There's a fairly new TV show that I enjoy watching entitled "Person Of Interest." Perhaps you've had occasion to watch it also. The other night while watching it I thought that the show could serve as a lead-in to some Bible lessons. Lessons centered around interesting persons in the Bible and there are many of them available for us to study. Some can be used as examples to follow and some not to follow. Either way a lesson is learned.
In past editorials we've looked at a few Bible characters and drawn lessons from them. People such as Nathaniel and Paul as positive examples to emulate and Judas to not follow. Paul conditionally told us to "follow" him as he follows "Christ" (1Cor. 11:1). Of course Christ is our ultimate example to follow (1Pet. 2:21) but I believe that it helps us to look at those fellow humans who have been identified by God as being faithful and righteous. Sorta like, if they can do it - I can do it.
Plus, they may have "followed after righteousness" at times that brought great physical danger to themselves in so doing. Some even death itself. I very much doubt that neither I nor anyone reading these thoughts today will face physical danger for following Christ, but there were times in the Church's history where being faithful to Christ cost many there lives.
So, having said all of that, today we're going to look at another human example of faith from the Bible. By doing this, perhaps we can be a little more inspired towards our own faith and obedience, which equals righteousness. Our subject of study, our positive example to look at and follow is the speaker of our preamble words - Joshua.
Joshua is one of my personal favorite people of the Bible. I see him as being a person who typifies what a person of God should be. This can be easily seen by taking a short look at some of his history provided in the Record. His historical record is one of faithful obedience to every task asked of him.
From my study of Joshua I have concluded that we could pretty much wrap Joshua up under the mantle of him being a warrior. This is seen from his first appearance in the scriptures (Ex. 17:9-10) when Moses basically made him the General of the Israelite army and he chose the men to go out and fight against Amalek. The record says that he "did as Moses had said to him" and, by their faith in God, Israel prevailed in the battle. Notice that there is no record of him questioning Moses about what to do, how to do it or offering any excuse as to why they might now win the day. He was given a task and he did it.
The next major event we find Joshua involved in was the sending out of the 12 spies into Canaan. You can read the details of their efforts in Num. 13 & 14, but I'll just synopsize it for you. The 12 spies were not just anybody they could grab and send out, they were leaders in their respective tribes.
Joshua and Caleb, representing the tribes of Ephraim and Judah, were the only ones to present a positive report to Moses. They said, let's do it and do it now. But, you know what happened? The people followed the negative reporting spies and rebelled. The Scriptures say that they were, in effect, rebelling against God, not just Moses, Aaron and the 2 positive spies. I wonder if Israel ever realized how close they came to being wiped out as a nation over their choice of who to follow? Even though not eliminated right then on the spot, the ones choosing to follow the wrong leaders paid dearly for that choice.
Shortly before his death, Moses was directed by God to select Joshua to be his replacement. In citing probably the greatest attribute of Joshua, God said of him that he was "a man in whom is the spirit." (Num. 27:18) Don't we wish God will say that about all of us? Joshua assumed command of Israel and led them into the "promised land."
Not long afterward Joshua did as the old spiritual says: he "Fit The Battle Of Jericho." Israel won that battle by doing exactly as instructed by God through Joshua. By that I mean here again, that even though the battle plans seems very strange according to man's ways of attacking a walled city, Joshua never questioned what God said to do. Which is precisely why he was again, a successful General.
Joshua went on to lead Israel in other battles such as against the Amorites and the Canaanites and was always successful because of following God's orders. Of course, time was creeping up on him and he grew older, but there is no record of him ever defying God or questioning any task he was given. I like to think that he operated by the principles he exhibited as a "positive" spy, to wit: "if the Lord is pleased with us, He'll deliver us." (Num. 14:8) Similar to Paul's words in Rom. 8:21 "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Isn't this positive attitude seen in the record of God's faithful followers?)
Yes, there are many events to look at in the Biblical record of Joshua's life, but I think that one of his finest hours came near the close of his life. In the 23rd and 24th chapters of the book of Joshua we find him delivering his final sermon, if you will, to Israel. Would that they had remembered and kept the words he told them. They would have prospered greatly and continually and not have eventually been lost.
When he called all the people together he implored of them to always serve the Lord. He wanted them to "cleave unto the Lord" and to "take good heed" that they "love the Lord your God." Then here's the thing that they failed to remember him (and others) telling them: God has never failed them in the past and if they remain faithful, the "good things" will continue to come. But! He also promised that, if not faithful, His promises of "evil things - destructive things" would also come. It seems to me that many today still only see the promises of "good things" and conveniently overlook the promises of "evil/destruction."
He closed his sermon to them by saying: "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Josh. 24:15)
I doubt that we could find a better example of someone dedicated to faithfully serving the Lord than Joshua. What an outstanding example of faith and obedience he set for us. And another thing we can't overlook is his courage, most of the time in the face of overwhelming odds. If Joshua had lived in the Christian dispensation of time, he would have lived and operated by the principle found in Phil. 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Yes, I most certainly believe that we can look at those who have shown themselves worthy of being examples of faith. Those who, like Paul said, "follow me as I follow Christ." If God says in the Record that they are examples of faith, such as those cited in Hebrews the 11th chapter, then I can look at what they did and how they operated in their lives and be encouraged to follow their example. In the 7th verse of Heb. 13 we find these words: (NLT)
"Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of the
good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith."
Ron Covey
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