The Sixteenth in a Series of Sermons on Joshua

Although Joshua has grown a bit long in the tooth, there is still much for him to do.  As Israel’s covenant mediator, Joshua must ensure that Israel’s armies capture those remaining portions of that land which God promised to his people and which were still not occupied by Israel.  Also, Joshua must divide the land of promise (Canaan) among the twelve tribes of Israel.  Finally, in order to fulfill God’s command given through Moses, Joshua must establish six so-called “cities of refuge” (providing mercy to anyone who accidentally takes another’s life) as well as forty-eight Levitical cities, where the priestly tribe, the Levites, can dwell in the midst of the people and graze their cattle.  As these things are accomplished, we are witnessing God keep his promise to Israel.  Even though this land was promised to them more than four hundred years earlier (back in the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), at long last God’s people dwell in peace and safety in Canaan.  As these things are accomplished, the central theme of the Book of Joshua becomes crystal clear–God’s promise to Israel has become a glorious reality.  But as things once promised become realities, this also means that the era of Joshua’s leadership is coming to an end.  It will not be long before Israel enters that period of biblical history known as the time of the Judges and the story of redemption will take yet another dramatic turn–this time for the worse.

As we continue our series on Joshua, we have come to the final chapters of this remarkable book.  There  are still a number of loose ends to be wrapped up before Joshua says “farewell” to his people in chapters 23-24.  Now advanced in years, in chapters 13-21 Joshua is given instructions from the LORD that will ensure that the people of Israel will take possession of all the land God promised to them before Joshua dies.  That land will be divided among the twelve tribes, as in these chapters, legal title of the land of Canaan passes from YHWH to the people of Israel as their promised inheritance to the Lord.  Even though we have briefly surveyed these chapters which are, in effect, title deeds to the land, every line in these chapters is proof that God has kept his promise.  The people of Israel are now dwelling in that same land promised to them so long ago.  The Canaanites have been evicted and the people of Israel are recipients of this wonderful gift from YHWH–legal title to the land of promise.

As we saw last time, Joshua ensured the capture of all the remaining land to the north and to the south, just beyond the boundary of those areas currently inhabited by the Canaanites.  While in chapters 13-21, we have the legal record of Joshua dividing the land among the tribes of Israel in fulfillment of God’s promise to his people, in chapter 20, we read of Joshua establishing the six “cities of refuge” which provided legal protection for anyone who accidentally took the life of another–in modern parlance this is known as manslaughter or negligent homicide.  Since nothing in redemptive history is accidental, with the establishment of these six cities, we are pointed ahead to Jesus Christ–the great high priest.  In the case of someone who commits manslaughter, they must flee to one of these cities of refuge and remain there until the death of the high priest.  The symbolism here is obvious and powerful.

Clearly, the death of the high priest in a symbolic sense sets the man-slaughterer free.  This points us ahead to the death of Jesus, who is both the great high priest and at the same time the divinely appointed once for all sacrifice for sin.  That God provides for relief from sins such as manslaughter is a good thing and demonstrates that even though Israel was under the blessing-curse principle based upon the covenant God made them at Mount Sinai, the covenant of grace (first made with Abraham) was never annulled, and still remained in force, ensuring the salvation of believers within Israel.  It was Jesus after all who said that anyone who was angry with his brother or sister was just as guilty of murder as the one who actually took life (Matthew 5:21-22).  Therefore, as the death of the priest in one of the cities of refuge allows the manslaughterer to go free, so too the death of Jesus frees us from the guilt of our sins, including the hatred of our neighbor.  With images like this found throughout the Book of Joshua, we are  reminded that the Canaanites were not Israel’s greatest enemy–sin and it wages are our greatest foe.  And now, the greater Joshua (Jesus) has defeated both sin and death. 

