crescent

Joshua 1 & 2 highlight the initial battles for the conquest of the Promised Land. The first section is a glimpse of the extent of this kingdom: including the Hittites and the River Euphrates. The entire fertile crescent was to belong to the Israelites.

The fertile crescent today is largely controled by the nations that practice Islam such as Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Iran. These are the nations of Ishmael, the turned out firstborn son of Abraham with the Egyptian concubine servant Hagar. This family had enjoyed centuries of semi-peace through war. But now their history was to come to a close. Powerful nations trembled, rose up, bargained, battled and lost. 

War is a brutal thing, especially when the goal is total elimination of the enemy. The reality is that the Israelites grew tired of the battles and pushed only so far as was convenient for all the people to have room for their own families. Israel never finished God's plan for their land. 

How history would have been different without the bitter, warring peoples who were left in the lands God wanted for Israel! How our world today would be different, but sadly it is not.

Herein is the key lesson from this review: When God sees something that will become a trap or limiter of our soul He speaks up and asks us to eliminate that something. Kill the destroyer! Why? Because it will limit our peace, our shalom, our life with God. 

So what to make of the hard sayings in Scripture? The ones that tell people, "No, you can't do that." You follow them. Or, like the Israelites, live compromised, at war, vulnerable and ultimately die separate from the relationship with God. Follow them and live.

honor

honor

Moses knew about honor. Or thought he did.

The Israelites grumbled a second time about their thirst. Moses and the Lord had always provided before. It is too bad that this people didn't develop the habit of making their needs known to the Lord directly. He always heard them anyway!

As we tell our grumbling kids "Words work, and clear words work best." 

God changed the instructions to Moses (in Aaron's hearing) by instructing to speak to the rock, not strike the rock as he had done before. We don't know why Moses chose to strike the rock twice. But it was a fatal mistake.

God was clear about two things: He wasn't about to appear weak or powerless, so the water gushed from the rock and all were watered. And second, He wasn't going to let Moses and Aaron off the hook for their disobedience. His honor was at stake and He called them on it. Neither would see the Promised Land under their feet. They would die with the others who disobeyed earlier.

This may seem stiff, unyielding, and arbitrary from our viewpoint. What about grace? Forgiveness?  

But what about the public disobedience of Moses and Aaron? Would the lifegiving words of the Lord have the same directive, absolute power to guide if they could be flouted by the most worthy of all? What about those down the ages who would claim 99.99% pure like Moses and should be considered as the Savior? No, to honor God meant to completely follow His revealed Word. All of it.

This single minded vision of obedience is what is so unnerving to those who would seek to take the moral high ground in social debates. We do not claim to be infallible, nor do we claim to know everything. The only claim we can make is that the Lord has spoken and we have heard it. To honor our Lord is to follow what we have heard and not vere to the right or the left. 

This is also unnerving to us, because we know that we fail to follow everyday. And that is why we glory in a Savior who was perfect, heard unerringly, and followed the honor of the Word to the cross. 

So, who, or what are you honnoring with your life today?

rookie

rookie

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure Joshua hears it...'" Ex. 17:14
"Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide" Ex. 24:13
"but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent." Ex. 33:11

Where does one start?

I'm a big football fan, but I do not like the buildup of the new guys to the NFL: the rookies.

They proved to be good in the amateur level of college football. They are hyped as the next wonder to play the game. Rookies are watched, feted, and have some cash for the first time in their life. Their character is tested after the victories but before the real games begin.

Rookies. Potential. The "could" and the "ought" collide in an untested person. What a set up for failure.

Perhaps that is why Joshua drew my attention today. A little phrase sparked interest: "But his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent." Ex. 33:11 Was that the first time Joshua is noted in the Bible account? No, Joshua was present when Moses first went up the mountain to receive the Law, and he was part of a battle that preceded the encampment at Mt. Sinai. What we see in these three glimpses is the molding of Joshua to be the warrior-priest the LORD needed when the people entered Canaan.

