Sunday, October 2 - A Sudden Stop
2022-10-02
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIuc7XbHyQQ

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

Oh, okay. Okay. Good morning. All right. I've been off. I've been sick all of September. I'm feeling a lot better now, and Brandon said I needed to come back, so I'm here. Just a couple little things. We do have more cinnamon roll experiment cooking in the oven that kind of went awry, but it's getting better, so there will be cinnamon rolls after church if you didn't get one this morning. cinnamon roll apple cake, something. Something fall and delightful, so. No problem, something delightful. All right. So we are doing our Bible memory project, which is starting up a new month on tomorrow the 3rd. So we do have the wristbands, the memory cards, the packs that come with everything. So if you need a new one for October after church, see Brandon and he'll get you one of those.

And so first we're going to be doing our verse for the week, if it's up there. And basically this month we're going through Psalm 51 with the verse memory project. I'm sorry, what? And next month. So this is going to be our memory verse for the week. And so we're just going to read this together as we start out October. And then we're going to do our group Scripture reading before we start our service today. So if we want to go ahead and stand, we can, since we are reading the Bible. And so this week the verse is Psalm 51:1, which is, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions." This is the word of the Lord. And again, if you want to participate in that, just let Brandon know.

We do have the packs to give away, and it's a super easy way to remember Bible verses. The bracelets have the first letter of each word, which I've noticed has helped me memorize a lot better, because most of my brain has been gone since I had kids, so it's been super helpful for me. All right, so this morning we're going to be reading together to begin our service out of Deuteronomy 31:8. And it begins, "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here today, and we thank you for those that are here and the encouragement that we can be to one another, and we thank you for those that are watching online.

And we thank you so much for your word and the opportunity to memorize it and to remember it and to just keep it on our hearts so that we know that you are always with us and that you will not leave us. giving us the opportunity to not feel fear or be dismayed in the midst of things. We ask that you be with our service today and allow it to glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Our first Song we're going to be starting with today is "Our God Saves."

In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Spirit, Lord, we come. We are gathered together to lift up your name, to call on our Savior, to fall on your grace. Hear the joyful sound of our offering, as your saints bow down, as your people sing. We will rise with you, lifted on your wings, and the world will see that our God saves, our God saves. There is hope in your name. Morning turns to songs of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. In the name of the Father. In the name of the Son. In the name of the Spirit. Lord, we come. We are gathered together to lift up your name. To call on our Savior. To fall on your grace. Hear the joyful sound of our offering.

Saints bow down. As your people sing. We will rise with you. Lifted on your wings. And the world will see that. Our God saves. Our God saves. There is hope. In your name morning turns to songs of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. Hear the joyful sound of our offering. As your saints bow down. As your people sing. We will rise with you. Lifted on your wings. And the world will see that. Our God saves. Our God saves. There is hope. In your name. Morning turns to psalms of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. All right. You can remain standing if you'd like, or if you'd like to sit, you can. We're going to be moving into our prayer and share time. And so if you're watching online, there'll be a phone number for you to text. If you have anything you'd like to send us to pray with or pray about or share with here, please do that. And then we'll be muted here during that prayer time. And after that, we'll be back and continue on with the rest of our service. So we're going to be singing, "The Battle Belongs."

He is the mountain. You see a mountain moved. And as I walk through this shadow, your love surrounds me. There's nothing to fear now, for I am safe with you. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you.

And if you are for me, who can be against me? For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you. When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty. When all I see is a cross, God, you see the empty tomb. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet. I'll sing through the night, oh God, the battle belongs to you. Almighty fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shine in the shadow. You win every battle. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. Almighty fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shine in the shadow. You win every battle. Nothing can stand against the power of our God.

So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Amen. Amen. Amen.

And before we do that, we're going to sing a song that might be a little new to us. It's probably familiar to some of us. I don't know that we've sung it here very often before. And one of the things that really kind of changes things for us sometimes is how we look at life, right? Our perspective. You know, sometimes when we look at things, we see troubles and somebody else can look at the same thing and see an opportunity either for growth or for advancement. And one of the interesting things we see throughout Scripture is that God's people have to have two perspectives, right? We see the perspective of what's in front of us, but we also have a spiritual perspective. And in 2 Kings 2, Elisha has been supernaturally telling the king of Israel where the enemy will be going and where they're laying in wait for him. And so the enemy commander decides, finding out that he doesn't have a spy leaking information, but rather this prophet of God, Elisha, in the middle of the night surrounds the city that Elisha is hiding in.

