Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002705
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00:09 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated the world veiled in darkness and confusion about the 00:16 character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:23 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel with 00:27 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:37 Good morning Central family. I want to greet all of our 00:43 visitors and wish you all a very happy Sabbath day and we're very 00:47 thankful that you are here worshipping with us today. 00:53 This week as I was preparing for today's message I actually had 01:02 something different planned earlier in the week that I've 01:06 reserved it and God willing in the future I'll complete that 01:12 message. But I felt impressed and I was praying as I often do. 01:17 I sit there at my computer and I've got Bible around me, a lot 01:22 Bible resourced on my computer and I was saying Lord this is a 01:26 frightening responsibility, it's an awesome responsibility to 01:30 stand before these people and to try to be a conduit through 01:33 which, Lord, you are going to speak to these people. What do 01:37 you want to say? I always have ideas of things that are 01:40 interesting to me but it may not be what you want to say, Lord. 01:44 And it was amazing how quickly and how directly God impressed 01:48 with the subject. It was totally different. And the more I delved 01:52 into the subject the more I became convinced, this is really 01:55 something God wants us to consider. And the subject is 01:59 dealing with a great character in the Bible that I've never 02:04 really done a series on by the name of Joshua. The message this 02:08 morning will probably only be the first part which could end 02:12 up being two or three parts depending on how long I 02:16 elaborate really. Dealing with the subject of Joshua: A 02:20 Courageous Heart. This is one of the great characters in the 02:28 Bible. The name Joshua means Jehovah is salvation or Jehovah 02:34 or Yahweh Saves. His name is the name of Jesus. As a matter of 02:39 fact the first time you find the name of Jesus in the Bible is 02:43 in association with the character we're going to study. 02:46 So that's important. Keep in mind the New Testament is Greek, 02:51 the Old Testament Hebrew. The New Testament or Greek way of 02:56 saying Joshua, well the Hebrew way is Ya-shoo-ah. The Greek 03:00 translation of that is Jesus. That's where we get the name 03:03 Jesus. When the angel spoke to Mary and said you will call his 03:07 name Jesus, the angel told Joseph you will call his name 03:11 Jesus, the angel didn't say Jesus. He said you will call his 03:15 name Joshua for he will save his people from their sins. His name 03:18 means Jehovah is Salvation. Another reason I thought it was 03:22 a good idea to study the character of Joshua is he's a 03:26 great pattern for our lives in that Joshua is one of the few 03:31 who made it all the way from Egypt to the promised land. Most 03:34 of them perished in the wilderness. I would like to make 03:38 it all the way to the promised land from the slavery of Egypt. 03:42 How about you? So I thought this would be a good study for us. 03:46 Now I'm a history buff, one of the few subjects I did well at 03:51 in school. Let me ask you all a question, test your history 03:56 knowledge. Who was the first one to circumnavigate the globe? 04:01 Magellan. How many agree? Mistaken. That's not his name. 04:10 Mistaken is not his name. I'm just saying Magellan is not the 04:16 one. It was actually the captain of Magellan by the name of Juan 04:23 Sebastian El Cano. You see Magellan is the one who 04:27 assembled the team of five ships 270 men. Had a lot of adventures 04:33 tried to find the Spice Islands, went around what ended up being 04:37 the Cape of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego. You know how it got the 04:42 name Tierra del Fuego? As they were going around the South 04:45 American coast they saw all these Indian tribes with camp 04:48 fires and they said it's the land of fire because at night 04:52 could see fires burning all along the shore. But Magellan 04:55 died in the Philippines. Got involved in a local dispute he 04:58 should have stayed out of and got killed in the battle. He did 05:02 not complete the trip. The one who made the trip all the way 05:06 was only one of his five captains and it was Juan 05:09 Sebastian El Cano. Matter of fact out of the 270 men and five 05:15 ships three years later, 48,000 miles later, they didn't make a 05:21 direct route as you can tell, only 18 men and one ship made it 05:27 back. Thought that you'd find that interesting. When people 05:31 talk about who led the children of Israel from Egypt to the 05:35 promised land we always say Moses. Moses actually didn't 05:39 make it. The one who made it the whole way is our hero, Joshua. 05:45 So I thought we'd take some time to look at this neglected hero. 05:50 Another reason I think it's so very important is not only does 05:55 he have the same name as our Savior, his name was Jesus in 06:00 Greek, Joshua same name. He's called Joshua the son of Nun. 06:06 That sounds like how could anyone be the son of none. 06:10 That's another prophetic meaning in English anyway. But the word 06:15 Nun means perpetuity, continual or eternal. So here you have 06:21 someone who's got the name of Jesus, the son of the Eternal. 06:25 Furthermore who here knows the name of Joshua's wife? Anybody? 06:30 What was the name of Moses' wife? Ziporah. And Joshua's wife 06:36 was, and his children's names were. It tells us who he's the 06:41 son of. I called a theologian yesterday just to double check. 06:47 But I said I can't find any descendants of Joshua. It stops 06:52 there. He evidently never married. His whole life was 06:55 dedicated in the service of God and Moses and God's people. 07:00 Something like Jesus, married to the church. So he's a type of 07:03 Christ and he's also a pattern for us. Of course, ultimately 07:08 Jesus is our pattern. Amen? Something of a neglected hero 07:11 that we find in the Old Testament and as I began to look 07:15 at all the adventures and miracles and the experiences of 07:19 Joshua I thought ah this is going to be more than one 07:22 message. So let's get started. The first time his name appears 07:26 it appears in the context of a general. Let me give you the 07:31 background. He's the first general in the Bible. 