To read the rest of this sermon, click here
 

The Fifteenth in a Series of Sermons on the Book of Joshua

Just as he promised he would do, YHWH fought on the side of Israel.  After an extended military campaign, the armies of Israel wiped out two large Canaanite armies.  Joshua’s men captured thirty-one Canaanite cities, killing everyone in them including their kings.  At long last, God’s people dwell in peace in that good land God which had promised to give them.  But this comes only after Israel was delivered from four hundred years of bondage and slavery in Egypt, after entering into a covenant with YHWH at Mount Sinai, after wandering throughout the Sinai desert for forty years, after crossing the Jordan River on dry ground and then conquering Jericho, as well as defeating two large Amorite armies and a host of other Canaanite tribes.  In Joshua 11:23, Joshua simply says, “the land had rest from war.”  With these words, we have reached yet another turning point in the great redemptive drama.  The land once promised to Israel is now their home.  The promise has become reality.  We now shift from the account of battle (the Conquest) to a distribution of the spoils of war as YHWH gives his people legal title to the land.

We now fast-forward from the end of chapter 11 (where we left off last time), to verses 1-9 of chapter 20.  The reason for skipping so far ahead in our study of Joshua has to do with the structure of the book itself.  In Joshua 12, we find a detailed list of the thirty-one kings defeated by Moses and Joshua.  Chapters 13-21 contain a lengthy and very detailed description of how the land of Canaan was divided up among the various tribes of Israel and their families.  Understandably, most readers find themselves drawn to the dramatic first half of the book, while these detailed lists in the next section of Joshua are not as interesting.  The materials in these chapters are, in effect, legal documents (deeds), which ensure that the land of Canaan is properly distributed to each tribe jut as Moses commanded.  This entire section of Joshua stands as a glorious testimony to the fact that God is faithful to his promise and that he will give his people their inheritance.  If you have read through this section of Joshua, you know that preaching through these chapters would be like the reading of a will in which someone’s massive estate was divided up among family members.  Very important stuff.  But not very preachable.  So, we now fast forward to chapter twenty.

Although we are skipping over this lengthy description of the “divvying up of the land,” there are several important things mentioned in these chapters which are well-worth highlighting. 

The first of these is the mention of Joshua’s advanced age and a reference to several outlying areas still to be captured by Israel.  In Joshua 13:1, we read that “now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, `You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.’”  This is not merely a declaration that Joshua was old–by now that was certainly the case–this is also an important announcement to the people of Israel that there was still much to do.  In order for the people to possess legal title to the land, this must be done while Joshua, the covenant mediator, is still alive.  The armies of Israel must capture the remaining outlying areas and Joshua must apportion the land among the twelve tribes so that the promised inheritance is actually realized before he dies.

To read the rest of this sermon, click here

The Fourteenth in a Series of Sermons on the Book of Joshua 

The Gibeonites made a very wise decision.  They heard all about what YHWH, the true and living God, had done to Israel’s enemies.  The Gibeonites knew that it was YHWH’s intention to cast them from Canaan.  In an act of self-preservation, the Gibeonites sought to make a peace-treaty with Israel before their people (the Hivites) were completely wiped out.  But the four kings who followed Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, chose poorly.  As recounted in the 10th chapter of Joshua, God gave Israel an amazing victory over these five Amorite kings who banded together and attacked the Gibeonites because they dared enter into a covenant with Israel.  Throughout Joshua’s account of the pitched battle covering more than twenty miles, which resulted in the total destruction of all those who rejected the true and living God, God is giving us a sneak preview of Christ’s second advent and that final day yet to come, when the kings of the earth once again hide in caves to avoid the glory of the Lamb.  Israel’s conquest of Canaan is a graphic picture of the day of final judgment.  But it is also a picture of our Sabbath rest, when we receive our glorious heavenly inheritance, the theme of our text.

We return to our series on the Book of Joshua and the account of Israel’s conquest of the land of promise.  We have made our way through the first twenty-seven verses of Joshua 10.  We will make our way through the balance of chapter 10 and all of chapter 11.  By the time we come to the end of this section of the narrative, we will read that “Joshua took the whole land,” including both the southern and the northern portions of Canaan.  Israel will receive the promised inheritance.  And God will keep his covenant promises to his people.  At long last, the people of Israel will have blessed rest.