And they come out the next morning, and his servant or assistant, Elisha's servant and assistant, sees the army assembled around the entire city and immediately, probably like many of us, just sees nothing but disaster ahead of them. And so Elisha will pray, and he'll say, "Open the eyes of my servant," and the servant will look up, and he will see surrounding Elisha the horsemen and chariots of a heavenly army that is far greater than the army that stands before them. And for me, I think that's an important picture, because one of the things we don't always realize is there is a spiritual reality that is far greater than what we often see here. We're going to see it in a few minutes when we get into Joshua chapter 5, as Joshua meets the commander of the Lord's army, which is a remarkable and wonderful thing.

So, one of the things we want to think about as we sing this song, if it's new to you or if it's not, is the fact that there is a heavenly army surrounding God's people. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. You are my morning song. Though darkness fills the night, it cannot hide the light. Whom shall I fear? You crush the enemy underneath my fate. You are my sword and shield, though troubles linger still. Whom shall I fear? I know who grows before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The One who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The One who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side. My strength is in your name. For you alone can save. You will deliver me. Yours is the victory. Whom shall I fear?

Whom shall I fear? I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The one who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side. Nothing pulled against me shall stand. You hold the whole world in your hands. I'm holding on to your promise. You hold the whole world in your hands. I'm holding on to your promises. You are faithful. You are faithful. Nothing formed against me shall stand. You hold the whole world in your hands. I'm holding on to your promises. You are faithful. You are faithful. You are faithful. I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The one who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side. I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side.

The one who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The God of angel armies is always by my side. So we live in a world where we like to do things ourselves. I was thinking about this the other day when I was at Lowe's, and one of my favorite things about going to Lowe's is when you have a project where you need to get like a bunch of lumber, and so you get, you know, one of the little flatbed carts, and you show the other dads that you really have a serious project, you know, unlike the guy with like the one two-by-four. It feels pretty good, right? It feels good to do things ourselves. Where we struggle is when we come face-to-face to that reality that we cannot do things ourselves. In Exodus, the 14th chapter, God's people are standing in front of the Red Sea. They have seen God's power demonstrated through the plagues, and God has humbled the gods of Egypt, and as they stand there at the sea, they look behind, and they see that the Egyptian army is coming for them, and they look in front of them, and there is the sea, and they look behind them.

They look behind them, and there is an army, and they look to the right and the left, and they are in this valley surrounded by rocks where they cannot go either way, and they begin to grumble and become fearful, and there is these words in Exodus chapter 14, "And Moses said to the people, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." Now, that's a difficult thing for us, right? Because we like to be able to face the challenge, to deal with the challenge, to overcome the challenge, to fix the problem or avoid the problem, and for us, when we see a problem in front of us and we just hear those words, "stand still," right? It's a difficult thing. And so God tells these people, "Don't try to run. Don't try to hide. Don't try to fix it. Don't try to fight. Just simply stand still and see God's salvation." As we come to the table this morning, what we're called to do

is to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, right? We can't earn our salvation. We can't deserve it. We can't achieve it. One of the things that this table reminds us is that sin has broken our relationship with God, and we deserve nothing but judgment and wrath. But God, in His great mercy, and because He loved us, sent His Son, who went to the cross in our place, who rose again, defeating Satan, sin, death, and hell. And as a result, we can be children of God, right? This meal pictures for us, reminds us of, encourages us, and nourishes us by the salvation of the Lord. So in this moment, we have this reminder, one that I desperately need, that I can't do it by myself, but God did. So we're going to pray, and then we will partake together. Father in heaven,

I thank you for grace. I thank you for this reminder of our smallness. It's easy for us to become, it's easy for me to become proud and self-sufficient. And we need this reminder that we can't, but you did. So help us this morning to see the good news of the gospel, the hope that is found through your son, that as we break this bread and as we drink this cup, this will be a proclamation of your grace, a proclamation of hope that we would see your salvation for us. I ask that you bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In Matthew, the 26th chapter, Jesus will take the bread and after blessing it, he will break it. He will give it to the disciples and he will say, "Take, eat. This is my body." Let's partake together.

Then he will take the cup, the cup of redemption, we'll see in a few minutes in Joshua, the cup that says, "I will redeem you," with an outstretched arm, and that's what Jesus is about to do. He will take the cup. When he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

And as Paul will say to the church, for as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we are proclaiming Jesus and his death until he comes again. So we're going to be in Joshua this morning. We are diving into Joshua, the fifth chapter. We're going to kind of read through this as we go this morning. This is sort of a brief introduction to where we've been in Joshua. We're moving sort of very quickly through this book. And one of the remarkable things about this is Joshua, you know, comes from Hebrew to English, is Joshua. Now if you were to take Jesus' name, it gets translated from Hebrew into Greek and then into English, that's where we get Jesus from. If you were to skip the Greek and go right from Hebrew into English, you would have the name Joshua, that God is the one who saves.

