Num 13:16, These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. 
As we begin our consideration this morning, I want to share a couple of insights concerning the name of Joshua in the context of this chapter from Dr. Ronald B. Allen in his writing on the Book of Numbers contained in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Quote, The reader is alerted to the significance of this name among the list of spies; here is a man of great destiny. The Hebrew word Hoshea means “salvation”; the new form of the name Joshua means “Yahweh saves”; the latter form is the Hebrew spelling for Jesus (Y’shua). End quote.
Then, concerning the two spies, Joshua and Caleb, who urged that the nation should go forth into the Promised Land immediately, Dr. Allen states the following: quote, It is notable that the two spies who render a report that is faithful to the promise of God come from the two tribes that later will become the most prominent in the land. Joshua is from the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe that will become dominant in the north; Caleb is from the tribe of Judah, the dominant tribe in the south. There is something salutary in this as well. At least the two who stand for faithfulness in God come from prominent tribes. End quote.
    	Joshua was the young assistant of Moses who stood by him through everything that Moses had to endure. He was the right hand man to whom Moses would go when there was a problem which needed immediate attention, such as when the nation was being attacked by Amalek as we read in Ex 17:8-10. This was the battle in which Moses had to keep his arms lifted up in order for the Israelites to be victorious. 
Ex 17:8-10, Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." And Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 
    	Moses could trust Joshua to do what was required without complaining and without argument. He would hold true to God and the servant of God with unquestioning loyalty. He followed Moses’ example of trusting the Lord and His divine declaration that He would go before His people and give them the land of His Promise. He knew that God would give them the victory if the people would just honor Him with their obedience to enter the land as we will read in the next chapter of Numbers, verses 6-9. 
Num 14:6-9, And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us — a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they shall be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them." 
It was so very evident that Joshua trusted the Lord to do just as the Lord had promised He would. There was complete confidence in the power and the supremacy of God over all the nations of the peoples arrayed against the Children of Israel. Joshua knew that nothing would stop the Lord from fulfilling the every promise that He had made. In that confident assurance, he and Caleb tried to convince the nation to move forward into the Promised Land, under the victorious banner of the Lord God Almighty.
Yet, despite the every provision of the Lord from the release of slavery in Egypt, through the rescue at the Red Sea, and the daily sustenance of the food of heavenly manna, the people balked. They doubted the Lord and they doubted His promise to them and to their heritage. This people refused to give God the opportunity to manifest the fullness of His having chosen them as His very own nation. In spite of the continual grace of God upon them, day after day after day, this people decided that the rumored gigantic inhabitants of the land of promise were too powerful and too numerous and too fearful for God to overcome. 
Rather than to go forth in reverent confidence in the Lord as their strength and victory, this people allowed themselves to be drawn away from Their Provider. Rather, they chose to completely disregard Him in deference to their earthly anxieties and terror and dread. They chose to fear the unknown rather than to trust the One Who had made Himself so very real in proving Himself and His Omnipotence and His Grace and His Sovereignty and His Omnipresence and His Omniscience and His Provision over and over and over again.    
The consequence of this utter denial of God and His Faithfulness and His Grace and His Mercy and His Provision is detailed for us in Num 14:28-30. Num 14:28-30, Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses shall fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 
None of that generation over the age of 20, except for the faithful witnesses of Caleb and Joshua, would be allowed into the Promised Land. As that first generation was so fearful of the death at the hands of those nations in the land of milk and honey, so would they now perish in the wilderness without a place to rest or to call their own. They were doomed to the despair of one who has no home and no inheritance, just wandering day after day in the desert region until they lay down and died. 
With regard to this generation of the dying wanderers, at the end of the time appointed for Moses, he was very concerned for the guidance of the second generation who would be allowed to enter and to conquer the Promised Land. He sought after the Lord for one who would be anointed to become the leader of the Lord’s people, and to be their shepherd and their before God. The Lord made it known that Joshua, the faithful spy would be the one chosen from among all the tribes to lead the people forward at the appointed time. We find this recorded for us in Num 27:16-21.	
Num 27:16-21, "May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd." So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. "And you shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation." 
    	Joshua had proven his utter reliance and faithfulness to the Lord in the every day walk that he had shared with Moses. He had learned of the way of the Lord and delighted himself in the course of that walk. Therefore The Lord appointed him as the one who would be honored with the task of the conquest and the inheritance of the land of Promise. 
As a matter of fact, he was the one of the two appointed men who would determine how the land would be apportioned among all the people as so stipulated in Num 34:16+17. Num 34:16+17, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 
    	Then, at the time of Moses’ end as the leader of the people who had been wandering the wilderness regions for all those years, and as a blessing upon the descendents who were to go forth into the l so promised, being led by Joshua, we have Moses’ and Joshua’s encouragement to count on the Lord throughout all their years. Please turn to Deut 32:36-47, so we can read this together as the people were told what would befall their enemies before the Lord.
	Deut 32:36-47, "For the Lord will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants; When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free. "And He will say, 'Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge? 'Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their libation? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place! 'See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. 'Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever, If I sharpen My flashing sword, And My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me. 'I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword shall devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.' "Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And will render vengeance on His adversaries, And will atone for His land and His people." Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua the son of Nun. When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you shall prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess." 
	It was a combined encouragement from Moses and Joshua to the people because these two men knew exactly what God would do for the people if they would only trust and obey. They were the Chosen nation of God’s own design. They were the recipients of the totality of God’s gracious love and mercy. They would be utterly victorious if they would only go forward into the land of milk and honey with hearts that sought to honor the Lord.
	Then, after the death of Moses, as detailed in Josh 1:1-9, the Lord spoke to Joshua and gave him the permission to cross the Jordan with the people and to conquer the land of Promise. All the years of the wandering in the wilderness, waiting for the faithless first generation to die off was now at an end. Joshua was given the honor to lead the people into the land that he and Caleb had spied out those 40 years earlier. 
	Josh 1:1-9, Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." 
Joshua was to know the Lord in the fulfillment of His faithful promise. As Joshua would be strong and courageous in the Lord, so would the Lord go before him and give him all the land upon which he would tread. He would have success everywhere he went if he would rely on the Lord and obey the Lord. It was just as he had so instructed the nation earlier when they could have been victorious with their hearts and their trust in God. 
Instead, they had turned away from God and chose to die in the desert regions. Joshua and Caleb, alone from that generation were permitted to see the fruition of the reality that Yahweh saves and saves to the uttermost in His faithfulness and His glorious power. So be it!  
These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 18:2. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Amen.