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 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. ³⁰ And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

³¹ Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.

³² And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.

³³ And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim. (NIV)

The statement in verse 31 speaks to me about the power of godly influence. We know, having come to the end of this great book, that Israel did not ‘serve the Lord’ perfectly during this time. There were hiccoughs. They stuttered and faltered along the way. Nevertheless they pressed through to tremendous victory as they sought to obey God under the faithful leadership of these men. We should also note, in terms of spiritual leadership that there is no substitute for personal experience of God. This adds weight and authority and credibility to a leaders words. Joshua and the elders exercised enormous influence over the nation under God.

Writing in ‘A Quest for Godliness’, J.I.Packer refers to ”…Richard Baxter, who ministered at Kidderminster from 1641 to 1660, with a five-year break during the Civil War. Kidderminster was a town of some 2,000 adults, and most of them, it seems, were converted under his ministry. He found them, he tells us, ‘an ignorant, rude and revelling people for the most part…they had hardly ever had any lively serious preaching among them.’ But his ministry was wonderfully blessed.”

God can give to men and women very great influence, if He so chooses.

But the greatest must die: ‘Three burials are described in these verses. The first was Joshua’s burial in the place of his inheritance, Timnath Serah (Joshua 19:50). The writer adds that Israel obeyed the Lord during the lifetime of Joshua and those leaders who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel (verse 31). However, the next generation of Israelites would be very different (see Judges 2:10-15).

The second burial was that of Joseph – Josephs bones (verse 32). Before his death in Egypt, Joseph had asked that his ”bones” be carried to the promised land (Genesis 50:24-25; Exodus 13:19). This demonstrated Joseph’s great faith that God would fulfill His promise to give Canaan to the Israelites (Hebrews 11:22). And the burial of his bones symbolized God’s faithfulness to His promise. Joseph’s bones were buried right there in Shechem, the very tract of land that Joseph’s father Jacob had bought many years before (Genesis 33:19). The burial of Joseph’s bones was a fiting end to the long story that began with the call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3).

The third burial was that of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Eleazar had served Joshua as Aaron had served Moses. With Eleazar’s death, the entire generation that had taken part in the Exodus came to an end.’ Tom Hale

 After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, ² summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. ³ You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. ⁴ Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵ The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

⁶ “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. ⁷ Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. ⁸ But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

⁹ “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. ¹⁰ One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. ¹¹ So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

¹² “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, ¹³ then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. ¹⁵ But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. ¹⁶ If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.” (NIV)

As we come to look at this chapter, I find Warren Wiersbe’s words instructive:

‘No matter how great leaders may be, they cannot last forever, although their work is never lost (1 John 2:17). Like his predecessor Moses, Joshua gave a farewell address, first to his leaders (chap.23) and then to the people as a whole (chap.24).

He magnified the Lord and not himself. No one would question that Joshua was a gifted leader and a great general, but he gave the glory to God…

…You are writing your own ”farewell speech” right now. What will it sound like?’

Someone said, ‘Death is the ultimate statistic: one out of one dies.’ No matter how great a person’s achievements under God, that individual will not go on forever. We cannot hold back time. As Joshua came to the end of his days on earth, his focus was on the Lord and on what He had done, and on what He would still do for His people if they remained true to Him. He was God-focussed.

PRAYER: Lord God, please keep all of our hearts and minds stayed upon you, for your Name’s sake.

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.

¹ Listen to my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore my plea;
²     hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
³     because of what my enemy is saying,
    because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
    and assail me in their anger.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling have beset me;
    horror has overwhelmed me.
⁶ I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷ I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;
⁸ I would hurry to my place of shelter,
    far from the tempest and storm.”

⁹ Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
    malice and abuse are within it.
¹¹ Destructive forces are at work in the city;
    threats and lies never leave its streets. (NIV)

When someone once said to me that they wished they could run to some place far away from their problems, I felt I had to gently reply, ‘But you wouldn’t get away from them. You would still carry those things inside you.’ There is a saying, ‘Wherever you go, there you are.’

But it’s not always the wrong instinct. A pastor observed that ‘Change of pace plus change of place equals change of perspective.’ Many of us have proved the truth of that.

In David’s case it was an understandable desire. It would seem that his life was in danger. It is thought that Psalm 55 belongs to the time of Absalom’s rebellion, and the betrayal of Ahithophel (see 2 Samuel 15). The latter was one of David’s closest advisors. David was forced to flee from Jerusalem…

…But this Psalm shows him fleeing to God. Once again, David points the way to a life of prayer in all circumstances.

Whatever it is, take it to the Lord in prayer.

 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.” (The Message)

It is generally thought that the words of Jesus in this third chapter conclude at verse 15, and that the two paragraphs under consideration today are the comments of John the evangelist, the author of this fourth gospel.

Wouldn’t you like to hear a political leader define our real crisis? That would indeed be ‘radical’ politics – getting ‘to the root’ of our problems:

 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness.

