Achan's "Little" Sin--Part I

So, in we go to the Land where we walk with Jesus and re-establish God's presence on earth, one saved soul at a time.  

We still pray for daily bread and God's provision in all that we do.  We drink of Jesus--the Water of life that will never run dry.

But the desert was preparation for the invasion of where God wants us to live, work and witness: the real world of "Canaan." 

Moses went into the desert to learn to shepherd.  He learned the patience and leadership skills necessary to herd animals; he transferred those lessons to herding an unruly group of former slaves.  He left the desert to confront where his enemy worked and lived: the Pharaoh in Egypt and the slavery that made the children of Israel forget who they were.  He then had to return to the desert with his new "herd"--they needed to learn utter dependence, every single day, on God's trustworthiness.

John the Baptist went into the desert, watching and waiting for the Lamb Who would take away the sins of the world.  He taught that how you behave is as important as what you believe, and simply considering yourself a child of Abraham was not enough.  Acting ethically towards others is the first step that shows a changed heart.

Jesus went into the desert, not to stay, but learn the ways and deceits of His enemy.  His enemy didn't hesitate to show up; he pulled out accusation, insinuation and Scripture to waylay the Son of God.  Jesus leaned on His Father every day for provision and walked out of the desert prepared for the long walk to the cross.

So, here we are, in the Land and ready to take it, although in Christ, it is already ours:  Our salvation is assured if we accept and then walk obediently with Jesus in our hearts.  

We get the lay of the Land from the Word.  It tells us of the human heart and its deceit; it tells of our nature and how we need a Savior; it extols the redeeming work of Jesus and it tells us to stand, armored up and ready to do battle.

First up from our biblical recon:  Our enemy knows we are coming.  Just as Rahab says, 

I know that the Lord has given to 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. (Josh. 2:9)

Does that mean that Satan just faded away when the stone rolled away and Jesus emerged victoriously?  No.  The people of Canaan in their fear of the Israelites rallied and fought back, knowing that their way of life was going to be under siege.  Satan is no different.  He comes out swinging as you enter this Land.  He will do whatever he can to drive you out and thus allow his numbered days on earth to be more fruitful without you around.  

You will face Sihons and Ogs: Satan will send out "kings" with a grand show of force, hoping to instill such fear in you that you beat a retreat.  Ever-changing cultural norms; repackaged and rebranded forms of sin; insinuation; accusation and the twisting of Scripture will be used with temerity by Satan's "kings"--people of influence and power, to push back on you being in the Land.  

You will have a Jordan to cross:  Not a measly creek, but a raging river--"flood stage" as the Word puts it.  You look at it and think, "I will be swept away by this."  Yes.  On your own power, you will be.  But if you humble yourself before God ("Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you," instructs Joshua in 3:5) and do as He instructs, the water will not drown you.  In Chapter 3 of Joshua, the Lord tells Joshua to have the priests carrying the Ark  of the Covenant to go into the Jordan river ahead of everyone else.  God always goes first in our endeavors.  The priests step into the water (picture this--into raging waters they go, carrying a rather heavy object on poles) and the waters will stop flowing.  The people then proceed to cross on dry ground.  

God will make a way for us to cross as well:  

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." (Isaiah 43:1-3)

This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
    who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
   “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
   See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland."  (Isaiah 43:16-19)

Precedent, pure and simple.  Joshua could remind the people of the Red Sea; Isaiah could remind the people of the Red Sea and the Jordan; what does the Holy Spirit remind you of?  Do you remember the times He made a way and you "crossed over" on dry ground with a song of hope in your heart?  Gather up those standing stones if you have not done so already, and set them up, to remind you of His faithfulness in the face of raging circumstances.  

You'll face "circumcision":  You'll endure personal pain and suffering, in other words.  You'll have to stay in camp until you are healed (Josh. 5:8).  You'll have to wait until it is God's will to move, and if you are not ready yet, wait.  God is patient.  

