Thursday
Evening Bible Study
February
17, 2011
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
We are somewhere around the year 1446 BC.
Moses has led
the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, and for the last forty years. Moses
has just died. Joshua is now the man in charge.
The book of
Joshua is a book about receiving God’s promises.
God has a Promised Land for them, and they are now ready to receive it.
Joshua
3
3:1-17 Israel cross
Jordan
There are more than a few kinds of
lessons that can be drawn from the concept of “crossing Jordan”
A picture of stepping into the
Promised Land – going from the “wilderness” of your life into the promises of
God. I would see it even more specifically as a picture of learning to walk in
the Spirit, allowing God’s Spirit to more and more control your life.
A picture of going to heaven – the
old Negro spirituals, Spurgeon’s pictures of loved ones passing on.
:1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia
Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged
there before they crossed over.
:1 came to the
Jordan
They move from
the place where they had been camping on the Plains of Moab and head towards
the river, a distance of about 5 miles.
According to Jewish tradition, they moved 40 days after Moses’ death.
:2 So it was,
after three days, that the officers went through the camp;
:3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the
covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then
you shall set out from your place and go after it.
:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits
by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must
go, for you have not passed this way before.”
I imagine there must have been some kind of excitement building among the
Israelites. They had heard about this Promised Land for some time, and now they
were actually going to step across the line into God’s Promises.
Keep in mind, it was going to be a difficult couple of years as they had to
move into major battle mode. They’ve faced enemies over the last year,
conquering Sihon and Og, but nothing like what was up ahead.
:4 you have not
passed this way before
Lesson
A chance to be led
The people were to keep a 3,000 foot buffer between themselves and the Ark.
The Ark was going to be showing them where they were to go.
In the wilderness they had a pillar of cloud to lead them. This was not
going to be quite so obvious.
It’s a little
like slowing down just a bit because you don’t know the road.
Illustration
The road to Lake Hughes is a very winding road along a
creek bed. Most people drive it at 30 mph because they don’t know how sharp the
turns are up ahead. I had a friend who worked at a retreat center at the end of
the road during the summer. He got so used to the curves that he knew how fast
he could go. He’d get there in half the time.
Sometimes in life we are heading into new territory.
It doesn’t hurt to slow down just a tad to make sure we’re
going where God wants us to go.
God
isn't always in a hurry like we are.
Sometimes we need to slow down and let Him lead us.
(Psa
27:14 NLT) Wait
patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the
LORD.
Give Him a chance to
lead you.
Illustration:
Don’t
Change Channels!
When her
husband, Edmund Gravely, died at the controls of his small plane while on the
way to Statesboro, GA, from the Rocky Mount-Wilson airport, NC, his wife Janice
kept the plane aloft for two hours until it ran out of fuel. During this time
she sang hymns and prayed for help. As the plane crossed the South
Carolina-North Carolina border, she radioed for help: “Help, help, won’t
someone help me? My pilot is unconscious. Won’t somebody help me?” Authorities
who picked up her distress signal were not able to reach her by radio during
the flight because she kept changing channels. Mrs. Gravely finally made a rough landing and
crawled for 45 minutes to a farmhouse for help.
When you cry out to
God for help, be sure you give Him a chance to answer. Don’t change channels.
:5 And Joshua
said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders
among you.”
:5 Sanctify yourselves
Clean up your act. Get ready for God.
:6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the
covenant and cross over before the people.” So they took up the ark of the
covenant and went before the people.
:7 And the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the
sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be
with you.
:8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying,
‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in
the Jordan.’ ”
:7 I will begin to
exalt you
Lesson
Testing all things
Last week we saw that some of the people had made a wise statement about
whether or not they were going to follow Joshua as the new leader to replace
Moses:
(Jos 1:17 NKJV) Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only
the Lord your God be with you, as
He was with Moses.
Be careful about blindly following a leader who is
claiming to be led by God.
It drives me nuts in how stupid some of God’s kids can be
– swallowing everything a person says without doing their own homework and
checking things out.
The Bible says,
(1 Th 5:21–22 NKJV) —21
Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
These people wisely said they would follow Joshua, as long
as they could tell that God was with Him and leading Him.
