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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2023

Pastor Andy Davis expounds on three themes woven together in Mark 9:14-32: the vicious demon, the various degrees of people's unbelief, and the glory of Christ. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 9. I know some of you can scarcely believe we're going to do 14 through 32 today. You're like, I thought we were the church that spent whole sermons on one verse. But not today. We're going to move faster. But it's a marvelous narrative and account we're going to move through. One of the most remarkable pictures of Jesus in the Bible is in Revelation 1, where the beloved and aged apostle John saw the glorified resurrected Christ with eyes of blazing fire and feet of burn bronze, and it says, "with a sharp, double-edged sword coming out of His mouth." Now that phrase double-edged sword should bring to our mind another text, Hebrews 4:12 which says, "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword." It divides, it penetrates, it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. We have this concept of a double-edged sword coming out of Jesus' mouth. Swords are designed to sever, to separate. It's what they do. This double-edged sword comes out and in our text today, we're going to see Jesus wielding the double-edged sword of rebuke. He rebukes the demon clearly in verse 25, the text says, “He rebuked the demon and he left.” So in that way, the double-edged sword comes out of Jesus' mouth, severing the connection between the demon and the young man. But the text does not speak of the other rebuke that He gives so very powerfully to His disciples. The text doesn't call it a rebuke, but that's what it is. In Matthew’s account, "Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?" It’s very heavy what He speaks to His apostles. We're told in 2 Timothy 2, the word of God is God-breathed. All scriptures God-breathed and useful. Useful for what? For teaching. What's next? Rebuking? Correcting, training and righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good word. So the conception I have of that double-edged sword coming out of Jesus' mouth is a sword to destroy His enemies as He is the king of the kingdom of heaven. He is the mighty ruling conquering king of Revelation 19 who comes back, and the sword comes out of His mouth and He kills people. He just destroys His enemies and destroys demonic power. The sword coming out of His mouth is like a weapon against His enemies. But Jesus is also portrayed and again and again, we see this in His healings, as a great physician. In that sense, the sword comes out of His mouth as a scalpel to heal His people of the tumors that are besetting their souls, or we could say severing the invisible chains that are wrapped around our souls. All of you came in here, I came in here today, with invisible bonds wrapped around our souls that Satan has in his deceptiveness, woven around our souls and manifesting themselves in our lives, and those need to be severed. We need to be set free from indwelling sin and Jesus, the great physician can do it, but it's not a painless process. Sometimes He has to hurt us in order to heal us. The image I have today is all of us just need to lay on the operating table under His sharp double-edged scalpel and be rebuked by Him. Rebuked from what? Fundamentally in the text, it's going to be unbelief, our unbelief, which in Matthew’s Gospel He calls perverse. I never thought of myself as a perverse person, but there is something fundamentally perverse about not believing in Jesus. We're going to find in our text, Jesus does not coddle or isn't comfortable with unbelief ever. He's never nice to it. He doesn't speak gently to unbelief. He always rebukes it. He deals with it very forcefully and directly. But in the middle of that, we have this father, one of the most pitiable characters in the Bible along with his son, his oppressed son, saying on behalf of all of us, thank God for it, "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief." How many of you feel you could say that to him today? I feel all of us could. I think it's a prayer we could pray all the time to Jesus. So that's the text that's in front of us today. “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” I. One Main Goal, Three Themes, and a Perfect Narrative In this text today, this account, we have one main goal. We're going to see one main goal that should not be a surprise to us. There'll be three themes serving that one main goal. And to that end, those three themes woven together in a perfect narrative that I want to honor. I want to honor the narrative. I want to walk through the narrative, but then I want to unravel the themes to achieve that one main goal. This is not just another exorcism, it's not just another healing account. First of all, how could there be just another exorcism? How are the exorcisms you saw this week? Were they amazing? I mean this is not... There is no such thing as just another exorcism. This is a miracle, a mighty miracle. But even in the four Gospels, this has unique elements and it's worthy of our careful study. Now in this account, Jesus is going to be confronting two basic enemies, a demon who is revealed as uniquely vicious, and then varying levels of unbelief on the part of different people in the account. He's against the demon, He's going to fight the demon, and He is against the unbelief in the various people He's addressing. The one main goal is the same in all four Gospels, is indeed the same every week as I get up to preach, there is one main overarching goal of the four gospels, I would argue of the entire Bible, 66 books of the Bible, but specifically the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. For us specifically in the Gospel of Mark, that account, it is to bring us to a living faith in Jesus for the salvation of our souls from sin. That's the point of the Bible. That's the point of all four Gospels. The theme of Mark's Gospel is asserted right from the very first verse, Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God,” that you would come to the faith that Jesus is the son of God and you would have a greater, more detailed, more majestic understanding of what that means. Then at the end of the Gospel of Mark, as Jesus has just died, and the centurion speaks in a summary sort of way for all of us, "Truly this man was the son of God." That brackets the entire 15 chapters up to that point in the Gospel of Mark or as Peter confessed as recorded in Matthew's gospel, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” that we would be able to make that confession from our hearts." You Jesus are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And again, the purpose statement in John's gospel, John 20:31, "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and that by believing may have life in His name." That's the point of the whole Bible, I think. So every account in every Gospel is written to serve this one main goal to produce faith in Jesus Christ. How does it do that? It does it by giving us Jesus' credentials for such a lofty claim. His mighty words, His mighty works, His perfect character. Every statement serves that end, it's going to give us His credentials, His power, His nature, His compassion, His love, His unique identity as the incarnate God man, credentials, as the basis of our faith in Jesus. Second, it's also going to address the readers. It's going to reach out to us as the readers where we're at and address our condition and seek to win us from varying levels of unbelief into belief in Christ. The gospels then frequently exemplify unbelief. They put unbelief on display so we can see ourselves in it, so that the word of God becomes a mirror. This is what unbelief looks like. Just to tell you where we're going, we're going to see unbelief in this account expressed in prayerlessness. If I were to ask any of you to say how many of you could be convicted on that count, that you show self-reliance through prayerlessness. That's a form of perverse unbelief. You're like, wait a minute, I didn't know it was perverse. It is. Jesus thinks it is. For you to be self-reliant and therefore think, I got this, I got this and don't need to pray about it. Is that you, it's me. We need to be weened off of that and learn to pray without ceasing, to not think that anything is too little to bring the God in prayer. That's where this sermon is going. Does that make sense? "The gospels then frequently exemplify unbelief. They put unbelief on display so we can see ourselves in it, so that the word of God becomes a mirror." That's what the apostles did. The demon possessed young man came and they thought, “We got this”, and they relied on themselves and their technique and their experience. I believe, and I'm going to argue this, that God the Father threw them under the bus for their own good. He knew what they wanted. He knew what they were trying to do. He would not do it. Jesus was not there. He is up on the Mount of Transfiguration and God the Father let them twist in the breeze. Why? Because we needed the help. They needed it. That what is going on. The idea here is that we would be won to a greater, more mature, more developed faith in Christ, and faith is the eyesight of the soul. We're going to see Jesus as He really is. That's what's going to happen in this narrative. The three themes are the demon, the faith of the people and the glory of Christ, His attributes, how He behaves here, what He shows about himself here. Those are the three themes. So first theme, number one, is the demon; it’s vicious nature and it's chronic reign of terror over this young man and his loving father. That's theme number one. Theme number two is the faith of the people surrounding this case. Actually their unbelief, their varying levels of unbelief. There is no person in this account whose faith is exemplary. No one displays exemplary faith here. Rather, there are varying levels of unbelief. First the crowd, we have the crowd, they come in at the beginning. It's the group of people who are not defined or described here at all. They're just there. They're always there, the crowd. They are the ones from whom Jesus is trying to win His elect sheep. Out of that crowd, people who will cross over from death to light. They're at the level of unbelief. Some of them may be already believers, but that's the crowd. Their spiritual condition is not described, but they're mentioned. They're mentioned at the beginning of the account, and then they come flooding in right before the miracle. When Jesus sees them coming, He does the miracle. Second, you've got Jesus' enemies, teachers of the laws, one translation “of the scribes”. We already know what they think. They've told us what they think. They think that Jesus does exorcisms by Beelzebub above the prince of demons. That's their official judgment. Remember how Jesus warn them about blasphemy against the Spirit that would never be forgiven, not in this age or in the age to come. They've already decided that Jesus does miracles by the power of Satan. In John 9, they've already decided that anyone who said that Jesus is the Messiah will be thrown out of the synagogue. They're the enemies. Third, you got Jesus' nine apostles that were down below while the three apostles, Peter, James, and John were up on the Mount of Transfiguration, the nine apostles. Jesus is utterly exasperated with them and rebukes them as we'll see in this account. Then you've got the father of this young man who has enough faith to be there for the healing, but his faith has taken a major hit because of the apostle's failure. He's at the point now where he doesn't know what to think about Jesus. Those are the individuals we're going to look at. Then theme number three, the great theme is the glory, the glories of Christ, His character, His words, His actions, His response to unbelief, rebuking it to heal it, His compassion on the father and the young man, His infinite power, especially in His openly claiming omnipotence, all things are possible for him who believes. It’s an incredible claim. A small display of that power effortlessly driving out this demon instantly and effortlessly. Dealing also with the wisdom of Christ and dealing with His apostles' unbelief as they come to Him privately later and say, what happened? How did we fail? Then dealing with them. Then at the end, the extra paragraph that I added on, the Christ glory, which He's getting them ready again and again for, His death on the cross and His resurrection. He's getting them ready for what they are not ready for, how Peter keeps pushing against it. That's the whole account. Now, these themes, the demon, the people's unbelief and the glories of Christ are woven together through this account. They're woven together like a tapestry. What I want to do is I want to honor the account as the Holy Spirit has given it to us and just walk from A to Z , first making comments along the way. Secondly, I'm going to pull out these themes and talk about them and then apply it. So that's what we're doing in the sermon. The account starts. They're coming down off the perfect mountaintop experience, the Mount of Transfiguration. Wouldn't you love to have been there? A foresight of Jesus' heavenly glory, the radiance, the brilliant light, all of that, but now it's time to get back to work. He's got to come down off that mountaintop. “No Peter, we're not building three shelters, we're not staying up there. We have work to do.” He has to come down off that mountain and He comes down into this big argument going on. Jesus come down off that Mountain of Transfiguration to continue His journey to the cross. That's where He's going. He sees the nine apostles that He left behind arguing with the teachers of the law while the crowds listening to the argument. The crowd sees Jesus and are said to be overwhelmed with wonder. It's a very strong expression. They're stunned to see him. We don't know why, it doesn't say, but it's likely they have been desperately searching for Jesus and He's not around. They're wondering where He is. Here are the nine apostles. Where's Jesus? Now they see Him, and they run to Him. Jesus begins by asking the apostles that He left behind, “What were you arguing with them about?” They're arguing with these scribes, the teachers of the law, and the father speaks up and we get the first part of this tragic story ,and it is really tragic. Verse 17, “Teacher, ‘I brought you my son who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech." Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, mashes his teeth and becomes rigid.” It's like he has epileptic seizures or something like that. But you can see the physical effects of this. "I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." The father gives this narrative in verse 17 and 18. The demons overpowering viciousness is first opened up here. More on that in a moment. Jesus doesn't focus on that enemy, the demon, but He zeroes in on a far more significant enemy and that is the unbelief on the part of His apostles. That's the greater danger here. Why is that? Why is unbelief such a great concern for him? Because everything that Jesus does is to produce faith in the hearts of His people so that they can be saved from their sins.“For it is by grace, you have been saved, through faith and this not of yourselves, it's the gift of God.” He wants to give us salvation from our sins through our faith in Jesus and no other way. Unbelief is the enemy. Jesus reacts with a powerful rebuke concerning His apostles who failed to drive out the demon, and thus severely wound the faith of this man and almost certainly many in the onlooking crowd. Verse 19, "Oh, unbelieving generation." Jesus replied, "How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?" I think this is definitely the sharpest rebuke Jesus ever gave to the twelve. As I think about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I think this is the sharpest rebuke. He's generally very gentle with them, dealing with them, but this is... It's very strong, this rebuke. Then Jesus ordered, “bring the boy here to me.” Behind that you get absolute certainty that Jesus will be able to handle this situation. Don't you? Absolute certainty. “Bring him here.” There is no problem with the demon at all. He'll handle that. They brought the demon-possessed boy to Jesus, and immediately the demon threw the boy down in the ground in a convulsion. He is dominating this tragic young man and his helplessly grieving father. The young man rolls around on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Then Jesus does something unusual. He asks for the medical history of this young man. How long has he been like this? It's fascinating because Jesus doesn't usually do that. He just heals people. He didn't ask the leper, how long has he been leprous? He just heals them. He doesn't need that information. He doesn't need... He knows everything, everything He needs to know and He knows all things and so He doesn't need that. So why does He ask? I think He asks so that we might have a sense of the greatness of the tragedy that's been going on, the magnitude of the emotion that Jesus is stepping into, and also therefore the greatness of the miracle He's about to do. We're not very naturally compassionate. We don't generally care. We're like the priest and Levi in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, walking right by people, bleeding by the side of the road. We generally don't care, but the Holy Spirit wants us to care and He brings us into the situation. Do you understand what this has been like? So He asked for the history. The father answers, "From childhood." Now you have to walk into that and try to understand what that answer means, from childhood. It means that this young man's not a boy anymore. He's not a child anymore, he’s a young man. That means this has been going on for years, for years and years. I can scarcely imagine. Then He asks if the demon has often thrown the boy into the fire or the water to kill him. Often. So we're going to walk back through this to understand the viciousness of the demon, but I'm just going through the account right now. Then the father exposes his own level of unbelief. “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Have compassion and help us. See how this poor man's faith has been wounded by the failure of the apostles. It's not a minor deal when we mess up. He had come there expecting Jesus could help. Now he's not so sure. Jesus then uses, I think, a gentler rebuke on the Father. He's just a great physician. He knows what each person needs. So He repeats it, “If you can?” I think that's the right way to read it. "If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes." Do you realize the significance of that statement? It's incredible and we're going to dive into that in due time. But it's amazing. Then the father gives what I've already said is a timeless answer. You want to hold onto it for the future, like tomorrow's quiet time or maybe later today. "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief." Jesus then sees the crowd coming together, running to the scene. There's already a crowd. Now there's lots more people coming because Jesus is back from the Mount of Transfiguration, and they're running there. From that crowd Jesus is going to seek to gather His sheep through faith. It is for their sake and for the countless millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions crowding around this scene through the scripture in the centuries that would follow. It's for our benefit that Jesus does this miracle. When He sees the crowd, verse 25, He rebuked the evil spirit. That's the one use of the word “rebuke” in the account. "He rebuked the evil spirit, ‘You deaf and mute spirit.’" Now we understand it's not just mute, but he's made this young man deaf. "You deaf and mute spirit." He said, ‘I command you come out of him and never enter him again.'" The latter part of that command I find to be unique. There's no other restraint like it in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I'm going to talk more about that in a minute or so. But that particular demon is forbidden from ever tormenting this young man in that manner again, as though that young man and his father and that family have suffered enough from this. It's enough. That part of the account ends with the disciples asking Jesus privately why they had failed. You can understand why they did it privately. They didn't want to do it in front of the crowd. They go to him later, like in the house or something like that. Say, what happened? Why couldn't we drive it out? Keep in mind that Jesus specifically earlier had given the twelve apostles this power over demons. That's key to understanding the rebuke. Mark 3:14-15, “He appointed twelve, designating them apostles that they might be with him and that He might send them out to preach and have authority to drive out demons.” There it is. He gave them that authority and they did. They went out and did it. Mark 6:13, “They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” So Jesus answers their query, why couldn't we drive it out? In Mark's Gospel, it says, "This kind can only come out by prayer." What does that tell you? It means they didn't pray. Is that significant? Oh, yes, it is. God found it significant. What was going on there as they tried to do the exorcism? They were relying on themselves. This is the “We got this” thing. “All right, I got this. I know what to do.” They were relying on their own experience, their own knowledge, their own strength, their own expertise. Could I say their own technique, and the demon refused to come out. God, the Father did not do anything on their behalf. Then the final section of today's sermon is that paragraph that I've added in which Jesus warns them again, what's about to happen and tells them not to tell anyone. He warns them because He's training them, specifically the apostles, getting them ready for the cross. He's going to be betrayed, He's going to suffer, He's going to die and He's going to rise again. But they didn't understand. II. Jesus Rebukes A Vicious Demon Now we have honored the account as the Holy Spirit gave us in Mark's Gospel. Let's walk through it. I want to pull out the themes. Let's talk first about this demon. Jesus rebukes this vicious demon who is stunningly vicious. They all are, but this is a vicious demon. This demon's oppression of this young man gives us an insight into the coldness and evil of Satan's heart toward the human race. Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." You see that with the demon. The demon was constantly seeking to kill this young man, but it also stole from him. It stole from his hearing and his speech. Jesus called him a deaf and mute spirit. The father said it robbed him of his speech. But later we learn of hearing and later in the text we get insight into the idea of types of demons. "This kind of demon can only come out by prayer", He says. So there are different levels, I guess, of demons. There are different categories of demons and other scriptures give us indications that this is true. And positively, the holy angels are at least divided into two categories: arc-angels and angels. An arc-angel in the Greek is just a ruler angel. Ruler angels have authority over other angels, but that gives us a glimpse into the whole way that angels are organized into levels of power and authority and responsibility. Paul says in Ephesians 6, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers." Plural. "Against the authorities." Plural. "Against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." It's layer upon layer of authority, and they're evil. We have a glimpse with the phrase, “this kind”, et cetera. This demon focused in a kind of specialty sort of way on two functions in the young man beyond the epileptic-like seizure that he produced on him. Jesus calls him a deaf and mute spirit. We know the spirit isn't deaf, the spirit isn't mute. That's not the issue. That's the effect he’s having on the young man. It may well be that demons are responsible for specific physiological effects on people, and we openly have it said in the Book of Job how Satan afflicted Job with sores from the head of his top of his head to the bottom of his feet. He is able to do that kind of affliction, physical affliction on human bodies. We'll find out in heaven how responsible they may or may not have been for pandemics, for AIDS, for tumors, for any of the above, but it's Biblical at least to think that these physiological effects can be demon- produced. It is not something our medical scientific world thinks about much, but we Christians ought to. The demons didn't go out of business when Jesus ascended to heaven. Quite the opposite. I want you to think about what life must have been like for this young man and his father. The demon had often it says, sought to kill him by throwing him into the fire of the water. If you were this young man's father, what would your life be like? The word often implies periodic attacks, right? Periodic. You don't know when the next one's going to come. So how can you live your life and think of these specific attacks on this young man's life thrown into the fire. What do you have to do? Grab him out of the fire, roll him on the ground, put a carpet on him, beat the flames out of his clothing. Into the water, you dive in and rescue him. Is he catatonic? Is he stiff? Is he fighting you, beating you up as you're pulling him to shore? And when's the next attack going to happen? Is it middle of the night? Is it three weeks from now? Is it at a family gathering? Is it at the synagogue? Is it on the Sabbath? Do you think the demon cares about what's best for you? It's been going on since he was a boy from childhood. That's years of this abuse. Years. I'm telling you, as a father of five children, I can scarcely go over these details without tears sitting in my eyes. It's true. I'm like, what would it have been like? The demon is vastly more powerful than this young man or his father or any of the scribes that were standing there or the nine apostles that tried to drive him out. This demon is a tyrant. He is a bully. He is vicious. No compassion. Picture a powerful warrior kicking a little boy around physically on the ground like on a playground. I mean just rage would rise up inside you at that kind of bullying. But that's what's going on here. By contrast, let's see Jesus. Jesus' glory, light versus darkness. Light versus darkness. In verse 22, the father said, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." The father has gone to the fountain of compassion. The source, the most compassionate man there has ever been is Jesus. He's compassion incarnate. No one cared like Jesus, and He's also omnipotence incarnate. He doesn't understand the level of power that Jesus has. “If you can do anything, please have compassion on us and help us, if you can.” Everything is possible for him who believes. Jesus is infinitely above the demon in power. You notice again and again, we don't get any reaction of the demon to Jesus here. I guess in one sense you do, but in other accounts it's pretty obvious the demons are afraid of Jesus. Remember the legion of demons, they're terrified of Jesus and there's an army of them inside a man, so they're afraid. Jesus is infinitely above the demons, totally different than the demon. The demon has absolutely no mercy, no pity, no compassion. But Jesus' heart is deeply moved and tender toward this boy and his father. So then He rebukes the demon, verse 25, “'You deaf and mute spirit,’” He said, “'I command you to come out of him and never enter him again.’" That rebuke is the foretaste of a final sentence that He's going to give, a final sentence to the devil, and his angels, “Depart from me.” He says this to people, but we get a sense of what He's going to do to Satan and the demons. "Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” That's what hell is all about, punishment for Satan and for the demons. The demon makes the boy thrash around one more time, foaming at the mouth. When Jesus drives him out, He leaves the boy completely still as if he's dead. Verse 26, 27, “The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looks so much like a corpse that many said he's dead, but Jesus took him by the hand, lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.” This is the demon's last temper tantrum. He has no desire to come out of this young man, but he's overpowered by Jesus. It reminds me of Revelation 12:12 where it says of Satan, "he is filled with fury because he knows his time is short." He's up against infinitely greater power and that power, power is now brought to bear upon his kingdom and he can't do anything to stop it, but he's angry about it. So let's celebrate Jesus's effortless power over demons again. And note again, this unique element, the demon is forbidden from ever entering this young man. Again, I don't find any other such prohibition in the Bible. It's unique. Why is it unique and why is it important? Because Jesus actually said this is exactly contrary to demonic behavior. In Matthew chapter 12:43-45 Jesus says this, "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and doesn't find it. Then it says, I'll return to the house I left. When it comes back, it finds a house unoccupied,” that's a keyword, "swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits, more evil or more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there and the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how I'll be with this generation." It's a complex statement, but basically it’s saying the demons are roaming around, restless, looking for a place to occupy, to inhabit. Jesus talks about a man, a house, a generation. So basically, you know, put your fists in the water and pull them out and there's no hole left. Why? Because the water rushes in to fill it. That's what the demons do. They're coming back. That's what they do. But in this case, He will not let this demon come back on this family again. Jesus doesn't throw away words. Do you think He's serious about this? Jesus is always serious about everything He says. How's He going to do it? Two things - constant vigilance and omnipotence. God the Father, will He honor His Son's judgment? Of course He will. He's entrusted all judgment to the Son, and so He will watch this demon. Think of it like restraining order, like a demonic restraining order or one of those ankle bracelets that's put on somebody that's on parole or something like that. It's like I'm watching and he cannot come back in. I'm not saying that this family never suffered anything again, didn't have any other diseases. I'm not saying that. Just that this cannot happen again. By the way, it's also a picture of the thing Satan complained about in the Book of Job saying you have put a hedge around him and everything he has, called often the “hedge of protection.” Demons are constantly bumping into restraints that God puts up. Then He lets open a door and the demon flood in a certain direction. He shuts it down again. He's doing this every day, but this is a glimpse into that. III. Jesus Rebukes Various Levels of Unbelief Then Jesus addresses unbelief. Having dealt with the vicious demon, He now addresses unbelief. As I said, no one has exemplary faith in this account. Sometimes, in some accounts, He will comment on the exemplary faith of a person like the Syrophoenician woman. “Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted, the demon's gone.” Or the Roman centurion who said, “Lord, I don't deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word.” Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, I've not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." So, occasional comment. Here, no one. No one's faith is exemplary here. Everyone needs some help. The crowd, they're the harvest field. He is reaching out to them that some may cross over from death to life watching this miracle. Then you have the Scribes, they are the enemies that Jesus has fought against who may have already or are committing the blasphemy against the Spirit ascribing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit. They were arguing with the apostles at the beginning, almost certainly making much of their failure saying, "Aha, Jesus is a fraud. The very thing we've been saying.” But the real issue here are the apostles, the nine apostles. They are the focus. Jesus says in verse 19, "Oh, unbelieving generation." He says, more sharply in Matthew 17:17, "Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation." We need to lay under that word and hear it. It is perverse for us to not believe in Jesus. It's twisted. There's a sickness to it, and we can see it, like with the Jews when they had seen the ten plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea crossing, the manna, the water from the rock, all of that, Sinai, and they get to the border of the promised land and they don't believe God is strong enough to take on the Amalekites and the Anakites and all that. It's like, how could you possibly come to that conclusion? That's perverse. It's even more the case with Jesus. How many miracles does he need to do? How many amazing teachings like the Sermon of the Mount, does he have to give for you to be persuaded? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? It's perverse not to believe in Jesus. It's twisted, it's sick. He uses that word. In Luke's account of the storm on the sea, the disciples cried out in fear, “Master, master, we're going to drown." In Luke 8, "He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and the raging waters and the storm subsided. Then He turns to His disciples, saying, ‘where is your faith?’" Their unbelief is specifically in that Jesus had given them power over demons and they had driven out demons, but they failed to pray, so they're displaying faithless self-reliance. Verse 28, 29 in our account, "After Jesus had gone indoors His disciples, asked him privately, ‘Why couldn't we drive it out?’” Verse 29, “He replied, ‘This kind can only come out by prayer.’" "Their unbelief is specifically in that Jesus had given them power over demons and they had driven out demons, but they failed to pray, so they're displaying faithless self-reliance" Some of you may have a King James version or some other that adds an extra phrase, "and fasting." Huh? Where'd that come from? I don't know. I don't think it's original. We have to bump into text issues from time to time. We don't have the original Gospel of Mark. We just have copies. The science of text criticism is to look at all those copies and figure out as best we can what the original was that Mark wrote. I think some overzealous monk copying Mark's gospel centuries ago thought the account needed a little help and kind of juiced it in with a major element of their monastic life, fasting. Think, “Oh, I get it. Can't just be prayer. It's got to be prayer and fasting.” But all right, first of all, it's not in all the oldest manuscripts and best manuscripts. It seems to be pretty obviously a later edition. It also seems to be obvious why they would do it. It just seems like this kind of healing can only come out by prayers. A strange answer. What? The disciples didn't pray. Surely they must have prayed. No, they didn't. But they thought, I'm having a practical problem with it. How does it work practically? The father brings the demon possessed young man, and they're like, we need to fast. How long is a fast? A minute? I'm fasting right now. All of you are too. And you're like, when is this sermon going to end? So you're already thinking about your stomach. I wouldn't call that fasting. Fasting is a length of time. It's like, “Bring him back tomorrow. We got to get fasted up.” It doesn't work. So it's added in. No, no, no. It's much more powerful if it just says this kind can only come out by prayer. Let me ask you a question. “What kind of demon can come out any other way? Oh, like this kind. You don't need to pray. You can do that one on your own.” There's no such thing. He is definitely rebuking. They're self-reliant, faithlessness, and that's the essence of our unbelief. We got this. We can save ourselves. We can solve our own problems. We got this financial problem or this medical problem. Medical science has it. Those are all idols. If they're not focused on God, I'm not saying we don't go to hospitals or get treatments and all that, but trust God in it, that God can use it. Make it God-centered and anything you rely on, that God is an idol. And the number one idol we rely on is ourselves. Jesus made it plain in John 15, "I am the vine. You're the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing." Don’t you think it would be good to tell him, “Lord, I can't do anything apart from your help. I need you. Be with me in this situation. Help me through this.” So you're saying, “What pastor? Like when I get behind the wheel,” maybe especially then. It's like, No, no, no. I got the driving thing. I'm good at driving. Any area where you think you don't need God's help, ask him for it. The boy’s father had enough faith to bring the boy, the young man, to Jesus initially. That's why he was there. But by this time, he's not certain. And He says, "If you can do anything, take pity and help us." "If you can?” said Jesus, "Everything is possible for him who believes.” As Job said to God in Job 40:22, "I know that you can do all things. No plan of yours can be thwarted." This is the doctrine of omnipotence. Anything that can be done by power, God can do. Faith is tapping into that and saying, “I know God, you can do anything in this situation. All things are possible.” But Jesus adds, “for him who believes.” He makes His power available for believers. It's not a faith promise kind of thing, not at all. Our faith doesn't create the will of God. Our faith fits into and yields to the will of God, but it's by faith that these works are done. Then the boy’s father gives this timeless statement, which I've already highlighted, "I do believe, help my unbelief." So I would just commend that to you for the rest of your lives. Say,” Lord, I'm a believer. I believe in you. I believe you're the son of God, that you died for my sins, that you rose again. But I have pockets of unbelief, especially manifested in self-reliance. Help me with my unbelief.” IV. Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection Jesus again predicted His death and resurrection. Verse 30-32, “They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were because He was teaching the disciples. He said to them, ‘The son of man is going to be betrayed and the hands of man, they will kill him, and after three days he'll arise.’ But they did not understand what He meant, and they were afraid to ask him about it.” We're going to have a chance again in Mark 10 to circle back on this, so I didn't want to preach a whole sermon on it, but I'm bringing it in now just to say, look, get ready. The disciples needed to get ready because they weren't understand the necessity of the death of Jesus. V. Lessons Timeless lessons as we close. First, above all, as I've been pleading with you throughout the whole sermon, trust in Jesus, come to Jesus, trust in him. Let the evidence in Mark's Gospel, and the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, John, let the evidence be enough for you. Read it. You could read this afternoon, enough accounts to give you enough to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Trust in him. And if you are a Christian, lay under Jesus's sharp scalpel. Let him expose your unbelief. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Look for prayerlessness in your life and trace that down, you're going to find self-reliance at the heart of it generally. So if your prayer life needs to grow and develop, let it grow and develop. Pray about more things, more categories of things than you've ever prayed for before. Ask the Lord through the Holy Spirit to show you areas of self-reliance and prayerlessness. Then meditate on Jesus's stunning words, "Everything is possible for him who believes." God can do exceedingly abundantly beyond anything you could ask or imagine, think, and then finally, pray this man's prayer, “ I do believe, help my unbelief.” Allow him to show you your unbelief and to heal you from it. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the time we've had to walk through this powerful account. We thank you for the things that we have learned as we have done so. Lord, I pray that you would be speaking to our souls, the words of the Gospel, speak to our souls and help us to believe in Jesus in ways and in dimensions, and in a breadth and depth and height in ways that we've never seen before. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Don't be Afraid -- Embrace the Promise