You will have a Passover meal:  You will feast on the Bread of Life, for Jesus and the Word will be your nourishment.  The manna is now gone--you will prepare the feast in the presence of your enemies, remembering how Jesus' death set you free. (Josh. 5:10-12)  You will eat gladly, even if your enemy eyes you with disdain.

You will face Jerichos:  heavily fortified habits; relationships; seemingly impregnable challenges that you alone could never surmount.  But notice in Chapter 5 of Joshua, Joshua meets the "commander of the Lord's army" before he takes on Jericho.  God always comes first.  

Jericho was "tightly shut up because of the Israelites." (Josh. 6:1)  Satan's kingdom looks very "tightly shut up," but no worries.  Be obedient to the process God wants you to follow, and the walls will come down.  But then, in the victorious ruins of Jericho, sin pops up.  It always does: 

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Prov. 4:23)

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matt. 15:9)

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jer. 17:9)

Jesus gives us a new heart, but our old nature is still in operation as we grow in Him.  Growth in Him means more of Him and less and less of my heart being Lord.  

So, in comes Achan in Joshua, Chapter 7.  He took items from the plunder of Jericho intended for the Lord, and stashed them, in total disobedience to what God had ordained.  Funny, how we think the rules, even God's rules, do not apply to us.  Achan probably thought,

Look.  There's a lot of stuff here.  God wants it all to be dedicated to Him, but a few things here and there will not be missed, right?

The only reason Achan's sin was made manifest was because Joshua and Co. went to Ai and got trounced.  Joshua was utterly devastated and fell before the Lord in complete confusion.  Up until now, the Lord favored the Israelites because they were obedient to the Lord's instructions.  

Why do we think we can cut corners and still be blessed by God?  It's not like Achan went and raped a Canaanite, or murdered one, or participated in their rituals.  He "merely" took a few items.  Right?

Look at what the Lord says,  

The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?  Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction." (Josh. 7:10-11)

Wow.  Is the Lord overreacting?  That's our human response, isn't it?  Just a "little" sin, or one that doesn't hurt anyone, or one that is consensual, or one that is modern and enlightened...isn't God overreacting?  Are we who call on His name overreacting?  Do we apologize for scriptural passages that dare to suggest that the culture is wrong?  Sinful?  Against God's Word?  How dare us!

But, God takes sin very seriously.  He asked His Son, His one and only Son, to leave the courts of heaven, come to earth and die a hideous death.  On that cross, He was weighed down in darkness with our sin...The darkness was so deep that He cried out, devastated that His Father had forsaken Him.  

That's how serious sin is.  Because our deceitful hearts lie, and tell us that it's a "little" sin; that God is making too big a deal of it and the culture is more enlightened on such matters, we reserve the cross for the BIG SINS.  But, that the Big Sins change with every generation, for every generation wnats to look more enlightened than the one before.  Pride is the driver for how we define dins. 

God made no such distinctions.  To walk victoriously in His Land, we have to confront sin in ourselves:

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matt. 7:3-5)

Planks and specks exist.  Even if we walk in Christ in His Land, we are still sinners, and thus need to be on guard to use the same Biblical standards to assess others' behavior as well as our own: 

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matt. 7:1-2)

The standard is Christ.  We don't minimize sin or reculturize it to gain favor with the culture. We know the Word and it humbles us.  We present it as God's words whose sole purpose is to keep us in fellowship with Him, by knowing what He desires.  We cannot please Him unless we know what pleases Him.  His Word does just that.  That's how we present it to others.  We don't blind them with its light; we show them God's path. 

So, the Lord asks Joshua to:

Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.' (Josh. 7:13)

Before we approach the sin in others, we must approach it in ourselves, standing in front of God, heart in hand and humbled by our deceitful heart: 

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin...

For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge...

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me...

 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51: 1-4, 10-12 & 17)

With that prayer in mind, as we confront the sin in the Land, we are able to act as Peter advised us:  

Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you. Make sure that your conscience is perfectly clear, so that if men should speak slanderously of you as rogues they may come to feel ashamed of themselves for libelling your good Christian behaviour. ( 1 Peter 3:1, Phillips)

Next time, we will stand and watch how Achan's sinful choice is dealt with and how Christ is our model now for such encounters.  

