7/19/08
Joshua Part 2b: From
Joshua 4:4-7
Memorial Stones
“And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed
over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: “Take for yourselves
twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying,
‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan,
from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over
with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’” Joshua 4:1-3
The number 12 is
significant. In the Bible it represents
God’s kingdom, both on earth and in heaven.
There were twelve tribes of
God’s people have
just finished being DISCIPLINED by God for disobedience. Discipline is never fun, is it. But God is faithful to us. And He will discipline us when we truly need
it, so we can learn to trust Him more fully, to love Him more completely, and
we can learn to see sin for what it is, and learn to HATE sin.
But notice—after
God disciplined His people, HE WAS READY TO ROLL!! THE DISCIPLINING WAS OVER NOW, AND IT WAS
TIME TO EXPAND THE
THE NEXT TIME YOU
ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF BEING REBUKED OR DISCIPLINED BY GOD, JUST REMEMBER—YOU ARE
ON THE VERGE OF SOMETHING POWERFUL!! YOU
ARE ON THE VERGE OF SOMETHING TREMENDOUS!! GOD IS ABOUT TO EXPAND HIS TERRITORY—HIS
KINGDOM—IN YOUR LIFE, AND IN YOUR PART OF THE WORLD!!
LISTEN—KINGDOM
EXPANSION ALWAYS FOLLOWS DISCIPLINE & REPENTANCE!! YOU MAY THINK THAT YOU ARE A LOSER, AND THAT
YOU ARE NOT EVEN GOOD ENOUGH TO BE IN CHURCH.
BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW SOMETHING: IF YOU ARE HERE RIGHT NOW, LISTENING
TO OR
God can use
people who know they’ve failed. Amen? In our weakness, He is strong.
God was
proclaiming to His people and to the world that HIS KINGDOM WAS ON THE MOVE,
AND NOTHING WAS GOING TO STAND IN THE WAY!!
Twelve stones
from twelve representatives of God’s people.
Each tribe, each family line, represented. Nobody left out. When that monument of twelve stones was set
up in Gilgal, it was a collective statement of the ABSOLUTE POWER OF ALMIGHTY
GOD!!
When those
priests carrying the Ark of God came up out of that river bed, and the rushing
waters of the
Now, take note of
the instructions that God is giving the fathers of
“that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time
to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall
answer them that the waters of the
Then he spoke to the children of
Now, there are a few things I
want to make sure that you see here.
First of all, it was important to God that successive generations would
be taught about the providence and power of God. That’s what these stones represented. They cried out the history—the miraculous
history—of God’s protective power on behalf of His people. Generation after generation were to be taught
these stories; this history.
In addition, it was the
FATHERS who were supposed to be the ones to teach their children these stories
of God’s power. It was the FATHERS who
were to lead their children into a saving relationship with God. It was the FATHERS who were to MODEL for
their children obedience and faithfulness to what God required. FATHERS ARE IMPORTANT!! THERE’S NO
IF YOU ARE A FATHER, YOU ARE
THE MAN. YOU ARE IT!! NO ONE ELSE CAN TRULY TAKE YOUR PLACE!!! IF YOU DROP THE BALL IN YOUR CHILD’S LIFE, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO PICK IT UP!! IF YOU ARE A FATHER IN
And that it is why it was
important for these fathers in
A concerned relative or
neighbor can talk about their observations, and they can encourage or gripe or
even make things worse at times, while trying to be helpful.
BUT WHEN A FATHER TALKS ABOUT SOMETHING TO A YOUNG
PERSON, HE TALKS ABOUT THE LESSONS
HE’S LEARNED BECAUSE HE MESSED UP AND DIDN’T DO THINGS GOD’S WAY.
WHEN A FATHER TALKS, HE TALKS
ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO FEAR
THE LORD, BECAUSE HE IS DREADFUL AND POWERFUL AND TO BE HELD IN AWE.