Wilderness Wanderings

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2023 7:17

“But you wouldn't go up [into the land, Moses said to Israel]. You refused to obey the command of the Lord your God. You spoke against him in your tents. You said, “The Lord hates us. That's why he brought us out of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites. He wanted to destroy us. Where can we go? The men who checked out the land have made us afraid. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are large. They have walls that reach up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.'” Then I said to you, “Don't be terrified. Don't be afraid of them. The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will fight for you. With your own eyes you saw how he fought for you in Egypt. You also saw how the Lord your God brought you through the desert. He carried you everywhere you went, just as a father carries his son. And now you have arrived here” (Deuteronomy 1:26-31). Today, we ponder the second half of the Bible's story. Yesterday, Pastor Anthony reflected on the first half, so if you missed yesterday's, you might want to pause here and do that first. As he said, the first half of the Bible is all about God's gifts to us. The second half explores how we respond to these gifts. And as our text relates, humans tend to be less than thankful for God's gifts. Before we explore that, let's turn to the book of 1 Corinthians in which we read, “Those things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us. That's because we are living at the time when God's work is being completed. So be careful. When you think you are standing firm, you might fall (10:11-12). This is no subtle warning that we really need to pay attention to this story. Of course, we are not Israel. Arguably, the gift God gives us is much greater. Earlier Paul wrote, “Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus…He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free (1 Corinthians 1:30). He continues, “We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us” (2:12), and “we have the mind of Christ” (2:16). God's gift to us is Christ Jesus and all his benefits. This gift will keep giving until we have received our inheritance on the new earth. How do we respond to God's gifts? The best thing to do is to receive them with joy and thanksgiving; as Pastor Anthony said, like a child. But somewhere between childhood and adulthood many of us become like the Israelites. We look at the gifts God gives and decide that God can't do it. We are too scarred, too broken, we can't be fixed. We believe the lie that God's primary attitude towards us is hatred. He is repulsed by what we have done, or the things done to us. Try as we might, we can't rid ourselves of sin's stain. So focussed on the bleating of evil around us, we do not hear the words of Jesus, “For those sins I died.” We are filled with fear. It might also be that we are too proud to receive them. This sort of refusing pride comes in two ways. On the one hand, we do not think we are sinful enough to need redeeming, all we need is a tweak here and a tweak over there and we are good to go, heaven should be proud to have us. Such pride has never investigated their own heart. Such hearts cannot receive the gift. On the other hand, there is a pride that refuses to receive God's grace. Refuses, not because we are so stained, but because we are rooted in a theology that says, ‘we must earn our place'. Among seasoned Christians, I constantly hear versions of this. As much as we talk about grace, we cannot believe it. When we slow down enough to examine are own hearts, we discover we are filled with fear. We have not made enough progress in the Christian life; God must hate me for being a repetitive failure. In the face of such fear, Moses reminds Israel of what God has been doing for her: he has been present with her and going before her; as her divine Warrior and Captain he fought for her defeating her enemies before her very eyes; and he has sustained her through the great and terrifying desert. With sensitive pastoral touch, Moses compared God's care to that of a parent who carries their child through danger to safety. She has experienced God both as fighter and as father, as savior and as provider; a powerful combination of metaphors that echoes through the whole Bible. Echoing Moses' compassion, Paul says that we belong to God, we are set right with him, we are set free and made holy, we have the Spirit of God and the mind of Christ. Like Moses, Paul says, ‘Don't be afraid. God can do this.' Move forward in faith, receive the gift, embrace the promise.

Joshua 15

Simon reads the Bible

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2022 6:10

Joshua 15 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 The allotment for the clans of the tribe of Judah reached southward to the border of Edom, as far south as the wilderness of Zin. 2 The southern boundary began at the south bay of the Dead Sea, 3 ran south of Scorpion Pass into the wilderness of Zin, and then went south of Kadesh-barnea to Hezron. Then it went up to Addar, where it turned toward Karka. 4 From there it passed to Azmon until it finally reached the Brook of Egypt, which it followed to the Mediterranean Sea. This was their southern boundary. 5 The eastern boundary extended along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan River. The northern boundary began at the bay where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea, 6 went up from there to Beth-hoglah, then proceeded north of Beth-arabah to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben's son.) 7 From that point it went through the valley of Achor to Debir, turning north toward Gilgal, which is across from the slopes of Adummim on the south side of the valley. From there the boundary extended to the springs at En-shemesh and on to En-rogel. 8 The boundary then passed through the valley of Ben-Hinnom, along the southern slopes of the Jebusites, where the city of Jerusalem is located. Then it went west to the top of the mountain above the valley of Hinnom, and on up to the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. 9 From there the boundary extended from the top of the mountain to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the towns on Mount Ephron. Then it turned toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). 10 The boundary circled west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passed along to the town of Kesalon on the northern slope of Mount Jearim, and went down to Beth-shemesh and on to Timnah. 11 The boundary then proceeded to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, where it turned toward Shikkeron and Mount Baalah. It passed Jabneel and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. 12 The western boundary was the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea. These are the boundaries for the clans of the tribe of Judah. 13 The Lord commanded Joshua to assign some of Judah's territory to Caleb son of Jephunneh. So Caleb was given the town of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), which had been named after Anak's ancestor. 14 Caleb drove out the three groups of Anakites—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak. 15 From there he went to fight against the people living in the town of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher). 16 Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” 17 Othniel, the son of Caleb's brother Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel's wife. 18 When Acsah married Othniel, she urged him[g] to ask her father for a field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What's the matter?” 19 She said, “Give me another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. [...]

Lazaroo – Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Lazaroo.com

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2022

Pray this Lazaroo in bold, confident faith: “That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.” (Deuteronomy 2:20-21) No matter how big or how powerful my enemy, Jesus… please help me remember: The bigger they are the harder they fall when You're the one knocking them down. [LISTEN to today's Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:] _________ Genesis 6:4; Deuteronomy 28:7; 1 Samuel 17:14; 22 Samuel 22:30; Psalm 27:1; Isaiah 52:12; Matthew 19:26… The post Lazaroo – Wednesday, October 12, 2022 first appeared on Lazaroo.com.

jesus christ lord pray psalm deuteronomy ammonites anakites

16. The Rephaim and Nephilim, Sumerian Giants in the Bible

Sumerian Origins

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2022 41:01

THE REPHAIM AND NEPHILIM IN THE BIBLE But what of some of the other peoples, the Rephaim, Nephilim, Anakites, and so forth? These names show quite a different character in the OT. They seem to denote an almost mythical race of giants living in fantastically fortified cities. Regarding the Anakites, Deuteronomy 1:28 has the Israelites complaining: "The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are huge, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there." Regarding the Nephilim, we read in Numbers 13:33: "We saw the Nephilim there, as the Anakites come from the Nephilim. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them". According to Deuteronomy 2:10, the Emim were as tall as the Anakites, and the next verse equates the Rephaim with them. Og, the king of Bashan, was regarded as one of the last of the Rephaim and his gigantic stature is described in the same book:

israel bible numbers giants deuteronomy ot israelites nephilim sumerian bashan rephaim anakites emim

Deuteronomy 9

Simon reads the Bible

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2022 4:45

Deuteronomy 9 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! 2 The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You've heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?' 3 But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised. 4 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don't say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!' No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. 5 It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people. 7 “Remember and never forget how angry you made the Lord your God out in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until now, you have been constantly rebelling against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord so angry he was ready to destroy you. 9 This happened when I was on the mountain receiving the tablets of stone inscribed with the words of the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I was there for forty days and forty nights, and all that time I ate no food and drank no water. 10 The Lord gave me the two tablets on which God had written with his own finger all the words he had spoken to you from the heart of the fire when you were assembled at the mountain. 11 “At the end of the forty days and nights, the Lord handed me the two stone tablets inscribed with the words of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up! Go down immediately, for the people you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted gold and made an idol for themselves!' 13 “The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 14 Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.' 15 “So while the mountain was blazing with fire I turned and came down, holding in my hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. 16 There below me I could see that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had melted gold and made a calf idol for yourselves. How quickly you had turned away from the path the Lord had commanded you to follow! 17 So I took the stone tablets and threw them to the ground, smashing them before your eyes. 18 “Then, as before, I threw myself down before the Lord for forty days and nights. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the great sin you had committed by doing what the Lord hated, provoking him to anger. 19 I feared that the furious anger of the Lord, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me. [...]

god lord israel deuteronomy mount sinai nlt jordan river o israel anakites

Deuteronomy 2

Simon reads the Bible

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2022 4:59

Deuteronomy 2 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 “Then we turned around and headed back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea, just as the Lord had instructed me, and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time. 2 “Then at last the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north. 4 Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. 5 Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land. 6 If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”' 8 “So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber. “Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab, 9 the Lord warned us, ‘Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.'” 10 (A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants. 11 Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites. 12 In earlier times the Horites had lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the descendants of Esau, just as Israel drove out the people of Canaan when the Lord gave Israel their land.) 13 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said to us, ‘Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.' So we crossed the brook. 14 “Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the Lord had vowed would happen. 15 The Lord struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community. 16 “When all the men of fighting age had died, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar 19 and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.'” 20 (That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land. 22 He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day. 23 A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.) [...]

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The call to be different

Highway Church: Sermon Audio

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2022 49:40

'Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.' “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord , the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war.' Joshua 14:6-15 https://my.bible.com/bible/111/JOS.14.6-15

god lord israel jos israelites hebron gilgal arba kadesh barnea jephunneh anakites kenizzite kiriath arba

The call to be different

Highway Church: Sermon Audio

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2022 49:40

god lord israel jos israelites hebron gilgal arba kadesh barnea jephunneh anakites kenizzite kiriath arba

This is how you ask for more blessing without getting greedy I

Abundant Life Church - Springfield, MO

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2022 10:48

ALC Recommends: "There is More" by Dr. Randy Clark “Caleb drove out the three groups of Anakites—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak. From there he went to fight against the people living in the town of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher). Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” Joshua 15:14-16 NLT

blessing anak greedy nlt debir anakites sheshai

The Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 09 & 10. ESV Version.

Reading with Ben

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2022 12:52

Welcome back to Reading with Ben! Let's continue the lecture on the book of Deuteronomy. This is episode #05 chapters 09 & 10. Deuteronomy Chapter 9, is about the Israelites driving the Anakites out of their land. It was said to them, just before they crossed the Jordan River, that they were about to conquer nations that are far stronger and greater than they were. Deuteronomy Chapter 10, is about how Moses created a second set of tablets which were like the first ones that he broke out of anger. These were broken because he was enraged with the disobedience of the people after descending the mountain --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/benlopezra/support

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純粋な考えがマカリオスな人生を得る - Pure Thoughts Bring Makarios Life

Lifehouse Tokyo ライフハウス東京

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2022 27:17

(Bilingual) このメッセージでは登牧師が純粋な考えを持つことの大切さについて以下の4つのポイントから話します。 In this message Ps Noboru talks about the importance of having pure thoughts in these 4 points: (マタイ5:8 ERV訳) 純粋な考えを持つ人には、素晴らしい祝福がある！彼らは神を見るだろう。 (Matthew 5:8 ERV) Great blessings belong to those whose thoughts are pure. They will be with God. 1.神様は純粋なものを愛している（純金 God Loves Pure Things 私たちは新しくされた！ We Have Been Made New (エゼキエル36:26 新改訳) わたしがあなたに新しい心を与え、あなたがたに新しい霊を与える。わたしはあなたがたのからだから石の心を取り除き、あなた方に肉の心を与える。 (Ezekiel 36:26 NIV) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (ローマ12:2 ERV訳) 世の中の考えや生活習慣をまねてはいけない！新しい考え方と共に神があなたの内側を変えてくれるように心を開くんだ！そうすれば神の道がどれだけ自分を満足させてくれるか、良いものなのかということが理解できるはずだ！神が喜ぶものはみな良いもので、完璧なものだから！ (Romans 12:2 ERV) Don't change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.. 2.私たちは新しくされた - しかし頭を一新させる必要がある We Have Been Made New - We Also Need To Renew Our Mind 3.神は何を言ったのか？彼らは何を見たのか？彼らはどんな結論を出したのか？ What Did God say? What Did They See? What Was Their Conclusion? (民数記13:1-2 ERV訳) 神はモーセに語った。 (2)「わたしがイスラエルに与えると決めたカナンの地を調べるために、男たちを用意しろ。12部族から1人ずつ、リーダーを任されている男たちをあの地に送り偵察させるのだ」 (Numbers 13:1-2 ERV) The Lord said to Moses, (2) “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan. I will give this land to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve tribes.” (民数記 13:27-29 ERV訳) 彼らはモーセにこう言った。「え・・・申し上げます・・・私たちはあなたが送り出してくれた地へと行ってまいりました。そこはまさに実り豊かな土地です！そして、これがそこで採れたフルーツです。(28)しかし・・・！！！そこに住む人々はとても強靭でした。それどころか、町々は大きく、そこに張り巡らされた壁も頑丈です。あの伝説のアナク人の巨人族の子孫もこの目で見ました。 (29）南の荒野にはアマレク人が住み、山岳地帯にはヘテ人、エブス人、エモリ人、海岸とヨルダン川の川沿いにはカナン人が暮らしています」 (Numbers 13:27-29 ERV) The men told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is a land filled with many good things!! Here is some of the fruit that grows there. (28) But the people living there are very powerful. The cities are very large and strongly defended. We even saw some Anakites there. (29) The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live near the sea and by the Jordan River.” (民数記13:32-33 ERV訳) 彼らは人々の不安を駆り立てるような言葉を並べた。「カナンの地は恐ろしいモンスターの住み家だ！来る者全てを簡単に滅ぼす力を持っている！ (33) あの伝説的に最恐な人種、ネフリムの生き残りもいるんだ。あいつらを前にした時、俺たちなんてまるでバッタのようだと思ったよ。そう！俺たちなんてバッタみたいに踏みつぶされちまうだろうよ」 (Numbers 13:32-33 ERV) So those men gave a report that discouraged the people. They said, “The land we saw is full of strong people. They are strong enough to easily defeat anyone who goes there. (33) We saw the giant Nephilim people there! (The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim.) We felt like little grasshoppers. Yes, we were like grasshoppers to them!” 4.最初に神様は何て言った？ What Did God say? (ピリピ 4:13 JCB)力を与え、強めてくださる方によって、私は、神に求められるどんなことでもできるからです。 (Philippians 4:13 NLT) For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

god jesus christ israel numbers pure israelites anak canaanites bilingual nephilim jordan river amalekites amorites hittites negev jebusites erv anakites

Elonda Reads Duet 7-9

IRTWBEY365

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2022 25:43

CH 7 —God drives out seven nations from the land that Israel is to possess. Although these nations are greater and stronger, God promise to deliver them into their hands. The Israelites are warned not to intermingle in marriage with these nations because they would turn and serve other gods. He also reminds them that if they keep He commandments that they would experience increase and their numbers would be multiplied. Chp 8 —The Israelites are reminded once again — do no forget the Lord thy God. For it was He that brought them out of the land of Egypt, provided for them in the wilderness for forty years and lead them into the promised land Chp 9 —The Israelites prepare to cross the Jprdan. Once again God goes ahead of them and drives out the nation of the Anakites as He had promised. They are reminded of the anger that aroused the Lord in Horeb when they decided to build a golden calf to worship. God called them a stiff-necked people. Moses, immediately interceded on they behalf to prevent God from destroying them. God continues to be faithful of his promise and covenant. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/irtwbey365/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/irtwbey365/support

god lord israel israelites reads duet horeb chp anakites

Confronting Your Anakites; Deuteronomy 9:1-6

Crossroads Church

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2022 56:00

THE ANAKIM/ANAKITES

DINING WITH JESUS PRODUCTIONS

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2021 2:34

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://diningwithjesus.net/2021/10/30/the-anakim-anakites/

anakim anakites

Joshua 15 Commentary

Who is God? And, how can we find God - Bible answers.

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2021 2:37

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://lovingscripture.com/2021/09/18/joshua-15-commentary/ Joshua 15 Commentary www.lovingscripture.com In accordance with the Lord's command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb a portion in Judah, Hebron. From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites. From here we can see that there is a very big difference between ownership and possession. The Anakites possessed the land but didn't own it. Caleb owned the land but didn't possess it. The one in possession of an asset is the only one who enjoys the benefits. Caleb needed to drive out the Anakites before he could enjoy the benefits of ownership. The Christian walk involves battle to take possession of that which the LORD has generously given to the saint. Chapter 15 is long and difficult to read. But if you are Judah, I guess you would know every city, every town and every place mentioned in this chapter. These are land beacons marking out the extent of Judah's wealth. We can also tell that Judah received a very big portion of land. Judah was a super power amongst the tribes of Israel. The blessing of Judah is dominion. Jacob encapsulated the blessing of Judah in all the different shades of lions – the Lion, the Lioness and the Lion's cub. Little wonder that both the splendor and prowess of the kings of Judah were captioned by the Lion. And the son of David would be called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. You are a lion's cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. Genesis 49 verses 9 and 10. The kingly Lion, the power and agility of the Lioness, and the safety of the Lion's cub, these are the traits the saint inherits by salvation. Of course the scripture has time to talk about the saint as sheep in the manner of the Lamb of God in Jesus Christ. Human wisdom would call for a balance between the two. The scripture however expects the saint to live the life of a sheep full time. It is in the fragility of the sheep that the LORD deposits treasure and kingly existence. Not many have the privilege of appreciating this mystery. We can see from here that the famous 5 Philistine cities Ekron, Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gath, were all within Judah's territory. During the entire time of the Judges, including the time of David, the Philistines were a constant problem for Israel. What you fail to drive out lives to cause you pain and suffering endlessly. Chapter 15 celebrates the generosity of the LORD in giving Judah the largest portion of land. It is symbolic of the LORD's ultimate gift to mankind in the seed that came out of Judah – the Lion of the tribe of Judah. More resources visit www.lovingscripture.com

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Grasshopers, Giants and Grey Hairs - Pastor David Rathel - 8.15.2021

Rivertown Church Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2021 46:12

Grasshoppers, Giants, & Gray Hairs! Mountain Mover Series Caleb - “Now, therefore, give me this mountain...” Joshua 14:12 There's A Big Difference Between A Promise And A Possession. Everyone Gets God's Promises, But Only A Few Ever Take Hold Of God's Possession For Their Lives.How Did Caleb Possess God's Mountain: He Overcame Grasshoppers - Numbers 13:31-14:4 “...and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” Num. 13:33 (KJV) Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.”Num. 13:30He Overcame Giants - Deuteronomy 1“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants…” Numbers 13:33 (KJV) How Small Are You Compared To Your Giants? The OUTLOOK of FEAR!How Small Are Your Giants Compared To God? The UPLOOK of FAITH! Deuteronomy 1:28-31 (NIV)...Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.' ” 29Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” He Overcame Gray Hairs - Joshua 14:6-13 (NIV) Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb... said to him... 7“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. 8“Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully. 9“So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God fully.' 10“And now behold, the LORD has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. 11“I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. 12“Now then, give me this mountain about which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the LORD has spoken.” 13So Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.*When God Makes A Faith Promise, He Will Give You The Strength To See It Become A Faith Possession.*Never Count God Out! Never Count Yourself Out! An Old Dream Is Not A Dead Dream. *True Faith Looks Beyond The Present Circumstances. *Courage can be defined as a three letter word: YES!

