Pt. 7, The Biblical Story - The Battle Begins

 
The Battle Begins Pt. 7, The Biblical Story, Joshua 1-2; 6; 8; 10-11; 23-24 By Pastor Dan Kennedy © February 16, 2014 www.pastorkennedy.com A Battle is Never Easy From the standpoint of the Children of Israel going into the Promised Land, God did not wave a magic wand and miraculously give the Israelites their land. Their spiritual inheritance was not gained by instant victory. They didn’t immediately live a successful, prosperous, full and entertaining life and then be gathered to their fathers to once again enjoy the pleasures of heaven forever more. They faced a battle when they came into their land…and many battles were to come! There is something ominous about the words, “The Battle Begins”. A battle strongly implies: • Extreme Danger • Mortal Enemies • Struggle – it will be a battle to the death • Sorrow – sometimes extreme sorrow • Death or Potential Death will always be near • Wounding and potential loss of limb • Extreme fatigue • Loss of loved ones • Interpersonal conflict – different people will have a variety of ways to fight the battle • Every battle has untold tragedy and immense cost. Joshua Joshua had been given the enormous task of bringing some 2 ½ million or so people (Ex. 12:37) from wandering 40 years in the wilderness, into the land promised to them by God. o Joshua had experienced the cruel whips of slavery in Egypt along with the Israelites for 20-30 years, before Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. o Joshua had walked on dry ground with the rest of Israel, through the Red Sea and had seen Pharaoh and his army destroyed by God when the waters rushed back over them. o Moses had mentored Joshua during Israel’s transition from Egypt to the wilderness. o Joshua was a key leader with Moses when God at Mt. Sinai gave the Law. o Joshua had been chosen by Moses to be one of the 12 young leaders to spy out the land. He and Caleb were the only ones to give a positive report on their return, when God gave Israel their first opportunity to enter the Promised Land. But Israel rebelled because of fear and lack of faith, and had been sent back, defeated, into the wilderness. o After Moses died, Joshua was given the mantle of leadership for Israel, when they entered the Promised Land. The Battle for the Promised Land Begun God’s Promise to be with Joshua – these are verses which we often encourage new believers to memorize, helping them to understand how valuable God’s Word will be in their lives. Joshua 1:8–9 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” These verses reveal to those who trust in God, the great need to meditate on and make His Word part of us, without which we cannot succeed in the Christian Life. Obvious and Implied points rising from this passage: • There are many gods, but the Israelites were following the LORD their God. • The LORD their God had given them His Word in the Book of the Law • They were to learn, meditate daily on, and make God’s Word part of their being, in order for them to live a life pleasing to their God and for Him to bless them in their lives. • If the Israelites honored their God and followed His Laws, their God would be with them wherever they went. How important is this! Do we want to be blessed by God, no matter what the struggles of life may hold? We must be immersed in God’s Word…meditate on His thoughts and follow His instructions. We have enough pull from every side in this world. We must have the stability of knowing and doing what is right in God’s sight! If we follow God and His Word, He will be with us wherever we go! Israel then began to Fight the Battle to Enter the Promised Land God’s Word through Joshua, to Israel: “Go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.” Joshua 1:11b Joshua secretly sent in two spies to search out the land, especially around Jericho. (Joshua 2) The spies encountered Rahab the prostitute. She understood their dilemma as Israeli spies, hid them and spared their lives from the king of Jericho, asking for her life and the life of her family in return. After the two spies returned to Joshua and gave their report. Joshua prepared the Israelites to cross over the Jordan River. (Joshua 3-4) o The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord went before them, carried by the priests. o When the priests stepped in the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan River were cut off up river and stood in a heap. o All of Israel crossed over on dry ground. o Twelve men brought twelve stone from the middle of the Jordan River and placed them together on the other side, to be a memorial to those who were to come, regarding Israel’s crossing the Jordan on dry ground. The new generation of men who were 19 years or younger, 40 years previously, and who had not died in the wilderness because of their rebellion, were circumcised at their new camp in the Promised Land…as part of the Covenant God had made with Israel. (I believe God’s Covenant of Circumcision was a key reason why the Israelite nation did not loose their identity by being assimilated through intermarriage into the heathen cultures around them. Being a unique nation today, thousands of years later is a miracle! I believe this Covenant with God was so ingrained in the Israelite psyche, that a virgin Israelite woman would prefer death before intermarriage with an uncircumcised heathen man, and it would become obvious to men, in the course of daily life if one was not a true Israelite.) God gave Jericho to the Israelites after they had marched around it one time each day for six days, then seven times around it on the seventh day, being led by the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. (Joshua 6) o God brought the walls of Jericho down when all of Israel shouted. o Rahab and her family were spared and assimilated into Israel. (Rahab later married Salmon, the father of Boaz, who was also not afraid to marry the foreigner Ruth, from Moab. Salmon and Rahab became the great-great Grandparents to King David in whose line our Savior, Jesus Christ was born. Matt. 1:5-6) o Achan, in Joshua 7, disobeyed God by coveting and stealing gold and articles of clothing from Jericho, when all was to be destroyed or given to God. (Remember God had graciously