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For the Lord Your God Is With You
Trust in Jesus’ name today and faithfully obey him - He fights for you
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God didn’t choose to arm Joshua with Captain America qualities that make for a quick showdown. In the weak, weird, and wearying steps of obedience God calls us to take, it’s made abundantly clear that God is with us. All we have to do is obey, no matter the measure of our strength or resources, and God is with us.
.
A promised Savior and King dying on a cross felt ridiculously hopeless. Our God in the grave felt limiting and quite weak, to say the least. But the fact is, what was sown in dishonor was raised in glory; the body of Jesus sown into the earth in weakness on our behalf was raised in power. Think on who you’ve got with you. He’s never been beat before, not even when he hung on a cross. Yours is the victory.
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“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (verse 20)
The
Lord pairs his promise to Joshua with a command:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be
discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9, NIV)
Here’s
the deal: You and I often misunderstand what it means for the Lord to be “with us.”
And since we misunderstand this promise, we’re bound to break the
command, “Be strong and courageous.”
Amid the sounds of marching multitudes, war cries, and the sighs
and suspense of long nights before battle, God’s Word in Joshua rings out with
the Lord’s voice declaring, “I am with
you.”
We
have only to read the stories to see what he means.
Three Ways God Is With You
1. By His Word
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according
to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and
then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)
Before
Joshua could run into battle armed with God’s promise, he had to actually hear and know God’s
Word to him and believe what God said was true.
He
had to treasure it in his heart so that it would come from his mouth on demand.
He
had to rehearse and drill the Word into his mind and heart — under the Middle
Eastern stars and in the morning sun — lest when the soul-fight came, he’d be
left out of shape and ill-prepared.
God
was with Joshua through the raw promise he gave in speech. And
he would remain with Joshua through the enduring promises he had written in the
Law of Moses, if only Joshua would continually meditate on the words.
God
is with you, Christian, by his Word. Will you train yourself to listen to and
meditate on his voice?
Like
the routine of a soldier, ruminate yourself in the recordings of the voice of
your commander.
2.
By His Son
“Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for
tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.’” (Joshua 3:5)
The
first step in pursuing holiness before conquering Jericho was for the sons of
Israel to be circumcised, in accordance with God’s law.
This
was a sign that they were in covenant relationship with the Lord (Genesis
17:11; Joshua 5:9).
In
Colossians 2:11-12, God reveals to us believers how we are consecrated before
him through a new circumcision:
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without
hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
It
is through faith in Jesus Christ that we are brought into covenant relationship
with God.
After
circumcision, the Israelites pursued holiness by keeping the Passover (Joshua
5:10).
They
commemorated the Lord’s saving work from their slavery in Egypt, when they were
rescued from death by the blood of a lamb. For the Lord had said:
“The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you
to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)
In
the same way, the blood of Jesus Christ is a sign for us.
When
we believe in the name of Jesus, having faith that his sacrifice is sufficient
for our salvation, we have the promise that no plague of God’s wrath, nor
condemnation, will befall or destroy us (1 John 3:23; John 5:24).
“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and
gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they
had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in
my blood.’” (Luke 22:19-20)
God,
through Jesus Christ, is no longer present to destroy us on account of our sin.
He is present to bless his people on account of his own Son’s sacrifice.
We
have relationship with him and are counted holy because of Jesus.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us.” (1 John 1:9)
But
as we remain in this world, we still war with the presence of sin.
We
must continually search our hearts for any rebel inclinations that would move
us to act as God’s enemy in thought, word, and deed.
We
too must consecrate ourselves as we expect God to be with us, confessing the
sin that God’s Spirit has revealed to us, and commemorating the day the Lamb’s
blood saved us from the wrath our rebellion deserves.
God
is with us and for us only because of his Son, who in fact is “God with us” (Matthew
1:23).
Joshua’s
performance of the Passover looked forward in faith to the same cleansing for
sin that we Christians rejoice in today.
Jesus
consecrated Joshua as he consecrates us — if we receive him by faith for the
salvation of our souls.