The Text Of The Moses Scroll – Episode #4 – Ross K Nichols

TRUTH2U Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2021

Whose idea was it to send the spies? Whose idea was it to delegate leadership? Who are the Anakites and is there any archaeological evidence to even support their existence? More importantly, are any of the above narratives derived from the Moses Scroll? Find out in this week's episode!

truth radio torah scroll nichols anakites

Intentional Mind II

Victory Life KY

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2021 42:30

Deuteronomy 9:1-3,MSG- Attention, Israel! This very day you are crossing the Jordan to enter the land and dispossess nations that are much bigger and stronger than you are. You're going to find huge cities with sky-high fortress-walls and gigantic people, descendants of the Anakites—you've heard all about them; you've heard the saying, “No one can stand up to an Anakite.TODAY KNOW THIS: GOD, your God, is crossing the river ahead of you—He's a consuming fire. He will destroy the nations, He will put them under your power. You will dispossess them and very quickly wipe them out, just as GOD promised you would. The Canaan mission represents leaving the old, overcoming sometimes the seemingly impossible, it's going into a new place, a new mind set, a new way of living. Canaan boldly declares that God has and always will be the force surrounding and empowering every believer willing to follow Him. Today-Da-Day!! It's time for us to be a little more intentional in our thinking, our faith, our actions, let this story of our ancestors inspire us to make our minds up. To ask God to give us a intentional mind. Paul really brings this revelation home in his letter to the Ephesians when he instructs us that it's up to us to put on our brand new God fashioned lives. Canaan makes it very clear, we've got to let go of the old and trust God to take us into the new. And it all starts with an intentional mind. Seriously, make up your mind! You know when the apostle Paul tells us to not give any place to the devil? Guess where that starts? Leave here today with an intentional mind. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” We've got to understand that what we think on continually becomes the dominate influence in our lives. 2 Corinthians 10,MSG- The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought, emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Something every Christians has got to come to terms with is the fact that we're made in God's image. But because of free will, it's our responsibility to make room for faith inspired thinking. In other words, renew our mind. This is why He told us to take control of our thoughts, to actually bring them into obedience with Christ. Canaan is waiting. Make your mind up, you're letting go of the old and going in and taking the new God has for you. Remember last week in Matthew 6, Jesus tells us, “take no thought” He actually says, “Take no thought, saying” I'm convinced, every Christian needs training in the language of faith.Here's the thing, an intentional mind produces intentional speaking. And I realize these are spiritual realities that will contradict the things of this natural world, and this is why we have to become people of faith, which means we have to do things God's way. Practice seeing yourself the way God's word describes you. Think about it, right now, what kind of in Christ image do you have?Don't kid yourself, wrong thinking leads to wrong believing. What's your thought life look like? What occupies the most space in your thinking? Do you honestly believe that according to Jesus, Isaiah, Paul, and so many other patriarchs, that the more you think on what God says, the more transformation is happening? Hebrews 12, We run with endurance the race God has set before us by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith... Is it possible that we could get to a place in our walk with Jesus that the cares and trials of this world no longer have the power to sideline us? Why not let God inspire our thinking, empower us to be more international with our thought life, to the place where we see from His perspective? This means taking the time to make room in our thinking for God to inspire our faith. Remember the Psalmist says, be still and know that He's God. Remember, it's the little things that make the difference. And the majority of the time it's those seemingly small decisions we make that shape our lives. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus gives us a great picture of how God's Kingdom operates. How something seemingly so small becomes something very significant. Matthew 13:31-32,NKJV- “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Start today with one small decision, acknowledge Jesus as the author and finisher of your faith. The reason inspired thinking is so important for the believer is because our faith goes in the direction of our thinking. And for the born-again, our new lives (Canaan) can only be found in Him, willfully giving our lives to Him is the key to our success. This is why Paul instructs us that we have to put on our new man in Christ. Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” In Isaiah, God tells us, “I don't think like you, or work like you. Just like the rain waters the earth, making things grow, so do the words that come out of my mouth. They will do what I sent them to do.” Remember what Jesus told us in Matthew, the King of heaven is like a seed. In like he also makes it clear that His word is seed. And this is where our faith has to be activated. From an intentional mind. We can't keep doing things our way and expect to exercise Kingdom of God realties. This is why God told us not to despise the day of small beginnings. Just like a seed, which God's word is, as it begins to grow the fruit will be recognizable in our lives today. Remember, God told us His ways are different. All His promises, His covenant comes from a world we can't see in the natural. And it's only through faith that we bring them into our world. God rarely asks us to take giant leaps of faith, usually He's simply encouraging us to take small, everyday steps discovering the life Jesus died that we could have. He didn't take the children of Israel to Canaan the first day. One of the most valuable lessons we can learn from our ancestors in the OT is that we will never enter into the life God has for us as long as we refuse to trust Him. Not to mention letting go of the old wilderness thinking or even worse Egypt thinking. The is why the first group stayed where they were in the wilderness, wandering through life, never getting to experience the promised life God told them was theirs for the taking. At the end of the day, absolutely everything pertaining to the Kingdom of God comes down to faith, what we believe. Matthew 9:28-30,NKJV- And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”And their eyes were opened. Remember, “According to your faith, let it be to you.” On the other side of us saying yes to God, there will be fears, uncertainty, opinions, challenges, giants and fortified walls we'll have to overcome. The question is, will you continue wandering in your wilderness of unbelief, or will you take one of those steps of faith and cross over into your Canaan? Deuteronomy 9, Attention, Israel! TODAY KNOW THIS: GOD, your God, is crossing the river ahead of you—He's a consuming fire. He will destroy the nations, He will put them under your power. You will dispossess them and very quickly wipe them out, just as GOD promised you would. Canaan boldly declares that God has and always will be the force surrounding and empowering every believer willing to follow Him. Today-Da-Day!! It's time for us to be a little more intentional in our thinking, our faith, our actions, let this story of our ancestors inspire us to make our minds up. To ask God to give us a intentional mind.

Chapters 14 & 15

Shelter Rock Church Sermons

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2021 89:25

Joshua 14 NIVDivision of the Land West of the Jordan14 Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. 2 Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. 3 Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, 4 for Joseph's descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds. 5 So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.Allotment for Caleb6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.'[a]10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.)Then the land had rest from war.Footnotes[a] Joshua 14:9 Deut. 1:36Joshua 15 NIVAllotment for Judah15 The allotment for the tribe of Judah, according to its clans, extended down to the territory of Edom, to the Desert of Zin in the extreme south.2 Their southern boundary started from the bay at the southern end of the Dead Sea, 3 crossed south of Scorpion Pass, continued on to Zin and went over to the south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it ran past Hezron up to Addar and curved around to Karka. 4 It then passed along to Azmon and joined the Wadi of Egypt, ending at the Mediterranean Sea. This is their[a] southern boundary.5 The eastern boundary is the Dead Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan.The northern boundary started from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan, 6 went up to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 7 The boundary then went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor and turned north to Gilgal, which faces the Pass of Adummim south of the gorge. It continued along to the waters of En Shemesh and came out at En Rogel. 8 Then it ran up the Valley of Ben Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem). From there it climbed to the top of the hill west of the Hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. 9 From the hilltop the boundary headed toward the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, came out at the towns of Mount Ephron and went down toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim). 10 Then it curved westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon), continued down to Beth Shemesh and crossed to Timnah. 11 It went to the northern slope of Ekron, turned toward Shikkeron, passed along to Mount Baalah and reached Jabneel. The boundary ended at the sea.12 The western boundary is the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.These are the boundaries around the people of Judah by their clans.13 In accordance with the Lord's command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah—Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) 14 From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the sons of Anak. 15 From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). 16 And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” 17 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.18 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him[b] to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”19 She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, according to its clans:21 The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the boundary of Edom were:Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, 28 Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iyim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain and Rimmon—a total of twenty-nine towns and their villages.33 In the western foothills:Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Sokoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim and Gederah (or Gederothaim)[c]—fourteen towns and their villages.37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Kabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah and Makkedah—sixteen towns and their villages.42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Akzib and Mareshah—nine towns and their villages.45 Ekron, with its surrounding settlements and villages; 46 west of Ekron, all that were in the vicinity of Ashdod, together with their villages; 47 Ashdod, its surrounding settlements and villages; and Gaza, its settlements and villages, as far as the Wadi of Egypt and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.48 In the hill country:Shamir, Jattir, Sokoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (that is, Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon and Giloh—eleven towns and their villages.52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) and Zior—nine towns and their villages.55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah and Timnah—ten towns and their villages.58 Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth Anoth and Eltekon—six towns and their villages.[d]60 Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah—two towns and their villages.61 In the wilderness:Beth Arabah, Middin, Sekakah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt and En Gedi—six towns and their villages.63 Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah.Footnotes[a] Joshua 15:4 Septuagint; Hebrew your[b] Joshua 15:18 Hebrew and some Septuagint manuscripts; other Septuagint manuscripts (see also note at Judges 1:14) Othniel, he urged her[c] Joshua 15:36 Or Gederah and Gederothaim[d] Joshua 15:59 The Septuagint adds another district of eleven towns, including Tekoa and Ephrathah (Bethlehem).

god lord israel pass jerusalem stone valley salt desert judges gaza chapters hebrew israelites nun arab niv anak deut ether anim levites manasseh edom shema hebron mediterranean sea dead sea kain goshen eder gilgal eleazar zin negev beersheba othniel septuagint ziklag jebusites shamir allotment jezreel telem adullam amam rabbah mizpah achor ashdod ana b arba tekoa wadi hezron gibeah keilah rephaim ekron eglon mount seir jebusite bohan hazor lachish en gedi timnah kadesh barnea jephunneh holon kenaz ziph dannah naamah kedesh maon debir eshan kinah kiriath jearim anakites kenizzite libnah shaaraim mareshah baalah kiriath arba bozkath ezem joktheel juttah zenan hadashah jabneel middin jagur ithnan bealoth gederoth iphtah heshmon eltolad madmannah sansannah shilhim halhul ashnah adithaim dimonah adadah nezib eshtemoh aphekah humtah jokdeam

Chapters 14 & 15

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2021 89:25

god lord israel pass jerusalem stone valley salt desert judges gaza chapters hebrew israelites nun arab niv anak deut ether anim levites manasseh edom shema hebron mediterranean sea dead sea kain goshen eder gilgal eleazar zin negev beersheba othniel septuagint ziklag jebusites shamir allotment jezreel telem adullam amam rabbah mizpah achor ashdod ana b arba tekoa wadi hezron gibeah keilah rephaim ekron eglon mount seir jebusite bohan hazor lachish en gedi timnah kadesh barnea jephunneh holon kenaz ziph dannah naamah kedesh maon debir eshan kinah kiriath jearim anakites kenizzite libnah shaaraim mareshah baalah kiriath arba bozkath ezem joktheel juttah zenan jabneel hadashah middin jagur ithnan bealoth gederoth iphtah heshmon eltolad madmannah sansannah shilhim halhul ashnah adithaim dimonah adadah nezib eshtemoh aphekah humtah jokdeam

Chapters 14 & 15

Shelter Rock Church Sermons

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2021 89:25

Joshua 14 NIV Division of the Land West of the Jordan 14 Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. 2 Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. 3 Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, 4 for Joseph's descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds. 5 So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Allotment for Caleb 6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.'[a] 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war. Footnotes [a] Joshua 14:9 Deut. 1:36 Joshua 15 NIV Allotment for Judah 15 The allotment for the tribe of Judah, according to its clans, extended down to the territory of Edom, to the Desert of Zin in the extreme south. 2 Their southern boundary started from the bay at the southern end of the Dead Sea, 3 crossed south of Scorpion Pass, continued on to Zin and went over to the south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it ran past Hezron up to Addar and curved around to Karka. 4 It then passed along to Azmon and joined the Wadi of Egypt, ending at the Mediterranean Sea. This is their[a] southern boundary. 5 The eastern boundary is the Dead Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan. The northern boundary started from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan, 6 went up to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 7 The boundary then went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor and turned north to Gilgal, which faces the Pass of Adummim south of the gorge. It continued along to the waters of En Shemesh and came out at En Rogel. 8 Then it ran up the Valley of Ben Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem). From there it climbed to the top of the hill west of the Hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. 9 From the hilltop the boundary headed toward the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, came out at the towns of Mount Ephron and went down toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim). 10 Then it curved westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon), continued down to Beth Shemesh and crossed to Timnah. 11 It went to the northern slope of Ekron, turned toward Shikkeron, passed along to Mount Baalah and reached Jabneel. The boundary ended at the sea. 12 The western boundary is the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. These are the boundaries around the people of Judah by their clans. 13 In accordance with the Lord's command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah—Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) 14 From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the sons of Anak. 15 From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). 16 And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” 17 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage. 18 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him[b] to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?” 19 She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. 20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, according to its clans: 21 The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the boundary of Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, 28 Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iyim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain and Rimmon—a total of twenty-nine towns and their villages. 33 In the western foothills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Sokoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim and Gederah (or Gederothaim)[c]—fourteen towns and their villages. 37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Kabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah and Makkedah—sixteen towns and their villages. 42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Akzib and Mareshah—nine towns and their villages. 45 Ekron, with its surrounding settlements and villages; 46 west of Ekron, all that were in the vicinity of Ashdod, together with their villages; 47 Ashdod, its surrounding settlements and villages; and Gaza, its settlements and villages, as far as the Wadi of Egypt and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. 48 In the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Sokoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (that is, Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon and Giloh—eleven towns and their villages. 52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) and Zior—nine towns and their villages. 55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah and Timnah—ten towns and their villages. 58 Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth Anoth and Eltekon—six towns and their villages.[d] 60 Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah—two towns and their villages. 61 In the wilderness: Beth Arabah, Middin, Sekakah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt and En Gedi—six towns and their villages. 63 Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah. Footnotes [a] Joshua 15:4 Septuagint; Hebrew your [b] Joshua 15:18 Hebrew and some Septuagint manuscripts; other Septuagint manuscripts (see also note at Judges 1:14) Othniel, he urged her [c] Joshua 15:36 Or Gederah and Gederothaim [d] Joshua 15:59 The Septuagint adds another district of eleven towns, including Tekoa and Ephrathah (Bethlehem).

god lord israel pass jerusalem stone valley salt desert judges gaza chapters hebrew israelites nun arab anak deut ether anim levites manasseh edom shema hebron mediterranean sea dead sea kain goshen eder gilgal eleazar zin negev beersheba othniel septuagint ziklag jebusites shamir allotment jezreel telem adullam amam rabbah mizpah achor ashdod ana b arba tekoa wadi hezron gibeah keilah rephaim ekron eglon mount seir jebusite bohan hazor lachish en gedi timnah kadesh barnea jephunneh holon kenaz ziph dannah naamah kedesh maon debir eshan kinah kiriath jearim anakites kenizzite libnah shaaraim mareshah baalah kiriath arba bozkath ezem joktheel juttah zenan jabneel hadashah middin jagur bealoth gederoth ithnan heshmon eltolad madmannah sansannah shilhim halhul ashnah adithaim dimonah adadah iphtah nezib eshtemoh aphekah humtah jokdeam

Chapters 10 & 11

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2021 85:27

Joshua 10 NIVThe Sun Stands Still1 Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed[a] it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. 2 He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. 3 So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. 4 “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”5 Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.6 The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”7 So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”9 After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. 10 The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.12 On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:“Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on[b] its enemies,as it is written in the Book of Jashar.The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!15 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.Five Amorite Kings Killed16 Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. 17 When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah, 18 he said, “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. 19 But don't stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and don't let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”20 So Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, but a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities. 21 The whole army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one uttered a word against the Israelites.22 Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” 23 So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. 24 When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.25 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” 26 Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening.27 At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the poles and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day.Southern Cities Conquered28 That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. 30 The Lord also gave that city and its king into Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. 32 The Lord gave Lachish into Israel's hands, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. 33 Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left.34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. 35 They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. 39 They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.40 So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.43 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.Footnotes[a] Joshua 10:1 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 28, 35, 37, 39 and 40.[b] Joshua 10:13 Or nation triumphed overJoshua 11 NIVNorthern Kings Defeated1 When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, 2 and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; 3 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah. 4 They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. 5 All these kings joined forces and made camp together at the Waters of Merom to fight against Israel.6 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.”7 So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, 8 and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. 9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.10 At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) 11 Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed[a] them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself.12 Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14 The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed. 15 As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.16 So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. 18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.21 At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive.23 So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.Footnotes[a] Joshua 11:11 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 12, 20 and 21.

Chapters 10 & 11

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2021 85:27

Joshua 10 NIV The Sun Stands Still 1 Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed[a] it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. 2 He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. 3 So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. 4 “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” 5 Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it. 6 The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.” 7 So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” 9 After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. 10 The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. 12 On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on[b] its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! 15 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal. Five Amorite Kings Killed 16 Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. 17 When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah, 18 he said, “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. 19 But don't stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and don't let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” 20 So Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, but a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities. 21 The whole army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one uttered a word against the Israelites. 22 Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” 23 So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. 24 When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks. 25 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” 26 Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening. 27 At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the poles and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day. Southern Cities Conquered 28 That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. 29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. 30 The Lord also gave that city and its king into Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. 31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. 32 The Lord gave Lachish into Israel's hands, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. 33 Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left. 34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. 35 They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish. 36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it. 38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. 39 They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. 40 So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal. Footnotes [a] Joshua 10:1 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 28, 35, 37, 39 and 40. [b] Joshua 10:13 Or nation triumphed over Joshua 11 NIV Northern Kings Defeated 1 When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, 2 and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; 3 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah. 4 They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. 5 All these kings joined forces and made camp together at the Waters of Merom to fight against Israel. 6 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” 7 So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, 8 and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. 9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots. 10 At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) 11 Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed[a] them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself. 12 Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14 The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed. 15 As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses. 16 So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. 18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 21 At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive. 23 So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war. Footnotes [a] Joshua 11:11 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 12, 20 and 21.

god lord ai israel open attack jerusalem valley gaza chapters hebrew israelites waters lebanon canaanites hebron goshen gilgal amorites hittites negev gath gibeonites hermon jebusites gibeon seir perizzites mizpah hivites ashdod ana b amorite mount hermon eglon hazor lachish kadesh barnea gezer aijalon debir shimron anakites libnah yet israel israel sun kinnereth

Chapters 10 & 11

Church Acts with Terry Molinaro

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2021 85:27

The Flip Side Of Determined

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2021 13:19

What's determined to say in our hearts and minds, and in our family trees for that matter, that we should be dealing with instead? Will we be more determined than the things of life that come against us? Or will we try and get by and exchange God's will, for a compromised life?de·ter·minedhaving made a firm decision and being resolved not to change it.processing or displaying resolve."...because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region."What we do not confront, will not change.Verses Mentioned: Deuteronomy 9:1-6 “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You've heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?' But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised. “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don't say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!' No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people."Judges 1:27 "The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region."

god lord israel judges determined canaanites jordan river manasseh dor flipside o israel megiddo anakites taanach ibleam

Joshua Went and Destroyed the Anakites

Straight From The Word OT

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2021 3:23

Daily devotional commentary for March 20 taken from Joshua 11:22

destroyed anakites

Faithful

Petra Church International Ministries

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2021 54:58

Joshua 14:6-15 6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal,and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of Godat Kadesh Barneaabout you and me.7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barneato explore the land.And I brought him back a report according to my convictions,8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear.I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war. Numbers 14:24 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. We are called to build and live by the Most Holy Faith (Jude v. 17) Reality of Living by Faith: A Time to develop Radical Faith in the radically changing world An example of Faith: Caleb Numbers 14:24 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.Historical Background Faith is defined as "following" Caleb's Faith: 4 Characteristics 1) Commitment "Wholly followed the Lord." (Vv. 9, 14) 2) Confidence 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised,he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; 3)Courage 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day.You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” 4) Conquest 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arbaafter Arba,who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war.

November 1

Central Church Contemporary Service

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2020 18:36

Numbers 14:20-24 20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Joshua 14:6-15 Allotment for Caleb 6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’[a] 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war.

god israel numbers israelites hebron gilgal arba kadesh barnea jephunneh anakites kenizzite kiriath arba

Stuck In Idle?

THMC EM

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2020 22:16

Deuteronomy 1:26-28 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.'” 1. Missed opportunities Galatians 6:10 "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." Colossians 4:5 "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time" 2. You get comfortable with the stagnation 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." 3. You can wander around and never realize the full potential GOD had for you. Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." 1 Peter 2:9-10 "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." This is a THMC EM sermon by Yujin Chu, spoken at Ttokamsa Home Mission Church in Los Angeles, CA. Visit us on our Website or our Instagram

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Regret: Sabotaging Freedom - Numbers 13 & 14

Sermons - Littleton Christian Church

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2019

Numbers 13:26-14:10; 14:19-25, 39-45And [the 12 spies] came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the land of the Negeb; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea, and along the Jordan.” But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we.” So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become booty; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only, do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” But the whole congregation threatened to stone them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. [But Moses said to the LORD] "Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even until now.” Then the LORD said, “I do forgive, just as you have asked; nevertheless—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— none of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly. They rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.” But Moses said, “Why do you continue to transgress the command of the LORD? That will not succeed. Do not go up, for the LORD is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, had not left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them, pursuing them as far as Hormah.

lord israel freedom numbers regret israelites nun red sea paran anak sabotaging canaanites nephilim amalekites amorites hittites jebusites kadesh negeb jephunneh anakites

5.9 The Nephilim, the Anakites, the Red Heifer

The Christian History Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2019

This episode continues the deep dive into the geographic places uncovered in the summaries of the Book of Numbers. First are the Nephilim. These are generally thought to have been giants living in Canaan, but their name may have been misinterpreted. I also touch on Anak, and the Anakites, a group of people named after him. Finally, I discuss the importance and rarity of the legendary red heifer. After listening, let me know what you think

numbers anak nephilim red heifer anakites

PROOF: THERE ARE GIANTS AMONG US!

Exploring the Bizarre

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2019

Join Exploring the Bizarre (KCORradio.com) hosts Tim Beckley and Tim Swartz as they climb the beanstalk with guest ADAM STOKES. Jack and the Beanstalk is the fairy tale that probably introduces most children to the world of giants. Ancient myths and folklore often reference giants as horrible creatures that have superhuman strength, a long lifespan, and are fond of terrorizing humans. In the Bible, the Anakites, who "come from the Nephilim," the Emites, and the Rephaites, were giants the Israelites found living in the Promised Land. Adam O. Stokes discusses the possible origins of advanced giants who settled throughout North America and whose reality is still hotly contested by most archaeologists. Adam Oliver Stokes holds degrees in religion from Duke University and Yale Divinity School. He has written on numerous subjects including biblical studies, classical studies, LDS theology and ancient American civilization particularly the phenomenon of American ceremonial mounds and giants. His book, "Perspectives on the Old Testament," was published by Cognella Press in 2018. In addition to this, his work has been featured in the Journal of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Journal of the Book of Mormon, BYU Quarterly, the Classical Outlook and Ancient American magazine.

