You are to Help Your
Brothers!
'But to the
Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
Joshua said, "Remember the command that Moses the
servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving
you rest and has granted you this land . . . but all your
fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your
brothers. You are to help your brothers
until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you,
and until they too have taken possession of the land that
the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you
may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses
the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward
the sunrise."' (Joshua 1:12-15)
The Great
Commission. That final commandment of Jesus to all
His children: Matt 28:19-20: "go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
We find this commandment repeated at the end of each of
the gospels, and also infiltrating each of the rest
of the New Testament books. But I haven't heard
too many sermons preached on the Great Commission from the
Old testament. In fact, I can't recall a single one.
That's why I was so astonished this morning, to find the
Great Commission right in the middle of Joshua, chapter
one! Let's take a look:
The Children of
Israel have wandered in the wilderness for 40 years due to
their disbelief that God could conquer Canaan for them.
Towards the end of the 40 years, the Israelites went to
battle against the Amorites and conquered two of their
kings. The land taken from these two kings was then
divided among 2 1/2 of Israel's tribes: The Reubenites,
the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (See Deut. 3).
Shortly after this, Moses died on Mount Nebo, and Joshua
became the new leader. Now, their "wilderness" time
has come to an end. Joshua has just announced that
they will be crossing the Jordan River in just 3 days when
he gives the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe
of Manasseh the following admonition: "but all your
fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your
brothers. You are to help your brothers
until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you,
and until they too have taken possession of the land that
the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you
may go back and occupy your own land" (Joshua
1:14,15)
Why couldn't these
people go ahead and take possession of their own
land? Because it wasn't fair! The entire
people had fought against the Amorites and conquered the
land east of the Jordan. It wouldn't be fair for
just 9 1/2 tribes to have to conquer the rest of the land,
while the other 2 1/2 tribes already got to enjoy their
rest! Instead, they were admonished to cross over
with their brothers, to fight for them until the land was
conquered. Only then could they go back and occupy
their land.
So what does this
have to do with the Great Commission? Just like the
children of Israel, the unsaved world is wandering in a
wilderness -- the wilderness of sin. It is only by
the blood of Jesus that we find our rest -- Heb 4:6: "It
still remains that some will enter that rest, and those
who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go
in, because of their disobedience." But what of
those of us who find Jesus? Are we to simply sit
back and enjoy the benefits of being in Christ without a
thought of our brothers who have not yet found Christ?
No! Jesus told us to "go and make disciples of
all nations" (Matt. 28:19)! We must fight for
the lives of our brothers and sisters who are still
wandering in the wilderness of sin, never stopping until
they, too, have found their rest in Christ! Only
then can we sit back and enjoy the full benefits of our
lives in Christ -- Matt 24:14: "And this gospel
of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
So what shall it be,
friends? Do we isolate ourselves from the unsaved
world? Do we bask in the security of our Christian
friends, our Christian schools and churches? Or do
we put our every effort into helping our unsaved brothers
and sisters to find Jesus? The Great Commission
tells us to do the latter!
Matt 28:19-20: "go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you."
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,