God is about to take care of that issue. If anyone had any
doubts about God using Joshua, those questions are going to be answered real
quick.
:9 So Joshua
said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your
God.”
:10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among
you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and
the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the
Amorites and the Jebusites:
:10 Canaanites … Hittites … etc.
These are the people that are living in the “Promised Land”. They are
sometimes referred to as the “seven nations”, or simply the “Canaanites”.
:11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is
crossing over before you into the Jordan.
:11 the ark of the
covenant
You know this
item because of the Indiana Jones movie.
The word “ark” simply means “box”. Noah had an “ark”, a “box” that
contained a lot of animals and was waterproof. Moses had an “ark” that
contained the “covenant”.
The word “covenant” simply means “agreement” or “contract”. God made a
contract with the Israelites based on the Ten Commandments. If they follow
God’s laws, then God will be their God. The “covenant” was written on stone
tablets, and those tablets were carried in the box called the “ark”.
The lid on the
box was made of solid gold, with molded angelic beings attached to the top. It
was called the “mercy seat” and was intended to be a symbol of God’s throne.
The Ark and other various things
were kept in a portable worship center, the tent known as the “Tabernacle”.
:12 Now therefore,
take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every
tribe.
:12 twelve men
These twelve men are going to have an important job which we find out about
in the next chapter (Josh. 4:1-3).
:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the
priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in
the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the
waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”
:14 So it was,
when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the
priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
:15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the
priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan
overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest),
:16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in
a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters
that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut
off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
:17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood
firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on
dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
:15 time of harvest
This is the
time of the barley harvest, in March/April.
This gives us an important time marker in the story. We’ll see next week
that there is actually archaeological evidence that verifies this story.
Archaeologists have found large
quantities of grain stored inside the ruins of the city of Jericho dating back
to this time. The grain is all burnt from Joshua burning the city after they
conquered it. The fact that there is so much grain in the jars points to the
destruction happening at the time of the harvest.
Joshua’s account mentions that the Jordan River overflows its banks at this
time of year.
The Israelites didn’t cross the river at one of its low points of the year,
but during one of its high point.
The river would
be 20 yards wide at their crossing point, deeper than a person could stand in
and stronger than a person could swim against.
:16 Adam … Zaretan
Show “Hermon to
Dead Sea” map video.
Mount Hermon is at the northern edge of Israel. The snow melts and the
water ends up in the Sea of Galilee.
From Galilee, the water flows down the Jordan River valley.
Adam is about 24 miles north of the Dead Sea, where the Jabbok creek meets
the Jordan River.
The Jordan continues on until it dumps into the Dead Sea.
Joshua
4
4:1-24 Memorial
Stones
:1 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the
Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying:
:2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every
tribe,
:3 and command
them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of
the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry
them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge
tonight.’ ”
:4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the
children of Israel, one man from every tribe;
:5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God
into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his
shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
:6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to
come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
:7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before
the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the
waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to
the children of Israel forever.”
:8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up
twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua,
according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried
them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
:9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the
place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and
they are there to this day.
:9 set up twelve
stones in the midst of the Jordan
Not only are twelve stones taken out of the Jordan to be set up at Gilgal
as a reminder of the crossing, but Joshua also takes twelve stones and puts
them as a pile into the Jordan River.
:9 there to this
day
Not necessarily today, but back in the day of Joshua when this was written.
:10 So the
priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was
finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according
to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed
over.
:11 Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over,
that the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the
people.
:11 all the people
had completely crossed over
We think that the nation of Israel was something close to two million people at this time.
The armies of the twelve tribes alone numbered over 600,000 men. Then add women, children, and the elderly.
:12 And the men
of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed
before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.
:12 the men of Reuben …
These were the tribes that had
chosen to settle on the eastern side of the Jordan River. They are crossing without their wives and
children, they are in the front of the nation, and ready to face any who would
attack Israel.
:13 About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the LORD for
battle, to the plains of Jericho.
:14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and
they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.
:15 Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
:16 “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from
the Jordan.”
:17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the
Jordan.”
:18 And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant
of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the
priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to
their place and overflowed all its banks as before.