One Reason Fear Can't Stay

Pat's View: Inspirational stories

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2019 16:01

Maybe you can think of a dozen reasons that fear shouldn't hang out at your house, but I have one great, big, huge, hairy reason it can't stay at my house. Before I share this 1 reason you can't let fear stay, let me tell you how I learned that lesson. I was writing God's Laws for Kids, so I was studying Exodus and Numbers 13. I love the Old Testament stories especially anything about Moses. Moses is one of my heroes! My story begins at a crucial moment in Israel's history. It was time to take possession of the promise. God described His Promise to Moses when he bowed before Him at the burning bush. Exodus 3:8 NIV 8So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Exodus 3:8 NIV Fertile. Spacious. Flowing With nourishing milk and sweet honey. They were out, and now it was time to go in… They were on the precipice… so close…so close. It was God’s idea to send spies into the land (Exodus 13:1). Moses selected leaders. Twelve men were chosen; one from each tribe to check out Canaan and bring back their report. 40 days is a long time to wait, unless you’ve already waited 400+ years! I can only imagine how hard it was to wait for the spies to get back. If I had lived back then, I can tell you for sure, everyday I would have stopped and looked. Everyday I would have shaded my eyes from the glaring sun and strained to see if I could spot a cloud of dust that announced their arrival. Finally, FINALLY, they arrived. Everyone gathered around, pushing and shoving. They spotted the two guys with the end of a staff resting on their shoulders and a huge grape cluster swinging from the middle. The others were pulling figs and pomegranates out of their sacks. Wow! It was just like God said; a land flowing with wonderful things. Shhh! Don’t you know they had to quiet that crowd down? 27They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. Numbers 13:27,28 The word Anakites sounds happy like kites are fun! But, they knew Anakites were giants! POWERFUL GIANTS TALL WALLS FORTIFIED …IMPOSSIBLE for them-but, not for God! Have you ever noticed that every promise God gives us always seems to have a giant that must be defeated or a wall that must be hurdled before we can receive the promise... that's so we can partner with God to experience victory! Ten spies said, “We are grasshoppers compared to these guys.” What a powerful word picture. Giants vs grasshoppers. They could read the headlines already! Grasshoppers Squashed Under Giant's Big Sandal. Fear gripped their hearts! Wringing their hands, they cried hot angry tears of defeat! They hadn’t done anything yet, but already they were defeated. All my life I never understood their actions.! That is until I wrote “God’s Laws for Kidz”. I saw this story through the eyes of a someone in the crowd and I saw the disappointment and fear on their face. I saw the people for the first time, just like me, afraid. While I’ve never faced anything like the situation they were facing, I’ve had dreams dashed before my eyes. I’ve been afraid of what the future held. I’ve faced strong giants and stood on tiptoes to see over walls way too tall to look over. These folks, the ordinary people just like me in the crowd, were afraid. But I held them to a higher standard. They had just walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. They had just heard the voice of God and saw the fire and smoke on the mountain. How could they forget the promise God had given them? How could they fail to trust God? But hold everything! I...we live under a better covenant. I’ve had some promises from God. There are some things that I felt God has told me to do, things that terrified me. So I prayed...the spiritual thing to do huh! (I called it prayer, but maybe I should call it whine.) OK! So I will correct that…I whined to God, “Oh God, I want to do such and such, but I’m afraid. What if: I’m not smart enough? I’m not good enough? I fail? The people don’t like me? Have you ever done that? That’s what the children of Israel were doing that day. I thought (without realizing it) that God would be really impressed with my wonderful attitude! I thought God would respond something like, “You poor little darling! Oh, that’s just awful. That’s all right, calm down. Shhh! You’re afraid, so just sit down. That’s OK. You’re afraid to obey me, that’s all right. I’ll let you have the promise any way.” But, when I wasn’t receiving the promise, I thought God was failing me. I was working hard. I was doing everything I could do. Well, except believing Him and then there’s that part about trusting Him. I wasn’t doing that part at all because I was trusting in my efforts. I was so discouraged and told Wayne, “I’m doing my part. From sun up to sun down, I work, literally, and God isn’t doing a single thing to help me.” But, when I wrote this story for my curriculum, I saw myself in that crowd. I was one of them, wringing my hands and complaining, “Oh God, I want to go into the promised-land, but I’m afraid!” And the interpretation of that is, “I want the promise. But, I’m afraid, so I’m NOT going to obey you.” Did God ignore their disobedience because it was wrapped in fear? Tweet this! No! He didn’t. I was shocked… God wasn’t going to let me get by with wrapping my fear in the warm, blanket of disobedience!!! Not gonna happen! They didn’t receive the promise because they didn’t obey! Obedience is critical, because faith without works is dead. When we trust God, we obey God. Fear stopped them and left them to die in the wilderness. Is that too graphic? It's a horrible thought. Fear is still fear. It will stop you too, if you let it! So what is the one big, really big, giant reason I don't let fear stay...because God says fear not. He says it again and again throughout the Bible. He says it for a reason. Two men in that group of spies. tHey saw the same giants, but they had a different spirit…a different attitude. No Fear. God’s promise was bigger in him than the giants around him. That's gooood! I gotta repeat that one. God's promise was bigger in him than the giants around him. He encouraged the people, “We can do it!” They were afraid...so they disobeyed and they died in the wilderness. But, Caleb and Joshua believed and they received the promise. Joshua 1:7“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” 10So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’ ” What about you? Does God want you to receive the promise? Yes, a thousand times yes. But in fairness to you I must warn you. Fear will try to stop you. It can’t unless you let it. You have a choice; to choose faith or fear. You can choose to obey or disobey. Choose faith...choose life. I'd love to share my free ebook that will help you be stronger. Check it out at the link below.

Your faith is your full payment

Pastor Kwame

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2019 10:29

Caleb drove out the three groups of Anakites—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak.Joshua 15:14

payments anak anakites sheshai

Renew Church Sermon | May 19th

Renew Church Miami

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2019 58:32

- We are not trying to get God in agreement with our words. - We are trying to get our words in agreement with God. -What is God saying? - Why do we listen to the wrong voices? - They are very powerful. -Cities are large and fortified. -We can't attack those people. - The Anakites are there. -The land devours those living in it. -We seemed like grasshoppers compared to them. -"if we only had dies in Egypt or this desert..." -Speak Positive. -Speak Truth. -Speak Faith. -Who is your Anakim? -What is God saying about Me?

god church sermon cities renew speak truth anakites

Walking with Courage

Mountain View Sermons

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2019

Numbers 13:25-33 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)The Report of the Spies25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negeb; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea, and along the Jordan.”30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. 33 There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

israel walking courage numbers israelites paran anak canaanites nephilim amalekites amorites hittites jebusites kadesh negeb anakites

November 11, 2018 Sermon

Radiant Christian Life Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2018

Joshua 14:10-12 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

lord israel sermon anakites

Grasshoppers, Giants, and Grey Hairs! Pastor David Rathel. 11.11.18

Rivertown Church Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2018 38:10

Grasshoppers, Giants, & Gray Hairs! 11.13.18 Caleb - “Now, therefore, give me this mountain...” Joshua 14:12 There’s A Big Difference Between A Promise And A Possession. Everyone Gets God’s Promises, But Only A Few Ever Take Hold Of God’s Possession For Their Lives.How Did Caleb Possess God’s Mountain: He Overcame Grasshoppers - Numbers 13:31-14:4 (...I had to overcome grasshoppers once...)“...and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” Num. 13:33 (KJV) 31But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t...” (List Verses on slide: Table Is Only For Saving Space In My Notes)1raised their voices… wept 3Our wives and children will be taken…32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report…” 2All the Israelites grumbled… “If only we had died in Egypt!...”4“We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.”Num. 13:30(What do you do With Grasshoppers… Georgia Grasshoppers…He Overcame Giants - Deuteronomy 1“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants…” Numbers 13:33 (KJV) How Small Are You Compared To Your Giants? The OUTLOOK of FEAR! How Small Are Your Giants Compared To God? The UPLOOK of FAITH! Deuteronomy 1:28-31 (NIV)...Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ” 29Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” He Overcame Gray Hairs - Joshua 14:6-13 (NIV) Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb... said to him... 7“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. 8“Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully. 9“So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God fully.’ 10“And now behold, the LORD has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. 11“I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. 12“Now then, give me this hill mountain about which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the LORD has spoken.” 13So Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.*When God Makes A Faith Promise, He Will Give You The Strength To See It Become A Faith Possession.*Never Count God Out! Never Count Yourself Out! An Old Dream Is Not A Dead Dream. *True Faith Looks Beyond The Present Circumstances. *Courage can be defined as a three letter word: YES!

Joshua part 14

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2018 33:02

Division of the Land West of the Jordan 14 Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. 2 Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. 3 Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, 4 for Joseph’s descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds. 5 So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Allotment for Caleb 6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’[a] 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war.

god lord israel israelites nun levites manasseh hebron gilgal eleazar allotment arba joshua part kadesh barnea jephunneh anakites kenizzite kiriath arba

Joshua part 14

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2018 33:02

god lord israel israelites nun levites manasseh hebron gilgal eleazar allotment arba joshua part kadesh barnea jephunneh anakites kenizzite kiriath arba

Joshua part 11

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2018 34:01

Northern Kings Defeated 11 When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, 2 and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; 3 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah. 4 They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. 5 All these kings joined forces and made camp together at the Waters of Merom to fight against Israel. 6 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” 7 So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, 8 and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. 9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots. 10 At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) 11 Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed[a] them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself. 12 Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14 The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed. 15 As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses. 16 So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. 18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 21 At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive. 23 So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.

Joshua part 11

Sermons – Covenant Grace Baptist Church

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2018 34:01

2 Samuel 21:15-22: Nephilim, Rephaim, Anakites and the Seed of the Woman

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2018

INTRODUCTION: As soon as you do any investigation on the internet about the bible and giants, you immediately run into the cliqued garbage about overcoming your giants. In the text we have before us in 2 Samuel 21:15-22 we have a record of four giants being defeated, and in the case of the first giant of David growing weary and needing Abishai to help him. If giants are the big problems we face in life then the lesson is that sometimes our giants come back to haunt us, and we should not allow ourselves to grow weary. That sort of self-help nonsense is a terrible betrayal to the point of the text we have in front of us. The point of this text is not about us and our personal victories, but about God and His kingdom. This summary of David’s victories against the champions of the Philistines is a crowning achievement of his reign held up for us to see the faithfulness of God in preserving His harassed king and fulfilling His promises to Abraham. The significance of the giants is not that they personify our greatest problems, but rather that they represent the seed of the serpent and are the greatest hindrance to God’s people properly taking and inhabiting the promised land. These triumphs are not underlining the personal accomplishments of a particular individual but are road markers in a transgenerational purpose that God is working out. So as we proceed to examine this text we want to look at the significance of the defeat of the giants, the preservation of the king and how all of this demonstrates God’s faithfulness. Source

god woman seed 2 samuel philistines nephilim rephaim abishai anakites

Supernatural | Week 3 | Supernatural Endurance (Perseverance) | Joshua 14:6-15 | May 14, 2017

Trinity Grace Church East Village

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2017 27:55

Joshua 14:6-15 NIV “Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war.”Support the show (http://www.sanctuarychurch.nyc)

god lord israel perseverance supernatural endurance israelites hebron gilgal arba kadesh barnea jephunneh niv now anakites kenizzite kiriath arba

The Temporary Empire of Cyrus Serves the Eternal Empire of Christ (Isaiah Sermon 53 of 81) (Audio)

