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Joshua’s Exhortation

JOSHUA’S EXHORTATION

Exhortation seems a hard word, but it simply means to strongly urge to good deeds, and this is what our artist shows Joshua to be doing.

Joshua is now an old man, and the Israelites are settled peaceably in Canaan. He has called them before him, with their elders, and heads, and judges, and officers. He tells them that he is old and about to die, and reminds them of the land that has already been conquered and divided among them, and of that which still remains to be conquered; urging them to be “very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that they turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left.” He bids them take good heed therefore unto themselves, that they love the Lord their God; and warns them that if they go back and do wickedly, the anger of the Lord will be kindled against them, and they will perish quickly from off the good land which God has given them.

In his address, Joshua said, “Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one good thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.” How faithful is God! He never fails in His promises: and we are told He is unchangeable, so that whatever He promises now He will fulfil, and whatever warnings He gives will surely come to pass. How good is it to have this holy and wise God for our Father, and to know that He promises abundantly to bless all those that trust in the Saviour, Jesus Christ. But let us take heed of the warnings against sin given in God’s Holy Word.

JOSHUA EXHORTING THE PEOPLE
MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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How Jericho was Captured

HOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED

When men in olden times attacked a city, they tried to batter down the walls with heavy beams of wood, having heads of iron, called battering rams; but God did not instruct the Israelites thus to capture Jericho. They were to remember that it was not by their own power they could conquer the Canaanites, but only as God gave them the victory over their enemies. So God commanded Joshua to lay siege to Jericho in a very strange way. He said that seven priests, each having a trumpet, were to go before the ark. In front of them the armed men of Israel were to march; and behind the ark the people were to follow. In this way they were to go round the city once each day for six days, the priests blowing their trumpets each time. The seventh day they were to go in the same manner round the city seven times; and God said that when the priests blew their trumpets the seventh time, the people were to give a great shout, and the walls of the city would fall down.

Joshua and the people did as God commanded. They marched round the city carrying the ark, the priests blowing their trumpets; and on the seventh day they marched round seven times. The last time, when the priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted with a great shout, and the walls of the city fell down flat. Then the Israelites went up and took possession of it.

Thus God delivered Jericho into the hands of His people. All the inhabitants were killed except Rahab and her relatives. These were spared because Rahab had been kind to the spies whom Joshua had sent.

The Fall of Jericho
MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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The Captain of the Lord’s Host

THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOST

News of the miraculous way in which the Israelites had been brought across the Jordan spread rapidly among the Canaanites, and when they heard what God had done, they were very much afraid. We are told that “their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.”

God had said to Joshua that the land of Canaan was to be taken possession of by the Israelites; and had commanded him to “Be strong and of a good courage,” and had strengthened him by saying, “Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua and the people were now in Canaan, and before them lay a stronghold of the Canaanites, named Jericho, having high walls and strong gates. This city the Israelites had to capture; but the inhabitants closed the gates, and prepared to fight fiercely to prevent Joshua and his warriors from getting in.

As Joshua was alone at this time, near Jericho, he looked up, and saw a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, “Art thou for us or for our adversaries?” The man answered, “Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I come.” Do you know who it was? Was it an angel? I think it was more than an angel. It was the Lord! Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying, “What saith my Lord unto His servant?” Then the Lord told Joshua, as before he had told Moses, to take his shoes from his feet, for the place on which he stood was holy; and instructed him how Jericho was to be captured.

The Captain of the Lord’s Host
MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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The Journey to the Promised Land: Lessons from Israel

The Land of Promise

  • POSSESSING THE LAND
    • The Death of Moses (Read Deut 34:)
      • Because of unbelief, Israel reaped the judgment of God. This judgment caused them to
        wander in the wilderness for forty years.
      • Those who did not believe that God would give the land of promise to Israel died in the
        wilderness.
      • Two men, Joshua and Caleb, were the only two saved from the judgment reaped by this
        unbelieving generation.
        • Joshua became the new leader of the Israelites.
      • God instructed Moses to speak to the rock, but in Moses’ anger he struck the rock.
      • This prevented Moses from entering into the promised land.
        • Num 20:7-12 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou
          the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock
          before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them
          water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9
          And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 And
          Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said
          unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And
          Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water
          came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12 And the
          LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in
          the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into
          the land which I have given them.
    • Crossing Jordan
      • To enter the land of Canaan, the Israelites had to cross the Jordan River. The Priests went
        into the middle of Jordan and stood there until all of Israel passed over to the other side.
      • Twelve men took twelve stones from the river and built a memorial to God a Gilgal.
        • This was a sign and a reminder to future generations of what God had done.
        • Josh 4:20-24 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
      • They had wandered 40 years because of unbelief. Thousands perished.
      • Today, thousands are perishing because of unbelief.
    • The Battle for the Land (Read Joshua 6)
      • The promised blessing would come to Israel if they would believe and obey the Lord.
      • Israel had to fight for the land of Canaan, but God fought for them.
        • God worked miraculously to give Israel victory after victor.
        • Can you imagine the confusion of Jericho as they watched Israel marching around the walls of Jericho for six days.
        • On the seventh day, Israel gave a shout and the walls came down.
        • God will use foolish things to the world to confound the wise.
          • 1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
          • Heb 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
        • Israel also fought against Ai, but lost because there was sin in the camp.
          • God had told them not to take the spoils, but they did anyway
            • Josh 7:24-26 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
    • The Land Subdued (Read Joshua 14)
      • Israel, by the power of God, subdued the land, and the land was divided so the twelve tribes of Israel could each have their own areas to dwell in
      • After Joshua died, Israel fell into deep sin.
        • Sin led Israel into captivity
        • God raised up judges to lead Israel until they could appoint a king.
        • The time was about 450 years until Samuel the prophet came on the scene.
          • Acts 13:19-20 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
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