And so in this book of Joshua, about the Old Testament Joshua, we've been seeing how it points us toward the one who leads us into salvation, Jesus. In chapter 1, how Joshua, as he leads God's people, we see Jesus as he leads us. And in Joshua chapter 2, as salvation comes to the house of the undeserving Rahab, how God ultimately comes and saves us. And as we saw last week in chapters 3 and 4, as God splits the Jordan River at flood stage, about a mile across deep water, stops it in its tracks, not just for a few feet so people can kind of go over single file, but kind of can go over all at once, and how God goes before his people. He's in the midst of his people. He comes after his people that God calls us to build memorials to sort of remember the salvation and teach that from generation to generation.

You see how God brings us through. And so this morning we'll be in Joshua chapter 5, where the book of Joshua is going to take kind of a surprising, and definitely in the first few verses, kind of a real weird turn for this book. So we're going to pray, and then we'll dive right into it. Father in heaven, thank you for Jesus and for grace, and thank you for your word. Thank you for how we see that, as Jesus said, all of these things point to him. So help us to see the goodness of your grace this morning, that as you renew these people at Gilgal through your covenant, through hope and through a commitment, that you will renew us this morning, that you will strengthen us, that you will help us to see your goodness.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So there has been a phrase that's been kind of going around. People will refer to it as that's sort of a core memory, and it's one of those memories that we have that is very strong and maybe shaped us in certain ways. And I remember we were traveling from Vermont, and we were going to Colorado. We were pulling like a really, really heavy pop-up camper, and we were going along, and I think through Kansas, and the idea that most of us have is that Kansas is pretty flat, and it is in a lot of places pretty flat, but there are sort of occasional little hills. We had been sort of cruising through Kansas, right? It's kind of pretty straight, pretty flat, and we come over kind of just like,

not even really a hill, but the road kind of goes up a little bit and goes down, and there in front of us, every car on the interstate is stopped, and there was no warning. And my core memory from that moment was flying down the shoulder at like 65 miles an hour trying to stop the minivan and the really heavy camper. And as a kid in the back seat, it's core memory. I guess another word we could use for that would be traumatizing. And sometimes, right, life comes to a stop. We've been on the road, and we come around the corner, and there's something in the road or traffic stops, and where we were making progress, all of a sudden what happens? We're stopped. And sometimes we feel like that in our work or in our

education or in our relationships, it feels like things just that we're moving along so well come to a stop. And we feel that way sometimes in the church, right? Things seem to be going really well, and then for a season, it seems like things just stop. And as we look through the book of Joshua, we see that it looks like things have been going really, really well. In Joshua chapter 5, verse 1, we read this. People have crossed the Jordan River, and it says, "As soon as the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel." And so, right,

God's been sort of accelerating the people. And it seems now is the time to strike, because all of the nations that you are about to encounter are terrified, right? Their spirit, it says, has melted away, that they don't want to fight, they're afraid to fight, their courage has dried up. And then, verse 2, is where we hit that real sudden stop. And at that time, the Lord said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time," right? It doesn't really seem like the right time for this kind of thing, right? So, in Joshua chapter 1, you find the people gathered with their new leader, Joshua, and they proclaim their support with him. So, he has the support of the people. In Joshua chapter 2, the spies go out, they come back in, and they say, "Everybody is terrified. Now is the time. God has given us the

victory." And I think part of the mission of the spies wasn't just to sort of scope out the land, but rather to encourage the heart of Joshua by saying, "God really is at work, and he's given this land into our hands." And in Joshua chapter 3 and 4, God drives up the Jordan River, and so this army comes across all of God's people. You have the 40,000 fighting men from the tribes that lived on the other side of the Jordan. You have all of the rest of the tribes, the ten-and-a-half tribes, their fighting men, their families, all of their stuff. They come across, everybody's terrified. When is a better time to fight, right? It seems like now is the time to attack, not the time to sort of take a break for some elective surgery on every

