The Story - Chapter 7
The Battle Begins
October 24, 2010
Can you think back to a time in your life when you were facing an overwhelming challenge? It was right in front of you and you had to confront it. But you were scared to death. Maybe it’s happening right now and you need to charge at it, but reality is . . . you’re scared to death. What do you do? Do you retreat or advance?
Today as we come to chapter 7 in The Story, the children of Israel are faced with such an overwhelming challenge. After 600 years of waiting, it’s time to enter the land of Canaan and take possession of it. 600 years earlier God told Abraham He would build a nation through him, and one day He would give the land of Canaan to these people.
The people of Israel are on the east side of the Jordan River, looking into the land they’re about to live in. There’s a problem with taking the land, it’s already inhabited by others.
40 years earlier, under the leadership of Moses, God sent 12 spies into the land to check it out. They came back and said, the land was super fantastic. However, they said there a lot of wicked people in the land and there were giants, or really tall and mean dudes; and these brave spies were afraid, and more than that, they said, ‘we don’t have the courage to do it. We don’t trust God.’ So, now it’s 40 years later and Joshua is their leader, and they’re faced with the same challenge.
As we look at chapter 7 of The Story, 4 times in Joshua 1, God told Joshua, “be strong and courageous.” You see, Joshua and Caleb are the only 2 spies who gave a positive report 40 years earlier, saying ‘we can do it. Let’s take the land.’
How can they possibly be strong and courageous when they looked at the people they had to face? All the odds were stacked against them. In addition to God speaking to Joshua and the people of Israel, He gave them 3 ingredients or weapons which would help them be successful in the conquest of the land.
Open your copies of the Story or open your Bible to Joshua 1 and write these 3 weapons of divine warfare.
God told Joshua on page 73 of The Story, or Joshua 1:8, Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
The very first thing God said, if you want to be successful in your conquest of the land of Canaan, you need to be people of the Word. The only time the Israelites were unsuccessful in their conquering of the various cities, was when they came up against a city called Ai. They were unsuccessful because a guy named Achan violated the clear instruction of God’s word and kept some of the spoils of the victory over the people of Jericho when God had given clear instructions not to take anything.
So, they failed in their battle. After Joshua dealt with the sin of Achan, God told the people of Israel, under the leadership of Joshua, to go back into Ai, because now God would give them victory. After they were successful, Joshua called all the people of Israel around him and he read the Word of God, or the law. On page 78, or Joshua 8:34, we read . . .
34 Joshua read all the words of the law — the blessings and the curses — just as it is written in the Book of the Law.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.
To avoid another Achan situation, it was important for Joshua to be a man of the word. But Joshua understood not only did he need to be a man of the word, but the Israelites needed to be people of the word. So he sat them down and he read every single word to the people. After he read to them, they were encouraged to meditate on the word, and challenged to do everything the word said for them to do. This would be their first secret of success.
The 2nd weapon of divine warfare was they needed to be people of prayer. God told Joshua they could be strong and courageous because He would be going with them wherever they would go. However, before you go, you need to talk with me, to make sure I am in on it. If I’m in on it, I will go before you and you will be successful. There was no way the people were going to be successful against the giants without God going before and with them.
In order to be successful, they needed to seek out God, to talk with Him and to listen to Him, in order to see if they were following His plan. If God was in, then charge. If God was not, then stay put. In the story of the destruction of Jericho, God said to have the ark of the covenant out in front which symbolized His presence. The soldiers would then follow the ark of the covenant. It’s a great reminder that if we are going to be successful, then God needs to lead us. If God is before you, then you can be strong and courageous.
The 3rd weapon of divine warfare is this. The people needed to identify themselves with God. God invited them to mark themselves to identify themselves unashamedly with God. After they had crossed the Jordan River, before the Israelites engaged in battle, they were in the city of Gilgal and God instructed all the males to be circumcised. Circumcision outwardly identified that you belonged to God. The law instructed all along. When the male children were only 8 days old, they were to be circumcised. Because they were wandering in the wilderness they didn’t do this. So before they began their conquest, young and old had to be circumcised.
After they were healed, they were now marked that they belonged to God. Just as cattle might be branded, so the men of Israel were now marked or branded that they unashamedly belonged to Yahweh.
