Sermons
Miraculously Maintained by God
Sun, Sep 13, 2015
Teacher: Tom Blackford Series: Sunday Sermons - 2015 Scripture: Joshua
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Miraculously Maintained by God
Joshua
Intro:
Good morning.
In a previous lesson we looked at how Israel was secured by God. In this lesson I want to look at how God maintained Israel.
The Israelites have wandered through the wilderness and now are about to enter the Promised Land, and a journey that should have taken a short time, took 40 years because of their lack of faith in God. 40 plus years after leaving Egypt, God has led them to where they are supposed to be.
We’re going to use the Book of Joshua as our reference, but for time sake, I would like to take a different approach and summarize some chapters and highlight some points. Some of the scripture I might paraphrase. Starting in Joshua 1, we find that Moses is dead and God is preparing Joshua and the Israelites for Joshua to take on the leadership role.
God says to him in Joshua 1:2-4 - “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.” [KJ]
God makes His plan very clear and to encourage Joshua, God goes on to tell him in Joshua 1:5-7 that He is with Him and He needs to be strong, courageous and obedient. Joshua then went through the camp commanding the people to pack up because in three days they’re going to be crossing the River Jordan.
I. For the first time it sounds as though the people are finally starting to trust God. Look at what the people say in; Joshua 1:17 - “Just as we listened Moses, so we will listen you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.” [paraphrased] The people are now on board with the idea that God will work through Joshua to help them take the land of Canaan.
a. As we enter Joshua 2 we are reminded of that famous incident with the harlot named Rahab. Joshua sends two spies over the River Jordan to scout the territory, especially Jericho and when they enter Jericho, the spies immediately go to the house of the harlot, Rahab, and spend the night there.
i. This seems strange behavior to us but I’ve been told that in those days, brothels were much like we consider Vegas, everything said and done inside a brothel stayed in the brothel. If Israelite spies wanted to stay hidden but gather information, the brothel is the perfect place to do that.
ii. The king of Jericho gets wind of the fact that there are spies in his land and orders Rahab to surrender them immediately, but Rahab hides the Israelite spies on the roof and covers for them, explaining they were there but had fled. While the soldiers go off in search of the Israelites, Rahab goes to her roof and cuts a deal with the two spies.
b. Joshua 2:9-11 - “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” [para]
i. Amazing!... If the Israelites had shown that much belief earlier they might have ended up much better off.
ii. These words of Rahab must have come as an encouraging surprise to the Israelite spies… As we go through our Christian journey we just don’t always recognize that there are people watching and listening. When the Israelites were being delivered from Egypt, led through the Red Sea, fighting off the enemies, they didn’t know that other nations were paying attention, but news of all these events was going around.
iii. When we as Christians face trails, we need to understand that how we deal with that trial is going to get talked about. The question is, what will they be saying about us. Notice that Rahab and the nations around were not talking about the Israelites as such, but what God was doing in and through them.
c. Not only did she hear what God had done, she believed that God could do something for her and her family. So she swears her loyalty to Israel for the protection of her family. The Israelite spies in return tell her, not to worry. They won’t kill her or her family and they tell her to hang a scarlet cord from the window to mark her location. I’d like to turn to Hebrews 11:31 – a verse in the section of Hebrews on faith; “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.” If you are interested, James also mentions Rahab in James 2:25.
II. As we enter Joshua 3 we find that Joshua and the Israelites pack up their things and head toward the Jordan River preparing to cross. They set up camp for the night and Joshua tells Israel that they must sanctify themselves. They were to separate themselves from common things and to focus on the Lord. This was going to be a spiritual battle; the people had to get prepared spiritually.
a. God tells Joshua in Joshua 3:7 - “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.” God says if the Israelites don’t believe that I am with you like I was with Moses, they certainly will by the end of the day.
b. In verse 3 Joshua’s officers tells the people: “When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.” We’re dealing here with a new generation of people, except for Joshua and Caleb of course. I could imagine the Israelites would be thinking to themselves, ‘how on earth are we going to cross this river when it’s in flood season?’ Chances are, their forefathers told them about what happened at the Red Sea, and what some call second hand faith, was about to become first hand faith.
c. I believe that here in Joshua 3 is one of the clearest examples of what real faith is. Read with me in Joshua 3:14-17 – “… when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; … as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.”
