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Showing posts with label Joshua 5:13-15. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joshua 5:13-15. Show all posts

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Whose Side are You On? part 1 - Joshua and Jericho

Introduction
When we go through tough times, we want to know God is on our side.  Whether we’ve lost our job, are facing a serious illness, have a financial problem, or a spiritual crisis, whatever the problem is, we want to know God’s got our back.  That’s why people are more likely to pray when they face serious troubles.  And they ask others to pray for them.  Even self-proclaimed atheists start praying when they’re in a serious crisis.

Over the next two weeks, I want to show that we’ve got it all wrong.  We’re looking at life, our problems, and our relationship with God all wrong when we go begging Him to fight our battles.  Now stick with me on this.  Don’t tune me out just yet.  You’ll see what I’m saying if you hear me out.  And maybe, just maybe, it could completely change the course of your life, for the better—maybe even your eternity.

This will be a two part series.  We will look at two different stories about two different men getting ready to enter two different cities.  One story is from the Old Testament—Joshua and the city of Jericho.  The other one is from the New Testament—Jesus and the city Jerusalem.  Today, we will look at the Old Testament story of Joshua and the city of Jericho.

Background
·       Joshua took over leadership of the Israelites after Moses died.  You may remember the Israelites (AKA the Hebrews) were slaves in Egypt.  They cried out to God to save them, and God who had promised their ancestor Abraham He would bring Abraham's descendants into a land "flowing with milk and honey" heard their cry.  God sent Moses to lead them out of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land.  God chose the Israelites to be is special people--a royal and holy priesthood designed to lead all the people of the world toward God.  However, the Israelites were a stubborn, rebellious, and faithless people.  They constantly complained and they did not trust God could defeat their enemies (the Canaanites who inhabited the Promised Land).  Even Moses got frustrated with God.  Therefore, God decreed that no one from that first generation of Israelites would enter the Promised Land, except for Joshua and Caleb (who were the only one's who proved they had faith in God).  The first generation of Israelites left Egypt and wandered in the desert for forty years until everyone except Caleb and Joshua died.  Then, Joshua took over leadership of the Israelites.

Now, there are some interesting facts you need to know about Joshua’s name.  The Jewish way to pronounce Joshua is Jeshua.  And Jeshua is another way to pronounce the name Jesus.  Joshua means Yahweh saves (I.E. it means God Saves).  Jesus also means Yahweh saves (IE Jesus means God Saves).  (Yahweh is the name God gave when Moses asked for His name.  It means simply, I Am.)  So Joshua and Jesus are the same name (sort of like Elizabeth and Lisa and Liza and Beth are all really the same name in English, just said differently).

Joshua is leading the Israelites into the Promise land, but the Canaanite fortress of Jericho stands in the way.  God promised the Israelites He would destroy the Canaanites because of their sin and give their land to the Israelites.  That sounds pretty harsh to us today.  We wonder, "Is that really the way God is?"  We have to have faith God is holy and righteous and just and merciful and good.  And when we understand some things about the Canaanites, we begin to see God was right to destroy the Canaanites.  Let's consider the character of the Canaanites.

First of all, the Canaanites knew about the God of the Bible but rejected Him in favor of false gods.  As Romans 1:21 says, “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God…”  When they didn't like living the way God commanded, they rejected God and invented their own pretend gods that would only tell them things with which they agreed.  We see this kind of attitude in our day and age all the time.  You ask someone today, "What is God like?"  They will say, "I think God is like..." and they will give you their opinion about their version of what God is like. Now, nine times out of ten, their opinion of God is not based on Scripture.  It's only based on their own ideas or the ideas they've heard from others that they like.  People who base their ideas about God on their own ideas or public opinion generally dismiss stuff that doesn't fit with their ideas about God.  In essence, this is just inventing a god according to your own imagination.  And if you go down that road long enough, you end up with some truly crazy and sinful and perverted ideas.  But God said His name is Yahweh.  As He told Moses, "I Am Who I Am".  We don't get to decide who God is.  Our opinions about Him don't change who He really is.  He just is.

The Canaanites tried to make God into who they wanted Him to be and it led them into all kinds of terribly sinful behavior.  Specifically, they worshipped false gods and idols.  Adultery and sexual promiscuity was rampant in their society.  The gods they invented actually encouraged sexual promiscuity as part of their worship.  They hired prostitutes to have sex with worshipers in their temples as part of the worship service (now there's a perverted way to increase worship attendance!).  This is how perverse their view of holiness had become!  It went further.  They accepted homosexuality and even incest and bestiality!  Now you may wonder how anyone can think having sex with animals (beastiality) is acceptable.  That's just gross!  Well, guess what: fifty years ago people in America thought homosexuality was evil and disgusting; however today, homosexuality is increasingly accepted in our own society.  When you start going down the road to making god and morals according to your own designs, you end up with incredibly wicked behavior and people think it is normal and good and even holy.  The Canaanites were sexually immoral and they raped and murdered.  They even sacrificed children as part of their worship because they thought that's their gods wanted.

But Yahweh is good and holy and righteous and just and patient and merciful.  He is not quick to dish out punishment by destroying a whole people.  The Canaanites' sins had continued for nearly 700 years--from the time of Abraham all the way through to Joshua.  And in 700 years, you know God sent many people to call the Canaanites to repentance, but they would not.  So you see, God would absolutely have redeemed them if only they would have surrendered and turned from their sins and turned to God, but they would not.