Message to Kings - A Biblical History of Man

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2014

Is the World Falling Apart? The current issue of World magazine, you may have seen it recently, (World magazine is a Christian form of Time magazine) has as the cover article Is the World Falling Apart? Thankfully, the magazine answers no, praise God, but we get a strong answer to that question right from Isaiah 45 this morning. Now, the issues that are on the minds of the authors of the article there and of the editors of World have to do with events going on in the Ukraine and events going on in the Near East, events going on in Syria and Iraq and in Israel. It doesn't mention Ebola, but you could extend that as well, as that's reaching a crisis level in parts of the world that are hard to even imagine. I read an article this week, Seven Rational Reasons to Panic About Ebola; it was a very depressing article. Well, I thought throughout history, you could say seven rational reasons to panic about the rise of communism, or before that the invasion of Hitler and Poland, or seven rational reasons to panic about the beginning of World War I, or seven rational reasons to panic about Genghis Khan. Again and again throughout history there have been, it seems, rational reasons to panic. And again and again, God stands in the pages of Scripture and testifies that he is sovereign over all of this. The nations are churning like a roiling sea, and there's all of this discontent, and there's all of this disorder and this sin. But God rules over all of it for his glory. And this morning, we're going to look at how God raises up a temporary empire under Cyrus the Great to serve his purposes in raising up an eternal empire in Jesus Christ. And we need to train ourselves to look at world events, look at world history, the things that are happening, whether crises of a biological nature like Ebola, or a crisis of a political, geopolitical nature like ISIS, or what's going on in Ukraine, or even crisis of weather, like Hurricane Katrina or other things like that, and look at it differently through the eyes of the sovereignty of God over all of these things. And Isaiah 45 is going to give us some significant insights into all of that. The amazing message of this chapter, and indeed of the whole Bible, is that God actively rules over every single event on the surface of the Earth; everything. He actively rules over the rise and fall of nations in particular, and that's something we need to keep in mind. God raises up empires, he raises up emperors and he brings them back down again. And as a matter of fact, no one can be a king, no one can be a ruler, no one can raise up an empire without the power of the sovereign power of God, whether that individual acknowledges God or not. As in this text, it said several times that Cyrus doesn't acknowledge God. And it is very helpful and encouraging and strengthening to our faith to know that God does this, that God is the one that raises up empires and nations. He's the one that determines how long they'll last and when they will sink back down into the dust of history, as the Medo-Persian Empire has done. How do we know that? Well, there are number of places. Isaiah 45, that we're going to look at today, I think teaches it. But for me, probably the number one verse in the Bible that teaches this in a very succinct way is Acts 17:26. This is where the Apostle Paul, speaking at Mars Hill, talked about human history in this way: "From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole Earth. And he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live." Now, I'll tell you, if you meditate on that long enough, you'll understand how significant that statement is. God determines how long people live, where they live, what is going to be the extent of their domain. God rules over all of these things. It's amazing, in Deuteronomy 2:20-22, he talks there about some various people; this is where Moses is getting the Jewish nation ready to invade the Promised Land and take from it those Canaanite nations, to take it militarily, and God's going to go before them and give them military success. But God actually says, "I've been doing that with other nations, too, not just your own." He talks, for example, about the Ammonites, who drove out a people called the Zamzummites. And you're like, "Huh. What in the world do the Ammonites and the Zamzummites have to do with me?" Well nothing, they have sunk, as I said, back into the dust heap of history. But this is what Deuteronomy 2:21 says concerning the Zamzummites: "They were a people strong and numerous, as tall as the Anakites." Listen, "The Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out, and settled in their place." Do you not realize the significance of that statement? That God was going before the Ammonites and driving out the Zamzummites. He's been doing that ever since. God rules over all of these things. And so here in this chapter, Isaiah 45, God is saying that he gives to Cyrus a kingdom, that he's going to go ahead of Cyrus. That image is powerful, like the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire before the Jews. He's going to go ahead of Cyrus and go before Cyrus and give him a kingdom. He's going to give him military victories. And he's going to do it and he's going to speak of him... God is going to speak of Cyrus as his servant and his shepherd, even his anointed one, his Christ in the Greek translation. Though he does not acknowledge him. And why is he doing all this? I say we step back and look big picture, God is doing this so that his elect people will know him and worship him and come to him for salvation and be saved even to the ends of the earth. That's what God is doing. He's ruling over history for the salvation of his chosen people. That's what this chapter's about. I. God Grants Cyrus an Empire for the Salvation of His Elect (vs. 1-8) So now let's dig in and look verses one through eight, God grants to Cyrus an empire for the salvation of his elect. Now, who is this individual Cyrus? For the second time, we have Cyrus the Great specifically identified by name. We've been looking at this for weeks now. These are the two chapters Isaiah 44 verse 28, "The Lord says of Cyrus," Koresh in the Hebrew, "he is my shepherd, and will accomplish all that I please. He will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt and of the temple let its foundations be laid." And then again, we have Cyrus mentioned in 45 and verse one. Who was Cyrus the Great? So we have this individual mentioned by name, Cyrus, called in history, Cyrus the Great. Notice he's not called Cyrus the Great in the pages of scripture, because he is not great compared to the true king, who is coming, Christ, Christ is great. But Cyrus was a, according to the ancient historian, Herodotus, the grandson of a Median king named Astyages, ruler of the Median empire. Astyages had a dream about his baby grandson that one day he would overthrow him. So similar to King Herod, he sought to kill Cyrus the Great. But he officially delegated the task to an official but he couldn't do it, he couldn't kill this baby, and he gave him, he hit him with a shepherd instead. Wasn't until Cyrus was 10 years old, that king Astyages learned about this deception. But by then Cyrus' qualities had become known and he didn't want to kill him, Astyages didn't. And so he let him and his mother live in exile. Well, in 554 BC, Cyrus led a revolt against his grandfather Astyages in fulfillment of the dream, and we would say in fulfill of the prophecies here in this chapter. He led a revolt and overthrew Astyages and effectively ended the Median empire. He then consolidated the Persians, and the Medes together into one world empire, the first of its kind in world history. And so it's called the Medo-Persian empire. He drew these officials together and they set out to begin conquest. He moved out to control the Mediterranean coastline, smaller kingdoms like the kingdom of Lydia ruled by the fabulously wealthy king Croesus who is one of the... Said to be one of the wealthiest kings in history, conquered all of them, one after the other. They allied themselves to try to stop the Medo-Persian onslaught, but they couldn't do it. On October 12, 539 BC, Cyrus annexed the Chaldean or Babylonian empire, and on October 29th, he entered Babylon and arrested the king and assumed the title, their king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world. I believe that put it all together that's the story told in Daniel 5. That very night, Belshazzar died in direct fulfillment of prophecy. Almost immediately then Cyrus the Great extended his control over the Arabian Peninsula, and over the middle east. They all submitted to Persian rule. Although Cyrus did not conquer Egypt by 535 BC, all the lands right up to the Egyptian border had submitted to him, and they began giving tribute to him. So that's who Cyrus the Great was in history. Cyrus also had some enlightened policies for ruling his empire. He was the first empire to realize that it was in his own best interest to make everybody under his rule as absolutely happy and autonomous as possible. He wanted them to be content under Persian rule. The Romans would perfect that with the Pax Romana. It was a combination of their overpowering military strength, so if you revolt you're going to get crushed. Plus, "Hey life, isn't so bad. Things are going well. We have our own rulers really under the Caesars etcetera." And it was really Cyrus that saw the wisdom of doing that and that extended especially to religion. He wanted the people to be able to worship their own gods and goddesses in their own way, and so he sent money from the treasury to allow temples of gods and goddesses to be rebuilt, and for religions to be established. Now, it was part of this policy that extended to the Jews and enabled them to go back to Palestine and re-build the temple of Yahweh, of Jehovah God. And this is directly recorded for us in Second Chronicles 36:22-23. It says there, "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah," we would add and Isaiah, "The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing." Verse 23, "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says, 'The Lord, the God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you may, the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up, let him go up." Now, Cyrus was a Pagan, he was a polytheist, he was a syncretist. He tried to mix as much religion together as possible. The idea of this is, "Who knows whatever gods or goddesses might be upset, let's appease them and make them happy." And you get this, I think, especially in something known as the Cyrus cylinder, which was discovered by an archaeologist in 1878. It's now in the British Museum in London. It's been translated and it shows how Cyrus seemed to believe in all the gods and goddesses. So while the Scripture does show Cyrus giving honor to the Jewish God, he seemed to do the same for every god. The Cyrus cylinder says something like the victorious Cyrus portrayed as having been chosen by the chief Babylonian god, Marduk, to restore peace and order to the Babylonians, that Cyrus was welcomed by the people of Babylon as their new ruler and it appeals to Marduk to protect and help Cyrus and his son Cambyses. The cylinder also says that, he repaired the ruin temples in the various cities that he conquered, restored their cults, their religions, and returned their sacred images as well as their former inhabitants, so that those gods and goddesses could be worshipped. So, as Isaiah says plainly in our text, Cyrus did not acknowledge the true and only, the living God, but God still used it. Do you see? God ruled over this for his own sovereign purposes. God Calls Cyrus His “Anointed” and Grants Him an Empire Now, let's look very specifically at verses 1-3, there it says, "This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Well, right in verse 1, do you not see how amazing this is, "This is what the Lord says to his anointed"? This is language reserved for a Davidic king. For us as Christians, this is language we reserve for Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. But he says he's going to take his anointed, Cyrus, by the right hand. He's going to lead him and give him success, and he's going to enable Cyrus to subdue every nation that opposes him. He's going to be able to cut through bars of iron and break down gates of bronze. He's going to be militarily successful. And God, he says, is going to go ahead of Cyrus, he's going to go before him to guarantee these victories. Like I said, the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire leading the Jews, so God would lead Cyrus to victory, and he'll give him treasures hidden in darkness, maybe that's Croesus's gold down in some vault somewhere. He's going to give him all of the spoils of victory, everything that a pagan emperor could ever want, he's going to hand him the treasures of darkness. But he does this so that Cyrus and Israel and indeed all the earth may know that he alone is the true God. God Does This So That Cyrus, Israel, and All the Earth May Know Him So look at verses 3-6, he says, "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other." And Isn't it powerful how God is speaking directly to Cyrus, talking to him? "I am God and I'm talking to you so that you may know me," speaking very powerfully and directly. That's the goal of all of this, that we may know the only true and living God that there is in the world. "That you may know me, that I have summoned you by name." We know that at the beginning of these conquests, and as he received all of this military victory, Cyrus did not know the Lord. But is it possible that once Daniel got to be the second highest ruler in the Persian kingdom, that he might have evangelized him? Wouldn't it be delightful to find Cyrus up in heaven? Wouldn't it be delightful that God's purpose stated here, "So that you may know me," actually comes true, and that Cyrus is worshipping the true and living God for all eternity? Wouldn't you love to be Daniel rolling open the Isaiah scroll and saying, "Hey here's your name. And it was written a century before you were born." I would think that would have evangelistic power. Amen? Talk about using fulfilled prophecy to win a convert. I would think Cyrus would be easy at that point. Cyrus had not acknowledged him. But do you see the significance of this big picture? God uses the movers and shakers of world history, whether they know him or not, whether they acknowledge him or not, whether it's Julius Caesar or Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan or Tamerlane, or all the way up to the 20th century, all of the great movers and shakers of the terrible events of the 20th century, God ruled over every one of them, whether they knew him or acknowledged him or not, all of them. God gives them power, and then holds them accountable for how they use it. God rules over all of these things. Again, this is taught so plainly. You remember in Daniel chapter 4, when one of those mighty rulers, those emperors, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, did not know God, did not acknowledge him. And so God gave him an education in that chapter. You remember the dream he had of the great tree that was cut down and all that? It led eventually to his mind being changed into that of an animal for seven years? Well, the point of the whole lesson in Daniel 4 was this, the angel said it, "So that you might know, that you might acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men, and gives them to anyone he wishes." Well, he learned that lesson. And at the end, Nebuchadnezzar said these words of God, "His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" That is the sovereign God. So, no, the world is not falling apart. God is ruling over every single event. God Alone Creates Success and Disaster (vs. 7) And Verse 7 is one of those "meat" verses that you can take the rest of your life chewing on, and you'll never fully comprehend it. But we must embrace it, we must read it, and we must take in its truth. Verse 7, "I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things." This is one of the most difficult concepts in the Christian religion, it's under the heading of God's providence, God's sovereign rule over the events of everyday life. And it goes right to the issue of light and darkness, prosperity and disaster, right to that issue. And it says directly that God does all these things. So, let's stick right with Cyrus's Medo-Persian conquests, and bring in the picture... Remember I said it's as though God were leading them as he was leading Israel with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, you remember? You remember the night of the Red Sea crossing, how the pillar stood there and separated out God's people from the Egyptians, who wanted to kill them. You remember that? And how it said in that one night, the same pillar gave light to the one side and darkness to the other. You remember that? And so it is the same event in human history, can be light to the one and darkness to the other. So let's just put it in simple terms. Let's say you were a soldier in the Medo-Persian army. Your conquest of Lydia or of the Scythians or of the Chaldeans, would have been light for you, and would have been prosperity for you. But if you were one of the Lydians or the Scythians or the Chaldeans, it would have been darkness and disaster. It's the same event, and God does it, and he knows exactly the impact it's going to have on your life. He's very well aware of that. This destroys, I think, the immature, the doctrinally immature view of God that he only ever brings prosperity and light and sweetness and happiness to people. This is that "health and wealth" doctrine that we hear about, but I think it lurks in all of our minds. And if you think it doesn't, how do you act when you get what some call an adverse providence? Something comes that crosses you somewhat, that causes you inconvenience... Could be an illness, could be losing your job, a financial issue. It could be some major repair on the car, things that trivial really. Or it could be matters of life and death... And how it is that we are challenged by this statement. But look at it again, "I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord do all these things." Now, here we must be very careful what we're saying. It says in 1 John 1:5, "God is light, and in him, there is no darkness at all." So God never does evil, ever. But he brings disaster, he kills people, he takes possessions away from people. It's just not evil. It's just a different way of thinking. We have to understand this. God never does evil. I think when Hurricane Katrina came in, all of the bad theology that flowed after that, I couldn't believe it, on all sides of the equation. Those that said that God did bring the hurricane, and those that God... Said God didn't bring it. I'm not sure which hurricanes God brings and which ones he doesn't, which winds he controls. As far as I'm concerned, in the Bible, God's sovereign over weather, over all things. But it's simplistic to say that, let's say because of the great wickedness, specifically of New Orleans, that he brought Hurricane Katrina, as some theologians and pastors said. It's just simplistic. On the same street there are flattened houses, and some of those people are godly people, and some of them are unbelievers, and some of them are nominal Christians, and everything. And they're all getting the same thing. It's just too simplistic. But to say, "God would never do anything, it's only the devil, let's say, that would ever do something like that." It just isn't true. So we have to grow up, and we have to read a verse like this verse 7, and say, "I understand it." The Lord Rains Down Righteousness and Makes It Spring Up Now, look at verse 8, how he couples it. He says basically that everything God does is righteous. It's never evil, it's always righteous. Look at Verse 8, "You heavens above, rain down righteousness. Let the clouds shower it down, let the earth open wide. Let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it. I the Lord have created it." So, God does all these things, the Medo-Persian invasion, Cyrus, all that, hurricanes, earthquakes, everything. Everything that God does, he does so that he can bring about righteous salvation for his elect. That's the ultimate end, that God would be glorified by raining down from heaven whatever is necessary to let righteous salvation spring up. Isn't that beautiful? So, keep verse 7 and verse 8 together. What God is doing, it's apparently light and darkness to us, apparently prosperity and disaster, but look more deeply. In the midst of it, God is working out his saving purposes. He's causing righteous salvation to spring up from the earth, verse 8. II. God Rebukes Arrogant Human Questioning of His Plans (vs. 9-13) Well, verses 9-13, God says, "Okay, now I know you're ready to argue with me. I know you're ready to argue with me because you don't like what I'm saying to you. " This is God saying it, this is not the pastor saying this right now. I'm just saying, this is where we're going in the text, because he's very well aware that a verse like verse 7 is troubling. The idea, to the Jews, that God is going to raise up a pagan and give him the promised land and everything else and go before him and give him all this military success, "God, if you're so mighty and do that, why don't you do it for a Davidic king, a Jewish king? If that's what you can do, then do it for one of us." And God says in verse 9 and 10, "Woe to him who quarrels with his maker. To him, it is but a potsherd among the potsherds of the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?" Does your work say, 'He has no hands?' Woe to him who says to his father, 'What have you begotten?' Or to his mother, 'What have you brought to birth?'" So I think the immediate context here would be Jews, shocked to hear that God is going to use this pagan man to do all this. It's just difficult for them to hear God say to Cyrus, a pagan, "My servant, my anointed one, my shepherd," to call him that? It's difficult. "I don't understand what you're doing, God." And so, they start to question it. Now, more broadly applicable, when we have verse 7 kind of come down on our heads, and God, it seems, is bringing calamity to us, he's bringing darkness into our lives, and we're going through hard times, it is so easy to quarrel with your maker, isn't it? And so God proclaims a woe on those who quarrel with God, argue with God. He challenges us. He calls us "potsherds on the ground" of the workshop, the potter's workshop. What's a potsherd? It's a piece of broken pottery. How is that like us? We were formed from the clay, from the dust of the Earth. And a potsherd's like something broken on the ground. We've been shattered in many ways by sin. And so for us, as a broken piece of pottery on the ground, to argue up to the potter himself is arrogant. Now, the apostle Paul picks up on this exact verse in Romans chapter 9, when he talks about God's sovereignty and salvation. And you remember that passage where God's going through, "Why are some Jews believing and some Jews aren't believing?" and that very deep passage? Romans 9 stands like Mount Everest over the theological landscape, and it's just got so many challenging statements in there. But in Romans 9:18, it says that God has mercy on whom he wills to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wills to harden. And then Paul, the great teacher, says, "Now, one of you will say to me, one of you is going to argue back with me, why does God still find fault? Why does anybody ever get judged, for who resists his will?" But Romans 9:20, "Who are you, oh man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes, and some for common use." Friends, that's grown-up theology. If we just take it simply at this point, don't argue with God. God is very patient, but in this text, he's saying, "Woe to you who does it." So don't argue, submit. And if you're going through a terrible trial, adverse circumstances, the quicker you bring yourself humbly and quietly under God's mighty hand, the quicker the healing will flow. The more you resist and fight and chafe and talk back to God, the longer that's going to take. You're just doing damage to your own soul. Woe to Him Questions God About His Plans And so, it's telling us not to argue with him, and not to question him about his plans. Look at verse 11 and 13, "This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, and its maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?" Notice, verse 11 focuses on his children, his elect. God does everything for them. So he's saying, "Are you going to question me, what I'm doing with my children? Do you have the right to do that?" And then Verse 13, "I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness. I will make all his ways straight, he will rebuild my City." That's Jerusalem. Isn't that beautiful that God calls it "my city"? "He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty." So, God does everything for the sake of his elect, for his children. He knows exactly what he's going to do. In verse 12, he says, "Don't forget who I am, don't forget my power." Look at Verse 12. He says, "It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hand stretched out the heavens. I marshalled their starry hosts." So never forget who I am. III. God’s Mysterious Plans for Gentile Salvation (vs. 14-17) Now, in verses 14-17, God speaks of his mysterious plans for gentile salvation. Look at verse 14, "This is what the Lord says, 'The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans, they will come over to you and will be yours. They will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, 'Surely God is with you, and there is no other. There is no other God.''" Now, this is not an easy verse. To a Jewish nationalist, let's say a Jewish zealot, they be like, "I love that verse. We've got the Gentiles trudging behind us in chains, and they're bringing us all their merchandise." Yes, but understand. God's purpose, his saving purpose has always been extending to the ends of the earth. Remember the original call of Abram in Ur of the Chaldees? What does he say? He says, "I will bless those who, what? Bless you. And if one of these Egyptians or Cushites or tall Sabeans falls down in front of them, and says, "Truly God is with you, and there is no other, there's no other God," they're going to get blessed, friends. They're going to get blessed with salvation. Paul quotes this very thing in 1 Corinthians 14. You remember about the whole speaking-in-tongues thing? And if an outsider comes in, and they hear prophecy, they hear a clear proclamation of the Word of God, they're going to fall down in your midst and say, "Surely God is among you." he's quoting this exact passage. So ultimately, we're talking about gentile salvation, the Corinthians were Gentiles. And God in their midst, because they repent and believe in Christ. God is a God Who Hides Himself Now, your head may be swimming, saying, "This is just too complicated. This is too deep. God's ways are too high. I don't understand all the things he does. Well, look at the next verse, verse 15 is amazing, "Truly, you are a God who hides himself, oh God and Savior of Israel." So this is, I believe, Isaiah's editorial comment, saying, "Boy, I don't get it." [chuckle] Just like Paul in Romans 11, saying, "Your paths are beyond tracing out." "So you're doing all this stuff with Cyrus so that the people in Cush and the Sabeans can come to faith in Christ, and fall down and worship God?" "Yeah, that's exactly right." "Wow, your ways are difficult." If you look at Verse 15 carefully, we're saying that God is a hidden God. He's a God that must reveal himself, or you will never know him. If God does not reveal himself... If you're, right now, a non-Christian, and God does not reveal himself to you, you'll walk out of here a non-Christian. But if God chooses to reveal his glory to you, in his Son crucified, and resurrection, you'll walk out of here saved. It's up to the sovereign plan of God. God is a hidden God who reveals himself in Scripture, and by the proclamation especially of the gospel. So this hidden God is mysterious. And God's plan is shame for the idolaters and salvation for Israel. Verse 16 and 17, "All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgrace. They'll go off into disgrace together. But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation you'll never be put to shame or disgrace to ages everlasting." Sheep and goats dear friends. It's just wheats and tares, wheat and weeds, good fish and bad fish. God is going to separate out the committed final idolaters and they'll go off into everlasting shame from those who are truly saved, his people, his Israel, whether Jews who have come to faith in Christ, or Gentiles who have been grafted into a Jewish olive tree come to faith in Christ we will be saved with an everlasting salvation to ages everlasting. And how beautiful is that? IV. God’s Gospel Call to the Ends of the Earth: Turn to Christ! (vs. 18-25) And so there is a Gospel call to the ends of the earth, verses 18-25, God's purposes will be fulfilled and all the earth will be filled with worshippers, isn't that awesome? 18 and 19, "For this is what the Lord says. He who created the heavens, he is God, he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it. He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited." Do you hear that? God didn't make this Earth with all of its beauty to be a howling wilderness. He didn't create all of the mountains and the valleys and the rivers and oceans, and all that to not be seen, he wanted the beauty to be seen by people who will immediately worship him for it. He didn't form it to be empty or desolate, he wanted it to be inhabited, inhabited with who? With people created in his image, to know him, to love him, and to worship him. And so he says, "I am the Lord and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret from somewhere in a land of darkness. I have not said to Jacob's descendants, seek me in vain. I the Lord speak the truth. I declare what is right." Now here, a moment ago in verse 15, we had a God who hides himself, but now he says to Jacob, "I've not said to you, seek me in vain." And I'm going to put the two of those together, in just a moment. But God hasn't spoken off here in secret, he has given us this incredible book, and he's very, very good at getting it out. Do you realize what percentage of the Earth's population can understand the scripture in some language that they know? It may not be their heart language, Wycliffe will say, not their heart language, but what percentage of the world population can hear and understand the scripture? 98% of the earth's population. 98%, there's 180 million people left who can't right now hear it in any language and so, Wycliffe's working on that. But God has done a very good job getting this book out. How many Bibles do you think there are on earth? The internet doesn't know. I looked this morning. They have no idea. They're guessing six billion Bibles. How could we even know? The book sale tell you it's about 100 million a year in America. That's amazing. So all over the world, just hundreds and hundreds of millions of these, God is getting this word out. And Isaiah 45 is included, isn't that cool? Right there, God says, "I've not spoken this off in secret. I've gotten the word out." As it says in Romans 10, "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." People are hearing about this and God is saying, and he's saying, "Though I am a hidden God, if you seek me, you will find me, if you seek with all your heart." Isn't that beautiful, as Jeremiah talking to the exiles out in exile he said, "I'm going to send you to another land, and there you will bow down to foreign gods, but if in that land," Deuteronomy 4 says you seek me with all your heart, you will surely find me. God’s Clear Challenge to Idolaters: God Alone Predicted These Things So God gives a clear challenge to the idolaters. We've seen this before, so we don't have to spend much time on it. Verse 20 and 21, "Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me." So I would love to have been there when Daniel was evangelizing Cyrus and say, "Oh great king. It isn't Marduk, that predicted the future. It isn't Baal or Nebo or any of those false gods, it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he's the only God there is." And we can say the same thing in the 21st century scene, it's not the god of the Buddhist or the god of the Hindus or the god of Islam, that's predicted the future, God is the only God who has done this, who has said the name Cyrus. He is throwing down the prophetic gauntlet and saying, "No one else can do this." And why does he do this? So that the ends of the earth will turn to him and be saved for there is no one else. Now, here in this I hear the language of Acts 4:12, don't you? Peter saying to the Sanhedrin, "Salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." And so God sends this Gospel call to the ends of the Earth, and I'm going to say it quite plainly, "Turn to Jesus Christ and be saved all you ends of the earth." That's what he's saying. The Exclusivity of Jesus Christ In the fullness of time, we understand what this prophecy is saying. Look, 22 to 25, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. By myself, I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked. Before me every knee will bow, by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness, and strength, and all those who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame, but in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exalt." Well, in the language of American evangelicalism, friends, verse 22 is the altar call of this chapter. Calling on people who have heard these things to turn to the true and living God and be saved, all the ends of the earth. Turn means repent of your idolatries, repent of your sins, and your wickedness. Be saved means saved from the coming judgment and wrath of God. "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth," and God makes a pledge. He swears it by himself, "Before me every knee will bow." And "By me every tongue will swear." Now we don't understand this in terms of universalism, "everyone's going to be saved." But there will come a time that every human being will recognize that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the only true God. Now, again, if you're a Christian, these verses will sound familiar. Have you ever heard this before? Speaking of, Jesus Christ, "who being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing. Taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father." Now, I believe Isaiah 40-49 is the most fiercely monotheistic section of scripture in the entire Bible. God is determined to say he's the only God, and there is no other. He says it again and again and again, multiple times in this chapter. Yahweh, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that God, the God of the Jews, is the only god there is. But along comes Paul, and takes that and ascribes it to Jesus. That would be blasphemy if Jesus weren't God. V. Applications And so here's the application of this chapter. Look to Christ, turn to Christ and be saved. He is the only savior there is. This is Charles Spurgeon's conversion verse, by the way. When you get to heaven, you can say, "What was your conversion verse?" And Charles Spurgeon will say it's Isaiah 45:22. It was a specific snowy Sunday morning, and a primitive Methodist was there, the ordinary preacher was laid up or couldn't go or something. So they got this guy, Spurgeon... You got to read it. It's one of the funniest accounts in church history. And he just reads about how this thin guy gets up, without any training, and just says in the KJV, "Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." And he said, "You look with eyes of faith, you look to Christ, you turn to Christ and you'll be saved. And Spurgeon, at once he said, "Suddenly the scales were gone from my eyes. I looked and I looked, until I could look my eyes away." He finally saw Christ crucified and resurrected as the only savior there is. Now, I don't know what your spiritual condition is, what brought you here today, but I know this. This Gospel is still powerful today. Look to Christ, there is no other Savior. And then, for us as Christians, we have a responsibility to take this same message out to the ends of the earth, even to the college campus, to the workplace through this week. Now, other applications we've seen along the way, I'll just mention them briefly. Learn not to argue with God when things are going badly. Don't question him. Don't argue with him. Quickly humble yourself under his Hand, trust in him no matter what's going on. Don't argue with him. He knows what he's doing and he loves you. And understand that God brings both prosperity and disaster. Let's not be juvenile or immature in our theology, saying foolish things like that at hurricane times or earthquake times or invasion times. God forms the light and creates darkness. He brings prosperity and disaster. He does all these things. And then finally meditate on the hidden-ness of God. Understand if God doesn't want you to know him, you won't know him. If God doesn't reveal himself, you'll never know him. But God has revealed himself in the Scripture and in Christ. So, though God is a God who hides himself, we are told later in the chapter that he has not told us to seek him in vain. Seek him with all your heart. Make it the daily bent of your life to seek this hidden God and know him. Close with me in prayer.

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1393 BC: Caleb and the Anakites

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2013 22:35

Following Joshua's Northern Military Campaign, the nation goes to Gilgal for the land distribution as commanded by Moses. Joshua is giving out the land grant for Judah, when Caleb steps forward and demands his inheritance. His faith-filled declaration is inspiring and powerful. In response to his declaration, Joshua blessed Caleb. In turn, Caleb and Judah take Hebron and defeat the three sons of Anak.

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How the Lord Fulfills His Promises - Audio

Christian Life Community Church - online

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2013 33:17

This week we are concluding our series on Joshua. We are going to the end of the 11th chapter to look at the summary of conquest of Canaan. In our text, which is bracketed by the repeated statement "So Joshua took (the) this entire land" we discover at least three principles regarding how the Lord fulfills his promises. This is the fulfillment of a 500 year old promise first made to Abraham. This must have been a huge accomplishment in the mind of the author of the book; after all, it was a long time coming. The author is careful to note that the entire land was taken. By this he does not rule out that there were still sections of the country where hostiles remained as fugitives in the land. Later stories confirm this. We also should note that not until David's time did the Israelite territory extend to its maximum size. But it does mean that Joshua carried out the specific orders given by the Lord. The victory and the fulfillment of the promise is due to a combination of Joshua's courage and faithfulness and the Lord's miraculous intervention. It is a remarkable illustration of how the Lord accomplishes his purposes through his people. He even uses the hardness of the Canaanite hearts to ensure their extinction. The mention in verse 22 of Gaza, Gath and Ashdod is quite interesting. These areas become infamous strongholds and the center of Philistine resistance in later years. We are left to wonder why Joshua was not instructed to carry on the battle to these coastal areas. Perhaps the presence of the Philistines in later years is what the Lord uses to keep Israel dependent upon him. This is a discussion for the book of Judges which deals with this very problem. Questions for Discussion: 1. Slide 2. Why do you think the author is emphasizing in our text that Joshua took the entire land? What might have prompted this assertion? Hint: Think about the Judges when things are not going very well and the Philistines are overrunning the country. 2. Slide 9. Reread the "be strong and courageous" challenges in 1:6-9. What was Joshua's central responsibility? While he was not perfect, why did he succeed? 3. Slide 10-12. Discuss the interplay between God's miraculous intervention and the work of Joshua and the army. Why doesn't God just do this himself? In what ways have you seen God work though the free will of others, even those who are unbelievers? 4. Slide 13-16. Why mention the Anakites specifically? What do we learn here about delaying the fulfillment of God's promises? Why do you think the Lord did not get rid of every giant in the land? How has God used giants in your life to draw you closer to Him? 5. Slide 17. Review some of the great promises of God received in your handout. Which ones are most relevant to you today? How might you apply the lessons learned in this text to your promises?

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How the Lord Fulfills His Promises - PDF

Christian Life Community Church - online

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2013

god lord israel giants promises judges gaza israelites slide xd free will philistines canaanites fulfills gath reread ashdod anakites hint think him xd

Faith Active from the Red Sea to Jericho (Hebrews Sermon 58 of 74) (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2012

