Joshua Session 2 - A Comprehensive Commentary by Ron Matsen

[Music] do well good evening and welcome to another opportunity for us to study the book of joshua so with that let's begin with a word of prayer lord we thank you that you've given us your word lord that you've set before us an example of a joshua and the nation of israel that are our examples lord of how our jesus leads us into the fullness of our inheritance lord we pray that you would just open our hearts and minds tonight lord to receive that which your spirit would reveal to us for it's in the name of jesus christ we pray and ask this amen tonight we're going to be looking at three chapters chapters three through five uh in session two and uh you remember as we begin our study in the book of joshua we left in chapter two with the end of this story of the two spies that go into jericho and they end at the house of rahab and as we pointed out i've honestly feel that what we experience there in that chapter is what is really god's divine appointment that these lads were not sort of uh not very good spies in the sense that as soon as they came in the city the men of the city knew they were there they were being guided it would not appear that they gathered any kind of military uh information but they end up at the house of rahab and as we pointed out she really was predisposed to be sensitive to the god of israel and so she delivers to them a message that the spies now bring back to israel in verse 24 of chapter 2 we read and they said to joshua truly the lord has delivered all the land into our hands for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted because of us and of course the us there really is them and the lord with the emphasis being on the lord and so chapter 3 we begin then joshua rose early in the morning and they sent out from the acacia grove and came to the jordan he and all the children of israel and lodged there before they crossed over and so it was after three days that the officers went through all the camp and they commanded the people saying when you see the ark of the covenant of the lord your god and the priests the levites bearing it then you shall set out from your place and go after it yet there shall be a space between you and it about two thousand cubits by measure do not come near it that you may know where the way by which you must go for you have not passed this way before now as we see this journey that they are going to begin which is going to take them across the jordan river and finally lay foot in the promised land the leaders go out among the children of israel and tell them they're going to be led by the ark god is going to change some things here in fact we'll see a number of things that god previously did with the nation of israel he will do differently with them once they are in the promised land and so he's changing the way he's leading them formally he led them by a pillar of fire by now in a cloud by day and when it stood still they would erect the the tabernacle and the priests would begin to perform their sacrifices there as soon as the cloud by day or pillar fire by night moved the there was a rank and file an order in which they would then begin to follow the lord in that manner and so they had been experiencing this for 40 years you need to appreciate that for some of these people this was the only life they understood we're dealing with people anyone under 40 years old is is going to have been born in the wilderness and so this is the only existence they don't they don't know anything other than when the cloud by day moves they move now they're told that they are to follow the ark and that they did not get any closer than thousand cubits and let's look at the ark first of all we know there's there's the ten commandments these uh tablets of stone upon which god wrote the ten commandments that represents god's word the second thing is a pot of manna which represents god's works number three we have the rod of aaron there was a dispute among the children of israel with regards to leadership in israel and as a result of that god challenged the people tol instructed the people to have the leaders bring their rods and that god would validate the calling of aaron as the high priest and so this rod was a symbol of god's will and so that which is in the ark is representing god's word god's works and god's will now they're instructed to leave a space between the ark and the people the purpose is specified within the text itself that you may know the way by which you must go this is very important for this is demonstrating to the children of israel something that is not mystical in the sense of that cloud by day and pillar fire by night this is really setting up for them a type and shadow which will be important for them when they're in the promised land and the cloud no longer exists it's demonstrating that the word of god in isolation from any other authority is to be their source of guidance and so should also that be true for you and i the word of god should be sufficient for providing us our guidance psalm 119 verse 105 tells us your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path oh if we would learn to trust in the word of god concerning decisions in our life so often we want to get another opinion we want to get some professional insight or or this or that we're real quick to go to the marginal sources but the major source in our life should be the word of god sadly the reason why it is not utilized often in the life of a believer is because of their lack of knowledge of the word of god so often the direction in life is easily ascertained by understanding the situation that you face and it's it's uh it's viewed through scripture and so uh god's laying down and we're gonna see this by the way throughout our study of the book of joshua loads of incidences which really are indicating to you and i how we having been purchased by the blood of jesus christ enjoying the freedom of salvation now entering into a place of being fruitful in terms of our inheritance so the word is going to be key with regards to that and joshua said to the people sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the lord will do wonders among you then joshua spoke to the priest