Preparation Creates Opportunity: Part 1 (Joshua 1-5)

By Paul Murray

The book of Joshua is the biblical record of the conquest of Canaan, an event that fulfilled a promise God made to Abram and his descendant's generations earlier. It was the gift of God to His people, the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey.

After Israel's delivery from four hundred years of bondage in Egypt and the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, Israel was brought into a new relationship with God. God gave them His Law and established them as a nation on Mount Sinai.

They were instructed to enter the Promised Land at Kadesh-barnea, but after spying out the land, they were terrified. The land was a land of milk and honey, as God said, but God forgot to mention that there were giants in the land. These were men of immense size and strength who made the Israelites feel like grasshoppers in their sight.

The Jews didn't believe God could give them the land with those odds and refused to obey His will to enter the land. In response, they rebelled against Moses and Joshua.

God judged that generation for their lack of faith and obedience by causing them to wander forty years in the wilderness, going nowhere, until that entire sinful generation perished.

Finally, a nation of young men who had grown up in the wilderness stand at the banks of the Jordan River. They can see the Promised Land across the raging waters. The ancient fulfillment of the promise and the gift of God are so close. But before the conquest can begin, the river must be crossed and preparations must be made. These preparations will serve as the basis of the conquest that will unfold over the next seven plus years.

Come along for the ride. You're about to see God do wonders you've never imagined. Walk with these men and feel the drama unfold. It will change your view of who God is.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098079734

Paul Murray

Paul Murray was born in 1975 in Dublin. He is the author of the novels An Evening of Long Goodbyes, which was short-listed for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. Skippy Dies (2010) was long-listed for the Booker Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Mark and the Void (2015) was the joint winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and was named one of Time’s Top 10 Fiction Books of the year.

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Preparation Creates Opportunity

Part 1 (Joshua 1-5)

Paul Murray

Copyright © 2021 by Paul Murray

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Death Precedes Life

A Costly Choice

A Day in the Life of a Prostitute

Crossing Your Jordan

Building Memorials

Christian Essentials

Foreword

This is part 1 of a three-part series I am calling Pagans, Prostitutes, and Other Problems , a study of the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. Part 1 we are calling Preparation Creates Opportunity , and it is the record of Israel entering the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, recorded in chapters 1–5 of Joshua. Part 2, More than Conquerors , will cover the conquest of Canaan, chapters 6–11. Part 3, The Fruit of Righteousness , will cover the distribution of the inheritance to the twelve tribes, chapters 12–24.

However, let me begin with a disclaimer. When I graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1961, I had to take a placement test upon entering the local junior college, Orange Coast College. To start my college career in freshman English, English A, I had to score 70 percent or better on the placement test’s English grammar section. If I failed to score 70 percent, I would be placed in English 50A, commonly referred to as dumbbell English.

There was a group of us, about twenty-two kids, that scored less than 30 percent on the English grammar portion of the test. I scored an impressive 19 percent! So Orange Coast College created a summer school class called English X that we had to attend the summer before the school year started. If we passed English X, we could start our freshman year in dumbbell English, English 50A.

Living near the ocean in Costa Mesa, it was typical in summer school for half the kids to come to class and leave their surfboards, skim boards, and beach towels at the classroom door or the back of the class. Several of them were still wearing wet swim trunks when they walked in. I was often one of them. I tell you all this because English, spelling, grammar, and sentence structure has never been my strong suit . Reader, beware!

A top-rated opinion news anchor hosts a highly rated cable news show who claims to be a simple man. In my opinion, he is brilliant, which seems evident from the success he has enjoyed over the past several decades. But I relate to his claim to be a simple man. I am a simple man, only unlike him, I am a true, genuine simple man. No one could point a finger at me and accuse me of being brilliant. I like things that are easy to understand. What I have attempted to write here is a simple man’s commentary on Joshua.

My purpose in writing this commentary on Joshua is multifaceted. I did it primarily for the love of scriptures. The Bible is an amazing collection of books composed by men inspired by God to record precisely what God wanted to communicate to humanity. Many books that have been written by the inspiration of man became best sellers, but quickly are outdated and forgotten.

Only the rare few become classics, such as To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Or consider the real enduring classics like Hamlet by Shakespeare or The Odyssey by Homer. These, among many others, are considered timeless classics and are real treasures.

I’ve heard so many people try to tell me the Bible is outdated. They argue that it was written so long ago that the writers had no idea how culture and technology would change. The Bible simply doesn’t apply to our modern-day generation and age.

But wait a minute! If the Bible was written by men inspired by God (and by that I mean that God directed the various authors of the Bible to write only what He put into their minds and hearts to write and nothing more), then I have a real problem with those who argue that the Bible is outdated. Is God any less a genius than Harper, Twain, Steinbeck, Shakespeare, or Homer? I don’t think so.

The creativity in man is nothing more than a reflection from our Creator. When God decided to print what He wanted men to know, He directed the very writing of His Word. And if God can’t write a timeless book like mere men, one that transcends both time and culture, then He is no god at all. Indeed, if He is God, He can put into words principles and truth that can endure from the beginning of time to the very end and be relevant to every generation. Again, if He can’t, He’s not God.

