06.29.2014 Joshua 3-5 - Best Military Strategy? Get your heart right!

6.29.2014 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

Lord, thank You that You are a great God – for that, we are grateful. You change lives – that is Your business – You have changed me – and we are all sinners and You have reached out to us in our worst situations and we are grateful for that. Help us to hear from You – as we have heard from Your Spirit – continue what You are doing in us. In Your Name we pray. Amen.
We are going through the book of Joshua – last week, we looked at Rahab – and this week we will look at chapters 3-5. God is preparing the people of Israel for their mission – to enter the promised land – the conquest of the land. In the preparation – God gives them NO military training – but their lives consist of fighting battles.
The first group of people – who came out of Egypt were supposed to cross the Jordan, but they rebelled, until ALL of the men of war – those who were of age to go to war – died – except for Caleb and Joshua. So those who remain have NO experience in battle, and to prepare them, God gives them no training – not even a strategy.
At West Point – they teach strategy. Have you seen Band of Brothers? There was a group of artillery men – and the strategy they used is taught at West Point to this day. The strategy they used is not taught at West Point: Send the band out first, and have them play for them… - and then circle the city and SHOUT!
The book of Joshua is not about entering into a military campaign – it is about God fulfilling a promise. This is all God’s doing – YahWeh’s doing – His campaign – His war – and we’ll look more at God engaging in war next week. For Israel, this is not about Israel vs. the Canaanites – it is about God.
First, God needs to get their hearts right – then He makes them into a community that can serve in God’s kingdom. You wouldn’t think of that as key for military strategy, but that is what God focuses on. God gives several instructions for getting their hearts right:
Joshua 3: 3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 [a]cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
The ark becomes the focal point of the story – literally and figuratively – God continually mentions the ark – and he has the priests go first with the ark – and to remain in the center of the river while Israel crosses – they do some things with stones – and then the river comes back upon itself.
The ark is a symbol of the presence of God. How do we best know about the ark (besides scripture, of course)? That’s right – Raiders of the Lost Ark. The box itself has no power – it is just a box. When Israel is unfaithful and go out to battle – and they carry the ark – what happens? They get destroyed. When Israel is faithful, they are victorious. It is not about the box. It is about God. It is about Israel being in God’s presence – being in right relationship with Him – and then whatever takes place, I am working on your behalf – and that is the goal – to bring God in – to allow ourselves to be where God is.
We tend to shut God out of places. In just a few chapters, Israel will do that. After a great victory at Jericho, they will have a terrible defeat at Ai.
Because it represents God’s presence, they are to treat it with respect and honor.
Oftentimes, we can be careless regarding the presence of God. Uzzah touches the ark – God had given specific instructions – the priests were to carry the ark – and they were disrespecting the presence of God – not honoring God – and as the cart is being pulled into the city – it begins to tip, and Uzzah reaches out just to steady it – and boom – he is dead.
And God comes to David and basically says – you have made it about you – but it is about Me. Too often we use God to secure our American lifestyle – we all do it. We do it in our prayers – in our hopes – trying to maintain a certain lifestyle that we have gotten used to – but God is not about our lifestyle. If He blesses you – fine – that is His business, not ours.
Also, sometimes we use God to excuse bad behavior – Christians use their moral and theological conviction to be rude – to demonstrate arrogance.
And sometimes we use God to defend our embedded belief system – those distinctions that divide us.
I was in a meeting recently – and I opened my mouth – I thought I was talking to the individual next to me – it was a bit of a political issue – and I knew that person would be interested in it – and then I made the mistake – I said it out loud – and this terrible political discussion started – and someone said – Well, I believe the Bible – and the Bible says this – and that settles it! I said – sorry I brought this up! But I thought – the Bible does not say that! Where does it say that?
He tells them to keep the ark about ½ mile ahead – to see where God is going – but too often, we get ahead of God – rather than taking the time to see what God is doing – we take for granted that He is actively involved in and around us. We just don’t take the time to look! We immediately want to go to solving the problem, rather than asking, what is God about? Where is He leading? What is He doing? What does He want from me?
In our world of technology, we believe that if we have the right technique, to apply the right practical steps, we will get over our problems. There are no techniques to get you over your problems. Techniques are good – conferences are good – training is good – but if you are not focused on the presence of God – none of it is going to work. It won’t work without God.
So He places the ark at the beginning of the story and says – this is the focus – as long as you are in step with the ark – in step with God and His spirit – then He is able to work.
God is the one who must act and work – and our job is to get in line with what He is doing.
5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
In order to prepare ourselves for service to God, we need to consecrate ourselves – to make ourselves clean and holy. For them – they were to go through a purification process. For us, it is getting our hearts right with God. Something to do this – daily – throughtout the day even – a time of examination – not examination of guilt – but to examine ourselves to make sure we are right with God.
As we examine ourselves – if we find an issue – we need to confess – 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Then repentance – saying – I’m falling short here God, and to turn from it.
Last – receiving God’s forgiveness and grace – made available to us.
At this same meeting, there was a pastor from South Akron – a church started by a man whose life had been changed – he was an alcoholic – and started a church for alcoholics. This man did not start the church – but I heard his story – “it was 23 years that I have been sober – I am so grateful. When you are an alcoholic, you leave a wake of destruction behind you. What did it for me – I was completely forgiven – all of that is forgiven – so what else can I do but to serve Him?”
Forgiven much – loves much – forgiven little – loves little – and let me tell you – you have all been forgiven MUCH!
Joshua 3: 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. 12 Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13 It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are [b]flowing down from above [c]will stand in one heap.”
When they came to the Red Sea – the soldiers were coming – and they were blocked –and called out to God – and God blew the wind and they walked through.
With the Jordan – it was the flooding season – and what did God call them to do? Take a step into it – and they did – and it became dry land.
Sometimes God wants us to take the step BEFORE we know the outcome! God wants us to take the step when the outcome hangs in the balance – because the outcome is taking the step and trusting – that is the outcome He is looking for – TRUST.
Step 4
Joshua 4: 1 Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” 4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “[a]Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6 [b]Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask [c]later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
4th – we need to remember what God has done. We need memorials. My wife loves that kind of thing – I’m not good at it. Building memorials in our lives.
That is phase 1 – getting our hearts right.
Phase two – turning them into a community.
Instead of training them to use their knives and slings – He has Joshua circumcise all the fighting men. Instead of fighting – what do they do? They have surgery – each one was out for two weeks! Circumcision is an identity marker. A lot of the laws are different – don’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk – what does that mean? That was one of the things the nations did – don’t be like them – you are separate to Me, you will be different. None of the other nations circumcised their males. For us, we have baptism – giving us a new identity – like a restaurant that says – Under New Management – that is us when we are baptized.
We might have a baptism at our picnic.
Joshua 5:8 Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they were [e]healed. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called [f]Gilgal to this day.