saying take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people so they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people now normally the movement of israel as was defined in deuteronomy was really moses and aaron would go out first then the camp of judah then gershon and mara mariah uh which uh were the um other two families uh within the the tribe of levi then they would come then the camp of reuben then the koaphites who had the responsibility over the ark and so literally the fifth thing to leave when they would be traveling in the wilderness was the ark of the covenant but in this incident what we see is we see that the ark of the covenant is going to lead and so after the ark of the covenant then there was the camp of ephraim and then after the camp of ephraim came the camp of dan and each of them would move at the blast of a trumpet and so we have an interesting foreshadowing of the book of revelation and seven trumpets there uh trumpets are used for uh giving commands and so the first trumpet blast moses and aaron would move out second trumpet blast camp of judah and so forth and so they would know when they were to move the blast of the the shofar now joshua's command of the people is for them to sanctify themselves sanctification is simply that of devoting yourself for the purpose of a special use sanctify yourself to the lord you know when you give your life to the lord you've placed your present and future in the hands of the one who is best able to take care of you sanctify yourself that's not some kind of a a priestly duty that's an opportunity we have to to once again devote and dedicate ourselves to the lord and that's what he's saying sanctify yourself and to the priests take the lead generally they would be embedded within the nation of israel now at this crossing the priests are going to go forward and and they're going to be in front of all the people they're going to be taking the lead for this journey across the jordan river and of course this is much different than what the children of israel experienced when they were at kadesh barnea 38 years earlier for anyone that was 20 years old and younger of course or older they pat they perished in the wilderness so there would have been some people that would have been prior to that they could have been in their teens and uh or younger and so they might have had still remembrance of that horrible day when um the door effectively to the promised land was shut for them and so now they're with this waiting nation on the eastern banks of the jordan river and the lord said to joshua this day i will begin to exalt you in the sight of all israel that they may know that as i was with moses so i will be with you you shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant saying when you have come to the edge of the water of the jordan you shall stand in the jordan so now joshua receives this command from the lord where god is teaching him how to lead joshua had seen the deliverance of god as the military leader of israel he'd seen the power of god as he was on mount sinai with moses while the rest of the nation of israel was committing spiritual adultery there before the golden calf being led by the elder brother of moses joshua is there faithfully with moses he also saw the anger of the lord because of israel's sins not only that at the um uh the outbreak that takes place there um um at the base of of mount sinai but also as the as the nation on numerous occasions uh were ungrateful for the provision of the lord he saw the judgment of god because of israel's rebellion he saw the incident in the wilderness where these serpents went out throughout the camp of israel and and and bit people and many died but he also saw the compassion of god as he heard god talking to moses he was witnessing the fact that god is compassionate but he also understood the calling of god in his own ordination as god revealed to him that he would be the one that would now fulfill the leadership role of leading the children of israel into the promised land joshua is told that he is being exalted at this place at this place of the crossing now it's important to recognize yet again that we're dealing with a wonderful type and shadow of jesus christ because the priests were to stand in the jordan river and this is the same place where jesus will begin his public ministry this is the place of the crossing in john chapter 1 verse 28 this is the site where john the baptist was baptizing those who had come down from jerusalem and jesus comes to him there at the place of the crossing and so the same place that joshua was going to be exalted people were going to see a great thing take place so too years later jesus would begin his public ministry at this same place so in that sense this is joshua's the beginning of his public ministry he served as a military general but now he is being exalted as the leader of israel when they see this great thing that god is about to do so joshua said to the children of israel come here and hear the words of the lord your god and joshua said by this you shall know that the living god is among you that he will without fail drive out from before you the canaanites and the hittites and the hivites and the perizzites and the gurgashites and the amorites and the jebusites now along israel's journey to the promised land they have been consistently confronted by nations that want to impede their journey to the fullness of god's promise in their life there were nations that needed to be defeated to occupy the promised land they needed to defeat ten nations three of those nations were on their way to the jordan river the first was the amalekites they needed to be defeated and joshua led that first battle in the valley of rephadim also the place where moses had struck the rock and the water came forth and quenched the thirst of the nation of israel the next two were as the nation was approaching the eastern shore of the jordan and they were confronted by the king of sahon and the king of basham numbers chapter 21 give us an account of those two battles and so there were three nations that were vanquished does not mean that they were wiped out in fact we'll see throughout the conquests under the leadership of