CHAPTER 1
Unit 1
Introduction—A Historical Perspective
Chapter 1 of the book of Joshua starts with God telling Joshua several times that he needs to be courageous and strong. God says that He will be with Joshua, that He will not fail him nor forsake him. Having that promise from God should make it easier for anyone to be courageous and strong! You would think that following a God who displayed Himself as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke every day for forty years would make His promise totally believable.
In Joshua 2:9, Rahab said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land, those of us who have lived here for generations have melted away before you."
The phrase "melted away" can be translated as "become demoralized." These Gentiles, these people of the world, had observed the power with the Israelites from the day they left Egypt. They were afraid of them. People of the world, the heathens, the Gentiles no longer melt away or "become demoralized" in the presence of God's people.
Taking prayer out of schools is an example of powerless Christianity in society today. When Rahab was speaking those words ("melted away"), it was because she saw her people cowering in fear or terror of God's people. In Joshua 2:24, we are told again that the heathens are in terror of God's people.
They said to Joshua, "Surely the Lord has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us." (Joshua 2:24)
Given the attitude of the inhabitants of Rahab's land, do you think they would have the courage to say to Joshua, "While you are here, we will not allow you to pray in the schools"? Of course they wouldn't say that to God's people. They had seen the power of God.
The Amplified and King James translations of scripture use the term "faint" instead of "melt away." In this account, the nation finds itself at odds with God's people. It has seen the power of God demonstrated on behalf of His people. They have seen the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. They have heard how He crushed opposition from neighboring kings.
They have seen His people thriving in spite of the odds against them. As the original inhabitants of the land, they have good reason to fear the God of the Israelites. God gave their nation to His own people. They were told to possess it. They did possess it. They were overcomers.
We have been called to be overcomers. By being an overcomer, I am referring to a person who willing and joyfully takes possession of that which God through His grace has allocated to him/her. An example would be His promise that whoever believes in His son, Jesus Christ, should not perish but have everlasting life. An overcomer takes possession of that gift.
Do we look like, act like, or speak like anything in our lives has been overcome? Do we look like, act like, or speak like we serve and belong to the God of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob? Do we look like, act like, or speak like we serve and belong to the God of Peter, Paul, and John?
We have been called to proudly live and walk in a victorious faith. How are we doing? Is it possible to walk with God in victory? Within this study, we'll be looking at how to do that.
Today's world does not see people walking with the God of power. Has this world ever seen that sort of thing? Absolutely.
At the end of World War II, remaining Japanese leaders reportedly told General Douglas MacArthur of the U.S. Army that it was obvious the God of America was greater than their god. They then reportedly asked for teachings about Him. A devout Episcopalian, MacArthur called upon a group of evangelicals, saying, "Japan is a spiritual vacuum. If you do not fill it with Christianity, it will be filled with Communism. Send me 1,000 missionaries." He asked US missionary societies to send "Bibles, Bibles, and more Bibles." MacArthur spoke freely, saying that postwar Japan was in a spiritual vacuum. All previous "gods" had failed—its invincible military, its divine emperor, its thousand-year belief that the Land of the Rising Sun would rule the world. Now the conquered people of Japan had nothing.
"Today it is virtually unthinkable in our politically correct world to imagine a U.S. president or American general asking for missionaries or bibles to be sent as part of a foreign aid program. Yet following Japan's surrender at the end of WWII, five-star General Douglas MacArthur remained in Japan to help rebuild its governmental system. A devout Episcopalian, MacArthur said to a visiting group of evangelicals that "Japan is a spiritual vacuum. Send me 1,000 missionaries." Famously, General MacArthur asked U.S. missionary societies to send "Bibles, Bibles and more Bibles." Sadly, General MacArthur's call for missionaries and Bibles for Japan went largely unheeded. (MercyWorks, "NOW is Japan's Hour," http://mercyworks.org/asia/ japan/now-is-japan%E2%80%99s-hour/)
Unfortunately, the rest of that story does not end the way we believers would like. It seems the missionary infiltration didn't happen as MacArthur asked. Since they didn't have the spiritual input they needed, the Japanese observed us. They saw a land that appeared to have gods they understood: money, efficiency, and hard work. Instead of the God of Israel, they adopted the gods of America.
The whole book of Acts is a New Testament account that supports the idea that unbelievers ought to fear God and His people. Acts 5 tells the account of a husband and wife who lied to the church leadership and thereby to the Holy Spirit—they died immediately. The result was that a fear came upon the believers and everyone who heard about it.
And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things. (Acts 5:11)
What about us? What about now? The scriptures haven't changed. They still tell us we are to overcome. What has changed in these many years since World War II ended? Have we as a nation changed?
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. (Revelation...