The Amalekite people witnessed a living horde entering their land. A warlike people, jealous to retain their land, they amassed to push back this hated band of Isaacites. Slaves like these should be easy to defeat was their rationale.

Instead, Moses tells the rookie Joshua to gather a small army and go against the Amalekites. Moses will stand overlooking the battle with arms lifting the staff of God's wonders over the battlefield. The battle is won, but only as the Lord intervenes when the staff is raised. It takes Aaron and Hur holding the arms of Moses to make it all the way to the end of the battle, but the battle is won and "Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword." Ex. 17:13

And this is the first glimpse of the molding of Joshua. The rookie is showing his potential: leadership, organizational skills, determination. He is also showing his skills: swordsmanship, battle tactics, survivability. Is he ready?

The Lord thinks not, because the key to this battle was not on the field but on that mountaintop. "The Lord said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure Joshua hears it because I will completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.'" Ex. 17:14. The rookies shows potential but needs to be groomed.

Can you imagine the conversation?
"Way to go, Joshua!!! You da man!!! We got this made!!!"
"Um, no. We saw this one start to finish, Joshua. Listen to what really happened. You fought the battle in the valley, but only won when the Lord was lifted high by the elders on the mountain. We don't know what really happened that we cannot see, but we do know that whenever we faltered, so did the army."

What did Joshua do with this information? He believed it. Then he wanted to be in on that knowledge, on that wisdom, on that God who fights for His friends through unseen arms.

Joshua become the young aide who stays with Moses. He apprentices, faithfully.

The second glimpse is the trip up Mt. Sinai for the first time. Moses is going to meet with the Lord face to face. The people are terrified of the smoke and flame and beg Moses to go alone to speak with this Deity. Joshua has been through battle with Moses before and goes willingly with Moses to a point. Then he waits.

Moses spends weeks with the Lord. The people get bored and pressure the priest Aaron to fashion a gold god for worship. And where is Joshua? He's still on the mountain, and we know this because he doesn't know what the noise is when Moses and he return. Is it battle we hear? (Joshua is only drawing from personal experience here.) No, says Moses, it is singing. Instead of mindful waiting the people are partying.

The rookie learns to wait on the Lord for instruction, else the wrath of God may come on the presumptuous.

The third and final glimpse of Joshua is the one that caught my attention. Moses set up a tent well outside the borders of the camp. There he met with the Lord, who showed his presence with the pillar of smoke by day, fire by night. Moses would consult with the Lord for a time, then return with what he learned to teach the Israelites.

What do we find Joshua doing?

Staying, waiting, more listening, more contemplating at the door of the tent of meeting. Joshua stayed at that door until the cloud or the fire lifted. He showed that he wanted to hear the entire Word of God until there was nothing left to hear. The fire would rise, the smoke would clear, the tent would be silent, Moses' voice would filter over the barren waste to Joshua's ears but he had already heard these words. Joshua was letting the words do their work on his soul. This was the hard work of discipleship, sanctification, life change, or spiritual growth. This time was the maturation of a man of God.

Moses had his bush and his trials by fire in front of Pharaoh.
Joshua had Moses and the Lord.

The rookie's preparation is almost complete.

Joshua was chosen to spy out the land of Canaan as the representative of his tribe. It is no wonder that he and his friend Caleb returned with the report that "Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14:9

The people, sadly, reject Joshua's advice and instead wallow in their doubt. The Lord decides to grant them their stated wishes: Joshua and Caleb will enter the Promised Land, the rest of them will die in the wilderness. Forty years later Joshua assumes the mantle of leadership from Moses and leads a young, prepared, discipled and disciplined force into Canaan.

What should we take from this study?

Our sons and daughters may be very talented, promising perhaps, but what is tempering their soul? What is testing their worldview? What is challenging them to depend on when the world goes crazy? We should make it a goal to let that challenge come from the Word and example of Joshua. Analyze, listen, attempt, and grow to have a soul that views the world from the mountaintop, as the Lord sees it.

Then they, we, will be ready for the battles ahead.

firstborn

The arrival of the angel of death was the fulfillment of God's fatal promise to Pharaoh. "Let my people go" the Lord warned through Moses and Aaron. "Or else."