joshua he does not utterly wipe out the enemies he simply defeats them difference there are remnants of them and unfortunately the amalekites will will continue to raise their head many times in the history of israel and therefore there are seven nations that are listed here that are within the promised land so we have 10 nations again 10 is an interesting total in that it's the same pattern that we see in the book of revelation and daniel when these 10 nations confederate against christ himself and his second coming so the nation of israel have and will face a total of 10 nations verse 11 behold the ark of the covenant of the lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the jordan now therefore take for yourselves 12 men from the tribes of israel one man from every tribe and it shall come to pass as soon as the souls of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the lord the lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of the jordan that the waters of a jordan shall be cut off the waters that come down from upstream they shall stand as a heap now as we look at this we'll we're we're struck with not only uh yet again an opportunity for god to show his dominion over the physical world in which uh the children of israel are living but it's a demonstration of god's power and he's acting in real time and space here but he will divide the jordan as he did the red sea to a degree the difference being of course the preeminent one that was there as an instrument of god to divide the red sea was moses and the rod of aaron so it was leadership now in this incident they are sending the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant and they have to actually go into the river and and stand still in a flowing river now as we will see in a few verses the river at this time of the year is flooding its banks and so it's quite a torrent it's it's not the dry season it's quite a torrent and he is doing this that by this they shall know that the living god is among you and so god will begin to demonstrate in real time in space that he is in control of all the circumstances that are associated with the success of the nation of israel it's important for us to recognize that not only in terms of how god is working in israel but also in terms of your sanctification you being brought into a place of dwelling and enjoying the richness of your inheritance in christ it is something that god will do in you and through you so long as you go and stand and allow him to do his work so it was when the people set out from their camp to cross over the jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people and as those who bore the ark came to the jordan and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water for the jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest that the waters which came down from upstream stood still and rose in a heap very far away at adam the city that is beside zeratan so the waters that went down into the sea of arba this the salt sea failed and were cut off and the people crossed over opposite jericho then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the jordan and all israel crossed over on dry ground until all the people had crossed completely over the jordan and so we have the account of yet again another opportunity for god to show that he is the one who was making the way through what was in the natural uh an impassable barrier the waters rose in a heap very far away at adam the city that is beside zeratan and what we have is the suggestion here is that the river backed up for what we would see to about about 30 miles upriver from the place of the crossing now it's interesting when you look at the meaning of these two names adam of course means man but zeratan means in distress and again let's pause for a moment and recognize yet again we have a wonderful type and shadow in the even the names of the cities that are associated with this crossing man in distress it's a symbol of mankind before the completed work of jesus christ we're told in scripture that by the first adam distress entered the whole world through sin and by the last adam that is jesus christ deliverance and divine inheritance is offered to the whole world and so even in the event of how far the water backed up and how it's described is describing uh in essence the fact that it is joshua new testament name jesus who is leading the children of israel into their inheritance at the place of man being in distress the very sense of what sin is is it brings distress because we have that guilty conscience so we move on to chapter four and it came to pass when all the people had completely crossed over the jordan that the lord spoke to joshua saying take for yourselves twelve men from the people one man from every tribe and command them saying take for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the midst of the jordan from the place where the priests stood firm you shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodged tonight then joshua called the 12 men from whom he had appointed from the children of israel one man from every tribe and joshua said to them cross over before the ark of the covenant of the lord your god into the midst of the jordan and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the children of israel that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come saying what do these stones mean to you then you shall answer them that the waters of the jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the lord when it crossed over the jordan and the waters of a jordan were cut off and these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of israel and so we have this account of the first set of twelve stones the first memorial now that the children of israel are going to be establishing in the promised land notice there's 12 stones 12 representing each of the 12 tribes the stones previously lay under the water which throughout scripture that which is under the water is a symbol of death and now they are taken by each of the 12 they're taken out of the river and they're laid at the place of their first night's residence and these stones will stand as a memorial of god's completed work you know memorials are important things