cheryllejean

[oddthesungod]

it's a funny thing, I got into Critical Role back when campaign 2 had just started airing (I think around episode 7), i moved on to Star Trek around the time campaign 3 started up, and the trek fandom, despite being magnitudes older, feels like a very small fandom when compared to what the crit role fandom is now (specially when you don't draw too much spirk art, where the majority of the eyes are when it comes to fan content here on tumblr) so coming back to Crit Role and seeing how much it's grew... it's quite wild!

I'm proud of this silly game and these silly voice actors playing d&d, proud of how far they've come <3

[madewithonerib]

Joshua | RC Sproul [Joshua 1:1-18]

    Joshua was gifted to accomplish great triumphs for the     LORD, but he never forgot who was really in charge.

    Today, R.C. Sproul tells Joshua’s story of courage & loyalty.

    Today on @RYMRadio, listen as RC Sproul shares     what lessons we can learn from this gifted military     general who knew when to lead and when to follow.

        He was strong & courageous, and he         trusted GOD for the outcome.

    And that characterized his entire ministry.

    Where he crossed the Jordan & GOD gives him every     place where he sets his foot.

    As long as the people were obedient.

I] INTRODUCTION

    After Moses died, Joshua took over as the leader of Israel.

    They’ve been wandering in the desert for decades, but now     they were on the cusp of entering the promised land.

    We continue our look at the great men & women of the     BIBLE, here on Renewing Your Mind.

    Today a story of loyalty & courage.

    Here’s Dr. RC Sproul.

II] PREFACE

    Like to begin our brief counsel & survey of Joshua, by looking     at the opening words of the Book that bears his name in the OT:

    The first CH of Joshua, beginning at the first verse.

        Joshua 1:1-18 | ¹ Now after the death of HIS servant         Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’         assistant, saying,

            ² “Moses MY servant is dead. Now therefore arise,             you & all these people, & cross over the Jordan into             the land that I am giving to the children of Israel.

            ³ I have given you every place where the sole of               your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses.

    Then HE goes & GOD describes the parameters of those lands     which HE has already delivered into the hands of Joshua.

            ⁴ Your territory shall extend from the wilderness &               Lebanon to the great River Euphrates—all the               land of the Hittites—& west as far as the Great Sea.

    And HE says:

            ⁵ No one shall stand against you all the days of               your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you;               I will never leave you nor forsake you.

    Now here the admonition, that GOD gives to Joshua:

            ⁶ Be strong & courageous, for you shall give these               people the inheritance of the land that I swore to               their fathers I would give them.

    Now listen to the 2nd exhortation:     [exhortation: emphatically urging someone to do something]     SYN: urging/encouragement/persuasion/insistence/warning

            ⁷ Above all, be strong & very courageous. Be careful               to observe all the law that MY servant Moses               commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right               or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.

            ⁸ This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth;                you are to recite it day & night so that you may be                careful to do everything written in it.

               For then you will prosper & succeed in all you do.

    The 3rd exhortation, v.9:

            ⁹ Have I not commanded you to be strong & of good               courage?

               Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the                LORD your GOD is with you wherever you go.”

NOTE: Strange About This Threefold Warning

    I think there is something strange about this threefold warning     [exhortation] that we find at the very beginning of the     commissioning of Joshua to be the successor of Moses.

    Moses led the people out of Egypt, & we remember that he took     them to the entrance of the promised land; & was allowed to go     into Mt. Nebo [Deuteronomy 34:1-4] & to gaze into that land that     had been promised centuries before to their fathers.

    But himself was not allowed to led the people in.

    That privilege & that task was given to Joshua. [22:42]

    Why was Joshua selected to be the successor of Moses?

    Here we see GOD ordaining him & commissioning him, &     reminding him three times. If you’re going to do the job that     I have commissioned you to do, you need to be two things:

       ●  You need to be STRONG, &        ●  You need to be COURAGEOUS.

    Cause remember the fundamental task that GOD has given     to Joshua is a military assignment, it is a task of conquering     a hostile nation.

