This evening we are picking up our journey through the Old Testament. At the end of the last series we left Moses and the people of God, having been rescued from Egypt, setting out into the desert. They had received the provision of manna, food from heaven, the beginnings of the law, and instructions for making the tent of meeting and how their spiritual life was to be shaped as they headed for the promised land. But, they’d not made a great start. Moses had headed up the mountain to receive the commandments, and the people had become impatient waiting for him. They’d made a golden calf to worship, already turning away from the God who had delivered them.
Since then, they’d crossed the desert, led by pillars of cloud and fire sent by God, towards the promised land. They’d sent spies to scope it out, spies who had returned and reported the great fruitfulness of the land, but also the strength of the peoples who already lived in it. Ten of the spies recommended that the people turned back, it was not possible to take this land. Two of the spies said that they should go ahead and trust God to give the land to them, as had been promised to their ancestor Abraham all those centuries ago. The two spies were called Joshua and Caleb. But the people were afraid, and did not listen to Joshua and Caleb, they turned back into the desert. They were afraid and didn’t trust God to be a promise keeper. So, God told them that they would perish in the desert, and that he would bring them back to the Promised Land when the next generation grew up, and were willing to trust God.
As the people wandered around the desert, they came to a place called Meribah, and they ran out of water. They and their animals were at risk of dying. The people began to complain against Moses, again, for having led them out of Egypt, which in their memory was a great place with plenty of food and water, and into this God forsaken desert. God took pity on them and told Moses to “Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.”
Moses approached the rock and said “Listen you rebels, must we bring you water our of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out.”
But God had not told Moses to hit the rock, God had instructed Moses to speak to it. It might not seem much of a difference, but God could see Moses’ heart, and God said to him, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
So, it was with this recent history of fear and a lack of trust in God’s promises that we pick up the story this evening at the end of the book of Deuteronomy. This is why Moses did not get to enter the land that had been promised, but God does allow him to see it. With the death of Moses, arguably the greatest leader of God’s people, there is a need for a new leader, and who better than one of those faithful and trusting spies, a man who had been Moses assistant for many years, Joshua, son of Nun.
As the book of Deuteronomy ends, so does the Torah, the five books of Moses, that contain the origins and laws of the Jewish people. As we begin Joshua we move into the histories, the accounts of the fulfilment of the promise of a land for the people made by God in Genesis and the way in which the people lived out, or didn’t, the commandments they received in those books.
The first section, verses 1-6 does contain a couple of instructions, namely that they are now to get ready to cross the Jordan to enter the land, and that Joshua is to be strong and courageous. But, mostly this first section is taken up with promises and commitments that God makes to Joshua and the people.
I am about to give them.
I will give you every place you set your foot.
Your territory will extend from here to there
No-one will be able to stand against you
I will be with you,
I will never leave you or forsake you
These promises and commitments are not new. God promised the land to Abraham right back early in the Genesis narrative. God promised Moses that God would go with the people. They are, however a reminder, a restatement of God’s faithfulness and promise keeping nature. God keeps commitments, even though people are faithless and flaky, God’s word does not return to God empty, but achieves that for which it was sent out.
It seems to me, though, that there are two types of promise and commitment here. One type is situation specific, and one isn’t. So, for instance, the promise to Joshua that God would give them every place that they would set their feet, and the extent of the territory were context specific. They were particular commitments to Joshua and the people, in line with the promises made by God previously, about that land. This means that we have to be careful about reading this and applying it to other contexts. Just because God promised this to Joshua does not mean that God will give us every place we set our feet. Sometimes God may tell us this, but we cannot read it directly out of this Scripture, whatever our fridge magnet might tell us.
On the other hand, I do think that the promises that God will be with Joshua, and will never leave or forsake him are universal promises that God makes to all God’s people. This promise isn’t rooted in the specific circumstance, but in God’s nature – this is what God is like – God sticks with people. When Jesus was born he was called Emmanuel, God is with us, because this is intrinsic to God’s nature. God abides, is with us, does not desert us. You can keep that fridge magnet.
As far as the book of Joshua is concerned, that important thing to see here is that the promises of God come first. There are instructions to follow, and the people do have to do their bit, but fundamentally everything that follows happens because God promises that it will. Having got that foundation in place, that the promises of God are primary, we can then have a look at the instructions which we find mostly in verses 7-9.
The first of these picks up one of those instructions from the first few verses, and then repeats it, with minor variants. Be strong and courageous. Be strong and very courageous. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Are you getting the general idea? Given that we know that Joshua was one of the only two men who demonstrated the courage and trust to advocate going into the land all those years ago, this might seem a little unfair.
So, it seems to me that this must have been not just for Joshua, but for the whole people. Up until now they have not shown a great deal of strength or courage. Last time they were here on the border of the promised land they were afraid and went away again. On their journeys they have not shown fortitude, but have grumbled and wished they were back in Egypt. Now it is time to put that behind them and go forward with strength and courage.
In the middle of these exhortations to strength and courage, we get a focussing on the importance of obedience to the law of Moses. The “Book of the Law” referred to in verse nine is probably parts of Deuteronomy that Moses had either passed on verbally, had written himself, or caused to be written. There is a transition between the first five books of the Bible and the histories to come, but there is also a strong sense of continuity in the promises of God and in the commandments of God that the people are to live by. They are not just to live by them, but they are to read them, reflect on them, to meditate on them.
As Christians we live under the new covenant, and are no longer under law, so we might wonder what this has to say to us. Two things, it seems to me. Firstly is the general principle that the whole Bible is the Word of God to us, so we should treat the whole library as Joshua was commanded to treat the first five books. Spend time with it on our lips, in our minds, shaping our hearts. Secondly, all the law in Deuteronomy provides worked examples of what it means to live out in practice the heart commandments to love God with all your heart and soul and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself. The way in which we do that in our lives might look different, but reflecting on how God’s people were commanded to do this in their context can be instructive.
Having given the instructions, the last phrase of our reading returns to the promise – I will be with you where ever you go. Matthew records that this promise was made again by Jesus to his disciples as he prepared to return to heaven following his death and resurrection. In Luke’s account, which we read tonight, we don’t have this promise specifically, but we do have the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the fulfilment of the promise of presence to the disciples and to us. Tonight we have read from the law of Moses and from the Prophets, both of which point to Jesus. We heard about one hand over, from Moses to Joshua. In Luke we read about another handover, from Jesus to us. The commands from the first hold for the second: be strong and courageous; dwell in the Word. More importantly, though, so does God’s promise. “I will be with you always.”
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