Monday, May 10, 2010

Joshua's Battles (part 3 of 3)

It is said that when the kings of the land came out to do battle against Joshua and Israel, that their armies “were as numerous as the sand on the seashore” (11:4b). Quite naturally, the use of this language is meant to evoke thoughts of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To each of those individuals, God promised to give them descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore, so the fact that kings and armies were coming out against Israel, in great numbers, should not have been a cause for panic. Rather, it would have been a reminder of the promises of their faithful and powerful God; and because He had not failed, up to that point, to bring any of His great promises to pass, there would be no reason to be faithless in the face of a multitudinous enemy. Yes, the words of the Divine catalogue are carefully chosen to remind and reveal and demonstrate the covenant faithfulness of the Creator God.

In the midst of that reliance upon God’s faithful power, there was the ongoing realization that the campaign would be long and the battles would be numerous, but that eventually, the land would be handed over and given to the saints of God, Israel, His covenant people. Indeed, as we come to the end of the book of Joshua, we read that “the Lord gave Israel all the land He had solemnly promised to their ancestors, and they conquered it and lived in it” (21:43). Again, the opportunity is taken to point to God’s promises and His power to perform according to His promises in order to bring about His own purposes. Such is the constant refrain of the Scriptures, always pointing to the actions of God, which should prompt praise and worship of the gracious, righteous, and redeeming God, and a desire to be fitted into His plans by the working of His Spirit within us, rather than causing us to turn inward in consideration of what things to avoid so as to be able to live as we ought to live.

We continue on to read that “The Lord made them secure” (21:44a). Why did He do this? He did so “in fulfillment of all He had solemnly promised their ancestors” (21:44b). Here we have yet another signpost that directs us to further realize the basis upon which we live and serve, which is the power and faithfulness of the God that has and will bring all His promises to pass. It is a constant looking away from ourselves, and towards God. Within that fulfillment, it is said that “None of their enemies could resist them” (21:44c). This was not because of what they had done, but because their God was faithful; and just in case they or we needed one more reminder of that, and of the reason that their enemies fell before them, the author takes yet another opportunity to point to the promises, writing that “Not one of the Lord’s faithful promises to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; every one was realized” (21:45). Not only would this have served as a reminder of all that had been accomplished on their behalf, as they would remember and review the events of the past, but it should also have served as a blessed warning of how things could go in the future. Israel had received promises from God in regards to the covenant. They had been presented with the ways of both blessing and cursing. The blessings were as glorious as the cursing was severe; and the same powerful, faithful God that had made them secure in the land could become the powerful, faithful God that would bring about the curses that were outlined in Deuteronomy if the people failed to keep the covenant requirements that were designed to make them a light to the nations in reflection of the glory of their God. The righteousness (covenant faithfulness) of God could cut both ways, and this was not to be forgotten. When times of destruction and exile (cursing) would come to Israel, God’s people could look back upon these words from Joshua and say “Not one of the Lord’s promises to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; every one was realized.”

As the events of the book of Joshua were occurring, and the Lord was causing Israel to be victorious and prosper, we can imagine Joshua thinking some of the words that are to be found in the third Psalm. As our own lives and walks of faith unfold, and we are empowered to do battle as the instruments of God’s good in the world, with the forces of darkness and evil, as did Israel in the land, we are well able to consider the same words. We join with Joshua and say, “I am not afraid of the multitude of people who attack me from all directions” (Psalm 3:6). Why? Because we have a God of promise to whom we call and say, “Rise up, Lord! Deliver me, my God!” (3:7a). Deliverance, of course, is redemption from cursing and the ending of exile. Of what will that deliverance consist and how would it be brought about? What did Joshua see? He trusted and could say, “Yes, You will strike all my enemies on the jaw; You will break the teeth of the wicked” (3:7b). Israel was delivered from one enemy (Egypt) to another (people of the promised land), and their God continued to deliver, working through them for strikes and breaking. This was the experience of God’s covenant people against their enemies.

God did this same thing, in Jesus, for His covenant people for all time. When the greatest act of covenant faithfulness occurred, and Jesus was raised up from the dead, the ancient enemy of God’s creation was defeated, and redemption from exile from God’s good creation was made possible. The Apostle Paul wrote that in the Resurrection of Jesus, that death lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55). Death was struck on the jaw. Death had its teeth broken. It’s bite and it’s sting were lost, and though a lengthy campaign of battles against the forces of death will be waged, such are waged in the sure confidence that the promise to God’s people of settlement within a promised land---a renewed creation (the kingdom of God on earth)---will be realized. Not one promise will go unfulfilled, because Jesus is Lord.

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