07:34 The children of Israel when they first went through the Red Sea 07:37 got to the other side, celebrated. They sang the 07:41 praises. The Lord had destroyed the Egyptians behind them. 07:45 But as they began their journey it's hard to hide a nation of 07:49 one and a half to three million people wandering through the 07:54 desert. There was a very fierce and warlike tribe, actually a 07:58 series of tribes that lived in the deserts there around the 08:02 Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia called the Amalekites. They were 08:07 the constant enemies of God's people. Matter of fact, you can 08:11 trace the animosity from the Amalekites to God's people all 08:14 the way to the book of Esther where you've got someone by 08:18 the name of Haman who is an Agagite who was the king of the 08:21 Amalekites. All the way to the book of Esther they're trying to 08:25 exterminate the children of Israel. The Amalekites when they 08:29 saw the children of Israel going through the wilderness the Bible 08:32 says that the old, the aged, the weak they were the ones who 08:36 usually were in the rear. And the Amalekites began to attack 08:40 the children of Israel on the rear flanks of their procession 08:44 and to take advantage of those who were sick, those who were 08:48 old, those who were weak and to slaughter them, to plunder 08:51 them. And when Moses saw what was happening he appointed 08:55 the first general and let's read it here out of the Bible. 09:00 Exodus 17 verse 9: And Moses said to Joshua, bingo his name 09:04 appears, no background to tell us. We've got other things in 09:08 the Bible that give us some background, but this is the 09:10 first appearance of the name of Jesus in the Bible. It's in the 09:14 context of a deliverer. He is saving them from the Amalekites 09:18 who are like the devil and his minions. He said, choose us some 09:23 men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on 09:29 top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. Now Joshua 09:34 assembled a group of what he thought were capable men. Keep 09:38 in mind how big an army did Israel have when they came out 09:43 of Egypt? They had no army. They had been slaves. There were none 09:47 of them that were trained for war. I mean, there may have been 09:51 some that had some experience because of the masters they 09:54 served in Egypt but for the most part they made brick. They were 09:57 artisans. All of a sudden now they've got to be soldiers. 10:02 And so Joshua has to assemble men who he thought had some of 10:06 the raw materials to be soldiers and they armed them with the... 10:10 what do you have? Maybe they took a few Egyptian swords that 10:14 washed up, no swords don't float do they? I don't know where they 10:17 got them but maybe they got some swords. Maybe they had their 10:20 shepherds crooks. Who knows? But they took some of their farm 10:23 implements and they were to go fight against this warlike 10:27 desert people. And Moses said I'll be up on the mountain. 10:31 So the next day they were engaged in battle in the valley. 10:35 Moses up on the mountain. He's got the rod of God in his hand. 10:39 His hands are stretched out and he's interceding. As long as 10:42 Joshua and the soldiers of God could see Moses on the mountain 10:46 interceding with his hands stretched out, the battle began 10:49 to go in their favor. But as the day went on, Moses is 80-plus 10:53 years old now. His arms were getting tired and his arms began 10:56 to drop. Whenever I read this story in the Bible I think about 10:59 how they punished us in military school. When we 11:02 misbehaved in military school we used to have to stand and 11:06 hold our arms up. You can only do that so long. Try and do it 11:10 for 15 minutes. You'd be surprised how heavy your arms 11:13 get just after 15 minutes. It wasn't long into the battle when 11:17 Old Moses realized... Especially he's holding the rod of God too. 11:20 I don't know how heavy that was. And his arms were starting to go 11:24 down and just as his arms go down they start losing the 11:27 battle. So he fights his arms back up again and they start 11:29 to win and then his arms go down. Can you imagine the 11:34 pressure? You know, when you lower your arms people die. 11:38 And so pretty soon, his brother Aaron and Hur, we don't know 11:42 what his background is, they come and they get on the right 11:45 and left of Moses and they prop up his arms. They sat Moses down 11:49 on a rock so he could rest. And he's got his arms stretched out. 11:52 Probably his fingers turned white by the end of the day 11:54 because there's no circulation. About the going down of the sun 11:59 they gained the victory. Joshua was down there fighting. You've 12:04 got basically this trinity that they are looking up to and when 12:09 they could see them interceding the win. Moses, Aaron and Hur. 12:14 Sitting on a rock, the symbol of Christ, arms stretched out a 12:18 symbol of the cross. Didn't Jesus say to Peter when you're 12:22 young you gird yourself and went where you wished, but when you 12:25 old another will gird and you will stretch forth your hands. 12:29 How did Samson die? The last thing he did is he stretched out 12:33 his arms to deliver God's people from their enemies. And so here 12:37 you've got the first picture of Joshua as the one who led them 12:41 to victory. They got the victory as long as they could see up 12:46 in the mountain Moses interceding in their behalf. 12:49 How do we get the victory against our enemy? We've got to 12:53 know that we can come boldly before the throne. That we look 12:57 up. Jesus said if I am lifted up I will draw all men unto me. 13:01 So here Moses is a type of Christ. Joshua is the general. 13:04 And so he led them into victory. Now it's interesting that he 13:08 went into battle and as you read the different battles of Joshua 13:12 in the Bible he knew how to combine brilliant strategy with 13:17 trust in divine power. It's interesting that as you look at 13:21 of the great generals in history most of the great generals also 13:25 believed in divine aid. Not too many good generals, even 13:30 Napoleon, believe in divine aid. Alexander the Great believed in 13:34 divine aid. You find out also that Joshua has a servant's 13:39 heart. Even though he is a victorious general he had the 13:44 heart of a servant. You notice in Exodus 24 verse 13 it says 13:50 And Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and Moses went 13:55 up the mountain of God. Now I'll talk more about that in a minute 14:00 If you read in numbers 11 verse 28 and 29 and this is from the 14:03 New American Standard Bible. I chose that because it really 14:07 does give a different meaning here. Joshua the son of Nun, the 14:12 attendant of Moses from his youth. Now as near as we can 14:16 figure based on all the times when you add them up during the 14:20 Exodus in the book of Joshua, Joshua was somewhere around 14:23 38 to 40 years of age during the plagues of Egypt. You weren't 14:28 considered an old man in Israel until you got to 50. Before 50 14:33 you were still a young man. Quite frankly I hate to explode 14:38 some of our concepts but when it talks about David going against 14:42 Goliath and it says that he was a youth, he could have been 25. 14:47 You weren't considered a man until you were 30 to 40 years of 14:52 age. You were still considered a young man until you were 50. 14:57 Keep in mind Aaron lived to 123, Moses 120, Miriam about 124. 15:03 They lived a long time back then. This is in the age of the 15:08 patriarchs. It says he was the servant of Moses from his youth. 15:12 Well obviously he didn't know Moses when he was in Midian. 