| Joshua: Strength and Courage |
Joshua: The Next Generation
Joshua: Strength and Courage for the True Man of God
Lesson 10: The Next Generation
Joshua Chapter 5
Verse 1 The enemies of Israel lose confidence because they see that this is no ordinary army or nation. It
isn’t because they have done something special. It is because God is their God.
The people who lived in Canaan – those designated Canaanites and Amorites – are distant cousins of the
Israelites – the Amorites closer than the Canaanites, actually. The Canaanites trace their ancestry back to
Ham, son of Noah. The Amorites trace their ancestry back to Shem, son of Noah – as do the Israelites. This is
important to realize because these people are not without guilt. The Promised Land has been, well, promised
to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But what about the people who already live there? Does
God not care about them? Is God really like the other Gods, only concerned about His own people and doesn’t
care about others? The answer is no.
These Canaanites and Amorites – and the other inhabitants of the Promised Land – all have turned away from
God. They descend from men who were once faithful to God – all of them can trace their ancestry to Noah
who is described as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” and who “walked with God.”But over time,
some of the descendents of Noah turned away from God. This is the curse of original sin.
There are faithful people who do not trace their ancestry to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For example – Rahab
of Jericho, Jethro of Midian, and Ruth of Moab. In general, however, the inhabitants of Canaan have brought
God’s judgment on themselves for turning away from Him. This is the reason “their hearts melted and there was
no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.” They are convicted of their sin by their
conscience (heart).
This happens to our spiritual enemies today. They witness our faithful and righteous conduct (that is a result of
our salvation by grace alone) and they know. They know that we do these things because God is the truth God
and our God. They know that they have rebelled and are under God’s judgment. Their hearts will melt, like
these people of Canaan. The question is, will their hearts melt to repentance or will their hearts melt before
God only to harden again against God?
The people under the command of Joshua are living in the spirit of Romans 8:31 and the True Man of God
today can find great comfort and victory living in that same spirit, “if God is for us, who can be against us?”
Verses 2-7 It was the “mark” of a descendent of Abraham that all males be circumcised eight days after
they are born (Genesis 17:11). But a whole generation of descendents of Abraham now had been born that
were not circumcised. This is because the generation that was led out of Egypt by Moses “did not obey the
voice of the LORD” in just about every way, including this sign of the Covenant.
It is so important that parents – especially fathers – raise their children in the ways of God.
In Patrick Morley’s The Man in the Mirror, he writes that our children are most influenced by “parents, teachers,
professors, pastors, movies and television.” You who are parents, think about your children’s teachers, professors
and pastors, and about the movies and TV they watch. If you are not there to influence and teach your
children, are they the ones you want to replace you?
“Wanting to determine how much time middle-class fathers spent in contact with their kids each day,
[researchers] asked these men to estimate the amount of time spent each day with their one-year-old kids. The
average response was fifteen to twenty minutes. But then they attached microphones to the shirts of the kids to
record actual parental interaction. The results are shocking. The average amount of daily time each dad spent
with his kids was thirty-seven seconds, and average of 2.7 daily encounters of ten to fifteen seconds!” “Compare
these thrity-seven-second encounters with the fact that the same child watches between four and seven hours
of TV each day, and we can anticipate a frightening, apocalyptic future.” (MitM, page 107)
The generation that Moses led out of Egypt failed to raise up their children to follow God’s way to the point
that they were not circumcised – the very thing, physically, that gave them their identity as God’s people. God
wants them to be in a position of great blessing, but if they do not follow His ways, this becomes enormously
difficult, and the consequences can be fatally high, as the previous generation serves as an example.
So Joshua – as the leader of Israel – has all the males circumcised. This is a drastic step, as it incapacitate the
entire army for days and leaves them open to attack – as Genesis 34 spells out.
Taking drastic steps to have children follow God’s ways sometimes has to be done.
The 21st Century Equivalent of “Re-Circumcision” (from The Dad in the Mirror Chapter 8: Growing a Heart of
Faith in Your Child, Patrick Morley and David Delk).
1. Make sure your children join you for church.
As long as your children are under your direct authority as their father, make sure they go to church with you
(which means you have to go to church!). Force them, if you have to. Sound harsh? Does this rub you the
wrong way because of your own experience? Maybe you were forced to go to church as a child, or perhaps
you suffered a negative experience trying to force your kids to go to church.
