Commander

Josh 5:14a "So He said, 'No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.' And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped...".

Joshua was near Jericho and he spotted a Guy in the distance. This Guy was ready for battle with His sword drawn. Now Joshua was no wimp. God had told him not to be afraid and he wasn't. He boldly went up to this Guy and asked a pointed question: "Are You for us or against us?" Joshua wanted to know if this Guy was going to oppose them or was He going to fight with the children of Israel? I am guessing that if this Guy said that He was going to fight for the other side, Joshua may have had an issue with that and who knows what he would do…maybe take Him on right there…right then.

This Guy's response: "I am the Commander of the army of the Lord and I have come." The word for Commander means prince, captain, chief, and get this: "Ruler of rulers". This was no ordinary guy. This was no human warrior. This was One who was in charge of all of the armies of heaven who ruled over all. And Joshua was looking at Him face to face. Joshua's response? Worship. He fell on his face and did something that only God deserves. I am sure that Joshua remembered the commandments that God gave to Moses: "You shall have no other gods before Me."…so what was he doing worshiping this Commander? He was worshiping God. He was worshiping the visible God. He was worshiping God who appeared in the flesh. He was worshiping Jesus. And Jesus came.

Nothing has changed. Jesus is the Commander of all of the armies of heaven. Jesus is the Ruler of rulers…and Jesus alone deserves our worship because He is God. The thing is, the Commander of the armies of heaven came to deliver Joshua and the children of Israel, and He has come to deliver us. Like I said, nothing has changed. This blows me away. The Commander of the armies of heaven, the Ruler of rulers came. He came to earth. My wife and I just read it last night. He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself of no reputation and took on Himself the form of a servant and He humbled Himself and became obedient and died on a cross. Unreal. The Commander of the armies of heaven came. The One who alone deserves our worship came. The One we should fall on our faces in front of came…and walked with men, and talked with men, and taught men, and laughed with men, and cried with men, and encouraged men and died for mankind.

He needs to command my life and I need to worship Him. Nothing has changed.

A Pile of Rocks

Josh 4:21,22,24 "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones' then you shall let you children know saying, 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land'...that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever."

What are we doing, as Dad's, that make our kids ask questions about our faith?

God had a plan for Joshua to share with the people…build an altar of twelve stones. I am sure that these stones were not little pebbles that twelve guys from each tribe picked up and placed in a pile. They were big rocks that they had to put on their shoulders to carry. It is not indicated how the rocks were arranged, but I think that Joshua set them up to look like a pyramid, because he "set up" these rocks. They were to be a reminder. They were to be a testimony. They were to be a prompter of questions. The questions would come from the kids who were not yet born. When they saw the pile of rocks they would ask the question: "What are these stones?" The answer: "God worked…". The result of the answer: "All the people of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever." Dad's prompting their kid's to ask questions. The answer to the question brings the reality of God into children's lives and has far reaching consequences throughout the entire earth.

I wonder what happened to that pile of rocks? I wonder if the children's questions eventually stopped? I wonder how this affected our world?

Back to my original question: What are we doing, as Dad's, that make our kids ask questions about our faith? Are we setting up any pillars? Do we have any signposts? Is there anything that we are doing or that we have done where our kids look and say: "Why?"

This is a challenge to me: When God works, establish a memorial. When I see the mighty hand of God at work, create something. It might be a pile of rocks. It might be a tree that is planted. It might be a plaque that is put up. It might be a letter that is written. The point: When God works, do something visible so that my kids and my grandkids can ask: "Why did you do that?" When they ask, I can tell them the about the mighty hand of God so they can tell their kids and they can tell their kids…so the world will know.

Get Ready

Josh 3:5 "And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'"

This was it. This is what these people had waited for. This is what they had anticipated for forty years.

As a kid I loved Christmas Eve. I still do. Christmas Eve you have all this pent up anticipation. You know that your Mom and Dad have spent the last month or more getting ready for this day. You know that the next day is going to be special because of the gifts or the meal or family. (And that is just what we have made it. The anticipation really should be because Jesus came that day and it began a new chapter in God's deliverance for all of us.) So, Christmas Eve you can barely sleep even though your parents tell you to go to bed.

