HIGHLIGHTS IN JOSHUA
Number 12
WHEN YOU WALK WITH THE LORD
Joshua chapter 11
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THIS CHAPTER illustrates the blessing of walking with the Lord in faith and obedience. This is living the Christian life in the light of the revelation God has given us in his Word. The Israelites were seeking to possess the land God had promised as their home and possession, and their walking with the Lord brought them into the realisation of that possession. Christians are on their way to possess the promised land of heaven. Our enemies are not physical as were the Israelites. They are mainly spiritual, but nonetheless as we walk with the Lord, we experience the overcoming of our enemies as Israel did, and the ever more possession of the blessings of God until we final enter glory at last.

WALKING WITH GOD

Walking with God or living God's way is really one overwhelming desire that we must have if we are to know the victory of God. It is the desire to perfectly do the will of God for us. This will of God is both general and particular. It is general in as far as the Bible leads us to see the sort of life God wants the Christian to live and the sort of person God wants the Christian to be. The particular is the particular way God wants our lives to be used in his service. In both there is firstly a need to discern the will of God for us.

As far as the general will of God for us is concerned the one way to know the will of God for us is to know what God has said and revealed in his Word. If we want to walk with God, that is to live as God desires us to live, then there is no substitute for continual painstaking study and meditation in the Bible, seeking by the grace which God gives through his Spirit to understand and live the life of God revealed there. Paul says in Romans 12:2 "Be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may know the perfect will of God". We are transformed by the renewing of our minds when our thoughts and understanding are molded by the revelation of God in Scripture. This renewing of our minds is not fulfilled simply by superficial reading, or in meeting together for discussion in God's Word, where we rarely do more than share our understanding so far gained at the best, or at the worst share our prejudices. No, being transformed in our minds means to wrestle with the text of the Bible to seek to understand it and to hear God speaking to us by his Spirit in the Word. This activity in the Bible is for life and on this side of glory will never be complete.

Discerning the particular will of God for us is a mixture of Bible, prayer and circumstances, accompanied all the time with a deep desire to know God's will, and to be seeking to know it all the time. It calls for the mortification of our worldly desires, and the seeking of God that we may be able to distinguish what is of the world and what is from God. This constitutes the whole matter of guidance from God. We desire deeply to be guided into the will of God for our life.

OBEDIENCE

The second ingredient in fulfilling the desire to do the will of God is obedience. Real faith in God is such that we so love and trust in him that nothing is more desirable for us than to obey him. Obedience for the Christian is not a slavish complying with God's commands in order to avoid censure or punishment, but a loving response to the love God has poured out on us.

It is characteristic of Joshua in our chapter that he obeyed the direction of the Lord in the action Israel should take in the winning of the promised land. In verse 9 we read "Joshua did to them as the Lord directed". Then in verse 15 we read "He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses." It was because he was obedient that everything went so well and the land was possessed. Doing the will of God for Israel was to fulfil God's plan for the possession of the land and for the safety of the land after possession. Walking in the will of God in this way meant that all God's power was directed towards a good outcome, because it was God's will. If we do that which is not God's will then we can't expect the power of God to be exercised in the activity or in our lives, because God does not exert his power for that which is not his will.

It is no good praying to God to bless some action or work if it is not his will. The prayer will not be answered. There will be and can be no blessing until the believer or the church return to the Lord, give up their own ideas, and seek again the will of God. However the will of God is not always easy to obey or palatable to the flesh. Jonah found this when he was sent to preach to Nineveh so that they would repent and escape the proposed judgement on their wickedness. However the case of Jonah illustrates so clearly that when we run contrary to the will of God, then things begin to go wrong, life runs with effort, and others who are innocent of our disobedience get dragged into our loss.

Obedience is nurtured by constant dwelling on the love of God to us in Christ, and dwelling on all the blessings God has so graciously showered on us through Christ. As we are filled with the wonder of God's love for us, we will want no other things than to do his will.

THE POWER OF GOD

The wonder of being in the will of God and obedient to it is that the power of God to fulfil that will, will be exercised in our lives. We have this illustrated in this chapter. We read in verses 6 and 7 "The Lord said to Joshua, 'Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain.'".

