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Joshua 24: The life as a sermon

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says…” (NIV)

As he approached the culmination of his life and ministry, Joshua was still ‘switched on’ spiritually. He had not nodded off. He was alert, attentive, still in a position to hear God’s prophetic word for his people, and deliver it. The words he spoke on that day have reverberated across the centuries. Here are some of the most well-known words in the whole of Scripture:

 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (14,15)

How many sermons have been preached on this text? In challenging the people to faithfulness, Joshua did not cop out with a well-worn phrase such as, ‘And I preach this to myself also.’ When he exhorted them to ”choose”, he himself had already chosen. He practiced what he preached. His life was his sermon.

‘Our God is a ”jealous God” in that He will not be one of several gods in our lives; He must be Lord of all.’ Warren W. Wiersbe

Oh to be like Joshua in old age: spiritually fresh, green and verdant; focussed on God and constantly looking to honour Him.

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Joshua 22:10-34: True spiritual unity

10 When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. 11 And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, 12 the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

13 So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar,the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 With him they sent ten of the chief men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.

15 When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them:16 “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? 17 Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! 18 And are you now turning away from the Lord?

“‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel.19 If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernaclestands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altarfor yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20 When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things,[a] did not wrath come on the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’”

21 Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day.23 If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.

24 “No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lordhas made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.

26 “That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’27 On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’

28 “And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witnessbetween us and you.’

29 “Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.”

30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. 31 And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.”

32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites. 33 They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.

34 And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us—that the Lord is God. (NIV)

There are at least two lessons from the rest of this chapter that I want to highlight over the next couple of days. Here is the first:

There was no need for this ‘imposing altar’ (10)

Sidlow Baxter makes the point well:

‘No doubt the altar…was well meant; but was it not needless if the Divine command were obeyed that three times a year all the males of Israel should appear before the Lord in Shiloh? Was it not also presumptuous? No pattern for its shape had been given by God, and no direction for its construction. Nor, apparently, had the counsel of the Lord been as much as thought of!’

As the two and a half tribes explained when they were confronted by their brothers, they weren’t intending to set up a rival religion. Rather, they felt deeply the barrier, the separation, caused by the Jordan river, and they set up this altar as a marker of their unity with the other tribes. They were looking ahead to a time when, possibly, a future generation of Israelites might distance themselves, and declare no connection with Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. But for themselves, they had no intention of sacrificing on that altar.

However, although their fear was understandable, there was no need for this altar. There was a real spiritual unity which existed between all the tribes of Israel, and it didn’t need some man-made outward expression to maintain it.

Again, Dr. Sidlow applies this well:

‘True unity is not outward but inward. It is not achieved, nor even preserved by external memorials. It consists in a oneness of inward and spiritual experience…The only true unity is that of a common inward life, a common spiritual experience, and a common heart-loyalty.’

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Acts 18:18-23: The will of God

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. (ESV)

The apostle James writes: ”Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15, ESV). This was the spirit in which Paul lived, and in it he is an example to us all. (See also 1 Corinthians 4:19). It transpires that it was indeed God’s will for him to return to Ephesus, and, as we shall see, he had a remarkable ministry there.

I note, by the way (9,10) that Paul stayed for a while longer in Corinth before moving on. This was in spite of the febrile atmosphere. ‘He was not one to run away from either the battlefield or the harvest field.’ Warren Wiersbe

PRAYER: ”Thy blessed will divine, with joy I make it mine, My heart shall be Thy throne, and Thine alone.
Choose Thou the path I tread and whither, I am led, Help me to follow on, O mighty Saviour.” (Harry Tee)

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Psalm 41:1-3: Blue Bible!

1Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!

The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.

2The LORD protects them

and keeps them alive.

He gives them prosperity in the land

and rescues them from their enemies.

3The LORD nurses them when they are sick

and restores them to health. (NLT)

The God revealed to us in Jesus is the healer of soul and body. The gospels are filled with stories of healing miracles. The church Jesus founded is called to be an instrument of healing in the world, continuing the works of Jesus in the power of the same Spirit who filled and animated Him. Christians have a long established tradition of being involved in healing ministries: praying for the sick (within and without the church), exercising spiritual gifts, founding hospitals, pioneering medical missions, and so on.

Psalm 41:3 beautifully establishes the basis of all prayer for the sick. It shows God’s loving, tender care for us. In ‘The Message’ it reads like this: ”Whenever we’re sick and in bed, God becomes our nurse, nurses us back to health.” Alec Motyer says it carries the idea of God rearranging the bedding. There is this thought of the Lord’s personal care of the sick one. ”What a sweet conception of God as nurse in the room where feet must be shod with velvet and voices speak in gentlest tones!” F.B. Meyer.

Let this encourage you today in your prayers for your own healing, and/or your prayer concerns for others. A famous preacher told how, early on in his Christian life, he went through the entire Bible from beginning to end, with a blue pencil in hand, and he marked every single reference he found to healing. ‘Do you know what I ended up with?’ he asked. ‘A blue Bible!’