3. Through Your Obedience
Here’s
the first wonder Joshua and the people saw as they entered the Promised Land:
“As soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan,
and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the
water…the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far
away… And the people passed over opposite Jericho.” (Joshua 3:15-16)
All
they had to do was exactly what God told them to do, for him to do exactly what
he said he would.
Then Joshua neared the city he was to conquer and God said, “Okay, Joshua, march. March around this
whole city full of your enemies for six days—armed. Look like you’re going into
battle. On the seventh day march around the entire city seven times. Then blow
trumpets and shout” (Joshua 6:2-6, paraphrase).
Ok, Lord, I would be thinking, Just
march and blow the horn? When will we have that
Armageddon moment where we’ve got heavenly Blackhawk Down music in the background as we fight to victory? Don’t you want to display your glory?
But
Joshua and the people simply obeyed:
“So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as
the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout,
and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every
man straight before him, and they captured the city.” (Joshua 6:20)
Think
about this: God’s people — soldiers in full uniform — got up for six days and
were silently marching around the city of their enemies.
Then
they marched even more and made a ruckus. As if they did not feel ridiculous
enough they were told to — shout.
Shout? Seriously God? Isn’t that a little humiliating?
And
after shouting, Joshua and company were to go and fight, after a day of
marching for hours.
Seriously
God? Won’t my men be a little weak?
But
when God commanded, Joshua obeyed. And he saw victory.
God said to him before the next battle, “Don’t fear, but go fight” (Joshua 10:8), and when Joshua did so, “The sun stopped in
the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day” (verse
14).
See,
God didn’t choose to arm Joshua with Captain America qualities that make for a
quick showdown.
In
the weak, weird, and wearying steps of obedience God calls us to take, it’s
made abundantly clear that God is with us.
God says, “It’s not about
what you’ve got going for you; I’m here. It’s not about the size of your enemy;
I’m strong. I don’t need you to be strong. I need you to be silent and watch
what I’ll do when you trust and obey.”
All
we have to do is obey, no matter the measure of our strength or resources, and
God is with us.
With the writer of Joshua, we can look back on when the foot hit
the water, the trumpet blast hit the air, and the the sun stood still and say, “Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!”
(Joshua 10:14)
The Command
Since we’ve encountered the promise, we’re ready to keep the
command: “Do not be terrified; do not be
discouraged, for the
Lord your God is with you wherever
you go” (Joshua 1:9).
I
know what it’s like to cling to a laundry list of limitations and litanies of
“but’s.”
And
man, I know to your core you cringe at the thought of exposing the holes in
your confidence. But you’re weak — dust, flesh, fallen — and so am I; we’re so
aware of it, we can’t evade it.
God
does not tell us to ignore it, but to confess it, and to not think it affects
what he’s able to accomplish.
“For the Lord has told us
himself that ‘the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of
God is stronger than men’” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
A
promised Savior and King dying on a cross felt ridiculously hopeless.
Our
God in the grave felt limiting and quite weak, to say the least.
But
the fact is, what was sown in dishonor was raised in glory; the body of Jesus
sown into the earth in weakness on our behalf was raised in power (1
Corinthians 15:43).
He Fights for You
What’s
God calling you to do that you fear?
Remember
God’s servant Joshua.
Don’t
think on what you’ve got going for you.
Think
on who you’ve got with you. He’s never been
beat before, not even when he hung on a cross.
Yours
is the victory. Trust in Jesus’ name today and faithfully obey him. He fights
for you.
He’ll
take your weakness,
Raise
from it might,
Give
one more reason
To
cast your crown at his feet,
And
keep you believing
It’s all His fight.
He’ll
take your fear,
Raise
from it faith,
Give
you his shield,
As
you hide in his Name,
And
keep you beholding
Your Savior’s strength.
Eden Parker is
follower of Jesus. She graduated from Wheaton College with a Bachelor's degree
in Christian Education. If you entered her day unawares, you'd find her
running—figuratively for the Father in work & play, literally for her
fitness, and physically on the good gift of coffee and all the strength Jesus
provides. Eden writes at her website.
https://unlockingthebible.org/2018/04/for-the-lord-your-god-is-with-you/
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