WHEN A FATHER TALKS, HE
INSTILLS IN THAT YOUNG PERSON, AT TIMES IN A SINGLE BREATH, BOTH THE GLORY OF FOLLOWING GOD, AND THE DESTRUCTION THAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DON’T.
A FATHER CAN REACH BACK WITH
ONE LONG ARM, AND GRASP HOLD OF THE GOD OF THE PAST, AND WITH THE OTHER LONG
ARM, GRASP HOLD OF THE PLACE HE WANTS HIS CHILDREN TO BE, AND TAKE BOTH OF
THOSE L—O—N—G ARMS, AND WRAP THEM TIGHTLY
AROUND HIS CHILDREN IN A GREAT BIG BEAR HUG!!
THAT’S WHAT A FATHER CAN DO.
A FATHER CAN DEMONSTRATE THE
BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS THAT IT TAKES TO BE A GODLY MAN IN A FALLEN WORLD.
A FATHER LEADS BY EXAMPLE.
A FATHER TRAINS THE LEADERS
OF TOMORROW, AND THEREFORE RULES THE WORLD.
A FATHER CAN TELL IT, LIVE
IT, SWEAT IT, BELIEVE IT LIKE NO ONE ELSE.
YOU CANNOT REPLACE A FATHER.
The Watching Nations
The third thing we can learn
from these stones is that they were a WITNESS TO THE WATCHING NATIONS. THEY WERE A TESTIMONY TO THE GLORY AND POWER
OF GOD!
Remember,
Fear can be a good
motivator. Reality is a great
motivator. Sometimes we are so steeped
in our sinful ways that we are quite comfortable, thank you. Sometimes fear is the only way God has left
to get our attention, when all else has failed.
Amen?
It’s true. When the still small voice gets hushed, and
the convictions of the Holy Spirit get pushed to the side, and our basic sense
of decency is thrown out the window, IT’S TIME FOR A LITTLE FEAR!!
A LITTLE FEAR CAN GO A LONG
WAY!! A LITTLE FEAR CAN START MOVING US
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!! YOU KNOW IT’S
TRUE. A LITTLE FEAR IS SOMETIMES THE
ONLY THING THAT WILL JAR US OUT OF
OUR SIN!!
“God is greatly to
be feared in the assembly of the
saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him.” Psalm 89:7
God will use fear
when necessary, in order to save His people from themselves, or save them from
their enemies. And He had placed that
fear in the hearts of the citizens of
“that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD,
that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4:24
“So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on
the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were
by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from
before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their
heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the
children of Israel.” Joshua 5:1
The Hebrew here
in this verse literally says, “their courage failed utterly.” The children of
It’s a good thing
to fear the Lord, wouldn’t you agree?
Sometimes we have to “fear” in an “afraid” sort of way. But if we choose to follow God, that kind of fear
turns into a healthy “respect”, a godly “admiration” for God. We need a little more fear of God these
days. Our generation has gotten away
from the notion of fearing our Creator.
Their more into fearing the Cloverfield monster, or terrorists, or whatever. We’ve forgotten that THERE IS NOTHING MORE
FORMIDABLE, MORE FEARFUL, THAN THE LIVING GOD.
Obedience is a powerful
witnessing tool!
Obedience is so unusual in a
fallen world, that when we make a choice to obey God in our lives, PEOPLE
NOTICE! BECAUSE IT’S DIFFERENT!! BECAUSE
IT’S REFRESHINGLY UNSELFISH!! BECAUSE IT
TAKES GUTS TO STAND OUT!!
