Entering the Promises

  • Drew Goodmanson
  • Jun 29, 2008
  • Series: Topical

Story Background:  This story begins decades after the Israelites were led out of Egypt by God where they were in slavery.  The people of Israel were on a journey back to Canaan, a land promised to them. God led the people by cloud during the day that changed to a pillar of fire at night. When this cloud moved they followed it and set up camp wherever it stopped. 

But when the people of Israel got closer to Canaan, they did not enter the land because they were afraid of the people who lived there. God's punishment for not trusting him was to make them wander in the desert for 40 years. This was a time filled with struggle and complaints against Moses and God.

As Moses neared the end of his life, he reminded the people of Israel of all of God's promises, laws, and commandments. At this time, all who began the journey to the Promised Land had died.  Moses told their children, "You must love God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength ... for he is your life!"   

After Moses died, Joshua became the new leader of Israel to lead them to the Promised Land. When the Israelites were to enter the land, God told them to drive out all of the people who lived there because they were full of evil. 

The people of God needed to cross the Jordan in order to get to Canaan.  While they waited at the river bank, Joshua sent two spies to look at the land, particularly to view Jericho.  Jericho was a walled city that the Israelites would have to defeat when they entered the land. 

Prior to these men entering, God's spirit had worked in the heart of a prostitute in Jericho named Rahab and granted her faith.  Rahab protected the spies that they may safely report what they had seen.  Rahab said to the men,

"I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD  dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death." And the men said to her, "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you."

The men returned and said, "Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us." 

The people were now ready to enter the new land.  Prior to entry, God had the people sanctify themselves.  This outward washing was a sign symbolizing the cleansing of their hearts, their repentance and reliance on God.  Shortly after this that God performed a great miracle.  Just as God parted the Red Sea, God would part the Jordan to safely allow the people through. 

The ark, symbolizing God's presence led the way as they entered the new land.  The moment the priests, who carried the ark, stepped in the water, the water flowing from the North cut off and rose up as a wall.  When the people crossed, the Lord instructed them to take twelve large stones and set them up in the riverbed to be a memorial to God's faithfulness.

The people crossed and rested in a place called Gilgal, which means turning.  It is here the Lord turned his reproach against his people. It was here the people renewed their covenant to God, through keeping the Passover and being circumcised.   At this point the daily manna (which was the daily food God provided the people in the desert to survive) stopped falling for the people could now eat the grain of the new land.  Thus the Lord fulfilled the promises to the people when they were in Egypt.

God had judged the Canaanites who were exceedingly wicked.  God instructed the people to destroy everything, any precious metal was to be refined through fire and set aside for use in the sanctuary.  The things instructed for destruction was both in judgment and to protect the Israelites from falling into idolatry. 

Prior to their first battle, Jesus appears to Joshua as the Commander of the Army of the Lord, with the angels; He was going to fight on behalf of Israel.   The first battle was set for Jericho.  The people were instructed to walk around Jericho for six days, blowing trumpets.  On the seventh day they were to walk around seven times.  At the end of the seventh march on the seventh day, the people shouted and the walls collapsed.  The Israelites entered from every side and the city was conquered.   

Next, Israel looked to the people of Ai.  The Israelites sent an army but were defeated by a small city.   Joshua tore his clothes and petitioned God.  God answered that the people were to blame, since they had disobeyed the covenant.  Someone had taken treasures from Jericho and kept them.  That is why the Lord did not accompany them into battle. 

At the Lord's command, lots were cast.  Achan, of the tribe of Judah was revealed as the transgressor.  When confronted, Achan answered Joshua,

"Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

The people stoned Achan and his entire family.  Through the sin of one person, the whole nation had suffered.  After purification the Israelites defeated Ai.

Q - What in this story did God do to keep His promises?

WE NEED TO BE A PEOPLE OF GOD'S PROMISES

God the Father fulfills His promise and gives to His people the land of Canaan, just as He had promised to Abraham.  How the people experienced the promises:

- Preceded by the spirit - The spirit prepared the way by changing Rahab's heart to protect the spies as they entered to investigate.  Caused the people's heart to melt in fear.

- Victory provided by Jesus in battles.

Q - What does this OT story foreshadow for us as Christians? 

Jeremiah 31:31-34

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

God's Promises Fulfilled:

  • God has called us and ushered us into the Kingdom of God. God has given us the Spirit.
    • Many of us still operate under a "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho..." mentality.
    •  
      • We trust what we can see...
    • Just like in Jericho, Jesus defeats our enemies sin and death. 
    • God fulfilled the covenant when we could not.

Call to Kaleo: Identity as a people that trust in the promises of God.  We have the advantage of looking back. Yet, like Israel, we fall away to see the created not the creator. 

TO-DO: Memorize different promises of God and share these with those in need. 

Case Study: Financial Difficulty

Other Eg.  If someone is discouraged:

- Deuteronomy 31:8 - "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

- Psalm 50:15 - "and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

How do we respond to God's promises?  When the people experienced God's plan they responded by renewing their covenant. 

a. Circumcision - Designating they are God's people.

b. Passover - Remembering they are redeemed by God and saved by grace.  