Sin is a compromise.  When we compromise, we are not alone in feeling sin's effects. 

Satan Knows His Days Are Numbered

No doubt the children of Israel thought that the Promised Land would be a cake walk.  They had already faced Pharaoh's army and watched the whole lot drown; was there anyone more powerful than Pharaoh?  Nope.

But it's interesting to find out Joshua sends out spies to assess the area around Jericho.  He didn't just walk the people into the Land, and figured he'd deal with whatever the Land threw at them when the time came.  Joshua wanted to be prepared when he faced his adversaries, even though God said the land was already theirs.  

Let's equate that to our new life in Christ.  If we do not disciple new believers as to what the Promised Land holds, they may lose heart.  We need to prepare them to face their adversaries with courage and conviction.  We need to teach them about prayer, Bible reading, fellowship and confession, to be sure, but do we teach them about spiritual warfare?  About how the sinful nature is at war with our new heart and at times the battle is fierce?  That walking in Christ includes carrying a cross--everyone's is different, but we all must carry ours?  That we must tether our joy not to our circumstances, but to Jesus?  That there are Jerichos in all of our lives, but God is more formidable than anything that Satan will throw at us?  That we need to be obedient to God's instructions if we are to see victory in our lives?

God tells Joshua to be "strong and courageous," (Josh. 1:6).  Why?  He will be leading the people into the Land that God promised their ancestors.  Our inheritance is Christ and we, as His people, are His:

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. (Eph. 1:18)

And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. (Rom. 8:17)

...and we have a priceless inheritance--an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. (1 Peter 1:4)  

God then tells Joshua:

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. 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. 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. (Josh. 1:7-9)

These instructions are no different for us.  We are to obey the Word of God, fulfilled in Christ, and keep our focus on God's promises.  That will give us courage and knowledge as we navigate life in the Promised Land. 

So, we go into the Promised Land with our Joshua, our Jesus, leading us.  

God does not want us to be ignorant of what lies before us.  Jesus spent a great deal of time apprising the disciples of what would face them after He was arrested and crucified.  He then gave them further instructions after His resurrection before He left them to return to His Father.

Joshua wants to apprise the people of what faces them not to instill fear, but faith.  God will be faithfully walking with them every step of the way.  So, out the spies go.  

Look at what Rahab says to the spies:   

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof  and said to them, “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. (Josh. 2:8-11)

The people in the Land already knew of the greatness of the God of the Israelites.   Wow.  The people didn't even have to say a word:  God's mighty acts on their behalf preceded them. 

Jesus' death, burial and resurrection precede our entrance into the Land, for Satan was put on notice by God's mighty acts on behalf of His Son:  

'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?'  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:55-7)

Satan knows his days are numbered.  His heart melted in fear when that stone rolled away from the tomb and a triumphant Christ walked out.  He knows his two "kings"--sin and death--were defeated by Christ and now his dominion over humanity is no longer inviolable.  Jesus is Lord, and He rules both in heaven above on and on the earth below.

So:  Plan to have Satan send out his army to meet us as we seek to walk in Christ in the land He has given us.  Satan will try to intimidate us with a show of force, but was was God's advice to Joshua?  Be strong, be courageous, know that we are in Christ because of what He secured for us on the cross, and  read the Book.  

As we explore Joshua and the parallel this book gives to our salvation journey, we will see what compromise does to our walk.  Achan compromised and the effects were far-reaching.  So is our sin, especially if we continue in it after we call ourselves the children of God.  It's our title, to be sure, but it is also our responsibility. 

 

Wake-Up Call: Jericho

So, into the the real world we go.  The desert built our characters by learning to rely utterly on God for our salvation and our walk in Christ.  Prayer, reading the Word, fellowship with others and time spent alone with God, all reflect the new Deuteronomy as we enter our next challenge: going in the Promised Land.  