BUT LET ME TELL YOU
SOMETHING—IT’S GONNA TAKE A LOT OF GUTS TO STAND OUT IN THESE LAST DAYS!! GOD IS CALLING US TO STAND OUT!! TO TAKE A STAND!! AND WHEN YOU TELL YOUR FRIENDS THAT YOU
SIMPLY ARE NOT GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR WICKEDNESS ANYMORE, BECAUSE YOU’RE
A GOD-FEARER, THEY WILL NOTICE!! YOUR FRIENDS WILL NOTICE!! YOUR FAMILY WILL
NOTICE!! YOUR WIFE WILL NOTICE WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO OBEY AND STAND OUT!! YOUR HUSBAND WILL NOTICE WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO
OBEY AND STAND OUT!! YOUR KIDS WILL
ESPECIALLY NOTICE!!
God provided the miracle,
BECAUSE ISRAEL OBEYED!! GOD PARTED THE
RIVER
WHEN
WE ARE READY TO OBEY HIM
And the watching people all
around us will take notice of our obedience, and either be DRAWN to God, or
FURTHER REPELLED from God.
Let me explain.
You see, when we see
obedience in action before us, it’s like coming to a crossroads in our
lives. Obedience in action is like a
GIANT SIGN that says boldly, THIS IS THE
WAY, WALK YE IN IT. We can follow
the lead of the obedient one, and inherit life eternal, and see the kingdom of
God expand in our lives with great power.
Or we can choose to go the other way—the way of disobedience, and continue to ROT FROM THE INSIDE OUT, AND GET
FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM GOD, AND NEVER, EVER SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD
HAPPEN IN OUR LIVES, AND NEVER, EVER INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE!!
That’s the power, the
efficacy, of ONE OBEDIENT ACTION. QUITE
SIMPLY, IT POLARIZES PEOPLE SPIRITUALLY. IT SETS THINGS IN MOTION, OBEDIENCE.
When the citizens realized
that this HUGE nation of people—the same ones who had crossed the Red Sea—the
same ones whom they had been laughing at for 40 years—when these citizens of
Jericho realized that this same nation WHO HAD THE GREAT BIG GOD had now
crossed the Jordan River—
THEY WERE SCARED!
And when they came up to that
road sign at that crossroads of obedience, guess which way they turned? They turned in the direction of disobedience
and death.
All except for Rahab. Rahab came up to that same crossroads of
obedience, and she decided she wanted to be on God’s side. She chose the way of obedience. She saved her family too. We can save our families through obedience as
well. And we can destroy our families
and seal their doom through our disobedience.
Circumcision: Significance
The first thing that happens
after the people of God get to their first campsite, Gilgal, is that the Lord
commands Joshua to have all the men circumcised. The men had been circumcised before in
For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness,
till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were
consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD—to whom the LORD
swore that He would not show them the land which the LORD had sworn to their
fathers that He would give us, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom
He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not
been circumcised on the way. Joshua
5:6-7
Disobedience had
led to destruction. And now the new
generation of males were being circumcised, prior to the battles that lay
before them.
Now, it’s
significant that this was happening prior to the battles. Circumcision was a sign that you were
consecrated to God; that you were one of His people. God chose as His symbol of man’s dependence
upon Him and refusal to trust his own wisdom and strength, CIRCUMCISION.
What better way
to remind head-strong, stubborn males, that they derived their strength, their
purpose, their wisdom, and their leadership from GOD. What better way to teach males SERVANT
LEADERSHIP, than to pick as a symbol of that servanthood something RIGHT AT THE
CORE OF ONE’S MANHOOD. You follow me?
This was not a
mere exercise in cleanliness, or hygiene.
This was not primarily a ritual, or a “best practice” for the medical
community in
And that’s what
circumcision means.
Courage to
lead. Courage to guide. Courage to suffer. Courage to endure pain. Courage to surrender. Courage to admit that you were wrong. Courage to start over.
And by the time
these men of
And sometimes it
would involve swords, and sometime it would involve shouting at the top of your
lungs, and sometimes it would involves standing still watching the Captain of
the Host lead on.
BUT IT WOULD ALWAYS INVOLVE SURRENDER TO GOD’S WILL
AND MAJESTY. ALWAYS.
