The Battle Begins!
The Story – Chapter 7
Video Bumper
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”
Isaiah 55:10-13
Prayer
IN THE BEGINNING – (in chapter one of The Story) God created everything (galaxies, stars, planets, moons, mountains, oceans, rivers, streams, birds, fish, thundering volcanoes, towering red woods, … etc)
ALL AS A BACKDROP – for His greatest desire, His greatest passion… So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:27
UNDERSTAND - The reason behind everything (the reason behind all of creation) is God’s desire to have a relationship and do life with His people.
NOW IT – all started in a garden paradise. A perfect environment where God could walk and talk and enjoy an intimate relationship with the people He created. HE MADE – everything available to them, except one thing… AND THEY – choose that one thing that was forbidden… FOREVER – banishing themselves – and us – from God’s presence.
SO GOD – took another approach to doing life with His people. HE CREATED – a nation through who He would reveal Himself.
AND AFTER – preserving His people during a famine and delivering them from slavery in a foreign land… by unleashing His limitless power on the Egyptian Empire. GOD – was ready to lead His people – into a new land. The Promise Land…
A LAND – was if you will, gardenlike…
A LAND – flowing with milk and honey.
A LAND – where God could build this nation out which he would reveal His presence, His power, and His plan for all people to come back into a relationship with Him.
A LAND – where God would no longer just interact with certain individuals or just talk to a few people, BUT WHERE HE – would begin to share life with the entire nation because they now had a:
• A standard to follow (the Law and Commandments)
• A place for His presence to dwell (the tabernacle & arc of the covenant)
• And a means by which a sinful people could approach a Holy God (the blood of an innocent, blameless and spotless sacrifice).
A LAND – that God’s people stood on the edge of entering just a little over a year out of Egypt and captivity… BUT BECAUSE – they lacked the faith to go in and take possession of it… they were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years…
GOD – was leading His people… to A LAND – they could not enter… BECAUSE - they were not there yet. BECAUSE - they were not yet the people they needed to become… (content, trusting in and dependant on God alone, different than the world around them, obedient and devoted to God above ALL things)…
Maple Grove, remember that…
Being God’s people was never about geography, instead it was always about becoming a people who would reveal, reflect and display God’s person, power and purposes throughout the world.
AND REMEMBER, also that…
God’s intent has always been to shape the lives of His people in such a way that they point the people of this world to the incredible sweetness of being in a relationship with Him.
YES – as we said last week as we wrapped up…
What the world needs to see is the REAL THING…
Maple Grove, welcome to Chapter 7 of The Story!
A 31 week journey that will take up the bulk of the year 2013… From January – September! A journey where we are using this book as our guide.
AND LIKE I SAID – when we set out on this journey…
IF WE - really lean into This Story during the next 31 weeks we will have a comprehensive (big picture) understanding of the Bible like never before. AND UNDERSTANDING – that will serve us well in life and in this pursuit to become who we were created to be.
NOW - Chapter 7 of The Story opens up this way… (and who read chapter 7 this week?)
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 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. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’” - Joshua 1:1-11
Chapter 7 of The Story is the book of Joshua…
24 chapters – 658 verses – 19000 words
It covers a period of about 27 years… WHEN - this chapter begins Joshua is ~ 83 years old. WHEN – the final credits start to scroll down the screen… Joshua dies @ the age of 110.
AND – the book of Joshua is primarily a book about war, battles and enemies…
NOW – I am sure that many of us remember hearing stories about Joshua when we were kids growing up in church… MAYBE – we even sang that classic song about Joshua in Sunday School…
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho
Jericho, Jericho
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho
And the walls came tumbling down
AND – after singing the song we would do a craft, play some and then go have some juice and cookies… It was a fun time. It was a fun story to us.
BUT UNDERSTAND – there is a part of the story of the battle of Jericho, that is usually left out… A PART – that most of us did not hear as little kids in Sunday School.
