Exodus Teaching - 21 - Where My Possessions Lie

SUBJECT: TO THE PROMISED LAND
TITLE: WHERE MY POSSESSIONS LIE
TEXT: Passages from Exodus and Joshua

INTRODUCTION

This is the twenty first sermons in the Exodus Teaching Series, which I call The Exodus Experience, to denote the experience of the Israelites from the time the Israelites called upon the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to deliver them from the intensively cruel form of slavery to which they had been subjected by the Egyptians under a Pharaoh who did not know, or honor the covenant an earlier Pharaoh made with Joseph. Under that covenant or agreement, the Children of Israel were permitted to settle in the fertile Land of Goshen, where they prospered phenomenally for many generations before the new Pharaoh looked at the Israelites and discovered that, should they join an invading force, they could assure the enemy a victory over Egypt. In fact, with 600,000 men who could bear a sword in war, they might conquer Egypt themselves.

The Egyptians imposed an extremely harsh form of slavery on Israel, designed to reduce the male population significantly. In time, an order went out to midwives to kill all male babies born to the Israelite women. The Lord blessed the mother of Moses and saved his life. He was discovered floating in a basket in the Nile river by the daughter of Pharaoh, who adopted him and gave him a life available only to Egyptian royalty. However, when he was forty years old he was visiting the Israelites and saw how they suffered. In fact, he killed an Egyptian guard who was abusing an Israelite slave. When he learned that his deed was known he fled to Midian where he met a priest named Jethro, and married his daughter. The Israelites called fervently on the Lord the deliver them.
The Lord heard their cries and called eighty year old Moses and told him that He was going to sent him Back to Egypt to deliver the Children of Israel from bondage. He sent 10 plagues on the Egyptian, including he death of the first born makes throughout Egypt, with the exception of the Israelites who smeared the blood of a Passover lamb on the lentil of the their doors. The Lord specifically attacked the person, home, and the gods of the Pharaoh in order to force him to “let My people go.”

I. THE LORD DELIVERED ISRAEL FROM EGYPT TO SINAI.

A. The First Step Was to Get Them Out of Egypt.

1. He moved them from the Land of Goshen to the Red Sea. The Lord had intimate knowledge of the suffering of His chosen people:

“Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. (8) I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Ex 3:7-8, HCSB)

Translators of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) believed that when the title, “The Angel of the God” denotes the pre-incarnate Christ, they capitalize the title.

“Then the Angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. 20 It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces.” (Ex 14:19-20, HCSB)

2. By His Mighty Hand He Delivered Them Through the Red Sea.

(15) “The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. (16) As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. (17) I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen. (18) The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

(19) “Then the Angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. (20) It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. The cloud was there ⌊in⌋ the darkness, yet it lit up the night. So neither group came near the other all night long.

(21) “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea ⌊back⌋ with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, (22) and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters ⌊like⌋ a wall to them on their right and their left.” (Ex 14:15-22)

3. Yahweh, by His mighty hand, led them to Sinai.

(1) “In the third month, on the same day ⌊of the month⌋ that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai. (2) After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.” (Ex 19:1-2)

As soon as the Lord, by His mighty arm, delivered the Israelites from Egypt, through the Red Sea on dry ground, they stopped to sing praises to Him (Ex. 15:1-21). However, they had not gone very far on their journey before the people began to complain against Moses. After they had traveled three days without water they came to the bitter springs of Mara and when they tasted the water they really began complaining against Moses. The Lord told Moses to throw a tree into the water, and when he did the bitter water became drinkable. Next, the complained because they had no food. So, the Lord provided manna for them (Exodus, Ch. 16).

At Rephidim, the people complained because they had no water and the Lord told Moses to strike a rock and when he did the Lord caused a mighty stream of water to come from that rock to supply water for the people and their animals. Remember, there were possibly two million people and they had livestock. At Horeb, or Sinai, the people complained because the had no water, so the Lord told Moses to take certain elders and stand before a great rock and hit the rock with his staff. Water gushed forth with a supply of water that provided water for all their needs (Ex. 17:1-7).

At Rephidim, the Amalekites attacked them and tried to destroy them, but the Lord told Moses to raise his staff and as long as he held it up Joshua and the fighting men of Israel prevailed, but when his arm began to tire and the staff was lowered the Amalekites prevailed. This attack by the Amalekites provides us with an example of how Satan would, throughout the ages, do everything in his power to turn people against the Lord. Satan wanted to keep them in Egypt, the place of death, slavery, and misery, just as he tries to keep people from following the Lord today. He gives lost people all sorts of excuses to keep them in sin and slavery to him. They can only be delivered by the mighty hand of God.

4. He revealed His glory at Sinai.

Three months after the Israelites left the land of Egypt they came to the wilderness of Sinai (Ex. 19:1) and camped before Mt. Sinai. The Lord gave specific instructions in order to protect the people from His glory. They could not touch the mountain while He was on it. Barriers were placed around the base of the mountain to keep them and their livestock at a distance. This was not done because the Lord was heartless or cruel, but because He was loving and gracious, protecting the people from His power and glory. I thank the Lord for electricity and for electrical tools and appliances, but I would not want to handle any of those tools or appliances without sufficient insulation.

The people who visited and reported on their visits to what they believer to be “Mt. Sinai in Arabia” (Gal. 4:25) - Bob Cornuke and Larry Williams from the west side, and the Petersons from the east side, made pictures of those barriers (large piles of rocks at intervals around the base of the mountain) and what appears to have been an altar with the approaches to it marked off with walls of stones.

Moses was summoned by the Lord to come up on the mountain to meet Him. Yahweh was very careful to protect the people from His power and glory. To appreciate just how awesome that was we must remember that when the Lord came down he came down in a blazing fire that was so great that it turned the top of the mountain black Cornuke and Williams broke open various rocks at the top of the mountain and found something that is absolutely amazing. The entire top of the mountain, including small rocks, medium size rocks, large rocks, sand and everything that made up the mountain was black like obsidian. They broke open some of the rocks and found that the insides of the rocks were a sandy, reddish color, very much like the entire area around the mountain.

“After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. (8) Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.” ( Ex 19:7-8)

The people went into camp around the mountain with their basic needs met. They had manna to eat and plenty of water for drinking, for their livestock, and for bathing, washing clothes, and sanitation. The rock the Caldwells were convinced was the rock from which the water flowed stood above a depression about one and a half to two miles long and one half mile wide. They were convinced that was where the water stood for the people to use. Everything about their stay was filled with the mercy and grace of the Lord. The great pillar of light illuminated the area for those two million people every night. Could you imagine thousands of babies and toddlers crying out for water during the night if they had neither water nor light. And don’t even mention changing diapers or taking young children to the bathroom if there had been no light.

B. He gave them the Ten Commandments at Sinai.

1. YAHWEH carved the Ten Commandments in stone with His finger.

“When He finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.” (Ex 31:18).

Many other things happened during the year the Israelites spent at Mt. Sinai, but the one thing that will come to mind for many people today, as well as that which must have come to mind for countless believers over the centuries, would surely be the giving of the Ten Commandments. We must hasten to add that the Ten Commandments were not just given to a large party of recently freed slaves who were set to travel trough the wilderness to the Land of Canaan. When I was in elementary school and high school it was a common thing to go into a classroom, sit at a desk and look to the front of the room and see a picture of George Washington above the teacher’s desk on one side and the Ten Commandments on the other side. Children were required to memorize the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments form the foundation for the Law the Lord gave the Israelites and those commandments have been adopted by Christians from the time of Christ until the present. Sadly, Christians have seen America proclaim faith in God, and that does not mean that all Americans were Christians, but as Francis Schaeffer wrote, there was a Christian consensus in America. In general, a century ago even lost people were taught to live by the Ten Commandments and if someone blatantly violated one of those commandments even a non-Christians might remind him or her of the commandment that dealt with that offense.

2. He gave them a practical application of the law. For example (following he headings in he Holman Christian Standard Bible) we find:

(1) Laws about slaves (Ex. 21:1-11)

(2) Laws about personal injury (Ex. 21:12-36)

(3) Laws about personal theft (Ex. 22:1-4)

(4) Laws about crop protection (Ex. 22:5-6)

(5) Laws about personal property (Ex. 22:7-15)

(6) Laws about seduction (Ex. 22: 16-17)

(7) Capital offense (22:18-20)

(8) Laws protecting the vulnerable (21- 27)

(9) Respect for God (22:28-31)

(10) Laws about Honesty and Justice (23:1-9)

These are some examples of the practical application of the Ten Commandments in every day life. Other applications concerned laws about honesty and justice and Sabbaths and festivals.

3. He gave them instructions concerning the sacrificial system.

(1) Sabbaths and Festivals (23:10-19)

(2) Promises and warnings (23:20-33)

(3) The covenant Ceremony (24:1-18)

(4) Offerings to build the tabernacle (25:1-9)

(5) The Ark and other furnishings (25:10ff).

(6) Instructions for the Tabernacle (Chapter 26)

Two points should be considered here. First, anyone who thinks the Mosaic Law was copied from the Code of Hammurabi must have an overwhelming desire to reject the one true God and His commandments. They should also read what my friend Dr. Bill Cooper has written about Hammurabi in the first of his six “Authenticity” volumes in the past two years (THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS). I might add that whatever Hammurabi or any other leader of that period may have written and codified into the laws of his country were no doubt laws and rules handed down by the Lord to Noah, who passed them on to his descendants, which included all people for some time. However, after the Tower of Babel , the people were confused, leading the people to separate themselves from other groups according to languages. There would be a continuous migration for centuries. Eventually, some nations became strong while others remained weak or disappeared. The migrations, however would continue, with countless tribes fleeing to escape more aggressive tribes.

From these various tribes various nations grew, and often times that led to war, slavery, and flight. However, if there is one things which we now know it is that many of these nations carried with them memories of the flood and separation from others. Dr. William R. Cooper, in THE AUTHENTICITY OF GENESIS, informs us that isolated tribes in even the most remote areas in the African jungles had their own flood traditions. When outsiders found them and began to communicate with them, they discovered that they had a narrative about the time when their god warned their forefather to build a box (or cut down a giant tree) and as a result when a great flood covered the earth they were spared. They also had their tradition about the Tower of Babel, confusion of tongues, and the dispersion of language groups in all directions. It was also discovered that each group had handed down these stories from generation to generation, they did not learn it from some missionary or world traveler. Naturally, some of these people groups would have taken with them teachings handed down to them from Noah.

The Israelites had their memory of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). We know that because when the conditions became unbearable they called out to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who delivered them after 430 years in Egypt. During the first part of that time they flourished in the fertile land of Goshen. However a new Pharaoh came to power who did not know about the provisions made for Israel by Joseph, so he enslaved the people and before long imposed such strict conditions on the people that they cried out to the one true God, the creator of all things who had promised Abraham that He would give his descendants the Land of Canaan, but not until after they had lived in a foreign land for 400 years.

C. The People God Delivered Were a Rebellious People.

1. They complained all the way from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai. Then, in spite of the miracles they had seen and the blessings they had experienced, when Moses did not come down from Mt. Sinai for forty days they rebelled against Yahweh, Who had delivered them, and demanded that Aaron build for them a golden calf for them to worship the way they had worshiped in the land of Egypt. Even after witnessing the Ten Plagues, the protection and guidance of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, the crossing of the Red Sea and the miraculous provisions they had received, including the manna and the water they had in abundance in the middle of a desert in which the heat every day approached 130 degrees, they rebelled against Him. They had experience God’s provisions and His protection, but they still complained and rebelled.

These people knew this and they had witnessed the coming of Moses, the Ten Plagues, and the Exodus. One would think these people would have followed Yahweh faithfully. Instead, they demanded that Aaron mold for them a golden calf, and sadly, Aaron compromised and gave them what they demanded. They went through a form of worship and then began to celebrate with food and alcohol, and under such influences they began to act like pagans, gorging themselves with food and drink, and then many of the people began to engage in immoral acts. The Lord heard, and saw the behavior of the people He had delivered by His mighty hand from the land of death and slavery, to an opportunity to live in a land flowing with milk and honey. Now, they are sinning like a bunch of pagans who had never heard of Him.

“The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. (8) They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” (32:7-8)

2. The Lord considered destroying all these people.

(9) The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. (10) Now leave Me alone, so that My anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” (Ex. 32:7-10)

The Lord had done just that with Noah. The whole world turned away from the Lord and refused to return, so the Lord told Noah to build an ark and when it was complete He brought pairs of animals onto the ark and told Noah and his wife and their three sons and their wives to get on the ark. The Lord sealed them in and flooded the earth with water from rain, from the “fountains of the deep,” and some believe there was a water canopy above the earth which collapsed upon the earth. Regardless of that, the earth was destroyed and the Lord started over with Noah. He announces that He could do that again and start over with Moses.

3. Moses interceded with the Lord for the people.

“But Moses interceded with the Lord his God...” (Ex 32:7-11) The Lord had an option: He could destroy these people and raise up another nations through Moses (now an 80 year old man). He did not mention that option because He did not love these people but because He is a holy God and a holy God cannot tolerate such grossly rebellious behavior. When the Lord announced His option to destroy the entire nation and start over with Moses it was not because He had suddenly lost His love for these people. It was because He is a holy God. The God Who creates is not like the gods people created - the gods who are not.

In an earlier message we saw that there was a time when Yahweh told Jeremiah not to pray for the people of Judah, whom He had considered destroying. At that time the Lord told Jeremiah that even of those two great intercessors were there and called on Him, He would not listen to them:

“Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My compassions would not ⌊reach out⌋ to these people. Send them from My presence, and let them go. (2) If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says: Those ⌊destined⌋ for death, to death; those ⌊destined⌋ for the sword, to the sword. Those ⌊destined⌋ for famine, to famine; those ⌊destined⌋ for captivity, to captivity.” (Jer 15:1-2)

When Moses interceded with the Lord for these sinful and rebellious people He relented and did not destroy them. However, they would not soon forget His power to judge them. But would they forget Him and His laws? We shall see.

D. We Must not Miss the Redeemer in all of This.

We may think of Yahweh as the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, and that is true. However, at this point I would like for us to remember that everything we are reading in here points to Jesus Christ.
The Lord protected Israel from the mighty Egyptian army by moving the pillar of fire from the front of the Israelites to the back, so that it was between the Israelites and the Egyptian chariots and calvary. When we read the prophet Amos we read the Lord’s promises to send fire on the walls and palaces of the enemy kings. In the end, hell is a burning fire in which those who look God in the face and say, “I don’t want anything to do with you!” will spend eternity.

Before the Lord would permit the Israelites to leave the land of Egypt He ordered them to observe the Passover by killing a lamb without blemish and smearing some of its blood on the lintel of the door and on the door facings. Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Paul was inspired to write, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.” (1 Cor 5:7) John wrote, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) In the Revelation, we read,

“Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Rev 5:13)

If we could program our computer to deal with all the information we have in the Bible about the sacrificial system given in the Book of Exodus we might be surprised if we saw the name Jesus appear on the screen. It is all about Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

II. THE ISRAELITES WERE STUCK IN THE WILDERNESS FOR FORTY YEARS.

A. The Lord Told Them to Move from Sinai to Paran (Num. 10:11-13).

(11) During the second year, in the second month on the twentieth ⌊day⌋ of the month, the cloud was lifted up above the tabernacle of the testimony. (12) The Israelites traveled on from the Wilderness of Sinai, moving from one place to the next until the cloud stopped in the Wilderness of Paran. (13) They set out for the first time according to the Lord’s command through Moses.” (Num 10:11-13)

We are reading history here, but more than history. It is Scripture. Two historians may well interpret an event in very different ways, as far as cause and effect are concerned. They should be able to get the dates and basic events right, but often the events are interpreted differently. I discovered a some time ago that I do not want to subject the Bible to various filters of the history. For example, the History Channel has often subjected accounts in the Bible to liberal historians and come up with misleading messages. Recently, someone asked my son why he had not seen his name in newspaper articles about Juvenile issues. John said, “I try to avoid them because they get it wrong so often.” A number of years ago, my brother Mike told me that he and the plaintiff attorney met with a well known reporter and reviewed each issue in a trial that had just concluded. They answered her questions and both attorneys told her what happened and why certain things were introduced and how they effected the case. He said, “I got up the next morning and read the article in the paper and didn’t recognize the case.”

I have a set of New Testament commentaries in my study that I would like to give to a young pastor. The only problem is that, while he provides a lot of historical information, he takes a tilted view of certain things. For example, in the account of Jesus walking on the water, this writer explains that the problem is in the prepositions. Actually, he writes, Jesus did not walk “on” the water, He walked “toward the water.” Simon Peter did not walk “on” the water, he waded in the water until he stepped into a hold and went under, at which time Jesus stepped up and gave him a hand out of the water. If that had been all there was to it, do you really believe it would have been recorded in the Bible? I think not.

B. Twelve Spies Were Sent to Reconnoiter the Land of Canaan.

One spy from each of the twelve tribes was chosen to go through that Canaan to spy out that land and come back and give their report on the lay of the land (reconnoiter) and report on military challenges they needed to know before entering the land. They all agreed that the land really was a “land flowing with milk and honey,” but ten of the twelve spies stated that the land was occupied by giants and they could not take the land. Two spies, Joshua and Caleb, assured the people that the Lord would give them the land. The people chose to believe the ten doubting spies rather than Joshua and Caleb, and the entire nation paid a great price for their lack of faith.

After all the Lord had done for the Children of Israel, they said they would not go on to the Promised Land. Can you believer it?! They had called on the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and asked Him to deliver them from an especially vile, evil form of slavery. He sent Moses to deliver them. They had seen the ten plagues, they had celebrated Passover, and they had marched out of Egypt with carts loaded with the riches of one of the greatest lands in the history of the world at the time. They had seen the pillar of fire that gave them light by night and the pillar of clouds that guided them during the day. They had crossed the Red Sea on dry land, and they had seen the walls of the parted water collapse upon the Egyptian chariots and calvary. They had seen the Lord sweeten the bitter waters of Marah, they has seen Him provide them with manna to eat. They had seen Him provide water for the great multitude for about one year. They had seen Him give the Israelites a victory over the Amalakites at Rephadim. They had seem Moses go up onto Mt. Sinai and come down with the Ten Commandments. They had taken his plans and built the Tabernacle, complete with all its divisions, curtains, furniture, altars and the Ark of the Covenant.

No nation has ever seen anything to compare with what these people had seen. No nation has ever experienced the protection or received the provisions these people has received. And still, when the time came for them to begin the conquest of the Promised Land, they said, “We will not go.” And they didn’t go. However, it was not the Israelites who decided it, it was Yahweh. They were not permitted to enter the land until all those twenty years of age and older were dead, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. People refused to go into Canaan to possess their possessions, even with the victories the Lord had given them since they called on Him from their slavery.

C. The Wilderness Was Their Price for Disobeying the Lord.

The Children of Israel should have been in the Land of Promise, the land flowing with milk and honey. Instead, they continued for another forty years living on manna. They were sick of manna. They loathed manna. They had enough of the manna. Yet, the next day there was more manna. Day after day, there was manna. And so it would be for many years to come. Forty years, in fact.

D. The Wilderness Was a Place of Frustration.

1. Frustration leads to sin.

2. Frustration stifles spiritual growth.

3. Frustration leads to friction.

4. Death and grief produce frustration. And frustration often leads to death and grief.

E. The Wilderness Was a Place of Misery.

1. Misery leads to complaints.

2. Complaints lead to rebellion.

3. Rebellion leads to judgment.

F. The Wilderness Was not a Happy Place.

1. There was the wilderness of anticipation.

2. There was the wilderness of doubt.

3. There was the wilderness of fear.

4. There was the wilderness of misery.

5. There was the wilderness of complaints.

6. There was the wilderness of rebellion.

7. There was the wilderness of death.

8. The slaves of Egypt were slaves to the wilderness.

9. The idolatry of Egypt became the idolatry of the wilderness.

10. The tears of Egypt became the tears of the wilderness. The death of Egypt became the death of the wilderness. In Egypt there was the death of the first born son. In the wilderness there was the death of all those twenty years old and older, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.

G. The Israelites Did not Wander for Forty Years in the Wilderness.

The Israelites refused to obey the Lord and He refused to let them enter the Land of Promise until all those 20 yeas of age and older were dead, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who spoke so courageously to the Israelites in their effort to persuade them to trust and follow the Lord. They were convinced that the Lord would give them a victory, but The people refused to listen to them. Instead, they listened to the ten spies who told the people they would face giants when they entered the land of Canaan, and they would be no match for them. They listened to the ten cowardly spies and instead of dying in and effort to conquer the holy land, they died in a miserable, hot, dry, dusty, sand filled wilderness.

You may be surprised to hear me say they did not wander in the wilderness, but they didn’t. When the time came for them to move, the Lord told them to move and they moved according to His marching plan. Why did they move from time to time? Let me mention a few reasons - without any effort to explain them in detail.

(1) Hygiene. A good friend who was a cook in the Navy and then for the National Guard for many years told me that when they set up for a camp they knew they would have to move withing so many days. Why? Hygiene. The modern army must dispose of left over food, which would spoil and become a health hazzard. They would have left over fluids: tea, coffee, cokes, and all sorts of other drinks. Then, there was all the leftover food. Then, thee was the matter of human waste. We can understand why they would have to move ever so often.

(2) Orders. There were times when the Lord commanded them to move. He knew where He wanted them. He knew how he wanted them to move and where He wanted them to stop. We can be sure Yahweh, the One who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and sent him to say to Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” would be moving them according to His plan for them. He knew where He wanted them and when He wanted them to move.

H. The Wilderness Was a Place of Preparation.

1. They were being conditioned for life in the wilderness.

2. They were being prepared for the conquest of Canaan.

3. They were being prepared for life in Canaan.

4. The Lord reviewed the Law, statutes and ordinances with them.

5. They were reminded of what Yahweh had done for them.

6. They were instructed on living in Canaan.

7. They were being prepared to obey the Lord.

III. FINALLY, THEY RECEIVED THEIR MARCHING ORDERS.

A. Yahweh Decided.

1. Israel did not decide. This was not a democratic decision. It was not a dictatorial decision. It was not a popular decision, and it was not a military decision. They did not drift or migrate toward Canaan. God decided and it happened according to His plan and His time table.

2. Moses did not decide. Aaron did not decide. Sarah did not decide. Joshua did not decide, nor did Caleb decide. This is something unique with Yahweh and it was something unique with Israel. It is also important that we note that this decision was not a simple whim on God’s part, and Israel’s whims had not worked out so well.

3. Yahweh decided. The Lord had a redemptive plan in mind from the very beginning. When the Scripture tells us Jesus was the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), that tells us that God had a redemptive plan for those people who were created in His image - before He created them.

I am convinced that the Lord has moved people from one place to another over the centuries for His purpose, and that His purpose is not always stated as clearly as His plans for the Israelites. For example, I picked up a book recently and when I opened the cover I discovered that this book, DOGS OF GOD, by James Reston, was a gift from the late General Dutch Shoffner, whose friendship still blesses me. I had let my older son John read it and when he returned it I discovered that it was from this source that I discovered how the people of Spain during the days of Ferdinand and Isabella finally won a victory over the Moors and established Spain as a Catholic country. One group that carried out the inquisitions were known as the “hounds of God.” Those in power did not stop with the Moors. They forced Jews to either convert to Christianity or be killed. Many converted, but others were slain later. Then, it seems that those in power coveted the land and homes of successful Jews and raised a militia to take what they had. It was about this time that Columbus obtained funding for a special discovery voyage. That voyage led him to discover a world totally unknown to him, a new world that would one day offer freedom for masses who were fleeing oppression, famine, and persecution for their convictions about the true God. Countless numbers of Christians were slaughtered for having a copy of God’s Word in their possession - slaughtered by others who professed to be Christians.

That new country? America! America would also offer a home to Jews when few were available in other places. Those early Jews made countless and priceless contributions to America, which in time would stand behind the nation of Israel, after the modern day nation of Israel was established after World War II. It is the conviction of many Christians that the Lord was, through America, providing support for the nation of Israel. It is easier to follow the Lord’s footprint in the conquest of Canaan than it is to see it in other situations for the simple reason that He inspired writers of Scripture to write the account and preserve the record.

B. The Lord Was in Charge from the First.

1. He called Abraham. He entered a covenant with Abram, at which time He told Abram to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldees and go to a distant country which He would give to his descendants, but only after they lived in another country for 400 years.

2. They were in Egypt 430 years. At the end of that period of time the oppressed people called on the Lord to deliver them from slavery, oppression, and death and take them to the Promised Land, the Land of Canaan. He would give them a land and protect them if they would obey Him.

3. The Egyptians tortured the Israelites until they called on the Lord. As long as they were prospering in the Land of Egypt they never asked to be delivered. They never showed any desire to leave Egypt or to go to Canaan. If there was anything the Israelites knew while living in Egypt it was that there were hostile forces between them and the land of Canaan. There was noting to motivate either to leave the Land of Goshen, or to flee to Canaan.

4. Then came an especially vicious form of slavery in Egypt. The purpose of that vicious form of slavery was to radically reduce the male population so the Israelites would not be a threat to Egypt, should they join an invading army and over run Egypt. When it became very severe they called out to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to deliver them. He sent Moses, along with ten plagues that slapped the gods of Egypt flat of their backs, or so it must have seemed to the Egyptians . Maybe we should say that if those gods were real He would have slapped them down, but as we know, they were not real. The Lord sent Moses and the Exodus began.

5. He brought them to Himself at Sinai. That statement is amazing. He did not send them to Mt. Sinai, and He did not call them to Mt. Sinai. He brought them to Himself at Sinai. Isn’t our God an amazing God? Yes, He is! At Sinai, the Lord gave them the Ten Commandments, entered a covenant relationship with them, and then gave them a worship center, which we remember as the Tabernacle, and introduced them to the laws by which they were to live, and the sacrifices and offering by which they would worship Him.

For a year at Sinai they participated in the first worship services, sacrifices, offerings the Lord had given them. During that time they had built the tabernacle, complete with the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place with their furnishings. They built the great altar between the gate in the fence surrounding the tabernacle and the Holy Place. Garments for the high priest were made according to the design of the Lord. Sinai was the place of the Covenant, laws, sacrifices, and miracles. After a year there the Lord gave them their marching orders and they headed to the Wilderness of Paran.

6. Twelve spies spent 40 days spying out Canaan. They were to reconnoiter the entire land and then return and report to the people, which they did. However, ten of the spies told the people they could not conquer the land. They told the masses they would be as grasshoppers before the giants who inhabited the land of Canaan. Sadly, the people believed the doubters and rejected the word of the great men of faith, who proved to be right. Only Joshua and Caleb believed they could conquer the land God had promised them. One of the darkest days in the entire history of the Israelite nation was when the people listened to the ten spies who lacked the faith to go forward, rather than to Joshua and Caleb who were faithful to the Lord.

7. The Lord announced His judgment. The lesson all believers should learn from this is that if you obey the Lord you will be blessed bu the Lord. Disobey God and you will suffer the consequences. It was a dark and dismal day when the Chosen People refused to choose to follow the Lord, Who had done so much for them. When the masses refused to follow the Lord and rebelled against Him they chose the consequences of their disobedience, and those consequences were severe.

The Lord said he would destroy Israel and start over with Moses. Moses interceded for Israel and Yahweh relented. However, His judgment was not avoided. All those twenty years of age and older would perish in the wilderness, a place of misery, gripes, complaints, and disobedience in general. They were fruitless in the wilderness because the wilderness was a place of death and not life.

8. At the end of forty years the Lord gave the orders to move on to Canaan. When He declared that they would waste away in the wilderness until all those twenty years of age and older were dead, He meant exactly what He said. We usually hear that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In reality, they wasted away in the wilderness. There was no aimless wandering. When it came time to move, Yahweh gave them their marching orders and they moved on to the next location. They moved periodically as the Lord decided.

IV. THEY RECEIVED THEIR MARCHING ORDERS.

A. Yahweh Gave Specific Laws (Num. 22-29).

1. Balak hired Balaam to deal with Israel, but YAHWEH blocked him (Num. 22-24). After forty years in the wilderness the Lord moved Israel toward Canaan (Num. 22-24). As they moved on to the southern border of Moab, where they encountered Midian, a distinct people of the region. The king of Moab sent word to the Midianites that the Israelites were moving into the region and all the people were disturbed by the news.

2. God told Moses to anoint Joshua as his successor (Num. 27:22-23).

3. He emphasized the offerings of the people in the Land of Promise (Num. 28-29).

4. Moses commissioned Joshua to take his place as the leader of Israel (Deut. 31:14ff).

5. Moses wrote down God’s Word (Deut. 31).

“When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this law, (25) he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, (26) “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God so that it may remain there as a witness against you.” (Deut 31:24-26)

6. Moses died after seeing the Promised Land (Deut. 34) ). The name Moses is found 1769 times in the Holman Christian Standard Bible, whereas the name Abraham is found 516 times. The name David is found 2366 times. Job, a patriarch from the general time of Abraham, was a godly man whose faith was tested by the Lord. The Book of Job may well have been the first book of the Bible to have been written. Abraham wrote no Scripture, but we can be sure records were kept. Moses is credited with writing the Pentateuch, or Torah, the first five books of the Bible. The influence of Moses is still being experienced today among Jews and Christians.