Not that the desert isn't challenging:  Living each day, with our apportioned daily bread of life itself--will be hard.  Jesus said, 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt. 6:34)

That's desert life.  I see this desert life enshrined in the prayer model Jesus gave us:

This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.  

(Matt. 6:9-13)

 

We walk with God everyday, relying on His provision to help us live as He has called us to do in Christ:

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6)

As the pillar of fire and smoke guided the people in the desert, so too does the Holy Spirit guide us.

But wait!  How do we reconcile these desert-life verses with Ephesians 6:10-18?

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 

 

Well, we go from wanderers in God's grace to warriors in His power.  We gather God's grace to gathering His power and might for the days ahead.  We exchange the clothes of slaves for the armor of a warrior.  We stood on the shore watching God drown Satan's power over us to now stepping into the river to partner with Him:

 

 And the Lord said to Joshua, “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. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river... And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”

So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.  Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. (Joshua 3:7-8, 13-17)

 

The difference between the desert and the Promised Land is we are spectators in one and direct participants in the other.  And because we are priests in Christ, we go into the water first: 

 

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:

 

'See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.'  (1 Peter 2:4-6)

 

The Promised Land is equally a place of God's grace, provision and guidance.  The difference is we are assigned there to bring Jesus to people who desperately need Him.   

So, in we go.  Through the waters--a baptism archetype--we go in with a promise that is coupled with instructions requiring our obedience:

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 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 the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (Joshua 6:2-5)

The Promised Land is ours already.  We just need to go in and take it.  

The city is ours:  We will go in and bring in the Kingdom of God, to one soul at a time.  

Its king, Satan is vanquished:  Jesus triumphed over sin and death, the greatest weapons that Satan wields against us.

Its fighting men are no match for those who walk in Christ: We know that our battle is not the flesh, but the minions of Satan who try to harass us and overwhelm us with their supposed superior power.  

The conquering strategy is no different from this conquest of Jericho to our daily battle:  Jesus goes before us, His covenant promise of His presence and forgiveness sustains us and we shout of God's mercy to reclaim His prodigal people from sin and death.  

Let's see what the Promised Land has for us, now that the walls have come down.  We don't grab our lawn chairs, and hide in our churches and follow leaders who promise us that all will be well.  

My Bible tells me to armor up...to follow Christ alone... and know that evil doesn't give way easily, whether in our world or in us.  

But God is faithful. 

That's what faces us today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Real World: The Promised Land

We are exploring suffering in its larger context of our salvation.  The Prosperity Gospel, with its "heaven on earth now" mentality, is quite appealing.  Who wants to suffer? 

But we follow Jesus, and Jesus suffered.  So, how do we reconcile the "God wants you to live your best life" with the life Jesus lived?  He would not be the poster child for the megachurch with its rock star pastor, huge budget and a lifestyle that includes celebrities, jet planes and thousands of followers, who ride on every word coming from the pulpit.  

In fact, He really had very little: 

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Matt.8:18-20)

Even after three years of ministry, His worldly possessions were negligible:  

After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. (Matt. 8:35) 

His only possessions helped to pass the time for the soldiers who presided over His death. 

Using the Exodus as our model--the single greatest event in Jewish history--I am equating these events with our redemption from sin and death.  

So, we dwell in Egypt as slaves before our Deliverer appears.  Egypt is not all bad; every sin has a Goshen side to it--it's peaceful, lush and makes us forget how much in bondage we truly are.  But when that sin demands we make bricks without straw (sin's sting is now unmistakable and the consequences are unavoidable) we cry to God and He comes.

We watch God lead us out, having provided the Passover Lamb's blood to save us from death, and we stand on the far shore, watching Satan's attempt to drag us back drown in the mightiness of God.

God:  From start to finish, our Exodus story is of His works, His sacrifice and His love for us, while we stand amazed and blessed.  Then, into the desert we go.  We are a little disappointed at that, for we thought the Promised Land lies just yonder.  (The Prosperity Gospel, says in essence, "Pshaw on that desert!  God wants us to fast track into that land of milk and honey.  Deserts only exist if you don't have faith.")  Yonder seems so close. 

