The Path To Victory
The Path To Victory
Dr. J. Mike Minnix
Introduction
Joshua 1:10-11
Now remember what we are studying during these days in Book of Joshua. We are looking at the victorious Christian life from the example of God's blessings upon Joshua and the people of God. As we see the Hebrews move into Canaan and as we watch great walls of Jericho fall down before them, we are seeing the example of how God desires to give us victory over the enemies and obstacles of our lives as believers. You will recall that 1 Corinthians 10 teaches us that the things that happened to these Old Testament saints are to be seen as examples for us in the Christian life.
Tonight we look at Joshua 1:10-11 and what I'm referring to as God's Call To Victory. God was telling these Old Testament believers that there is a place for them to enjoy the roses of Sharon, the honey, the milk, the fruit, the peace, and the joy of being in true fellowship with God and with one another. He desires for us to be where He intends, doing what He plans and enjoying all that He supplies.
Egypt represents the realm of a natural person, and a natural person is one who is lost and does not know Jesus as Savior and Lord. In Egypt the Hebrews were slaves, but they had faith in God and He delivered them out of bondage. That is the story of every Christian, for we were in bondage to sin -slaves to sin - but God called us to His son, Jesus. We believed upon Him and He delivered us into the new life called salvation.
Yet, even when the Hebrews were out of bondage, they were still in the wilderness. Let's think now about the wanderings of the Hebrews in the Wilderness as the life of a carnal Christian. You can be saved but not live in the full victory that Jesus purchased for you on the cross. You can be out of bondage – out of Egypt – but not living in the full victory God has for you.
Finally, the Hebrews came to the Promised Land. They were ready under Joshua to go over into full victory and to step forth in faith to God’s call for living the life in the Promised Land. Yes, I know that there is Promised Land to come when we go to meet our Lord in heaven, but God wants us to live in victory now! Taking Canaan represents the spiritual life, the victorious life, which God has for us right where we are today.
After wandering around in the wilderness for forty years, Joshua, Caleb and the descendants of those who failed to take the Promised Land as God had initially planned, no move forth, heeding God’s call to victory. They entered the Promised Land.
Joshua and the people entering the Promised Land is a picture of the victory God desires for us as Christians to have as we live each day. So, let’s look at this call to victory tonight and let us answer the call to move into the fulness of all that God has for us.
I. See The Symbolism In This Passage
Joshua readied the people to move across the Jordan, and that required a delay of three days for the people to prepare. Why the delay? Why three days? Both the delay and the number of days in the delay have significance for us.
We know from other passages that the time of year in which the Hebrews found themselves at the Jordan was during the spring floods in the Jordan valley. This meant that the Jordan was a roaring, foaming, raging river. Debris, trees, limbs and mud were floating swiftly down the basin toward the Dead Sea. The torrent rolled on with great noise and created a vision that was somewhat scary. The people were made to watch this display for three long days. Why? What was God’s purpose in making them watch this roaring river for three days?
The answer is found in the three days itself. The number three and the River Jordan are both symbolic of death. For three days Jonah was in the belly of the great fish. For three days our Lord was in the tomb before His resurrection. On the third day, Jonah was thrown up on dry ground. Three days led to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So, both death and resurrection are symbolized here. What does that mean to us?
It means to us exactly what it meant to the Hebrews in the day of Joshua. The river was an impassable obstacle on the way to victory. No human effort could cross it. The people were told to prepare, but how could they possibly prepare to cross that awful, pounding river. They had no bridge, they had no boats and they had no place where they could ford the river. The people were made to see the hopelessness of their own effort to cross over. Three days of looking at the impossible. This was to bring them to their knees. This was to bring them to a tomb, so they might be resurrected with new life.
Every believer who has developed into a faithful servant has been down to the River Jordan to see the swelling tide, and to know that it is impossible to cross over without a miracle from God.
Think of Father Abraham
Abraham was promised a family but had no son. As he got older, he was brought spiritually to a rolling Jordan stream too deep for a man to cross. Only a miracle could bridge that gap.
Think of David
David was anointed as a king when a lad, he had to wait for many years to see it come to pass. It must have looked to him like a great rolling river that he could never cross. And, indeed, he could not cross it without the help of God. He needed to die to David and live in God!
Think of Mary and Martha
Mary and Martha, whose brother Lazarus lay in a tomb with a stone at the door, were forced to look at the impossible regarding his life. That stone was like a surging Jordan River that they could not cross. They were made to wait and wait and wait. Then came Jesus to the place where Lazarus was entombed.
God gave Abraham the son in a miraculous manner.
God made David King of Israel in a remarkable way.
God raised Lazarus from the dead in a startling revelation of power.
Dear friend, only when you have been brought right to the river's edge to see the overwhelming stream of difficulty, will you fall down and cry out to God. Only then will you exchange your poor, pitiful life for the powerhouse life God has for you in Christ! We come to the tomb of our efforts that we may live in the victory of His resurrected life!
II. See The Stop In This Passage
Three days passed as the people waited to cross over the Jordan and enter that which had been promised to them so long before. I think of the people in Jericho during these days. For them, life went on as usual as tey rose, ate, worked, wed, and even died during those days that passed before God's people came to the walls of the city. In only a few days the trumpets would sound and the walls would collapse. Judgment was just around the corner, but the people of Jericho did not know it. God was giving them a delay – a time to repent - but they went on as if life would always be as it was.
Even now God is delaying His hand of judgment – His coming to bring about final judgment - to give people time to repent and come to Him. How sad that so many do not know that we are perhaps just a few years, even a few months, perhaps a few days, perchance even a few hours from the impending hand of God's judgment falling on this world. Jericho is given a few more days of mercy, a few more days for people to turn to God.
You might wonder if the people had any witness in the city. Oh, yes! Later we will learn that Rahab knew about God. She had heard about Him. My next message will be about her faith and salvation, though she lived in that city that was under a curse. They had a witness, but were they listening? Whether they listened or not, God had given them some extra time before their world fell apart and they were issued forth to face judgment.
III. See The Sadness In This Passage
Gad, Rueben, and the half tribe of Manasseh wanted the land on the eastern side of Jordan. Joshua told them that it was granted to them. He told them to stay in the desert area if they wanted to. Now listen to what I’m going to say. God will let you have as little or as much as you desire of His presence and His blessings. It appears that the three tribes mentioned here wanted the easy way out. They wanted the land that required no battle. They were looking for ease and comfort. Yet, years later it was these three tribes - Gad, Rueben and Manasseh – that were the first to fall into the hands of the enemies of God’s people when the Assyrians came roaring down upon them. The tribes were the first to be tormented by their enemies. They children were the first to be taken prisoner. Their women were the firsts to be violated. Their homes were the first to be destroyed. Their men were the first to be butchered! They were the first to collapse when the enemy came in like a flood.
How sad that there are some who just will not enter in to the joy and victory which God has prepared for them. Yet, that is exactly what happened here at one of the most important periods in history. They were at the very brink of one of God's greatest, supernatural moves, and some of God's people missed it. Some of the people placed themselves in harm’s way, simply because they were looking for the easy way out.
Think of it. We could be very near a great blessing from God, but indifference can rob us of seeing God's mighty hand at work. Our unwillingness to die to self and live only to Him can keep us from all that He has prepared for us. Oh, I pray God will help us to say with one great voice, "We will go over to Side!”
Conclusion
Now, let me ask you this: Are you living in the complete victory God has for you? Be honest! How many of us look for the easy way, rather than saying, “Lord, no matter how deep the waters or hard the way, I want to be in on the victory you purchased for me at the cross!”
Let us do that now. Let us kneel here at an old-fashioned altar and make a commitment to follow the Lord wherever He leads us!