The other plagues were confounding. Could they happen without divine intervention? I've read that they could flow from one to the next based on natural occurrences. However, the final one, the selective death of the firstborn, was clearly supernatural.

Think about the firstborn. Books have been written about the firstborn. First borns are known for leadership, vision, courage, being headstrong, successful, and independent. These were the people stripped from the fabric of Egyptian society. Yes, there were other birth orders that infiltrated the ranks of managers, captains and officials.  But most probably they were not the front runners in the crisis management ops manual.

In fact, it is interesting to question "Why didn't Pharaoh die? Was he not considered the firstborn?"

What was left was Pharaoh as single leader and sole voice of the hordes of Egyptians. Most of those he could have listened to were dead. The ones left probably were workers and appeasers stung by the loss of their older siblings. "Do something!" Pharaoh responded with what he knew best: his army.

In the end, not only did Pharaoh lose the firstborns of his country, he lost his weapon too. The army's defeat was total, including their armament. It would take decades to recover from this disaster. In the meantime Israel was able to enter the Promised Land and flourish as the People of God.

If you are a firstborn take heed at the important place you have in the Kingdom. In ancient society you received a double portion of the inheritance. You were the first to receive the blessing from the dying father. You were the one entrusted with the workings of the family business. You were called on to be the protector of the family, the nurturer of the elderly, the haven of rest, the one to provide order and guide the success of  the family. It was a heavy burden that was carried quietly. It was assumed.

How can someone achieve all of this burden? Only with the presence and power of the Lord who saves. The Lord who orders the death angel to pass over... the sprinkled doorposts. The Lord who speaks, empowers and leads.

Are your doorposts sprinkled, figuratively, with the blood of the passover Lamb? That Lamb has a name, and it is Jesus who is the Christ. Apply the blood, learn from his wisdom, apply his leadership and your home will be a haven of life for all who abide within.

donkey

donkey

Genesis 16: 11, 12

The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“you are now with child

and you will have a son.

You shall name him Ishmael,

for the Lord has heard of your misery.

He will be a wild donkey of a man;

his hand will be against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

Oh, Hagar! First you are ripped from your Egyptian family and bound to a rich vagrant. Then after serving faithfully and well you discovered that your exaltation to become the Master’s concubine for the purpose of mothering an heir has become a nightmare. Your haughty attitude came from the quick insemination from the elderly Abram, while his long suffering wife remained barren. Sarai’s understandable angst turned against you and here you are: fleeing, angry and scared. 

Did the angel of the Lord give you a vision of the hordes of people who would point to you and Abram as the fountainhead of their people? Did you connect the promise in verse 10 “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.” to the term hostility? 

What was going through your soul at that moment? What did you see, hear, feel or believe?

What we do know is that the attitude and thinking you entered this encounter with endured in your son and his descendants. And yes, they are numerous on the earth. They have always been more numerous than the descendants of Isaac, Abram’s son by Sarai (later Sarah). For those sons are known crudely as Arabs, and most follow the religion of Mohammed today. To this day the common dialogue is the same as that uttered in this fateful description of the child, Ishmael.

• Oppressed, miserable, at a disadvantage because of the people of Isaac.
• Wild and donkey-like: obstinate and strong, self willed and clannish.
• His hand will be against everyone: not just Abraham, Isaac and their line… everyone.
• Everyone’s hand against him: this is a conflict that must be resisted, and will be resisted.
• He will live in hostility toward all his brothers: this child and his offspring will never value shalom.

Never.

Mohammed simply codified the angel’s pronouncement and added regulations to make it work. Then by conquest and dominion sought to establish what was believed to be a birthright. 

Ishmael, firstborn, rejected because he was not a purebred child of the promise, sired a people with the same attitude as he grew up with. In the ancient world birth order meant something important: double portion of the estate, control of the family business at the right time, authority that was second only to the master of the house and the blessing of the patriarch. Ishmael, the unchosen one, was excluded from all of this. Ejected from the family because of his arrogant, haughty and threatening behavior he worked his life and built his line on his own with a huge chip on his shoulder. A chip so huge the splinters remain on a billion shoulders to this day.

