To Be Courageous, Pt. 1

Ronald Weinland

January 5, 2019

There is a natural follow up to the last series that we covered about being strengthened in the might of God, a might that comes from God. We focused on how that that is a power, the power of God’s spirit whereby we’re blessed, that comes from a relationship that we can have with Him and a relationship that we need to build upon and grow stronger in, especially at this time. So, this follow up concerns some of the things that were covered in the story of the book of Joshua that we went through. It was mentioned there, but we didn’t focus specifically upon it. But again, these go hand in hand. Originally this even goes back farther to the book of Deuteronomy where God was giving instruction, a charge to Moses, if you will, and that’s where we’re going to begin here today, but this new series is entitled To Be Courageous.

Let’s turn over to Deuteronomy 3. Deuteronomy, the word even means, it’s about the second giving of the law and before they go into the promised land, in this particular book here, certain things are summed up and this is about a period of time now of just getting ready to go into the promised land, but reviewing the law once again and reminding the children of Israel about those things that they were to focus upon and keep focused upon. So some of that’s covered in the story and we’ll talk about that when we come to it.

Deuteronomy 3:21. But again here, breaking into a flow where Moses is speaking. He says, I gave charge to Joshua at that time, saying, Your eyes have seen all that the Eternal your God has done to these two kings... Now, he’s speaking of two kings that were on the east side of the Jordan and what God did to them before they went into the promised land. So there were some events that took place first that have a great bearing upon things that happen later, and they were actually talked about in the book of Joshua.

God is giving to Moses certain things to be stated again concerning the law before they go into the promised land, and the first thing that is spoken of here, in that respect, as far as what Moses is saying, and breaking into the thought here a little bit, he says, I gave to Joshua at that time, saying, Your eyes have seen all that the Eternal your God has done to these two kings... So as I was saying, these two kings are about two kings who were on the east side of the Jordan River before they went into the promised land.

There are things that took place on that side of the Jordan, certain battles that had taken place that are spoken of in the book of Joshua that we referred to. But likely, in going through a story like that, you don’t really put it all together until you actually go back and think about what’s being said or what was said back at that particular time period before they crossed into the areas that God was going to give, the rest of what God was going to give to Israel.

Because God gave land on both sides of the river to the tribes of Israel, so part of it was actually conquered before they came up to Jericho, before they crossed over the Jordan River. This is what it’s addressing. It’s addressing something that God did toward the end earlier on as they began movement in this particular region. But these two kings were basically taken care of, which we’ll read about here.

It says, a reminder here, “You have seen this. Israel, you have seen what God did to these two kings,” before they went over Jordan. So it says here, so shall the Eternal do to all the kingdoms where you pass over, or pass by, or go on. So it’s just an expression here showing that this is something that they were yet to do, as to go beyond Jericho, to go beyond the Jordan River there once they crossed over. Again here, the word is used many ways but “to pass over, to cross over, to pass by,” it all means the same thing. So they were to go on past this particular area. It says, “before you go on past,” before you proceed forward, because they had already done certain things in the east; now they were going on west toward the Mediterranean, is what it’s about, north and south as well.

You shall not be fearful of them, because of the Eternal your God, He shall fight for you. Again here, it’s a reminder here of some things that are going to take place. What they dealt with already was small in comparison to what they were going to deal with when they came up against Jericho and then the rest of the areas that we already talked about in the last series here.

So he goes on to say, For I had requested favor of the Eternal at that time, saying... So he’s looking at a matter here where he’s looking back and he’s saying, “This is what I told Joshua. This is what I gave to Joshua. This is what is being told to the children of Israel.” He’s putting this in that particular context. He says, For I had requested of the Eternal at that time, saying... As I’m going through this now some of these things I’ve addressed a little more to the point of what’s actually being said in Hebrew, because there are some things, that as we went through the last series here, that aren’t translated very well at all. It isn’t that they haven’t chosen some of the right words for the translation it’s just that the way they put it all together because they don’t understand what was taking place. They don’t understand God’s plan. That, to me, is an amazing thing, what God’s giving right now, just to show us a clearer picture of what was actually going on. Some of these things they have translated totally out of kilter; they’re just wrong.

So, anyway, again, verse 23—For I had requested favor of the Eternal at that time, saying, O LORD Eternal, You have only begun to show Your greatness unto Your servant, and Your mighty hand... So he’s referring to a matter here, he’s setting the stage for what he’s getting ready to talk about, and he’s saying here that he has requested certain things of God. He’s mentioning by this particular time here, after nearly forty years now in the wilderness, here they are at this particular point getting ready to pass by, to pass on, to pass beyond the Jordan River because nothing had happened to this point in time past the river.

He’s referring back to a time that has led up to this and he’s telling God, he says, in essence, You’ve shown me many things. You’ve revealed so many things to me over this long period of time to bring us to this point. That’s what he’s saying here, in essence, O LORD Eternal, You have only begun to show Your greatness unto Your servant, and Your mighty hand. So he’s already seen many things; he understands this.

Then he goes on to say (and this is a horrible translation here), For what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to your works and according to your might? That’s not what he said at all. If you go back and look at some of the Hebrew words he’s not talking about some other god or anything like that, or the way they express this in any fashion or form. He’s just saying here, and I’ll translate it like it should be, For who but God could do Your works and Your mighty acts? That’s what he’s saying. “Who but God could do these things? You have shown me these things. You have revealed things to us, to Israel in the wilderness, and Your interventions and things that have taken place,” whether it be coming across the Red Sea, and on and on it goes. He’s saying, You have shown these things. You have shown things about Your greatness that only God could do. So they know, he knew, he’s showing here this matter then, his conviction, “We know this is of You. I know this is of You, the Great God.” He said, again here, “You’ve only begun to show Your greatness,” because what He’s revealed, what He’s shown, he understands there’s a lot, so much more beyond this.

Verse 25, again, going on, I pray to You, that you let me pass over and see that good land beyond Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon. So they’d been told about this. They’d had spies that had gone out before in times past. They had had people travelling through that have talked about these areas, traders and so forth that travel through various regions as they always have through time. So it’s no different here. He knew of these regions, these places, and God had spoken to them about them as well.

He’s referring back to a moment in time here. He’s gone back as he discusses this and he says, You’ve only begun to show Your greatness. Here is what I told Joshua, and then this, this is what he told him back at that time, it says, “Let me... Please, let me pass over. Let me go beyond the Jordan and see this great land.” He’s 120 years old. Incredible! 120 years old; his life broken up into segments of 40 years – 40 years before he left Egypt, 40 years before he came back, and then 40 years in the wilderness. Incredible. God sustained his life, gave him long life to do an incredible job.

But the Eternal... Again, another horrible translation. I’m just going to read how it’s translated, But was wroth with me for your sakes. Hebrew doesn’t say that whatsoever! It’s not even in the context of what’s being said! He said, and would not hear me. And the Eternal said unto me, Let it suffice you; speak no more to me about this matter. I don’t know where they come up with some of these things sometimes, but because it was done primarily in the King James all other translations, so many other translations have taken the same route. They take that and then they go and study various words and might add certain things or they might have certain beliefs so they work it around a little bit and change it. You think, they get so far away sometimes in what’s being really said here.

Verse 25, just read it like it is. I’m not going to go in and explain all the words and everything else. I pray to You that You let me pass over and see that good land beyond Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon. But the Eternal would not hear of me passing over or going on, for the Eternal stated more about this matter. The word “more” there is important in how it’s translated and what they got out of it. That word “let it suffice,” the word is “more.” It has to do with God had more to say about this matter. There is more to the story here that he’s trying to tell now about why he’s not going to go over, about what God’s plan is and what God’s purpose is and so forth. That’s all he’s saying.