i encourage people as they are going and growing with the lord to keep a journal of some type some even keep it in their bibles but keep a journal of some type which indicates really major things that take place in your life especially when you know you really at a point you really see the hand of the lord in something you need to document that and date it if there are scriptures that are associated with it you should underscore that and capture that in something that later on when there's some doubt you can look back and know that god is the one that brought you thus far certainly with marcy and i uh throughout our life we have a number of these piles of rocks we call them uh they're sort of the they're a one-way gate you know in electronics they have um a a little electronic one-way gate called a diode and the electrons can flow one way through it but they can't flow back and perhaps you've gone through in a in a store you'll go through a door that opens for you going in but it won't let you go out and that's what we need to look at these memorial stones as is they are points to which we remember that it's god's provision that brought us thus far and then if at some time in the future we feel ourselves uh beginning to lose confidence or perhaps a little bit confused we should at least go back to the last one-way door and remember ah yes this is when god did this and we prayed and this is what happened and and we we clearly identified that as the hand of the lord and those will become very very important to us because that's exactly what the nation of israel is doing here they're making the first of many of these memorial um sites around the nation now question what part did the children of israel play in this whole adventure well they simply walked in the completed work of god that's how they enter into the promised land their the only effort on their part is they need to be obedient following the word of god and dwelling in the completed work of god see the real richness of our inheritance will come yes by by us uh as james says we have to have our faith needs to have works but that works as a result of the faith and our faith is this in the completed works of jesus christ by which we can enter the rest that israel never experienced because they were constantly trying to earn their way before god through their sacrificial systems continuing verse 8 and the children of israel did so just as joshua commanded and took up 12 stones from the midst of the jordan as the lord had spoken to joshua according to the number of the tribes of the children of israel and carried them out with them to a place where they lodged and laid them down there then joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of the jordan in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood and they are there to this day there's a second set of 12 stones that most people overlook this second set is one joshua takes upon himself to set as a reminder which would be in the river itself these 12 stones were to be set where the priest stood so one would surmise they would be near the eastern shore of this river which was overflowed so you'd get the sense that there would be pillars on both sides of the river during a dry season during a wet season the stones would be underwater there's something here i think we should look at and that is the fact that there are really two places here that are being remembered one is stones that are being laid down in the river again the river underwater is a symbol of death and in that sense that is what we experience when we are obedient in christian baptism the purpose of christian baptism is to make a public declaration of your death to self the 12 stones which they took out of the river and sat in this place called gilgal the place where they first lodged the first night that really represents the resurrection because it was taken out of the river and placed in the promised land and so these two memorials have two different connotations associated with them those stones that are in the river were taken out of the promised land and placed in the river those stones that were taken out of the river and placed on the land they represent the resurrection and christian symbolism there is that of communion jesus says do this in remembrance of me and it is through the resurrection of jesus christ that we have confidence that the the sacrifice of christ was acceptable to the father acceptable on our behalf and so as they are doing these things they're not only providing these memorial that will be important to the nation of israel to go back if they have their children in future years wonder what are these what are these stones for it's so that the the the parent or grandparent could take their child there and say this is the place we crossed over because there will come a point when you're following the lord into a new venture of faith where you will have your faith shaken and the way to overcome that is go back to the pile of rocks have a look at those things which when they took place they spoke clearly to you of god's provision and protection so you need to go back and remember those things well but this happened here and this was the result of it and we really felt that was the lord and that will help give you some guidance continuing verse 10 so the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the jordan until everything was finished that the lord had commanded joshua to speak to the people according to all that moses had commanded joshua and the people hurried and crossed over then it came to pass when all the people had completely crossed over that the ark of the lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people and so we have the duty of the priests god is establishing a very important symbol here with the priests the ark of the covenant was to go before them and then it was to stand in the midst of the jordan so as people passed by the ark of the covenant was there symbolically holding back the judgment or the wrath of the river holding it back as the people crossed over and then they the priests are the last to come out holding the ark of the covenant they come from behind when the crossing was complete because god as with the nation of israel so