But think about this for a moment: “Do you think you should force your children to go to school even if they don’
t want to go to school?” The answer is, of course, yes. But what if they don’t like school and the only reason
they learn is because we force them to go? Again, the answer is that it is not about liking it; it’s about what they
need. Is church any less important than school?
While it takes only an instant to become a disciple of Christ, it takes time to become a mature disciple of
Christ—a long time. And it usually only happens when we get involved in relationships with others who are on
the same journey. And that happens in church. Church is the most dependable place where your children will
develop Christian friends, learn about God and what He has done, get exposed to meaningful youth activities,
and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Instill in your children the importance of missions and service
This has multiple purposes. First, Christ tells us that His disciples (which are what we are as Christians, to
varying degrees) will help those who need help and will take the Gospel to all the world. But second, a child
who has little opportunity to feel the weight of poverty, oppression, and despair will tend to take for granted the
things he does have. Third, working with other disciples who are less fortunate than they will encourage them
to put their hope in God, not in things or talents. Helping a person in need gives a greater sense of God’s
purpose.
3. Do whatever you can to encourage them to spend time with God (devotions)
Having devotions with your wife and children three to four times a week helps them learn that being a disciple
of Jesus Christ is a life-long commitment. You never “graduate.” If you haven’t done this before, it can be a
little scary. Consider a more simple starting point. Carve out time on Sunday after church during lunch and
reread the Scripture text(s) that the sermon was based on that morning, and then discuss how you might apply
the pastor’ s message to your life. You could close with a prayer asking God to use His Word to change your
hearts.
4. Understand that there is a difference between being “in church” and “in Christ.”
You can go to church and not be “in Christ” but it is very heard to be “in Christ” without being in Church (Word
and Sacrament). Being “in church” doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than being “in the garage” makes
you a car.
Verses 8-9 With the entire army just circumcised, they are incapacitated for several days. This makes them
even more vulnerable (in addition to crossing the Jordan so close to the fortified city of Jericho). But God has a
purpose for this. He puts them in a place where it is clear that the “reproach of Egypt” is taken away. The
degrading slavery that they endured for over four hundred years is now over as they are in the Promised Land
(God fulfilling His part of the covenantal promises), and fulfilling their part of the covenantal promises
(circumcision and following the way s of God). Gilgal, with its memorial stones (chapter 4) now has the name –
which means “roll” that will remind them that God has brought them to this place just as He promised their
ancestors.
Verses 10-12 Israel celebrates the Passover. The purpose of the Passover was to remember the salvation
that God gave them, delivering them out of bondage in Egypt. This particular Passover must have had a
special feeling as the first one observed in the Promised Land.
What kinds of things do you do in your family that serve as remembrances of past events? Is God part of those
observances?
For the disciple of Christ, Holy Communion has taken on the purpose of the Passover – to remember the
redemption won for us from the bondage of sin by the death of Jesus. Communion is more than just a memorial
meal, but it also a memorial meal.
Verses 13-15 “Commander of the army of the LORD.”
1. The answer. “No” was not the answer to Joshua’s question. It wasn’t a “yes or no” question. The problem
is that Joshua was asking the wrong question. The question is not whether the Commander is “for or against”
Israel. The question is, “Is Israel for and against God?”
2. The Commander is God Himself. It is not an angel. If it were, this would be the only instance in
Scripture where a person falls “on his face to the earth and worshiped” an angel. In every single instance that a
person bows down before an angel, the first thing the angel says is “Don’t do it! I’m not God!”
3. Joshua, in being told to take off his shoes, knows that the Commander is the voice of the burning bush
(Exodus 3).
4. Could this be Jesus, as the Pre-Incarnate Christ? Why not?
God is telling Joshua that 1) He is with Him (He is actually the Commander-in-Chief, not Joshua!). 2) He is
giving Joshua the battle plan for taking Jericho. 3) He is actually “conquering” Israel as well. For forty years,
God has been trying to lead Israel but the lack of circumcision in this current generation tells us that while they
were “in church” they weren’t “in God.” Joshua – as the leader of Israel – submits all of his authority to the
Commander.
Do you submit all your authority to Christ? Or do you hold onto parts of your life for your own authority?
