This sermon was part of a series entitled "Yeshua Foreshadowed." Yeshua is the Aramaic name for Jesus. He is foreshadowed by the "Yeshuas" of the Old Testament -- Joshua as king (Joshua 3), Hosea as prophet (Hosea 3), and Joshua as priest (Zechariah 3). The other parts of this series were preached by Rev. Geoff Kieta and Rev. Guy Purdue.
This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (goodshepherdnovi.org), Novi on December 1, at Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Livonia on December 8, and at Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church, Westland on December 15.
JOSHUA 3:7-17
YESHUA FORETOLD
…Foretold as King
In
the name + of Jesus.
The angel Gabriel informed Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a
son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). A few months
later, Gabriel also spoke to Joseph. He not
only repeated the name that would be given, but he also gave the reason
why. “You shall call
his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew
1:21). Jesus is the Greek version of
his name. The Aramaic name, the name by
which he would have introduced himself, is Yeshua. It means “The Lord saves.” In the case of Jesus, it is not a name which merely
confessed who God is, it identifies who he is and what he does. He is the Lord who saves.
We might get the
idea that a little boy running around with the name Yeshua would have been
considered blasphemous, or at least presumptuous. But it was not. It was a fairly common name. We find it several times in the Old Testament. Often when it is used in the Old Testament, we
meet a man who foreshadows what Yeshua of Nazareth would be and do. The first noteworthy Yeshua in the Bible is
the man who succeeded Moses as the leader of Israel. For all intents and purposes, he served as a
king though he never invoked that title.
But Joshua, the commander and leader of Israel, foreshadowed Yeshua of
Nazareth as king.
Joshua was called by the Lord to be the leader
over God’s people. He was the logical choice
since he served as Moses’ aid. He was
also a logical choice because he was one of only two elders who survived the 40
years in the wilderness. Joshua and
Caleb were among the twelve spies who had done reconnaissance in the Promised
Land. The majority report was that
Israel stood no chance to overcome the people who lived in the Promised Land. It seemed a reasonable report. The people were large and powerful. Their cities were well fortified. But Joshua and Caleb insisted that Israel would
certainly seize the Promised Land. They believed
it because God had sworn to give it to them.
The Israelites
believed the majority report. Not even
God’s promises could convince them otherwise.
As a result, Israel was forced to wander in the wilderness for 40
years. Those 20-years-old and older all
died there. Only Joshua and Caleb were
preserved. So, it is not a surprise that
God would appoint Joshua as leader of Israel.
When we read all
that Moses had endured as the leader of God’s people—the complaints of the
people, the questioning of Moses’ leadership, an attempted coup by Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram, criticism of his wife by Miriam, and Moses’ intercessions for the
people despite all of the grief he had to endure from them—you would think that
Moses would have earned the right to bring Israel into the Promised Land. But this was not a task to be earned; it was
a privilege to be given. God told Moses
that he would not be the one to bring Israel into the Promised Land; for he had
sinned against God. When Moses brought
forth water from a rock for the Israelites, he did not reveal the Lord as a gracious
God who wanted to bless his people. “Moses
and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ‘Hear
now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock’” (Numbers
20:10)? He held up the sins of the people
before them and breathed out threats against them. Since Moses revealed God as ruthless instead
of gracious, angry instead of merciful, God told Moses that he would not be the
one to lead Israel into the Promised Land.
Moses was right,
though. The people were rebels. So are we.
We are like the ten spies who have found
reasons not to listen to God when he gave his word. Our excuses sound good to us, too. God’s way is too hard. It is too costly. People will mock me for holding to God’s word. They will call me a prude, a homophobe, a
hater, or a moron. They will despise me because
I do not join in their wicked ways or encourage them to continue. They make me feel like I need to be ashamed
of chaste and decent living. They think
it is strange that I am not obscene or vulgar.
They condemn me as judgmental. I
feel like a loner.
Moses gave us God’s
Commandments. God’s Law reveals what a
good life is supposed to be, but the Law shows us that we are not good. We do not deserve a place of everlasting rest
in Paradise. Moses will not get us
there. The Law of Moses thunders that we
are sinners. Moses convicts us with God’s
threats, and we rightly shake under it. Moses
accuses us, and we cannot escape his judgments.