I’ve read many books. Some I’ve even read twice. Believe me, once you’ve read a book twice, there is no need to read it again. You know what the author is saying. However, for some strange (divine) reason, that is not true of the Bible. I’ve read the Bible many times, and some books of the Bible many, many times. I’ve read the Book of Joshua many, many times. Every time I read it, I am stunned to discover things I’ve never picked up before. That cannot be said for any other book I have ever read. The Bible is truly a living document, and that’s why I love studying it.

I also took on this project to demonstrate that this amazing book of the Old Testament, like all the books of the Old Testament, gives us a clear declaration and illustration of just about every doctrine found in the New Testament. Many believers think that we are in a New Testament era and that the Old Testament was for those who existed before Christ’s time. What a bunch of baloney that is! If you don’t see the New Testament’s major doctrines embedded and illustrated throughout this study of Joshua, then I have failed to accomplish one of my main goals in taking on this project.

Finally, I took on this project because I wanted to leave something behind for Mandy, Ashley, Kip, and Lance, our four children, their spouses, and our grandkids. When Carol and I finally get home, there won’t be much for the kids to fight over when it comes to an inheritance. Sorry, kids!

This book is a reflection of my heart and my faith. More than anything else, my prayer is that my kids and grandkids will grow up to love and trust Jesus Christ with every fiber of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Life is a fleeting vapor. Yet it sets the stage for all eternity! We can’t afford to screw up the few years God has given us on earth in light of our eternal existence.

Kids, I love you more than God has given me words to explain. Next to Jesus and your mother, I desperately want to see you all in heaven. I’ll be there waiting. You think Outback Steakhouse is fun. Wait till we sit together at His banqueting table. I’m saving some seats!

And, Carol! Thanks so much for all you have had to put up with through the many decades of our married life. We’ve had some ups and downs. And we have made some terrific, memorable moments. You have been an inspiration in more ways than you will ever know. And for the help with this project, I am so grateful. It’s been a long journey. I’m glad we took it together.

In conclusion, if there is one central theme that flows through this book, it is the absolute necessity for us to fully follow God if we ever expect to experience all that He has for us in this life and the next. God is not interested in you making Him one of the things that are important in your life. If He is not on the top shelf, if He is not number one in your affections, if He isn’t your sovereign Lord and King, you might as well not even acknowledge Him. It is not easy to fully follow God, but He can and will give you the strength and ability to do so if you will make Him your number one priority.

The beauty and wisdom of fully following God are that it is the ONLY way to know experientially all the blessings of this life and the exciting hope we have when we walk through that door into eternity. Jesus said, I came that you might have life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). As I look around, most folks aren’t even coming close to living an abundant life. I want the abundant life Jesus said I could have. If you want it too, then read on. This book will demonstrate very clearly how you can have it.

These are other books by this author.

A four-part series on the Gospel of John entitled Meet Messiah, A Simple Man’s Commentary on John.

Part 1, Behold The Man, John 1–5

Part 2, Faith or Frustration, John 6–12

Part 3, Words to Loved Ones, John 13–17

Part 4, The Failure of Death, John 18–21

Also, an historical fiction, Collateral Grace.

Chapter 1

Death Precedes Life

Joshua 1:1–9

I’m excited about our study in Joshua. Many of us seldom spend much time in the Old Testament. There are many reasons. I’ve heard some people say that we are a New Testament church, and since we are under grace and not under the law, we don’t need to spend much time in the Old Testament. Others have said the Old Testament is filled with long genealogies, unrecognizable names and places, unbelievable stories, and all kinds of meaningless data. Most of this stuff is not credible or believable. Even the historical material is hard to believe.

Besides, almost nothing in it is relevant to Christianity today because it is old and archaic. Times and cultures have changed. Nobody knows where most of the places are or who the people were in those long lists of names. It is nothing more than stories that are made up to teach the Jews some sound principles. Have I mentioned your excuse for not spending time in the Old Testament?

Then, of course, the vast majority of us seem to get so bogged down and confused in all the detail when we try to read the Old Testament. We wind up thinking, What’s the use? The apostle Paul’s solid doctrine of the New Testament is really what’s most important. I’m going to spend my time in the New Testament.

These and many other reasons are why so many don’t take a serious look into the Old Testament. If any of that has expressed your attitude or feelings about the Old Testament, I will make a personal guarantee to you here and now. If you thoughtfully read through this three-part series on Joshua, you will come away with a whole new perspective about the Old Testament. I promise you will discover many vibrant treasures offered in the Old Testament that you never realized were there. I believe you will find a whole new appreciation and respect for this ancient document.

Paul’s View of the Old Testament

Let me set the stage by looking at a statement made by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1–12:

¹ For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

³ and all ate the same spiritual food;

⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things happened as examples for us, that we would not crave evil things, as they also craved.

⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.

⁸ Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.

⁹ Nor