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Psalm 40:11-17: What to do with a pile of sin

11LORD, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.

Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.

12For troubles surround me—

too many to count!

My sins pile up so high

I can’t see my way out.

They outnumber the hairs on my head.

I have lost all courage.

13Please, LORD, rescue me!

Come quickly, LORD, and help me.

14May those who try to destroy me

be humiliated and put to shame.

May those who take delight in my trouble

be turned back in disgrace.

15Let them be horrified by their shame,

for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”

16But may all who search for you

be filled with joy and gladness in you.

May those who love your salvation

repeatedly shout, “The LORD is great!”

17As for me, since I am poor and needy,

let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.

You are my helper and my saviour.

O my God, do not delay. (NLT)

In recent psalms, David has been honest about his sinfulness, and its impact on his life. Who of us cannot identify with his language about a ”pile” of sin – so much sin it blocks his view. He can’t see clearly. What to do about a pile of sin? The answer for David is the same for us: it is to look for help to the God who alone can save. Let’s remember that earlier verses in this Psalm (6-8) prophetically point us to Jesus and His finished work on the Cross. There is our salvation, our healing, our all.

”To the end of life we shall continually need God’s lovingkindness, to deal mercifully with our failures and sins, and His truth, that is, His faithfulness. The Covenant, ordered in all things and sure, and that which binds him irrevocably, is the rock of our comfort, whether we are compassed by innumerable evils or overtaken by iniquities, Psalms 40:12 .

Our sense of sin grows with our increasing knowledge of the holiness and love of God. They who are nearest to the heart of God are least able to forgive themselves, though they know that they are forgiven. But while we think hard thoughts against ourselves, and confess ourselves to be poor and needy, we may take great comfort in God’s thoughts for us, Psalms 40:17 . They are tender and loving, Jeremiah 29:11 . Poverty and need are never reasons for despair. These things do not alienate God’s interest. They rather attract Him; just as a sick child will get more of the mother’s care than the healthy members of the home-circle.” F.B. Meyer

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Psalm 27:1-5: The ‘only quiet, secure place in a noisy world’

Light, space, zest—
    that’s God!
So, with him on my side I’m fearless,
    afraid of no one and nothing.

2 When vandal hordes ride down
    ready to eat me alive,
Those bullies and toughs
    fall flat on their faces.

3 When besieged,
    I’m calm as a baby.
When all hell breaks loose,
    I’m collected and cool.

4 I’m asking God for one thing,
    only one thing:
To live with him in his house
    my whole life long.
I’ll contemplate his beauty;
    I’ll study at his feet.

5 That’s the only quiet, secure place
    in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
    far from the buzz of traffic. The Message

We can be so familiar with the language of the psalms that we lose sight of the grave and fearful danger David so often found himself in. We see the words on the page about enemies and foes, and so on, and we’re used to them. Perhaps we sometimes fail to imagine how we ourselves might feel if surrounded by ravaging, beast-like opponents? We need to try to enter in to David’s experience to realise what a gift (miraculous gift) his calm, composed spirit is/

Where do your ambitions lie? What do you desire most? David was a man after God’s own heart, I think, because he loved and desired God above all else. He was profoundly God-centred.

One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock (4,5) NIVUK

This ”One thing” defined David’s life.

We live in a noisy, busy world. Its many voices scream at us from all sides, clamouring for our attention. For the most part they speak (shout!) trivia. But David knew where the ‘secret place’ is.

”The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.” (Ps.23:1-3a) NIVUK

Grace Clement wrote this beautiful hymn:

‘Dwelling in the secret place,
Overshadowed by His grace,
Looking up into His face,
Seeing only Jesus.

Hidden there from all alarm,
Safe from danger, fear and harm,
Holden up by His strong arm,
Seeing only Jesus.

Dwelling there, how truly blest!
Leaving all, how sweet to rest,
Head upon my Saviour’s breast,
Seeing only Jesus.

Resting there, no more to roam,
Drawing near to heaven and home,
Waiting there until He come,
Seeing only Jesus.’

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2 Corinthians 11:5-12: Go figure

 But if you put up with these big-shot “apostles,” why can’t you put up with simple me? I’m as good as they are. It’s true that I don’t have their voice, haven’t mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I’m talking about. We haven’t kept anything back. We let you in on everything.

 I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God’s Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn’t be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it’s a point of honor with me, and I’m not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbours will think. It’s not that I don’t love you; God knows I do. I’m just trying to keep things open and honest between us.

 And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. The Message

It is interesting to see how people who are determined to undermine a good man will find a way to do so. Paul was ready to concede that he didn’t have the ”eloquence” of his critics, but he never saw this as being of value in ministry. He relied, in his weakness, upon the power of God, and he spoke the truth.

Now we see that, in Corinth, he was criticised for not taking funding from the church (even though, as an apostle, he had the right to do so: see 1 Cor.9). In the meantime, his false teaching critics were lying to them, and laughing all the way to the bank. The people (or at least some of them) took it as an indication of Paul’s inferiority that he didn’t ‘charge’ for his services.

As they say, ‘Go figure’!

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