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Week 10 Scripture: Wrap Up

We have finally reached the end of our study of the Book of Joshua. For those of us who grew up attending church, I am sure many of the stories were familiar. But, God’s Word is a limitless resource—every time we take a moment to meditate on the Bible, new truths emerge.

As Pastor Sean admonished us this past Sunday, learning new facts, stories, or even Biblical truths is not enough. James 1:22 (ESV) commands us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” It doesn’t matter how great this study has been; if we don’t experience life change, it has been a fruitless endeavor. So, to that end, let’s take a look at some of the key truths from Joshua and how we can apply them to our lives.

God Is Sovereign, But Man Has A Responsibility

One of the major themes throughout Joshua is the interplay between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Is God sovereign? Absolutely! Can His plans be thwarted? Absolutely not! However, neither are we puppets on a string. We have the responsibility to be obedient to God’s plan and to follow his directives. While our disobedience cannot thwart God’s promises, it can impact our participation in and benefit from those promises.

God promised Abraham the land of Canaan as an inheritance for Abraham’s descendants. Unfortunately, because of their disobedience, the generation that entered the Promised Land with Joshua did not see the complete fulfillment of that promise. In fact, it would not be until the reigns of David and Solomon that the Israelites would completely subdue the land. God was faithful to His promise, but that first generation in the land missed their opportunity to experience the full blessing of that promise.

We, too, have promises to claim. While our salvation is secure, we nevertheless have been “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Eph. 2:10 ESV) We have the privilege of participating in God’s plan, in claiming Kingdom territory through the sharing of the Gospel and sharing the love of Jesus with a lost and hopeless world. Oh, what joys we miss when we fail to participate in His plan.

Remember, Remember, Remember:

Another major theme throughout Joshua is remembering. Time and time again, we see the Israelites setting up stone memorials or altars to remind the people of the miracles and promises of God. Why were the Israelites being constantly told to remember?

As we saw a couple of weeks ago, the Israelites fell into attitudes of complacency, tolerance, and complaining that led them to doubt the power of God and to disobey His commands. They forgot (or ignored) what God had done for them in the past, and that caused them to mistrust God and doubt His power. It would be easy to judge them, but I know that I am guilty of the same. So, how do we combat such attitudes? We REMEMBER. We look to those times that God has shown Himself faithful in the past, and in thankfulness we expectantly look for His deliverance in the future. In times of doubt and worry, I remind myself, “I’ve trusted God with my eternity. Can I not trust him with ___________?”

Keep Taking Ground:

As the great theologian Winnie-The-Pooh once said, “I find that I get where I’m going by leaving where I’ve been.” There is no standing still in the Christian walk—we are either taking ground or losing it. Though the Promised Land symbolized rest for God’s people, they still had battles to fight. Those that chose to be complacent and allow the enemy to maintain strongholds in their midst soon lost ground to that enemy. By the time we get to the Book of Judges, we see these same Israelites hiding in caves in fear of the enemy. Whether it be in our personal lives or in our community, let’s not grow complacent. Let’s keep taking ground!