There’s a new icon on our homepage that draws attention to the brand new sermon series that I’m going to be preaching on Sunday mornings, beginning April 18, 2010. The series consists of my expository preaching through the Old Testament book of Joshua, and it’s called “Acquiring God’s Promise.” I invite you to join us as we survey God’s message as it was given to the Israelites, and consider the applications that we can glean for our own circumstances. 
One of the grand themes that emerges throughout the book of Joshua is that God is faithful to keep His promises. Many years before, God had made a promise to Abraham. He promised that his descendants would become great and ultimately be led into a land of promise. But this promise was impossible to fulfill! Abraham and his wife Sarah were elderly and childless, without a viable heir to their posterity and possessions. However, as they patiently learned, God miraculously kept His promises in raising up a son.
His people had indeed become great, but over the course of time they fell into slavery under the dominion of Egypt. They had gone their at the request of Joseph so that the entire tribe could be together after the terrible famine had decimated their land. Unfortunately, though, after several generations of residence in Egypt, an unfriendly Pharoah subjugated them to forced labor, hardship and abuse. So the Lord raised up another leader in Moses who mightily led the people out of Egypt and away from their suffering.
But now here they were again in need of strong leadership and direction. Although they had successfully fled from Egypt, their unfaithfulness was to blame for several more years of difficulty and strife. They had now been wandering through the wilderness for forty years without any apparent purpose. They had not yet possessed the land of promise. Moses couldn’t even take them into the land because of his own sin and disobedience. So the Lord raised up yet another leader who would take them into the promised land.
This leader was a young man named Joshua. Joshua, you may recall, was one of the twelve spies that God told Moses to send out to spy the land of Canaan, the land that He had told them to occupy. But after carefully prospecting the land, ten of them brought back a bad report. They were afraid that they had no chance to forcefully take the land from the giant warriors that possessed it already. However, because of their wickedness, God had prepared the people of Canaan for destruction. His purpose was to remove the Canaanites and replace the inhabitants with His own beloved people of Israel. Only Joshua and Caleb gave a good report, understanding that the Lord would deliver them in conquering the enemies and to occupy the abundant, fertile land of promise.
Moses had died and the people of Israel mourned greatly. And now they’ve been left feeling abandoned again, without their revered leader, without proper food and water, and without a place to call home. This is where the book of Joshua begins, as the new leader that the Lord raised up has to begin picking up the pieces and leading the people forward to their destiny.
Another grand theme emerges as we discover God’s purpose for His people. Although we can count on God to faithfully fulfill His promise, we can’t always count on ourselves to keep our end of the bargain. Israel had failed to finish what they started. They had been unfaithful in the wilderness, and as we’ll see in Joshua, they would still be inconsistent in their faith. Nevertheless, it was time for the conquest! And God would lead them victoriously.
Perhaps every one of us can appreciate this journey. Maybe we’re waiting for a sign. Maybe we’re waiting for a dynamic leader. Maybe we’re just unwilling to move out of our “comfort zones.” Whatever the case, we’re waiting without fulfilling our destiny. God has a purpose for us, but we have to embrace His purpose and fulfill it. We have to be ready to acquire God’s promise, just as the people of Israel did so many years ago.
Our own church is poised for a new generation of God’s people to be raised up that we may fulfill our destiny. The Lord wants us to move forward, into the unknown encounters of the promised land. He doesn’t want us to retreat back to the familiar entrapments of our captivity!
I’m looking forward to a wonderful journey through the book of Joshua. There are so many valuable lessons we can learn from the Israelites, both in examples and non-examples. But the Lord has a purpose for us in the passages of the Scriptures, as well. We must be careful not to miss what He wants to say to us. May God fulfill His purposes in us as we acquire His faithful promises.