i. I want to ask, why did the water stop flowing? Did it stop flowing because the Israelites all stood next to the river and prayed that God would stop it? Did they say, ‘God, stop this river flowing where we are standing and we’ll walk across’?
ii. No, the water stopped flowing when they stepped out in faith into the water. In other words, faith has legs attached, they did not ask for a miracle first, they stepped out in faith and trusted God to make it happen.
d. I wonder if they continued walking when the water starting flowing in opposite directions? I would have stopped in awe of what God is doing and been mesmerized by the water. In any event, they did continue and all of Israel crossed through the Jordan River on dry land, which is miraculous in itself. As soon as the priests who were carrying the Ark step out of the Jordan, the water returns to normal.
e. I can imagine this new generation saying to themselves, ‘wow, this is exactly what our parents were talking about when they walked through the Red Sea.’
f. In Joshua 4, we see that God has other plans to make sure that not only this generation but generations to come will not forget this event at the Jordan River. The Israelites are told to select one man from each tribe and have them select a stone from the middle of the Jordan River to build a memorial where they would camp that night.
g. Then Joshua takes 12 stones and sets them up in the middle of the river where the priests stand. When the water is not in flood stage, these serve as a reminder of the power of God.
h. The 12 stones the men bore out of the Jordan Joshua set up at a place called Gilgal where the Israelites encamped that night. Joshua tells the children of Israel, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
III. In Joshua 5 we find that all the kings of the Amorites and Canaanites heard about the miracle of the Jordan River and their hearts melt in fear. While all the kings are freaking out, God orders Joshua to ‘circumcise the Israelites a second time.’
a. God orders this second circumcision because the people were a new generation who hadn’t been circumcised. If you remember this would be a reminder of His covenant with Abraham back in Genesis 17:9-14. Once all the circumcision is complete, the Israelites rest at this place called Gilgal and it’s there the Israelites observe Passover.
b. We read in; Joshua 5:11-12 - “The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.”
c. I imagine there were some very happy people that they could have a change of diet from the manna that has sustained them. This change from manna to produce signifies Israel’s relocation from the wilderness to the land promised to them.
IV. We also find in Joshua 5:13-15 while Joshua is by Jericho, he looks up and sees a man with a drawn sword. Joshua, not knowing who this is asks the man whether he is a friend or foe. The text says that this is the commander of the army of the Lord and he commands Joshua to ‘remove the sandals from his feet for the place where he is standing is holy.’ This is reminiscent of what happened to Moses at the burning bush.
a. As we enter Joshua 6 we find that Jericho is in lock down for fear of the Israelites. God gives Joshua very specific instructions, the Israelite warriors must march around Jericho for six days with seven priests blowing trumpets made from ram’s horns.
b. On the seventh day, the warriors are to march seven times around the city with the priests blowing on the trumpets. But when they make a long blast, then all the people should shout and the walls of the city will fall so Israel can charge forward.
i. In verse 10 Joshua gives orders to the Israelites to make no noise with their voice six days. The Israelites do as God commands and march around Jericho for six days. Now I wonder what the people of Jericho are thinking as the Israelites march around. I can imagine them thinking to themselves, ‘what are those crazy Israelites up to now?’ ‘Every day for the last six days all they’ve done is walk around our city blowing trumpets’.
ii. As day seven begins we can imagine them saying, ‘here they go again. But on the seventh day, Joshua gives a rousing speech and tells the Israelites that they cannot harm Rahab or her family. The Israelites must practice ‘herem’, which means they must destroy everything as a sacrifice to God and keep nothing for themselves, otherwise they will bring destruction to themselves.
c. Now if circling the city once a day was confusing for the city of Jericho, imagine how confusing day seven must have been? Seven times they march around the city then we read in; Joshua 6:20 - “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”
d. They walked around the city seven times and at Joshua’s command, the Israelites let their voices ring and the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. Once the walls are down, the Israelites charge and completely destroy Jericho. Then the Israelites make good with Rahab and bring her and her family out so they can be free among the Israelites.
e. This was all God’s doing and what a difference it makes when people just simply follow what God says. You are now living in times when people question the importance of baptism and living our lives the way God wants us to live. But wouldn’t it be so much easier if people just did what God asks? In Joshua 6:26 we find Joshua curses the land to make sure no one can build there again. And sadly as we know someone did try to rebuild Jericho to their own downfall. 1 Kings 16:34 - “In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.”
f. As a side note I was told that Joshua wrote a song. Something I did not know. It was titled “Good Vibrations”...