15:16 Probably what happened, and you've just got to piece this 15:19 together and get some of the different commentators on this 15:22 subject, when Moses first showed up and he began to meet with 15:25 Israel before he went to Pharaoh somebody was going back and 15:28 forth quite a bit between the Pharaoh and Moses who knew where 15:32 Moses was. In the same way that Elijah had his Elisha, even 15:36 Elisha had his Gehazi, a lot of these men of God had attendants. 15:40 People who were their messengers they were their servants. 15:45 As soon as Moses showed up right there at his right hand someone 15:50 was assigned to him and that was Joshua. Joshua was assigned 15:54 he chose or volunteered, we don't know how it happened, to 15:58 be the attendant of Moses. And I want you to picture this now. 16:02 When Moses and Aaron go into the Pharaoh and they had all these 16:06 different exchanges there in the palace, there may have been 16:09 someone else that was at his side during that time and when 16:12 Moses was summoned the Pharaoh said get Joshua and go find 16:15 Moses. Bring him back to take care of these plagues. And I 16:18 think Joshua there must have been there for Moses' first 16:21 ministry as the redeemer because it says he was the servant of 16:25 Moses from his youth, meaning that from the beginning of 16:29 Moses' ministry Joshua was there at his side. We don't know 16:33 exactly how long the time was when the plagues fell, but I 16:37 just want you to picture Joshua was there. He was happy to 16:41 serve Moses. He went up the mountain with Moses. Now this is 16:45 significant because when God is ready to give the 10 16:47 commandments to the children of Israel he specifically says 16:53 nobody is to come near the mountain. It is the holy 16:55 mountain of God. If an animal touches the mountain, the animal 16:59 was to be executed but there were a couple of exceptions. 17:04 Moses was one exception. He went not only to touch the mountain, 17:08 went up the mountain. Who else went up the mountain with Moses? 17:11 Joshua did. He had special exposure, you might say, to the 17:16 presence of God that others did not have. I read this to you 17:21 before; Moses arose with his assistant, Joshua, and went up 17:26 the mountain of God. You can also read Exodus 32 verse 17: 17:31 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted he 17:36 said to Moses there is a noise of war in the camp. Joshua was 17:39 not down in the valley when they built the golden calf. He didn't 17:43 know what was going on down there. Why? Because he was still 17:45 up the mountain with Moses. How many of you have that picture 17:48 in your mind, you realize that? Now how did he stay up the 17:51 mountain 40 days and 40 nights with no food. It's possible that 17:56 Joshua went up the mountain with Moses when Moses went to meet 18:01 God and made periodic trips down to get provisions and went back 18:05 up and he waited. He may have walked right up into the glory 18:09 there and seen the glory of God on the mountain. And can you 18:14 imagine what a sight that was? He cherished that. So here 18:18 Joshua is sort of a go-between between Moses and the people. 18:24 What is our Joshua? Isn't our Jesus the bridge? Jesus is the 18:29 ladder between heaven and earth. Jesus said to Nathaniel, 18:34 hereafter you will see angels of God ascending and descending on 18:37 the Son of Man. I think during that 40 days I don't think he 18:40 camped out right there hiding behind a rock waiting for Moses 18:43 to reappear on the trail. I think periodically he went back 18:47 down and he said he's still in the cloud but I'm going back up. 18:50 He'd go back up. He'd wait for him. A few days later he'd come 18:53 down. He's still in the cloud. Hang in there. And go back up. 18:55 Well one of these time while he was still up the mountain, he 18:58 might have taken provisions with him, they got tired of waiting 19:02 for Moses didn't they and they made a golden calf. Joshua had 19:05 nothing to do with that. That's good to know. You'll find there 19:08 is no example in the Bible of Joshua sinning. There are 19:12 examples in the Bible where people deceived Joshua. That's 19:16 different isn't it. But he was faithful. When he knew what was 19:20 right he did what was right. So he's up on the mountain, they're 19:25 making a golden calf. After they make the golden calf, and isn't 19:28 it sad. Moses was just getting ready to come back and they just 19:33 got tired of waiting. I talked about this a little last week. 19:38 They took their jewelry, they made a god, it says they 19:44 worshipped. Then they ate and drank, had a potluck after the 19:49 worship. Nothing wrong with that right? Then they rose up to play 19:54 and it got out of hand evidently They had a social and it got out 19:59 of hand. They not only had the worship and the potluck, then 20:02 they had the social and by the end of the social they were 20:06 naked. That's what it says. And they're having a party down 20:10 there, and it's loud. Matter of fact it's so loud Joshua who had 20:15 evidently had some experience in war, he finally sees Moses 20:17 coming out of the cloud, his face is glowing, he's got the 10 20:20 commandments and Joshua says boy I'm glad you're here. You're 20:23 just in time. Sounds like we're being attacked. There's a war in 20:26 the camp. Well God had already told Moses what was going on. 20:28 He said you better get back down there. The people have corrupted 20:32 themselves. They had begun to worship like the Egyptians just 20:37 before Moses came back. Now this is a little side track but I 20:41 can't miss this opportunity to remind you. The devil has not 20:47 changed. Our Jesus is about to return and in the same way Moses 20:53 and Joshua came down the mountain, here Moses was almost 20:56 a type of the Father. Christ is coming in the glory of the 20:58 Father isn't he? Moses came down the mountain with the glory of 21:02 God, the law of God and Joshua by his side. That's how our 21:07 Joshua is coming back. But when they came, what happened to 21:11 his people? They had begun to worship like the pagans and it 21:16 sounded like the sound of war in the camp. You remember what 21:19 Moses said? Now I'm paraphrasing because we have a lot to cover 21:22 this morning. Moses with a breaking heart said to Joshua 21:26 That is not the sound of those who are crying for being 21:30 overcome that you hear. Neither is it the sound of those who 21:33 shout because of gaining the victory, but it is the sound of 21:38 those who sing, sing as in drunken sounds. They're having 21:43 a party. So they come back down the mountain and of course Moses 21:46 cast the 10 commandments out of his hand and they crushed the 21:49 golden calf and made the people drink it. He had to go back up 21:52 the mountain to get another transcript. The first time God 21:56 cut the stones. The second time said, I cut the first ones, you 22:00 cut these. But God wrote with his finger on both didn't he? 22:04 Who do you think went back up with him the second time? 22:07 Joshua went back up there with him. He was happy to be a 22:10 servant of Moses. Just to be in the presence of the aura of God 22:15 was a privilege for him. He had a devoted heart. Joshua had a 22:20 devoted heart. Here is something that I never caught before until 22:24 I began to study this story of Joshua. Exodus 33:10 and 11; 22:28 God is speaking to Moses at the tabernacle. The tabernacle is 22:32 built at this point. The ark is built. And all the people saw 22:37 the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door and all the 22:41 people rose up and they worshipped. The glory of God is 22:44 rising up above the tabernacle and all the people rose out of 22:49 respect for the presence of God, every man in his tent door, 22:54 probably with their heads bowed, and the Lord spoke unto Moses 22:58 face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Notices this: And he 23:03 turned again into the camp. Moses leaves the tabernacle 23:06 after ministering or meeting with God. He goes into the camp 23:11 but, you got your Bibles open, his servant Joshua, the son of 23:15 Nun, a young man would not depart from the tabernacle. 