Before the people of Israel can receive the promised inheritance, the Canaanites must be wiped out as YHWH commanded.  As we saw in the first part of chapter 10, YHWH had told Joshua not to fear these five kings nor any of the Canaanites–despite the ferocity of their armies–because YHWH would give them all into Joshua’s hands.  When the combined Amorite army surrounded the Gibeonites (their former allies), Joshua led Israel’s army (several hundred thousand strong) in a daring night march, catching the Amorite forces surrounding Gibeon by complete surprise.  The army of Israel then attacked and drove the fleeing Amorites some twenty miles toward the city of Makkedah.  Having been totally routed by the armies of Israel, the Amorites then fell victim to a massive hailstorm sent by God which killed more Amorite soldiers than the Israelis had killed.  It was a dramatic victory for Israel and after this remarkable day, no one in Canaan would ever remember Israel’s embarrassing defeat at Ai.

When the pitched battle between the armies of Israel and the five Amorite kings finally ended at Makkedah–more than twenty miles from where it started at Gibeon–the five kings hid in a cave.  But they were quickly caught by Joshua’s men, subjected to having their captor’s heels placed on their necks, put to death and their bodies hung on trees, and then buried in the same cave in which they had hidden.  While the first phase of the battle was now over, Joshua must press ahead to destroy seven important Canaanite cities to the south–securing that flank–before engaging yet another large Canaanite coalition to the north.  This is why this period of biblical history is known as the Conquest.  YHWH will fight for his people and the army of Israel will conquer all of Canaan in a bloody and relentless campaign.

To read the rest of the sermon, click here  

The Thirteen in a Series of Sermons on Joshua

From Christopher Hitchens to Richard Dawkins, any atheist worth their salt will appeal to God’s command to Israel to slaughter the Canaanites as the prime example of why they cannot believe that God exists.  If God was truly good, they reason, he would never command such a horrible thing.  But as we have seen during our study of the Book of Joshua, this is a false dilemma.  Throughout the account of what is known as the Conquest–when Israel enters the promised land and defeats the Canaanite tribes living there–it has been clear that the inhabitants of Canaan knew full well that YHWH is the true and living God.  They knew full well that the land of Canaan was YHWH’s to give to his people Israel, with whom he had made covenant.  Repeatedly, we have seen how the Canaanites continued to reject YHWH and his promise to save all those who call upon his name.  Instead, they chose to worship and serve false gods tied to the worship of the earth and its creatures.  The Canaanites were given ample time to repent.  Some did and were sparred and even became partakers of Israel’s covenant with YHWH.  And so when Joshua leads Israel to victory over the Canaanite tribes, wiping them out to the last man, God is warning the whole earth–including people like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins–that his judgment is soon to come upon the whole earth.

As we continue our series on the Book of Joshua, we move into Joshua chapters 9-11, in which Joshua describes the changing military situation in Canaan.  The increased resolve on the part of the Canaanites to oppose Israel is the consequence of Achan’s sin and Israel’s defeat at Ai.  When tiny little Ai routed Joshua’s men, a number of Canaan tribes who had previously feared YHWH and his covenant people were watching.  Five Canaanite tribes now decide to band together in opposition to Israel’s conquest of Canaan.  The citizens of Shechem were simply absorbed into Israel–likely because of their ancient ties to Abraham and Jacob.  The citizens of Gibeon were so afraid of YHWH and Israel’s army that went so far as to deceive Joshua and the leaders of Israel so that Israel would make a covenant with them.  But in Joshua chapter 10 we read of five defiant Canaanite kings (called “Amorites”) who band together to attack Gibeon, because the Gibeonites made a treaty with Israel.  The Gibeonite defection from their alliance with the other Canaanites tribes–who will not bow the knee to YHWH–cannot be tolerated.

The opening two verses of chapter 9 describe the changing military situation in Canaan in these terms.  “As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.”  As we saw last time, this alliance was the bitter fruit of Achan’s sin and God’s covenant curse upon Israel.  The rest of Joshua 9:3-27 describes how the Gibeonites–one of Israel’s neighboring tribes–realized that their people (the Hivites) were about to be wiped out.  Having heard of Israel’s decisive victories over the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, the Gibeonites lie about being Israel’s neighbors.  They pretend to come from a distant land and then make a treaty with Joshua. 

