The
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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O
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GOD, who declarest thy
almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such
a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may
obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
1 Now after the death of Moses the
servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of
Nun, Moses' minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore
arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do
give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole
of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto
Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river,
the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea
toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5 There shall not
any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6 Be
strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an
inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. (Joshua 1:1-6)
You
may recall our pointing out that the Old Testament, wherein the Law that was
written on Tables of Stone, proved to be an impossible obedience to the
Children of God. It was the instrument of teaching to the people of God that
their righteousness could never be that perfect righteousness which the Law
compelled. The Law was a curse to the people. Though codified on Mount Sinai,
the Law truly became a binding curse at that tragic Fall of Adam before the
ominous Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. For as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to
do them. (Gal 3:10) Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
(Romans 3:20)
In the final analysis, the Law is forever a curse,
to them who are bound there under. The Old Testament Witness rightly
seals its close with the word, CURSE.,(Malachi 4:6) The curse
of the Law is death, and Moses, the Lawgiver, died on the
slopes overlooking the Promised Land, not being permitted to enter therein. So
Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the
word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over
against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
(Deut 34:5-6) But Moses suffered no loss. He went to a far better land of
promise. His next appearance was on another mountain with Christ, Mount of
Transfiguration!
Moses, the Law Giver, expired short of the
Land of Promise because the law cannot avail to gain our entrance therein.
Joshua, whose Hebrew name is the same as that of our Lord, Jehoshua, or
salvation of God, was able to cross the Jordan Waters on dry ground and lead
the Children into that Land. When the righteousness of man fails, the grace of
God carries the line to victory. Joshua was, like Christ, obedient to God
insofar as he was able to be. God expects no more of any of His children of
flesh. He is well aware that only His Son could be obedient with a perfect
obedience, and righteous with a perfect righteousness. It is for this reason
that only Christ could atone for the sins of the world. I love to think of the
atonement of Christ as a reconciling of our fleshly minds with that perfect
Mind that was in Jesus and making us ONE with God, so, He came to atone (place
our minds and hearts AT-ONE, atone -with that Mind of Christ).
As Joshua led the Children of God into the
Promised Land, so does Christ lead us into that Greater Paradise of Promise.
What the Law could not accomplish, Grace in Christ has, indeed, accomplished. Abraham
is the great ancestor of that promise which would come in the Promised Seed
that was Christ. What the Law (Moses) could not do through the infirmity of the
flesh, our Joshua (Jesus) accomplished through His righteousness and sacrifice
as the Rock of our Salvation, that same Rock that followed the Children of
Israel in the Wilderness. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should
be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed
through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the
sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the
same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:
and that Rock was Christ. (1 Cor 10:1-4) Do you not love the beauty,
clarity, and cohesiveness of Holy Scripture?
Joshua was a mighty warrior to defeat many
kings and enemies of his people. So like Christ is a might King, the King of
Kings, and has defeated unnumbered principalities and powers that have stood
against, and oppressed, His people. He defeated, for all time and eternity,
that hapless King and Prince of the Air, Lucifer (alias) SATAN.
He also has defeated that terrible tyrant of our souls, SIN,
which has kept us in bondage from our birth until our being found in Christ.
Jesus defeated that last Sovereign of the Long Home so that it wields no power
whatsoever over His people, DEATH!
What of those promises made to Abraham by the
Almighty God? They all had their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. What of
all those promises made to Moses and the Children of Israel? They all had their
consummation in Joshua. As the host of Israel, under their commander Joshua,
spared the harlot, Rahab (and ancestor of Christ) by a scarlet chord, so Christ
has spared His people from the pains of Hell by the scarlet Blood of His Cross.
At the last, Joshua received in peace those Gibeonites
who sued in humility for it. Jesus Christ spared those of us who were before
His enemies when we sued in humility for peace and acceptance of God.
As Joshua had crossed the Jordan Waters and
stood upon the plains and without the walls of that wicked city, Jericho, he
was attended by an Angel of the Lord and fell upon his face. And it came
to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked,
and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his
hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our
adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD
am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did
worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the
captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy
foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
(Josh 5:13-15) This Personage was no Angel, but seems to me to have been the
pre-Incarnate Christ since He demanded worship.
Christ also, ere the great battle of His Soul in the Garden before Golgotha,
fell on His face and was attended by Angels. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye
here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little further, and fell
on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but
as thou wilt. (Matt 26:38-39) And he was withdrawn from
them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:
nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
(Luke 22:41-43)
The
human type always falls short of the heavenly type. Joshua's salvation was
conditional and temporal. The salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ is eternal and
unconditional in faith and grace. Have you seen the glory of our wonderful
Savior contrasted with these lesser types? Do you KNOW Him enough to recognize
the vast difference?
