Jesus is the Lord of Liberty - Joshua 5:13-6:5

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Winifred Brown
5 years ago
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1 Jesus is the Lord of Liberty - Joshua 5:13-6:5 Proposition: when Jesus is present we don t need rules and regulations/ religion. Joshua 5:13-6:5 (CEV) Israel Captures Jericho 13 One day, Joshua was near Jericho when he saw a man standing some distance in front of him. The man was holding a sword, so Joshua walked up to him and asked, Are you on our side or on our enemies' side? 14 Neither, he answered. I am here because I am the Commander of the LORD s army. Joshua fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. I am your servant, he said. Tell me what to do. 15 Take off your sandals, the Commander answered. This is a holy place. So Joshua took off his sandals. 6 Meanwhile, the people of Jericho had been locking the gates in their town wall because they were afraid of the Israelites. No one could go out or come in. 2-3 The LORD said to Joshua: With my help, you and your army will defeat the king of Jericho and his army, and you will capture the town. Here is how to do it: March slowly around Jericho once a day for six days. 4 Take along the sacred chest and have seven priests walk in front of it, carrying trumpets. But on the seventh day, march slowly around the town seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. 5 Then the priests will blast on their trumpets, and everyone else will shout. The wall will fall down, and your soldiers can go straight in from every side. Prayer for understanding I am a granddad, and sometimes granddads forget things. I wonder if any of you are thinking, didn t Russell speak on this exact same passage last week? Are we about to get the same sermon? Is the old fisherman losing it? When we read our passage today as we did last week, I think the message is very clear and very practical. If you want to see walls come down between you and a significant other, a sister, a spouse, a child, a workmate, there are principles in our passage that show us how it is that God will intervene with a major event and bring those walls down. We are to submit to God and not try to demand things our way, instead we ask the Lord, our Commander, what do you want me to do and say? We are to wait on the Lord knowing that He has a plan and a perfect way of bringing down the wall and we are not to force it or manipulate things to make them happen. And we are to believe in the Lord, that our God hears our prayers and He is good and He will be outworking a plan to bring down that wall. Submit, wait, believe. Very, very practical. And when you read this passage over quickly, I think those three practical steps stand out. But wait, there is more! There is this cruel joke often said by women about their husbands when hubby can t find something. Often ladies are heard to say; did you have a real look or a man look? there was even an add on tv with that exact phrase last year. When you slow down and take a second look at this passage there is something here liberating, freeing, profound that you don t see when you do a man look. 1

2 Here is Joshua, looking over the city and he sees a Man holding a drawn sword. This man is a Christophany, that it s an appearance of Jesus before He was born as a babe in Bethlehem, before He lived in Galilee, before He lived a perfect life, before He died on a cross at Calvary, taking the punishment for your sins and mine. It s Jesus, and when Joshua realizes who it is Joshua falls to the ground and worships the Lord and the Lord receives worship. Are you for us or against us? asks Joshua. Neither or No, says Jesus. I am the Commander of the Lord s army or as some translations put it the Captain of the Lord s army. The idea here is that like the captain of the ship has authority over all those on the boat, Jesus, the Commander, the Captain, has total authority in this conflict situation. Then this Commander says take off your shoes, you are on holy ground. Where have you heard those words before? Just 40 years earlier as the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush, He said exactly those words. It reminds me of what God had promised Joshua. He had promised previously to Joshua, As I have been with Moses, I will be with you. God uses the same phraseology. It s Jesus Himself, a Christophany, and He gives Joshua an incredible strategy to defeat the enemy. I want you to march around Jericho, once a day for six days and then on the 7 th day, the Sabbath day or Shabbat I want you to march around the city 7 times. Crickey, did you see that? On the Sabbath walk seven times further than you did Sunday to Friday. Can you imagine what was going through Joshua s mind? Lord, you wrote the first 5 books of the OT, the Torah, the Law, I was with Moses as you gave us the commandments. The book of the law says there is to be no travelling on the Sabbath. March around the city once a day for six days. All good. No sweat, can do. But now on the Holy day, the day you have been taught that there is to be no travelling, march 7 times further. What??? Can you imagine what must have gone through Joshua s mind? He is being asked to break rules and regulations, these spiritual disciplines and practices that have been so important. God don t You know what You had written? What is this? You know we don t travel on Saturday let alone seven times further than we have all week. Not only that, after being told to march around seven times on Shabbat, Joshua is told to shout to engage the battle. Battle? What did You say. The Jews never went to war on the Sabbath, never. It s against the rules. In fact when Israel s enemies realized that they would not fight on the Sabbath often they were attacked and killed on the Sabbath because they knew the Jews would not fight back. Everybody knows we Godly people don t go to war on the Holy Day. Joshua you are to travel seven times further on the Sabbath, shout for victory on the Sabbath and carry the Ark of the Covenant into the conflict. Are you serious? Joshua must have thought. For it is written, we do not take this holy 1 metre by 2/3 rd of a metre box, containing the ten commandments, with the mercy seat on top, it is written that you do not take the Ark into a conflict zone. What is this, Lord, you are asking me to do, he must have thought, Travel, start a war on the Sabbath and take the sacred ark into battle. It s a violation. We are told not to do those things. In first Samuel, as the Philistines were wiping out the Israelites, they decide to take the Ark into battle and suffer a brutal defeat and the Ark of the Covenant is taken and placed in the pagan temple of Dagon. According to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, the priests were exempted from battle. They were to be devoted to spiritual things and kept out of the conflict zone. Everybody knew the priests were not allowed onto the battle field, but now the Commander of the Lord s army, the captain of our salvation, says get the priest to carry the Ark into battle on the Sabbath day????? 2