:18 the waters of
the Jordan returned
Some skeptics point out that the Jordan River has been stopped up
before:
On December 8,1267 an earthquake caused the high banks of the Jordan to
collapse near Tell ed-Damiyeh (Adam), damming the river for about 10 hours.
On July 11,1927 another earthquake near the same location blocked the
river for 21 hours.
Neither of these stoppages occurred during flood season.
But even if God did something similar and used an earthquake, it’s
still an incredibly miraculous event when you consider moving millions of
people, and the water coming back after all the people had crossed.
Lesson
No Turning Back
The Jordan River is a natural barrier. Up to this point, it has kept the
Canaanites from crossing over to attack them, and I’m sure the Canaanites felt
safe that they couldn’t be attacked by the Israelites.
With the River
stopping, Israel crossing, and the River returning to normal, you have a point
of “no return”.
It’s one thing for God to stop the river, but once you cross the river and
it returns, you can’t change your mind.
The Promised Land was a place with a future.
But you don’t come into a Promised Land without making some tough choices.
You need to cross that point of “no return”.
Illustration
In AD 49, Julius
Caesar was a Roman governor and general over his own army. He had acquired
great power with his conquests in Gaul and Britain. His rivals in Rome became
afraid of his power and ordered him to stand trial in Rome. According to Roman
Law, no general was allowed to enter into Italy without being an elected
official. If a general entered illegally with an army, both he and his army
were guilty of a capital offense and condemned to death. Julius Caesar decided to
come to Rome, but he came with a legion of his army. The northern border of
Italy was the Rubicon River. Caesar could have disbanded his army and entered
Italy to stand trial as a private citizen, but he decided to cross the Rubicon
with his army. In the end, he ended up as the first dictator or “Caesar” of the
Roman Empire.
The phrase
“crossing the Rubicon” is often used to indicate a big decision, a “point of no
return”, where there is no turning back.
Where are you at with God?
Are you playing it safe? Are you keeping your ties with your old life, your
sinful ways hidden in your back pocket in case this Christian thing doesn’t
work out?
One of the first steps of conquering the Promised Land is learning to leave
the old life behind. Let the Jordan River hem you in. Let there be no turning
back.
For example: If your “old life” had to do with drugs, you
must get rid of your drugs. You must cut your ties with the people who enable
your habit.
Sometimes making a public commitment is important. This is
why we do “altar calls” – to encourage people to “cross the Rubicon”, to make a
public decision to follow Christ. If you turn back, you will have to face all
these folks that you’ve made a commitment in front of. It’s not a guarantee
that you won’t turn back, but it’s a helpful tool to take advantage of.
:19 Now the
people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they
camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.
:19 the tenth day of the first
month
This is March/April on our calendars,
the time of the Passover.
This is the day on which the people
were supposed to pick out their lambs in preparation of celebrating the
Passover.
:20 And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set
up in Gilgal.
:21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children
ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’
:22 then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over
this Jordan on dry land’;
:23 for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you
until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He
dried up before us until we had crossed over,
:24 that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that
it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”
:21 What are these
stones?
Lesson
Remember the important things
We can tend to forget some important things over time.
Illustration
A
very elderly gentleman, (mid nineties) very well dressed, hair well
groomed, great looking suit, flower in his lapel, smelling slightly of a good
after shave, presenting a well looked after image, walks into an upscale soda
fountain. Seated at
the counter is an elderly looking lady (mid eighties). The gentleman walks
over, sits along side of her, orders a drink, takes a sip, turns to her and
says, “So tell me, do I come here often?”
Illustration
Two elderly couples were enjoying
friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, “Fred, how was the
memory clinic you went to last month?” “Outstanding,” Fred replied. “They
taught us all the latest psychological techniques, like visualization,
association, and so on. It was great. I haven’t had a problem since.” “Sounds
like something I could use. What was the name of the clinic?” Fred went blank.
He thought and thought, but couldn’t remember. Then a smile broke across his
face and he asked, “What do you call that flower with the long stem and
thorns?” “You mean a rose?” “Yes, that’s it!” He turned to his wife, “Hey Rose,
what was the name of that memory clinic?”