Just think of the pent up emotion all of these people had. These were the children of those who originally left Egypt. They had been in the wilderness for forty years. They saw miracles. They saw war. They saw Moses meet with God. They received the word of God. And now? Now they were going to finally get to the place that God had promised them. And what were they going to do to get ready to go in? Sanctify themselves. Consecrate themselves. Dedicate themselves. Be set apart. Why? Because God was there. Because God was at work. Because God was going to do wonderful, marvelous, extraordinary things…tomorrow. Talk about Christmas Eve! How could they sleep? How could they endure the excitement? And the way that they got ready was making sure that they were holy.

What do I expect God to do tomorrow? What do I anticipate that God will do in the near future? Whatever it is, I need to get ready. And the way that I get ready is to do something now…be sanctified. Be set apart. Be holy. Be dedicated. Live my life completely and totally dedicated to God, and then watch Him work. When this happens, I will be able to walk into the promised land of His work. He will do unbelievable, extraordinary, mighty things and I will get to be a part of it. Do I believe it? Do I expect it? Do I anticipate it? It will show in how I live my life now.

Am I ready?

Hearing Things

Josh 2:11 "And as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath."

Isn't it weird, but sometimes when you hear certain things, it impacts you emotionally? Just look at the stock market. That whole thing is driven by what people hear and emotion. If people hear that things are crashing in Europe, the stock market in the U.S. takes a plunge. Why? Because what people hear makes them cautious. It instills fear in them so that they pull their money out before everyone pulls their money out and they lose a ton.

The people in Jericho heard things and it impacted them emotionally. What did they hear? They heard about the Red Sea incident and how God had parted it and killed the Egyptian army. They heard about what the children of Israel did to Sihon the king of the Amorites and Og the king of Bashan. Those two guys were dumb and they thought that they could confront and do battle with the Israelites. They found out that this was not a wise decision when they and their people died and the children of Israel took possession of their land. (Num 21). When the people in Jericho heard about these things their hearts melted. They dissolved. They wasted away. They grew fearful and lost any courage that they may have had. This came about as a result of what they heard. This came about because of what God did for Israel. This came about because the people of Jericho understood that it was the "Lord your God, (that) He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath."

I wonder why people's hearts don't melt today? Probably because they are not hearing things. They are not hearing about the amazing things that God is doing. Rumors are not flying around about the power of God. And because of this, they are not realizing that "He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." Why aren't they hearing about it? Probably because we who are experiencing it are not opening our mouths and telling it. Oh, we don't have Red Seas and we don't have defeated kings, but we do have changed lives. We do have restored relationships. We do see some people that God heals in amazing ways. And we do have the miracle of miracles…a resurrected Savior. Why don't we talk about this? Why don't I talk about this? God give us courage to open our mouths so others lose theirs.

When we do, people will hear and know that "He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath."

 

First things First

Josh 1:9,10 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Joshua was getting ready to go in and take the land. God had promised Moses and the children of Israel that they were going to possess everything that they walked on, from the wilderness to the Euphrates to the Great Sea to the going down of the sun. How in the world were they going to do that? Meditate on God's word and obey it. How were they going to defeat the people that the spies saw in the land who were huge? Meditate on God's word and obey it.

I am sure that the temptation was to take their eye off the word of God and look at the massive task ahead of them. I am sure that they were tempted to not spend time in the word and just work. I mean, they had a ton of work ahead of them. They had enemies to defeat. They had land to take. They had houses and businesses to build. Meditate on the Book of the Law? Spend time chewing on God's word? Who has time for that? There is too much to do. Yet God's direct communication to Joshua was this: Meditate on the Law of God. Obey the Law of God. Get your priorities straight. "For then…". This is cause and effect. This is putting the cart before the horse. This is doing things right. Meditate on God's word. Muse over it. Concentrate on it. Think about it. Don't let it go. But beyond that, when you know what it says to do something, do it. Then the property will come. Then prosperity will come. The word for prosperous also means progress. You will see growth. You will see movement in people's lives. You will see God at work. And then you will have success. The word for success actually means "prudence, insight, wisdom". Just make sure you have your priorities straight…the Word of God first, then property…progress…wisdom.

And when that happens, you will not need to fear. Just be strong and courageous. Trust God. He will do it because He is with you.

So, how do I possess the land? How do I defeat my enemies? How do I help lead people? How do I gain wisdom? How do I raise a godly family? How do I educate my kids? "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

God Does Not Stutter

Ex 40: 19,21,23,25,27,29 "as the LORD had commanded Moses."