23:20 I like that. How many people are looking at their watch as church 23:25 cranks to a conclusion saying how much longer? I think we need 23:29 more young people like Joshua in the church who want to bask in 23:32 the presence of God. They want more of God. Even after Moses 23:37 left the service he said I'm going to stay. I just, the glory 23:40 of God, I want to be in the presence of God. He wanted to be 23:44 up on the mountain with God. His desire was to be in the presence 23:47 of God. He wanted to come to the tabernacle and didn't want to 23:51 rush out. I thought that was interesting. But his servant 23:55 Joshua, the son of Nun, the young man, he would not depart. 23:58 I can just picture Moses saying all right I've got a message for 24:02 the people Joshua. Joshua. And Joshua was going go ahead, I'll 24:06 stay right here. Just wanted the glory of God, wanted to be in 24:10 the presence of God. I want to have that experience, don't you? 24:14 He had a devoted heart. Sometimes his devotion maybe 24:18 seemed a little bit maybe even fanatical. When Moses realized 24:23 that he could not administer this great people, his father- 24:27 in-law, Jethro, said look you need to delegate. And God said 24:30 I'm going to take some of the Spirit that I've given you Moses 24:33 I'm going to give it to some elders. I want you to pick out 24:35 the 70 elders. And he picked the 70 elders, told him bring them 24:38 to the tabernacle and I'll take the Spirit from you and put it 24:44 on them. But two of them didn't show up. Eldad and Medad, for 24:47 whatever reason. Maybe they didn't feel worthy. When they 24:51 were called to the tabernacle they didn't come. And the Holy 24:55 Spirit fell on the 70 elders and they began to prophesy. They 24:58 were given the Spirit of Moses just like Elisha was given the 25:01 Spirit of Elijah. Actually it was all God's Spirit. None of 25:05 these patriarchs have a patent on it. You realize that. 25:09 And then Joshua saw that Eldad and Medad who weren't even at 25:12 the tabernacle, they were suddenly filled with the Spirit 25:15 and they began to preach and to prophesy and they were glowing 25:18 and Joshua said Oh no this belongs to Moses and now 25:22 everyone else is going to think they're in charge and he was 25:26 worried. He came to Moses and Joshua, it says verse 28 of 25:30 Numbers 11 and verse 29, Joshua, the son of Nun, the attendant of 25:35 Moses from his youth. He answered and said, Moses 25:37 my lord, restrain them. But Moses said to him, are you 25:41 jealous for my sake, speaking to Joshua. Would the Lord that 25:45 all of his people were prophets and that God would put his 25:49 Spirit upon them. Was Moses jealous that others were given 25:52 the gift of the Spirit or was he saying, Ah I wish that all of 25:56 of them had this gift of the Spirit. And Joshua didn't 26:00 understand. He thought that they were going to lose respect for 26:02 Moses and it was now go to these 70 elders and he needed 26:06 some guidance there. Now we get into one of the areas where 26:11 Joshua really shines. After they build the tabernacle, they 26:16 migrate back from the Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai, to the 26:22 borders of the promised land and they should have gone in at this 26:26 point. The Lord originally directed them to go south to 26:30 receive the 10 commandments, to build the tabernacle, and now 26:32 they were to go to take possession. As they are nearing 26:36 the borders of the promised land the people get a little bit 26:39 apprehensive. They said you know we weren't even hardly ready 26:42 when the Amalekites attacked us and they're just a desert tribe. 26:45 There are mighty nations that live in this land. We barely 26:48 beat the Amalekites and then Moses dropped his hands and we 26:51 lost. What's going to happen when we cross over? We better 26:55 find out what's going on over there. And they came to Moses. 26:59 Deuteronomy chapter 1 says the people came to Moses to send 27:02 spies. It was not God's idea. You read about it in Numbers 27:05 chapter 13. It makes it sound like God thought this up. He was 27:10 accommodating their request. And so Moses picks, he said look I 27:13 want to be fair, they're all going to want to hear the report 27:16 from their own tribe and so I'll get representatives from all the 27:20 tribes. Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim which is kind 27:23 of interesting because Ephraim really became the leader of the 27:27 10 tribes of the northern empire. He wasn't from Benjamin 27:33 or Levy like Moses was or even Judah like Jesus was. He was 27:37 from the common folk you might say which is another example 27:40 of Christ. And so Joshua goes as the representative of Ephraim 27:44 and they've got these others. Matter of fact, turn with me in 27:46 your Bibles. We're going to read this out of the Bible. Numbers 27:52 chapter 13 verse 1: And the Lord spoke to Moses saying send men 27:58 to spy out the land of Canaan which I am giving to the 28:01 children of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you will 28:04 send a man, every one a leader among them. So evidently Joshua 28:07 is a leader among the people of Ephraim. We already saw that he 28:10 was a general. And it lists their names and most of their 28:13 names kind of slip into obscurity and I'm not going to 28:16 even try and read them all. In verse 16, these are the names of 28:21 the men who Moses sent out to the land and Moses called Joshua 28:25 the son of Nun of Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. That's 28:29 interesting there that his name was Hoshea which means Yahweh 28:34 is Savior but he calls him a little different derivative of 28:39 that. And the other name that we remember is Caleb the son of 28:42 Jephunneh. So he sent them to spy the land of Canaan. 28:45 I'm in verse 17 of Numbers 13. 28:47 Go up this way into the south and go into the 28:50 mountains and see what the land is like, whether the people who 28:53 dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many, whether the land 28:56 they dwell in is good or bad, whether the cities they inhabit 28:59 are like camps or strongholds, whether the land is rich or poor 29:02 or whether there are forests or not. Be of good courage and 29:05 bring some of the fruit of the land. Notice bring some of the 29:09 fruit of the land. Now the time was the season of first ripe 29:13 grapes. I remember reading in history the story of Lewis and 29:16 Clark. You've heard me refer to it several times. I'm a little 29:20 bit of a buff. To me it was the great adventure in history. 