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We have all embarked on a new journey – 2023. It’s a clean slate, and we haven’t traveled this way before. We would do well to heed the instruction God gave Joshua as he was embarking on a new journey.

He was uniquely prepared and divinely appointed to govern a nation and lead them into a new land. He had received great training under Moses throughout his forty year internship. He had been selected by God and was filled with His Spirit; and yet … God made it clear that he was to do nothing without first asking for and receiving the counsel of God.(1)

God knew that it could be a great temptation, either in his haste or in his own self-confidence, for Joshua to make decisions without first seeking God. In fact, the only times that Joshua failed during his fifteen years as their leader were those times when he failed to seek God’s direction.(2) God’s instruction to Joshua was in essence the same that He has given to you and me: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in ALL you do, and He WILL direct your paths.”(3)

God assured Joshua that in every case He would decide the course of action to be taken. He would show him the beginning point, the stepping off point and the direction he should go. And God would direct the execution of His plan. Nothing would be left to chance or natural order; all would transpire according to God’s supernatural order. No detail was too small or too large. As a result, God would determine the outcome; and it would be according to His plan, fulfill His purpose, and bring glory to His Person.

But though Moses had stood face to face before the Lord,(4) Joshua was to stand before the high priest. Though God would not hide His will from Joshua, He would reveal it through the high priest. And God would reveal His will through the means of sacred lots.

Please don’t equate those lots to the modern day lottery or “roll of the dice.” We see these lots described elsewhere in Scripture as the “Urim” and Thummim”. We read that the high priest was to insert the Urim and Thummim into the pocket of the chestpiece that he wore, and thus they would be carried over his heart as he went before the Lord in the Holy Place. Thus the high priest “will always carry the objects used to determine the LORD’s will for His people whenever he goes in before the LORD.”(5)

The Urim and Thummim were to be used to determine the will of God when His direction was not clearly understood. Most likely they were each marked in some way to indicate “yes” and “no”. Then, when cast, if they both came up “yes” or both came up “no”, that was an indication of God’s will for that situation. It is this very practice that the writer of Proverbs speaks of: “We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.”(6)

Before you scurry off to search the internet to see where you can obtain a pair of those “dice” to know God’s will for all of your decisions in the future, i have good news for you - we already have them in our possession! The word “Urim” means “light”; the word “Thummim” means “truth”. The psalmist wrote, “Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.”(7)

Jesus said, “If you abide in My word… you shall know the truth.”(8) Remember, we have something that Joshua and the people of his day did not have. We have the written Word of God at our finger tips! God’s Word is our Urim (light) and Thummim (truth). He has given us His Word that we might know Him, and in knowing Him, know His will.

Like Joshua, we are to seek the LORD through His high priest; but our high priest is THE High Priest – Jesus – who is present in our lives through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit.(9) What’s more, Jesus said, “He is the Light” – if we follow Him, we will not stumble.(10) And He is the truth!(11) And though our High Priest, as the Son of Man, knows our weaknesses; as the Son of God, He is blameless(10) and is able to direct us perfectly.

We can be assured with even greater confidence than Joshua had, that if we approach God the Father through our High Priest (God the Son), He will clearly and definitively reveal His will. We will confidently know His decision, His direction and His determination for our lives.

And like Joshua, God has placed us on this journey through the days ahead so that through us He might lead others to experience the victory that He has already accomplished over the enemy. Do I hear you saying, “But I could never be a Joshua?” Don’t lose sight – Joshua was not chosen for his abilities; Joshua was chosen for his availability. He did not accomplish anything because of his greatness; all that was accomplished was through the greatness and the goodness of God. If we protest about our ability to be used by God out of some sense of false humility or inadequacy, we are, in fact, protesting God’s ability, which is faithlessness and blasphemy. If God has chosen us, who are we to question Him?

2023 has begun. We have been uniquely prepared and divinely appointed for the journey that lies ahead. We would do well to heed the example of Joshua and not do anything without first seeking and then receiving the counsel of God. If we do, we can proceed boldly and confidently, walking in His Light and His Truth. As the year unfolds, we will find that God has placed people in our path that He intends for us to lead. We will encounter enemies that need to be conquered. And there will be new “lands” for us to possess!

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Portions of this post are taken from The Wandering Years, chapter 46, entitled “Light and Truth.” This second book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print or for your Kindle or Kindle app. Click HERE for more information on this book.

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(1)  Numbers 27:21 (NLT)

“When direction from the LORD is needed, Joshua will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will determine the LORD's will by means of sacred lots. This is how Joshua and the rest of the community of Israel will discover what they should do.”

(2)  Joshua 9:3-15

(3)  Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) – emphasis added

(4)  Numbers 12:7-8

(5)  Exodus 28:30 (NLT)

(6)  Proverbs 16:33 (NLT)

(7)  Psalm 119:105 (NLT)

(8)  John 8:31-32 (NLT

(9)  Hebrews 4:14-16

(10) John 8:12

(11) John 14:6

(12) Hebrews 7:26

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

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