August 2022

The prince of this world (Eph 2.2) continues to constantly seek whom he may devour (1 Pet 5.8).  It is more often than not in really noticeable ways, but rather in underhanded and from afar.  God had shown the children of Israel great things.  He gave them great victories.  He had shown them the consequences lack of faith and trust and their disobedience.

The children of Israel did not learn their lessons well. Israel was marching through the Promised Land with God giving them great victories.  It was then a group of enemies disguised themselves and approached Joshua and the Israelites asking them to make a treaty with them which would allow them to live as servants of the Israelites rather than die as all around them were doing.  They deceived the leaders of Israel in what they said, how they appeared and in what they represented (Jos 9.1-13).

Joshua, a great leader of God’s people, made a mistake.  Sadly, the Bible tells us “they (Joshua and the leaders of Israel-djm) did not ask counsel of the Lord” (Jos 9.14).  `Jesus tells a parable (Lk 18.1-9) to explain the necessity of going to God in all matters.  He introduces the parable stating, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”  As He concludes the parable he explained, certain people who trusted in themselves often appearing to be righteous, but really despise others.  We must go to God in everything not losing heart, and working to constantly have the attitude God wants us to have.

As we think about the choices we make in life, are we making God and what He would have us to do the most important part of the equation?  Everyone makes a multitude of decisions every day, from the clothes we wear, to the way we communicate and have encounters with our fellow-man (2 Cor 6.14).  To be pleasing to God we must have God at the very core of all decisions.  If He is at our core, Godly decisions, and thus Godly lives become more of the norm.  God tells us His Word gives us everything we need which “pertains to life and Godliness” (2 Pet 1.3).

Making the decision to go into a covenant relationship with Gibeonites without consulting God had disastrous results for generations for God’s people.  Never forget God in every decision you make, without regard to how small the matter seems.

Matthew 5:17

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill”

Last week the article topic was one of common misconception amongst those of the religious world. How and Why are we not bound by the 10 commandments today? In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says that he came to “fulfill” the Law and the Prophets. The Old testament is comparable to a contract between God and his people. The children of Israel were to live their lives by this testament/contract. But the Old testament always pointed to a future fulfillment.

When we think about contracts and their purpose, it makes it a bit easier to understand Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law and prophets. Anytime we need a service rendered in the world today, the use of a contract is regularly utilized. The purpose of the contract is to list the works to be done and the payment agreed upon for those works. Once the agreed works of that contract have been completed, no more work can be done until a new contract is drawn up.

The Old Testament/contract was not intended for just any man to satisfy. The only one who could satisfy the requirements of the Old testament was Jesus Christ, who for our sakes became fully man and was fully God (Phil 2:6-8). Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was tempted just as we are but was found without sin. This means that Jesus was able to satisfy the requirements of the Old Law while in the flesh.

Furthermore, it wasn’t just the Law that Jesus fulfilled but also all that was spoken by the prophets concerning Him. Acts 3:18 “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” Jesus satisfied the Law and the prophets to completion.

Just as one fulfills a contract in society today, if more work needs to be done a new contract has to be drawn up. Christ signed the Old testament with HIS blood and drew up a better one (Heb 7:22). But no one throws out the old contract, they keep it for a record of work completed. We have the Old Testament today to reference the work done by God Almighty.  And so, the OT was fulfilled and the New Testament is in effect (Heb 9:15-18).

Recently, I was speaking with a brother and there was concern that some religious sects of the world believe that the churches of Christ reject the Old Testament. This was quite concerning considering that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Paul writes in Romans 15:4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

The Bible consists of 66 books, 39 of which make up the Old Testament. These 39 books are full of history, wisdom, lessons and make up the background for the New Testament. Gal 3:24-25 “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” The Law of Moses is not rejected but rather it is embraced as a tool for our learning. It is a schoolmaster (tutor) for us today.

Consider for a moment what it means to read the New Testament without the Old Testament. It’s like starting a movie halfway through. You’ll see a lot of important things, but you miss out on a lot of the connections. Of course, the message contained in the NT is able to save souls, but the vast amount of Old Testament references could bring on a lot of confusion because you’ve missed a lot of important information.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter references the prophets Joel and David. In Acts 7, Stephen preached on Israel’s history of rejection. Both sermons used accounts from the OT and concluded with Christ being magnified. The reason we study the Old Testament is not because we are bound by it, but rather it is part of Gods inspired word (2 Tim 3:16-17).