So again, he says, I pray to You that You let me pass over and see that good land beyond Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon. But the Eternal would not hear of me passing over (or going on), for the Eternal stated more about this matter. There is a different purpose that God had that He wasn’t going to let him pass over.

He said, God said, Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, southward, and eastward; and see it with your eyes, for you shall not pass over the Jordan. So He’s telling him, go up to this high area called Pisgah and look. Every direction that you can see, this is Israel’s. It’s what I’m giving to Israel, in essence, is what He’s telling him.

From that vantage point, you can actually look at that area on a map, of being able to see with your eyes, how far you could see from that vantage point, everything to the south of that going down toward the Dead Sea, everything north on that side, everything to the east, everything to the west that he could see, that’s what God was giving.

Now, they’d already conquered, in essence, everything to the east of the Jordan by the time we get into this part of the story here, before they cross over the Jordan. So those two kings it’s referring to, this is a part of the story, because they’d already been addressed and taken care of. So he’s referring to that story of what took place.

He’s telling Moses this is all you’re going to see. This is what you’re going to see because you’re not passing over. There is a different purpose being worked out. There is more to the story that He’s telling Moses of what He’s doing and why He’d doing it.

But give charge to Joshua... It’s time for Joshua. Joshua is being molded for something here, something unique and something special. There is a great purpose in it. A lot of that purpose, candidly, is for what it pictures – Joshua. There was a Joshua that fulfilled something on a very strong physical plane for the children of Israel; there is that which Joshua the Christ is fulfilling in an incredibly powerful way as far as that which is physical and spiritual concerning the world, concerning mankind. The analogies of some of those things, the lessons to be learned from that, there is a type there that’s taking place – a physical type and a spiritual one (and physical, if you will, as well), but, a “duality” maybe is a better word than “type.” There was a duality of purpose that God has and why certain things were taking place like they were.

That’s why, if we grasp this, so much of this is about our time. It’s about us. It’s about where we are and getting ready to go into, a different time, something that God had promised that’s far more important, far greater, and a greater fulfillment of the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob weren’t just the property and the land that we know as Israel. It goes way, way, way, way beyond that. A part of the prophecies of those things that took place were about the Messiah! Incredible! A Son.

So, awesome story, inspiring when you see how God does what He does and how He reveals things and gives us understanding of His purpose and His plan, and whether they be types or whether there be dualities of certain things in order to teach things in a greater way as time goes along. He takes much time to accomplish those things. It hasn’t happened overnight. 6,000 years, it’s taken a lot of work to get to this point in time, a lot of work preparing 144,000 that are going to be a part of that government. A lot of time! A lot of work! It’s hard for us to grasp and comprehend what God’s been doing.

He says, all these directions you look, for you shall not pass over the Jordan. But give charge to Joshua and encourage and strengthen him. Awesome! Encourage and strengthen him. It’s about being strong and of good courage, to be courageous, to be, to have the might of God, if you will, to draw closer to God, to have a stronger relationship with God for us on a spiritual plane and for what’s getting ready to take place and those who are going to be drawn, those who are going to be awakened at some point as well, begin to be awakened out of a scattered Body. That’s going to be such an incredible time. Like some of us when we were awakened out of a sleep after an Apostasy and what we were able to see then, incredible! Why we went through things, why certain things had to take place that others can’t see, have not been able to see to this day.

I think of one thing that came out here recently. I haven’t made any comments about it. People have been wondering why I haven’t said anything. Well, because it is what it is. People make various comments that start talking about somebody says 2019, and then they refer to me, obviously, and then if it’s not then it’s 2020, and going on from some of that then, someone else then comes out later that they talk about that had some certain comments to make of why it can’t be 2019, basically, and there are several things that have to take place.

I think what a horrible thing they don’t understand; we’ve already had those things take place. Then it refers back to Daniel, if I remember rightly here in the article. It goes back and talks about the book of Daniel and how that there has to be the abomination of desolation. I think, you forgot what the temple was. Mr. Armstrong taught it before he died. He reassured the Church of what the temple was, very strongly so, in those years when he came back with greater strength, health, and energy than ever before, and greater purpose than ever before to finish a work after 1979, in through that period of time, on into the early ‘80’s. He spoke a great deal from time to time about a temple and that it wasn’t a physical temple, that the temple is about God’s Church, about God’s people!

Then to think what happened after a period of time in Laodicea, the Church lost track of that. They lost sight of that. They went back to thinking about a physical temple, the abomination of desolation. Well, how does that get fulfilled? Antiochus Epiphanies, well, he slaughtered a pig on the altar so something like that has to take place like the previous minister of the same organization who died, he made comment how that some of his people, whatever, have done research into this and they don’t have to necessarily build a whole temple, but they have to have an altar where certain things are being done. Physical! An altar where something of this type can happen once again where something is slaughtered that causes an abomination of desolation. You think, you miss out! You’re asleep! You’re blind! You can’t help it.

It’s hard to grasp sometimes how that blindness could be so strong, but I was there. Anybody that came through the Apostasy, we were all there at one point in time in the sense of having lost so much because we were going asleep spiritually. We had to be jarred awake and the Apostasy is what helped to do that. We had to repent of that, because we were the cause. The entirety of the Church was the cause of the Apostasy. We had no one else to blame. You can’t blame God. We did it! We became weak through time.

It’s incredible, our history. So that individual, getting back to that article, feels like there has to be an abomination of desolation spoken of in Daniel. You think, you lived it, man! You lived it. You lived it because it’s spiritual. It’s what happened to the Church! It’s what happened when someone had control and tried to destroy, to speak against God, to speak against Christ, to change every major basic foundational law that there is – the Sabbath, the holy days, even hit tithing. They came back to that one though. They revisited that one later because something happened. So they came back and had to acknowledge “We made a mistake, tithing’s is still a good thing to do.” Yeah, when your faucet is cut off and you realize how God is taking care of His Church and how He’s taking care of the ministry and the Church and the work of the Church...? You fool! So, certain ones went through that.

So, to think that people can’t see to this day that there was a great falling away, an abomination of desolation, a man of sin? In some ways it’s kind of hard to grasp, but I understand when you can’t see, you can’t see. It’s just like when you were first called. You didn’t understand God’s plan.

I remember when I was first called, the day, the night my mind was opened up! I’ll never forget it! Around 10 o’clock at night and just being told about the Sabbath, just being told about Passover. I’d never heard about Passover before. I didn’t know what a Passover was. Unleavened Bread? Tabernacles? Never heard those things! But as soon as I heard them I knew it was true! I didn’t have to read anything in the Bible. My mind was opened up.

That’s what happens to us and sometimes we forget how God called us. He does it because He gives it to us, not because we figure it out. That’s one of the things that used to cause my blood to do a slow boil sometimes. My blood would do a slow boil when people would come along and they’d “discovered” certain things in scripture. “I see this and this is really interesting. You’ve got to turn to this verse here because this is something we haven’t really understood nor seen.” Different ones come along and different ones want to preach, and different ones want to give a sermonette, or different ones want to give a split sermon, or different ones want to give a sermon because they have something that they see that the Church hasn’t seen. You think, “Baloney!” Bull, bull, bull more than the “ony,” and it’s deep, and you better wear your cowboy boots because it’s getting really deep in here and you don’t understand that anything you can see is because God gives it. There is one way that God gives it and it’s not that way, if we haven’t learned anything within the Church yet.