Big Idea: Submit to Christ and Influence the Next Generation
Lesson 10: The Next Generation
Joshua Chapter 5
Verse 1 The enemies of Israel lose confidence because they see that this is no ordinary army or nation. It
isn’t because they have done something special. It is because God is their God.
The people who lived in Canaan – those designated Canaanites and Amorites – are distant cousins of the
Israelites – the Amorites closer than the Canaanites, actually. The Canaanites trace their ancestry back to
Ham, son of Noah. The Amorites trace their ancestry back to Shem, son of Noah – as do the Israelites. This is
important to realize because these people are not without guilt. The Promised Land has been, well, promised
to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But what about the people who already live there? Does
God not care about them? Is God really like the other Gods, only concerned about His own people and doesn’t
care about others? The answer is no.
These Canaanites and Amorites – and the other inhabitants of the Promised Land – all have turned away from
God. They descend from men who were once faithful to God – all of them can trace their ancestry to Noah
who is described as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” and who “walked with God.”But over time,
some of the descendents of Noah turned away from God. This is the curse of original sin.
There are faithful people who do not trace their ancestry to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For example – Rahab
of Jericho, Jethro of Midian, and Ruth of Moab. In general, however, the inhabitants of Canaan have brought
God’s judgment on themselves for turning away from Him. This is the reason “their hearts melted and there was
no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.” They are convicted of their sin by their
conscience (heart).
This happens to our spiritual enemies today. They witness our faithful and righteous conduct (that is a result of
our salvation by grace alone) and they know. They know that we do these things because God is the truth God
and our God. They know that they have rebelled and are under God’s judgment. Their hearts will melt, like
these people of Canaan. The question is, will their hearts melt to repentance or will their hearts melt before
God only to harden again against God?
The people under the command of Joshua are living in the spirit of Romans 8:31 and the True Man of God
today can find great comfort and victory living in that same spirit, “if God is for us, who can be against us?”
Verses 2-7 It was the “mark” of a descendent of Abraham that all males be circumcised eight days after
they are born (Genesis 17:11). But a whole generation of descendents of Abraham now had been born that
were not circumcised. This is because the generation that was led out of Egypt by Moses “did not obey the
voice of the LORD” in just about every way, including this sign of the Covenant.
It is so important that parents – especially fathers – raise their children in the ways of God.
In Patrick Morley’s The Man in the Mirror, he writes that our children are most influenced by “parents, teachers,
professors, pastors, movies and television.” You who are parents, think about your children’s teachers, professors
and pastors, and about the movies and TV they watch. If you are not there to influence and teach your
children, are they the ones you want to replace you?
“Wanting to determine how much time middle-class fathers spent in contact with their kids each day,
[researchers] asked these men to estimate the amount of time spent each day with their one-year-old kids. The
average response was fifteen to twenty minutes. But then they attached microphones to the shirts of the kids to
record actual parental interaction. The results are shocking. The average amount of daily time each dad spent
with his kids was thirty-seven seconds, and average of 2.7 daily encounters of ten to fifteen seconds!” “Compare
these thrity-seven-second encounters with the fact that the same child watches between four and seven hours
of TV each day, and we can anticipate a frightening, apocalyptic future.” (MitM, page 107)
The generation that Moses led out of Egypt failed to raise up their children to follow God’s way to the point
that they were not circumcised – the very thing, physically, that gave them their identity as God’s people. God
wants them to be in a position of great blessing, but if they do not follow His ways, this becomes enormously
difficult, and the consequences can be fatally high, as the previous generation serves as an example.
So Joshua – as the leader of Israel – has all the males circumcised. This is a drastic step, as it incapacitate the
entire army for days and leaves them open to attack – as Genesis 34 spells out.
Taking drastic steps to have children follow God’s ways sometimes has to be done.
The 21st Century Equivalent of “Re-Circumcision” (from The Dad in the Mirror Chapter 8: Growing a Heart of
Faith in Your Child, Patrick Morley and David Delk).
1. Make sure your children join you for church.
As long as your children are under your direct authority as their father, make sure they go to church with you
(which means you have to go to church!). Force them, if you have to. Sound harsh? Does this rub you the
wrong way because of your own experience? Maybe you were forced to go to church as a child, or perhaps
you suffered a negative experience trying to force your kids to go to church.