Kind of an interesting address for a part of a verse. This make me think of two things. First, God had communicated clearly to Moses. He told him what needed to be done and how to do it. There was no question. There was no hesitance. There was no doubt on the part of Moses. God did not stutter. He specifically told Moses what He wanted.

I love this…the fact that God communicates with man. I don't just love it, I am astounded by it. That God, that Jehovah, that the LORD, that the One who made everything, who controls everything, who oversees everything, who had no beginning and no end, who is the Alpha and the Omega, that this God would even stoop to talk to a man. But He did and He still does. And the thing is, He still does not stutter. He continues to make His ways and His desires clear to us. In Moses' day, it was face to face. That would just blow me away. "Now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son." Heb 1:2 Jesus came to talk to us, to meet with us, to communicate with us, to show us the Father. And then look at this: "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." John 16:13 Here is part of the Godhead who is speaking, who is telling, who is communicating. God talking to us. And then this: "For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe." I Thes. 2:13 God still speaks through His Son, through the Holy Spirit and through the Word of God…and He does not stutter. If I let Him, He will clearly reveal to me what He wants. I just have to spend time with Him and listen.

And then this: Moses responded. God gave Moses specific plans on how to build the tabernacle and Moses did it exactly the way God commanded. This was not an option. Moses didn't say to God: "I don't like where you put the altar, let's move it over here." There were no design options for Moses. He did it exactly the way God told him to do it.

When God clearly speaks, when He clearly directs, when there is no hesitance, when there is no doubt, when God speaks with specificity we/I better do exactly what He says. I need to remember that He is God…I am not…and he does not stutter.

 

Partnering

Ex 38:22,23 "Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that that Lord had commanded Moses. And with him was Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer, a weaver of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine linen."

I have never realized it before, but there is a ton of information in the book of Exodus about leadership and teamwork. This verse is just an example. God told Moses to grab a skilled guy, Bezalel, and put him in charge of putting the tabernacle together. Now Bezalel had a great heritage. He was the grandson of Hur. Remember Hur? When Moses went on the mountain the original time, he told the people that they had Aaron and Hur to lead them. Obviously, Hur was a leader and his grandson got to see that.

Not only that, but this guy had unbelievable talent. Just look at all that he did, all the intricate work that he handled. God had given him the wisdom to figure out how all of this would work together. The measurements, the chemistry of it all, melting of gold and silver and bronze and layering it on acacia wood and making all of the items that needed to be made. It was an unbelievable task, but Bezalel was up to it because God had given him the ability.

But look at this, even though Bezalel was more than competent to do this work, he did not do it alone. "And with him was Aholiab…". Bezalel needed a partner. He needed a guy who also had skill who could come along side and encourage, and help, and work. His man was Aholiab who was a skilled engraver and designer and weaver. Where Bezalel may have been weak, Aholiab was strong. And where Aholiab was weak, Bezalel was strong. They fed off one another.

As I think about this, partnering is huge. Any time anything significant is done, it is not done by one guy. That guy or that woman has a partner. Someone who can come along side and encourage and help and work. Many times you don't know about that partner. Many times it is the "silent partner", but their presence is vital. If Steve Jobs did not meet Steve Wozniak, Apple computers would probably not be in existence. D.L. Moody had Ira Sankey. The Wright brothers had each other. Thomas Edison had a business partner but no one knows his name. Does anyone know who Melissa Moore Fitzpatrick is? (Beth Moore's research assistant.) Paul had Barnabas…and Silas…and Timothy. It is starting to sink into this thick head of mine. We need each other. We need someone who comes along and helps us in work and in ministry…frankly, in life.

I am thankful for many who have partnered with me. My wife is the best you could get. She is the one who encourages, and helps, and corrects. She is absolutely my best partner. I am thankful for guys who have been with me, it seems, forever. In leading worship it has been Terry McCann. There is no way I could do what is done without this guy. He is an unbelievable talent. He arranges, and changes keys and leads the band…and he is a friend who holds my feet to the fire. In ministry it is the guys I work with as elders. Randy, and Dave, and now Todd. These guys keep me in line and I know that they have my back…and I am thankful.

Moses and Bezalel and Aholiab teach us this…there are no lone rangers. We need each other. When we partner, watch what God does.