In the time of Philadelphia the only thing that any minister should ever have preached or any elder should ever have preached in the Church was what was revealed through Mr. Armstrong. Any time they went off base they sinned. When they came up with their own ideas and injected their own thoughts about what God was requiring in life, that’s when they went astray and began to be cut off from God’s spirit. That’s why we suffered so much, because it was being done so much toward the end. Every time there was a problem, every time that things took place it’s because people became presumptuous and began to teach things that God never gave through Mr. Armstrong, because if you teach something different you don’t know how God is working and have forgotten the most basic of things. The number one thing that Mr. Armstrong was noted for doing. It’s number four – government; number one for him of the 18 Truths, government. So if you ever understood that, candidly.

So the reality is, never forget your calling. It’s a miracle because it’s something that God has to do by the power of His spirit. The reason anyone is here today is because that power is still working. Your ability to believe and see the things you believe is because God has given it to you and sustained it in you because of your desire, because of your relationship with Him. Because there are people not too long back here that used to sit right here in this room, who have lost it. They don’t have it. It’s gone. So God has to sustain it as well, the truth in us. It comes from God.

So again, about a powerful relationship that we’re able to have with God, that part of being strengthened in the power of God’s might, but the matter of being encouraged by God, being able to be courageous in our thoughts and our thinking about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Courageous in the truth, to stand up for the truth because you know it’s true, because you know what God gave to you in your mind. You can’t give it to anyone else. It’s yours from God as a gift. It’s powerful.

He’s telling certain things about Joshua here. Verse 28, again, He said to Moses, But give charge to Joshua... You’re not going over the Jordan. Something is changing here. There is a different purpose being worked out now. Joshua has been prepared for this. You’ve been working with him. He’s been in the process of being trained and molded for this particular job, for this particular function, and because God had a different purpose in what He was doing, as I said.

He says, But give charge to Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him. So a lot of this was done on a very physical plane, but it pictures something spiritual for us of what we must be like, of what God is offering to us in a greater way. He’s given this to His people through time, but more so now, we need this more now because no one has faced what’s getting ready to take place in the world like we do, like we will. No one. No one has ever gone before. Yes, it was hard in the beginning, and at different times, for hundreds of years for God’s people, and they went up against a great deal, especially when you consider Rome and the things that they did when they began to outlaw the Passover and the keeping of the seventh day Sabbath and they would kill people for it, they would imprison people for it.

So they went through hard times, but they never faced the kind of massive devastation because of a change and a purpose of what God is doing on the earth to usher in a new age. It has to happen that way. There is no way to humble humanity, mankind, except for this to take place. That, sometimes, is difficult for some people to deal with or to address, but it has to be that way.

It’s like today. There is no one going to come along. We could do all the advertizing in the world. It’s like the different groups that have gone out here and they’ve tried to rebuild what they think Mr. Armstrong didn’t complete, that they have a work to do of publishing to the world, of sending out magazines and telecasts and broadcasts and so forth to the world, because, basically, the idea, the thought is Mr. Armstrong didn’t finish a work, it continues on. No, he finished a work. He completed it. It was done and then it was time for Laodicea to be fulfilled and what would happen that would lead up to an apostasy because that was a part of God’s purpose and God’s plan.

The Apostasy was a part of God’s plan. God designed it! Think about that. He didn’t cause it in the sense of making people respond in a certain way; He allowed people to go in certain directions at certain time because the only way we stay or remain strong is because God gives it to us to do so. If He pulls back from that, and because of our sins and because of our weaknesses and because of different things being taught people latch on to it, things that happened during Laodicea. That’s us. We made those choices, every one of us through time. We made choices to let up on a spiritual plane and not to hold fast to what was given to us.

You think, “Well, I don’t know if I agree with that one.” Well? God designs things for a purpose. The Apostasy was designed for great purpose – God knew exactly what would happen with Laodicea. When Mr. Armstrong died God knew what would happen to the Church when there was no longer an apostle in God’s Church! God knew what was going to happen when Mr. Armstrong would die because He allowed human nature to go its course. When there is not someone there constantly for God’s people at that particular time to have a sense of urgency all the time, and to preach that sense of urgency to the Church and to write about it in The Plain Truth, to write about it in the publications, the pastoral reports that went out to ministers and so forth, then if they were faithful hey would record or read those things to others and talk about them. But if that’s gone, you know what human nature does even with God’s spirit? That’s the lesson God wanted – one of the greatest lessons yet for mankind on a spiritual plane, of what we’re capable of doing even with God’s spirit, access to God’s spirit, if left to our own course and our own human nature. We will fail. We will fall asleep given enough time.

That’s kind of maybe difficult for some to understand who never went through that, who are new since that time, how that could happen, but everyone, everyone, every person that’s ever lived, if they lived at that time, would have done exactly the same thing. You can’t help it. Only God can sustain you. Only God can give you what you need. God blesses us. God is blessing us now.

So there are different ways here that Moses then was to encourage and to be a part of helping to strengthen Joshua, to reaffirm certain things to him, to discuss certain things with him, and again, lessons here physical, and primarily spiritual then, obviously, for us.

He went on to say, he shall pass over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see. So when is he going to see it? When he goes up to Pisgah and looks down, looks all over the horizon. So that’s what He was telling Moses here. “That’s the land you’re going to see when you climb up there. When you go up there, and to look out all directions, and you’re going to see what I give to Israel. But you’re not going over. But Joshua is.” The primary purpose is because of what it pictures as a type, because it’s about a different time.

It wasn’t just about then. It’s about a different time, the one you’re living in right now. It’s about Joshua the Christ who is going to bring about a greater fulfillment far, far, far beyond – the fulfillment, if you will, of what God had given and promised to all the prophets through time about a Messiah and about the tens of thousands who would come with him and it was later revealed to John, oh, it’s 144 to be exact, one hundred and forty-four thousand. So through time it’s been known for a long time that there will be tens of thousands who would be with the Messiah, who would govern with the Messiah.

It says here, again, he shall pass over before this people. Joshua is the head of the Church. He’s the one that leads the Church now, small as we are. You think, well, we’re not big enough to be led by like that. Well, he’s leading a whole lot more than that because there are people’s eyes who are going to begin to be opened at some point here, who are going to be able to be a part, awakened out of a spiritual sleep. As I was going to say earlier here, it’s an incredible thing when you’re awakened and what you see. It’s like when you’re called and you just see it. When they’re awakened, at whatever point, if you remember at what point you were awakened out of a spiritual sleep, if you came through that Apostasy, it happened to you, at whatever point that was.

That’s why I like hearing some of the stories of people who were awakened at later points, even, you know, 2000, 2002, and 2005, who were awakened. Incredible! All of a sudden you see things. It all fits into place just like the time when you were called, except now there is so much more knowledge, there is so much more that’s there for an individual, when they’re, as an example, of different ones who were called between that period of time, let’s say between 2000 and 2008 who were a part of the Apostasy and their minds were opened up then. To be able to see what they saw then, “We’ve lived through an Apostasy. We fulfilled the things about Laodicea. Then what happened with the Apostasy when all the stones, they were no longer on top of each other. It’s a beautiful thing to understand that, it really is, that those things were never physical.

The abomination of desolation wasn’t about a physical thing. It was about a type of something that was to be fulfilled in a greater way on a spiritual plane within God’s own Church!

So, so much of this is about the Joshua as a type. He’s the one that paves the way. He’s the one that leads the way. He doesn’t have to be here to do that. He’s been doing it for 2,000 years in the Church, in that sense, preparing a people, preparing those who are going to be a part of that great resurrection, to be a part of that government. But now the time has come of a new age that’s coming and he’s in the forefront of it all blessing us...blessing us, incredibly so, as his people.