But think about this for a moment: “Do you think you should force your children to go to school even if they don’
t want to go to school?” The answer is, of course, yes. But what if they don’t like school and the only reason
they learn is because we force them to go? Again, the answer is that it is not about liking it; it’s about what they
need. Is church any less important than school?
While it takes only an instant to become a disciple of Christ, it takes time to become a mature disciple of
Christ—a long time. And it usually only happens when we get involved in relationships with others who are on
the same journey. And that happens in church. Church is the most dependable place where your children will
develop Christian friends, learn about God and what He has done, get exposed to meaningful youth activities,
and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Instill in your children the importance of missions and service
This has multiple purposes. First, Christ tells us that His disciples (which are what we are as Christians, to
varying degrees) will help those who need help and will take the Gospel to all the world. But second, a child
who has little opportunity to feel the weight of poverty, oppression, and despair will tend to take for granted the
things he does have. Third, working with other disciples who are less fortunate than they will encourage them
to put their hope in God, not in things or talents. Helping a person in need gives a greater sense of God’s
purpose.
3. Do whatever you can to encourage them to spend time with God (devotions)
Having devotions with your wife and children three to four times a week helps them learn that being a disciple
of Jesus Christ is a life-long commitment. You never “graduate.” If you haven’t done this before, it can be a
little scary. Consider a more simple starting point. Carve out time on Sunday after church during lunch and
reread the Scripture text(s) that the sermon was based on that morning, and then discuss how you might apply
the pastor’ s message to your life. You could close with a prayer asking God to use His Word to change your
hearts.
4. Understand that there is a difference between being “in church” and “in Christ.”
You can go to church and not be “in Christ” but it is very heard to be “in Christ” without being in Church (Word
and Sacrament). Being “in church” doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than being “in the garage” makes
you a car.
Verses 8-9 With the entire army just circumcised, they are incapacitated for several days. This makes them
even more vulnerable (in addition to crossing the Jordan so close to the fortified city of Jericho). But God has a
purpose for this. He puts them in a place where it is clear that the “reproach of Egypt” is taken away. The
degrading slavery that they endured for over four hundred years is now over as they are in the Promised Land
(God fulfilling His part of the covenantal promises), and fulfilling their part of the covenantal promises
(circumcision and following the way s of God). Gilgal, with its memorial stones (chapter 4) now has the name –
which means “roll” that will remind them that God has brought them to this place just as He promised their
ancestors.
Verses 10-12 Israel celebrates the Passover. The purpose of the Passover was to remember the salvation
that God gave them, delivering them out of bondage in Egypt. This particular Passover must have had a
special feeling as the first one observed in the Promised Land.
What kinds of things do you do in your family that serve as remembrances of past events? Is God part of those
observances?
For the disciple of Christ, Holy Communion has taken on the purpose of the Passover – to remember the
redemption won for us from the bondage of sin by the death of Jesus. Communion is more than just a memorial
meal, but it also a memorial meal.
Verses 13-15 “Commander of the army of the LORD.”
1. The answer. “No” was not the answer to Joshua’s question. It wasn’t a “yes or no” question. The problem
is that Joshua was asking the wrong question. The question is not whether the Commander is “for or against”
Israel. The question is, “Is Israel for and against God?”
2. The Commander is God Himself. It is not an angel. If it were, this would be the only instance in
Scripture where a person falls “on his face to the earth and worshiped” an angel. In every single instance that a
person bows down before an angel, the first thing the angel says is “Don’t do it! I’m not God!”
3. Joshua, in being told to take off his shoes, knows that the Commander is the voice of the burning bush
(Exodus 3).
4. Could this be Jesus, as the Pre-Incarnate Christ? Why not?
God is telling Joshua that 1) He is with Him (He is actually the Commander-in-Chief, not Joshua!). 2) He is
giving Joshua the battle plan for taking Jericho. 3) He is actually “conquering” Israel as well. For forty years,
God has been trying to lead Israel but the lack of circumcision in this current generation tells us that while they
were “in church” they weren’t “in God.” Joshua – as the leader of Israel – submits all of his authority to the
Commander.
Do you submit all your authority to Christ? Or do you hold onto parts of your life for your own authority?
Big Idea: Submit to Christ and Influence the Next Generation
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |