If you could pick any person in the Bible
and elect them as President of the United States,
who would you pick?
A lot of good options, right?
I bet Joshua would end up on a number of lists.
Maybe number one,
top three maybe,
on most of them?
Joshua was a very significant leader in the history of the Israelites.
He won victory after victory.
He’s the one who eventually led them into the promised land.
He’s the man who was chosen to succeed Moses.
Those are not small sandals to fill.
Joshua was a very, very significant man,
and so you might pick Joshua as President of the United States.
Good choice.
Do you know that Joshua’s name wasn’t always Joshua?
In Numbers chapter 13 we are told that Moses changed Joshua’s name.
At first it was Hosea.
And Moses changed his name from Hosea to Joshua.
In Numbers chapter 13, Moses tells a group of men to go and scout out the promised land.
Just let us know what’s coming. Tell us what’s there.
And Joshua, or Hosea, is in that group.
But before they leave, he said,
“Hosea, I’m changing your name to,” Moses said to him,
“Hosea, I’m changing your name to Joshua.”
Which seems a little strange until you consider what both of those names mean.
The word “Hosea” means
“He saves.”
The word “Joshua” means
“The Lord saves.”
Pretty close,
but significantly different.
And it seems that Moses wanted to remind Joshua,
and everyone else, that when they reached the promised land
it wasn’t going to be because they had such a great leader in Hosea,
but because they had such a great Lord who’s so great at keeping his promises.
At the beginning of that chapter of numbers chapter 13, the Lord told Moses he said,
“I want you to send some people to scout the land, the land which I
myself am giving to the Israelites.”
The Lord said he would give it to them.
His reputation was on the line.
And he even tied that reputation to a man named Hosea, or Joshua.
He wanted to be known as “the Lord who saves”
and eventually he was.
I think that’s very timely for us as we’re just now a day away from finding out
who it is that is actually going to be the next President of the United States.
You hear about these different individuals who are on the ballots
and people talk very highly of them.
This person will save us from this,
this person will save us from that.
This person will rescue us from this,
this person will rescue us from that.
This person will deliver us from . . .
This person will rescue us from . . .
This person will lead us to . . .
Talking about them in, I’m sure, many of the same ways that people talked about Hosea.
But no matter who it is that’s elected,
neither of them can place into your hands what God already has—
a promised land.
A promised land.
Far better than America could ever be.
Far more perfect,
far more peaceful,
far less painful.
He’s already placed that into your future and he did it,
He did it.
Not by winning an election.
By shedding his blood,
by going to war against Satan himself,
the same Satan who comes after you by carrying on his back a heavy burden,
the burden of your guilt,
your regrets,
he mistakes that you’ve made,
and burying them in a grave that was eventually empty.
When he showed the whole world that he really is a Lord who can save us from anything,
just as he promised he would,
just as he already has.
The Lord who has already given you that victory,
he’s not just waiting for you to hold it in your hands.
He’s with you today, and tomorrow, and the next day,
through any election result,
for any twists and turns the future of our nation will ever take,
through all the troubles,
throughout the triumphs,
for absolutely everything.
Walking with you is the Lord who saves.
So rest well tonight, my friends.
Our Lord saves you.