Is the desert with its challenges only ours if we lack faith?

God with His chosen children didn't think so.  Because it was in the desert He demonstrated that:

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deut. 8:3) 

Jesus gave those scriptures an amen when He quoted them to Satan during His desert trial. Oh, wait.  Jesus went into the desert, too, huh?  Right after His Father affirms Him as His beloved Son, and how Jesus being the Son meant that His words carried the authority and weight of God Himself.  

Jesus learned the lesson of the desert:  He must depend on God every day for every thing.  As we all know, in our flesh, (and Jesus was encased in our flesh) that is a difficult row to hoe.  Yes, Jesus is God, and no, He did not sin, but His temptations were a hard cross to bear:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Heb. 4:15)

He glorified God every day of His time on earth: He made God manifest and showed that the heavenly Father wants to walk alongside us.  So, Jesus left the desert and entered our world:  the world of battles, enemies, failures, fears and victories, when we put God first. 

We find our Joshua in Jesus.  He is our  Commander of the Lord's Army, and we stand on solid ground with Him:      

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Josh. 5:13-15)

It is no coincidence that this encounter occurred after Joshua and the people celebrated Passover with the produce of Canaan.  The manna ceased, but God's provision did not.  God's provision took on a new emphasis:  He would lead His people in the battles to secure the Promised Land.  

Yes, it was theirs, as is our salvation.

Yes, it was given to them because the blood of the Passover lamb saved them from death and destruction, as does our Lamb, and God honors His covenant to be our God, and we His people.  

But, as we will see as we peruse the book of Joshua, the Promised Land is filled with enemies.  While we dwell on this planet, the Land will need subduing and sin must be pushed back as far as we can.  And always, Jesus must be in the lead. 

Join me as we cross the Jordan into the real world--with fortified cities and enemies that would bring us again into slavery, if we let them.

 

The Desert Helps to Build His Army

The desert becomes the incubator of trust.  We learn to trust God for daily bread--enough to get us through the day, and trusting it will be there again tomorrow.  We don't hoard it--that's an act of not having faith in God's daily provision.

We may long for Egypt--at least there we knew the in's and out's of our bondage.  Our old life may have been empty, unfulfilling and meaningless--but at least we knew what to expect each day.

We follow Jesus--our Moses, our Deliverer, and He comes with His rod and staff to comfort and guide us and to save us from Pharaoh's army.  Satan and his minions always come after us when we leave the land of his reign, escape from his bondage.  His attack may start as whispers in our ears, causing us to doubt what God has done in our lives.  Or, he may conduct an all-out attack to make us doubt God, His salvation plan and our place as His children. 

But Jesus' death, burial and resurrection drowns Satan's supremacy over us.  We stand on the shore and watch the mightiness of God as His Son died on the cross to save us from death and then arose to bring us new life.

Then...into the desert we go!  The desert equally teaches us that God alone is sufficient for all that we need.  He provides the bread, the water and the guidance.  Our spiritual shoes do not wear out as we walk--Christ never leaves us nor forsakes us.

Go to Chapter 33 of Deuteronomy, where Moses, in his farewell address, reminds the people of how God is their king and will go before them. Moses speaks to each tribe, using a language that presages the warfare to come.  Each tribe has benefited from God's provision and now will enter the Land under a mandate: subdue the land and its people. Then, towards the end of his speech, Moses again reminds the people that God is the One Who will go before them and fight with them: 

There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, [Israel]
who rides across the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in his majesty.
The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
He will drive out your enemies before you,
saying, ‘Destroy them!’
So Israel will live in safety;
Jacob will dwell secure
in a land of grain and new wine,
where the heavens drop dew.
Blessed are you, Israel!
Who is like you,
a people saved by the Lord?
He is your shield and helper
and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
and you will tread on their heights. (26-29)

Huh?  Isn't God just going to enter the Promise Land, do a whole lot of smiting and then the people just stroll in and pull up a chair, as it were?  