Moses does not
deliver people into the Promised Land. Yeshua
does. The Lord appointed Joshua as the
leader, in essence a king, who would bring the people of God into the Land he
promised them. They did not deserve this
place, but God graciously gave it to them based on his promise. God did not do this for the sake of their worthiness,
but for the sake of his name. For he is
Yeshua, “the Lord saves.”
Jesus is foreshadowed
by Joshua as king of God’s people. Yeshua ushers us into a greater land, the home of
righteousness. It is not because we
deserve it. The Lord delivers all his
blessings to you based on his promises. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Jesus came in the name of
the Lord to confirm every promise made in the name of the Lord. Jesus does not overlook the excuses we have
made for our sins. Instead, he provides
forgiveness for our sins, for our excuses, and for all rebellion.
Jesus
was foreshadowed as a king, but kings don’t go out to die for their
people. They send their people out to
die for them. But not your king. Not Jesus.
Yeshua of Nazareth is the king who has gone forth to fight your battle
for you. He marched forth to face your enemies—sin,
death, and the devil—on your behalf. He
has taken into himself all the slings and arrows that your enemies can
launch. He has accepted every stinging
accusation. All guilt was pinned on him
as he was pinned to the cross. God the
Father branded him a rebel and sentenced him to a rebel’s death. Jesus did not
do this for the sake of your worthiness, but for the sake of his name. He is Yeshua, the Lord who saves.
Jesus gave himself into death only to conquer it. He entered the grave only to burst forth from
it. Now Jesus is exalted as King of
kings; you are the spoils of war. He has
delivered you into his kingdom which is ruled by mercy and grace. The enemies cannot torment you or harm you
anymore. Your sins do not condemn
you. The grave cannot keep you. The devil, who had seized mankind by Adam’s
sin, has had his work destroyed. You are
no longer under a curse; you live under God’s gracious rule, and your king promises
you a place in the heavenly land.
Yeshua is foreshadowed by Joshua whom the
Lord raised up to bring Israel into the Promised Land. The Jordan River was at flood stage, making
it difficult, if not impossible, to cross for the hundreds of thousands of Israel,
their children, and their flocks. “Joshua said to the people of Israel, ‘Come here and listen to the words
of the Lord your God. …Behold, the
ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before
you into the Jordan. …When the soles of
the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the
Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters
coming down from above shall stand in one heap.’” Under Moses, the Lord
had provided passage through the waters of the Red Sea into the wilderness. Now under Joshua, the Lord provided passage through
the waters of the Jordan River. In this
way, Joshua brought Israel into the Promised Land. Joshua foreshadows your king, Yeshua.
How does Jesus bring you passage into the
Promised Land? Through water. It is through your baptism that the Lord applies
the saving work of Jesus to you. Hear
the word of the Lord: “Repent and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Forgiveness of sins is what baptism is
for. It washes you clean of every smudge
of guilt. Again, hear the word of the Lord:
“We were buried therefore with him by
baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans
6:4). You were dead in your sins, but now you are alive in Christ. You have been made a new creation in your
baptism—saved by water and promise. In
this way, you have entered the kingdom of God.
In this way, you are promised the land of eternal peace and rest.
For as long as Joshua was alive, the
people of Israel remained faithful to their Lord. Of course, no earthly king endures
forever. Once Joshua died, the people of
Israel began to forget the Lord. Joshua’s
influence lasted only as long as his reign.
Your king, Jesus, however, lives and reigns forever. He continually serves you with his promises. He assures you that the threats you face in
this world are never stronger than his promises—not peer pressure, not financial
stress, not bodily harm, not even death.
Your King Yeshua strengthens and keeps you
in the one true, saving faith. He
teaches you to return to your baptism every day—putting to death both your sins
and the excuses you make for them. Then
the Lord raises you up anew by his gracious words of forgiveness—not for the sake
of your worthiness, but for the sake of his name. He is Jesus, the Lord who saves. He is the way into the Promised Land of Paradise. Whoever belongs to Jesus will pass through death
into the new heavens and earth he has promised.
Give thanks to Yeshua, the Lord who saves;
for his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and he reigns for your eternal good.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