fighting man in Israel, right? This seems like a really, really poor military decision. And if you want to know how poor of a military decision, there's an account in Genesis, the 34th chapter. One of the sons of Jacob, daughter of Jacob, it's a pretty traumatic story. But in the sort of the end of the story, this girl, Dinah, her brothers decide to take revenge on a Canaanite village. They've been seeking an alliance and through marriage and some very terrible things that happen. And those brothers say, "Oh, yeah, if you guys want an alliance, we don't have a problem with that. Just all the men of the town just need to be circumcised." So they said, "Okay, yeah, we can do that. Every man is circumcised." And in Genesis 34 you find this, "On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons

of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords, came against the city while it felt secure, and killed all the males." Two men killed every single man in an entire city, right? The people of God are pretty vulnerable in this moment, right? You have all of this momentum, and then all of a sudden what happens? Everything stops. So why does God do this? Why does God choose this moment? Why not, when they were secure on the other side of the Jordan, why not take that time? One of the things that you find is that God knows more about us than we know about ourselves, right? We're really, really good at confusing our wants and our needs. I mean, probably 50 times a week I'll say to Rachel, "I really need this, and what I

really mean is I really, really want this," right? We see it with our kids, right? Given the option, our kids probably would eat ice cream for every meal, right? That's what they want, but that's not what they need. And God, looking at these people, understands what they deeply need rather than what they might want. And so in this moment, in this pause, in this sort of sudden stop, God is going to meet a need the people didn't know they had. And in this moment, He's going to renew them in a relationship. He's going to renew them in their hope, and He's going to renew Joshua in his commitment to the people. So let's take a look at this renewed relationship. I'm going to read all the way down from verse 3 to verse 9. So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of

Israel at Gibeah Haraloth. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them. All the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. The Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children whom he raised up in their place that

Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. And when they were circumcising, the whole nation was finished. They remained in their places at the camp until they were healed. And the Lord said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." And so the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. And in Hebrew, Gilgal sounds like the word for sort of rolled or rolled away. And one of the things that these verses does very, very quickly is it sort of snaps into focus those things we read in Joshua chapter 3 and 4 as God calls his people to build a memorial. And the purpose of these memorials, he will say, is so that when your sons and daughters and the generations that come after you see them, you can

teach them about God. And one of the reasons of why that was important was because their parents had not been doing that, right? One of the things we read in these verses is that that command of God to bring this message from generation to generation to generation had not happened and had not been followed. And if you're thinking about a renewed relationship, you may be a little bit puzzled because how does circumcision establish a relationship with God? One of the things that we see in sin is that it destroys relationships. We've all probably experienced this. Somebody that we have conflict with, maybe they've sinned against us, or we've sinned against them, and what happens, right? We immediately begin to avoid them. We don't want to be near them, right? You can see it very clearly in our dogs every time they get in the trash can to

get something tasty, right? You come back and instead of being there ready to meet you at the door, right, they're hiding in the bedroom because they know they did something wrong, and it separates. And just like that, we've experienced it, we've seen it, we've lived it, that sin breaks apart relationships. And between God and man, the relationship is broken. And one of the ways that God restores relationships, in fact, the way that God restores relationships, is by making covenants with his people. Now covenants, at the heart, are different than contracts. Today we sort of use those two things interchangeably, but a covenant goes much deeper. It's not just a legal agreement with consequences where if you break it, you pay the price, but rather it's a moral agreement, and the idea is that you don't want to break that at all. You don't

even want that as an option, right? With a contract, you break it as long as you're willing to pay the penalty, and sometimes you're in the right for breaking a contract, not so with a covenant. So examples of covenants in that picture, the picture of God sort of bringing people together with promises designed not to be broken. For example, marriage as a covenant, right? It's not just a contract. You do this, and I'll do this, and we'll exist in this business relationship, but rather it's a covenant of promises that are brought together, and I promise my faithfulness to you, and you promise your faithfulness to me, and we work together for the good. Covenant ratified by God. Circumcision, biblically, is a sign of the covenant, right? In Genesis chapter 17, and God will say to Abraham as he

institutes it, "This will be a sign of the covenant." And what we find is that the signs of the covenant often point to something that goes a lot deeper. It's not just about the picture of what's happening, but it's what is happening underneath. For example, in Genesis 6, when God sends a flood and he gives a sign of the covenant of a rainbow, right? It's not just a pretty thing in the sky, but rather it's a promise that judgment will not come that way again until the very end. And so in the covenant of circumcision, you first of all have this picture, and it's a picture of separation. It's a picture of separation from sin. And right sin, when we separate from it, it's messy, it's difficult, it's painful, and in the same way you find circumcision happening to people. A picture of separating