with you and i will never leave them nor forsake them he doesn't just lead on and then the stragglers at the back you know are wondering hey i wonder if the people in front of me are going the right direction they all had the opportunity to see the ark go in they all got to see the ark standing in the jordan as the water was heaping up and they all got to see the river then returned to its natural flow after the priests and the ark leave the river and the men of reuben the men of god and half the tribe of manasseh crossed over armed before the children of israel as moses had spoken to them about forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the lord for battle to the plains of jericho on that day the lord exalted joshua in the sight of all israel and they feared him as they had feared moses all the days of his life then the lord spoke spoke to joshua saying command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony to come up from the jordan and joshua therefore commanded the priest saying come up from the jordan and it came to pass when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the lord had come from the midst of the jordan and the souls of the priest's feet touched the dry land that the waters of a jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before and so we saw the opening of the jordan river and now the closing of it it sort of reminds you of of uh noah and the ark isn't it that god left the opportunity for salvation open until god closed the door we'll hear any person who did not travel during this period of time that was marked by the entrance of the priests and the exit of the priests who were bearing the ark of the covenant then they would be left on the eastern side of the jordan river notice verse 10 tells us the people hurried and crossed over they really saw hey you know we want to be part of this we don't want to get caught in this torrent again if they had been been remembering what took place in the red sea um some 40 years earlier or if their parents had told them about to what took place with pharaoh's army who were bearing down on the children of israel they went across the river though on dry land in a hurried manner and joshua is doing all of this in accordance with the commandments of god he's not acting and freewheeling here acting upon his own impulses a godly leader will wait and only deliver that which he receives from the lord paul says that to the corinthian church that which i received from the lord i now deliver unto you and of course he gives them an instruction with regards to the congregational use of communion verse 19. now the people came up from the jordan on the 10th day of the first month and they encamped at gilgal on the east border of jericho and those 12 stones which they took out of the jordan joshua set up in gilgal then he spoke to the children of israel saying when your children ask their fathers in time to come saying what are these stones then you shall let your children know saying israel crossed over this jordan on dry land for the lord your god dried up the waters of the jordan before you until you had crossed over as the lord your god did to the red sea which he dried up before us until we had crossed over that the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the lord that is mighty that you may fear the lord your god forever and so here we see an emphasis now as they are residing in this place that they will call gilgal the importance of these memorials this was to be one of many places where the nation of israel could go and visit and they could be reminded of the provision of the lord now again we find it interesting that they arrive on the 10th of nisan the 10th of nisan you remember the month of nisan is the month of passover they arrive in the promised land on the 10th of nisan the 40th anniversary of the preparation for the passover the 10th of nissan 40 years earlier they were preparing for the final of the ten plagues in egypt but on the tenth of nissan 32 a.d that's when jesus rode into jerusalem on his triumphant entry notice how god is orchestrating all the events here to be a foreshadowing of that which would be fulfilled in jesus christ the tenth of nissan jesus wrote into jerusalem on his triumphant entry you'll also find that when you study the book of leviticus that the tenth of nissan is the day that the family would take the sheep that would be slaughtered at passover and they would bring it into the house and it would live in the house you know they say those of you that raise animals to kill them and eat them whatever you do don't don't get attached to them you know certainly don't give them a name uh because you know it'll be uh uh you know you you name the animal and then when you've slaughtered it it's going to be sort of tough to look down at that pork chop and think you know here's old charlie you know or whatever and so for the nation of israel they brought the lamb into their own house on the 10th of nisan jesus rides into the city of jerusalem presented as a king on the 10th of nisan 32 a d let's move to chapter so 5. was when all the kings of the amorites who were on the west side of the jordan and all the kings of the canaanites who were by the sea heard that the lord had dried up the waters of the jordan from before the children of israel until we had crossed over that their hearts melted and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of israel you know it's interesting to pause at this moment and just take a look at the heart of an individual who is in rebellion fear we're told grip the hearts of the enemies of israel when you really begin to see the power and authority of god all of the rebellion that seems to be so strong among men wastes away to nothing you know psalm 2 tells us why did the heathens rage the nation's rage god will hold them in derision there will come a day when the nations will gather against the coming of this of jesus christ with no effect other than the fact that the book of revelation tells us that anyone who takes up arms against god will be slain that day there'll be no survivors in what's referred to as the battle of armageddon but of course there's no battle at all it's a slaughter rebellion has a way of just melting