    And how strong were the entrenched Canaanites, perceived     to be at that time? [22:00]

                                OVERWHELMING!

    The odds that Joshua faces, humanly speaking, in this military     expedition are all stacked against him.

    And so if he’s going to succeed, as the military leader, he has     to have strength, & he cannot be paralyzed by fear, he’s got to     operate on a heavy dose of courage.

    But that courage is directed really in two ways:

    1] He has to be courageous in his military task

        But is that the only position GOD is calling him to?

    2] He’s also given the responsibility of being the successor         or Moses, who is the judge over the people.

1.] Spiritual Leader

        He’s not only the military leader now, he’s the spiritual         leader of the nation; & GOD said, you’re going to have         to meditate MY WORD, & in MY LAW, & in MY TESTAMONY         day & night!.

        And you don’t turn away to the left or to the right.

        In order for you to be effective, as the spiritual leader of         MY people, [you have to be educated? is that what HE said?]

        No, you have to be strong [unwavering in your devotion to ME]         & you have to be courageous [have no doubts in MY goodness]

        You realize how much moral courage it takes to be an         authentic spiritual leader? [20:28]

        To not play the games of political compromise [placate the ppl]         in order to please everybody. To be the leader of a holy nation.

        A man must have unbelievable strength of character         & moral courage to make the decisions.

        If you looked at the life of Joshua, you’ll see the life of a man,         not only of brilliant military strategy, & knowledge, & practice,         but a man of key & acute spiritual sensitivity.

    A man of integrity, I think of Joshua as the Stonewall Jackson     of the OT, I really do. You come into my house, & you’ll learn     something about me & my heroes.

    The portrait that will jump out at you, from my living room, is     this great big framed portrait of Stonewall Jackson. [19:27]

2.] Historic Doppelgänger

    I admire Stonewall Jackson because he was one of the most     brilliant military geniuses that the United States has ever     produced.

    He kept the whole federal army talking to themselves in that     campaign in the [Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862].

        He was undermanned, under staffed, under supplied,         overwhelmed in terms of strength of his opposition, &         he is like a phantom.

    So highly mobile, he rewrote the military textbooks on mobility     did you know that?

    And he was a godly man. [18:50]

    The life of Stonewall Jackson, the great biography of SJ     authorized by SJ, but many were written but the greatest     that was ever written was written by his aide in the camp.

3.] Godly Counsel

    His personal military advisor, who was major Robert Dabney.

        Robert Lewis Dabney (March 5, 1820 – January 3, 1898)         was an American Christian theologian, Southern         Presbyterian pastor, Confederate States Army chaplain,         & architect. He was also chief of staff and biographer to         Stonewall Jackson.

    Ever heard that name?

    How many of you have ever heard of Robert Dabney?

    The clergy puts their hands up, in Presbyterian history, you     have the northern & southern Presbyterian Church.

    And the two greatest theologians in the history of the SPC     was a man by the name of Thornwell & the other was the     man of Robert Dabney.

        James Henley Thornwell (Dec. 9, 1812 – Aug. 1, 1862)

    Same man, SJ had as his military aide, the best theologian     he could find. And before he would go into battle, he would     pray with his troops.

        He would say to his men, the battle is ours         the outcome is the LORD’s.

    And he was the kind of general who rode in front of his troops.

    He was a model of integrity & courage.

    But our lecture today is not one of SJ, it’s about SJ-Joshua.

    I mean everything that SJ was, Joshua was even greater.     He surpassed SJ in terms of courage, in terms of military     brilliance, & in terms of spiritual integrity.

4.] Strange Three-Fold Exhortation

    Again I mention that there is something odd about this 3-fold     exhortation: To be strong & to be courageous. [17:08]

            Because strength & courage already were             Joshua’s middle name.

    Remember I asked a few moments ago, why was he selected??

    Why did he lead the people into the promised land & not Moses?