This is the language of war, isn't it, and not of Club Med?

But don't we make the same assumption?  We stroll into the life that Jesus desires for us: ^"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)   A life filled with blessings, right?  With God always granting immediate answers to prayer, right? A life with no sickness, no heartache, no poverty, right?  A life that is truly Heaven on Earth, right? 

The very reason God led His people into the desert is the same reason we are led there as new Christians:

Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good. (8:1-5)

We are humbled knowing that only Jesus and not our good works or good selves could secure salvation; that He is our Provider, Guide and Defender; and He is trying to transform our thinking away from slaves to that of being His children--loved, cherished and needing correction.  How long are we to wander in the desert?  As long as God deems it necessary to do so.  We learn to live by every word that comes from His Word.  

But the desert is a way station.  The Promised Land is where sin reigns and is filled with the enemies of God.  His are ours, so in we must go.  All of creation groans because Adam and Eve chose their way over God's way.  The Promised Land is our planet, and it is subject to the Fall and its terrible consequences:  

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.(Romans 8:22-3)

So, while the Promised Land is not the desert, it requires warriors.  We are a people prepared by suffering and hardship yet always leaning in God to keep going.  The language of war given to Israel by Moses is given to us by Paul: 

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:10-12)

So, the desert fits us for battle in the real world--where we live, work and live our lives from day to day, following Jesus.  And as the years go by, do we begin to forget how great a sacrifice He made for us?  Perhaps this is one of the greatest battles we face: to never forget Who saved and provided for us: 

So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him...When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt... He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath. (Deut. 8:6, 10-14, 16-18)

We didn't earn it, free ourselves or rescue ourselves.  It was God alone.  But as we drink the sweet water that is Jesus and our souls are filled with the precious Word of God, it will be easy to lose sight of how bad we were and how good He is.  

But the battles await.  God allowed the sea to close and drown Pharaoh's army.  Satan was defeated by Jesus' death on the cross.  But this planet is filled with corruption, sin and the stench of its offenses rise to the nostrils of God.

We leave the desert to be His partners in conquest of this planet.  But just as Jesus suffered immensely when He took on this planet, so too, will we.  The battles here are bloody, harsh and sometimes unrelenting, but we enter the Land with our Joshua--Jesus' and Joshua's name mean the same thing:  "The LORD saves."

 

From the Desert to the Battle Ground

I would like to return to seeing how the story of Exodus is a beautiful metaphor for what we go through as Christians.  

We are slaves under a ruthless Pharaoh when we first cry out.  Pharaoh (Satan) and our sin nature have enslaved us.  These two work together to bring us a life that is not fulfilling and not focused on what really matters:  God Himself.  We are lost amongst the monuments of the world's values:  bigger is better; whoever has the gold makes the rules; don't question life because the idols you ask will remain eerily silent.  Your job, your President, your politics and your entertainment can't tell you who you are and what your purpose in life truly is.  

But what about that Goshen? We have times in our lives where life is good; we may not be completely  happy, but at least we are not totally unhappy either.  Then something or someone in our lives changes and our slavery becomes apparent.  We feel the rough edge of the society, our family or our conscience.  We romanticize the good old days--basking in the soft glow of our selective memory.  But Goshen is not the Promised Land.  We settled for second best or third best or tenth best--it doesn't really  matter.  We've settled.

Then comes our cry.  Our slavery stings, our emptiness hurts and the meaninglessness of it all makes us wonder, "Why am I here?"

Then God sends the Deliverer--our condition, our state and our bondage cannot be made better in any way.  Religion can't do it:  We can never be good enough to assuage our sullied and unsettled conscience.  Political activism cannot do it:  Our leaders, our system, our fellow activists will let us down in one way or another.  Our friends and family cannot do it: Our children, parents, or those we admire and enjoy are all too human, and like us, will blow it or disappoint us to the core.