away when it's really confronted with an awesome god and these people were in rebellion against god for 430 years these people had known what abraham had known only they had rejected it abraham and isaac and jacob had lived there 430 years earlier jacob leaving and going into the promised land and subsequently a land which previously at least had acknowledged the god of abraham isaac and jacob now they've turned their backs and and and the judgment that is coming upon them will be at the hands of the israelites at that time the lord said to joshua make flint knives for yourselves and circumcise the sons of israel again the second time so joshua made flint knives for himself and circumcised the sons of israel at the hill of the foreskins and this is the reason why joshua circumcised them all the people who came out of egypt who were male all the men of war had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of egypt for all the people who had come out had been circumcised but all the people born in the wilderness on the way as they came out of egypt had not been circumcised for the children of israel walked 40 years in the wilderness till all the people who were men of war who came out of egypt were consumed because they did not obey the voice of the lord to whom the lord swore that he would show that he would not show them the land which the lord had sworn to their fathers that he would give us a land flowing with milk and honey then joshua circumcised their sons whom they raised then joshua circumcised their sons whom he raised up in their place for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way and so we have another visitation at this covenant of circumcision it um happens to them as they have now crossed over they're in the promised land but before they are going to be able to prosper in the lord they needed to fulfill the covenant that god began with abraham abraham was given this sign as a covenant in genesis chapter 17 verses 9 to 14 and so he circumcised himself and his son it's an outward sign of an inward covenant with god it's symbolic of the cutting away of the flesh the new testament equivalent of course is water baptism it's a symbol of death to the flesh it is in that sense an inward an outward sign of an inward work we can't see what goes on in the heart of an individual but the public declaration of repentance is what the nation of israel is expressing here so it was when they had finished circumcising all the people that they stayed in their place in the camp till they were healed and the lord said to joshua this day i have rolled away the reproach of egypt from you therefore the name of the place is called gilgal to this day and so the the this area becomes known as gilgal which means roll away god had rolled away their transgressions the transgression of egypt we are told which is the fact that they did not and were not obedient in the wilderness even though they were under the leadership of moses now the children of israel camped in gilgal and kept the passover on the 14th day of the month at twilight on the plains of jericho and they ate the produce of the land on the day after the passover unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day and so as they come into the promised land they enjoy their first passover in the promised land remember the passover was a celebration of remembering god's deliverance from egypt how appropriate for them having now arrived on the day that is a foreshadowing of the revealing of jesus christ as a conquering king on the triumphant entry how appropriate that their first feast day is that of passover the new testament equivalent of course is communion jesus says do this in remembrance of me it's a time when we remember the completed work of jesus christ i'm concerned when i see people participating in communion during which time there's no reference to the cross and the resurrection it becomes just simply nothing more than a religious ritual it needs to be a time of reflection a time of teaching a time of remembrance for the jews when they would hold a passover meal the head of the house would use the seder the order of the meal to teach the children about the deliverance of the nation of israel from the egyptians and so the order of the meal the way the items were brought out and and and taken uh every single aspect of the seder meal was uh to reinforce the teaching of the history of the deliverance of the nation of israel and so too we as christians i think we need to be careful that communion doesn't become something where we just simply take a a bit of bread and a bit of juice and pause for a moment and then carry on i think it's something that we need to take very seriously and consider there needs to be a consideration concerning it as we are told to remember what christ did for us we're remembering the cross after all joshua had anticipated the questions that would come from the young people who were not part of this crossing when they say what do these stones mean to you why why is this significant and therefore when we as christians are participating in communion we need to make sure that we are always communicating the significance of communion notice god's timing for this entry israel entered on the tenth day of nissan and then israel removes the their flesh they go through the the ritual of circumcision and then israel eats the passover on the 14th now they would have had you know 38 years or so in the wilderness where they would have kept the passover after it was given as a part of the law that they were to repeat it year in and year out they would have kept the passover in the wilderness but now they are doing so in a circumspect way again notice the parallel in the ministry of jesus christ jesus entered jerusalem on the 10th of nissan what did he do after he entered in he went in and cleansed the temple he went over and turned over the tables of the money changers he really struck at the heart of the merchandising of the temple saying that uh that this house is to be a house of prayer and yet they've made it a den of thieves and then of course the 14th he eats the passover with his disciples and then the evening the night of the passover going to the 15th of nissan is when he is arrested