So what are we to make of this? Especially today, with the decedents of Ishmael convulsing the peoples once again?

1. Do not be dismayed, as the Lord God has protected his people so he will do so now.Though some may die at the hands of Ishmael's seed, the Remnant will remain.
2. Be aware of the language of victimhood, and the passive resignation to battle that stems from it. It is fuel for the hostility and anger.
3. Do not be amazed at the brutality or universal nature of the hostility. No one on earth is spared this constant barrage of mistrust, aggression or attack.
4. Salvation is open to all, as evidenced by the many of Ishmael’s line who have come to understand, trust and follow Jesus as Messiah of the world. Acceptance and shalom only come through Him.

naked

naked

Genesis 3:7 & 10

• Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made covering for themselves.”
• Genesis 3:10 “He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.””
• Naked: Adam and Eve had no coverings when they were created. It was no big deal. 
• Naked: Adam and Eve had nothing between them and the still small voice of God either. They existed in total openness to the Creator.
• Until they were introduced to the knowledge of good and evil.
• Welcome to the dawn of mental illness!
• Self doubt, paranoia, a vague sense of dis-ease with the natural order of the world, that began to manifest itself by odd behaviors that interfere with the very source of restoration: God. 
• Adam and Eve hid their nakedness behind makeshift coverings.
• Adam and Eve hid their whole bodies from God.
• This has been passed down through the ages from parent to child. 
• It is why thoughtful people still have an issue with nakedness, there is a knowledge that somehow there is an evil attached with total exposure that needs to be hid. 
• It is also why those who thrust their nakedness on others are not liberated from that knowledge, but instead emulating the serpent in declaring “Did God really say you will die?” if you gaze on my naked frame?
• God’s original Creation was that Adam and Eve, and all Creation, should not have coverings or shame. God intended that his Creation should be open, honest and avoid the temptations associated with the lingering glance at nakedness. 
• But because of Adam and Eve’s introduction of what is “good and evil” into the human psyche people are trapped in the endless debates about morality and mores. People are bent toward suspicion and aggression. People have rejected God's order and find there is no order in their own crooked thinking. 
• People are naked, they know it, and they don’t like it. All because the knowledge of good and evil was introduced.
• And so what to do with this revelation?
• 1. Recognize our inbred tendency to hide. Even when we are not wrong!
• 2. Understand our desire to be known fully.
• 3. Seek diligently the truth of God that helps us come to think and live in shalom with God.
• 4. Learn to relate to others in ways that help them to shalom with God and themselves.
• We cannot recreate the pre-Fall Garden of Eden state simply by taking our clothes off. But we can come to peace with our broken natures and world through the freedom given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus. Then we are set right with God, and can begin to be set right with one another.
• Until He comes again and sets all things new, we have this covering for our nakedness: His blood and body broken for you for the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of the relationship between God and man.

Tom

A young man stopped me in the waiting room of an ACT. Let's call him Tom, though I don't really know his name at all. But he knew mine because of the name tag I wear as a representative of my company. 

Tom is mentally ill, he said so. He was aggressive and interested. He was open and inquisitive. He probably had a lot of pain in his past, present. His future was uncertain. 

He wanted to know about his medicines.

He wanted to know why he wasn't getting better.

He wanted to connect with someone who could negotiate the future. 

He probably would reject such a person because they would abandon him in frustration... just like so many before.

He asked for my phone number so we could talk. I refused and referred him back to the "proper authorities". 

Did I break any of man's laws? No. 

Did I break any holy laws? Yes. 

Tom was clearly "lost" and in need of a guide. He was asking for help. A different kind of help than the agency could offer. But would he get it? 

Unfortunately, not from me. I can pray for him, but I cannot be his mentor due to time and distance. But I can pray for Tom. That the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, would descend upon his soul and bring life to his tortured soul, and mind.