act,
so that the almighty God will fight the war for us.