MasterTruth

Mutual Delight Society

One of my favorite verses is Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psa. 37:4) It offers hope that I can have what I really want if I’ll just delight in Him. So, how do you delight in Him? I would combine that verse with Matt. 6:33, and hope soars (But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.)

I’m sure I could learn more about how to delight in the Lord, and I may study that, because there’s a reward attached to it. But what about God delighting in me? Does God delight in people? If so, what kind of person delights God? After all, isn’t life supposed to be about pleasing God rather than God pleasing me? (Oh yeah, I forgot.)

In the life of Joshua, do you remember that he and 11 others went to spy out the Promised Land in order to bring a report back to the rest of the Israelites regarding what they saw? Ten of the spies came back with a sorry report. Mainly, they saw giants in the land and were positive those giants would kill them, so they insisted that the Promised Land wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and maybe they shouldn’t all go in.

Then there was Joshua and Caleb, who looked at it differently. Read their report with me from Numbers 14:6-9: And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:  (7)  And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.  (8)  If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.  (9)  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. 

Notice Joshua and Caleb’s perspective: If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us. It looks to me like not only is there a reward for me delighting in God, there’s a reward for Him delighting in me.

It begs the question, how can I know if God delights in me? Look at the next verse. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land…

• Don’t rebel against the Lord and His desire (obey Him).
• Don’t fear (Trust).

If you’ve been around for awhile, you know the old hymn Trust and Obey. It has the best words: “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

It turns out, the Bible has other clues about God's delights. Before you launch into the rest of your day, read these verses and write down somewhere what God delights in and how you might be able to make the truths a part of you.:

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (1 Sam. 15:22)

They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight. (Proverbs 11:20)

Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight. (Proverbs 12:22)

Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Joshua’s Interesting First Opponent

We first see our guy, Joshua, in Exodus as the captain of the Israel army and Moses’ right-hand man. “And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” (Ex 17:9)

What follows is the famous story of the battle with Amalek in which Moses held up his rod, and as long as his hands were up in the air, the Israelites under Joshua were winning the battle, and when his hands went down, Amalek was winning.

That’s a nice story, but an understanding of the main characters makes it more interesting. Who was Amalek? He was the grandson of Esau of Esau and Jacob fame. You know, the Bible says that the sins of the fathers carry on to their children’s children. (Ex. 34:7) If you recall, in Genesis 25, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for some soup. He and Jacob were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah, but Esau came out of the womb first, making him older and therefore the one who was destined to receive the family blessing. But God knew Esau before he was born and chose Jacob to receive the blessing. It happened through the deception of Rebekah and Isaac’s poor eyesight (read about it in Gen. 27). In sin, Esau married the daughters of Canaan. The Israelites weren’t supposed to intermarry, because the pagans would turn their hearts to their false gods. God’s summary of Esau was this: As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (Rom 9:13) How many people does God hate? That is a strong statement about God and about Esau. There’s something deeper there to pay attention to.

After all that, now we see the path of how Esau’s grandson, Amalek, could become an unsavory character. He was living the life and consequences of the sins of his grandfather.

Our first mention of Joshua is in connection with this famous battle to defeat Esau’s grandson Amalek. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. (Ex. 17:13-14) That’s a pretty strong statement, too. Throwing out Amalek from under heaven? Who else will someday be thrown out from under heaven?

Joshua, who is a type of Christ, as we saw yesterday, fought Amalek, who was an evil force God opposed and planned to wipe out completely. Is it possible that if Joshua is a type of Christ, Amalek is a type of Satan, and this battle pictures the spiritual battle that continues and that will ultimately end with Jesus reigning and Satan defeated?

There are devotional applications to this story, for sure. But as we start our journey into the life of Joshua, it’s important to see his significance as a mighty warrior in the grand scheme of things past and future.

I promise, we will look at his life more devotionally in the days ahead. 

A Picture of Spiritual Smarts

Above all, I want to be spiritually smart, don’t you? If I knew how to think and respond to every situation, I could avoid a lot of grief. I could also be useful to God, and wouldn’t that be the sweet spot to live in?

How to be spiritually smart is the subject of much of the New Testament, but for visual learners like me, the Old Testament sheds plenty of light on the topic in the examples it gives. In fact, how people and God interact in the Old Testament forms “the testimonies of the Lord.” Look at this verse: …The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Psa. 19:7)

So, to make ourselves wise, we are going to look at the Bible character Joshua over the next several days. He is a major character of the Old Testament, showing up in the books of Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and of course, the book named after him, Joshua. There are 201 references to him in the Bible. There must be something about him God would want us to know and emulate.

One great thing Joshua had going for him was that he was a disciple of Moses. In fact, he was Moses’ servant and personal attendant. So Joshua was often in the presence of God when Moses was in the presence of God. After Moses died, Joshua became the national leader—only unlike Moses, Joshua was also a warrior.

The truth is, Joshua is a type of Christ. Below are some comparisons to show that. In the days to come, we will learn a lot about having a great relationship with God and maintaining a perspective that will help us become spiritually victorious, all from looking at Joshua’s testimony.

Joshua	Jesus
Joshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus	Jesus is the Greek name for Joshua
Joshua was the captain and commander of Israel (Josh. 1:1-2)	Jesus is our captain and commander. (Heb. 2:10; Josh. 5:14; Rev. 19:11-14)
Joshua brings the people into the possession of their earthly inheritance (Josh. 1:3-5)	Jesus brings the church into possession of their heavenly inheritance. (Col. 3:23-24; Heb. 9:15)
Joshua succeeded Moses (the giver of the law).( John 1:17, Acts 13:39)	The Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ succeeds the law. (Rom 82-3; Rom 7:4; Rom 10:4-15)
Joshua saved Rehab’s’ house that had a red cord hung out of the window.	Jesus Christ saves all sinners that express faith in his blood.
Joshua oversees the circumcision of all the children of Israel. (Josh. 5:2-7)	All saints are spiritually circumcised by Christ. (Col. 2:11-12)
Joshua saved Israel from the powers of Canaan	Jesus saves us from the power of sin and hell
Joshua was given a special name “Joshua” by Moses (Num. 13:16)	Jesus Christ was given his name from God. (Phil 2:9)
Joshua was commissioned by God. (Num. 1:1)	Jesus was commissioned by God. (John 3:16)
Joshua sends out spies (forerunners) that are gladly received by a harlot (Josh. 2:1)	Jesus sends his forerunners whom the publicans and harlots gladly received (Matt. 21:28-32)
Joshua would be a savior for Rahab and the rest of her house and a judge for the rest of Jericho. (Josh. 2)	Jesus Christ is a savior for those who trust him and a judge for those who reject him.