I. By Faith the People Crossed the Red Sea (vs. 29) What an incredible night that was. We talked about a week ago, the Red Sea crossing as God led Israel through the Red Sea on dry land, how the pillar of fire lit their way, and how it kept Pharaoh's mighty army, and the chariots, and the horsemen from devouring the Israelites as they intended. "By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land," with the water walling up to the left and to the right. A night that could have been fraught with terror and bloodshed and death instead for them meant life and a picture of salvation. And by doing that awesome thing, God established a name for himself and a testimony that lives to this very day. And the reason for that is what I just prayed a moment ago, God never changes. The same God who did that at the Red Sea is alive today. And though he may do and will do different things in our generation than he did in their generation, still he's the same. Israel’s Identity and the Red Sea Crossing Almost a thousand years after the Red Sea crossing, Daniel in exile in Babylon prayed concerning the restoration of the Jews back to the Promised Land; they had been deported because of their sin, their violation of the covenant of God. And Daniel prayed in this way, in Daniel 9:15, "Now O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong." You see, he's going back in his mind almost a thousand years to the Red Sea crossing, and he says that God made a name for himself that day. From that moment on, the moment of the Red Sea crossing on, the Red Sea crossing would live and shape Israel's identity as a nation. It would never be forgotten. Later on in the Exodus, right before they entered the Promised Land, in Deuteronomy 11, God reminded them of what he had done at the Red Sea crossing. And then again at the end of Joshua's life, as he's reestablishing the covenant, he reminded them of the Red Sea crossing. In the Psalms, the Psalmists can't get enough of talking about the Red Sea crossing. Psalm 66:5-7, "Come and see what God has done. He turned the sea into dry land." Psalm 77:19, "Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters. Though your footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." Psalm 78:13, "He divided the sea and led them through, he made the water stand firm like a wall." They just can't get enough of talking about the Red Sea crossing. So also the prophets, Isaiah 43, "This is what the Lord says, he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and there they lay, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick." Isaiah 43. After the exile, Nehemiah returned back to it again. Nehemiah 9:10-11, "You made a name for yourself which remains to this day, you divided the sea before them so that they pass through it on dry ground. But you hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into the mighty waters." Even on into the new covenant era, Stephen, as he stands on trial for his life before the Sanhedrin, returns to the Red Sea crossing. In Acts 7:36, "He led them out of Egypt, and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt at the Red Sea, and for 40 years in the desert." This became part of Israel's manner of speaking. God led us through the waters. Because God led us through the waters, don't be afraid now of whatever trial you're facing. Again, Isaiah 43, in verse 2, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you." Later in Isaiah they return to the Red Sea crossing as if to say, God, you led us then, why aren't you leading us now? You were mighty and powerful then, why not now? Isaiah 63, "Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them, who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses' right hand, who divided the waters before them to gain for himself everlasting renown." Who led them through the depths…Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and your compassion are withheld from us." God, what you did at the Red Sea crossing, do something like that for me now. The future restoration of Israel likened again to the Red Sea crossing in Zechariah 10: "Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands, they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return. I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon. And there will not be enough room for them. They will pass through the sea of trouble, the surging sea will be subdued, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up." And so their restoration will be as a Red Sea crossing through the sea, the surging sea of trouble, God would restore them to the Promised Land. And so the Red Sea crossing was a major part of Israel's self-identity as a nation, but it was far more than that. As we have already said, it was by this that God glorified himself. It was by this that God made a name for himself that endures to this day. Three times in Exodus 14 he says his motive for the Red Sea crossing. He says, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, but I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and all the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." Again. Exodus 14-17, "I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army through these chariots and horsemen." Exodus 14-18, "The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and horsemen." So the point of the Red Sea crossing, ultimately, was that God would gain glory for himself and make a name for himself; why that? It's so someone like Rahab would call on that name and be saved. It's really that simple. That sinners to the ends of the earth would hear of these kinds of stories, and look to the God who did them, and trust in him for the salvation of their souls, that's why. Now, not everyone who passed through the sea as on dry ground was ultimately saved. Korah and Dathan and Abiram passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, they were not saved. Nadab and Abihu passed through the Red Sea as on dry ground, and they were not saved. And the 10 spies who came back and brought a bad report about the land and led Israel in rebellion against God, they were not saved. They passed through the Red Sea as on dry ground. Isn't it amazing? Aren't God's ways strange, that in the cases of those men that I just listed, the actual physical experience of walking through the Red Sea as on dry ground did not save them, but an Amorite woman, a prostitute living in the Wall of Jericho, hears about the report, and by that she is saved. She's not even there, just heard the report years later, believed it and was saved. Aren't God's ways marvelous? Isn't the sovereignty of God and salvation a marvelous thing to behold? II. By Faith the Walls of Jericho Fell (vs. 30) And so, in our study in Hebrews 11, we come to beyond the Red Sea crossing to the city of Jericho at last. Now, you may wonder what happened from the Red Sea crossing to Jericho, and what happened was rebellion; the 40-year gap. We already covered this in the Book of Hebrews, we discussed it in Hebrews chapter 3, how he quotes psalm 95 and says, "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" Forty years, 40 lost years through unbelief, through unbelief. They weren't converted by passing through the Red Sea as on dry ground. They get to the other side, and they soon complain about food and water. And they murmur and complain against God. And they defied God, they defied the Lord at Mount Sinai by crafting a golden calf, which they bowed down and worshiped, despite the fact that they had heard the voice of almighty God forbidding them to do it, they did it anyway because their hearts were going astray. And then, as I mentioned, when the 10 spies came back, and there were 12 that went out, but 10 of them brought a negative report about the land, and said that the land devours its people. And we saw mighty warriors there, the Anakites, and we saw vast cities with walls that reach up to the sky. And "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own wyes, and we looked the same to them." And they led Israel to rebel against God and to not trust in him, to not trust in his promises. And they led Israel to talk of stoning Moses, and to go back to Egypt and serve as slaves there. And so their punishment was 40 years of wandering. But now the time has come, that's over, that generation's dead. They're dead, all of them dead. Their bodies were scattered through the desert. Some of them died right away, some of them died over decades, but they were all dead except for Joshua and Caleb. But they're all dead. Now, the time has come for their children to believe God and to trust in him and to take the Promised Land as God had promised. But there are some major obstacles that were facing them. The Jordan River was in front of them at flood stage, and on the other side of the Jordan was the awesome city of Jericho, of which it is said we saw city walls there that went up to the sky. They had no siege weapons to destroy those walls. Gunpowder hadn't been invented yet. There were terrible obstacles, and they couldn't just bypass the city, they couldn't leave it in their rear militarily, and besides which it would dishonor God to leave any part of the Promised Land not conquered. It was part of what God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it was going to be conquered. And so the city had to be taken, and so the city was taken, but it was done by faith. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell after the people had marched around it for seven days. Now, Jericho was prepared for a siege, it says in Joshua 6:1. "Now, Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites, no one went out and no one came in." So they were ready for a siege. God commanded the people what to do, step by step he told them what he wanted done. Day one, first day, they were to march around the city in total silence. An armed guard would lead the way, the Ark of the Covenant would come next, seven priests carrying trumpets would come next, and then the people after that. And they would march around the city and not say a word. They would not raise up a war cry, they wouldn't do anything, they would just march around the city and then go back to their camp. And so they would do the same thing on the second day, and the third, and the fourth, right up through the sixth day. Same thing every day. Finally, on day seven, they were to march around the city in the same pattern seven times, and then they were to shout to the Lord, for God would give them the city and they were to go, each man, straight into the city and conquer it. And by faith, Israel obeyed those strange commands, and by faith the walls of Jericho fell, and the people obeyed and by faith Jericho was conquered. What an awesome story, what an incredible thing, and again, unpredictable. What Does the Unique Siege Teach Us about God? Well, what does this teach us about God and his ways? Well, first, God's ways are radically different than ours, aren't they? "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" You know what the direct corollary of that is? "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and let him direct your paths." His thoughts are better than yours; they're not just different than yours, they're better. And so we just have to trust in him, stop relying on our own wisdom, and our own patterns, and our own ways. Has anything like this ever happened since? Had anything like this ever happened before that? It's an incredible thing. God has an endlessly creative list of different things to do in every generation. It's just amazing, every generation something new and different. A baby born under a ban, put in a basket, and set afloat in a river grows up to lead God's people in a mighty way, that'll never happen again, not like that it won't. A young shepherd boy goes out with a stone, five smooth stones, one stone and a sling against a nine-foot giant, the two of them representing their armies, they fight and he kills him without a sword in his hand. Friends, that'll never happen again. It was just that one time. It's incredible. A prophet ascends to heaven in chariots of fire while his successor watches on, and a cloak falls to the ground. It's never going to happen again. God has lots of different things to do. He's so creative. In every generation there's something different. A Gentile general covered with leprosy comes and bathes seven times in a river, comes up clean. Incredible. Every generation, something different. So God tells his people do some strange things, to do them by faith, and he does different things in every generation. Now, when they come to Jericho, they come to a walled fortress, a city with thick walls, no one going out, no one coming in. What do you do? You have to conquer it. Well, you have four options, at least that's how it looks to military science. You can go over the walls by means of siege towers or siege ramps, you can go through the walls by means of siege engines; like I said, there wasn't gunpowder, which kind of put an end to walled fortresses at that point. But there were catapults and battering rams, things like that. You could tunnel under the walls, or you could surround the walls and wait, and that would be a siege, and eventually running out of food and water, they would have to come out. Those were your four strategies. God said, in effect, none of the above. None of the above, we're not doing any of those four options. Carnal wisdom will avail you nothing at all. We don't have time for the siege, we've got other plans, we've got other people to conquer. And you don't need any siege engines, just watch what happens to the walls. There's no need to go over them because you can walk right on top of them when they come down. God's ways are better than our ways. And so God does unusual, different things in every generation, this we learned from Jericho. Secondly, we also learned that God is independent of all laws of nature. He created them, he set them up, but he is not bound by them. And we thank God for them. The sun rises in the east, it sets in the west, there's a certain rhythm that God set up to the seasons, which he said would never fail after the flood. God set up that rhythm of the seasons. Gravity always takes objects in the same direction, and you know what that direction is. You count on friction every day; you may not think you do, but you count on it. I know that, because when our floors are incredibly slick, down we go. We've cleaned them with polish before, and that's... It's been exciting. It's like walking on ice, you're never sure what's going to happen. So we rely on these things, though you may not have studied them, and you may not appreciate them the way some engineers or scientists do, but they're just part of the physical world in which we live. More in everyday life, if it were not so, we couldn't learn by experience, because every day would be something weird and new, it'd be like we'd be learning the universe new every day. But God hasn't done that. God sets up things, and we use the term laws of nature, or physical laws because of their constancy. It is the basis of science, it's why it's even worth studying, because God is so consistent. I'm just telling you, God is not bound by any of them. He's not bound by any of them, he can do what he wants. And there are no visible means for that wall, those walls to come falling down, but that didn't mean that they couldn't come falling down, because God can do anything that power can do. That is the nature of God. God is independent of all laws of nature. Thirdly, God loves to raise up mighty obstacles before his faith-filled people, and then conquer those obstacles by the faith of his people; he loves to do it. He loves to raise up difficult tests, and challenges, and obstacles so that he can gain glory for himself when his people trust him enough to get through them. And fourthly, Satan can't stop God. He can't stop him. Satan's powerful, far more powerful than any person in this room, or all of us put together. He is powerful, he is the God of this age, so called, but he is nothing compared to Almighty God and that Jericho, that was a walled satanic fortress of might, that Canaanite religion was wicked. It was wicked and it was evil. And God had given them time to repent. In the days of Abraham, in Genesis 15, he said, "The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." But you know what? This is just maybe a little allegorical, I don't know, but I see with the 13 times that they traveled around that walled fortress, that satanic fortress, 13 times, that was the death knell of their Amorite religion. It was the final tolling of the bell when God would crush it for good. The time had run out, 400 years had run out. The time had run out, the time had come to repent, and it was done, and Satan can't stop it. Now, you look at that Jericho like a walled armed satanic camp, a fortress. Jesus Will Build His Kingdom And Jesus said it this way. He said speaking of Satan and his kingdom, he said, "When a strong man fully armed guards his own house, his possessions are safe, but when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils." Amen, Jesus is someone stronger than the strong man. Satan's a strong man, Jesus is stronger. And Jericho could not withstand the power of Almighty God, Satan can't stop God. And throughout history God has in his sovereign way, in his sovereign... For his sovereign glory and purposes allowed mighty walled fortresses to be erected by Satan himself against the advance of the people of God. And they've stood in our way, these walls. Jesus said these walls would be there. He said it, "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." He knew about those walls, he just said those walls are coming down. So look at the walls of the Roman Empire, that pagan, luxurious, militarily unconquerable it seemed Roman Empire. The one that put Jesus to death through Pontius Pilate, with all of its mighty roads and all of its economic infrastructure and all that sort of stuff. Mighty walls, but they came down into the steady onslaught of the Gospel. So that at some point, one of their emperors declared himself to be a Christian, Constantine. I mean, whether he was or wasn't, matters to him a lot. But we cannot judge from the outside. All I'm saying is, look at the progress of the Gospel, by the blood of the martyrs it advanced. And so also, hundreds and hundreds of years later, the walls of false doctrine by the Medieval Roman Catholic Church were erected against the Gospel, all kinds of additions and subtractions from the Word of God, and human wisdom, and perversions, and traditions of men came in. But they could not stop the reclamation of the Gospel and the reformation of the church, those walls came down. Just how about the walls of paganism, of godlessness that have come down under the steady advance of the Great Commission in the last 100 years? Hasn't it been beautiful to watch? Really since the days of William Carey, and Adoniram Judson, and then, Hudson Taylor in China and Robert Moffat in Africa, Jim Elliot and the others in Ecuador, and Don Richardson in Irian Jaya. Just one missionary hero, after another, those walls of unbelief coming down, the Gospel advancing, fewer and fewer unreached people groups. God is awesome. And so, he erects these mighty walls and then by his sovereign power brings them down. Islam is such a wall. A walled satanic fortress with people who are held by a false view of God and they're getting liberated every single day by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they are our brothers and sisters, isn't it sweet? And God has that kind of power in your life as well, by faith, though. All of these victories are won by faith. After the people had marched around the wall for seven days, it was by faith the walls of Jericho fell. So what do we learn about faith and its ways? Well, first the daring of their faith, how daring were they? They were on the other side of the Jordan River, back at flood stage now, with it behind them, they're in Palestine, they're in the Promised Land on the side of the... With their enemies, but they don't have any walls. They don't have any city, they're there on their own with only God to protect them, but isn't that enough. One commentator, AW Pink, talks about the courage, the daring of their faith. He said there are three types, there are three degrees of faith. I thought this was insightful. There's a faith which receives, like a beggar you go to King Jesus and you say, I have nothing. And like a beggar you receive what he has to give you, by faith you receive salvation, forgiveness, simply like a beggar, a faith that receives. There is secondly a faith, which relies or counts on God to fulfill his promises, by that you move out in your Christian life. But thirdly, there's a faith that risks. A faith that risks, which dares something for the Lord, it puts earthly resources, earthly pleasure, earthly comfort on the line for Jesus. I fear that many of us stop after the second. We've got that faith that receives and the faith that relies, but we don't have that faith that risks. We're set here in Durham, we're set here in the Triangle area. We've got people to reach with the Gospel, but they will not be reached if we don't risk. And so, look at the daring of their faith. Look at the obedience also of their faith. Did not God's commands appear strange? What would walking around the city in total silence do? What would walking around it 13 times do? But they just obey, they simply did what they were told. How rebellious we are. How much we think our ways are better than his ways. But they were obedient. We see also the discipline of their faith. They were like well-trained soldiers, they did what they were told, they didn't argue with Joshua saying, "Hey, you know, we built high ramps when we were building the pyramids, we could build a ramp up to the walls of Jericho, we could do that." Carnal wisdom, carnal knowledge, they didn't do that. They just disciplined themselves under their commanding officer. We see the patience of their faith. Day after day after day, walking around the walls, the seventh day 13 times, and the wall still didn't fall. 13 times of walking, the wall's still intact. Then they gave that war cry, and then the wall came down. They praised the Lord, and that wall came down. But they had to be patient. God exercises our faith so that we may develop perseverance, that we may develop patience. And we see also the anticipation of their faith. I love how they shout the victory before the walls come down. Isn't that cool? They shout the victory, before the walls even show any indication of coming down. Trusting in him, that God's going to act, he's going to be faithful. Reading about the missionary, Robert Moffat, early 19th century Scottish pioneer missionary in South Africa, the Bechuanas, he was reaching out to them. He labored for years without a single convert among that people. Some friends from England wrote to him and asked, they knew about his trials, his difficulties and they wanted to brighten his day. So they said, "We'd like to buy you a gift and send it to you. What can we buy for you?" They were thinking maybe a book or something that would bring some comfort or a consolation to him. He said, "Would you please send me a communion set? I have no set with which I may share communion with the converts." He didn't have a single convert when he wrote that letter. Before the communion set returned, he had 12 of them. Isn't that a great story? The anticipation of faith. Mark 11:24, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours." So it was with the Jews at Jericho. III. By Faith Rahab Was Saved (vs. 31) But now let's focus on a single individual. There was living in the walls of Jericho a woman. And her name was Rahab. Verse 31, "By faith, the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies was not killed along with those who are disobedient." How did Rahab get in here? I mean, do you ever wonder that? This is the Hall of Faith. I mean, you have Abel and you have Enoch and you have Noah and you have Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses, and Rahab? How did she get into the Hall of Faith? I tell you, the salvation of Rahab is one of the four greatest salvations in the Bible. I'm just going to go on, you're going to come ask me, what are the other three, aren't you? You're interested, what are they? One of the four greatest trophies, shocking trophies of God's grace. Nebuchadnezzar, Saul of Tarsus, thief on the cross, each for different reasons. Nebuchadnezzar filled with arrogance, the dictator, tyrant, murderer, animal for seven years and then lifted his eyes to Heaven and God restored his sanity and he wrote one of the most beautiful praises to the sovereignty of God you'll find anywhere in Scripture. Saul of Tarsus, you know well, the morning breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, converted by the evening, by display of the resurrected Christ in his glory. Thief on the cross, the most surprising to me, because Jesus had so little time to work with. And at the beginning of the time on the cross, he's reviling Jesus, by the end, he's saying, "Remember Me, Lord, when you come in your kingdom." And then there's Rahab. And when you come to Rahab, you realize all of the obstacles. Again, we're talking about obstacles. She was a Gentile, not a Jew, worse than that, she was an Amorite, about which I've already spoken. And they were under the wrath of God. They were set to be exterminated, to be condemned, every one of them. The Amorites had had 400 years to repent and they had not redeemed the time and now the wrath of God was about to fall. Not only that, but she was a notorious sinner, she was a prostitute. And there was a logistical problem, her house was in the wall, [chuckle] God intended those walls to come down. And you see in all of that, that God is no respecter of persons whatsoever. He chooses sinners who will most glorify him for his grace. What did Rahab have to offer? All of that mess by which she could glorify God for eternity for his grace to her. There was nothing whatsoever in this woman that could have commended her to be chosen by God for eternal salvation, it was by the sovereign pleasure of God alone that she escaped the wrath for which the rest of her countrymen were destined. Amazing grace. And yet there were no visible means of grace. There were no Sabbaths, there were no reading of the Scriptures, there were no prophets, there was none of that. What there was, was a report from the Red Sea crossing, and then the killing of Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan, that's what they had, that's what she had. Everybody had that, there in the city of Jericho. And evidently she was regenerated before the spies even came there. Before the spies even came there. Again, what was the point of the Red Sea crossing? It was that God would make a name for himself. Why Did God Want to Make a Name for Himself? Why did God want to make a name for himself? Is he likes some praise-craving fading star in Hollywood that needs people around him, sycophants to say, "Oh, you're so wonderful. Oh, you're so great. Oh, you're so amazing." No, God is very well-secured within himself, he has no needs like that, he's fine, he's not suffering from self-esteem problems, not at all. No, he makes a glorious name for himself that sinners like you and me will call on that name and be saved, for everyone who calls in the name of the Lord will be saved. And so, he makes much of his name so that we will call on that name and be saved. It's for salvation of Rahab that the Red Sea crossing happened and others too. And faith comes by hearing the message, and so, some messengers came to say what the God of... The Jews had done to the Egyptians. Rahab, living in the walls, as a prostitute was there, and she heard and believed, then Joshua was sent out two spies to scout out the land and this is what Rahab said to them, when they came to her house. "We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites East of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed, when we heard of it, our hearts melted, and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the Earth below" Do you hear the faith in that? Here is the true God. I know it's true. Now, then please swear to me by the Lord, that you will show kindness to my family. All of Jericho was terrified of the Israelites, but only Rahab cried out for mercy. And frankly, she's the only one that got the chance to do it. God sovereignly orchestrates both ends of that. And she had that faith established before they came, despise, it says in James 2:25, "In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified or considered righteous, [the NIV has] for what she did, listen, when she gave lodging to the spies?" You see, she had faith before they came, so that she opened her home to them and took them in, that was a display of her faith at that point and then sent them off in a different direction. And her faith worked in her a hope. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. She actually has a hope that the God of Israel might spare her and provide a place for her. There might be life for her. Salvation for her, she has a hope based on that. I notice the breadth of her faith as well. She's concerned not just for herself, but her family. And so, her family is extended grace because of her faith, they are blessed. I don't know if they were saved. I know that they were safe from the sword at that time, I don't know if they were spiritually saved. I have no idea. So, what was the effect of Rahab's faith? Well, James' point, James 2, is genuine faith always produces works, and so good works came from that genuine faith. She welcomed the spies. She sent them off in a different direction to protect them from their pursuers. She hung the little red cord in the window to identify her house as her own house, she did what she was told. In a minor way, I want to say we see the imperfection also of Rahab's faith. Faith doesn't make you a perfect person. She lied to the king of Jericho about the spies who she was hiding among the flat stalks on her roof. Now some of you are going to come to me and say, "Hey, what could she have done? What could she have done?" She could have told the truth, that's what she could have done. Well then, she and they would have been killed. Maybe, I don't know that. But I just want to ask you a question, can you imagine Jesus lying to save his life? Can you imagine Jesus lying to save someone else's life? Can you imagine that? So, she's imperfect. But so are you, and yet you believe in Jesus, amen. And Hebrews 11 and James 2 doesn't touch on those things. It's in the Old Testament, we know about it, but it's not a major feature. By faith, our sins are forgiven. By faith, our sins are covered. Now, if you want to come after it and talk to me about Corrie ten Boom, and all of that and what they could have or should have done, let's have a lively discussion. I'm just saying the Scripture says it's better to die than to lie. And not one of us has that commitment to truth, not the way Jesus did. Jesus, when he was charged on trial for his life, under oath by the high priest, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the living God?" He said, "I am." He made the good confession. I am. And in the future you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven and then the high priest tore his robe, and condemned Jesus to death. It's Jesus' way of thinking, he would rather die than sin. And what was the outcome of Rahab's faith? Her life was saved, and I say to you, not merely her life, but her soul was saved too. For God, a genuine faith came into her life, turned her away from wickedness, sanctified her, made her yearn for holiness, she gave up the life of a prostitute. She was accepted into the congregation of Israel, she married Salmon of the tribe of Judah, and she gave birth to Boaz, whose story you can read about in the Book of Ruth, what a godly man Boaz was. King David's grandmother. And amazingly then, this prostitute made it not only into the Hall of Faith, but into the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1. Incredible, by faith. IV. Applications So what? So come to Jesus. Come to Jesus, God has made a far greater name for himself at the cross and the empty tomb than he ever made at the Red Sea. By sending his son, a descendant of Rahab, by sending his son in the flesh to die on the cross in our place, he has made the only way through condemnation you will ever find. It's the only way of salvation, faith in Jesus. That's why the author wrote Hebrews 11, that we would hear and believe and be saved through Jesus. Trust in him. And if you say to me, "Well, I have trusted him," I say, "Keep trusting in him." Keep believing in Jesus, feed on Christ, go to the cross again and again, you're still a sinner, you still need cleansing. The cleansing is still the same way. There's a fountain open in the House of David to cleanse you of all your sins, trust in him and maybe you've never trusted in Jesus. Maybe you were invited here today by a friend, maybe you had not yet made a commitment to Christ. Don't leave this place unconverted, the rest of the sinners, the Amorites in Jericho they all died under the righteous judgment of God, all of us deserve it. But by faith, God calls out his chosen ones to believe. You say, how can I know if I'm chosen? Come to Jesus, it's the only way you can do it. If God chooses you, you will come and I say come. It's not hard. Just look to Jesus with eyes of faith, trust that God gave him for you, that his blood shed on the cross is to forgive you of your sins, look to Christ resurrected for your eternal life, your resurrection, trust in him. And second of all, can I just urge you, stand in awe of God and the Red Sea crossing. Let's talk about it, why not? Say, wasn't God awesome at the Red Sea crossing? Like, well, that's old news. It's alright. It was old for the psalmists that were writing about it. God's the same yesterday, today and forever, to say, "My God can make a way through the Red Sea." And Zechariah 10 implies that we can kind of allegorize it to some degree. Don't go wild, now, Bible teachers, don't do it. But God can make a way through a sea of trouble for you. He can do it. He does the same thing in Isaiah 43. He said, "Look, I made a way through the Red Sea at that time. I'm going to make a new way, a better way in the future," uses that kind of way of speaking. Walk through your troubles and don't expect an easy life. Are you shocked by the trials that you're going through? Medical trials, financial trials, are you struggling? God delights to raise up obstacles, and then have you by faith conquer them and overcome them. He's set before us two infinite journeys. The internal journey of growth and holiness, Christ's likeness. You cannot do it without suffering. You can't do it without facing obstacles, you'll only bypass them or conquer them by faith. And neither can we make any progress in the external journey, except by courage and faith. We've got to risk things, brothers and sisters, we will not make progress. Close with me if you would in prayer.

god jesus christ friends trust lord israel hollywood earth china bible house england gospel walk africa identity holy spirit reading satan psalm scripture south africa salvation biblical exodus wall jews medical sermon hebrews boom old testament psalms covenant islam trusting incredible active scottish babylon scriptures egyptian iv deuteronomy walls amen palestine gentiles mighty israelites ecuador lebanon thief verse great commission ark king david faith in jesus gravity durham pharaoh triangle promised land forty red sea hades glory of god rahab roman empire salmon king jesus boaz nile niv mount sinai my god good works sanhedrin canaanites christian living nebuchadnezzar almighty god because god pontius pilate gilead in acts jordan river assyria korah walk by faith carnal tarsus gunpowder amorites bashan mighty one sabbaths nadab by faith abihu hudson taylor jim elliot william carey amorite sihon dathan psalmists abiram andy davis two journeys anakites don richardson irian jaya

The Key Moment of the Daily Christian Life (Hebrews Sermon 10 of 74) (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2010