They were to make a point of constructing something to remind them of this
day.
Two notes about this memorial:
1. The memorial was solid
It was made of stone, something real
and solid.
The faith of the Israelites was to be
based upon solid facts.
Not only was the
crossing of the Jordan an historical fact, but the solidity of the rocks was a
permanent testimony.
Our faith is also to
be built upon a solid foundation. There are real, solid, historical facts
behind what we believe. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the very
cornerstone of our faith. And the historical evidence of the resurrection is
mind blowing. Once you’ve looked into the facts, there is no denying that Jesus
rose from the dead.
Be careful not to base
your faith solely upon feelings - they're shaky and unstable.
2. The memorial was visible
The kids saw something that made them
ask questions. (vs.21)
Do our kids see
anything in our lives that make them want to know more about the Lord?
Or are we so busy
complaining about the things of God, especially the church, that all they see
is the junk?
Do your kids ever see
you reading your Bible? Do they ever see you praying? Do they ever see you
living out your faith in good works?
Joshua
5
5:1-8 Circumcision
:1 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side
of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that
the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of
Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no
spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.
:1 their hearts
melted
In a way, this would have been a great time to attack immediately, while
the enemy was discouraged. Yet God had other plans for Israel. Rather than
attack immediately, God wanted to make sure the people were in the right place
spiritually. In fact, because of what was going to happen, it was a good thing
the enemy was too scared to attack Israel.
:2 At that time
the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the
sons of Israel again the second time.”
:3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of
Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
:3 hill of the foreskins
Can you picture it? I prefer not to. Lovely name for a place.
:4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people who
came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the
wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt.
:5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people
born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been
circumcised.
:6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till
all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed,
because they did not obey the voice of the LORD—to whom the LORD swore that He
would not show them the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers that He
would give us, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
:6 they did not
obey
Thirty eight years earlier they had an opportunity to enter into the
Promised Land, but the people weren’t willing to trust God. As a result these
disobedient people wandered in the wilderness. All those men had been
circumcised. They all needed to die.
This circumcision will prove that this is a new generation than those who
didn’t believe.
:7 Then Joshua
circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were
uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
:8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they
stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed.
:2 circumcise the
sons of Israel
Illustration
Lesson
Vulnerable faith
One issue of
circumcision is the connection to Abraham.
(Ge 17:11 NKJV) and
you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign
of the covenant between Me and you.
God plans on giving this land of Abraham to a people who
have a connection with Abraham.
When Moses was
called by God to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, he was reluctant. But he
finally agreed to do what God was asking him to do.
On the way to Egypt, Moses hit a snag.
(Ex 4:24–25 NKJV) —24
And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. 25
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast
it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!”
Moses was going to be leading the children of Israel, yet
he hadn’t circumcised his own son.
It’s
hard to be a leader when you don’t set an example.
Taking care of business
God’s people need to have things in order.
Circumcision is
a picture of “cutting away” of the flesh nature. It’s a picture of living a
life for God rather than my flesh.
It’s very appropriate for a person
wanting to live a life for God to make a “statement” like this.
It’s not just a matter of the sexual organ that God is concerned about,
it’s much deeper. God cares about what condition our hearts are in.
(Dt 10:16 NKJV)
Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.
The story of
Simeon and Levi (Gen. 34)
Circumcising all your men can make you vulnerable.
When Jacob’s daughter Dinah was raped by Shechem, Jacob’s sons came up with
a plan to get revenge. They convinced all the men of the city to become
circumcised, and on the third day all the men were in such pain that Simeon and
Levi were able to go through the city and kill all the men.
What is God
doing here to His people?
Doesn’t God know that circumcision will make them vulnerable?
Why didn’t they get circumcised when they were safe on the other side of
the Jordan River?
There is now nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, nothing to
protect them from an attack by the Canaanites.
Sometimes doing the right thing, taking care of “business” leaves us
vulnerable.
If you report all your cash income to the IRS, you will
have to pay more taxes.
When someone is struggling with an addiction, it can be
easier to hide it than to admit it. Admitting it may have consequences, but
it’s right.