29:24 You've got this new country that is still virtually virgin in its 29:29 state. Thomas Jefferson has just bought country he's never seen. 29:34 Like that man who said I've bought land, I need to go see 29:37 it. Louisiana Purchase. They basically bought the land all 29:40 the way from the Mississippi to the Pacific from Napoleon who 29:43 didn't think it was worth anything. Another bad move. 29:47 And so Thomas Jefferson gets this Lewis and Clark expedition 29:51 and he charges them and he says go find out what we bought. 29:54 Look at the land. See if it's good or bad. See what the tribes 29:58 are like. Bring back some of the plants and the animals so we can 30:02 know what kind of diversity there is. You know Jefferson was 30:05 something of a scientist. So they made this epoch two year 30:08 adventure across the country and came back and there was great 30:11 celebration when they came back, trying to find out what there 30:14 was. They brought a good report of what they saw and after the 30:19 report Lewis and Clark expansion west just exploded. But that's 30:23 not what happened to the 12 spies. Let's read about it. 30:27 Verse 21: So they went and they spied the land from the 30:30 wilderness of Zin as far as Rechab near the entrance of 30:33 Hamath. And they went up through the south and they came to 30:37 Hebron, Ahiman, Sheshai, Talmai. The descendants of Anak. They 30:40 saw this country up there where the Anakin lived, these giants. 30:44 Verse 23: Then they came to the valley of Eschol and they cut 30:48 down from there a branch is one cluster of grapes and they 30:52 carried it between two of them on a pole. This enormous cluster 30:55 of grapes and not only was it a big cluster with a lot of 30:58 grapes, I think every grape was probably as big as your fist of 31:02 you can picture that. And after spying the land they returned 31:06 40 days later. And they came back to Moses and the whole 31:10 congregation that were in the wilderness in Paran at Kadesh 31:13 and they brought back word to them to all the congregation and 31:17 showed them the fruit of the land. Now I've got a theory. 31:21 Patriarchs and Prophets seems to support this. Two of them were 31:25 carrying this staff that had this great big old 50 pound 31:30 cluster of grapes. Who do you think they were? I think it was 31:33 Joshua and Caleb. Because as the spies went through the land ten 31:36 of them kept looking at all the obstacles, how big the walls of 31:39 Jericho were, that of course were going to crumble anyway, 31:43 how big the giants in Hebron were, and the fortifications and 31:47 the Jebusites and the Canaanites and all of the ites in the land. 31:50 They got intimidated by it. But Joshua and Caleb, they had faith 31:53 They said look the Lord just conquered the biggest nation in 31:56 the world, Egypt. He can conquer these nations. We don't know how 32:00 We don't see exactly how he's going to do it but we trust God. 32:03 He gave us the land. So they began to look at the good things 32:06 instead of the bad things. And they said, wow, look at the size 32:08 of those dates, look at the figs how big they are, look at the 32:11 pomala, look at the grapes. And so they're stuffing their 32:13 pockets and they satchels with all this food that they want to 32:16 show the people and they're hearing the other spies talking 32:20 about oh me oh my, look at how big they are. How could we ever 32:23 conquer this land? And as they began to come back I think that 32:27 Joshua and Caleb conspired. They said look we better get there 32:30 first and set the mood. We better get the positive side of 32:33 things because these guys are so negative. They're going to 32:37 discourage everybody. And I think with their cluster of 32:41 there were probably fruit flies following them. A cloud of fruit 32:45 flies. They out ran the other 10 spies and they were the first 32:48 ones there because notice how the language is when they first 32:52 get back. They said we went to the land, verse 27, where you 32:57 sent us and truly it flows with milk and honey and here's the 33:01 fruit. Good report so far. But the other 10 caught up. 33:05 Nevertheless, wait here, listen to us. Boy we got some bad news. 33:09 By the way, what did Joshua bring, good news or bad news? 33:14 What did Jesus bring? What does the gospel mean? Joshua 33:21 good news, a good report. Then the negative people came and 33:25 they said nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are 33:29 strong and the cities are fortified very large. Moreover, 33:32 we saw the descendants of Anak there and the Amalekites dwell 33:36 in the south and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the 33:38 Amorites dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the 33:41 sea on the banks of the Jordan and you can just see all of a 33:44 sudden this wave of fear and despondency went across the 33:47 crowd and they went (moan) oh man. And you can just see it. 33:51 Caleb read the crowd and he quieted the people. Why do you 33:54 think he needed to quiet them? They were already starting to 33:58 mourn. Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go 34:03 up at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome 34:07 it. Obviously there was a difference between the reporters 34:11 who came back. Some said we can win and the other said we can 34:15 never win. Do we have that in our society today. We have both 34:19 views don't we? A lot of people say (moans) nooo. 34:24 Phew, man. I don't think we would have ever won World War II 34:28 with that attitude. Obstacles were bigger then by the way. 34:32 I'm talking about World War II. And Caleb said we are able. Now 34:37 I want to pause here and just bring out an important point. 34:42 If you are a Christian and God in his word has given you a 34:48 glimpse of the promised land you are to bring back a good report. 34:53 You are to encourage people that you are able to be a Christian. 34:57 He is able to give you victory. You can overcome. Seven times 35:02 in Revelation, Jesus says to him that overcomes. Yes you can. 35:06 He is able to keep you from falling. We are able. We can be 35:11 saved. You can make it. Jesus would not have done all that he 35:14 did to suffer if it wasn't possible for you to get to the 35:18 promised land. Would God have done everything he did 35:21 miraculously to get them out of Egypt if he couldn't get them 35:24 all the way to the promised land Logically I mean obviously you 35:26 can make it. But 10 of them forgot that and all they could 35:30 look at was the obstacles and they discouraged the others. 