Notice the exact words and their meaning. God tells Joshua that he will hand over the enemy to Israel, slain. Thus it was not the power or strength of Joshua or Israel, nor the skill of Joshua's generalship, but God who brought about the total defeat of the enemy. Indeed whether Joshua was given any direct instructions by God as to how to deploy his troops, the fact would have been that God would have seen to it that Joshua deployed his troops and attacked to the best advantage. But this is not all, the hand of God was on the enemy to demoralise them and make them weak.

This is what follows from obedience to the will of God. God has a plan and purpose for the world. That purpose revolves around the purposes of redemption he has for his elect in Christ. All history is in fact ordered around this supreme plan of God. God will accomplish his plan and purpose, and the gates of hell will not be able to defeat that plan. Thus when the believer and the church are in the will of God, there can be no doubt of victory and growth in the kingdom of God. Obedience is the only way to live in this world.

Notice further that because it was the power of God which gained the victory, the glory was all belonging to God. Joshua or Israel could not claim in any way that they had contributed anything to the victory. It is true that they acted in the will of God and exerted physical strength and wisdom, but it was God's power that enabled them and it was God's power which made victory possible. The same is true for the believer, not only in respect to their salvation and perseverance in faith, but also in success in witness and service. God's power is the only reason for victory and growth and success, therefore the glory is all belonging to the Lord. Even our obedience can't be claimed to bring any glory to us, because in the light of the mercies of God to us, obedience is our reasonable service.

Notice the result of obedience to the will of God. Because Joshua was following the will of God, God said to him, "Do not be afraid of them". The enemy that came against them in human terms was totally daunting. Their numbers and weapons were far greater and superior to that of Israel. There was every reason for Joshua and Israel, in human terms to be afraid. Yet because they were in the will of God, there was no cause for them to fear. There are many things in life which cause the Christian to be afraid, but when we are walking with Lord, there is no need for fear, because God's power is infinite and well able to achieve every part of his will. So we go forward, no doubt with trepidation very often, but we are comforted by the fact that fear in us is simply a lack of faith. With the supreme enemy, death, there is no need for the believer to fear. Our Saviour has died, this awful penalty for sin, therefore, can not touch us. Physical death is simply the glorious change which must take place for our redemption to be complete in the provision by God of a new resurrection body.

GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY

Verse 20 seals all we have been thinking about concerning the power of God. We read concerning this battle "For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally". These enemies of Israel acted according to their will. Their wills were not violated so they were compelled to do what they did not want to do. They were not dragged to battle against their will or better judgement. No they acted freely. But yet in a way we can not hope to understand in this life it was the will of God being done and it was God working his sovereign will, to bring them to their downfall and to the judgement he purposed for them.

No creature can fight against God and prevail. Unregenerate humanity do their own thing. Some actively fight against God and in hate and anger within, defy God in mind and heart. But the result is always the same. They ultimately fulfill the will of God, and suffer in the end for their hearts rebellion. What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul. This is what people are doing when they live apart from God and defy his will. God's will will be done.

GOD'S INHERITANCE FOR HIS PEOPLE

What was the purpose in all the will of God for Joshua and Israel? It was that Israel should receive the inheritance God had promised to them, to their father Abraham. This is the will of God. This is the direction that the will of God is working to. The history of Israel simply illustrates the truth for the church. We are redeemed to inherit glory. God's promise is that in Christ we will enter glory. Jesus desired that his disciple should be where he was, that is in heaven with the Father. Jesus went to glory to prepare a place for us, and promised to come again to bring us to that heavenly home. God has promised us an eternal inheritance which is holy, undefiled and does not fade away. It is reserved in heaven for the redeemed. The will of God is directed to the fulfilling of this promise of an inheritance. The saints, those redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, are marching to glory.

This inheritance is the hope set before us. Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress called it the Celestial City. This Celestial City Christian saw often from afar as the goal he was pressing to. It is the sovereign will of God to give us this inheritance, whose real glory is that we see Jesus whom we have loved and dwell with him forever. Walking in the will of God is the road to this glory which we cannot fail to receive because the power of God is engaged through Christ to achieve it for us.