Then God directs their attention to what they need to focus upon before they enter the promised land. Deuteronomy 4:1—Now, therefore, Israel, listen unto the statutes and judgments which I teach you, and do them so that you may live... Sound familiar? Not just because of something said back then, does it sound familiar for now? Things that God has been doing, especially beginning in 2013?  A cleansing, a measuring of the Church, certain prophecies to be fulfilled, a cleansing of the people, and behind all that a measuring of the people. I love that one because it’s about a measuring of that which falls short and can’t be a part and a measuring in the sense of how it’s used in another respect of molding and fashioning and carving out to measure it, to fit it into place, to grow, to be able to be put into place, whatever you’re being molded and fashioned for by God as we yield our self to the process, the more we yield. But that requires, then, a relationship with God, a close relationship with God, a unity and a oneness with God, an obedience to God.

There are those who don’t want to obey, as we have gone through and I’ve talked about so much. God uses some very basic ones as some of the big things. Tithing and second tithe; doesn’t matter whether it’s first or second, if a person is faithful in first and not in second they’re a liar. They’re cut off from the flow of God’s spirit. They’re lying to God. They’re deceiving themselves that they are okay. No, they’re not. You can’t use that money to go buy a car. You can’t use that money to go pay your rent. You can’t use that money for things you think, well, I don’t have enough of this or of that and I’ve got to have it for something else. No, it’s God’s! It’s for you to use, in this case second tithe, to go to His Feasts. That’s simple. That’s just simple stuff as far as God’s people.

So people have to make choices and decisions, some it’s whether or not they’re really going to repent or whether they’re going to continue on because they’re too weak and too blind at this point, and too much asleep that they can’t be jarred out of the sleep. I can raise my voice but that doesn’t jar somebody out of sleep. You can go to try to wake somebody that’s physically asleep and you can raise your voice and they’re going to wake up. Sometimes I raise my voice but it doesn’t mean people are going to wake up. It’s a matter of a relationship with God and God’s holy spirit and whether somebody will acknowledge, “Yes, I’m lying, I’m sinning, I’m deceiving. I’m walking around out here. I may not even be in the courtyard. I may be out in the neighborhood somewhere, but I can’t even find the courtyard anymore I’m so far out.” And that’s what’s happening. There is still some lying going on. I’ll just tell you right up front. God will take care of it.

So there are other sins as well that people think they can do and get by with. You can’t hide in the garden from God. You can’t hide in the Church from God. So God’s been cleaning up the Church, cleansing the Church. In one respect here, this is what they’re being reminded of before they go into the promised land. This is what we’re being reminded of, and the reality is there are things taking place in our life that are going to ensure, in some cases already set, that this is true, whether we’re going to go into the millennial period. In some cases it may still be being sorted, I don’t know exactly. I felt at the Feast God gave a very strong message that this is it...this is it. At some point you can’t be given any more time. It is what it is. It’s just like when things begin in the world, you can’t stop it. Once a war begins you can’t turn back the clock. It’s there; that time has hit you.

Now, therefore, Israel, listen unto the statutes and judgments which I teach you and do them so that you may live. Live by all that God has given to us. Live by the truths. Are they are part of us? Do we see them? Do we believe them? Do we embrace them? Are we thankful for them? Because the truth is what makes you strong; the more it’s in you, a conviction of all the truths that God has given, an excitement about them, the more we have those things deeply embedded within us, the more they’re a part of our thinking. ...and do them so that you may live. Because our lives, actions, choices, decisions we make revolve around what we think and what we believe.

...and go in and take possession of the land... That’s what God’s desire is for us, to be cleansed, to be clean, to strive to repent and change, to put that at the forefront of our lives day by day, to seek to draw closer to Him and to desire to take possession of what He’s said is before us. We already know what’s in front of us. For some opportunity to be in a first resurrection, something beyond our comprehension, that we can’t even begin to comprehend, and then for others to live on into a new age. Beautiful. Awesome.

...to go in and take possession of the land which the Eternal God of your fathers gives to you. You’ve been called. God has a desire to give you much—much—much more than you can grasp. We can strive to appreciate it. We can strive to embrace it. We can strive to understand it. It’ll only be to a certain point. That’s the reality.

Verse 2—You shall not add... That’s why I talked about doing a slow burn sometimes when I’ve heard things in the past where people have added – added way too much to some things, that they think they have this special relationship with God and then all of a certain they think they see certain things and understand certain things and begin to preach it around to the Church behind the scenes, not even in sermons. After a while those who latch on to it they fall asleep too.

You shall not add to the word which I give charge to you... I don’t like the word “command” in here sometimes because it’s not really what it’s saying. Sometimes it is a command, but it is a charge that God gives and it’s specifically what the word means here, a charge. That’s a little bit different. Yes, God commands us to do certain things in life. You know, just like the 10 Commandments. We know that; those are absolute commandments from God. But there’s also a word here that means a lot when you use the word “charge,” when God has given us that “charge,” in essence, like this, to keep the 10 Commandments, to keep the statutes and the judgments. What does that mean? If you’re given a charge of something to do you have a responsibility. It’s not just a matter of saying to do it; you actually have a responsibility because it’s a charge that God has given to you to fulfill. He’s called you, and in that calling and with the awesomeness of the blessings and mercies that go with it, there is a charge that goes with it. It’s your responsibility. No one else is responsible. You are...unless others you share with have the same responsibility. Then it’s all of our responsibility. I love it. I love the word, a charge that’s given.

You shall not add to the word which I give charge to you, nor shall you take anything away, in other words, don’t diminish from it, but keep... I love this one, too. Dress and keep? That’s the same kind of word, same word exactly. So when we think about some of those expressions and what they mean – “to cultivate and to keep,” or “to maintain, to preserve.” You want to keep the essence of what’s been given, not to diminish from it, not to add to it or take away because then we’re not preserving it. Preserving something is keeping it in its original state! What was really given, hold on to that, don’t change it. Don’t allow any change to come in. Because, then, that’s just bad and you go off course then.

So he said, in essence here, “but maintain, preserve, and sustain,” if you will, all these words that mean the same thing here about “keeping” in the sense of giving one’s support and strength to something when you talk about sustaining something. So that’s what God has given to us as far as His way of life is concerned, a charge to do this, to live this.

...but keep the commandments of the Eternal. It’s not just talking about the 10 here. Yes, the 10 Commandments, but He talked about in the very beginning here the statutes and the judgments, all these things. So everything that we’ve been given, every truth that we’ve been given, those are things we have to keep according to how they were given to us. That takes work. It doesn’t just happen.

...the commandments, your God, which I give you charge. Your eyes have seen what the Eternal did because of Baal Peor; for all the men that followed Baal of Peor the Eternal your God has destroyed them from among you. But all of you who did cleave... So he’s referring here now to victories they’ve been given, reference going back here to the two kings, and so forth, the things that took place and some of this will be mentioned later on here as well, but those who were destroyed from before them (God did). So He’s referring back to this period of time here and He says, So your eyes have seen, you’ve witnessed this, what the Eternal God did to them. You have knowledge of this. You’ve seen it.

...for all the men that followed him as well, followed Baal Peor, the Eternal your God has destroyed them from among you. But all of you who did cleave... Cling, to hold on to, to hang on to. What have we learned? I mean, it’s so obvious. To hold tight to something. To what? To everything He just said, everything He gave us charge to do. The truth, the way of life, the ways of God, the statutes, judgments, everything that’s come out that tells us, basically, those things we’re to see and understand and believe as far as what God reveals, the present truth, and to live by it, according to it.