waited for hundreds of years, before He allowed Israel to conquer the Promised Land and destroy the corrupt heathen whose cup of iniquity had become disgustingly full. Gen. 15:13) Because of Achan’s sin, Israel was defeated at Ai. When Achan and his family were judged, Israel continued on to conquer the Land that God had promised them. (Joshua 7) This is just the beginning of lessons learned from Israel entering the Promised Land, but since we are in a concise overview of these passages we will conclude our Joshua observations here. Joshua is a wonderful book revealing the work of God and His Power in the lives of His people. I would encourage you to read the book of Joshua thoroughly. How does this “conquering of the Promised Land” relate to us today? The Old Testament is often a grand “picture book” of example, shedding valuable light and insight on the mysteries of the Messiah who was to come in the New Testament. Let’s see how these struggles for the Promised Land translate into insightful pictures of how we should face the spiritual battles evident in the lives of Christians today. The New Covenant: The Battle for the Souls of mankind in the New Testament Following His Resurrection from the dead, Jesus, the Son of God and Messiah of the world, gave this information and instruction to His disciples as they entered the “Second Covenant” established by The Messiah, Jesus Christ, by His own Blood. His people were to enter into His Promised Spiritual Salvation and “Rest-in-Christ”. Why would this be “a fierce battle”? 1. The struggle will be with demonic spiritual forces intent on retaining their “ground” in the lives of those condemned to be slaves to sin, on the wide road to destruction, in Satan’s worldwide kingdom (Eph. 6:12) 2. When the only way to have fellowship with a Holy God is by trusting in the shed Blood and Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to be redeemed from our sins, people can take strong exception to anything being the “only way” to heaven…especially when they promote “their way”. This Promised relationship and walk with God would not come without a Spiritual Battle. His followers, His Children, His Church were to take this proclamation of repentance and the forgiveness of sins through His Blood, to all who were in the kingdom of darkness: Luke 24:46–47 46 and (Jesus) said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ (the Messiah) should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Jesus spoke this following His ministry, His suffering, death and resurrection, and the verse is pregnant with meaning: 1. There is a Messiah for the world to offer forgiveness of sins before a Holy God – “the Christ”. 2. This Messiah suffers (for our sins) and rises from the dead on the third day. 3. That repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all Nations. “The Battle Begins” from a New Testament perspective. Who Do We Follow in a World filled with Battles? What have been the options for those to follow from the beginning of time? We have choices in life of who we follow: 1. The Person of God: We choose to follow the Judeo/Christian God, The Creator God of Heaven. The God, whose Son is Jesus Christ, to be our God. Or, we choose someone or something else to be our god. Who do we follow if we do not choose to follow God? • What are some other choices that may or may not become an individual’s replacement for God? o Another god or spiritual source. o A person, a local group (like a gang or social club), a wider movement (a “moral cause” identity, religious or political group), or a national identification that becomes an individual’s primary loyalty and purpose in life. o Myself. o No one? We never really choose “no one”. There must be a reason for our existence – for humankind’s consciousness, reasoning, with relational communication. Even if we discount a Personal God, each of us reaches out for a spiritual source in some dimension. Sometimes we simply and selfishly internalize and prioritize ourselves as being the only one who matters. We become our own spiritual resource (as clumsy and unrealistic as that really is). Then we die. 2. The Power of His Word: We choose to obey what the Scripture teaches, not other traditions, or the teachings of other “holy books”, or that which seems to be politically correct at the time. Remember God’s instructions to Joshua regarding his leadership for Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land… Joshua 1:8–9 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” The War Zone Are we ever in a battle without knowing we are in a battle? The Scripture says that those who are born into this human world are born into a spiritual war zone: 1. We are born with depraved nature. Jeremiah 17:9 9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Romans 3:10–12 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 2. We are born into a world clearly controlled by the kingdom of darkness. Acts 26:18 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Matthew 4:16 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” Colossians 1:13 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 3. Our true battle is not with other humans (flesh and blood) in this world, but with powerful spiritual forces which have aligned themselves as the ultimate enemies against God and His Heavenly Kingdom. Ephesians 6:12–13 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Serving Two Masters? • Can we secretly follow God while acting friendly to the world? • Can we secretly follow the world while acting friendly toward God? Matthew 6:24 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. A Synopsis of Battle lines regarding “the Cross” – Folly vs. God’s Power 1 Corinthians 1:18 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Today we are discussing the practical parts of living the Christian Life in a wicked world, filled with powerful demonic spirits plotting and actively working toward our demise, intricately working together with the carnal world around us and our depraved nature within us! We need to make a choice. This choice was clear to Joshua thousands of years ago! Joshua 24:14–15 Choose Whom You Will Serve 14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” http://www.pastorkennedy.comshapeimage_1_link_0