When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys… - Joshua 6:20,21
UNDERSTAND - as we read The Story (especially Chapter 7), we come face to face with a very real and difficult tension, that God: is both terrifying and merciful; that He hates evil and loves people, that He punishes sin and extends grace to the sinner.
PAUSE FOR A MOMENT – and imagine the sights, sounds and smells of that day. The violent, bloody carnage that took place as God’s people killed every living thing in Jericho…
IF – we think about it long enough, we begin to feel like we have discovered a secret about God, a dark side that people rarely see or try to pretend doesn’t exist.
SOME – simply reject the OT God all together as a primitive inferior being compared to the NT God.
YEAH – that’s a convenient view, but it leaves us creating God in an image that I am comfortable. AND THAT’S – never a good thing. BUT – to continue believing that OT God and the NT God are one and the same… have some explaining to do when it comes to things like the carnage following the overthrow of Jericho.
NOW UNDERSTAND – I have no illusions of grandeur here.
I MEAN – I in no way think I can answer all the questions surrounding this. BUT – I felt compelled to at least talk about it a little… and to try to help us see it in it’s much broader context.
Okay – I want to say three things…
1. Wars in the OT were an expression of God’s judgment on a nation. (Genesis 15:13-16)
ABOUT – 650 years before the battle of Jericho, GOD – entered into a covenant relationship with Abraham and He promised him that he would become the Father of a great nation and they would possess a great land.
Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.
In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
- Genesis 15:13-16
The phrase ‘full measure’ indicates that God was giving these people (The Canaanites) time to and opportunity to repent and change their ways. BUT – during those 600 years they only became more sinful…
• Incest
• Bestiality
• Institutionalized sexual abuse of women
• Unhindered sexual immorality (it was part of their worship… sexual intercourse with a temple prostitute was as much a part of being a famer as plowing a field)
• Child sacrifice
They became so wicked that God decided it was best to blot them out completely… and He used Israel to enact that judgement.
(Much like He did Genesis 6…)
2. The Canaanites needed to be removed to firmly establish the worship of the One True God in the land.
UNDERSTAND – much was riding on this relocation – (the coming of the Messiah who would unleash God’s grace of the world). AND – there was no way that worship of the One True God could ever can establish and survive in such a corrupt and sinful culture. SO GOD – took extreme measures to shield His people from their influence. (much like a surgeon may have to amputate a part of the body to save the body)
3. God plays no favorites. God could and did use other nations to punish Israel for their sins.
722 BC Assyria (Northern Kingdom)
586 BC Babylon (Southern Kingdom)
NO – God does not play favorites…
AND – there is a pretty power example of this in Chapter 5 of Joshua.
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”
I didn’t come to pick sides… I came to take over.
UNDERSTAND – God will fight for His people but He will also fight against them… (Achan, Joshua 7)
Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
OKAY – now back to Chapter 7 of The Story…
NOW – the way I want to spend our time remaining is answer three questions…
1) Why must there be battles?
2) How can we ensure victory?
3) What choose do I have
BUT BEFORE – we go there I want to mention something pretty awesome that is premiering tonight of The History Channel.
Why Must There Be Battles?
I am sure God’s people in Joshua’s day may have asked or thought about that question a time or two during those 27 years of conflict.
God’s people have an enemy
AND UNDERSTAND – the people that Joshua and Israel would square off against across the Jordan River were a formidable enemy to say the least.
• Well trained soldiers
• Weapons
• Fortified cities, and
• Giants
Why must there be battles…?
BECAUSE - God’s people have an enemy, and because…
Someone else occupies the land
AGAIN – God promised Abraham that He would possess that land…
The only problem was somebody else was already there.
NOW – I know that I’ve been saying that…
Being God’s people was never about geography, instead it was always about becoming a people who would reveal, reflect and display God’s person, power and purposes throughout the world.
HOWEVER – there was a very strategic reason why God wanted to launch the message of who He was from this small 50 x 150 mile chunk of real estate land just east of the Mediterranean Sea…
• It was the major trade route between Africa and Europe (because of piracy no one shipped goods across the Med until Rome build a Navy).