10 While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. 11 On the [g]day after the Passover, on [h]that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 The manna ceased on the [i]day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.
This is a retelling of their story – we have something like Passover – communion – and what do we do there? We tell the gospel – and it is to play a critical role in Christ’s kingdom.
In a moment, Eric will come up and share his story –
And then the manna ceased. It is a picture – we go through these steps – God takes us through these steps and then gives us a taste of the Christian life – a new way of living with Him. He wants us to taste that new way of experiencing Him. Whether it is after 30, 40, 50 years – God wants you to begin a new way of relating to Him.
Eric will share his story now…
Eric: Hello, my name is Eric, a generic enough opening for anyone I’m sure. You may have seen me around the church for the last seven or eight months and I’ve more than likely seen you too. Everyone here has done an awesome job of making me feel right at home and I’ve even been blessed enough to call a few of you friends. I’m not the most boisterous of people and the morning doesn’t bring out my best and so if I’ve come off as quiet or a little distant simply blame the time of day. Pastor Mike has broken through my reserved nature and poor morning time disposition thereby blessing me with the wonderful opportunity of getting to know and spend time with him and I believe that my life and relationship with Christ have been the better for it. He has allowed me the time this morning to introduce myself and to give a little bit of background to the church that I have come to love and be a part of.
I am 23 years old, live in the Falls, and I am currently a manager at Domino’s pizza in Stow. (They paid me to mention them but don’t worry the money does go straight to the offering plate.) I moved out here last September but before that my place of residence was a random shuffle between my parents’ house, mental institutions, rehabs, halfway houses, and then finally a nice consistent place in the Summit County jail. From the time I was about 14 years old until a few days before I moved out here that September day last year I lived a life that amounted to little more than drinking, using drugs and then doing whatever I could to get more of each, wash rinse repeat.
Well, after I’d finally returned from my extended hiatus to the jail and was free of any more judicial obligations I decided I was free to go ahead and start the cycle over again but this time (and here’s the joke so please do me the favor of laughing) it was going to be different because after all I’d been through, all the great philosopher’s I’d read, and the new desire to do something with my life I felt, I could use all my favorite substances for productive means. Apparently, (and I was just as shocked as I’m sure you all will be) this wasn’t a good plan and the result of this venture left me on the very brink of insanity or, at best, death within five days. Flooded out was my last little island of self; swallowed beneath the swirling ocean of ideas, voices, fear, shadows, and pain when there came a tiny little voice that somehow guided me back to my house safely. It took about a day for me to realize I was going to be okay and so I decided to once again get high, silly I know it seems now, but how else do you celebrate a near death experience? Well, once again the onslaught of insanity began and this time I was going to just end it all. I stood there staring out my bedroom window, debating with the voices in my head using every possible argument from every possible viewpoint and I simply was out of reasons… I made my decision to leave and then that voice again, soft, unassuming, and quiet came and said “What about Jesus?” For a long time atheist who’d recently began to wander into the darker ideas of pantheism and Wicca, this was an idea I’d long since left behind and discredited. I said aloud “Are you kidding me?” but oddly enough I’d received a Bible from a deputy I’d gotten to know in jail and I picked it up and opened it at random. As I read the words on the page it was as if that voice I’d heard earlier was speaking them directly to me and I could feel the darkness around me begin to retreat. That was September 14th and that was the day I gave my life to Jesus Christ.
I stand here today a new man through Him and my life has essentially been a ceaseless procession of miracle after miracle. A guy who couldn’t be counted on to hold 50 cents for you now runs a store and is responsible for the handling of the money each night. A man who refused to consider anything beyond how it affected himself now (tries) living his life with the first and foremost consideration of whether or not it will please the Lord who graciously saved him. I have friends, money, a house, and I have Jesus. I have everything a man could ever hope for and none of it has been my own doing.
As of late I have felt a burning desire to get involved in the church and in ministry. It’s about time for me to start giving back to the God and to the people who’ve done so much for me. You can only walk so far in our faith with the sole concern being yourself and it has been made apparent to me that the time has come for me to start looking outward rather than in.
I’d also like to call out this morning to anyone who is struggling, or anyone who has doubts about himself, life, or God that there is hope and that He is always there. If someone like me could receive and be changed by the Lord’s loving grace then I know that anyone can. I’m always around and I live a minute away from the church so please, come talk to me or introduce yourself. Nine times out of ten (as Pastor Mike knows) I’ve got something I’m struggling with as well, so perhaps we could find something out together. Thanks for listening. God bless.