It says, but all of you who did cleave to the Eternal your God are alive... Hmmm. And you know what? There are those who haven’t clung to, haven’t been holding on to, gripped tightly because you don’t want to lose any of it, because you don’t want to add to it, you don’t want to take from it, you don’t want to diminish from it... Tithing? Other sins that are out here as well that people live and do? Alcoholism, okay, giving into certain things? It’s not allowed. It can’t be that way. Drunkenness, if you will, can’t be a part. Okay? Sexual sins, whatever they might be? It can’t be a part of this. So you can’t play games with God. Certain ones will find you out quicker. Some things you may hide for a while. You may think you’re hiding because you’ve hidden it from those inside the temple, but you don’t hide it from God Almighty. You don’t hide anything from God Almighty and from His Son Joshua the Christ.

It says, But all of you who did cleave, held on tight, to the Eternal your God are alive... So it is within the Church. Still alive. Not cut off. Not spiritually dead. Because when you get cut off that life is gone – that life, of God’s life living within one. ...every one of you this day. Are you still here? Do you still have the ability to see, to grasp, to discern, to know the truths that God has given? Absolute oneness with God in agreement with what God speaks to the Church? Because that’s how God works. No apology for it; it’s just a reality. Nothing about pride and haughtiness, it’s just a reality of how something works. It is what it is and we have choices to respond accordingly.

See, that I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Eternal my God commanded me... or gave me charge. Because this was a charge that was given, see. I fear not following through with the charge that God gives. My desire is to be absolutely, as much as possible, at unity and oneness with God and to do whatever He gives to do, even though sometimes I may not want to do it.

Therefore, keep... Here we go again, “to maintain,” again, “to preserve in its original state, to sustain,” and do them. For this is for your wisdom... In other words, it’s wisdom we can have because wisdom comes from God; it’s the mind of God, it’s the Word of God that can be in our minds and in our thinking. This is what it’s talking about. That’s what God wants to give to us. “For this is for your wisdom,” because in the truths of God, in the law of God and everything that God gives to us, He has revealed to us, it’s for the mind, to see and to understand and to know things that gives us ability to look forward, to have strength, to be encouraged, to be courageous because the more we’re at one with these things and have that mind of God, that’s what it’s about. It’s about having the mind of God. God blesses us to be able to share in His mind, in His Word, in His ways. That’s what ability to see what we see is all about. It’s about God’s purpose and God’s plan.

...for this is for your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations. “Not many mighty, not many noble are called.” Corinthians, when it talks about those things. God has done that for a purpose, to dumbfound and confound the world of what He’s going to do, is doing, in a small group that one day is going to be looked upon by others around us, in the world around us, in ways you cannot grasp right now.

That’s why those who live a certain way now cannot be allowed to continue on to that period of time and to receive that notoriety, recognition, because they wouldn’t be able to handle it and deal with it properly. But after you see what you see and go through what you go through you’re going to be able to do so in a humble spirit because God has molded that, is molding that within you, and because of what’s coming you’ll be able to.

For this is for your wisdom and for your understanding in the sight of the nations. Does anybody see anything right now? No. People don’t. The world doesn’t care. Talk about all the advertising, it doesn’t mean a thing unless God does it. God has to open up the mind. God has to bring someone out of sleep. God has to reveal things. That’s God’s work, God’s ability and power.

...in the sight of the nations who shall hear all these statutes, and say... See, what’s coming? After we’ve gone through all this and the world has been so incredibly humbled, every religion on earth brought to their knees when they realize their gods are not answering them, their gods are not saving them. Once they hear who is and once they hear his name, Joshua the Christ, and even those in traditional Christianity realize, “Well, where did that other name come from? Oh yeah, 325, basically, when they got their start. Hmm. Makes sense.” They’re going to be in awe. You know, when your mind is opened up it’s in awe. When your mind is opened up and all of a sudden you realize where this thing of Christmas comes from, this thing of Easter, Astarte, all these things come from, and you realize, wow! And you can’t tell others because they’re not going to be too happy to hear it unless God opens up their minds and humbles them and gives them the same ability as what He’s giving you, because otherwise they’re just going to get upset because it’s their god.

Remember those who had Diana? They had this business, in Acts I think it was, Paul that spoke of it, and they kind of turned kind of violent, because if the truth is there, if something else is being taught and it gets people away from these little gods and statues and their business, it didn’t go over well.

...who shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. It’s God. It’s because of God, but He has a Church, and He has a Church that’s going to continue on into a new age. There are going to be several thousands added to it in the not too distant future that are going to be awakened and all of a sudden they’re going to realize we had an apostasy, we had a man of sin, a son of perdition. Mr. Armstrong did complete his job because that’s what God gave to him to fulfill, not to us. Incredible! That’s going to be exciting.

For what nation is so great that has God so near unto them, as the Eternal our God in all things that we call upon Him? It’s powerful in what’s being said here, especially if you understand the present time and what this is leading up to that’s going to be fulfilled again in a more powerful way as people are brought into awe of God’s people, of God’s Church, of God’s calling, of God’s purpose for mankind, of the truth, when they become in awe of the truth. When they begin to see things that you already see and have known for a long, long time.

Verse 8—And what nation is so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law? When people come to understand their laws, the laws they’ve established, the judicial systems they have, what is it doing? Is there prejudice out there on the right and on the left? Oh no, the judiciary is pure. Give me a break! It’s corrupt when you talk about God because man can’t judge righteous judgment because that is a matter of something based on the laws and the ways of God. They have to judge from their perspective, from their perceptions, from their ideas, from things that are in their minds. Those things aren’t always so pure because people are prejudice, and it’s hard for a human being. Well, actually, the kind of prejudice that’s deep in mankind people can’t see anyway, as a whole. They can see prejudice in others sometimes, but to see one’s own, that’s a different story.

What an incredible thing when God begins to strip all that away. The example that God is already setting right now, we can’t rule ourselves. There’s nothing but confusion out there, nothing but hatred. It’s really ugly. Governments always have been ugly, but God is bringing the ugliness to the surface because today we have a technology, it’s right there. It’s twittered, tweetered, whatever, and people, they make up their minds what’s being said and it’s like all hell breaks loose. That’s the way the world is because people have their own interpretations of things they hear and things they see. Sick world we live in.

But I love it, that it’s being revealed for what it is. We cannot govern ourselves. No nation. God is making that abundantly clear. It’s going to lead into a final war because that’s what people do. They think differently.

One of the great faults of this nation is we think others think like we do. Those in the Middle East, and what they’ve grown up in, don’t think like we do. Those in China? They don’t think like we do. They don’t think like we do. It’s a big mistake to think all peoples think the same way. They don’t. That’s why people can’t resolve differences and issues that are out there. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick world. But you tell that to the world and it’s not how to win friends and influence people, I can tell you that. They think you’ve really gone over the edge, though they know some things, they’d have to say, yeah, we’re not doing too good a job, yeah, of governing ourselves.

Having a tough time just building a wall. I mean, seriously! It’s just a small amount but people have drawn a little line here in the sand, you know, and can’t govern ourselves, can’t come to agreement. Today, soundness of mind, just logic, it blows my mind. Just simplicity of logic sometimes. It’s hard to grasp how people can think some of the ways they are, some people. Really!

Verse 8—And what nation is so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? Because when people’s minds are opened up to see this is from God of a different mind. We haven’t understood. We haven’t seen. We haven’t grasped the kind of righteousness and judgment that comes from God. The world can’t because all they’ve seen is prejudice and wrong kinds of thinking that people have and how they try to make something work that doesn’t really agree.

Has a constitution. What does that mean? It’s not spiritual. So different people interpret in different ways in their own advantage, in their own thinking. There can’t be agreement because it’s lacking something. God’s spirit. Only God’s spirit and God because of His righteousness can make things at one, make things right.

Think what you have. Awesome, the wealth of what you possess.

