One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Sunday, April 10th "Joshua Succeeds Moses" "Jesus Talks About the Narrow Way!"
Click Here to Read Deuteronomy 34
Today we see the passing of the torch from Moses to Joshua. Moses ascended to Mount Nebo, as God had instructed him. The Lord gave him one last glimpse of the Promised Land, which would be given to the Israelites, as the Lord had promised to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Sometimes we get a glimpse of things the Lord will give to us our family but don't actually get to experience the fulfillment of them.
Moses was a great prophet in word and deed, but he will chiefly be remembered for the fact that he saw God face to face and lived. To the day Moses died, he was full of strength and his eyes were healthy to see. Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, also called the Torah, or the Law of Moses. When Peter saw Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, one of the men he saw was Moses. One day in heaven, I imagine we will see Moses too.
Now Israel had a new leader, as they were perched on the step leading to the Promised Land. He was full of the Spirit of wisdom, as Moses had laid hands on him as his successor. The people listened to Joshua as Moses commanded.
The Lord’s Charge to Joshua
As the Lord commissioned Joshua to lead the people into the Promised Land, he promised to always be with him, as He was with Moses. Joshua's time was now. This was the moment he was born for. And to be the leader the Lord appointed him to be, he needed to be "strong and courageous". Four times he tells Joshua to be "strong and courageous". Do you think this is important for any leader sent by God?
But the Lord also challenges him with another task. He tells him to study the book of the Law Moses gave the Israelites and to be careful to do all that it said. It should be so important to him that he would meditate on it day and night. It's pretty hard to obey God when you don't ever read the instruction manual He gave us. And we don't just read it, but we "meditate" or "marinate" in it. In a way "it reads us".
Joshua’s Charge to the Israelites
Once the Lord had commissioned Joshua, now Joshua gives the charge to the Israelites as their new leader. You can see the confidence in his voice when he tells the Israelites to get ready in three days for then they WILL take possession of the Land the Lord had given them.
We see the response of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh when they obeyed all Joshua had asked them to do. They responsed in one voice, "God will be with you as he was with Moses, only be strong courageous". The followers were imbued with the same strength and courage as their leader.
Rahab Protects the Spies
Chapter 2 is a great story of how God uses unlikely people, even a prostitute. Think of it, in one of the most important moments in Israel's history, it is a prostitute named Rahab who protects the spies when the King of Jericho receives reports that they had come. Rahab knew of the Israelites and how God had been with them when they defeated the two Amorites. She even had heard about the parting of the Red Sea and the Israelites passing through it before the Egyptians were destroyed. News travels fast even in Joshua's day. She told them that her people were terrified of them, which is why the King had sent his men to kill them.
After she successfully hides the men before they leave, Rahab asks them to promise to protect her when they come back to conquer the land. The men agree to protect she and her family, but she must leave the scarlet rope hanging in the window she used to lower them through the roof. Someone has said this about the importance of Rahab's legacy in the history of God's salvation to the Jews and Gentiles.
"Rehab became a central strategic figure of incomparable courage as she helped Israel to enter the promised land and subdue her own people. Whenever the Army of Israel entered Canaan, Rahab acted according to a prearranged plan and hung out a scarlet cord from the window of her establishment. Thus, she and her family were saved. How interesting that a scarlet cord, likely, an emblem of ill-repute, became a sign of salvation. How very beautiful to think that it is a scarlet cord of the covenant of God's grace that binds all of the Word of God together. And in Christ Jesus, the blood-stained crimson cross of shame became the gleaming symbol of salvation." (crosswalk.com)
The Narrow Door
As Jesus made his way to Jerusalem the people asked him, "Who can be saved?" Jesus gives him a simple answer, "Those who enter by the narrow way!'
In another similar passage he says, "Wide is the road to destruction and many find it. But narrow is the gate that leads to life and few find it."
Then, he says something very curious. He says many who will make it to heaven may not be the people you think. But others you would count on being there may not be. The prostitue Rahab is an example of this principle.
The way is narrow becasue the road through it comes by a person, Jesus Christ. It is narrow because the only way it could be open was through the Son of God's and his innocent death on the cross. It is narrow because anyone who would find it must admit they need a Savior and turn from trusting in self to trusting in the Savior!
Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem
Though it is a narrow way it doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't want everyone to find it. In fact, he says aobut his own people, "O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, how I long to gather you as a chick gathers her hens." But Jesus came to his own people, and his own people accepted him not. Jesus wanted them to have the free gift of eternal life, but they wouldn't let him into their hearts. They chose the broad way that led to destruction. How sad!
Have you chosen the narrow way of Jesus? Like his own people Jesus longs to join him in his kingdom!
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