As we finished last week, the question loomed large at the end of Deuteronomy, “Will this younger generation of Israelites obey?”

• Joshua is the

to Deuteronomy, answering that question.
• This next section of the Old Testament, called the Books of

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, are the sequel to the Torah. They continue to tell us the story of Israel & their quest to manifest God’s presence on the earth & reveal the glory of God, albeit imperfectly.
• As we have seen in the other books, while much of the narrative is focused on Israel, this is still God’s story & He is the main

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. In Joshua, we see God is the God of the Land.

Who will lead?

• God leads His people through human beings that He calls to

.
• Many times when you hear messages from the book of Joshua, we get the picture that Joshua is this young, vibrant leader. But he was actually around

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when he took the reins of Israel’s leadership.
• Not only was God faithful to raise up another leader. God was faithful to

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this leader to be courageous in the face of what was to come.

The book of Joshua is divided up into four main parts:

• Chapters 1-5 record Joshua’s leadership of Israel >> he is presented as a new

.
• Chapters 6-12 tell the story about the significant

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in the initial conquest

// The first three chapters (6-8) tell the story of two of these battles so that we can understand a crucial concept about God’s people & victory. Victory is from the

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.
// The only way to experience victory is to walk with God in

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.

• Chapters 13-22 tell us about how Joshua divided up the land, which seems boring to us, but we need to remember that this was the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham (Genesis 12:6-7). God is delivering upon His

down to the very detail.
• Chapters 23-24 are Joshua’s final message to Israel before he dies. Just like Moses, Joshua reminds them of God’s generosity, His power to deliver, & the necessity of obedience. If they obey, it will lead to life &

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in the land. If they don’t obey, they will experience the same divine judgment that the Canaanites did, & ultimately will be exiled from the land.

Application

• God is

to lead through the leaders He raises up

// Yet, we have so deeply muddied the waters of spiritual authority that we think we are our own authority. Next week, we will see the tragic consequences of this idea. The book of Joshua tells us that God is faithful to raise up spiritual leaders in our lives.
// Hebrews 13:17 | Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls,

• God is faithful to give

, but hidden sin cuts of our experience of victory

// The story of Achan shows us that the hidden sin quenches spiritual victories.
// It also proves a truth from Numbers 32:23, when Moses reminds the people, “be sure your sin will find you out.” God will sovereignly uncover it.
// Part of that choice is a hardening of your spiritual sensitivity to the grievousness of that sin. Over time, without repentance & restoration, you forge a stronghold in your own heart for the enemy to take up residence. Instead of letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, you create unrest within you & harbor a dwelling place for lies & for the enemy.

• God is faithful to bring

// Sin deadens your sensitivity to God’s desires for you & your fervor to respond to the things of God. Your desire is to have peace & His desire is to give you peace (do also with Victory, hope, joy, life, peace). However, your activities reveal your desires. If you are passive to the things of God, the peace and rest of God will continually be out of reach.
// Joshua 21:44-45 | And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
// We’ve said it before but it bears repeating. God created you to be a worshipper. Sin didn’t disrupt this reality, it only redirected it.
// Isaiah 26:3-4 | You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.