V. As we enter Joshua 7 we find that Achan, < a-can> the son of Carmi and a soldier in the Israelite army, deciding that he doesn’t want to participate in the ‘herem’ and keeps trinkets for himself. God saw this, after all, He is all-knowing and He wasn’t very pleased about it. Joshua sends spies into city of Ai and they report that just a small group of men should be able to halt the people of Ai, so Joshua sends a measly three thousand men.
a. But it seems as though the spies didn’t really do their job properly because thirty six Israelite soldiers are slaughtered while the rest run away. As the men of Ai rejoice, Joshua tears his clothes, prays before the Ark, and puts dust on his head along with the elders. Joshua asks God why He had the Israelites come to Canaan just to die and God answers by telling him to stand up and be a man. God also tells him that someone didn’t obey the herem.
b. The next morning, Joshua discovers, through a very careful process of elimination, that Achan is the reason why Israel has sinned. Achan confesses and is brought with all his possessions and sons and daughters, to the Valley of Achor <a-core>. The Israelites stone them to death and burn them along with their possessions.
VI. When we come to Joshua 8 we find the Israelites preparing for a rematch with Ai. God tells Joshua to take all of Ai’s treasures but this time they can keep some for themselves. The king of Ai and all his warriors come out to meet the Israelites in battle. Now the last time they met, the men of Ai and their king rushed out and chased the Israelites, leaving Ai virtually unprotected. God tells Joshua to set up an ambush behind the city. In verses 5-7 Joshua tells his people the plan is to again flee before the army of Ai and draw them from the city.
a. Look with me at Joshua 9:18-19 “Then the LORD said to Joshua, hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.”
b. God telling Joshua to stretch out his javelin pointing towards Ai, sounds a lot like what Moses did at the Red Sea in Exodus 14:15-16 when God asked him to stretch out his staff. At this point, the Israelites stop running and turn around and charge. The soldiers of Ai see their city burning and the other half of the Israelite army charging toward them.
c. The Israelites kill 12,000 men and women and hang the king of Ai outside the city ruins as a warning to not mess with God. Joshua then builds an altar to God on Mount Ebal just as it was instructed to Moses in Deuteronomy 27:4-7. And Joshua writes a copy of the Law of Moses on the stones in front of everyone.
VII. In Joshua 9 we find a whole bunch of kings from different regions all joining together to fight the Israelites. But when the citizens of Gibeon aren’t invited to join this group, they decide to trick the Israelites instead of fight them. They do this through the clever use of disguises and deceitfulness, pretending they have travelled for miles.
a. They explain to Joshua that they have heard of the God of Israel and wish to make treaty with the Israelites. Deuteronomy 20:10-15 basically says, that the Israelites must be more lenient with people who live far away than the ones they’re conquering at the moment.
b. Joshua accepts the treaty but he doesn’t ask for God’s wisdom on this matter, which is a lesson we all should learn. Three days pass and the Israelites finally discover the Gibeonites’ scam. The Gibeonites readily admit they’re a bunch of liars. They know the Israelites have to honor the treaty they all made because it was sworn before the God of Israel.
c. Isn’t it interesting that Israel’s enemy not only knew about God, but they also know His laws? Joshua, being an honorable man, doesn’t kill the Gibeonites, but rather has them become hewers of wood and drawers of water for the people.
VIII. In Joshua 10 we read about King Adoni-zedek <add-o-ni zed-ek> of Jerusalem, and he too hears about the sieges of Jericho and Ai, as well as the treaty of Gibeon, and becomes incredibly frightened. He calls the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon to make war against Gibeon and get back at them for making peace with Joshua, the kings agree and everyone sets up their war camps. The Gibeonites send word to Joshua that they are going to be attacked, and Joshua and his army go through the night to help out.
a. Joshua 10:11 - “As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, <ah-zek-ah> the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.” [paraphrased]
b. Now can you imagine this whole scene for a moment? Isn’t this again reminiscent of what happened in Egypt with hailstones? I mean these people had no chance against these large hailstones raining down from heaven. Not only are they running, not only are they getting killed by the sword, but they are being attacked from above.