So we cry out and God hears.  His Son is our Moses:  He sacrificed Himself to lead us out of bondage to the very Land we were supposed to be in:  The Land of Continuous Fellowship with God.  The Land where we are His people and He is our God.  No monuments, no kings, no works--just the beautiful whisper of His voice and the knowledge that we are loved beyond all measure.

So, we ask this Deliverer into our hearts and He resides as Savior (cleansed by His blood, we are forgiven and given a new life in Him) and Lord (He is our King, our Friend and the One to Whom we owe our life, love and obedience).

As we are delivered out of bondage, we watch our "gods" fall under His heavy hand of judgement.  There is nothing like our God.  Period.  The sea closes over the last hurrah of the world to drag us back and we stand on the far shore, amazed at how much this God is willing to do to lead His children out of slavery.

Next stop:  the character-building desert!  Yahoo!  

What?  You mean that I must depend on God for absolutely everything now that I am in Him?

Yes.  That's it exactly.

But think of it this way:  That was God's intention all along.  Trek back into time for a brief moment to Adam and Eve.  God's provision was everywhere in the Garden of Eden.  He gave Adam and Eve the supreme choice:  You can eat from the Tree of Life or you can eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  You can choose a life in Me or a life in you.  Knowledge from Me or knowledge from you.  A personal relationship with Me or an alienated one in you. Utter dependence on Me, or prideful dependence on you.  

Choose they did.

That's why, when Jesus comes to us, we are in Egypt.

So having chosen a life in us, knowledge derived from us, an alienated existence from God and a prideful dependence on ourselves, we need a Deliverer.  But, once we are delivered, we need our character to be re-molded and conformed to the image of Jesus:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-29)

How so? 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2) 

That's why He put the children of Israel in the desert and why we go in as well:  We must learn that this new life is lived in Christ alone.  We try to sometimes take over Jesus' Lordship (but our flesh will sabotage us every time) and we can't save ourselves (we wouldn't be in perpetual Egypt if we could).  So, every aspect of the Christian life is relying on Jesus for His sustenance, saving and security:

• He is the Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) to forgive our sins
  
• He is our Manna (John 6:35) to fed and nourish us
  
• He is the stricken Rock that gives us water (1 Cor. 10:4) to quench our spiritual thirst
  
• He is our Prophet (Deut. 18:15) to guide us through a difficult terrain

Done.  But here's where the suffering comes in.  The desert was harsh, to be sure, for the children of Israel, but they were safe from real battle.  Yes, they were attacked by the Amalekites, but those guys were defeated by Joshua (whose name in Hebrew is the same as Jesus'...coincidence?  I think not.)  

But, that attack was a foretaste of what was to come.  The Promised Land, where we dwell in the place God has chosen for us, is not empty.  It is not Heaven on earth--free of suffering, disease, pain or hurt.  Quite the opposite:  It is filled with all of these challenges and more.  It is filled with suffering.  It is filled with battles.  Constant battles.  Formidable enemies.  Skirmishes.  Theft.  Massacre.  

What?

Our life in Christ is not free of suffering as long as we dwell in the Promised Land on this earth.  We will suffer.  A lot.  

But so did Jesus.  

Next stop:  The Promised Land.  It is here that we rely on God to go before us, but He draws us deeper into a relationship with Him to go and enter into battle with Him.   If we partner with Jesus on this planet, we are partnering for warfare.  

Jesus is our Joshua.  But we never enter the war alone.  That is what we will explore next.

Our Modern Idols

Many years ago, a pastor told a story of a fellow pastor whose turn it was to preach that Sunday.  The man walked quietly up to the pulpit.  He held both sides of the podium in his hands, looked out at the congregation and said, "Jesus."

Then he sat down.

I could simply do the same thing today with my blog.  I could type "Jesus," and hit "publish."    He is what we need now, more than ever.

But, I would like to weigh in on last week--my heart is broken at what culminated at the Capitol.  Just seeing the people scaling the walls, the people moving angrily and the young woman climbing through the transom window in the Capitol, only to be shot in the back of the head and falling to the floor with blood streaming from her mouth, caused me great anguish.  