Now, with those 3 things in place I want you to take out your maps for your weekly geography lesson. I want you to add this to your maps. Maybe make a picture of Joshua or put a J in your maps on the west side of Aram, and now draw a line to the east, crossing over the Jordan River and landing on the east side of Jericho.
We also learn of another miracle of God involving water. Most people know about the parting of the Red Sea, but here we also see the waters of the Jordan River parting as the Israelites march into Canaan. What’s amazing about this is that the water is stopped 16 miles upstream. Did you catch that 16 miles upstream!! To give you an idea about the distance, it would be like driving from church going straight on 9 south, through Anderson, past the highway, to route 36.
The very first city they overtake had nothing to do with the Israelites. You know the story, as they march around the city for 7 days and finally when they blow their horns, the walls came tumbling down. Then they took Ai, after 2 battles, then they moved to the south for another military campaign. They came against an alliance of 5 kings and their cities fighting against the Israelites. But the Israelites were successful. Then they went north and came up against more than 14 kings and their nations, and they were successful, again.
On page 81 or Joshua 11:23, we read, Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.
So, why did God see fit to give the people of Israel this particular land. Why give them land at all. I would like to give two answers which come off the pages of the Story. As we read chapter 7, there are vicious battles going on. For some of us, they’re hard to stomach when we read what was happening and how the Israelites are removing people from their property.
The very first reason, God is giving them this land . . . is the fact that He’s not giving it to Israel, so much as He’s taking it away from the Amorites who lived in the land of Canaan. God isn’t giving the land to the Israelites because they deserve it, but He’s taking it from the Amorites. On page 69, Deuteronomy 9:4-6, Moses gave a speech to the people of Israel, before they took the land. Listen to the words of Moses –
4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness."
No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you.
5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations,
the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Now, where is it God swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He was going to take out the Amorites? Write down Genesis 15:16. Early on in God’s relationship with Abraham, where God said He was going to give Abraham’s descendants the land, God told Abraham, He’s not going to receive the land in his lifetime, but eventually God would give it to his descendants at just the right time. This is what God said to Abraham 600 years earlier in Genesis 15:16 . . .
In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.
The Amorites were sinful people just like us. But they let their sin nature go full speed ahead. The entire community acted on their sin nature. God looked ahead and knew it was going to get worse. So, God said, when their wickedness reaches its full measure I will be totally just in stepping in and removing them.
Think of a time in our lifetimes where we’ve seen leaders go completely dark. People like Hitler, Sadam Hussein, Pol Pot, Idi Amin and others could be named. The detestable and brutal things they did to people. We call that wicked and evil. And many of us would say it was totally just to take them out. Many would add Osama Bin Laden to that list as well.
What happens when wickedness goes beyond the leaders and is embraced within the entire community. So what type of wickedness were the Amorites engaged in? Again, we look back at scripture for our answers.
Deuteronomy 12:31 and 20:18 tell us, in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. What kind of detestable things? In Exodus 34:15-16, we learn they worshiped other gods and engaged in widespread prostitution. Worse than that, and this is pathetic, it’s the ultimate of evil . . . they burned their children as a sacrifice to these gods. I can’t imagine that. That’s wickedness to the max. While God doesn’t need my approval, God is completely just in removing them from the land.
Their wickedness reached its full measure. And God didn’t give the land to Israel because they were righteous. But because the evil and wickedness of the Amorites had reached its full measure. But that’s not the only reason, there’s another one.
The 2nd reason God is giving the land to the people is the fact that God wants to establish His name in the land of Canaan. So that all the people can come to know the one true God. At just the right time God gave this people a land, and established His name among them. This way other nations will notice the success of Israel and how God is involved with them and they will want to know this God and experience the same blessings. They will know God loves them as well as the Israelites. He is the One true God who doesn’t just want a relationship with Israel, but wants a relationship with all people. And they can see Him through the lives of the people in Canaan. 19 times, primarily in Deuteronomy God says this is His mission. God wants to make His name known in Canaan.
So, what does this story have to do for us. What is the application in our lives?
I believe God wants to make His name known in Alexandria. He wants to use you and I through His relationship with us, His church. So that through our lives others might see the One true God. So He’s inviting us to be just like Joshua and the people, be strong and courageous. As individuals and as a church as we face this giant vision.