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT - The Voice of Lord "Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken," Isaiah 1:2. from the beginning of time, the universe has been shaped by one awesome powerful creative force and that is the Word of God. "And God said 'Let there be light' and there was light." Genesis 1:3. Throughout Genesis, you see the voice of the Lord, the word of the Lord shaping and crafting the developing universe like the skillful hands of the potter shaping the clay. God's word from the very beginning, ringing throughout the creation, shaping it, making it what he wanted it to be. On Mount Sinai, the voice of the Lord was like, a thunder, it says, and the people were so terrified of it that they begged Moses, that they not hear this voice any more, lest they should die. But another time, Elijah the prophet fleeing for his life from the wrath of Jezebel, hid in a cave on Mount Horeb, the Mountain of God, and God came to speak with him and had him stand before the Lord and first a great strong wind came by and God was not in the wind. And then a violent earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and then a raging fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And then at last a still small voice, a low gentle whisper and when Elijah, heard it, he covered his face. He was hearing God speak. And so the range of the voice of God is an awesome thing. God wanted to speak in a thunder on Mount Sinai. And he wanted to speak in a whisper on Mount Horeb. And I say to you that as we come to Hebrews 3:7-11, we come to the key moment of the daily Christian life, hearing God speak to us hearing the voice of God. And I think as we come to that key moment, we therefore come to a fork in the road, always a fork in the road. One way will lead to greater growth, greater fruitfulness in Christ, greater intimacy with him, greater heavenly rewards. The other way leads, well the other way. Less fruitfulness, growing distance between us and Christ, a colder, harder heart more unresponsive to God. And what is that critical moment? I tell you, it's the moment of hearing God's voice, speaking to you by the Word and by the Spirit. It's the moment that the word of God hits your mind and you hear him speaking to you through that word of God. That moment is, now. The moment is today. Now today as a pastor, as a man, as a brother in Christ, I'm going to bring you to that fork in the road again. The essence of the rest of your life in Christ, the rest of your life in Christ will be made up of this moment. This crucial moment, this awesome moment God speaking to you, speaking directly to your heart, by the Holy Spirit, based on some text of Scripture or another. Hebrews 3:7-8 tells you what to do at that moment. Actually it tells you what not to do. So as the Holy Spirit says "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…" And so today I want to exhort you with everything in my being to develop within you, a sensitive heart toward God the Holy Spirit speaking to you directly by the written word. So that number one, you will recognize God's voice speaking to you as you read some psalm or a passage from the Gospel of Matthew or some section of Romans, or something from Ezekiel, you're going to hear it as it actually is, the word of God and secondly, when you hear God speaking to you, you will not harden your heart, but rather do what your king is commanding you to do. It's the rest of your Christian life, right here. That's what we're talking about. So this moment of God speaking to you by the Spirit in the Bible, is the key moment of every day. This thing mysteriously called, today. The rest of your Christian lives are going to be a tapestry woven by threads called today and today and today that's what you get. And if you can develop an ear for hearing Christ speaking to you today, and if you can develop a soft yielded submissive heart, that obeys the voice of your king, it will lead to the most blessed life you can live in this world, the most fruitful life and it will lead to eternal life, hereafter. "If you can develop an ear for hearing Christ speaking to you today, and if you can develop a soft yielded submissive heart, that obeys the voice of your king, it will lead to the most blessed life you can live in this world." I. “So”: A Telescoped Context So we come to this text, Hebrews 3, and we come right away, in the NIV, to the word, "so". Right away to the word, "so". And so it brings us to the question of context, we always want to ask the question of context, how does Hebrews 3:7-11, fit into Hebrews. How can we understand it? And I think questions of context are never more fascinating than in this passage here. This is a remarkable context. It's like a telescope really, with four different levels of context. Let's start with ourselves, us, we are here reading the text aren't we? We're in 21st century America, we're here at First Baptist Church, in Durham that's who we are, that's where we are in space and time we are reading the Bible together. First level of context, what's our context, what's going on with us? What's happening with you today, what's going on in your life, how is it going with Jesus, how is it going in your marriage, how is it going in your witnessing life? How is it going in your prayer life? What is your context? Let's start there. Questions of context. Multiple Layers of Contexts in this Text But as we're doing that, we're recognizing, we're reading in an old book. We're reading the book of Hebrews. 2000 years old, that brings us back to the second level of context, one step removed from us, and that is the author to Hebrews and the Hebrew people he was writing to. The context of the epistle, itself. Remember, these are as we've been saying, Jewish people who had made an outward profession of faith in Christ, they probably testified to that by water Baptism. Confessed Jesus as their messiah, they've been baptized in his name, but now they were under terrible persecution, they were under pressure from their Jewish family and friends and neighbors and rabbis. They were under economic pressure. They were under legal pressure. And the pressure was pushing them in one direction that was to renounce their faith in Christ and turned back to Old Covenant Judaism. To say "no" to Jesus and "yes" to Moses. So the author to Hebrews is reaching, reaching, out to them. And speaking to them in that context, that was their context. And so he writes Hebrews. But he does so by reaching back in time, relative to him to Psalm 95. He reaches for David speaking a thousand years before them to his own generation. David speaking to the people who were alive in his day, about 1000 BC, something like that. And so he writes Psalm 95, the author to Hebrews here is quoting Psalm 95. What you heard Tony read for the most part, was just Psalm 95. And so that's a third step of context. What was David's context, what was going on in his life, what was going on in his generation, what was he trying to say to the people that lived in his day? And as he was thinking about it, in about 1000 BC, he goes back even further in time, 500 years back, to the time of the Exodus, to the time of Moses, and the Jews and what was going on with them. And as they left Egypt, and as they went through the Red Sea and on the other side of the Sea, in the desert, two million of them in the desert. They start to doubt and question God, and they start to have problems and they start to quarrel, and argue with God. What was the context for that generation, the Jews under Moses is there in the Exodus. Four levels of context. But I have faith in you, you can handle it. You can handle the multiple levels of context here, Amen. That's what you have to do to understand what's going on in Hebrews 3:7-11. But you know what, the interesting thing is it's the same word to every generation. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. It's the same message to everyone in every generation the same thing. David’s Meditation on the Wilderness Rebellion And so David was thinking as he's writing Psalm 95, about the Jews, they had seen God do those awesome miracles. The ten plagues. You remember all of the displays of the power of God and the greatest of them all, the Red Sea crossing. I still think it's the most visually spectacular miracle in the Bible. What could top it? I think creation itself, I suppose, if you want to call that a miracle, but I mean the Red Sea crossing, they made it to the other side and they found two million strong on the other side, a desert. And the thing about a desert, there's just not much water there and there's not much to eat. And so this huge nation of two million people began to quarrel with Moses, Exodus 17 and say, "'Give us water to drink.' Moses replied. 'Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?'" So they're crying out, the people are against Moses and against God, and doubting God. God commanded Moses to take his staff and strike a rock there in the desert and when he did a miraculous flow of water came out of that rock and the people were able to drink from that water and live. And he called the place Massa and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, is the Lord among us or not? Now Massa, in the Hebrew language means rebellion and Meribah in the Hebrew language means testing. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, which the author to Hebrews is using, they don't use the words Massa and Meribah. They just say, rebellion, and testing. And so if you look at verse 8, do not harden your heart as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing, that's Massa and Meribah when the Jews said, "Is God really going to be able to finish the job, is he really going to be able to bring us through all of this trouble into the promised land. And they tested God, and quarreled against him, they rebelled. It was a great insult, and that the consummation of that in that generation that churning rebellion, came when the spies came back and brought a good report about the land, but a negative report about the inhabitants of the land, and the people questioned whether they could go in and their eyes are fixed on the Anakites and how strong they were, and how tall, and they forgot about God and they wanted to stone Moses and go back to Egypt, at least they had a steady supply of food there and slavery. Forgetting God entirely. So they rebelled. It says, in Numbers 14, 10 times they disobeyed God, 10 times, they tested him and God was angry at them for their lack of faith for their unbelief. And so David living in 1000 BC, maybe 500 years later looking back on that whole heritage. We'll talk more about at the end of Hebrews 3. But Looking back on it says, "Let's learn from history. Let's learn what they did and not do it, let's see what happened to them and not let it happen to us. So "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massa in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, 'They are people whose hearts go astray and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'they shall never enter my rest.'" Don't be like them. That God then is set against you and declares on oath you will not enter his rest." And he's going to continue to meditate on this through into chapter four. So we need to learn from history. We begin in verse seven, with the word "so" or "therefore" or "wherefore" or something like that, whenever you see that you're going to look back to what we just covered and what did we just cover in Hebrews 3:1-6. Christ Greater than Moses We learned the lesson last time that Jesus is greater than Moses. He's greater than Moses. Moses was faithful in the mission that God sent him to do. Faithful as a servant in God's house. But Jesus is faithful as a Son over God's house, and he's worthy of greater honor than Moses and his mission is greater than Moses' mission. Moses' mission was to bring the Jews out of physical bondage, in a physical nation of Egypt and bring them into a physical promised land where they could live out the rest of their physical days and die in peace in their bed surrounded by their grandkids. That's Moses' mission. Jesus has a greater mission friends. Greater mission. His Exodus is a greater Exodus. He wants to take you out of bondage to sin and bring you to heaven where you'll never die and you'll be surrounded by people, forever and ever, where your sins will be forgiven and in order to accomplish that mission, he did far more than Moses. His blood was shed under the wrath of God on the cross so that unbelievers like us can become believers. We can trust in Christ and have our sins forgiven. It's a greater mission. And the Gospel message is, if you just... If you'll just repent and turn to Christ, all your sins will be forgiven. So I'm crying out to you today. I know there must be some visitors there must be some unbelievers hearing me today. And my first level of application to you is simple, if today you hear the Gospel, don't harden your hearts, come to faith in Jesus, look to him now for the forgiveness of sins, trust in him while you still have time. Today, if you hear Jesus calling to you, then come and believe. His blood is sufficient for you and God didn't leave him dead in the tomb, he raised him from the dead on the third day. And so also shall you be raised. All you have to do is believe in Jesus and you'll live forever. It's the Gospel. You've heard it before, but today if you hear it don't harden your heart. Believe in Jesus, trust in him. I plead with you. And I think the authors pleading with these Jews, he's saying, "You know, failure today is greater than failure then. The real question kind of as it was back in the days of the generation of the Exodus. So it is today. Are you going to stay with the leader that God has appointed all the way for the rest of the journey? Are you going to stay with Jesus until he brings you to heaven or are you going to turn your back on him through unbelief and wickedness, and go back to your life of sin? A Uniting Theme of Failure to Believe The uniting theme of failure here between the Jews of Moses' time and the Jews of David's time, and the Jews of the author to Hebrews time, and then us in the 21st century. It's the same cycle over and over. We hear God's word we don't believe it, we are afraid of the consequences of faithfulness, and of obedience, afraid of what's going to come and so, we disobey and turn in our hearts, away from the living God. And so, we face the same key issue today that they did back in those generations. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." So, that's context. II. How the Holy Spirit Speaks So, now let's look at the details here. So as the Holy Spirit says, what a fascinating way to introduce an Old Testament quote. Who is this Holy Spirit? While we believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, we worship one God in three persons, an infinite mystery, but clearly taught in the Bible, the Holy Spirit, then is God, God the Holy Spirit equal to God the Father and God the Son within the Trinity. He first appears in Scripture in Genesis 1:2. It says he was hovering over the face of the waters of creation, and he has never changed, he's exactly the same today as he was then. How the Spirit Speaks: Through the Scripture He is the unchanging God. And the Spirit speaks, he communicates, he speaks through Scripture. The author ascribes Psalm 95:7-11 to the Holy Spirit. So "as the Holy Spirit says" and then you have in your English Bibles a little quotation mark there. And it's probably set off in a little bit different way. The way that the editors of English Bibles tend to set off Old Testament quotations visually from the page. So, you're looking at an Old Testament quotation, Psalm 95. And so the author introduces a quote from Psalm 95 and ascribes it to the Holy Spirit. The author's key idea is Scripture is the Holy Spirit speaking to you, that's what he's getting at. Again, notice how he minimizes human authorship. The encounter with God is maximized, the encounter with David is minimized. Now, he's going to mention David later. It's not like David doesn't mean anything, but he's not serving the author's purpose here. It doesn't really matter that it was David that wrote it. The issue here is that it's the Holy Spirit who's speaking. And so we come to the idea in the creed, he has spoken through the prophets. Speaking of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit has spoken, through the prophets. Let's say King David, for example, the author of many of the Psalms, the Holy Spirit would come upon him and he would prophesy. He would speak the words of God and so he says, in 2 Samuel 23:2, "The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me, his word is on my tongue." And so, when David would write a Psalm, like Psalm 95 it was really the Holy Spirit speaking directly through David. Frequently, the expression was used in the Old Covenant, the word of the Lord came to so and so. So the word of the Lord came to Isaiah or the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. In the New Testament we learn from a couple of key verses from Peter, this doctrine of the Holy Spirit's involvement in the written Word of God. For example, 1 Peter 1 says that The prophets who were speaking about the salvation that was coming to us in Christ "searched intently with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances, to which the Spirit of Christ was pointing in them when he predicted the sufferings of Christ…" The Spirit of Christ, then was in the writing prophets, enabling them to write the words that they wrote; the Holy Spirit was. And then in 2nd Peter 1 it says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture ever came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." Jesus in the New Testament promised that the Holy Spirit would come on the apostles and the Holy Spirit would come on the apostles in a significant way to help them finish the Bible, I think; to give us the written New Testament. And so it says in John 16, "When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own. He will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come." And then on that grand, glorious day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down on the whole church. The gift of the Holy Spirit poured out like a river of blessing on all of the believers in Christ, and not only that, but Peter in his Pentecost sermon, made the promise for everyone that would believe in Jesus, from that generation, and forever. From that point on unto the end of redemptive history. He said, "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off." That's us Gentiles by the way. We were far off. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so we have this incredible gift. But what about us today? Does the Holy Spirit Still speak to Us Today? Does the Holy Spirit still speak to us today? Well what does the Scripture say right here? "So as the Holy Spirit says…" Isn't that interesting? "The Holy Spirit says." Notice that it doesn't say, "so as King David said" and it also doesn't say, "so as the Holy Spirit said." All of those things would be true but the author is not emphasizing that. He's saying the Holy Spirit is speaking when? Right now. Today. How? By Psalm 95. And so yes the Holy Spirit does speak, to us today. Does the Holy Spirit speak apart from Scripture? The answer is yes, the Holy Spirit can and does frequently speak apart from direct text of Scripture. For example, in Romans 8:16, it says, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God." That is the Holy Spirit speaking directly to your heart that you are a child of God. Jesus said in John 10. "My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me." How can we follow Jesus? Except by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So yes, the Holy Spirit speaks many things apart from direct chapter and verse of the Scripture. The Apostle Paul, when he was with his companions in Acts 16, traveling about from place to place was kept by the Holy Spirit from going into one place so that he could preach the Gospel in another place. But I say to you that this speaking of the Holy Spirit, the vital of the Christian life is less clear than the way that the Holy Spirit speaks by Scripture. Less clear, the inner prompting of the Spirit are not perceived by all people but only by that person to whom it is given. The Scripture however, can be read clearly by everyone by simple laws of grammar that everyone has understood the conventions of language. If it's a good translation, the word of God comes across. And so we can read those nouns and verbs and adjectives we can understand, and with a growing database of history of biblical context we can get the interpretation right. Some people, I think, in various circles of the Christian church, put a tremendous amount of stock in the Holy Spirit's direct communication to their hearts. They speak of the gift of discernment, or the word of knowledge, feel they have the ability to know things in the spiritual realms. It's possible and can't be ruled out biblically. Others believe the gift of prophecy is still going on today and they are able to say, "Thus says the Lord with the same authority is a biblical prophet. Again, it's possible, and can't be ruled out biblically. But in any case, the Scripture tells us that we must test the spirits to see whether they're from God, or not. The private impressions that individual people get may or may not be actually the Holy Spirit speaking to that person. And so, in 1 John 4:1, it says, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Or again, it says in 1 Thessalonians 5, "Do not quench the Spirit, do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything, hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." How then do we test the spirits? How do you test those private impressions or senses you get of the Holy Spirit. Well, I say it's by the Scripture. You test the private prompting of the Spirit by the Scripture. Westminster Confession of Faith, puts it this way, "The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence, we are to rest, can be no other than the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture." Now, you lift up that expression "private spirits", and I think that means these private impressions that you have through the Holy Spirit. Friends, it is not the Spirit-filled person who's afire or aglow with the Spirit and hearing the Spirit speaking directly vs the cold dead letter people. We're going to the cold, dead letter of the Bible… That's not it dear friends. It's the Holy Spirit speaking through Scripture and, not vs but... And the Holy Spirit speaking individually and personally to individual Christians. They're not in contradiction if they are than the private impression is wrong. It is so easy to go to extremes here to quench the Spirit. So you don't trust any inner prompting of the Spirit would be wrong and lead you to fruitlessness. But to test the inner promptings of the Spirit above Scripture or before Scripture etcetera, is wrong, and leads us to heresies, we must be careful. So the Holy Spirit is speaking to us today, he's speaking to us right now, as the Holy Spirit says. So does the Holy Spirit speak apart from Scripture? Yes. Does the Holy Spirit speak contrary to Scripture? Never. And again, I say never. And then four more times. Never, never, never and never. He never speaks contrary to Scripture, why because he's never going to be contrary to himself. So what is the application point for us here? Well simply put, when you get the Bible open it up and pray to God and say, "God, Would you please speak to me now speak to me directly speak to my heart now by the Holy Spirit as I read some psalm or something from Isaiah or something from Genesis or something from Romans, I want to hear your voice." And so Psalm 119, verse 18 says, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." And then 1 Samuel 3:9, "Speak O Lord, for your servant is listening." The Holy Spirit speaks then when we open the Bible. He's speaking to us right now. Every reading of the Scripture should be an immediate encounter with the living God as though you were there at the foot of Mount Sinai hearing God speak as in a thunder. Hear that thunder in your soul when you read Exodus 19 and 20. As if you were there with Elijah on Mount Horeb, and you could hear that still, small voice that gentle whisper. Listen for the whisper of the Holy Spirit when you read the scriptures. As though you were there with Peter, John, and James and Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the bright cloud envelopes them and you hear the voice from the cloud speaking. "This is my beloved Son, with him I am well pleased, listen to him." And then you can hear Jesus speaking to you. Scripture is not a dead letter, not at all. Scripture is alive, it's powerful. III. When the Holy Spirit Speaks Now, the author is taking Psalm 95, and he's going to work it over, dear friends. He's going to be working on it for two chapters, working and working on Psalm 95 7-11, picking individual words up and thinking about them and working on them. And at the end of all that working on Psalm 95, at the end of chapter four this is what he says, it's like he interrupts himself, where he says, "Okay, I've done everything I need from Psalm 95." I just want to tell you what I think about the written word. Hebrews 4:12, "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Listen to the words, it's living, it's active, it's penetrating it's dividing its judging, it's a powerful change agent in your life, it's the Holy Spirit speaking to you. And I think this is the mark of a truly saved heart. If you're genuinely saved, you're coming to the written word with this one attitude this thought, this is not the word of men, this is the word of God to me today, right now. So it says in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, "We also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God what you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as it actually is, the Word of God at work among you who believe." It's awesome, isn't it? So do you want an encounter with the living God today? Please say yes. Oh yes, I want an encounter with the living God. And go in or into your room and close the door and get the Bible out, open it up, pray a prayer, a simple prayer, saying "God speak to me" and then listen to what he says. There's your encounter with the living God. IV. Today, If You Hear His Voice And what should you do when you get it? Well, the Scripture says, "today, if you hear his voice." Now, I have a lot to say about today, because Hebrew 3 and 4 has a lot to say about today. Look at verse 12-13, "See to it brothers that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily. As long as it is called today." That's an interesting expression. "As long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Or again, in verse 15 of the same chapter. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." And then in 4:7, he kind of unfolds this whole theology of today. That's why the NIV editors decided to capitalize the word "today" in this chapter. It's like this special kind of glowing thing, this thing called "today". "So therefore, God again set a certain day calling it today, when a long time later, he spoke through David as we said before, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." So what is this thing called today? Well, right from the very beginning of creation, God set up a rhythm, a kind of a rhythm to life. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And there was evening and there was morning the second day. There was evening, and there was morning, the third day. On the fourth day, God delegated that whole thing to the sun. So now, we speak in terms of sunrise and sunsets, but the same rhythm has been going on. This rhythm of day after day after day today. And so the Bible uses the word "days" to refer to the time of your life. So, in Plasm 90:9-10, Moses said this, "All our days pass away into your wrath. We finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, if we have the strength, yet the span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away." Your Life is a Tapestry of Todays So he goes back and forth between days and years, days and years, your years are made up of days dear friends. Your life is like a tapestry and every day, God pulls out a thread and weaves it in his loom. And that's another thread of today, that's what you have, you have today. So what is today? Today is November 21st, 2010, here we are, Sunday, November 21st, 2010. We will never have it again. We'll never have it again. It's right here, right now, today. You'll see it again on Judgment Day, but you'll never have this day again. And so, you have today, and it's all you'll ever have. You had yesterday, you had it, but at that point it was called "today", you remember? Saturday November 20th 2010, you had it and you did what you did, whatever that was. You ate certain foods, drank certain drinks, went to certain places, talked to certain people, did certain things, thought certain thoughts, that was it. God noted at all it's all written down. Record is complete and perfect, and cannot be changed. There's nothing you can do about it at all. Yesterday is gone. You'll never see it again until Judgment Day. Tomorrow. Now that's an interesting topic, isn't it? Tomorrow. Tomorrow, is... Well, what is it? November 22 2010, you know what the Bible says about tomorrow? May never come. You should not presume on tomorrow, it may actually never come. Book of James says you ought to say If the Lord wills, we'll get tomorrow, but when you get it, you know, where you're going to call it, it's going to have a new name, it's going to be called today. It's kind of the way it works. And so all you can do with yesterday is remember, it's lessons so that you can live today in glory to God. And all you can do with tomorrow is prepared for its battles and the Bible says go to the ant O sluggard, lay up treasure or store for yourselves… You're not supposed to say, "Hey look, tomorrow may never come so let's eat, drink, and be merry. Tomorrow we might die." That's the wrong attitude you should prepare for tomorrow. You know how you prepare for tomorrow best? Be maximally fruitful and faithful today. "You know how you prepare for tomorrow best? Be maximally fruitful and faithful today." Don't acquire a new sin habit that will burden tomorrow with wickedness. So you understand yesterday, today, tomorrow. Yesterday is for learning, it's lessons. Tomorrow is for trusting God in preparation, but today is all you're ever going to have. V. Do Not Harden Your Hearts And so what should you do? Well today if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart, don't harden your heart. What does it mean to harden your heart? Well, hardening your heart means that the word of God comes to you, meaning to change you, it's meaning to shape you, it's meaning to alter you and you say a simple word to it, "No, no, I will not do what you want me to do, I will not witness to that neighbor. I will not give that money. I will not use my spiritual gift in that way, I will not go to that brother or sister and show him or her compassion, I will not forgive that person, who has sinned again, I'm just no!" And you may not say it that baldly, but that's in effect what's happening. Today if you hear him telling you something, don't say no to God. It has a synonym in the Old Testament and that is "stiffen your neck". So, a hard-hearted person, is a stiff neck person. It means the same thing. It means to not humble yourself before your king and not do what he says. And we're going to talk more about the hardened heart and how it comes about, in the next little section, but what is the destination of a hardened heart? Well, the destination is you get an oath from God declared in his anger that you'll never enter his rest. God says a word over you in anger, wrath that you will not enter his rest. And the issues here in Hebrews three and four are heaven and hell. That's what we're dealing with here. It's a greater mission that Jesus is on than Moses, he's talking about greater issues and the greater issue is heaven and hell. And the ultimate destination of a hardened heart that will not listen to God speaking in the word is hell. To hear this sentence, "Depart from me. You were cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." That's the destination of a hardened heart. Friends, I plead with you not to go there. Instead when you hear God speak, just do what he says, listen to him, follow him in any area, it could be a sin habit that's in your life, God is speaking to you. He wants that sin put to death by the power of the Spirit, by the word of God, he wants it put to death, then put it to death. He wants you to use your spiritual gifts fruitfully in ministry, then use them. He wants a rich marriage between you and your spouse, then make it rich. Through love and forgiveness, and the giving and receiving of blessings. Today if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. Now we're going to go to the Lord's Supper. I asked a few moments ago, does the Lord speak apart from Scripture? Absolutely, this is one of the clearest ways that God speaks to me apart from Scripture. It's commanded in Scripture but I have prayed already that the Holy Spirit will fill this place that we will have an experience of Christ crucified and risen, and ascended, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit today as we partake in the Lord's supper. This is meant for believers, who have trusted in Christ, that you have repented, you have trusted in him. You've expressed that through water baptism. If so, you're welcome at the table if not, please refrain, lest you eat and drink judgment on yourself. But just know it's waiting for you, if you'll just repent and believe, as I said before, you can be there next time we'd love to have you. But if you're a Christian, struggling with sin, this is a good time to repent and partake of the Lord supper. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the time that we've had to study your word. And now as we go to the table, we pray, O Lord, that you would speak to us through the Holy Spirit. Fill this sanctuary with a strong presence of the Spirit of Christ, that Christ's merits might shine in our hearts, his achievement on the cross. And that we might understand the message of the Lord's supper, as you speak to us Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus name.

God's Conditional Promise for a Straight Journey (Audio)