I was stunned to see a standing President behind bullet-proof glass while a riled-up mob surged below him.  It felt like anti-Christ moment.  "Anti-" in Greek means "against" or "instead of."  

NO, I do not mean THE Anti-Christ.  I mean, that at that moment, the adoration, acclamation, and admiration of the crowd and the arrogance, attitude and approval of the man standing there, should be for Christ alone.  

But this cult of personality is not just conferred upon our President.  It is conferred upon pastors.  How many people talk about, "I go to So-and-So's church!"  (I have heard this.)

How many people leave an area to follow a pastor to his next church? (I know of several.)

How many people will divide an existing church by leaving en masse to follow a pastor to his new church? (I saw this.)

Why have churches become dynastic in who leads them after the founder dies, with the son taking over (who may or may not be called) because he can continue the brand?  (I know of several of churches like this.)

Why, when scandals arise, the boards of these churches are stymied in their efforts to exert discipline--because they know that if the pastor goes, so does the church?  Or they try and the pastor responds with a victim mentality instead of humbling himself and accepting discipline?  (This has happened.)

Why are people so loyal to a human being?  Whether it's a political leader or a pastor, the results are the same:  People are willing to defend the person no matter what (it's his enemies that are causing this!) or they resist anything that gets in the way of their need for this person.  If disturbing information, bad behavior, inflammatory rhetoric or questionable ideas/theology come forth, people defend this leader--why?  To quote a friend of mine who attends a church that has not taken enough steps to protect the congregation (the pastor now has Covid, sad to say): "I need it."

There it is:  "I need it."  We may love Jesus, but we follow our pastor.  We pray to Jesus but when our pastor wants to do something, go somewhere or start a project, we defer to him, even if we have misgivings, because, after all, he's the pastor and is tight with God, right?

We love Jesus but we bask in the warmth and charisma of our pastor.  We love the Word of God but allow the pastor to wrestle, interpret and show us its meaning each week.  He meets a need in us:  to be loved, respected and made to feel special. 

So many men in lives have let us down--fathers especially, so a charismatic pastor or president can take that role in our lives and fill a need for male approval.  We love that this person knows our frustration, our pain and our longing.  Or so we believe. 

We love Jesus but want more and more of this person--he has become an "Instead of Christ," i.e. an anti-Christ.  

Jesus taught of wolves in sheep clothing.  The wolves know the sheeps' need to belong, to be safe and cared for by someone who is greater than they. It is interesting that Jesus was speaking of leaders, of false prophets, who come to exploit the natural needs of the sheep:

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matt. 7:15-20)

Ultimately, the truth will out and that's when the sheep face a decision:  Do I ignore the rather lupine behavior of this sheep, make excuses and defend him, or do I seek God and His wisdom about this person?

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:5-8)

Now, I have a choice:  Do I leave or stay?  Do I remain loyal or do I step away?  John gives us the answer: "Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts." (1 John 5:21 NLT) 

In the Greek, it is translated: "keep yourself from idols."

In other words, stay away from people or things that have become "Instead of Christ."

No one wakes up and says, "I am going to follow a wolf.  I am going to replace my loyalty to Christ with a loyalty to a leader.  I am going to stop questioning this leader and allow him to think, feel and believe for me, because I feel so complete in his presence.  His leadership is helping me to be a better person.  I can't leave or be disloyal."

The process is insidious.  The charismatic leader will tap into us deeply, make us feel special and when issues arise, we defend that person, angry that others do not see him the way we do. 

In America, we seem to be gravitating more and more to strong, charismatic leaders who speak for us, feel for us, and make us feel that he gets us. 

We love Jesus, but when the push comes to shove, we turn on our TV, or go to church, looking for answers and grabbing hold of the words coming from that leader.

We should be sitting quietly with Jesus, reading His Word and asking Him for wisdom.  Once He dispenses it, we need to obey, even if that means standing alone.

Let us not demean our God by nodding to Him on our way to following an idol.