God inspired strategies . .. So that His name is known throughout our community. It’s a gigantic and overwhelming vision. Just like Israel you are God’s best strategy. To take the wonderful things which happen here, this love of God and turn it loose the other 167 hours per week, so that we might make a difference by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
To be strong and courageous, and take a risk and greet someone we don’t know, to take a risk and walk across the street, to take a risk to walk across the hall and engage and love others right where they’re at. To live distinctively different lifestyles. To handle the giants of illness and financial crisis differently because of our relationship with Christ. To handle issues of purity and to have different priorities that puts people over the pursuit of things.
To live a powerful life as we demonstrate the power of Christ to our neighbor as opposed to always protecting our individual rights. And if we are to do this, we need to be strong and courageous just like Joshua and the Israelites as they prepared to march into Canaan, so it is with Christ followers in Alexandria. If we’re going to be successful we need to take up the 3 divine weapons of warfare as the Israelites did.
1. We need to be people of the Word. Just like with Israel, so with us. Before we face our giants and go into battle, we need to put our nose into His word. To know it and to understand what God would have us do and be in this lifetime, so we can be His difference makers. In a great sense, that is what we are doing right now as we move through this Story of God. We must first understand the heart and story of God. It’s important for us to know His Word.
It’s great to have you bring your Bibles and copies of the Story every Sunday. In fact, would you hold up your copies right now. That’s right hold them up. It’s great exercise to lift your arms, it also helps me to know you’re still awake!! But you see, this is so great because it shows we are embracing the Story, and it is so essential. It doesn’t work if just one or two of us are people of the Word, we must be a People of the Word. That’s how we can make a difference.
Now you may recall when Joshua brought the people over for the reading of the Word, you may recall who was present. It wasn’t just the men or women, but it was the kids too. That’s why it’s important to teach our children so they can be the people of the Word. They will continue to carry the torch, and the best equippers are the parents and grandparents. So, read the Word, take the time to talk and share your knowledge and love of the Word with your kids and grandkids.
2. Not only do we need to be people of the Word, but we need to pray. We need to be in an ongoing conversation with God, so that we know where He wants us to go and what we should be doing. One of the things about First Baptist Church is that we are a faithful church. Now most churches would like to say that. We’re all faithful, but one thing I notice here . . . is we try to take care of one another. All anyone has to do is make a phone call and the calvary will come rushing in. Sometimes we’ll over do it and too many soldiers come marching, but wouldn’t you rather have too many than not enough?
We’ve also had to make some strong and courageous decisions in the past. And we’ve done that, because we sought God’s presence and God’s wisdom through prayer. We’ve weathered the storm of the financial crisis as a church. We’ve had to make difficult and hard decisions, but we never compromised the presence of God in the process. We’re seeking to pay off the FLC during a difficult financial time. We can only do something that big because of our trust and prayer in God.
Instead of being afraid of our financial situation, we’re well positioned to embark into 2011 in the name of Jesus Christ. We can help the hurting, we can help those who have needs, we have our ministries which seeks to help people through practical means; and most importantly, we’ve got the God of all creation who wants to see us succeed.
3. The final weapon of divine warfare is the need to be people who identify with God. In the OT it was the act of circumcision for the men. It was an outward declaration that they were unashamedly connected to God. For the church in the NT, that right is called baptism. When a person is baptized they are declaring they unashamedly belong to God. This is a big deal to God, so it should be a big deal to us. If you’re going to be part of this, you’ve got to identify yourself to the name of God.
God called the Israelites to be strong and courageous as they established His name in Canaan. And today God is calling us to be strong and courageous as we establish and proclaim His name in Alexandria, Indiana. We are to demonstrate by the decisions we make that we unashamedly declare Jesus to be our Lord, our Savior, our God, our Redeemer.
In order to be successful we need to be people of the Word; we need to be people of prayer, and we need to be people who unashamedly declare and identify ourselves with the name of God. I think if we put those 3 things in place, then God will go before us and we can actually do this.
At the end of Joshua’s life he said, ‘you must choose whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Today you must choose which God you will serve, but as for me and my house . . . we will serve the Lord,
And if that is the case, then as the walls of Jericho could not prevail against the Israelites, so the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Let the battle begin, and all the church said, Amen!!