2 Tim 3:14-15 reads “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Paul tells Timothy the scriptures which he’s known since childhood are able to make him “wise for salvation”. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had not yet been written, so what scriptures were able to make Timothy wise unto Salvation? The answer is undoubtedly, the Old Testament scriptures.

The Old Testament is the background of the New Testament and contains important knowledge about Jesus. Jesus didn’t reject the Law. He fulfilled it. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No man can live out the Law of Moses perfectly except Jesus the Christ. The 10 commandments are a “mirror” for us today. It allows us to see ourselves for what we are- sinful. Paul writes “I would not have known sin except through the law^” (Rom 7:7) But we can’t wash our sin away with that “mirror”, we need the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 9:22).

God told Joshua to “Get up (Jos 7.1, 13)!”  The children of Israel lost a battle they should have easily won.  They lost the battle to a city which should have been easy to overtake.  In fact Joshua reduced the number of his attackers because the battle was to be easy.  However, someone in the camp sinned.  God told the children of Israel not to take anything from Jericho for their own personal gain.  Everything from Jericho was to be consecrated and given to God.  The battle had been His.  As the children of Israel approached the small town of Ai, their excitement could hardly be contained.  They saw the consequences for their enemies for being on the wrong side of God.  But one of them had sinned greatly and the result would be a loss for all of the people.

Upon hearing of the humiliating and devastating defeat, Joshua and other leaders fell to their faces in shame and in prayer to God.  Initially it appears as if Joshua blames God for the defeat.  Later in the prayer it becomes apparent Joshua is not worried about the nation’s glory or even his own, but is concerned about how the people and their enemies would now view the God of Israel.

God allowed Joshua and the elders to remain on their faces until the evening (7.6).  We are not told for how long these leaders were in this position of sorrow and humility.  What we do know is God was watching and eventually told them to “Get up,” sanctify the people and God would reveal the guilty party who caused this great defeat to come upon the people on the next day.  When there is “sin in the camp,” whether that sin is in our homes, or the church we must be humbled before God asking His forgiveness.  However, after a time of prayer, we must also as we repent, “Get up” and whatever we can to correct the wrong, correct the sin and move on.  Paul states “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of. but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor 7.10).  When we have sinned, we must pray to God, but then we must “Get up,” correct the wrong as best we can and move forward in a life which better reflects the light of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

As the children of Israel moved toward Jericho after crossing over the Jordan lives were changing forever (Jos 5). What had been forty years of wandering because of unfaithfulness was coming to an end as they moved into the long awaited Promised Land. As they went across the Jordan River on dry ground just as their fathers before them had crossed through the Red Sea after God took them out of Egypt, they took a stone representing each tribe from the middle of the Jordan and made a memorial for their children to remember. Each one of the males born in the wilderness was circumcised marking them as covenant people as had been commanded by God to Abraham.

The children of Israel celebrated Passover and on the day after Passover Joshua reported they ate of the produce of the land. The next day the bread, the manna God provided daily except for the Sabbath Day for almost forty years never again came to the earth. With one exception the book of Joshua is a book of new beginnings and great victories for God’s people. Victories they did not know about yet, but would soon experience were in front of them. Oh, this generation had learned a thing or two about focusing, building and maintaining a faith in the almighty God. It was a faith though they were still developing as they marched toward their first battle in Jericho.

The Bible tells us as Joshua approached that great walled-city Jericho he saw a Man with His sword drawn. Joshua asked, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” The Man answered saying, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come…Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy” (Jos 5.13-15). Upon seeing the Commander Joshua fell and worshiped Him. It is believed this appearance as the Commander of the Lord’s Army was none other than a preincarnate (fleshly) appearance of Jesus Christ. The Angel of the Lord appears many times in the Old Testament with many of the same characteristics of our Lord and Savior. But that is another thought for another time.

The lesson for us is as Christians we walk on this earth today as sanctified holy people. We are holy priests for God in a world filled with evil and darkness (1 Pet 2.5). As Christians we may know our Lord is on our side and will not leave us (Matt 11.28-29; Jn 14.1-6). We have a Captain (Heb 2.10), an Anchor (Heb 6.19), a King of kings (Rev 17.14; 19.18), a Brother (Heb 2.11), a Savior (Lk 2.11) who is not an adversary but who is on our side.