BEING A PEOPLE LIVING IN RESPONSE TO GRACE

Kaleo wants to spiritually establish God's Kingdom in San Diego.  We are asking that God fulfills His promises to us.  We are asking that it be led by the Spirit, that the Spirit precedes us.  And we know victory only comes through Jesus Christ, who conquered sin and death.

This has been a crazy year.  It is easy not to live from a place of grace because it has been extremely difficult.  Just like in the story of where many did not make it, at Kaleo, many did not make it.  We have lost people who once called Kaleo home. Time of Struggle and Complaints:

o Not doctrinal enough

o Want to be more inspired

o I don't know the leaders well enough

o We were too structured, now not structured enough 

Lecture by CJ Mahaney on Pastoral Character & Loving People  [Perspective]

Dear Mother and Dad:

It has now been three months since I left for college. I have been remiss in writing and am very sorry for my thoughtlessness in not having written before. I will bring you up to date now, but before you read on, please sit down. You are not to read any further unless you are sitting down... Okay?

Well, then, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture and the concussion I got when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory when it caught fire shortly after my arrival, are pretty well healed now. I only spent two weeks in the hospital and now I can see almost normally and only get three headaches a day.

Fortunately the fire in the dormitory and my jump were witnessed by an attendant at the gas station near the dorm and he was the one who called the Fire Department and the ambulance. He also visited me at the hospital, and since I had nowhere to live because of the burnt-out dorm, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him. It's really a basement room, but it is cute. He is a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to get married. We haven't set the exact date yet, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show.

Yes, Mother and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents and I know you will welcome the baby and give it the same love and devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child. The reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has some minor infection which prevents us from passing our premarital blood tests and I carelessly caught it from him. This will soon clear up with the penicillin injections I am now taking daily.

I know you will welcome him into our family with open arms. He is kind and although not well educated, he is ambitious. Although he is of a different race and religion than ours, I know your expressed tolerance will not permit you to be bothered by the fact that his skin color is darker than ours. I am sure you will love him as I do.

Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or skull fracture, I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant, I am not engaged, I do not have syphillis and there is no boyfriend in my life. However, I am getting a "D" in History and an "F" in Science, and I wanted you to see these marks in the proper perspective.

Your loving daughter,
Dorothy

With a wrong perspective looking at what is wrong instead of looking to God, it is easy to get off mission.  This will get us every time since there is no perfect church.

Paul and the Corinthians

  • Church characterized by:
    • Deficiencies in doctrine and character
    • Seduced by human wisdom
    • Drifted from the centrality of Jesus and the cross
    • Division within the church (ch 5)
    • Sexually immoral to the point it is things not even tolerated by the pagans.
    • Lawsuits among members.
    • Desecrating the Lord's Table (getting drunk)
    • Misusing the gifts of the spirit.
    • Paul says their meetings do more harm than good.
  • YET. 1 Cor. 4 "I always give thanks to God for you..."
  • The difference is one of Divine Perspective.
    • Saved by grace.
    • Called by God, not own choosing.
    • We can't choose our circumstances but we can change our perspective.

We need to celebrate the evidences of grace:

  • Changed lives
  • People saved
  • People helping people in financial need
  • Over 5 years old when a majority of churches don't make it.
  • On mission

Q - How did God have the people memorialize and remember His faithfulness?  What is your 12-stone memorial? 

Q - How can Sunday truly become a celebration of what is happening through the week?

FINDING OUR IDENTITY AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD

If we are a people trusting in God's promises seeing His grace worked out it will cause us to be of one-mind and on mission.  This is critical as Kaleo's leaders are committed to the vision of being the church. We believe in the US and around the world the spirit is moving and calling us to not trust in our buildings or programs but in ordinary people, doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality. 

o Challenges: Seeing our identity as family.  

Q- Who was punished for Achan's sin?

View of our [sin] impacting the community...God says that "Israel" had sinned, not just one man. It is staggering to think that the whole nation was found guilty, and people were killed in battle, all for the sin of one man and his family.

No one's sin is ever just his business alone; it always affects others.

- You're looking at pornography

- Gossip

- Not loving, not forgiving, not patient, not generous, not fixing the sliding drawer...

Q  - Do you see your sin as damaging the whole community?

Q - Where else have we seen someone killed immediately after sinning in a new time/place.

  • Both around money/treasure. Both at the establishment of a ‘Kingdom'. Where is our treasure?

a. Finances

Call: Be part of the family, centered on grace to be on mission.

o Excitement of being in missional community.  Never felt better/more natural.

o Simple yet effective way of being the church.

o Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry as they are led by the spirit.

  • We also as leaders haven't developed them, and take responsibility for this.

o Celebrate on Sunday, Lord's Table.  Not Sunday Christians.  One of the ways to celebrate is to hear what God is doing...

Interview: Rhett Miller

Good news: Gospel reality one man's victory leads to forgiveness for all...Through one man's perfection victory for all.  Romans 5:12,15-19 Adam being Sin for all.  All in Christ now.

12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned- 15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

 18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Entering God's Promises:

1. God has called us into the Kingdom of God to be His people.  We can trust His promises. 

2. The Spirit is within us.

3. Jesus fulfilled the covenant and has provided victory for all.

My prayer is that we would trust these promises, be a grace-renewal community on mission to the world.

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