The Book of Joshua - If/Then
There are 2 types of people in the world. Those who follow the instructions when assembling something and those who put that something together the way they think they should, then end up with extra parts left over.
Here’s your recap of where we are in the Book of Joshua.
So, what do we do with this? It’s easy for us to have an incomplete picture and not understand the lesson right away.
Have you ever been out to eat and the wait staff took your order without writing anything down? They probably get part of it right, but will they always get 100% of the details as correct as if they wrote it down?
We might say and pray things to accomplish a self-created goal, but the notion that God made the sun stand still so we could defeat our enemies is more complicated than that. If we think of it with ourselves in mind, it makes us more self-focused than God-focused. We can’t use God like that. If we do, we will be disappointed or start to feel doubtful when God doesn’t seem to do what we want Him to do in the way we think He should.
God will go before us in power if we submit ourselves to both hearing and fully carrying out His will.
We know God’s love for us is unconditional, but His promises to us are absolutely conditional.
God commanded the Israelites to be strong and courageous and take all of the land and purge the Canaanites from it. The Israelites are told that if they do that, the promise can be claimed.
So, how do we live out the Old Testament in our 21st-century lives?
Seek the Lord from the Beginning
The problems we see in the Book of Joshua arose because the people didn’t seek the Lord first, or they didn’t follow His will completely. The same can be said for our problems. Gilgal is the place of God’s presence – they go out of it but then return to it.
If You’re Obedient to the “If”, God will be faithful with the “Then”
We all love it when God makes a promise. We are like children when it comes to that. But very often there’s an “if” to the promise. We often try to claim promises like “God gives us the desires of our heart” with that part emphasized, but we forget about the first part.
Psalm 37
4 Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Most of our desires have good roots, but this doesn’t start with our desires. It begins with our obedience.
Where in your life is there a desire of your heart that needs to become a delight for God’s will?
Show up to the battle
Joshua 10
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.
There’s a dynamic pattern where God promises something, they do something, God does something bigger, they do another thing, and then God follows that up with doing another thing. God fought, but God also expected Joshua to fight.
God doesn’t want you sitting on the sidelines waiting for Him to fight battles you should fight.
He always calls us to join Him in His work, even when that work is within us.
Is there a place in your life where there’s a battle God can and will win, but He’s asking you to join Him in the fight?
God Will be Mighty in the Fight, and Because of This, We Can Pray Audacious Prayers
Joshua 10
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 its enemies,
God’s fight aligns with His Word and His ways. It’s about more than you can “ask or imagine.”
Ephesians 3
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Stay Faithful to the Finish
After all the kings and cities in the south and north of Cannan have been defeated, we land here:
Joshua 11
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.
There were many places that probably seemed like a good place to stop – after a great victory. There were other places that felt like they needed to stop – when things got hard or didn’t make sense.
So, are you finishing the work God has called you to?
God’s work might not seem like a mighty thing, but it’s a faithful thing.
God sees you, and more than seeing you, He’s at work. God sees your faithfulness to the “if.” He asks you to keep fighting, but He’s fighting with you. Stay faithful to the “if” of God’s promise, and because of that, you can trust Him with the “then.”
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons and Season 2 of our podcast, LHC Unplugged!
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram.
Here’s your recap of where we are in the Book of Joshua.
- The King of Jerusalem (Adoni-Zedek) puts two and two together.
- The Gibeonites made a treaty because they saw the Lord was with the Israelites, not because they were weak.
- The 5 kings attack Gibeon, not Israel.
- The entire army of Israel musters out from Gilgal, which serves as a home base for God’s presence.
- God gives them a promise of success.
- The Israelites keep their word.
- Joshua and the army march all night. When they attack the 5 kings, their armies get confused and flee.
- The sun stands still. God extends the day so that the work He has given them to do will be completed.
- The aftermath includes the 5 kings trapped in a cave and Joshua bringing them out and putting them to death.
- Israel conquers the rest of the region.
So, what do we do with this? It’s easy for us to have an incomplete picture and not understand the lesson right away.
Have you ever been out to eat and the wait staff took your order without writing anything down? They probably get part of it right, but will they always get 100% of the details as correct as if they wrote it down?
We might say and pray things to accomplish a self-created goal, but the notion that God made the sun stand still so we could defeat our enemies is more complicated than that. If we think of it with ourselves in mind, it makes us more self-focused than God-focused. We can’t use God like that. If we do, we will be disappointed or start to feel doubtful when God doesn’t seem to do what we want Him to do in the way we think He should.
God will go before us in power if we submit ourselves to both hearing and fully carrying out His will.
We know God’s love for us is unconditional, but His promises to us are absolutely conditional.
God commanded the Israelites to be strong and courageous and take all of the land and purge the Canaanites from it. The Israelites are told that if they do that, the promise can be claimed.
So, how do we live out the Old Testament in our 21st-century lives?
Seek the Lord from the Beginning
The problems we see in the Book of Joshua arose because the people didn’t seek the Lord first, or they didn’t follow His will completely. The same can be said for our problems. Gilgal is the place of God’s presence – they go out of it but then return to it.
If You’re Obedient to the “If”, God will be faithful with the “Then”
We all love it when God makes a promise. We are like children when it comes to that. But very often there’s an “if” to the promise. We often try to claim promises like “God gives us the desires of our heart” with that part emphasized, but we forget about the first part.
Psalm 37
4 Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Most of our desires have good roots, but this doesn’t start with our desires. It begins with our obedience.
- Wait on the Lord – He will renew your strength.
- If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just.
- Being content is doing all things through God’s strength.
- Trust in the Lord, and He will make your paths straight.
- Do not conform, instead be transformed.
Where in your life is there a desire of your heart that needs to become a delight for God’s will?
Show up to the battle
Joshua 10
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.
There’s a dynamic pattern where God promises something, they do something, God does something bigger, they do another thing, and then God follows that up with doing another thing. God fought, but God also expected Joshua to fight.
God doesn’t want you sitting on the sidelines waiting for Him to fight battles you should fight.
He always calls us to join Him in His work, even when that work is within us.
Is there a place in your life where there’s a battle God can and will win, but He’s asking you to join Him in the fight?
God Will be Mighty in the Fight, and Because of This, We Can Pray Audacious Prayers
Joshua 10
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 its enemies,
God’s fight aligns with His Word and His ways. It’s about more than you can “ask or imagine.”
Ephesians 3
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Stay Faithful to the Finish
After all the kings and cities in the south and north of Cannan have been defeated, we land here:
Joshua 11
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.
There were many places that probably seemed like a good place to stop – after a great victory. There were other places that felt like they needed to stop – when things got hard or didn’t make sense.
So, are you finishing the work God has called you to?
God’s work might not seem like a mighty thing, but it’s a faithful thing.
- Your marriage, your kids, your neighbors, your aging parents, the way you keep loving when it feels like everything is crumbling.
- The ministry God has called you to that it seems like no one notices. The way you keep serving, and you’re not sure it makes a difference.
- The place where you’re showing up, and it seems like no one else is.
- The thing that you keep doing in the face of overwhelming odds – it feels like a match lit in a hurricane.
- The prayers you keep praying seem to make no difference.
- The battle you’re fighting every day in your mind. Against fear, anxiety, cynicism, bitterness, apathy.
God sees you, and more than seeing you, He’s at work. God sees your faithfulness to the “if.” He asks you to keep fighting, but He’s fighting with you. Stay faithful to the “if” of God’s promise, and because of that, you can trust Him with the “then.”
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons and Season 2 of our podcast, LHC Unplugged!
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram.
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