Joshua 23 – Joshua’s charge to the leaders, and his recounting how God worked through them to drive out the nations, yet there was still work to do. He said that they should remember what God had already done and finish the work, and that they should keep the Book of the Law of Moses. Of course, we know that they did not stay true to the law and that I don’t think they drove all the people out. Instead, they intermarried with them.
As I read this, it occurred to me that the entire of the Old Testament is the story of a failed humanity. Humanity decided that it could live without God, that it could make its way on it’s own terms. Of course, that failed and even when they did return to God and enjoyed his blessings, as in Joshua’s time, that faithfulness was short lived and they went their own way. The OT then, and the history of humanity simply stands to illustrate the need for a savior, for Jesus. Over and over we proved that we cannot live without God, that we need Him and that we need Him to save us from ourselves.
The whole of the OT, the whole of human history actually, is a beacon pointing to the necessity for Jesus and the gospel.

Joshua 22:1-9 – The people ho had their allotment before Joshua took over on the east side of the Jordan are essentially told by Joshua “Well done, good and faithful servants.” They stood by their brothers, even though they already had what was promised them.
Think of the parallels for us. God has already won the victory, we have already passed from death to life in baptism (Romans 6), but we are not yet permitted to enjoy the blessings that are already given us. Oh, make no mistake, they are already irrevocably ours, though we don not yet enjoy them fully. Instead, God has charged us to go out and win the same for our bothers and sisters, to do the work of the kingdom, living as his ambassadors. Our gifts are already secured, yet we remain in order to sing the praises and proclaim the favor of the one who gave us such blessings.
Viewed like this brings a new light to the obligations of a life of discipleship.
Joshua 22:25 – The remainder of the chapter is about a misunderstanding between the tribes in the east and the rest of Israel over an altar built by the eastern tribes on their way home. What was interesting to me was this from verse 25: “So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord” We tend to view worship as a personal decision, one that is Independence of others. They, however, clearly tied worship with the community, to the point that they were concerned that the western people would prevent the eastern tribes from worshiping. Perhaps it’s tied more to formal worship and ritual and sacrifice at the tabernacle, which would reside on the western side of the Jordan.
Still, for our way of thinking, that wouldn’t enter our minds, worship is personal and done at any time, whether ‘at church’ or not. To them, it seems, worship was more closely tied to place.

Joshua 10:1-6 – They wouldn’t attach Israel directly, but instead chose to attach Gibeon because they had made peace with Israel.
Josua 10:8 – Notice that God doesn’t say “See, I told you not to make peace with any of them. See, no you are being drug into battle because of your alliance.” He could have easily left them on their own, since they acted on their own. No, God goes with them, in fact He goes ahead of them saying “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.”
Even if we go down an unwise path, without proper planning or consultation, God will remain with us there.
Joshua 10:11 – Not only did go ahead of them, he did the bulk of the work, killing more of the enemy himself by throwing down large stones than the Israelites did.
Joshua 10:12-13 – What I love about this story is not that God stopped the sun, although that’s incredible. No, what it more impressive tome is that Joshua asked for it. He could have asked for God to finish the battle, to send more stones or something. “He did not ask “God,we are tired and the day is nearly done, please bring the victory to completion.” No, he wanted time to finish what he started. He was not content with the job simply getting done, he wanted to finish the work.
I think I’m too content to ask God to change me rather than to ask God for the power to change. I want the change, but I want God to not only do the heavy lifting that I cannot do, but to do all the lifting. I need Him to change me, but I need to be ready to work for it too.

Joshua 3:4 – 2,000 cubits is over 1/2 of a mile. They had to follow at that distance. Seems like a long way if you want to make sure you’re not separated.
Joshua 3:5 – What would you be thinking if your leader came before you and said “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”? I wonder what they did to ‘consecrate’ themselves.
Joshua 3:7 – As in the days of Acts, God did miracles at the hands of the leaders (in this case Joshua) to show that He was with them.
Joshua 3:13 – I always wondered what that looked like, waters standing in a heap up stream at Adam (according to verse 16).
Joshua 4:1-7 – I wonder what became of these stones. It would seem that their importance faded, Israel lost their awe of God and what He had done to bring them their and these stones became just a pile of rocks out by the river. They may be there now, still testifying in anonymity as to what God once did for his people. Now, we can see what the rocks were meant to show us by reading the Bible, so their testimony is not lost.
Joshua 4:8-10 – Verse 8 says they carried the stones to where they had lodged, but verses 9 & 10 imply that they were set up in the Jordan where the priests had stood.
Joshua 4:20 – This says they were set up at Gilgal. I suspect they were not set up in the Jordan, but were on the shore somewhere. Perhaps they set them up in the Jordan while they were crossing and then moved them to the shore when they were done?

Moving on from 2 Corinthians, I’ve decided to get back into the OT. Doug’s been preaching a lot from Joshua, so that seemed like a good place to go.
Joshua 1:1 “Moses my servant is dead.” says God. I love how matter of fact God is.
Joshua 1:3-5 – What a string of promises. I imagine that Joshua fell back on his memory of these promises over and over throughout his life. How much more should we cling to and remember the promise of the gospel in every situation of our lives. A long time friend shared recently how everything he could have possibly rely on has failed him. He’s bounced from job to job as employers reneged on promises, his marriage is failing, he’s moved out of the house they worked so hard for and had to file for bankruptcy and he recently wrecked his car. How does he carry on? He remembers the promises of Jesus and clings to the unfailing hope of the gospel, a hope that will not fade or fail him.
Joshua 1:6-9 – So, if God was going to be with him, why is then told 3 times to “be string and courageous”? Even though God is with us, that does not mean that the way will be easy. Obedience and faithfulness is hard work, and God, although he sticks with us, is certainly not opposed to letting us suffer.
Joshua 1:12-15 – These 2 1/2 tribes already had possession of their land, but the expectation was that they would stand by the other tribes and go fight with them to conquer the remainder. They were part of a larger nation, and they needed to all stick together until all were provided for.