Only take heed; again it’s the word “keep.” That’s what it’s saying. Keep – same word – maintain, preserve, sustain what God has given to you. In this case it says “yourself.” You better work on yourself. How do you do that? Well, we know how to do that. We know what we’re supposed to do. How do you work at maintaining and sustaining yourself? Because it’s about something spiritual for us. Well, we better have a relationship with God day by day in prayer. Better be there. Better be exercising from time to time the great tool of fasting. Better exercise those things. Better meditate and think upon God’s ways when we make choices and decisions throughout the week.

But by diligently, so it even goes on to say, by diligently keeping, the same word, your life. Because it’s a spiritual one. Ours is a spiritual one that we’re to have and there’s only one way to sustain that, to keep it, to nurture it, to preserve it. By God’s spirit. By a relationship with Him. So it’s one thing to grow and become stronger in the might of God; it’s another thing to be courageous, to be of that mindset to be encouraged because of this being accomplished and fulfilled in one’s life because you know that this is what’s required, this is the charge we have. We’re responsible. I’m responsible.

It says, do these things unless you forget the things which your eyes have seen. I think of things that people have seen and know to be true and after a while there is kind of a glaze there like it’s okay to misuse second tithe, it’s okay not to tithe. What’s wrong? What’s happened to the eyesight? Can you lose, can you forget certain things that your eyes have seen at one time and then all of a sudden it’s like it’s gone? Can you forget about various things that God has given? That we’ve had an apostasy?

Because we’ve had people leave us who’ve forgotten. They don’t believe it anymore. They’ve gone back to organizations who don’t believe that thing. You think, how can you do that? But you can if you don’t have God’s spirit. The mind will go right back, as some in times past have done, to putting up a tree in their house and decking it with lights and having presents because it’s so sweet and it’s so good for the children. And family, don’t forget, it’s the time we get together; at least once a year we can have some peace. People don’t even have peace at that time of year anymore, but anyway.

So again here, That your eyes have seen and unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Because, see, the only thing that’s ever going to change that, in the Great White Throne, is, again, with an awakening and a receiving of God’s spirit once again. Because otherwise it can be lost forever until we die.

For some out here that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Some who have been a part with us, that’s exactly what’s happened. The answer is death. Sadly, I’m sorry, but that’s the reality of life. Because just like some of those, well, not some, hundreds of thousands who died in the wilderness up to a certain age, because they weren’t going to be allowed to go on in. God has that power. That’s a small thing.

“And unless they depart from your heart.” Can you imagine? What a horrible thing to lose. Truth. What a horrible thing to lose the courage, the encouragement of the truth that God has given to us because that’s what it is. It gives us something then. It gives us an ability to be more courageous in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and what we’re getting ready to go through as well because of the strength it is in the mind and in the heart, in our thinking, what we grasp what we have. Incredible.

“And unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life.” What a horrifying thought! But it happens to people. It’s happened to so many, far more than who have not departed. Through time I think of the expression there again, “Many are called, few are chosen.” Many more have gone by the wayside. It’s left them, not in their heart anymore. Through time they’ll have died and they’re just going to be in a later resurrection and not for what they were called for originally. God calls people to be in the first resurrection – or has through the past 2,000 years and beyond. Now is a little bit different because it’s going on into a new age for so many.

But teach them your children... So we’ve gone through and talked about that of recent time, that if you don’t teach things to your children they’re not going to learn it by osmosis sitting in a chair. You’ve got a charge, a work to do in teaching, in rearing them, in teaching them...in teaching them at a very young age about tithing. You got a dollar allowance for certain work or something you might have done, a chore you have, maybe five dollars, maybe ten, what do you do? First thing you do, once they get that money, okay (you have to show them), this much comes out of that.

I could tell some stories about some of that, things that have happened, but it’s an exciting process teaching that to children. It really is, how you work with them. It doesn’t just happen, that somehow, maybe if nothing is ever taught, that somehow by the time they get to their teens that maybe they will listen and learn and all of a sudden know the ten commandments because we wouldn’t want to think about teaching that or having them repeat those to us when they’re six, seven, eight, nine, ten, in through there, and hopefully then by the time they’re thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen they’ll read of those things or hear of them sometime in some sermon, “Yeah, I like those, those 10 Commandments. That’s pretty good.” In my experience, I haven’t seen that in God’s Church. That doesn’t mean a person’s going to choose it once you do your job, once you’ve done it. But you’re supposed to do your job because there are other things that God does as well and has planned.

So, Teach them to your children and your children’s children. So this has everything to do with seeking, seeking God’s way, with working to be courageous. So it’s about taking on that responsibility. It’s something it does inside of us. There is one thing to have the strength and the might and power of God in our being, in our mind, and that has so much to do with what we see and what we grasp on a spiritual plane, it has another thing to do with how you respond to those things because of how you feel inside, because it makes you stronger. When you see truths and you think about those truths and it just is something that can make you stronger, encourages, lifts you up, gives you momentum. They work together.

Let’s go back over here now to Joshua, Joshua 1, to the beginning of some of that story. So this is the message, or the charge, if you will, that God gave to Moses, who in turn gave that charge to Joshua and Israel as they were to move forward in order to receive the possession of the promises that God had given. So here in Joshua 1 now.

So it started back in Deuteronomy, things that God had given to Moses and told him in the seconding giving of the law here just before Moses was to die at 120, and Joshua was to then continue on with the charge that had been given to him with a new phase of God’s work and what God was doing on a physical plane to be a type of something that’s to happen on a physical and spiritual plane later.

Joshua 1:1—Now, after the death of Moses the servant of the Eternal it came to pass that the Eternal spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses My servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise and pass over... You know, “pass on, pass by,” or simply meaning here to go forward. That’s a message God has given to us. That’s what it means. You’re to go forward. You’re to move on from here. There is work to be done in what you’ve been prepared for.

...and pass over (go by, go forward, go on past), because there were certain things that had to be done here, the Jordan/this Jordan. In other words, go forward to secure what I’m giving to you. That’s what they’re being told here. Go forward to secure what I’m giving to you. You have something to do, do it. This is the time to do it.

...you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them—even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and Lebanon, even unto the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, speaking of the Mediterranean, shall be your coast. There will not be anyone who is able to stand before you all the days of your life.

What does that mean? It means no one is going to be able to prevent you from receiving what God is placing before you, whatever that means in life, for whatever that means in life. For them or for us, if God is for you, if God is with you, then no one can stand against you. That’s the lesson. That’s the message. So they’re not going to be able to prevent you from receiving what God is placing before you.

The calling we have at this age, in this time is incredibly unique and powerful because only for a few remaining is it for the first resurrection. For all the rest it’s to go on into a new age. Incredible. To be the first...to be the first, to be at the forefront of all that. I’ve said it many of times and I’ll say it again, but you can’t grasp and understand what that means for you, because it’s mighty, greater than anything that’s ever taken place on earth.

So again, There will not be anyone who will be able to stand before you all the days of your life; and as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you. That’s a message for us as well. God is there. All we have to do is our charge and respond accordingly. That’s what we have been doing, as a whole. So whatever we come up against you don’t have to fear, you don’t have to be fearful, you don’t have to worry about it. Will it be fearful? Yes. But you don’t have to fear.

Be strong and courageous. They go together.

So again, part of it is about a relationship with God, a strength that we know comes from God, how we’re able to have it because we know that God is there and will not forsake us, will not leave us. We have our charge to do, and as we do it and as we hold tight with all of our being to what God has revealed to us, given to us, that wisdom, that mind that comes from God, that is what encourages us and gives us a different kind of thinking, if you will, that goes along with the ability to have that relationship with God, to be able to become stronger and closer to God. But there is that which we can feel as far as a strength inside of us, which is a matter of being encouraged, courageous, and continuing to go forward, going up against whatever’s in front of us. Don’t worry, God will take care of it.