• Water, town, roads
• Understand this was the most strategic piece of land in the world at this time.
• Everyone passed through this stretch of land… and when they did they would meet God’s people and find out about the one true God.
Why must there be battles?
• God’s people have an enemy
• Someone else occupies the land
AND LISTEN - whether we want to admit it or not, wars, battles and enemies did not come to an end at the close of the OT era.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:34
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
– John 10:10
BUT LISTEN – before Jesus said 14 awesome and inspiring words, in the very same sentence He said these not so fun words…
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
By all means, God intends life for us. BUT - right now that life is opposed. IT – doesn’t just roll in on a tray. There is a thief, he comes to steal, kill and destroy… IN OTHER WORDS – the offer is life, but we are going to have to fight for it, because there’s an enemy with a different agenda. TIM/LAURIE – there is something set against us.
WE – are at war!
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
– Revelation 12:17
Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 6 about the war we are in…
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, - Eph 6:10-13
Why must there be battles?
• God’s people have an enemy
• Someone else occupies the land
How Can We Ensure Victory?
OKAY…
I THINK BEFORE – we talk about how to ensure victory…
WE NEED – to define victory.
FOR JOSHUA AND THE ISRAELITES…
VICTORY – was… conquering the land, winning the war…
AND – establishing themselves in the land as God’s people.
FOR US/CHRISTIANS/THE CHURCH…
VICTORY – is living the life we were created to live…
A LIFE… where:
• Hope is living
• Joy is unquenchable and inexpressible
• Peace transcends understanding
• Love is unconditional, unending and never faiking
• Bondages are broken
• Captives are set free
• We are more than conquerors
By Obeying God’s Word
Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 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. – Joshua 1:7,8
Obedience does not always make sense
• Crossing a river at flood stage with no boats or bridge
Did you notice how this crossing was different than the Red Sea crossing…
The water did part until their feet got wet…
• Crazy battle plan…
Before the battle begins here’s what God says to Joshua. Now pay attention to God’s language here…His grammar:
“Then the LORD said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.’”
– Joshua 6:1
Well, not really, right? I mean, like, we’re on this side of the wall and we need to be on that side of the wall. Other than that minor detail, God… We’re still over here and we need to get over there. But yet God says what? He says, “I have delivered.” He speaks of what has not happened as if it already has. He uses this past tense verb, and it’s not past tense. It has yet to happen.
AND THEN – we hear God’s battle plan. “Here’s what I want you guys to do. Here’s how we’re gonna knock this out.”
“March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and all the people will go up, every man straight in.”
You sure? It seems really unconventional. You know, here’s Joshua, this great commander—lots of experience as a general on the battlefield—and he hears God’s plan, and he’s like, “Well, I…it’s not really what I was thinking.” You see, I’m sure Joshua had his own ideas. I’m sure in his mind he had drawn up some plans. He had some strategies laid out of how they could…it wouldn’t be easy, but maybe…maybe they could take the city if they do it this way. And I can tell you that in none of Joshua’s plans did he include the phrase “marching band.” That was just not part of what he had in mind. And yet God says, “Here’s what we’re gonna do.”
Obedience is not always comfortable
In the summary statements on page 90,91 it talks about something that God’s people were commanded to do prior to attacking Jericho that was very uncomfortable…
Okay, they have just crossed the Jordan River… and they are ready to go to battle…
At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites… - Joshua 5:3
Obedience is never optional
By Seeking God’s Guidance And Direction
How do we do this… through prayer…
AFTER - the battle of Jericho God’s people failed to do this…
AND – what were the results… a devastating defeat.
By Turning Our Hearts Away From All Idols and False gods.
QUESTION – does anyone remember what commandment #1 is?
You must have no other gods before me… - Exodus 20:3
Nothing can become more important to us than God is…
IN – Deuteronomy 30… MOSES is giving His farewell speech. HE TELLS – the people about how if they obey God in this new land things are going to be totally awesome. They will increase in number and live great lives because God will be blessing them.