from sin, but it's also a warning from God, a picture of a warning, right? Circumcision literally means it means to cut off. And the result of breaking God's covenant is that you are cut off from Him and from His people. It's also a picture of being cut off from the world around you and to bring brought into a new community. That's in fact what Joshua will say, that this is a rolling back of the shame of Egypt and you have become a new picture. But it's not just a picture of removal, right? Removing it from sin, removing if you break the covenant, removing from the people of this world, but in the Old Testament it's a picture and a promise of transformation. Listen to Deuteronomy chapter 30. "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your

offspring, so you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul that you may live." Right? The picture there is that this is not just an outward physical thing that seems kind of weird to us, but rather it's a transformation of our hearts. And ultimately, for us, circumcision points us to the reality of the Gospel. In Colossians chapter 2, Paul writes this, "In him you are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands." So he's not talking physically here. By putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, or through the circumcision of Christ. What Paul is saying is that you are brought into the kingdom of God because Jesus was cut off. Right? At the cross. As Jesus takes the weight of our sin upon the shoulders, as he cries out, "My God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?" As he was cut off, we are able to be brought in. And Paul will say that because Jesus was cut off on your behalf, that you can be brought in to the people of God. And what you find is that these people, these youngsters, if you will, who have been in the wilderness, none of them are very old, have not seen that relationship with God. They have not experienced that relationship with God. And when God does this, it's not just simply a checkbox, but it's a stop to say, "I'm your God. You're my people. You are different than the Egyptians. You're different than the Amorites. You're different than the Canaanites. You are my people." Next, we see a renewed hope. While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the 14th

day of the month of the evening on the plains of Jericho. And on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes, parched grain, and the manna ceased the day after they ate the produce of the land. There was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. Right? In this moment they're reminded of the promise of Passover. And by date, strictly speaking, Passover happened the day they crossed over the Jordan. The tenth day of the first month, they get across, they get camp set up, and Joshua will celebrate that feast of God with the people of God. And in that moment what they do is they celebrate four different promises of God's provision. That God will

bring you out. That God will deliver you from slavery. That He will redeem you with an outstretched arm. That He will take you and be your people. And as the people eat the produce of the land, they're reminded that God keeps His promises. Right? They have battles in front of them. There are walled cities that seem insurmountable. There's armies that outnumber them. There is great difficulty that stands before them. And before they fight, they say that God is the one who delivers us. God is the one who saves us. God is the one who redeems us. God is the one who makes us a people. And they see and are encouraged by the promises of God. But they also see the provision of God. For all the years in the wilderness, God has fed them

every morning with bread on the ground. And now they are finally eating the fruit of the land. And so you have this picture that God keeps His promises, but that also God promises to deliver you. And these people who have great struggle in front of them, God stops them not just to establish a relationship, but to give them hope as they face the difficulties that are ahead. And then in verse 13 there is this remarkable moment. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No. I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come."

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my Lord say to his servant?" And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place which you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so. So first of all, this has to be a startling experience. Joshua, I imagine after the busyness and the struggle and the celebrating of Passover, after all of the things that have happened, he goes out likely alone and maybe he's overlooking the plains that stretch out toward Jericho thinking about what is to come. All of these things, maybe praying, maybe just having a moment of peace and quiet and he turns around and there is this guy with a drawn sword. And this sort of

is lost on us in a day where we don't use a lot of swords. This is the difference, a modern day analogy would be the difference between a gun that is holstered on your hip and a gun that is in your hand. One is kind of a, there is this option available, the other one is that it's ready for action. This guy has a sword in his hand. It's not sheathed on his hip saying, "I am a warrior," but rather it's in his hand and he is ready to use it. And Joshua understandably is a little bit concerned about this. And he immediately does this thing that guards do, right? Who are you? Like, are you on the side of our enemies? Are you on the side of us? Who are you? And the answer he receives is

startling. He says, "Are you with them? Are you with us?" And this guy, this heavenly warrior with his sword drawn says, "I'm not on either side." That's a little startling, probably a little disconcerting. He goes on to say, "I am the commander of the Lord's army." Right? The implication is not I don't pick a side. You pick a side, right? I'm not on their side. I'm not on your side. The question is not what side am I on? The question is what side are you, Joshua, on? Are you on the side? The question here is a call to commitment for Joshua. This is not God sort of coming to Joshua. This is a picture of Joshua coming to God. And if you notice this commander of the Lord's army, right? It's a, it's kind of a big deal.