7. Joshua was anointed to take the place of Moses. “Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him.” (Deut 34:9) Let us not forget that Joshua had been Moses’ right hand man for the past forty years, during which time he was a witness to a period of history which was indeed, “His story” (God’s story). Later, Joshua would write that whatever Yahweh told Moses to write in the book, they did it.

B. The Lord Gave Joshua Instructions (Joshua 1:1-9).

1. He Encouraged Joshua (Josh. 1:1-9).

(1) “After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, who had served Moses: (2) “Moses My servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. (3) I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. (4) Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites —and west to the Mediterranean Sea. (5) No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or forsake you.

(6) “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Josh 1:1-9, HCSB)

C. Joshua Prepared the People to Enter Canaan (Josh. 1:10-18).

1. Joshua assumed command and addressed the Israelites (Josh. 1:5).

(10) Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit.’” (Josh. 1)

2. The People promised to obey the Lord.

(16) They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. (17) We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. And may the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. (18) Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!” (Josh 1:10-18)

D. Joshua Sent Spies to Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7).

(1) “Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a woman, a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there.

(2) The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.” (3) Then the king of Jericho sent ⌊word⌋ to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land.”

(4) But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. (5) At nightfall, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!” (6) But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. (7) The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the gate was shut.” (Josh 2:1-7, bold added)

E. Rahab Was Promised Protection (Josh. 2:8-24).

1. Rahab protected the two Israelite spies. I don’t know about you, but I have a number of questions about this whole experience. First, how did they end up inside the walled city of Jericho? Were the people of Jericho not watching the Israelites, since they knew they were going to invade their land? Why did they go to the home of a prostitute? Maybe they followed others to this place in order to lose themselves in the crowd. Here is another question: How did the spies communicate with Rahab and the people they met in Canaan? Let me suggest an answer. Joshua probably picked two men who were especially gifted in languages. These to men may well have been sent to Canaan because they had learned the language of the people. But, how would that have happened?

Let me illustrate what a person who is especially gifted in other languages may be able to do. The late Dr. Leo Eddleman, whose father was pastor of my home church - the church licensed me and ordained me to the Gospel Ministry - was a nineteen year old student at Mississippi College, majoring in math, when the Lord began dealing with him in a powerful way. He told me that he didn’t know whether he was saved at that time, or if he had been saved earlier and called into the ministry at that time. He knew the experience so overwhelmed everything else that had happened in the past that he believed that was when he was saved and called into the ministry. Now, get this: Dr. Eddleman told me that the greatest regret he had in life was the way he had wasted his life between age fifteen and nineteen, when he could have learned five languages. No joke! That’s what he said.

Dr. Eddleman went to Southern Seminary, where he majored in Greek. He went the Holy Land as a missionary to the Jews in the later 930s. He found an Arab who didn’t know a word of English and got him to teach him Arabic. In six months he was preaching tot he Israelites in Hebrew and the
Arabs in Arabic. He learned the two languages of the area within a few months. FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover, said that Leo Edleman had the best working knowledge of Hebrew of any non-Jew in the United States. Later, he was chosen to accompany Golda Meir to Moscow to meet with Soviet leaders. He searched trash cans, listened to conversations, and talked with people from the young country of Israel to be sure we were not being sold out.

The Israelites had been at Sinai one year and in the wilderness for forty years. Is it not possible that these two spies were especially gifted in languages and had learned the language of the people of Jericho and the surrounding area so that they were well equipped for this mission? A logical question is, from whom would they have learned the language of Canaan if they had never been to Canaan? Slaves. But where would a nation of slaves find slaves? They fought some skirmishes in which they may well have ended up with slaves. Remember, POWs may have ended up as slaves of the winning nation. There is more. The warriors may well have been slain, but young females were often forced into the service of families of the conquering nation. Some Israelites may well have learned the language of the slaves.

Regardless of how well they spoke the language of Jericho, the word got out that there were Israelite spies in their midst and the soldiers began a search for them. Rahab hid them and told them that they had known for some time that the God of the Israelites had delivered them from Egypt by parting the waters of the Red Sea so they could cross on dry ground, and they also knew that the Lord of Israelites had given the Land of Canaan to them. She asked them to save her family when they conquered Jericho. There was no question in her mind that the Israelites would conquer Jericho.
Listen to her own words:

“I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you. (10) For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed across the Jordan. (11) When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. (12) Now please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign (13) that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”

Isn’t that amazing? Do you want to hear something else that is truly amazing? Look at the genealogy of Christ in the first chapter of Matthew and you will see something mind-boggling. In the genealogy of the Son of God, there are immoral people listed and one of them is Rahab (and how about Judah, David and Bathsheba?). There are women listed in the genealogy of Jesus (Rahab and Ruth). There are gentiles listed in His genealogy (Rahab and Ruth). You can be sure of one thing: no Pharisee composed the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The two Israelite spies assured Rahab, “⌊We will give⌋ our lives for yours. If you don’t report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the Lord gives us the land.” (Josh. 2:14). After they assured her she would be protected:

(15) Then she let them down by a rope through the window, since she lived in a house that was ⌊built⌋ into the wall of the city. (16) “Go to the hill country so that the men pursuing you won’t find you,” she said to them. “Hide yourselves there for three days until they return; afterward, go on your way.” (Josh 2:8-16)

F. Joshua Led Them to the Jordan, 3:1-4.

1. They camped by the Jordan River, (3:1) He had been Moses’ assistant when he led the Children of Israel to Mt. Sinai. He had been with Moses when he led them to the Red Sea, with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit, and he was with him when Yahweh parted the waters of the Red Sea and they walked across the sea on dry ground. With the faith he and Caleb had shown forty years earlier when they tried to convince the Israelites that they could conquer Canaan, he led the Israelites from Acacia Grove where they had stopped on to crossing site along side the Jordan River (Josh. 3:1).

2. The people were given their orders (Josh. 3:2-4).

(2) After three days the officers went through the camp (3) and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the Levitical priests, you must break camp and follow it. (4) But keep a distance of about 1,000 yards between yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven’t traveled this way before.”

3. Joshua gave orders concerning the ark of the covenant (Josh. 3:5-6).

(5) Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, because the Lord will do wonders among you tomorrow.” (6) Then he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.” (Josh 3:1-6)

V. YAHWEH TOLD THEM TO CROSS THE JORDAN (Josh. 3:5-17)

A. Priests Took the Ark of the Covenant and Led the People (3:5-8).

The Ark of the Covenant was a representation of the presence of God. Actually, the Tabernacle (tent) was a dwelling place. The Israelites were living in dwelling places in the wilderness and the Tent of God, the Tabernacle, symbolized the presence of Yahweh with His people. The Tabernacle was divided into two parts, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The most holy object in the Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant and the commands controlling the moving of that holy object were holy and binding. Failure to obey might bring deadly penalties. With that in mind:

“Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, because the Lord will do wonders among you tomorrow.” (6) Then he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.” (Josh. 3:5-6).

B. The Lord Exalts Joshua to Replace Moses as His Leader (Josh. 3:7-8).

The Lord had groomed Joshua to take the place of Moses as leader of His people. He spoke directly to Joshua, as He had spoken to Moses: “ The Lord spoke to Joshua: ‘“Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses. 8 Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.” (Josh. 3:7-8)

CONCLUSION. We are looking at a high water mark in the history of mankind. In fact, those who would know the history of the world should take a close look at the Word of God. History books have been re-written, and in case you missed it, that is exactly what Karl Marx prescribed for “evolution” from one culture or system to another: the ancient farm system evolves into a feudal system, which eventually evolves into capitalism, which in time evolves into socialism, which in turn (and in time) evolves into Communism. To prove his point Linen and Stalin slaughtered upwards of 40 million people - their own people! But what did that matter to them, since man is only a machine! That is, unless that man is in power, and then he can act like a god.

It is interesting that the History Channel thinks it is qualified to judge the Bible, but historians need to learn that in the end human history - and historians - will be judged by the Bible, the Bible will not be judged by human history. Sadly, they are not only historians who seek to rewrite biblical history. The so called higher critics have spent a lot of time re-writing biblical accounts like the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as well as many other Bible stories. My good friend, Dr. William R. Cooper makes the point that even after many of the higher critics discover the truth they have continued printing the same old lies.

Now, let us pause for a moment to consider some of the most important events in the history of the world. First, there is Creation, then the Flood, the Tower of Babel when the languages were confused and mankind began to migrate to different parts of the world. Next, there was the call of of Abraham to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldees, combined with the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12) and the promise that the Lord would give to Abraham’s descendants the Land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey - but only after they lived in another country for 400 years.

Other key events in the history of the world include the Exodus when the Lord, by His mighty hand, delivered His chosen people from Egypt. Then, there was Sinai, complete with the giving of the Ten Commandments and all the laws associated with them. The glorious Sinai experience included the giving of the sacrificial system, special laws, and the construction of the Tabernacle, complete with its division, furniture, and priesthood, with special emphasis on the high priest. All of these things pointed to the coming of the Messiah and His ministry, teachings, and death of the cross where He poured out His life’s blood for you and me. Jesus, you will remember is called our Passover and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is called the “rock” from which water flowed to quench the thirst of the entire nation of Israel and their livestock. “For they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” (1 Cor 10:4) It just doesn’t get any better than that, does it?

We could go on and on, pointing to the great events in the history of the world, but I believe we can skip now to the birth of Jesus Christ, His prefect life, His perfect sacrifice at Calvary, His Resurrection and Ascension, His ministry of redemption and intercession for us now, and His promised return and all that is associated with it. And don’t forget that place He is preparing in Heaven for all who believe in Him. Do I really believe all of this?

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, (39) nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:38-39)