tried crucified and laid in the grave so the 14th all that takes place on the 14th he is jesus eats the passover on the 14th which starts at sundown he is arrested the night of the 14th and then as dawn breaks he's he's he's been arrested he's tried in six illegal trials he's crucified on the 14th and he's laid in the tomb on the 14th then manna ceased on that day after they had eaten the produce of the lamb and the children of israel no longer had manna but they ate the food of the land of canaan that year it's significant now can you imagine the the changes that these people are experiencing especially those who were born or raised while they are there wandering in the wilderness they were used to that pillar of fire by night and that cloud by day they were used to six days a week going out from their tent and merely picking up manna in the wilderness now they enter into the promised land and the manna stops manna was only for when they were in the wilderness when they came into the promised land now they need to eat the produce of the promised land it's important for us to see the parallels there that when you're entering into the the fullness of god's plans and purposes in your life you you are you're gonna have a change of diet you're gonna feast upon the benefits of living in a life that is submitted to and rewarded for your commitment to jesus christ and it came to pass when joshua was by jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked and behold a man stood opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand and joshua went to him and said are you for us or for our adversaries and he said no but as the commander of the army of the lord i have now come and joshua fell in his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him what does my lord say to a servant and the commander of the lord's army said to joshua take your sandals off your foot for the place where you are stand is holy so joshua did so and so as we close chapter 5 we see that joshua as he looks at the next objective there within six miles of the walls of jericho they are against the jordan river when you travel to that area of israel today there's really nothing but open plains between the jordan river and the city of jericho and when you consider the size of these people who would have crossed over and that they took their soldiers and circumcised them which really put them kind of at a disadvantage you realize they were sitting there quite vulnerable the river now is closed up behind them there there there's no way back now unless they want to swim they're there they've taken their soldiers and they've circumcised them all which is not something that you heal from instantly in a male adult it can take a long time the sense here is it was probably somewhat miraculous but nonetheless joshua is looking at the objective there's jericho now wow and this commander of the host appears to him who is he well we can notice two key indicators in the event itself to determine who it is that is standing before joshua where joshua says are you for us are you for them who who who do you represent notice that he received worship joshua when he uh hears the voice of this captain of the army of god he falls before him but that's not something that angels are supposed to do so people say well is this an angel john tells us revelation chapter 22 verse 8 9. now i john saw and heard these things and when i heard and saw i fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things then he said to me see that you do not do that for i am your fellow servant and of your brethren the prophets and of those who keep the words of this book worship god and so we know that it can't be an angel primarily because he receives worship but he says something else he causes the ground to be holy it says take off your feet or take off your shoes rather take off your shoes you're on holy ground and of course that's reminiscent of what took place with moses in exodus chapter 3 where he's we read in verse 5 then he said do not draw near this place take off take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground so who is he i think he's an old testament revelation of jesus christ that's referred to as a theophany or a christophany i have no problem with that jesus did not need to um um you know wait and tell his virgin birth to reveal himself he's a transcendent being capable of revealing himself when and where he wants but notice the the title that he takes of himself he's the commander of the army of the lord and that he's there because he said that god would fight for israel and so we need to remember that that when we are considering the battle that sits before us as we desire to enter into the fullness of god's inheritance in our life we want to enter the promise the promised land is not a type and shadow of heaven a promised land the promised land is a type and shadow of a spirit-led life what's wonderful is to recognize that jesus christ is there to battle for us it's not something we have to enter into by ourselves and so with that we'll close this evening next week read chapter 6 which is of course the chapter that will focus on this battle for jericho and so we'll get that in our next session and with that let's close with a word of prayer lord when we consider the awesomeness of the creator and sustainer of the universe lord that you would even notice us let alone recognize us and have a desire toward us since before the foundation of the world and your desire being that of drawing us into a full spirit-led life where we could produce the fruit which is the result of you working through the branches that are connected to the vine jesus christ we're grateful lord that as we trust in you as the nation of israel will be led by joshua who is being led by the commander of the army of the lord of hosts lord may we too follow after jesus in his footsteps and allow him to lead us from victory to victory from strength to strength for it's in his name we pray amen

Channel: Koinonia House

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Keywords: jesus, christ, chuck, missler, koinonia, house, khouse, institute

Id: iMExH3xtmS4

Length: 57min 50sec (3470 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 16 2020