Through the crossing of the
AND I SAY TO ALL MEN PRESENT HERE TODAY, IF YOU ARE
WILLING TO BE THAT MAN WHO IS CIRCUMCIZED IN HIS HEART, WHO IS SURRENDERED IN
HIS HEART TO THE LIVING GOD—READY TO STAND AND BE COUNTED AMONG THE HOST OF
ISRAEL AS LEADERS OF GOD, MEN OF GOD!!— THEN STAND WITH ME TODAY, NOW, AND SAY
YES, GOD, I SURRENDER EVERYTHING I AM TO YOU TODAY, SO THAT YOUR POWER AND YOUR
GLORY AND YOUR DESTINY AND YOUR PURPOSE CAN FLOW THROUGH ME!! STAND WITH ME IF YOU ARE THAT MAN.
God bless you for
standing. Only you and God know if you
are truly serious. But if you are, my
brother, you are about to be used of God to dismantle the walls of sin and
rebellion in your world, stand in the way of God’s kingdom!
If you are serious in your
standing, in your surrendering, than you are about to witness not only
transformation in your life, but in the lives of your children, in the lives of
your family, of your church, of your community as well!! BECAUSE
THESE CHILDREN, THIS FAMILY, THIS CHURCH, THIS COMMUNITY, WILL NOT DO IT
WITHOUT YOU!!
You may be seated.
Captain of the Host’s Appearance
The very next thing that
happens, after the men of
When Jesus functions as
Commander of the Lord’s army, and fights for His people, He is referred to in
the Bible as Michael, the Prince of the Host.
He does so in the book of Daniel.
There He fights against the devil and the enemy nations, on behalf of
And it
came to pass, when Joshua was by
So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now
come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What
does my Lord say to His servant?” Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to
Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is
holy.” And Joshua did so.
Joshua
5:13-15
“Take off your sandal from
off of your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” Does that sound familiar? Isn’t that what God said to Moses at the
burning bush? Precisely. Joshua is in the very presence of God. Jesus stands before him as Commander of the
Lord’s army. If Joshua would have been
permitted to see as God sees, he would have seen a whole host of heavenly angels
with swords drawn, all around Jesus.
Joshua meets Joshua. This is a very important event in Joshua’s
life. It gives him the assurance that
God is with him, and that God will go before his people.
The Lord was about to
powerfully lead Joshua and his people towards
But don’t miss the order in
which this happens. First comes the
dedication, the surrender, of the men of
When you surrender to God,
you can be sure that He will come near to you and teach you all that you need
to know. He will grant you strength for
the task that is before you. He will
give you guidance and direction as to what you should do. Some of it may be obvious, but you have been
ignoring the obvious. So He tells you
again, in no uncertain terms. Some of it
will be new and challenging.
“When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power
takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never
accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural
element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own
fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority
shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the
heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of
Satan.” Desire of Ages, 324
That’s powerful! Do you see the power in this statement? This is real power. This is about the presence and authority of
Jesus Christ in your life. But notice
this kind of supernatural, godly, powerful, purposeful living is ONLY possible
when THE SOUL SURRENDERS ITSELF TO CHRIST.
If we don’t do that, here is
what happens:
“But
unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by
the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other
of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It
is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of
darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally
ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly
agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding
place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart
through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with
God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence,
and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may
part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the
surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a
personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the
mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end.
Desire of Ages, 324
Circumcision of the
heart. Daily, hourly yielding ourselves
to the control of Christ. Remaining
vitally connected with God. Surrender of
ourselves to Him moment by moment.
That’s what it takes to be a man of God.
A woman of God. A boy of
God. A girl of God.
Without this kind of focused
activity, WE SHALL BE LOST. WE SHALL ALWAYS BE UNDER THE CONTROL OF
SATAN.
Is this clear? May Jesus, the Captain of the Lord’s army,
come near to you today. May you sense
His presence. May you surrender to His majesty. May you allow Him to lead you into battle.
BRING IT ON.