3 And, says the Commander, our Commander, you are to blow the shofar, the ram s horn, to call the people to action; the shofar. But the Torah says when you want to call the people to war blow the two silver trumpets. Numbers 10 explains it clearly. Joshua knew it well. Can you imagine what went through Joshua s mind? Captain, Commander, Lord, what are You suggesting? You inspired the book and now you are telling me to break so many rules and regulations and traditions. What is this? How would you have reacted? Is Jesus contradicting the OT? Here is what I want you to see. Here is what I want you to be aware of. Jesus didn t simply give Joshua the plan. He didn t just say travel on the Sabbath, send the Ark and the priests into battle, blow the shofar. He led the way Himself. Turn, if you would, to Zechariah 14:1-4 & 8-9. This is a prophecy about the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives and He will, at His return, descend there. Armies from around the world will come against Israel and against the Lord stretching from the valley of Megiddo to Jerusalem and Jesus will defeat them there. Zechariah 14:1-9 (KJV) 14 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Did you notice verse 3? As when He fought in the day of battle. When did Jesus fight in the day of battle? I didn t read of it in the gospels. The only place that this could allude to is our text. Jesus, the Commander, I believe led the way and called for the people to shout etc. Jesus. So what is your point Russell? It s simply this. Because Jesus was at the battle of Jericho, all the rules, the regulations, the rituals that had gone before, that the Torah spoke of are no longer important or relevant. All those OT things are just pictures, types of, illustrations of, pointers to, shadows of Jesus. In the OT we have the Sabbath day, the day of rest. In the NT in the book of Hebrews we are told that Jesus is our rest. The day is just a picture, Jesus is the real thing. We no longer have to work hard to earn God s favour and find rest. Through Jesus we already have it. What is the Ark? It s Jesus. He is the only one who has ever lived who has kept within Him all the commandments perfectly. And He is covered by the lid of mercy. What about the Priests? The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our great high priest who trumpets the gospel to us. The Sabbath day, the ark, the priests - it s all just pictures, illustrations, shadows, but you don t need them when you have the real thing Jesus. 3

4 Colossians 2:16-17 (CEV) 16 Don t let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don t let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival. 17 These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real! Don t let anyone judge you, telling you that you are not spiritual if you eat pork or if you don t go to church on Saturday. Those things are a shadow, pointing, leading the way to the real thing, which is Jesus. Imagine this. I come home in the evening and instead of little Anna running down the steps to hug me and instead of Juliette greeting me at the top of the stairs with a kiss, I get home and I find them both talking to a photo of me or kissing the ground where my shadow falls. That would be not good! Whacky. In the same way rules and rituals and religion point to some One great but they are no longer important when Jesus is there present. It s as if Jesus would say to Joshua, Joshua all those rules and rituals and regulations, they are fine if I am not here, they all point to me, but when I am here in the flesh, commanding your life, then all those shadows, pointers become irrelevant. The book of Joshua, as I have said, is an illustration of the Spirit filled life. I wonder how easy it would be for us to focus on the Torah, on the rules, on the rituals, on disciplines, on practices, on religion, rather than Him. When I go to church, any day of the week, am I doing so because this is my ritual, my tradition or am I going to encounter Jesus, to draw closer to Him. When I get up in the morning and have my devotions because I am a disciplined guy, do I do that because this is what we do or do I do that to get closer to the Lord and to hear His voice? When I place my offering in the bag am I going to legalistically focus on the 10% or am I open to the Lord saying maybe a bit less or a bit more this week? Am I doing what I do out of ritual and routine and regulation or is it about relationship with Jesus? I may know a lot about Deuteronomy or Leviticus or Isaiah, but that means nothing if I am not being led by Jesus, moment by moment! I think if those first Christians were to visit a church like ours they would be amazed by the knowledge we have. We know heaps and understand prophecies and historical things far beyond what they knew. They had hardly any written words or in depth studies but they had Jesus and the sick were healed and the dead were raised. What is my prayer for you and for me this morning? It s simply this, that the Lord, our Commander, our Captain would set us free from religion and predictability, from legalism, from habits, from routines, from self imposed expectations and the critical analysis of others. I pray that we would all be free from religion, because Jesus, the Captain of our salvation is present. If He is not, then please come and talk to someone after the service. Colossians 2:16-17 (CEV) 16 Don t let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don t let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival. 17 These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real! The reality is Jesus. You have got the real thing. The shadows are no longer so relevant. Let Him bless you and guide you and lead you. Ask Him constantly, Lord, what do You want me to do? Here I am reporting for service. You are here with me and so I am willing to be led by You, moment by moment, day by day, year by year. 4

5 Prayer Today Lord Jesus, we come to You and declare You the Captain of our salvation. While we find religion and routine and ritual comfortable and familiar, what we really want is You. You are the real thing our hearts desire most and so we come to You and ask You to guide us this week throughout every day and every hour. We don t always understand why You tell us to do some of the things You do. But we know this, that as we obey You, walls come down and victories are won. This week, Lord, we, the family at WCBC, are reporting for duty. What would you have us do, and say, in our community this week? We go into this community united in love and submitted to Your will. Amen. 5

Keys to breaking down walls in relationships Joshua 5:13-6:5

Keys to breaking down walls in relationships Joshua 5:13-6:5 Last week we opened our studies in the book of Joshua, or Je-shu-a or Jesus as it would be later pronounced and we read how God promised to