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2009

Pastor Andy Davis preaches on Proverbs 3:5-6, and explores God's call to trust him completely and not to lean on our own understanding. - sermon transcript - A Famous Proverb Well, you don't have to know much about American history to know the significance of the date July 4th, 1776. That's when the Continental Congress gathered together and passed what John Adams called “the most important resolution ever taken in America.” It's what he said at the time. It was, of course, the Declaration of Independence. And the key statement in that document read as follows, quote, "Resolved that these United colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." So, it was the birth of a new independent nation, and that date has been marked ever since then as the birth of our country. We celebrate it every year by the more popular name, the Fourth of July, but its official name is Independence Day. Independence Day. Now, as we come to Proverbs 3:5 and 6, I want to go exactly the opposite direction from that because I believe that Proverbs 3:5-6 is a declaration of dependence for every Christian. And I think every day ought to be Dependence Day for us Christians. Every day we ought to assent to and openly embrace the fact that apart from Christ, we can do nothing. Now, these are some of the most famous verses in the book of Proverbs. Many children learn them and memorize them at an early age. As we break them apart, Proverbs 3:5-6 lays out as three commands and therefore a conditional promise. Three commands and a conditional promise. Now, the context of this promise that's given is, I think, of a father's advice to his son. Much of the book of Proverbs is couched in that kind of language. Look at verses 1 through 4, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, then you will win good favor and a good name in the sight of God and man." Now, this could be read perhaps as... You could think it was Solomon reflecting his father David sitting him down when he was a young boy and giving him some advice. Or perhaps, again, at the human level, King Solomon giving advice to his son, maybe Rehoboam, or something like that. Again, at the human level, it could be just generally advice that fathers can give to their sons. But, for me, I think because it was included in inspired Scripture - the Holy Spirit inspired this as the inerrant Word of God - I think it's best for us as Christians to take this as a word from our Heavenly Father to all of us as sons and daughters of the living God. Now, you remember at that time, God promised Solomon a long life if he obeyed Him. There was a conditional promise. 1 Kings 3:14, "If you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands, as did David your father, then I will give you a long life." And so, there are conditional promises in the Christian life. In other words, “if you do these things, then I will bless you in this particular way.” And so, the wise and loving father, after having set the stage for the promise in verses 1 through 4 of Proverbs 3, gives a series of three commands coupled with a conditional promise. Command Number One: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Command Number Two: Lean not on your own understanding. Command Number Three: in all your ways acknowledge Him. And here comes the promise: He will make your paths straight. He will make your paths straight. The First Command: Trust in the Lord The Fundamental Issue: Trust So, let's look at it very carefully, and let's begin with the first command. And that is that you should have total trust in the Lord. “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart” (Proverbs 3:5). The fundamental issue of our lives is our relationship with Almighty God, our Creator. And the fundamental issue of that relationship is trust. Another word for trust would be faith - that we have faith in God. Now, the root Hebrew word here means, in effect, to just throw yourself down in the abandonment of confidence and have a sense or a feeling of peace and security in that. That's really what it means. And there's just so many verses that testify to this. The same Hebrew word is used in a variety of ways, that gives this sense of just casting yourself on God and a resulting feeling or sense of security and peace and rest in him. Leviticus 25:18-19, and it says, "Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land." That's the same Hebrew word. A sense of safety. You're going to be secure. "Then the land will yield its fruit and you will eat your fill and you will live there in safety." So, there's this picture of contentment and abundance and security. Again, Job 11:18, "And you will feel secure” - The same Hebrew word – “because there is hope. You will look around and you will take your rest in security." Or again, Proverbs... Sorry. Psalm 4:8. The Psalmist there says, "I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone O Lord, make me dwell in safety." There's that same Hebrew word. You can just go to sleep at night. Your heart is at rest and untroubled because you know that God is taking care of you... A sense of security. Or again, Isaiah 26:3-4, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord the Lord is the Rock eternal." And again, Ezekiel 28:26, "They will live there in safety” - the same Hebrew word - "And I will build houses and plant vineyards, and they will live in safety." So, the word use is a feeling, a sense of peacefulness, of security, of ease, of comfort, sometimes even in dire circumstances. Psalm 27:3 says, "Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident." So, a sense of trust, of confidence, even if you have an army coming after you. Now, God has sought to build this trust in the hearts of His children from the beginning of redemptive history, right on through. So much of what God does in the Bible for His people - and then as we read about it, what He's doing for us - is to work in us this faith, this sense of trust in Him. God’s Desire for His Children: Trust Me! He taught it as God the Savior and also lessons taught by God the Provider. Lessons from God the Savior started when God moved Israel out of Egypt, out of bondage. And He used mighty power and miracles to work these ten plagues on the most powerful nation on earth. And God was teaching His great power for this result, that His people would trust in Him with all of their heart. That they would be confident in His power. He put His omnipotence on display with those ten plagues. And then even more, when the Israelite nation was trapped by the Red Sea and that powerful army, the Egyptian army, was pressing down on them with their chariots. And how God stood between Pharaoh and his army in a pillar of cloud and fire and wouldn't let them come near. And then He led them, that night, through the Red Sea. And there the water was walling up on the right and the left, and they passed through on dry ground, but then the water came crashing down on that wicked army. God was teaching the same lesson: trust in Me. I am powerful, I am mighty, I'm working a great salvation for you. Behold, My mighty hand and My outstretched arm. Trust in Me, again and again. And so, it says in Exodus 14:31, "When the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they put their trust in him, and in Moses, his servant." So, because of this display, the people trusted in the Lord. Well, that's lessons of God the Savior, that is “trust in Me because I am a great Savior. I am a great protector.” But it's also lessons of God the Provider. Soon after that... After they had crossed the Red Sea, they're on the other side and they were in the desert. And there were probably more than two million Israelites, and they're in the desert, and there's nothing to eat, and there's nothing to drink. And so, the lesson of the manna is the same lesson. Deuteronomy 8:3, "God humbled you," Moses said to his people. "God humbled you causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you know your fathers have known to teach you, that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." God was teaching them to live by His word, to trust in His Word and in His provision. So, day after day, they went out, and they collected that manna in baskets. It was a daily lesson of God's provision. God will meet all of your needs. God can take care of you. Don't be anxious. Rest in me. I will provide. Constant Lessons for the Christian Well, it's a constant lesson for us as Christians, isn't it? Oh, how we struggle with this, to trust in the Lord with all of our heart. To be confident. Every trial you go through is a new opportunity to learn this lesson, to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. That expression "with all of your heart" means fully and completely. No competing alternatives. Again, and again, the people of God have been tempted to kind of mix together a trust in the Lord plus something else. We're going trust in the Lord plus our bank account or our stocks or our portfolio. We're going to trust in the Lord plus our own achievements or our resume or something like that. We're going to trust in the Lord plus our own cleverness. There are all kinds of options. I'll talk more about them in a moment. But that's a temptation. No, this is trust in the Lord with all of your heart, fully, completely and confidently. "Every trial you go through is a new opportunity to learn this lesson, to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. " The Second Command: Reject Prideful Independence The Enemy of Genuine Trust: Self-Reliance The second command is this: that we should reject prideful independence. We should reject it. “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” The enemy of genuine trust - I think, the central enemy of genuine trust - is self-reliance. Oh, how much we embrace this idol of self. How much we trust in ourselves to do anything and everything in our lives. And again, this lesson came out with the Israelites. Remember how, as they neared the Promised Land, Moses sent out those twelve spies? And they spied out the land to see what kind of land it was and what the people were like and all of that. And then the twelve spies came back with a report that it's a good land, but we're in trouble. It's a good land, but we're going to lose. Well, why are we going to lose? Because there are cities with walls up to the sky. And there are these warrior... This warrior race there, the Anakites and they're huge... Bulging muscles, and with military prowess, we can't touch them. “We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we seem the same to them” (Numbers 13:32-33). Israel should have been quiet and peaceful like a baby nursing in his mother's breast, like a young boy up in his father's shoulders, trusting confidently in power - the power of God. But instead, what do they do? They looked at those walled cities, they looked at those mighty warriors, and they looked within, and they said, "We can't do it." They sought to trust in themselves, they didn't think they had enough power, and so they turned away from the Lord. And so, it says in Deuteronomy 1:32-33, 40 years later, as Moses analyzed what happened there... This is what Moses said, "In spite of all of this, in spite of all of what God had done for you already” - in spite of all of that – “you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.” You didn't trust in Him. A Key Issue in the Old Testament Friends, this is a key issue throughout the history of the Old Testament. Again, and again, as you read the history of Samuel and Kings and Chronicles... Again, and again, the people of God were brought into dire circumstances. And their response was frequently represented by the king. The King of Israel, the King of Judah, how he would respond. What would he do? Would he send out for human allies? Would he go out for Assyria? Would he reach out for Egypt? Would he send money by envoys to try to get an ally when this army was invading? Or like Jehoshaphat, or Hezekiah, would he just simply kneel before God and say, "Save us, O Lord. We can do nothing against this great hoard." Again, and again, it was the same lesson: will you trust in Me? Or will you lean on your own resources? Multiple False Trusts Now, as I've said, there are many false trusts that we can have. Many false trusts. People can rely right here in this passage on their own understanding; I'll talk more about that in a moment. They can rely on their physical strength or their personal wisdom (Jeremiah 9:23). They can rely on their material wealth (Proverbs 18). They imagine it to be a fortified tower. Oh, they can rely on the fortifications of a well-built city wall (Deuteronomy 28:52). They can rely on horses and chariots, military technology. I wonder how many in our military establishment are relying on American military technology to protect our country. You can rely on that. You can rely on self-righteousness (Ezekiel 33:13). And the worst of all, you can rely on idols (Isaiah 42:17). There is an account in Isaiah 36, in which through the mouth of a prideful Assyrian field commander, God really taught me what trust is all about. This field commander came to challenge Hezekiah. Hezekiah isn't surrendering. They're kind of surprised. All of Judah has been destroyed by the invading Assyrians. The Assyrians had never lost a battle. And I think they're just kind of mystified. And so, this field commander comes to talk to Hezekiah, and he says, "Tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the King of Assyria says, ‘On what are you basing this confidence of yours?’” (Isaiah 36:4). What is the base of your confidence? What is the ground base of your peace in the midst of this circumstance? I don't understand it. So, he guessed at it. In Isaiah 36:6, he guessed at it. He said, "Look, now you're depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it, such is Pharaoh King of Egypt to all who depend on him." Well, that's a beautiful image, isn't it? It says, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding." What are you leaning on during the time of trial? And if it's anything but the Lord, it will become like that splintered reed of a staff which splinters and pierces your hand as you put your weight on it. It will not be able to support your weight. Any idol will in the end fail you. But rather, you need to trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Your Own Understanding What does that mean, "On your own understanding?" Well, the contrast here... This is the book of God's wisdom. God is giving us wisdom. And the temptation is to rely on - and I'm not meaning to be insulting to any of us - our thimbleful of insight, that tiny amount of intellectual prowess that we possess. By His understanding, God stretched out the heavens and crafted the earth. By His mighty power and His understanding, He created the cosmos with all of the nebulae, the stars, the pulsars, the quasars, all of that stuff. God did that. “He names them all, and by His mighty power and His great understanding, not one of them is missing” (Isaiah 40:26). That's an interesting expression in Isaiah. Missing from what? Well, just missing. “It needs to be there," says God. You wouldn't even know if it were missing. And God in this earth crafted these ecosystems in perfect harmony and balance with each other. And He has been spinning out a redemptive history with all of His plans coming to pass despite the sins of human beings. We can't even touch him concerning his understanding. We should lean not on our own understanding. Central False Trust: Self But us, in Job 8:9, it says, “we were born only yesterday and we know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.” Don't trust in your own take on the situation. Let me tell you something, the longer you go on in life, the more of a temptation this is. I've been there, done that. I've been through this... We've been through economic crises before; we know how to do that. We've been through illness before; we know how to do that. We've been through various challenges in our family life; we know how to do that. And you start to trust in your own experience what you've been through, and this is a false trust. Something God may say from Scripture may not make sense to you. You'll read it, and you'll say, "I don't get it." And the root of unbelief starts to creep in when you say, "If I don't understand it, I'm not going to believe it." There's been some great atheists that really started there. They didn't trust in the Lord with all of their hearts, and they most certainly did rely on their own understanding. Let's take Thomas Jefferson, for example. In a letter to Francis Adrian Vanderkemp dated July 30, 1816, he was talking about the doctrine of the Trinity. And this is what he said, "Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them, and no man ever had a distinct idea of the Trinity. It is the mere abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus." So, he's leaning on his own understanding. When it came to the doctrine of the Trinity, he threw it out. He couldn't figure it out. He threw it out. So, it is people do the same with predestination. They do the same with God's providential ruling over the world. They do it with prayer because they don't understand how God can be sovereign. And they do it with the problem of evil. Again, and again, people have made that mistake. They say, "God cannot be all powerful and good at the same time and see this kind of evil." They can't understand it, and so they throw out what the Bible clearly teaches. Mark Twain put it this way - so in love with his own understanding - he said this about all religions, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so." Well, I don't think so, dear friends. I think instead, faith goes beyond what I can comprehend. It's not contrary to it. It doesn't contradict; it just goes beyond it. Twain also said, "The gods offer no rewards for intellect. There was never one yet that showed any interest in it." Well, you know he's a very funny man, but the root of that is rebellion. God created intellect. He's just saying, "There are going to be some things I will do that you will not understand. At that time and at all times, do not ultimately lean on your own understanding.” The Bible is full of appeals to human reasoning power. The book of Proverbs is a book about human understanding and how to live in a wise way in this world. God created your intellect. But there may be some times in your life when you are going to have to rely on this verse and say, "I don't get it. I don't understand what God is doing. I don't know why we have to go through this. I'm hurting. I'm in pain. And God doesn't seem to answer. He doesn't seem to care." Oh, dear friend, trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Think of Romans 11, "Oh, the depth of the riches, the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out." That means you can't figure out what He's doing. “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has ever been His counselor?” (Romans 11:34). You may not understand what God is doing in your life, and you may struggle, but that's a key time to trust in the Lord and not on your own understanding. The Third Command: A Consistent Relationship All Your Ways Command number three: a consistent relationship with the Lord. “In all your ways, acknowledge Him.” Now, this language of all your ways speaks of a daily relationship with the Lord. In all your ways - it refers to how you walk daily, how you live your daily life. The word “way” or “road” is a Hebrew metaphor for just daily life, the paths you choose to take. How long you sleep. What clothes you wear. How you earn your money and what you do with it after you've earned it. How you eat and how much you eat. What you drink and how much of it you drink. How you speak. How you behave with your family and your friends, and your co-workers, your neighbors, total strangers. Those are your ways. It's how you live. It's your way of life. This is a comprehensive issue. “In all your ways,” it says. And not merely acknowledge Him. I know many - probably even most of the English translations - go with the word “acknowledge.” Know Him; Don’t Merely Acknowledge I'll start with this: I don't think there's anything wrong with embracing the concept of acknowledge in this sense, that you can, like Columbus did with the banner of the King of Spain when he came to Hispaniola. When he came to the New World. He stuck a flag in it and claimed it for the King of Spain. Alright, so in all your ways, stick a flag in it and claim it for Jesus, for King Jesus. That's fine; acknowledge He's king of everything. But I want to go a little further because the Hebrew word is simply “know.” It's literally in all your ways, know Him. Know Him. And this is a fundamental issue of our relationship with God. To know the Lord means to have a deep and growing covenant relationship with Him. It's to see His hand in all your ways. To see His kingly authority, yes. His throne ruling over everything. But go beyond that. I'd like you to see all of His attributes. Study Christ in all your ways. Get to know His power, get to know His compassion in all your ways. Get to know His infinite mercy, His unchanging nature. The fact that He's the same yesterday and today and forever. In all your ways, know Him. Study Him, yes, but know Him deeply and richly, as in a covenant relationship. Jesus put it this way, "Now, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Make this the centerpiece of your daily life, to know the Lord in all of your ways. Paul did it in Philippians 3, he said, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him” (Philippians 3:8). That's what Paul wanted every day. If you really ask Him just, if God lets you live the whole day, you go to sleep tonight, what do you want today? The centerpiece, Paul would say is, I want to know Jesus. I want to know Him. I want to know Him in all of the things that I do. I want to know Him in suffering. I want to know Him in celebration. I want to know Him in triumph and in defeat. I want to know Him all the time. That's what I want. The Promise Alright, so there you have your three commands. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Have that feeling, that sense of confidence based on the power of God. Trust in Him with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Don't rely on yourself or on anything in yourself. Don't rely on any idol, don't rely on anything ultimately, but God. In all of your daily life, in all of your practical ins and outs of your daily life, seek to know God. Those are the three conditions. If you meet them, then He makes you this promise: He will direct your paths or, literally, make your paths straight. What Does This Mean? Again, the word “paths” implies your life course, the direction of your life. And I think that the Hebrew word – “He will make your paths straight” - implies a smoothing out of the road so it's clear of obstacles. It says in Isaiah 26:7, "The path of the righteous is level. O Upright One, you make the path of the righteous smooth." Or again in Isaiah 40:3-4, "A voice of one calling in the desert: Make straight the way of the Lord. Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill made low. The rough ground shall become level, and the rugged places a plane." So, the implication is, if you meet these three conditions - you trust in the Lord, you don't lean on yourself, seek to know Him in everything you do - He is going to clear the road ahead of you. Two Ways God Does This Now, I think there are two ways that He does this. He does it in what to avoid, in helping you in the area of what to avoid. And secondly, in the area of what to do. He clears out obstacles first in this issue of what to avoid. And friend, it just has to do with sin. Can I tell you that sin just complicates life? Sin makes life really, really complex and difficult and twisted and strange. And gets you in over your head and gets you to a place where you don't know what to do. It makes things seem desperate. And so, God helps you by avoiding those twists and turns that would never have come on you if you hadn't sinned, the things to avoid. Listen to these Proverbs: Proverbs 22:5, "Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked. Whoever guards his soul will keep far from them." So, those thorns and snares are what blocked the road of the way of the crooked. Again, Proverbs 15:19, "The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway." So, if you're given to chronic laziness, you're going to have a hard life. It's what it's saying. But the path of the upright is smooth by comparison. Proverbs 21:8, "The way of the guilty is devious." That is, tricky and twisted; it's hard to trace out. “But the conduct of the innocent is upright.” It's a simple life. Proverbs 2:14-15, it speaks of those “who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.” So, God will direct your paths by helping you to avoid those snares and thorns and twists and turns that come on you because of sin. So, if you trust in the Lord with all your heart and you lean not on your own understanding, if you know the Lord in all your ways, God will keep you - your path - free from the difficulties that come on. Let's say, the chronic liar whose lies get ever more complex to cover up the initial lie. Oh, what a tangled web he has to weave when he decided first to deceive. Or like the adulterer whose deceptions reach to every area of his life. Lying to his wife, lying to his children, lying to his friends, lying to himself as he covers his tracks and tries to keep from getting caught in this adulterous relationship. Or like the Wall Street financier and stock defrauder whose elaborate defenses against investigation come crashing down when the government starts to get after him and starts to do some research into his life. Or the tax evader who sweats out all the time whether he's going to get called for an audit by the IRS. Or the spouse abuser who's afraid that his wife's check-up is going to reveal some recent bruises that he left on her because he had a fit of anger against her. Or the procrastinator who keep putting off getting bills in the mail and then finds one that was due three weeks ago, if he finds it. God has the power to keep you free from these snares and these twists and turns, so that you're not... Let's say the constantly angry person who has these blow-ups and then has to go and make it right. Apologize, go cap in hand again and again. Or the gossip who has to, under conviction of the Lord, go back and call up people and explain the gossip and try to patch things up after the words have gotten out of the lips. Sin complicates life. Sin twists life. Sin makes life difficult. And if you trust in the Lord with all your heart and you lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways you seek to know Him, He's going to keep you free from these kinds of snares. What to Do with Your Life Well, that's negatively what not to do, what to avoid. He also makes your path straight in terms of what to do with your life. How should we spend our time here on earth? What should we do with our time? God has an answer for that. In Christ, God has a beautiful, a marvelous answer for that. It says in Ephesians 2:10, "We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them." And so, God has a big picture work, a life work for you to do. "How should we spend our time here on earth? What should we do with our time? God has an answer for that. In Christ," So, He's going to direct your paths, not just in, let's say who to marry, or what job to take out of college, or should you refinance your home, or should you move and take a better situation and some of the... Those are all life decisions, and God gives wisdom for that. But this goes bigger than that. This has to do with what is your calling in life. When someone sums up your life in one sentence, as they may seek to do at your funeral. What was your life work? What did you do? God has an answer for that. He's got a plan for you, and then He's going to build it up with smaller good works that lead up to that one great calling that he has for you in your life. Applications The Unbeliever Well, what applications can we take from this? Well, many. What I want to do over the next few minutes is just speak to different people in the congregation how you can use Proverbs 3:5 and 6 in your life. First of all, I want to speak to the unbeliever. I just want to speak to you. If you've come in here today and you've never trusted in Jesus, you're lost. You don't know that your sins are forgiven. You listened to Britney's testimony and maybe something stirred in your heart. You listening to me preaching, and maybe something is moving. The question is can you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ with your soul? Can you trust in him with all of your heart? Can you lean not on your own understanding of heaven and hell and judgement day and all of that? What are you relying on for judgment day? What are you basing your confidence on for judgment day? If your own understanding is that there is no judgment day, God's word says there is. Lean not on your own understanding. We're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, all of us. If your own understanding is that, if you're good deeds outweigh your bad, that God will forgive you. And on the basis of what a good person you've been, He will accept you into heaven. But the Scripture says “there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10). And it says anything that does not come from faith is sin. And so, all the good works that you thought you had are going to collapse as sins because you didn't do them for the glory of God. If your own understanding is that all religions are basically the same, but Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). It's only by the blood of Jesus that sins can be forgiven. If your own understanding is that there is no God and there is no judgment day, the Bible speaks very directly that there is a God, and He sees your heart right now. If you abandon your own confidences that you've brought in here, perhaps when you walked in here, and you lean on the Lord Jesus Christ and you seek to acknowledge Him for the rest of your life, He will forgive you of all your sins. And He will take you by a straight and narrow path, Jesus calls it, to heavenly glory. So, trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. And in all your ways acknowledge Jesus Christ, and He will take you to heaven. The Successful Christian Secondly, I want to speak to the successful Christian. Things are going well for you right now; I'm happy for you. I'm happy for you. It's good when things are going well, aren't they? I wouldn't speak against it; I like it when things are going well in my life too. I think that's a delightful thing. But let me tell you something: trust in the Lord, even when things are going well. Don't trust in the sweetest frame of mind. Don't trust in recent successes in business or in ministry. Don't trust in how well things are going for you in your family life. Don't trust in these things. Trust in Jesus Christ. Trust in his blood shed for you, and keep trusting in that. You may say, "Well, I'm done with that; I came to faith in Christ. I remember it distinctly, I was baptized, I don't need to trust in Jesus and His blood and His righteousness anymore." Oh, yes, you do. Even and when things are going well - I might say, especially when things are going well - trust in the Lord then with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Don't become arrogant as a growing Christian and think you don't need instruction anymore from the Bible. Don't become independent as a successful Christian and forget that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Don't be impressed with your growing knowledge of the Bible or of Christian doctrine, because Paul says in Corinthians, "If anyone thinks he knows anything, he doesn't know as he ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:2). When you're asked to give counsel or advice to someone who's struggling, don't lean on your own understanding. Stop and pray. I do that every time. People come to me for advice. Before I say a word, I say, "Can we just pray and ask God for wisdom?" I don't lean on my own understanding at that time of counseling. I say, "God, speak through me and through one another so that we can come to the truth." And when figuring out what to do with all the money God is blessing you with as things are successful and going well, then lean not on your own understanding. Say to Him, "Lord, all this money is yours. How do you want me to invest it in your kingdom?" In all your ways, know him. At every moment, seek to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Bring Jesus into the secret chambers of your outwardly successful life and say, "Is it every bit as successful in here too, in my prayer closet? Is it every bit as successful in my putting sin to death by the power of the Spirit? Is it going well in that area? Or am I a white-washed tomb? Looking good on the outside, but inside there's decay.” So, to the successful Christian, I say trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways know Him, and He will direct your paths. Ecclesiastes 7:14 says this: "When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future." Do you understand, successful, happy Christian, how quickly it can turn? Let's talk to our brother Job when we get to heaven and say, "Job, what was it like when while this first servant was speaking, the next one came?" That was a very, very tough day. And I would say none of us have ever had that kind of a day. But you know what I mean when I say that it can turn quickly. So, if things are going well, be happy, rejoice, give thanks to God, but don't trust in any of that. Trust in the Lord; He will see you through whatever's around the corner, even if it's greater success and happiness. The Unemployed Thirdly, to the unemployed, I want to say a word. “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways know Him, and He will direct your paths.” You're going through a huge trial, struggling with fears about the future with questions of self-worth. You look around you, and you see 10% unemployment. Some places, we heard earlier in Bible for Life, maybe as high as 20% unemployment in some parts of our state. And it could be that the overwhelming issue of your life will be this one thing, "How can I get a job?" But the deeper questions there, "Am I a good or capable person? Am I worth anything?" It's easy to let anxiety overwhelm you and for doubts to dominate in your mind. Trust in the Lord now more than ever before. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Don't become immersed and forget the Lord's mighty power. He can move his little finger and get you a job. Don't focus on your own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, you need to get a resume together. So, write your resume, but don't trust in it. Yes, you need to make some phone calls and set up some interviews. Make the phone calls, set up the interviews, but don't trust in that. Trust in the Lord. Yes, you've got to get active, you’ve got to get busy, you've got to move out, and do things to provide for your own needs or those also of your family. But trust in the Lord; let Him direct your paths. Seek to know Him and all of the pain and the suffering. When you plant some seeds and you have good hopes, and then it doesn't turn out, they go a different direction. They don't call you, and you're very disappointed. Know Jesus during that time. Seek to bring Him into that tough trial and get to know Him in that suffering. In all of your ways, seek to know Him and let Him direct your paths. The Single Adult To the single adults, I speak now to somebody who has never been married or yearns, who yearns for a spouse. Looking for a godly husband. Looking for a godly wife. This could be one of the most trying trials in life. I remember it distinctly. It seems like it will take a miracle of epic proportions to find the perfect person to meet up with you… also the perfect person. Both of you, the perfect person. We'll talk about that another time. That's after marriage, and trust in the Lord with all your heart. We could go on and on with this. Okay? You the perfect person, waiting for the perfect person. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Don't let the devil lie to you. Don't forget that you are already as a Christian, as loved as you need to be. You are precious to Jesus. You are His prized possession. He shed His blood for you. You will not be - you cannot be - any more loved than you already are. Trust in Him and lean not on your own understanding. Don't resort to techniques; don't lower your standards to try to catch someone by unworthy means. Don't think it's all up to you to get the right spouse. Don't lean on yourself; don't rely on yourself. And in all your ways, know the Lord. Seek to make the most of your time as a single person. Seek to learn how to follow Jesus now, to look at some of those advantages that Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians 7, that you're free from some earthly entanglements so that you can serve the Lord. And let the Lord bring that individual to you. Let the Lord bring him. He will direct your paths. He will protect you from a bad marriage, so that you're not married to somebody who pretended to be a believer, but really wasn't. He'll guide you to the right person. Remember the words, what Jesus said, "What God has joined together" (Matthew 19:6). He'll direct your paths. He'll bring you to that right person. The New Parent, the College Student, and the Elderly Oh, I could keep going. I could speak to the new parents. “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” You know very little about parenting, it's true. You know very little. You'll learn more. I'm still learning. Still learning, 18 years and still on the job learning. But trust in the Lord. And when those doubts come in, and when those fears come in, lean on the Lord and seek to know Jesus in all of that journey. College students, make this the greatest year of your life. Do it simply this way: trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways know Jesus and let him direct your paths. I could speak to the lonely elderly. I did a funeral yesterday. I'm thinking about widows, widowers. You're missing your spouse. Trust in the Lord; let Him minister to you. Let Him comfort you. Let Him console you. And, if per chance, you have a chronic illness, perhaps even a terminal illness, and you're facing your own mortality, “trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Close with me in prayer.

Judgment Day Approaches: Noah Prepares the Ark (Audio)