What you’re supposed to take care of, you‘re supposed to. But there are things coming that are far, far greater and God will take care of it.

I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for unto this people you shall divide for an inheritance the land which I promised unto their fathers to give them.

We’re entering a time of receiving greater promises. That was a partial fulfillment of something that had a far greater type of something later on, a new world, a new age, one government over all the earth, one Messiah, one government, one way of teaching, one truth, one Church. Awesome! Words can’t express it.

Verse 7—So be strong and courageous... Again here, this is not the best of translation “that you may observe to do according to all the law.” It’s the word “keeping” again. What’s being said up there, they just explanted something here in a great way, but it’s saying how you do it, by/through, if you will, keeping, this matter of keeping, again, maintaining, preserving, sustaining what Moses My servant gave to you charge, referring to statutes and judgments and the law.

And do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go. So it’s a matter of a relationship with God. It’s a matter of obedience. It’s a matter of a desire to obey God, to honor God, to fight, a desire to want to fight against anything that interferes with that, any sin, any thinking – more now than ever before in our lives, as far as the Church is concerned, because of who we are, because of where we are in time, because of the kind of Church that is being required to exist at Christ’s coming. It’s what it boils down to. It’s because of a purpose and plan that God has.

Why should anyone receive any recognition at all who in this age at this moment in time is living a lie, is living out in the courtyard, and somehow should live on into a new age and be known as a part, though so small? “Oh, you were there. You were a part of that?” Awesome! They’re going to be in awe. They’re going to be dumbfounded to hear the stories and they’ll hear it. They’ll hear at the Feast of Tabernacles when whoever is preaching teaches and tells them about what the world has gone through to get them to the Millennium, and those at the end of an age, what they went through, an apostasy, of some of the greatest of lessons that mankind is to learn from, that the Church is to learn from.

“And there are some who have come through that period of time and they may be among you out here.” They’re going to want to cleave to you to hear more. We don’t deserve it, but we’re going to receive it, and if we receive it we better be living, and candidly can only be living, if we’re to receive it, what is true. It doesn’t mean we don’t have problems, we don’t have things to repent of, but we’d better be repenting and striving to change and striving to be at one with God, striving to be cleansed in every fashion, in every form here.

“Be strong and very courageous.” Yes, it was poorly translated, “by keeping,” or “through keeping,” again, “maintaining what Moses My servant gave you charge,” statutes and judgments. “Don’t turn to the right or to the left.” Again, it’s a matter of obeying, “so that you may prosper wherever you go.”

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate upon it, think about it.

When I went away for three years my greatest concern was is that people wouldn’t focus upon the truths that God had given us to this point in time, that people might not think upon them, go back to them because they are your strength. There is power and might because it’s a matter of God’s spirit.

So that was one of my greatest desires, that you hear about those things, that you think about those things on a regular basis. Okay? Because they’re the things that keep you focused. They’re the things that work to give you strength, that God has given to us to be a strength to us. The wisdom, the mind of God revealed at the end of an age that others have never had, that a scattered Church doesn’t have. They have lost many of the original 21 as it is, spiritually.

So we’re to meditate upon and think about those things that God gives to us. It doesn’t mean you have to do it every day or every week, or whatever, but on occasion just to latch on to one and to pray about it and say, “God in heaven, thank You! Because I know there are tens of thousands out here who weren’t given that opportunity, but I have. I’ve been able to see something that others have not been blessed to be able to see yet because they’re asleep.”

Others, in some cases, who have been in the Church much, much longer than you ever have been, who sacrificed and gave, but fell into a trap and fell asleep. Some of them that have done awesome service to God’s Church, more than you have! More than you have – far more! But they’re asleep. And when they’re awakened? Candidly, they’re going to be way out ahead of you, in some cases, because they’re going to begin at a point where they left off and because of all their experiences, of all those years of serving in God’s Church, faithfully so, and serving and helping in various ways of sacrifice because there was more opportunity to sacrifice. You don’t have as much opportunity to sacrifice today. You really don’t. When a congregation was 500, 400, 300, there were more opportunities to sacrifice and to give. You don’t have as much of that today...partially by design. The ability to understand that is going to be varying here a great deal, but anyway.

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate upon it, think about it, day and night, so that you may keep, it’s that word again, so that you may keep all that is written in it. Preserve it. Work on it to sustain it because it doesn’t come in by osmosis, and just because we’ve heard it once or twice or five times or a dozen times doesn’t mean we can hold on to it. It’s a spiritual thing. It’s a spiritual matter. It’s a spiritual matter of being renewed. This is a part of a work to keep something in order to be encouraged.

Because I’ll tell you what, when you go and you think about some of those things and you look upon them and you think, “This is dumbfounding. It’s awesome. It’s incredible what He’s given us to see.” Any one of them. Any one of them! That gives you help, courage, encouragement, the more they’re a part of your being, the more they’re a part of your thinking. And see, that’s a spiritual process of becoming stronger in the might of God and God’s spirit to give that as a response because encouragement or being encouraged or responding courageously is a matter of a close relationship with God that’s in the mind and of doing those things on a spiritual plane. They go together hand in hand.

So again here, Keep all that is written in it. For then you will make your way to prosper. What an incredible thing here, prosper, because of doing things God’s way, because of being strengthened by God. Then it says, “and then you will have good success.” That’s not what its saying. It says, then you will have wisdom. It’s wisdom because it’s of God, it’s from God. The more you focus about it and think about it and pray about it, and the more it’s a part of you the stronger you become. Even your ability to deal with and handle things in life – courageous, encouraged to be courageous.

Haven’t I given you charge to be strong and courageous? God’s given that to us. He gave it to them to do something, Joshua here in what he was getting ready to do, but for us because it’s a type and it’s a message, powerfully so, for all God’s people through time, but even more so for us right now where we are. “Haven’t I given you charge to be strong and courageous?” So that’s where we are right now. That’s what God is telling us right now.

So whether it be this year or whether it be next year, I don’t know, but it’s closing in fast. Nations and what they’re saying? Incredible, the rhetoric out here that some are using that talk about different kinds of weapons and the choices to use them. And what was it, a Chinese General here a week ago or whatever it was, talking about basically it’s hard to get the attention of the United States, for messing around in the South China Sea, so one good way to get their attention, the only thing they see and understand is killing thousands of people. So if we hit one ship out here and kill 5,000 of theirs? But hit two and that’ll really get their attention. Think, well, yeah!

What kind of thinking is that? Leaders? You think that they say that somewhere in the dark in a corner somewhere? In a vacuum? Do you think that they don’t know that other leaders, other people have talked about these things and things that they’re discussing among themselves? So they throw out this rhetoric.

Things that Putin is saying and talking about and some of the weapons now that they’re kind of throwing out there and talking about? Why are they talking about these things? Because we’re there. Because we’re getting closer. Because they’re going to use them. That’s why they talk about it. They’re getting their own peoples prepared and thinking about certain things that are going to take place that they’re going to do, that they’ve already planned. We live in a crazy, crazy time.

Haven’t I given you charge to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid, fearful, and neither be dismayed. Don’t be discouraged. See, that’s the opposite of being encouraged and courageous. Don’t be discouraged or distressed or disheartened by anything that you come up against that’s before you. Because if you rely on your own strength and your own ability and not stay close to God, that’s what will carnally happen, physically happen to the carnal mind. ...for the Eternal your God is with you wherever you go. So it comes down to what depth, what level do we believe this? To what degree are we living this?