    Remember when the camp of the people was in Wilderness     of Paran at Kadesh [”Kadesh-barnea”], & they sent out the     spies into the promised land. [Numbers 13]

    The spies were sent to spy out the land & were commissioned     to bring back their reconnaissance & advanced scouting reports.

        What man goes to war at first without assessing the         strength of the enemy? JESUS said later [Luke 14:31]

    These guys went out & they saw grapes like they’ve never     seen in their lives. They saw a land flowing with milk & honey.

    What else did they see?

    The Anakim (Hebrew: עֲנָקִים‎ 'Ǎnāqîm ), were described as a     race of giants, descended from Anak, according to the OT.

    And those spies came running back & said:

        Hey I’ve got a great place for us to go, Egypt. (lol)

        To the rear march, it is time for strategic withdrawal.

    That was the message of the spies, they said,

        “You won’t believe those people! They’re giants!!         And we’re like grasshoppers in front of them!?         We don’t have a chance!”

    Moses asked them for a report.

    And everyone they’re all crying the blues.

    They’re all ready to surrender without a battle; everybody mentions     every possible reason why they shouldn’t move ahead.

        Ten out of twelve wanted security!

5.] Let’s Go GOD is with us

    Caleb said, “Hey it’s an incredible land..”     Joshua said, “Let’s go...GOD is with us.”

    Let’s go.

        Strong & courageous, and he trusted GOD.

    And that characterized his entire ministry.

    Where he crossed over the Jordan & GOD did give him     every place where he set his foot, as long as the people     were obedient.

    Jericho crumbled to the Earth, the walls fell down     before the army of Joshua.

    And the people came in to possess the land, they crossed     into it, & that land that had been promised to Abraham, and     Isaac, & Jacob now came into the possession of the     children of Israel.

    Until they came into the city of Ai, where they’re totally     unexpected, where all the other people are fleeing in fear.

        From now the most feared people         were not the giants, but Joshua.

    But in Ai, the people sinned [Joshua 8:.

    And did not carry out the instructions that GOD had given them;     & GOD led them to defeat.

        But Joshua, read it, handled it with such spiritual         sensitivity, it’s amazing.

    My favourite story about Joshua takes place early on in his     book in CH 5. [Joshua 5:14]

    After the children of Israel celebrate the Passover, we read in     v.13-15, where it says this:

         Joshua 5:13-15 | The Commander of the LORD's Army

         ¹³ Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up             & saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn             sword in HIS hand.

            Joshua approached HIM & asked,

            “Are YOU for us or for our enemies?”

        ¹⁴ “Neither,” HE replied. “I have now come as commander             of the LORD’s army.”

            Then Joshua fell facedown in reverence & asked HIM,

            “What does my LORD have to say to HIS servant?”

        ¹⁵ The commander of the LORD’s army replied,

            “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are               standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

            ¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people:

            ¹¹ “Go through the camp & tell the people,

                ‘Prepare your provisions, for within 3 days you will                  cross the Jordan to go in & take possession of the                  land that the LORD your GOD is giving you for                  your own.’”

            ¹² But to the Reubenites, the Gadites, & the half-tribe of                 Manasseh, Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember what Moses                 the servant of the LORD commanded you when he                 said, ‘The LORD your GOD will give you rest, &                 HE will give you this land.’

            ¹⁴ Your wives, your young children, & your livestock may                 remain in the land that Moses gave you on this side                 of the Jordan.

                But all your mighty men of valor must be armed for                 battle to cross over ahead of your brothers & help them,

            ¹⁵ until the LORD gives them rest as HE has done for you,                 & your brothers also possess the land that the LORD                 your GOD is giving them.

                Then you may return to the land of your inheritance &                 take possession of that which Moses the servant of the                 LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”

            ¹⁶ So they answered Joshua,

                “Everything you have commanded us we will do, &                  everywhere you send us we will go.

                ¹⁷ Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will                 obey you. And may the LORD your GOD be with you,                 as HE was with Moses.

                ¹⁸ Anyone who rebels against your order & does not                 obey your words, all that you command him, will be                 put to death. Above all, be strong & courageous!”