35:36 I am encountering even pastors that say we're not really able. 35:41 O God may save us but he doesn't expect you really to overcome 35:45 because the giants are too big. I mean God doesn't necessarily 35:49 expect you to live a holy life because after all the devil's so 35:54 and you're so small. And they discourage people. They don't 35:59 even try to live a holy life. And that really troubles me. 36:03 I think that we ought to give the good news and give a 36:07 positive report. Yes you can. Here is the fruit. By the way, 36:12 do we have a responsibility like Joshua and Caleb to show people 36:16 fruits of the other land. What are the fruits of the other 36:19 land? Galatians 5:22: Love, joy, peace. You and I ought to bring 36:25 back examples of the fruits of the land and say you can see it, 36:30 you can, taste it, it's in my life. And if they see those 36:33 fruits, they'll say hey I think I'd like to go. That looks 36:37 pretty good to me. But they've got to see it, don't they? 36:41 Well then they discouraged the people and it says here verse 31 36:47 they disagreed with Caleb and Joshua. The men who had gone up 36:51 with them said we are not able. Now you've got to choose friends 36:55 when there are two kinds of voices out there in the church. 36:58 These are God's people. Is that right. Is Israel God's people? 37:01 Two voices. One voice, the minority voice, notice Caleb and 37:04 Joshua compared to 10 are saying we are able. The majority voice, 37:10 we're not able. That's still true today. It seems like it's a 37:14 smaller group that says you can live a holy life, you can be 37:19 like Jesus, you can be an overcomer. That's the minority. 37:22 It's the majority that looks at all the obstacles to Godly 37:26 living. God doesn't really expect it. Just say a prayer, 37:28 you'll be saved but don't expect to be an overcomer. And they 37:34 said we're not able to go against the people for they are 37:38 stronger than we are and they gave the children of Israel a 37:42 bad report. Joshua brought good news, they brought bad news. 37:46 A bad report of the land that they had spied out saying the 37:49 land through which we've gone as spies is a land that devours the 37:52 inhabitants. That's another reason why I think Joshua and 37:55 Caleb were the ones who got there first because the first 37:56 part says flows with milk and honey. These guys say it devours 37:59 the inhabitants. Why they've got thorns there. Joshua and Caleb 38:03 look at the roses. These guys said look at the thorns. Do we 38:08 have both in the church today? You know on any given day in 38:13 California you've got two birds that might be flying around. 38:18 One is a vulture, the other is a humming bird. They can fly over 38:23 the exact same country and one is looking for every bright 38:26 flower and sweet nectar and the other one is looking for 38:29 something dead and they're both looking at the same area. In the 38:33 church you've got vultures that just see all the problems, all 38:36 the dirt, all the gossip, all the failures, all the falling, 38:40 and they just love to talk about everything bad. For one thing 38:43 it seems to justify the sin in their lives and that's why they 38:47 focus on that. Then you've got people who have their eyes 38:51 fixed on God like Joshua and they are looking for the nectar. 38:54 They're looking for the good things. I'd like to invite you 38:57 if you've been a buzzard be a humming bird would you please. 39:01 You can choose what you want to be. You find what you look for. 39:05 It's like that old adage that says two men looked out of 39:08 prison bars, one saw mud and one saw stars. So if you want you 39:12 can see mud or you can look up and you can see stars. They both 39:16 looked at the same land. One gave a good report, one gave a 39:20 bad report. And all the congregation lifted up their 39:24 voices, I'm in chapter 14 verse 1. All the congregation lifted 39:28 up their voices and wept. You notice people are more inclined 39:32 to believe the bad report. They wept all that night and the 39:35 children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the 39:38 congregation saying to them if only we had died in the land of 39:42 Egypt. Oh don't ever say that. Or if only we had died in the 39:45 wilderness. Why has the Lord brought us to this land where we 39:48 can fall by the sword that our wives and our children should 39:52 become victims. Would it have been better for us to return to 39:55 Egypt. So they said to one another. Let's select another 39:59 leader and return to Egypt. Now how do you thing Joshua felt 40:02 who's the servant of Moses when he heard the people say pick 40:06 another leader. How loyal was Joshua to Moses. Joshua almost 40:09 came out of his skin when other people began to prophesy with 40:12 the Spirit of Moses. And so now they say pick another leader. 40:17 Those were fighting words for him. Verse 6, And Joshua the son 40:20 of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh who were among those 40:24 who had spied out the land tore their clothes and they spoke to 40:27 all the congregation of Israel. They ran in the midst of the 40:31 people. They said the land through which we passed is an 40:34 exceedingly good land, not just good land. Now what are they 40:39 saying? Exceedingly good land. Ah friends, I wish you could see 40:42 that land. I wish I could put it on the screen and you could see 40:46 what God has got for those that love him. You can't even imagine 40:49 it. If the Lord delights in us he will bring us into the land 40:53 and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey, only 40:56 do not rebel against the Lord. Now he's beginning to chastise 40:59 them. God had picked Moses. Do not rebel against the Lord nor 41:02 fear the people of the land for they are our bread. They are 41:05 nothing for us. How did they get their bread in the wilderness? 41:09 They just went out and picked it up. That's what he's saying. 41:13 He's saying we can pick them off. They are bread. We'll 41:16 devour them. Do not fear them. The Lord is with us. If the Lord 41:20 is with us we can make it. Do you believe that friends? If the 41:23 Lord is with us we can be overcomers. And the congregation 41:27 said to stone them with stones. Now they're going to kill. 41:30 They're going to execute Joshua and Caleb. And I'll tell you 41:33 when you've got a mob about a million and a half against two 41:36 it looks hopeless doesn't it? They had the courage to go out 41:39 there in this crowd. Popular opinion had turned totally 41:43 against their report. Isn't that right? Has popular opinion 41:47 turned against the report that we can be godly Christians, that 41:50 Christianity is more than a social club where we get 41:52 together. Find out what people want and give them what they 41:55 want. That's sort of the church marketing plan today instead of 41:58 finding out what God's word says and tell people. Find out what 42:01 people want and accommodate what they want. That's not the 42:04 purpose of the gospel. It's not to change God to fit us. It's to 42:08 change us to fit God. And it wasn't popular. And they went 42:12 right out there in the midst and told them you're rebelling. They 42:15 were repenting, they tore their clothes. You know the Bible 42:19 tells us in Ezekiel 9 it's those who sigh and cry who are going 42:23 be the ones who get the mark of the seal of God. And the people 42:26 were ready to stone them. And they all picked up stones and 42:29 they were beginning to drag them off like Stephen to stone them 42:32 to death and you know what happened? God intervened to save 42:36 them. Read this here. The congregation was ready to stone 42:41 them. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of 42:46 meeting before all the children of Israel. Suddenly there was 42:51 seen above the tabernacle it looked like the Shekinah glory 42:55 was rising like a mushroom cloud of light and the glory of God 43:00 suddenly appeared and everyone cowered behind and they dropped 43:04 their stones and they gave up the idea of stoning them. 43:07 God was manifesting his obvious displeasure. They had heard the 43:11 voice of God thunder from that cloud before and suddenly the 43:15 Lord basically intervened to save Joshua and Caleb. They were 43:19 going to kill them. You might be in the minority but you and God 43:23 are always a majority and so I'd much rather be with the 43:29 minority that's right than the majority that's wrong. Can you 43:34 say amen to that? And then of course Moses speaks up here and 43:39 the Lord spoke to Moses. How long will I dwell with these 43:43 people that reject me. I need to move on here. I've still got a 43:48 lot more I need to cover. So God stands up for him and by the 43:52 way I wish we had more young people like that that would 43:54 stand up. And you go to chapter 26 of Numbers. For the Lord said 44:00 to them they shall surely die in the wilderness and there was not 44:06 left a man of them save Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua 44:12 the son of Nun. Of the ones who left Egypt how many of the 44:18 original made it to the promised land. You got just 44:21 Caleb and Joshua. In the same way friends, how many people 44:25 have come to this world and lived a holy life without 44:29 sinning? That made it all the way from the cradle to the 44:34 grave without sin? It's just Jesus. And that's another type 44:40 of that. Well then we go on to the place where Joshua is 44:46 ordained by Moses. Now you know the story. Moses got discouraged 44:52 They've gone through the wilderness all these years. 44:54 Oh, by the way, I don't want to rush past this. What was the 44:58 penalty of the children of Israel because of their 45:02 faithlessness? Did God intend for them to wander 40 years? 45:07 Why did they wander 40 years? Because they lost faith. And so 45:11 God said look you're going to go off into the wilderness and all 45:15 of you 20 years old and upward that did not believe, all of 45:19 those who were at the age of accountability, you weren't old 45:22 enough to serve as a soldier till you were 20. So all of 45:25 those who were at least 20 years of age when they left Egypt on 45:29 up, they all died because they didn't believe. That whole 45:33 generation was wiped out including Moses and Aaron and 45:37 Miriam. Now do the math for me. What was the maximum age of 45:43 anybody that finally came into the promised land. Joshua and 45:49 Caleb if they were a little over 40 I think Caleb was about 40 45:55 years of age when he came out of Egypt so 60. Who were the 46:00 the two oldest people. Caleb and Joshua. You got that. 46:05 Everybody else had died. They didn't all die at once. Some of 46:07 them it was various plagues. Some of them it was just old age 46:12 but none of them made it. You could say every one of them knew 46:17 that they weren't get beyond a certain age because they lost 46:21 faith. And as Joshua and Caleb saw everybody around them 46:25 dropping God continued to preserve them because the 46:28 believed in God. What is it that preserves us? Faith in God. 46:33 Without faith it's impossible to please God. Well Moses finally 46:38 they're about to enter the promised land. Moses was going 46:40 make it. But as they neared the borders the people ran out of 46:43 water again and they got discouraged. They started to 46:46 complain. They wanted to go back to Egypt and Moses was just... 46:49 He had had victory over his temper all these years and he 46:52 lost his temper again. Not only did he lose his temper in front 46:55 of the people, he struck the rock twice when he was only 46:59 supposed to speak to the rock and it was supposed to be a type 47:02 of Christ. And the Lord says, you didn't honor me before the 47:06 people. I can't let you take them in. And like Magellan Moses 47:09 didn't make it all the way but Joshua did make it all the way. 47:13 Now Moses instead of being threatened or being upset that 47:16 he doesn't get to take the people in, he's now just 47:18 concerned about the people. Keep in mind, was Joshua a humble 47:24 man? He must have been a very humble man. Keep in mind who is 47:30 the meekest man that ever lived? Moses was. Joshua had his mentor 47:36 Moses before him all the time. Moses was identified as the 47:38 meekest man that ever lived. Of course that was up until the 47:42 time of Christ. So Joshua, here he's this general, he goes up 47:46 the mountain with Moses, he goes into the tabernacle, he survives 47:49 when everyone around him is dying and yet he always 47:52 maintained an attitude of humility. He was a humble man. 47:56 Well the time came for Moses to die. It's amazing how many times 48:04 in the end of the book of Deuteronomy it talks about 48:08 God insisting that Moses charge, prepare, ordain Joshua. You can 48:15 read about this here in Numbers 27 verse 18: And the Lord said 48:21 to Moses, take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the 48:27 Spirit and lay thine hand upon him and set him before Eliezer 48:34 the priest and all the congregation, in other words in 48:37 the presence of everybody, I am transferring authority Moses 48:40 from you to him. All the authority and Spirit that you 48:44 had he will have. When Jesus came into our world, did he come 48:48 with complete authority of the Father? It says if you've seen 48:57 me you've seen the Father. And give him a charge in their 49:05 sight and thou shalt put some of thine honor upon him that all 49:11 the congregation of the children of Israel may be 49:14 obedient. They need to listen to him the way they listened to 49:16 you. Hopefully better because they always wanted to stone 49:21 Moses. By the way, they wanted to stone Joshua too didn't they? 49:26 Can you think of any times in the life of Christ when they 49:30 wanted to stone Christ? Did the Lord intervene and save him from 49:34 stoning? It's interesting isn't it? Joshua is an interesting 49:38 type of Christ. Deuteronomy 31:7 Then Moses called Joshua and 49:43 said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good 49:49 courage. Now you can understand if you were Joshua. He had 49:54 witnessed a lot of rebellion in 40 years hadn't he? When the 49:58 people went back into the wilderness Joshua hadn't lost 50:01 faith. He didn't have to go with them. He could say well Lord hey 50:04 look I can see why they need to wander for 40 years but I've 50:06 been good. Caleb and I, we're heading on in now. We'll meet 50:08 them later. Is that what he said or did he go with them even in 50:13 their wanderings? You think maybe the church has had to 50:17 tarry in this world too long because of apostasy and lack of 50:20 faith? Moses went into the wilderness with them, Joshua 50:24 went with them, God went with them. Is the Lord still with his 50:28 church in spite of our failures? Are we still God's people? 