To read the rest of this sermon, click here

The Twelfth in a Series of Sermons on the Book of Joshua

Joshua was afraid that this would happen.  After Israel’s stunning defeat at Ai, Joshua warned the people of Israel, “for the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it [Israel’s defeat] and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth.  And what will you do for your great name (Joshua 7:9)?”  Now that Israel has entered the heart of Canaan, the military situation will begin to change dramatically.  Some of the Canaanite tribes (the Gibeonites) are terrified of Israel and simply lose the will to fight.  But a number of Canaanite tribes begin to stiffen in their opposition to Israel’s conquest of the land.  Before the debacle at Ai, Israel and Joshua called the shots and advanced upon objectives of their choosing.  Now that the Canaanites had learned of Israel’s defeat by a vastly inferior foe at Ai, a number of tribes decide to band together in an attempt to organize a counteroffensive against the Israelite advance into Canaan.  YHWH promised to create fear in the hearts of the Canaanites, but now the Canaanites seem to be strengthening in their resolve to fight back.  What happened?

We are continuing our study of the Book of Joshua, which is part of a larger series, “I Will Be Your God and You Will Be My People.”  Throughout this series, we have been tracing the story of God’s redemption of his people as its unfolds in biblical history.  We’ve also been concentrating on the covenant of works and the covenant of grace and how God’s people relate to these two covenants. 

Recall that when we left off last time at the end of Joshua chapter 8, the people of God were camped near the city of Shechem in the valley between Mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal.  Upon reaching Abraham’s and Jacob’s ancient home as instructed by Moses, the entire nation participated in a covenant renewal ceremony.  As we read in Joshua 8:30-35, the people of God surrounded the ark of the covenant and the priests.  As the people streamed up the slopes of Mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal in what amounts to a natural amphitheater, higher up on the Mount Ebal, Israel’s priests offered burnt offerings for the people’s sins, as well as fellowship offerings to commemorate their covenant with YHWH. 

The high point of the covenant renewal ceremony was when Joshua read to the assembled people (men women and children, plus all the sojourners in the land) all that was written in the law–including the covenant blessings and curses.  We also read of how the priests conducted sacrifices on altar of uncut stones engraved with the words of the law.  This was a declaration to the Canaanites that Israel was in covenant relationship with YHWH and therefore entitled to all the covenant blessings–including possession of the land–upon the condition of their obedience.  But should Israel disobey the  Lord’s commandments, those covenant curses spelled out in the law would come upon the entire nation.  This entire ceremony was a testimony to the Canaanites that YHWH is the true and living God, and that this is his land to give to his people.  The sacrifices offered on this altar also served to remind both the Israelites and the Canaanites that YHWH is a merciful God and that there was still time to repent before YHWH directs the armies of Israel to bring down his judgment upon all those in Canaan. 

To read the rest of this sermon,  click here
 

The Eleventh in a Series of Sermons on the Book of Joshua

This is about as good as it gets.  In many ways, the events recorded at the end of Joshua chapter 8 are the high water mark of Old Testament redemptive history.  At long last, the people of Israel  have entered the promised land.  The Israelites have conquered the Canaanite cities of Jericho and Ai.  They have arrived at the city of Shechem in the valley between Mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal, and they have built an altar on Mount Ebal just as Moses had told them to do.  And there, in the very heart of that good land flowing with milk and honey which God had promised to give them, Israel renewed the covenant God had made with them more than forty years earlier in the barren wilderness at Mount Sinai.  This is truly a high point in redemptive history. 

But such moments are fleeting, sad to say, as the story of redemptive history is mostly downhill from here on.  At this moment in the story of redemption, Israel is obedient unto the Lord and therefore will receive great blessing.  But when Joshua eventually dies and Israel enters that period of biblical history known as the time of the judges, the people of God will forget YHWH and his law, and will do what is right in their own eyes.  Human obedience to the law is not only external and fleeting, but our good works can never remove our guilt before God.  Nor can the covenant God made with Israel and the revelation of his law on two stone tablets change the sinful human heart.  At our best moments, we fall far short of those things God demands of us under the law.  Looking back upon this period from the perspective of the coming of Jesus Christ, Paul tells us in Galatians 3 that all of these Old Testament events were intended to drive the people of God to faith in Jesus Christ, the greater Joshua.  And as we read in Hebrews 10, all of the wonderful things we read about in Joshua chapter 8 are mere shadows of good things yet to come, namely the blessings of the New Covenant, blessings we enjoy as a result of Christ’s saving work.

 Our current series on Joshua is part of a larger series entitled “I Will Be Your God and You Will Be My People.”  Throughout this larger series we have been working our way through the story of redemption, focusing on the history of the covenant of works and the covenant of grace as they unfold throughout redemptive history.  In this series so far we have covered the ground from Genesis 1:1 through the first eight chapters of Joshua.  We will now work our way through the rest of Joshua and the Book of Judges.

Recall that Israel had entered the land of promise under the leadership of Joshua, the covenant mediator who had taken the place of Moses.  Israel defeated two significant enemies before the nation marched to the place Moses had told them to go in Deuteronomy 27:4-5.  This covenant renewal ceremony on Mount Ebal was in many ways the theological climax of the entire Book of Joshua.  The people had entered the promised land, YHWH had given them the victory over their enemies, and the nation was obedient unto the Lord.  The people basked in the blessings of God and the nation renewed their covenant with YHWH.  But while all of this is good and entitles the nation of Israel to material blessings from the Lord (the land and its bounty, protection from enemies, and so on), it also hides the fact that the human heart is full of sin, and all those countless Israelites renewing the covenant need a Savior who can deliver them from the guilt and power of sin.  This is why Israel’s priests offer repeated sacrifices for sin, while the author of Hebrews reminds us that all of this is type and shadow, pointing us ahead to the reality, who is Christ.

To read the rest of this sermon, click here
 

The Tenth in a Series of Sermons on the Book of Joshua

When Achan took silver, gold, and personal property from the ruins of the city of Jericho, his actions brought the entire nation of Israel under the covenant curse.  Because YHWH had devoted the city of Jericho for destruction, no Israelite was permitted to take anything from the city once it had fallen and its inhabitants put to death.  To do so was a sin against YHWH.  Therefore, Achan’s theft was also an act of treason against the nation and its people.  Israel was a theocracy–a holy nation unto the Lord.  This makes Achan’s sin a capital crime.  But when Achan was put to death by the citizens of Israel, and when all his possessions were destroyed–including those items he had taken from the ruins of Jericho–God’s anger was turned aside and the curse was lifted from the nation.  Israel would now be victorious over the city of Ai, which had inflicted a surprising and humiliating defeat upon Israel when Joshua attempted to take the city after Jericho fell.  After Ai is destroyed, all Israel will stop and renew their covenant with YHWH.

We are continuing our series on the Book of Joshua.  After the city of Jericho fallen, the way into the land of Canaan was wide open.  Joshua went ahead with plans to take the rest of Canaan, beginning with the capture of Ai, a small city a dozen miles or so from Jericho.  But to Joshua’s great surprise, the men of Ai thoroughly defeated the 3,000 soldiers Joshua sent, killing a number of Joshua’s men and chasing away the rest in a panic.  Not only was this an embarrassing defeat in its own right, but if news spread throughout Canaan that Israel’s soldiers fled in the face of stiff resistance, Israel would lose its greatest advantage–fear on the part of the Canaanites.  The fear which spread throughout Canaan at news of the fall of Jericho would give way to a new-found confidence that Israel could be defeated.  Paradoxically, the great confidence that the Israelites felt when Jericho fell, now became fear.  When news reached the people of Israel regarding the defeat at Ai, they were greatly dismayed, and it was the people of Israel who lost the will to fight.  The defeat at Ai was a national disaster.

When the Lord revealed to Joshua that it was Achan who took gold, silver and a Babylonian robe from the remains of Jericho–knowing full-well that the Lord had forbidden such a thing–Joshua learned why the defeat at Ai had come about.  Following the Lord’s instructions to the letter, Joshua led the people of Israel to the Valley of Achor where they carried out the sentence of death upon Achan and his entire family.  They burned all his property, including that which he had stolen, and heaped stones upon their remains, creating a huge pile which served as a lasting monument to Achan’s great sin and the severe penalty he paid for taking things devoted unto the Lord.  Once Achan had been put to death, the Lord’s anger toward Israel was turned away and God would once again ensure that Israel would be victorious and possess the land of Canaan.  This is what unfolds in Joshua chapter 8.

To read the rest of this sermon, click here