c. I wonder if the Israelites even noticed that none of them were being hit by these hailstones, but their enemies were. If that wasn’t miraculous enough, Joshua goes on to ask for something even more miraculous.
d. Joshua 10:12-13 - “On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” < a-jal-on> So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day”.
e. This time, unlike the treaty with the Gibeonites, Joshua stopped long enough to ask for help from God. Some people question this miracle, but why can’t the one who created the sun, be able to stop it in its tracks for a day?
f. The Israelites return to Gilgal where they were originally camped and word reaches Joshua that the five kings are hiding in a cave at Makkedah. Joshua decides that if they want to hide, they can stay hidden and orders some people to roll a large stone in front of the cave to block the kings inside. The Israelites are then told to hunt down the remaining warriors and kill them. Then Joshua orders the stone rolled away from the cave, he also orders the kings to be brought before him and He kills all five of them and hangs them each from their own tree. When the sun starts to set, Joshua has those five dead kings tossed back into the cave and the cave sealed up again with stones.
IX. In Joshua 11 King Jabin of Hazor hears of the Israelites further conquests and gathers together another bunch of kings from different regions to fight Israel. God tells Joshua not to fear for all their enemies would be vanquished and so Joshua leads the Israelites and kills them all. Joshua personally kills the king of Hazor and burns him and the Israelites take all the goods they can find. Only two tribes make peace with Israel, the Gibeonites and some of the Hivites.
a. And look with me at Joshua 11:20 - “For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses.” [KJ]
b. We see the similarities between these people and Pharaoh in terms of God hardening their hearts. The war of Canaan is finally over, then Joshua gives all the tribes their allotment of land.
X. Joshua 12 is basically a retelling of the story and we read about how the Israelites occupied the southern land and then the northern land. Finally, in Joshua 13-24, the land is divided up and distributed among the tribes of Israel.
a. Some of the larger cities are placed aside for the Levitical priests who did not receive a portion of land, due to their duties. And lastly, Joshua dies but before he passes he gives one of the greatest challenges for all generations including our own.
b. Joshua 24:16, “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”.
CONCLUSION:
As I mentioned in one of my earlier lessons, Joshua succeeded in bringing the people into the Promised Land but he failed to bring them rest. Although the Israelite’s went on to live in Canaan, they had failed to completely drive out their enemies, as God had commanded them too.
In Numbers 33:55 God warned them and said, “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.” When you get into the Book of Judges you will see that the Canaanite’s certainly did give Israel a lot of trouble, they really were barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides.
Folks, God maintained Israel for the purpose of getting them into Canaan and if they were obedient they would receive rest. Ultimately the Messiah would come through them. As Christians while we are awaiting our exodus, God is maintaining us until we reach our ultimate rest.
2 Peter 1:15 - “Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance”. [KJ] Now Peter knew that his time on earth was soon coming to an end and he uses the word we translate as ‘decease’ which is actually the Greek word ‘exodus’.
Just like the Israelites made the exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land, we too, as Christians are getting ready for our final exodus, from this life to eternal life. But while we are waiting for that exodus, we must ensure that we continue to be faithful.
Israel failed to be faithful to God because they didn’t completely drive out the enemy from the land. The question each of us needs to consider is; what is the one area in our life where we have failed to drive something out which shouldn’t be there?
Colossians 3:5-8 - “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, {and} abusive speech from your mouth.” [NAS]
You see God knew that living the Christian life wasn’t going to be easy, so do you know what He did? He said, at our baptism, I’m not only going to forgive you from all your past sins, but I’m going to give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. One of the reasons we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit at out baptism, is to help us look like, sound like, think like, and live like Jesus.
Galatians 5:16 tells us to “walk by the Spirit”. Galatians 5:18 tells us to allow ourselves to be “led by the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25 tells us to “live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit.”
However the Holy Spirit will not stay where He’s not welcome, He won’t stay if He can’t influence our lives anymore. He lives in us to help us maintain faithful lives to God. The only people who are going to make it through their exodus to eternal life are those who hear the words of Jesus saying, ‘well done, good and faithful servant.’
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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.
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Reference Sermon
August 18, 2015
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Chardon, Ohio 44024