50:33 What makes us God's people? He is committed to us the oracles 50:37 of truth. His tabernacle is in our midst. And what was in the 50:41 middle of the tabernacle? The word of God, the Law of God. 50:44 Is God with his church? How do we know he's with his church? 50:48 Because we're all faithful, we don't murmur, we don't complain, 50:51 we don't gripe against our leaders? Write that down. What 50:55 tells us that he's among his people? He has committed to us 51:00 his word, he's committed to us his Law, it's in our midst isn't 51:04 it? We're still his people. We may be wandering in the 51:06 wilderness. God went with them, Joshua went with them, Moses 51:09 went with them. He's still with us and we're still heading to 51:12 the promised land but we're learning things along the way. 51:16 Amen? So Joshua was worried. He said how can I manage these 51:21 people? You barely survived Moses. And he's kind of 51:24 overwhelmed with the task. We don't know what his job was back 51:28 in Egypt. If you believe what you see in the movies, he was a 51:33 stone cutter, but I wouldn't believe Cecil B. DeMill when 51:37 revelation is not there. It doesn't tell us what his job was 51:42 He evidently was more educated because he did write. Probably 51:45 he at least dictated the book of Joshua and we'll get to that 51:50 in our next study. And he says, be strong and of good courage 51:54 for you must go with this people to the land which the 51:58 Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them. And you shall 52:02 cause them to inherit it. Who is it that causes us to inherit the 52:07 promised land? It's Jesus isn't it? Our Joshua. You shall cause 52:12 them to inherit it and the Lord God, he is the one who goes 52:17 before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you nor 52:21 forsake you. What did Jesus say to us? I will never leave you 52:25 nor forsake you. It's the same promise. Do not fear. What did 52:29 Jesus say over and over again to the church, to the apostles? 52:34 Don't fear, don't be afraid. Nor be dismayed. Now whenever 52:39 I see the word be in the Bible I like to remember the first 52:43 words in the Bible when God says let there be light, let 52:47 there be land, let there be creatures. There is creative 52:51 power in the word of God and God says let it be, it is. And if 52:55 God says be strong you may not feel very strong. If you believe 52:59 in the word of God be strong you can accept it and it becomes a 53:03 reality. He will give you his strength. Be courageous. Do not 53:07 be afraid or dismayed. He'll be with you. Deuteronomy 34 verse 9 53:13 Now we're reaching the end of Moses' life. And Joshua the son 53:19 of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom for Moses had laid his 53:24 hands upon him and the children of Israel harkened unto him 53:29 and did as the Lord commanded Moses. He was Spirit filled. 53:34 Was Jesus full of the Spirit of God? Now I want to show you 53:40 something here and I want to make sure that... Go with me in 53:45 the book of Exodus chapter 23 and this is our last verse I 53:48 want you to consider; there's actually two quick verses. 53:54 Exodus 23 verse 20. God is telling Moses early on I'm going 53:58 to have someone else lead the children of Israel into the 54:02 promised land. Behold I send an angel before you to keep you in 54:07 the way to bring you into the place that I have prepared. 54:12 When the Bible talks about this arch angel, the Angel of the 54:16 Lord, God also told Moses I'm going to send a prophet like 54:21 unto me. Who was this angel that he was to send before him. 54:24 Wasn't it Christ who is the ultimate Angel or Messenger of 54:28 the Lord? Beware of him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him. 54:33 He will not pardon your transgressions. In other words, 54:36 he's got the power to pardon, if you provoke him he won't. So who 54:40 is this Angel of the Lord who has the power to forgive, the 54:44 Arch Angel? This is a type of Christ. This is Jesus. 54:46 But notice here, for my name is in him. Now with that in mind 54:54 my name is in him, what was the name of Joshua? God is Savior. 55:01 Jesus the son of Nun. What does Nun mean? Perpetual, eternal, 55:08 continual. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God. 55:11 My name is in him. Who was the one who led them finally from 55:15 the wilderness into the promised land? It was Jesus. My name is 55:20 in him. It was Joshua who led them in. He is one of the most 55:24 striking types of Christ. Did you catch what I was saying 55:28 here? Matter of fact, that word Nun, I looked it up yesterday. 55:32 The word Nun is used in Psalms as eternal, continual, perpetual 55:36 Jesus, Yahweh, Jehovah, the Savior, the Son of the Eternal 55:43 is the one who will lead you all the way in. Jesus is our Joshua 55:49 isn't he? And I don't think it's a mistake that the Bible begins 55:55 with there in Exodus, Joshua as the general, the great deliverer 56:00 the savior of the people. In the absence of Moses they really 56:03 needed a savior didn't they? And the last words in the Bible are 56:08 Even so come Lord Jesus. He is the author and the finisher of 56:13 our faith. Amen. Dear Lord, we wonder sometimes how we can 56:18 ever doubt the inspiration of your word when we see a 56:22 kaleidoscope of pictures of Jesus in all of these characters 56:27 and these stories. We've seen Jesus again today, Lord, in the 56:31 character of Joshua. We pray that we will see him even more 56:35 as we continue this study. But today, Lord, we've seen an 56:39 individual that had tremendous faith. We would like that faith. 56:45 We know that it's easy to focus on the obstacles and the 56:49 problems. Sometimes we are diverted to look at the giants 56:52 in the land. Help us, Lord, to look at the fruits of the land. 56:56 Help us to bring back a good report and let others see the 57:00 fruit of the land in our lives that they'll be inspired. Help 57:04 us to be overcomers Lord. We want to be among those who will 57:08 live and remain when Jesus comes that can make it all the way 57:12 from birth into eternity in the moment, in the twinkling of an 57:16 eye. Lord, forgive us for the times when we have been negative 57:21 discouraging ourselves and others. Help us to keep the good 57:25 news good news. I pray Lord that you'll bless even though 57:29 there are challenges. That we'll be willing to go up the mountain 57:33 with you on a regular basis to keep our eyes lifted up as you 57:37 are there interceding in our behalf that we might gain the 57:40 victory in the battles that come Bless your people, Lord. Forgive 57:44 us for sometimes repeating the history of ancient Israel. Help 57:48 us to be like that generation that made it into the promised 57:51 land and across the Jordan. Be with the many need represented 57:55 in our families, Lord, and our individuals and pour out your 57:59 Spirit in their lives as we keep Jesus before us and it's in the 58:03 name of our Joshua we pray. Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17