Here is one of the great realities we have to reckon with, and we see it everywhere: people prefer their sin to Jesus. It suits them to live in unrepentance and to go there own way. They are ”addicted to denial and illusion”. When it comes down to it, it is not about how credible the claims of Christ are, but that people do not want this Man to reign over them.

”In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (1:4,5)

While this is gloriously true, it is also the case that ”the darkness” hates it. There are only two types of people in this world: those who love ”the light” and want to walk in it; and those who ‘hate’ it

 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

^16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. (The Message)

The experience of the supernatural new birth is only possible because Jesus died on the Cross, in our place, out of great love for us. He ‘had’ to die. It was a necessity. But our salvation is not automatic. There has to be a response on our part. We have to receive the benefits of the Cross by faith.

The one-sentence summary of the gospel contained in John 3:16: ‘…is the most famous portion of Christian Scripture, and probably the most often-memorized and often-quoted portion of any holy text in human history…God loved mankind enough to send His Son to save them, but those who reject Jesus remain condemned.’ (BibleRef)

It is characteristic of John to refer to Jesus’ death as a ‘lifting up’. He probably uses this expression in two senses: a.) Jesus was physically lifted up on the Cross; b.) but also the Cross is His supreme glory. What was generally regarded in those times as the ultimate in shame God sees as Jesus’ greatest glory.

We also note that the death of Jesus was wonderfully and beautifully prefigured in the story of Moses and the bronze snake (See Numbers 21:6-9). It is awesome to see how the entire Bible hangs together with the Cross at the very centre.

 Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”

^10-12 Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God? (The Message)

I remember reading a commentary in which the author said, ‘When people raise questions about the Christian faith you need to bear in mind the ‘RH Factor’: Is it a red herring or a real hindrance?’ That came to mind as I read Jesus’ words highlighted in bold text above. There are people whose questions are in fact a smokescreen. They have no intention of facing up to the evidence.

What Jesus has to teach us about eternal/spiritual realities can be trusted. He knows what He is talking about. People looked up to Nicodemus as someone who knew what he was talking about. The language used in verse 10 may suggest that he was the foremost teacher in Israel. Yet Jesus implied that Nicodemus didn’t know as much as others thought he did; didn’t know as much as he thought he did.

All of us who hold any kind of office/role in the church where we teach others, need to humble ourselves and acknowledge that there is so much we do not know. Let us place ourselves at the feet of Jesus, recognising that He, and He alone, is the supreme Teacher. Real insight comes from listening to Him.

” Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jesus, in Matthew 11:29)

 ^1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”

³ Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.”

⁴ “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”

^5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

^7-8 “So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.” (The Message)

There is speculation as to why this prominent Jewish teacher came to Jesus by night? Was it fear of being seen? Was it that he thought an unhurried conversation would be more possible at a late hour? Was it some other reason? The truth is we don’t know. However, we can say that he acknowledged Jesus’ miracles to be genuine, and in using the word ”we” (2) he intimated that there were others among the Pharisees who shared Nicodemus’ belief. Nevertheless, as one commentator asserted, Jesus, in an abrupt statement, swept aside all that Nicodemus stood for and demanded that he be re-made on the inside by the power of God. What Nicodemus needed (and what we all need) was a new creation. He needed to be ”born again” (or ”born from above”). Religion will not cut it. There has to be a work of God’s Spirit on the inside of a person, making them new. This also applies to clergy!!

”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor.5:17)

(Note that ‘seeing’ and ‘entering’ (vv.3,5) the Kingdom of God are two sides of the same reality.)

When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. ¹¹ And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, ¹² the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

¹³ So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁴ With him they sent ten of the chief men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.

¹⁵ When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: ¹⁶ “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? ¹⁷ Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! ¹⁸ And are you now turning away from the Lord?

“‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. ¹⁹ If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰ When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things,^[a] did not wrath come on the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’”

²¹ Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: ²² “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. ²³ If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.

²⁴ “No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵ The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.

²⁶ “That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ ²⁷ On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’

²⁸ “And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

²⁹ “Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. ³¹ And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.”

³² Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites. ³³ They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.

³⁴ And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us—that the Lord is God. (NIV)

Here is the second lesson I wish to highlight from this passage: we can get it wrong about other people.

In this incident, the Israelites remembered some of their past sins and failures, and showed a commendable zeal not to repeat them. That was why they sent their representatives along to challenge the two and a half tribes about the setting up of the altar. But as they were to discover when they spoke face to face, things were not as they appeared. It was the case, as we saw yesterday, that there was no need for this altar, but the Israelites were wrong about the heart attitudes and motives of their brothers.

‘Before you declare war on the brethren, stop to find out what is going on. Maybe you agree after all! Ponder Proverbs 18:13 and James 3:13-18.’ Warren W. Wiersbe

As they say, ‘Jaw, Jaw is better than war, war.’