Maybe it’s my fault.

In Joshua 7, we read of a story in which the Israelites find great defeat.  At the hands of the men of Ai, they find themselves routed and chased from far their city.  For Joshua and the people of God, this event comes as a shock.  Had not God promised them victories? Were not they supposed to take full control of the land and wipe out all others? Tearing his clothes and falling facedown before the ark of the Lord, Joshua lets out a vivid lament to the Lord:

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?” (7:7-9)

Struck by defeat and confused as to why, having received such a promise, there army was so defeated, Joshua cries out to the Lord.  He questions the very motives of God. He questions the plans of God. He questions the faithfulness of God.  For Joshua, it simply makes no sense. Why would God bring them thus far, only to hand them over to their new enemies?

Joshua is then so bold as to ask God what He will possibly do for His name if the Israelites are defeated. As if without their nation, God would be rendered useless.  As if without them, God would simply have to fold his hand, call it quits in the world, have no way to show the glory of His name. And God responds:

“Stand up! What are you doing on you face?” (7:10)

God rebukes Joshua. He corrects him.  Joshua felt as though God was wronging the people by his absence.  God makes it clear that it is their sin which has caused this.  The people have broken the rules. They have taken for granted the precursor to God’s fighting on their behalf: Obedience.

Amidst Joshua’s excuses for why God has abandoned them, making the past useless, he forgets to first make sure they had been putting in the work on their end.  Being God’s people isn’t easy.  Having the Divine Warrior on your behalf is not without stipulations, primarily being obedient.

Joshua asks what God will do for His own name, and God replies by asking what Israel will do for His name.

This Michael Jordan video reminds us that work comes before success.

Joshua blames God for all that is going wrong.  He finds God at fault for not helping them through.  And it is as if God sends a message similar to this video: “Maybe it’s my fault. Or maybe… you’re just makin excuses.”

Being God’s people is not easy and was not easy from the start. The Israelites will have to repent, and continue to work at it every single day of their life if they desire success.  So also, must we all realize that the Christian life does not come from mere belief in God, but through hard work, discipline, and obedience.

“Stand up! What are you doing on your face?” Maybe it’s God’s fault that things aren’t going as He promised or that your relationship with Him is nominal.  Or maybe… you’re just making excuses. What then will you do for His great name?

Sport is sport. A rule is a rule.

At the outset of the book of Joshua, one finds God’s commissioning of this new leader.  God establishes Joshua with the leadership once held by Moses, and sets out the task for which he has been raised up: to lead the people into their inheritance of the Land of Promise.  The first chapter begins with God’s charge to Joshua to assume this new leadership.  Verse 6 offers a powerful exhortation to “Be strong and courageous” in his pursuit to bring the people into the new land.

However, in verse 7, the command is repeated.  Only this time it is strengthened.  Joshua is to be “strong and very courageous” in being careful to do according to all the law that Moses has commanded.  In verse 8, this is explained further as the Lord says that Joshua is to “meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful 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.”

Future enemies, struggles, hardships, and task may require courage, but Joshua is going to need extra strength and courage to take the law and make it permeate all that he is.  Here, God reveals to Joshua the importance of this new way of living spelled out in the law.  Joshua is to make this rule be THE rule. It is to so infiltrate all that he is that he might not turn away at all, but will pursue the rule that the Lord has established in all ways.

This law, this rule, is to become a universal way of life.  It was with Moses and now is with Joshua and is to be for the Hebrew people THE way of conducting one’s own life. No matter where they go, live, or are taken, the law is the law.

Video link – http://www.adland.tv/commercials/gatorade-sport-sport-long-2004-045-usa.   For this new nation, “it’s 90 feet to first no matter where home is.” Regardless of their changing position, God’s way is the way.

The Lord’s call to “very courageous” indeed reminds us of the challenge of allowing His ways to completely transform our way of life and thinking.  Joshua, though a man in command, is to allow himself to be commanded by this way of life.  It will surely require courage.  It is clear that prosperity and success will not be found outside of following the Lord (vs. 8).  Matthew Henry’s commentary reminds us of this as he notes that “Those that make the word of the God their rule, and conscientiously walk by that rule, shall both do well and speed well […] and it will entitle them to the best blessings: God shall give them the desires of their heart.”

So also, may we make the word of God our rule, no matter where we might be.  May it permeate our lives as we “meditate on it day and night,” being careful to what is written.  This will surely require much courage.  To this end, it is even more powerful a promise that God offers in Joshua 1:9 as He says that “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God’s camp will be holy

Numbers beings with two chapters that are devoted to addressing the laity of the Israelite community.  Following these, the next two chapters turn the attention to the priestly Levite crew.  For the most part, instructions regarding the tabernacle have remained positive.  The holiness of the tabernacle has remained a theme since its introduction into scripture. The same is seen in these opening chapters of the book of Numbers, the dwelling place of God is to be handled in exactly the manner which he has spoken.

Reaching Chapter 5, the manner of achieving this holiness does change.  The shift is from positive reinforcement, “do this” “stand there” “place that here”, to one which is much more negative in nature: “put them out.. remove them… break faith with them.”  However, it is clear that the concern in the same.

God’s camp is to be holy.

In Numbers 5, this means putting out human impurity of any kind, even those of physical ailment, for example, lepers.  There is no question of confusion: the temple of the Lord will remain holy.  The dwelling place of God retains the greatest sanctity.

The chapter continues by revealing even how to deal with deliberate sin, making confession, acknowledgement, and retribution central to righting all wrongs before the Lord.  In fact, there is no doubt that to sin against your fellow-man is to sin against God himself.  It is for this reason that atonement again comes to the forefront.  It is only through the confession and restitution for wrongs that one can proceed with the priestly ritual for atonement.

The theme is powerful: there is no place for sin in the community of God.

The temple of the Lord is to be removed of all impurities.  The place where God dwells is to have not a hint of uncleanliness.