“For the Eternal your God is with you wherever you go.” Well, the ability to know the truths that you have, the confidence you have in those things, these are the kinds of things that help you to grasp more so that the only reason you see any of it and are able to agree with any of it is because God is with you, because God has given it to you. You don’t have it on your own ability. No one ever has.

He’s telling them pass on by, go forward, the message God has been giving us for some time. Move forward. Keep going forward. To what? What we’re being prepared for, what our name is all about, is preparing for what’s coming. It’s to go through and then be on the other side of all this. To cleanse ourselves now, to cleanse ourselves more than ever before so that we can continue to go forward and be of the kind of courage and strength we need to have to go through what’s ahead of us with greater boldness and purpose in mind.

So we’re to be encouraged in the path, in the way, in the road that we’re travelling. Are we? Are you? I believe most are.

Verse 18—Whoever rebels against what you have spoken, is what’s being said here. It’s not just the commandments, it’s a very specific word here. Whoever rebels against what you have spoken, and will not listen to your words and all that you have given charge, then they shall be put to death. In other words, it comes to an end. People don’t listen, people don’t hear, what’s happened? They’re cut off. It’s been a message for a long time.

Only be strong and courageous. That’s the answer. That’s how you go forward.

Now it would be good to go back to the book of Deuteronomy here again and look a little more closely at some of those things that God gave through Moses that actually, again, pointed to a time in the future. It gets a little more specific about it as we go through this, toward the end of Deuteronomy, the second giving of the law. It was about a time that went far beyond the occasion when the Israelites, again, went into the promised land. It becomes more evident in what’s being said here.

So we’re going to turn, again, toward the end of the book here, Deuteronomy 30, because now it’s recorded the law once again, the second time, along with the recording of the statutes and judgments, as well as the blessings and cursing’s, and has gone through and talked about, because God has shown that if you don’t obey this is what happens. If you do obey, this is how you can benefit and reap and so the blessings and the curses, curses we bring upon ourselves, basically, because of disobedience.

Deuteronomy has gone through those and then we come down finally to Deuteronomy 30:19— I call heaven and earth to record this day before you, that I have set before you life and death. Seems like a simple choice, doesn’t it? And how long does God preach to us and have patience with us and tells us things so powerfully so? Just the last year alone, the last two years, the last three years been pretty strong.

So he says, I call heaven and earth to record this before you. You make the choice. I have set before you life and death. What do you want? This age or the Great White Throne? This age and the Great White Throne? Or a new age and what’s beyond that? An opportunity to be in the next great mighty resurrection at the end of a thousand years? Incredible, that one that’s coming, as well. They’re all great, but that’s an awesome one, because of all the millions (we don’t know how many), the potential to be there, to be a part of working with the billions that are resurrected during the hundred years. Because it’s so vast and so great it takes large, large numbers in the God Family to nurture it, to work with it, to take care of it. Incredible!

So He says, therefore, choose life, so that both you and your descendants may live; love the Eternal your God... And so that’s the choice. Do we love something else more? Sometimes something as stupid as smoking. It’s so small and it’s so meaningless. But sometimes just that alone, because it’s a matter of selfishness and something that the Church has just set aside and just said, “No, we don’t do that in the Church.” Some statutes and judgments of things that come to us in life maybe may seem pretty small, but they fit into an entire picture. Because if we won’t fight that one and work on it and seek to change, what about all the rest that are far more important?

So it goes with the rest of the things we sometimes do. If we don’t grasp the importance of tithing and the obedience to God in that, then kind of lost the fight already, obviously, though God gives a lot of patience and mercy in time for some to respond to that at times. But no more. All others who don’t do those things and do it on their own, I believe since the Feast of Tabernacles period of time, you’re at God’s mercy. You’re at the altar of God, and whether God will listen and whether He will not I don’t know because I think it’s going to be very rare. He’s going to say, “No, I told you and told you and warned you.” There are periods where time is there, and this is it. Whatever that is for people, it’s come to your door. You didn’t respond. So we have choices to make in life. Many are called, few are chosen. Sad.

So anyway, therefore, choose life, so that both you and your descendants may live; love the Eternal your God, obey His voice... Why would we want to do anything different? Yet we have carnality, we have this human nature, we have this battle inside of us, but you’ve got to fight it. You’ve got to be willing to battle it. That means you’re willing to repent and acknowledge the sin and to cry out to God to help change your thinking, to mold and fashion your thinking to be different, to be in unity with Him. Where you stumble, where you trip, where you do something stupid, repent quickly and cry out for help!

...obey His voice, cleave... Have we heard that one? Cling to, hold fast to, cleave unto Him who is your life. Because it’s not just this physical life. Billions have come before us and died. It’s about a spiritual one that paves the way for an opportunity to be in that which is eternal in the sense of everlasting life.

...cleave unto Him who is your life and length of days; so that you may dwell in the land which the Eternal promised to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. That was for them in a physical part because that wasn’t the complete fulfillment by any measure, of the prophecies that were there, the things spoken to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, therefore, the end. This is the fulfillment of those kinds of things.

Deuteronomy 31:1—And Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And said to them, I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. Also the Eternal has said to me, You shall not go over, you shall not go forward, you shall not pass over, pass by this Jordan. The Eternal your God will go over... He’ll pass over. He’ll continue on by, before you; and He will destroy these nations from before you.

I think of the millennial period that’s coming and what God is going to do and what He’s going to allow mankind to do up to a point of one-third of all mankind dying, killing himself, to show mankind absolute physical proof – “If I didn’t intervene at this point in time you would annihilate yourself. You would destroy yourself. Only because I’m intervening will you be stopped from that, and only because of waiting this long will some of you repent, will some of you finally acknowledge that truth.” Because all won’t.

He will destroy these nations from before you and you shall possess them. I think of what’s ahead of us. Nothing of this world...nothing is worth keeping. Nothing is going to be saved. No religion, except what is true in the Church of God, obviously. But as far as the world is concerned, nothing. No government, no system of government, no economic systems that exist today. None of it’s going to be preserved. It’s not going to continue on in a new age. It’s going to all be changed because it’s all wrong. Every judicial system is going to be done away with. Everything!

There is nothing worth keeping! No nation worth keeping. Some would love hearing that, wouldn’t they? “Oh, but we are!” No, you’re not. Your government isn’t. You’re just deceived and you don’t know it. You don’t know what it is to have God’s righteous government ruling and why you can’t choose and pick people to rule you, why it doesn’t work... Why, why, why...

Joshua shall pass over, go past, in other words, this Jordan before you, as the Eternal has spoken. And the Eternal shall do unto them as He did to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites... That was the area mostly to the north of where they were right then at that point. If you go up above the Dead Sea, that part of the Jordan, in through there and that region through there on the east side of the Jordan river, that was cleaned up first while the children of Israel were still, in essence, in the wilderness. They hadn’t gone across the Jordan yet because the vast majority of what they were to inherit was on the other side. But certain tribes had that divided up amongst them, when it’s all said and done, when you go back and read the story there.

They had certain areas back there because of this destruction and they witnessed this all for a point. They were to see the power of God there in what He was going to do on that side of the Jordan to destroy. That’s why they refer back to that at different times, “Remember what He did to them. He’s going to do this now to all this land before you, for you to possess it, for you to have it.” So certain things they were able to see in advance.

Joshua shall pass over before you, as the Eternal has spoken. And the Eternal shall do unto them as He did unto Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and to the land of those He destroyed. The Eternal shall give them up before your face so that you may do to them according to the commandments that I have given you charge.

I think that’s a good place to stop. We’ll come back, start there in Part 2 because there’s quite a bit more here to cover that I feel like we really don’t have time for. Part 2 next week.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1