Revering the Word
Joshua 8 Honoring God and His Word after a victory.
Good morning everyone. This morning we are in Joshua chapter eight. Let's recall as we are about to see the defeat of Israel's enemy of AI and they are going to really crush the city. Let's remember how we got here. God is having a people who were created in his image and likeness and he wanted them to be fruitful and multiply. He's now giving them the long awaited promised land that he had promised Abraham after they waited an extra 40 years in the desert due to their unfaithfulness. But now God is blessing them and is going to give them a land and he wants them to set up a community of peoples that would honor him. And at this stage, he does not want them to intermix with the people pagan people who are not following God of the land and also he does not want them to engage in worship of their false gods. So he's going to give them the promised land and he's going to create it for them so that they can set up a pure country that's devoted to worshiping him. Now, as we know ultimately they will fail in the long run to be the people of God that he wants them to be in and now in this new season of history that we live in today. God has sent Jesus to be the final lamb of God to take away our sin because we just couldn't seem to be the people that God wanted us to be. And Jesus through Jesus and his sacrifice he has forgiven our sin and now we seek through the power of the Holy Spirit to be the people of the God and to spread his name and his kingdom here on earth, while we wait for him to bring it into the wilderness, ultimately God's full plan and victory is not going to come until he returns, but here today we live to win the world of Jesus to be his witnesses and drew some Judea and Sumerian to the ends of the earth to make disciples of all nations. We are not seeking to destroy the nations around us. In fact, we are trying to now win people to Jesus Christ, but in this day and age, when God has given him the promised land, they are going to be doing it militarily, because that's what God had for them in this season. When they first came out, they overtook Jericho, and you might recall it was a really a miraculous thing, where they simply marched around Jericho and after they marched around it seven times and seven days, then the walls of the city fell flat. I mean like God just miraculously provided them, the city of Jericho, then though because they took things that they weren't supposed to take, because they are supposed to devote things to destruction and turn the gold and silver into the treasury of the Lord. Some people stole stuff and hid it in their tents, and God had specifically told them not to do that. So he allowed them to be defeated, just a small defeat but yet a defeat by the city called AI. They saw that in the previous chapter, and then after they were defeated, you know, the people were afraid and Joshua was afraid because it's like, well, if God's not going to be with us, how are we going to do this? How are we going to take the promise land? We should go back to Egypt, you know, but God said, well, the reason I let you have this small defeat is because you guys didn't fall my instruction. After they found out who stole stuff and hid it in their tent, they took care of that situation and made him an example to the people that they were to honor God because that's really what he's after is God is wanting his people to obey and honor him and set up a nation of his people that would honor him. So now they're going to go back and they're going to defeat the city of AI and God's going to be with them and that's what we have in chapter eight. What's interesting though, is that through God's miraculous victory of Jericho through the collapsing of the wall through marching, this victory, God's going to have them have strategy. That's kind of interesting. In the previous victory was a miracle of God. This time they're going to ambush the city. So they're going to, because AI is growing confident, we're going to come to battle AI. And because AI gained some confidence from the previous victory, they are correct in saying that AI is then going to come chase them, but they're going to set up an ambush so that when the army of AI chases after Israel who seems to be being defeated again. Then the ambush is going to come in and take over the city and destroy the city and then AI's army which was smaller than all of Israel because when they got defeated by AI, a smaller defeat they only sent 3000 men of Israel to go fight AI because that's all they felt they needed This time they're going to use 3000 valiant warriors in order to overtake AI and interesting as I said, God's going to give Joshua strategy in order to defeat this enemy. So they set out this plan, the plan works to perfection. Israel begins to retreat AI chases after them they live, leave the city unguarded, the ambush goes in, puts the city on fire destroys the city. And that's what we have in Joshua eight but what I want to take you to in Joshua eight after after this military victory is how I think Joshua does a great job and he gets the point of what God is desiring he is wanting people to honor him. He is wanting to create a people that will reflect be a greater reflection of his image and likeness. He's wanting people to honor his word obey his word to be the people of God. After Joshua saw that they did something wrong in the previous battle of AI and then they were punished for it. Joshua now with seeing God provide AI into his hand and, and although there was strategy. He knows because God gave him the strategy he knows that God was with them. And I want to take you after you know this military victory after the destruction of the of AI, we go to verse 30. Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel in Mount evil, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel as is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones. When you had uncut stones, it would it would mean that you're not just you're just doing authentic worship you're not trying to do something fancy. You're just saying you know what, we're going to use uncut stones and we're going to worship the Lord, an altar of uncut stones on which no man had a wield and an iron tool. They offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord and sacrificed peace offering so after this victory they honor the Lord, they set up this altar. They give him offerings but that's not all they do listen to this. He wrote there on the stones, a copy of the law of Moses which he had written in the presence of the sons of Israel. Imagine that, you know, that's a lot of writing and they're they're rewriting the law of the Lord they're making a copy of it in front of all of the people. And this is going to just show Israel that Joshua and Israel is to rely on the Lord and to rely on his word. And this is a ceremonial thing a worshipable thing all Israel verse 33 with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the Ark before the Levitical priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as the native. And you know what if people wanted to worship with them even strangers, they would welcome them to worship, they were supposed to be a blessing to people who wanted to worship Yahweh, but the pagan nations around who did not want to they they did destroy. Anyways, back to this ceremonial thing, half of them stood in front of the Mount Jerism and half of them in front of Mount evil, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had given command at first to bless the people of Israel. And afterward, listen this is Joshua now, then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that has written in the book of the law and you might recall that from, let's see, from the book of Deuteronomy around chapter 30 I believe where you have the blessings and curses of God and he's, you know, in Deuteronomy in that chapter they're on the verge of crossing the Jordan River to enter the promised land and God gives them a reminder and says you know what if you obey me you're going to be blessed. But if you when you get to the promised land you disobey and you forget the words of the Lord and you don't follow them and you just do your own thing then you're going to get cursed. What Joshua is doing now after this military victory is he's honoring God bringing people before the ark and before the Lord and before God's word, and he's rereading to them, the law and he's rereading to them the blessing and the curse he's like look it we're blessed we're obeying God right now do you see what happened when we tried to defeat AI just prior, we did what was wrong and we got defeated. And now we took care of that and we did what was right and God has blessing us and he's Joshua's reminding them listen let's stick with God. Let's stick with God and be blessed and you know what your church sin leads to destruction even now, and it led to destruction then and it does now when we disobey God and we get away, get away from God and we start doing our own thing and living and sin it catches up with us. We have a means of forgiveness today and a means of grace when we do sin we should repent and turn to Jesus and thank him for the grace and forgiveness he gives us and get back on track with following him because ultimately sin will lead to consequences and suffering God does lead to blessings in this life and in the life to come and that's what Joshua is reminding them of here. Listen to what it says verse 35, there was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before the all the assembly of Israel. You read it all before them with the women and the little ones he's passing it on to the children and the strangers who were living among them. The whole word of the law was read before them. Joshua is honoring God and trying to pass on his goodness his laws his rules and he knows that if Israel will just obey God that there is blessing for obeying God. What a wonderful ceremony and I think Joshua did a great job in leading here and I tell you what, thank you for listening to the word of God, thank you for making the word of God a priority in your life. Turn away from sin continue to focus on God continue to connect with him continue to remind yourselves of his ways because indeed there's blessing in this life and in the life to come. God bless you all. God bless you all.