Sometimes the safest place to be is with the
“risk-takers”
Illustration:
Risk takers
During World War II, psychologist
E. Paul Torrance made a study of United States aces flying in the Pacific
theater of operations. He reported that
the most salient characteristic of the ace was his risk- taking ability. Throughout his life, he had kept testing the
limits of his abilities. And the life
histories of these men showed that they were highly resistant to accidents, and
in combat they suffered fewer casualties than pilots who were inclined to play
it safe. Dr. Torrance said, “Living
itself is a risky business. If we spent
half as much time learning how to take risks as we spend avoiding them, we
wouldn’t have nearly so much to fear in life.”
5:9-12 Passover at
Gilgal
:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of
Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
:9 Gilgal
– “wheel”, “rolling”
If they had
named the place “Gilgal Ebenim”, it would be called “rolling stones”
:9 rolled away the
reproach
In
Egypt, only the upper classes were
allowed to be circumcised. The Israelites were merely “slaves”.
We were also just told that Joshua was
to circumcise Israel "the second time" (vs.2), and some have
theorized that the “first time” was when they first got out of Egypt.
But there hasn’t been a circumcision
for forty years. The “reproach” of being a slave is once more removed.
Somehow, for some reason, the people stopped
circumcising during the wilderness wanderings, so that the entire current
generation was uncircumcised.
Now, before coming into the promises God has for
them, the people once more take up the ritual of circumcision, setting them
apart as different from the peoples of the land.
:10 Now the
children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth
day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.
I think it’s a cool thing of God to have this timed with the Passover.
It was the Passover that brought them out of Egypt.
It was at the Passover that they entered the Promised Land.
One commentary suggested that this
is only the third time they’ve celebrated the Passover.
The first time was when it actually
took place.
The second time was a year later at
Mount Sinai.
This is the third time.
:11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover,
unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day.
:12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of
the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food
of the land of Canaan that year.
:12 the manna
ceased
Lesson
Growing up
What I see here is a picture of growth.
When they were a newly delivered
nation, they were spoon-fed manna in the wilderness. It came easy, they only
had to walk outside the camp and scoop it up.
Now that they have matured and are
ready to take their Promised Land, they arrive at a new way of finding
nourishment.
They're going to have
to go out and work hard for it. Before it was easy, now it's going to take some
work.
It's kind of like what feeds a
Christian.
(Heb
5:12–14 NKJV) —12
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you
again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need
milk and not solid food. 13
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is,
those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and
evil.
We see here a process
of growth in a Christian’s life. Not growth based on time, but progress. These
people had been Christians long enough to have matured in their faith, yet they
were still to be considered “babes”.
As you mature in your walk with the
Lord, you will find that it’s not going to be enough to just come to Bible
Studies and sit and listen.
When you’re a new Christian, that’s
exactly what you need, to come and be spoon fed the Word of God.
As you mature in the Lord, you will
find that there is a great element of your “feeding” that will come from
working out in the fields.
It’s going to take some harder work in
your Quiet Times, to dig a little deeper and seek the Lord a little longer.
But receiving “solid food” requires
“skill” in God’s Word, and that’s tied to discernment, learning to do the right
things.
5:13-15 The
Commander
:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his
eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in
His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our
adversaries?”
:13 Joshua was by
Jericho
Apparently Joshua decides to take a peek at the city that they are
supposedly going to conquer. He meets a stranger. He wants to know whose side
this guy is on.
:14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now
come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him,
“What does my Lord say to His servant?”
:14 No
It sounds as if this person is saying that He’s not on anybody’s side.
It’s more
important that we’re on God’s side than that He’s on our side.
Sometimes we head into a particular “fight”, and we ask God to join sides
with us. God would rather that we be obedient to Him. He may not even want us to be in a particular
“fight”.
:14 Commander of
the army of the LORD
This is the
Angel of the LORD
This is Jesus
Christ in His “preincarnate” state. Joshua falls on his face and worships –
something you only do before God.
He is not just the commander of Israel’s armies, but of God’s armies.
There will be more than just men fighting in the battles ahead.
Angels will be present.
:15 Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal
off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Lesson
Who is in charge?
The first battle you face is not against the people you struggle with.
The first battle is how you stand with God.
Is God your commander?
Are you on His side?