AND THEN – Moses says…
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. – Dt 30:17,18
Idolatry is huge in the Bible,
dominant in our personal lives
and irrelevant in our own mistaken estimations.
– Os Guinness.
THIS WEEK – I just started to read the following book… I would highly recommend it.
Idolatry is the number one issue in the Bible… the gods are at war, and their strength is not to be underestimated. These gods are at war for the throne of your heart, and much is at stake. Everything about me, everything I do, every relationship I have, everything I hope or dream or wish to become, depends upon what god wins the war.
By Shifting Focus From Our Smallness To God’s Bigness
NOW REMEMBER - the first time God’s people see the cities (a year out of Egypt) they say, “We’re like grasshoppers. We can’t do it.”
The second time they have courage and they have strength. AND HERE’S - what I think happened. I think they went from focusing on their smallness to focusing on God’s bigness.
TIM/LAURIE - I don’t know of anything that has the potential to be more life-changing than taking our eyes off of our smallness, and putting them on God’s bigness.
UNDERSTAND, THE QUESTION - is not, “How big am I compared to what I’m facing?” The question is, “How big is God?”
AND LISTEN – this new generation in Joshua is filled with courage and strength. Not because their circumstances have changed. Not because things are easier now than they were then. Not at all. But because they’ve changed their focus.
YOU KNOW – I am convinced that God wants our story to be about His bigness… About how HE is bigger than our problems, bigger than our doubts, bigger than our fears, bigger than our regrets, bigger than our guilt, bigger than our shame, bigger than…
Isaiah helps us with that. In Isaiah 40 he uses some poetic language to help us understand the bigness of God, and Isaiah says in chapter 40, verse 12…he says, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?”
I measured some water in my hand. I can fit about a tablespoon in the palm of my hand. We know that more two-thirds of the world’s surface is covered in water—in some places six miles deep. So God pours some water in the palm of his hand; there’s the Pacific Ocean.
Isaiah says, “Who has with the breadth of his hand measured off the heavens?”
I measured the breadth of my hand and from the tip of my thumb to the tip of my pinky it’s like nine inches. There are in our universe…the closest star other than the sun to us would be about four and a half light years away. It just…twenty-six trillion miles. And God says, “Eh, let Me measure that for you,” and we get this understanding of how big He is.
MAPLE GROVE – imagine, what would happen if (whenever we are in a battle) we took our eyes off of our smallness and put them on God’s bigness… if we took them off the thing, the wall, the giant - that is in front of us and we remember just how BIG our God is?
UNDERSTAND – this is how we become strong and courageous. By…
Obeying
Seeking
Turning
Shifting
Allowing God’s Presence To Overwhelm The Lies Of The Enemy
On Friday I put the following on my face book wall… Hey Face book fam... Working on my message, I NEED YOUR HELP. Could you give me a '5 word sentence' that represents a lie that you have believed that has robbed your story of strength and courage.
• You’ve messed up too much,
• It’s too late for you
• You will just fail again,
• Your failure disqualifies your service
• God doesn’t really want you,
• Why would He love you
• Just this once won’t matter,
• Go ahead, you deserve it
• No one cares about you,
• Not worthy of God’s love
• You are on your own,
• There’s something wrong with you
• God is done with you,
• I can do it myself
• You can’t make a difference,
• I’m responsible for the outcomes
•
YEAH - Just five words came quickly to a bunch of people…words that have robbed strength and courage from their lives.
I want to give you five new words—five new words to replace all the other five words. In Joshua 1:5 God says,
I will be with you! – Joshua 1:5
Courage is fear that has been brought into the presence of The LORD!
How do we ensure victory, by:
• Obeying God’s Word
• Seeking God’s Guidance And Direction
• Turning Our Hearts Away From All Idols
• Shifting Focus From Our Smallness To God’s Bigness
• Allowing God’s Presence To Overwhelm The Lies Of The Enemy
What Choice Do We Have?
Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. – Joshua 24:14,15
There is no choice but to choose.
Listen, there is one battle that can end today, and it ends when, you and I, willingly do one thing…surrender!