Furthermore, the Canaanites knew what God could do and that His people were coming to bring
judgment for their sins. In Judges 2:11, we read about some spies Joshua sent into Jericho.  While there, the spies met a  Canaanite prostitute named Rahab who explains, “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 the two kings of the Amorites...”).  So, the Canaanites in Jericho knew God was powerful and He was sending His people to destroy them, but they still would not surrender.  God was willing to save those who surrendered and repented, but most would not (except for a few exceptions like Rahab).  And it's quite revealing to see that God would save a person like Rahab.  Rahab was a prostitute.  So it's not like God was saying, "They are too far gone, what they've done is just too bad and unforgivable."  No.  God was willing to save Rahab.  And the fact that Rahab's great, great, great, great... grandson is Jesus tells us God was willing to save and honor anyone who turns to Him.  Unfortunately, few of the Canaanites did.

Joshua faced formidable resistance.  Jericho was a fortress with walls six feet thick and as tall as ten stories! And it was full of armed soldiers who would rather fight to the death than surrender and give up their sinful lifestyle.  Think about the obstacles in your life that seem like an impenetrable fortress as you read the interesting thing that happened to Joshua as he face Jericho.

Joshua 5:13-15
13 When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”
14 “Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”

Actually, the original Hebrew (according to Rev. James Michael Smith) is actually just “No.”  Joshua says, "Are you friend or foe?" and the commander of the Lord's army simply replies, "No."  It's like the commander of the Lord's army is saying, "You aren't even asking the right question.  No."

At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”

Joshua is a man of God.  He knows his place.  “I am at your command.  What do you want me to do?”  This is the right attitude when you come face to face with the commander of the Lord’s Army or any true representative of God.

15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.

Facing Jericho
Joshua had a monumental task ahead of him. Jericho was not just a city. It was a fortress. When you find yourself facing your own Jericho, what do you do?  Most of us want to make sure God's on our side.  Abraham Lincoln was a truly godly man--perhaps one of the godliest presidents America has ever had in one of the most difficult times in the nation's history.  The northern states and the southern states were at war over the issues of slavery and states rights.  The southern states were praying, "Lord, help us defeat our enemies in the south!"  The southern states were praying, "Lord, help us defeat our enemies in the north!"  It is reported that Abraham Lincoln once said, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”

We want to make sure God is on our side. Maybe that’s the wrong attitude. Maybe, we ought to make sure we are on God’s side, because God’s side is always right and will always achieve victory in the end.

Make Sure You’re On God’s Side
Well then, how do you make sure you are on God's side?  First of all, you have to surrender.  Notice what Joshua did when he recognized he was face to face with the commander of the Lord's armies.  He immediately surrendered.  He went from a demanding attitude to falling on his face in reverence and saying, "I am at your command.  What do you want your servant to do?"  When we come to the realization that God truly is Lord and He made us for His purposes, the very first act should be our unconditional surrender.  We must fall on our face before Him and say, "I am at Your command.  What do you want Your servant to do?"

Second, we must walk humbly with our God every day so we stay in tune with His ongoing commands and will for our lives.  How do we do that?  First, we go off by ourselves to be alone; and then we realize, we are not really alone at all.  God is with us.  Perhaps that is how Joshua was able to notice the commander of the Lord's army in his midst.  Joshua was a man with the tremendous responsibility of leading thousands of people.  He was under tremendous stress.  Perhaps he stepped away for a moment to be by himself and in doing so realized he was not alone at all.  How about you?  Do you ever step away from the hussle and bussle of life long enough to be alone and realize you are not really alone at all?  God is with you, right there.  And then we begin to know what He wants of us.  We can all find a little time to be alone--even if it's just a few minutes while we drive alone in the car and we turn off the radio and just drive in silence.  Or maybe it is when you are alone in the bath or in the shower.  Make that intentional time with God.

And if we are going to stay in tune with God so we make sure we are always on His side, we need to rediscover the spiritual disciplines our culture has so often forgot--prayer, fasting, meditation.  You know, Jesus said, "When you fast..."  He didn't say, if you fast; Jesus assumed His followers would fast.  But how many people in our day and age fast as a regular spiritual exercise?  We need to rediscover this discipline.

And we must immerse ourselves in God’s Word.  We must stop basing our ideas about God on our own personal opinions and the things we heard from others.  God has told us who He is and what He's done and what He wants us to do.  It's all right there in the Holy Bible.  Most people in America own multiple copies of the Bible, but they do not read them.  We are biblically illiterate.  We must read, study, and obey God's Word in the Bible.  This should be a regular part of our daily habits.  It must be if we are to stay in tune with God and make sure we are always on His side.

And when we know we are on God's side (not that He is on our side), we will worship and serve Him.  We will make the Kingdom of God our first priority and we will live and die for God, however He commands.  We will join with Joshua who said, "I am at Your command.  What do you want Your servant to do?"

We must change our whole perspective on life.  Jesus said, “You cannot serve two masters.  For you will either love the one and hate the other or you will hate the one and love the other."  So we must ask the question in every area of our life.  Is God my Lord or not?  Is He first?  We often say He is Lord and He is first, but then we find we are really serving some other lord or some other god or some other thing or ourself, and God is only tagged on as something extra.  He is not really our master.  We only want God to be on our side.  And He says, "No.  I am Yahweh.  I Am Who I Am."  

What’s Your Jericho?
From time to time in life, we all come up against a Jericho and we want to know, "Is God on our side?"  It's time we stop thinking that way.  It's the wrong question.  Instead, we must strive to be on God's side.  For God is always right and good and holy and just.  And in the end, God's side always wins.  I want to be on God's side.  Don't you?

Check back with me next week as we look at another story about another man in another time who was about to enter another city--Jesus and the city of Jerusalem on the day Christians celebrate as Palm Sunday.