He says, "I am the commander of the army of the Lord, and now I have come." This is what's called a theophany. It's when God appears to his people before Jesus has arrived, and likely most commentators think that this theophany is Jesus himself standing before Joshua. And we know this because when angels are worshiped, they tell people to stop. So in Revelation John falls down at the feet of this angel and worships, and the angel goes, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you don't worship me. You worship God." And so when somebody like this is allowed to be worshiped, it's a picture that you're worshiping God. And additionally, the words that came to Moses as he stands by the burning bush, "Take off your shoes, for the ground upon which you are standing is holy," are the words that are repeated to Joshua.

So here is the commander of the Lord's army, and he looks at Joshua, and it's not about what side I'm on, it's about what side you're on. The choice is yours, and Joshua responds with worship. But there's also a picture of hope here. Notice what this commander of the army says. He says, "I have come." And the picture here is that I'm going to be the one who fights your battles. I'm going to be the one who leads the people. I'm the one who will bring victory. And what you find in the rest of Joshua is that when God's people actually follow the Lord, things go very well, but very quickly, right? They get distracted and go their way or this way. And rather than staying on the Lord's side, and when they don't, it brings struggle

and heartbreak. So the question for us is what are we going to do with all of this, right? It happened a long time ago, and in events that are sort of foreign to us, maybe a little weird, a little strange, a little maybe antiquated in our minds. What about us? And one of the first things we see about this text is that God has different priorities than we do, right? As we look at this, the priorities of the people, they're going to go in, they're going to take the land, they're going to eat the produce, they're going to raise their families, and God says, "No. The first priority I have for you is a relationship with me, to see my hope, to make this commitment to follow me." This causes us to reevaluate our priorities.

But it also causes us, and there's times that God stops us in life, where it seems like maybe we're stuck, or just things aren't working out. And maybe the call in those moments is to use that time, as God does with His people, to restore a relationship, renew a relationship, to renew their hope, to renew their commitment, so as they press on, they come from a place where their foundation is solid. But God is renewed. Their hope is renewed. Their commitment is renewed. The call for us is the same thing as the call for God's people. To renew a relationship, to seek to find hope in Him rather than strength in ourselves, and rather than just simply inviting God to be with us, seek to follow God. We get it backwards. So many times we say, "God, alright, this is what I'm

doing. I hope you come along." Rather than, "God, where would you have me go? What would you have me do? How can I follow you?" And it's my prayer that texts like these, they realign our priorities. They realign what's important to us. They reestablish in our hearts the importance of a relationship with God, of finding our hope in Him, of committing our lives to Him. Let's pray. Father, thank You for this picture of Joshua. This picture of the Gospel through the circumcision of the people and through the celebration of Passover, and through the picture of Your armies going before Your people, that You would remind us that it is not through our strength or our abilities, but yours. Help us as we walk through this life to trust and put our hope in You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We're going to stand and sing. We're going to sing about putting our eyes where they need to be. So we're going to sing about beholding God. Who has held the oceans in His hands? Who has numbered every grain of sand? Kings and nations tremble at His voice. All creation rises to rejoice. Behold our God seated on His throne. Come, let us adore Him Behold our King Nothing can compare Come, let us adore Him Who Has felt the nails upon His hands Bearing all the guilt of sinful man God eternal, humble to the grave Jesus, Savior, isn't now to reign Behold our God, seated on His throne Come, let us adore Him Behold our King Nothing can compare Come, let us adore Him Thank you for joining us this morning. We are glad you're here. Our weird fall apple dessert experiment is in the back. I don't know if it's delightful, but I will

say this, it's not terrible, which is like one of the highest compliments I can give something. How is that? It's not terrible. So if you want to give that a try, we filled up the coffee pot a few minutes ago, and there's that. So go ahead and help yourself. We'll be back Wednesday night. We meet at 7 p.m. We're going through a series about the gospel being above all, and we've talked this last week sort of in two different directions about sharing the gospel. One in sort of a big overview way, but then one in sort of a close, practical, personal way. And so that's Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Next Sunday, we'll be in Joshua chapter 6, seeing the victory over Jericho. So we're going to go ahead and pray. We'll read a verse, and then we will sing the doxology. Father in heaven, thank you for allowing us to be here this morning. Thank you for your

goodness and your grace. And as we take these moments to stop, that we would be a moment of consideration for us in regards to what we're chasing and where we're running and who we're following. Thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Be with us through this week. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'm going to end with the verse as a benediction to the verse we started with as God speaks to Joshua in Deuteronomy the 31st chapter. He says, "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures. Here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.