Obeying God

hear it chapter after chapter, sermon by sermon, step by step, and we're in the middle of Joshua. This is one of the historical books of scripture. And I want to give us a bit of a setting because we really need to appreciate where we are in the history of God today in Joshua 5. First, let's just do a small recap of Joshua itself. Joshua 1, God calls Joshua to be strong and courageous. To hear that I've given you the land, be strong and courageous, I will give it to you, it will be yours. Be strong and courageous, I've told you everything you need to hear. And there was a great call for him to lead God's people. Joshua 2 is kind of a strange story where spies went in, which were unnecessary, and we saw this great salvation of a Canaanite prostitute. Before God comes in to judge the Canaanites, He's going to go in and choose this one Canaanite prostitute to say, no, you will be saved. Joshua 3 and 4, we looked at last week. This is the crossing of the Jordan. And this really is the significant point we need to look at. Israel crossed on dry land going through the Jordan. Now they're in the promised land. God's people are in God's land. We've been waiting for this for 430 years. Back in Genesis 15, God told Abraham, I will give your people the land of Canaan. First, they're going to go serve a foreign king in a foreign country. We saw how Joseph was taken into Egypt to fulfill that foreign king in a foreign country, and they were given a great, great place of prominence. And then God turned the heart of the king of Egypt, and they became slaves. And then God delivered them with a mighty right hand, dividing the waters of the Red Sea, so they walked on dry land. Then they were in the wilderness. Because God's people would not listen, they wandered there for 40 years, and now finally, finally, God's people are in God's land. And it's important to see what's happening, because what happens next is going to say, all right, here's the next steps. Here's how you now obey me as my people in my land. And we can just take a step back for a moment. God was clearly sovereign over the kings and the nations and his people for those 430 years, and he has been ever since. This is a God we can trust. He is able to turn hearts. He's able to crush nations. He's able to build nations. He's able to deliver His people. We're going to now look to see how He leads His people who have to trust Him. Joshua 5 is about God preparing His people for His purpose. God is now going to prepare His people, now that they're in the land, for His purpose. And we're going to see three basic things we focus on. They must obey God to be circumcised. They must remember God is the Redeemer by observing the Passover. They must recognize that God is their commander. They must follow Him. What we look at this morning is actually how God is preparing them to worship Him. How God is preparing them to be His people in a new land, so that when they take this land, they will be a light to all the nations. They'll be marked and identified as God's people. They will celebrate the Redeemer, God. They will follow Him and trust Him. As we think about this, I wanna just challenge us to think about one little thing, and that is, how do we prepare for worship? That's what God's doing here for Israel. You see, worship isn't something that happens by coincidence or accident or happenstance. Yes, salvation comes to us from God with his mighty right hand when we're not expecting it. But then he calls us to worship, and worship just doesn't accidentally happen on a Sunday morning. It takes a lot of preparation for all the musicians, everyone to get us organized so that we can gather together and worship. It takes preparation on our part to make sure we say, God, what would you teach me today? You see, we prepare for things we love, our hobbies, our vacation, our free time, our me time. We prepare for the things we really love. I want to ask you this morning, do you prepare yourself to worship God when we gather in the congregation and as you gather yourself every morning? Worship doesn't happen by accident. It happens when we hear God and obey Him. So here's our main point. Here's the main thesis. God prepares His people for His purpose. And we'll see that He identifies His people. That's verses 2 to 9. He identifies His people. Verses 2 to 9, He delivers His people. 10 to 11, God takes command of His people. 13 to 15. Let us pray so that we are prepared to hear that God is worthy of worship. Father, I thank you that you have allowed us to worship you, to sing your praise. Lord, our hearts can get so twisted and knotted and hardened. Lord, I pray now that you would make us a people ready to say, God, whatever you request, we will give to you for worship because you're worthy. Help us, Lord, to hear so that we might obey, so that we might see your glory and know your love and proclaim your great name that is above every name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So first, let's look to our text. We've read through it in its entirety, but we're gonna first look at chapter five, verse two. Chapter five, verse one, just to make clear, I believe that was a conclusion to the previous section. So after God parts the waters and the people walk through the dry land, God is already preparing the kings to be defeated. They have heard how once again God has parted the waters, protected His people, now they're there, and the kings are terrified. They're terrified because they have heard of God's mighty power. In verse 2, I believe, begins a new section. At that time, the Lord says to Joshua, God says, you need to circumcise this next generation. They've entered the promised land, now they have to obey. And what's kind of odd here is this generation, they haven't been circumcised. Israelites are supposed to circumcise a child, a male child, at the age of eight days old. Why aren't these people circumcised? You see, circumcision was a religious rite that reminded God's people that he was their promise maker. He had given them promises, they need to be obedient to those promises, and it goes back to Abraham. Circumcision is the way God identifies his people with that sign. Now in order to really appreciate this, let's go back to Genesis and look at circumcision. So we're gonna go back to Genesis. You can flip back, it's page 11, that's Genesis 17. I'm gonna go back a little bit further. Genesis 12, God calls Abraham. Leave your family, leave your land, and follow me. By faith, God leads Abraham away from everything that he needed for life, everything he needed for comfort, and Abraham obeyed. Now, what we see afterwards is numerous lapses of faith. There's Genesis 12 right afterwards. There's a famine, so they flee to Egypt. Another lapse of faith is in Genesis 15, because one of the key aspects of that promise in Genesis 12 is that you'll have many descendants. You'll have many children, and well, Abraham and Sarah, they don't have any children. There's a barren womb. And a lapse of faith happens when Abraham says to God, God, I'm getting too old for you to do your promise, to keep your promise, just adopt Eliezer. chapter 15, verse 2 and 3, just adopt this servant of mine, and then we can move on with this covenant. God says, no. Tell you what, you cut up the different animals, and I'm gonna walk through these, and I'm gonna tell you, as sure as I'm alive, I will keep my word. You will have a son that is your physical heir. Genesis 16, we didn't get very far. Another lapse of faith. Abraham and Sarah, they conspire and say, all right, well, Hagar, why don't you just go lie with her and she can have a son, and then that can be the promised son. And it's in response to this that God gives Abraham the sign of the covenant, which we see in Genesis 17. I'm going to read verses 1 through 14. And Abraham was 99 years old. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. That I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly. Then Abram fell on his face and God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham. For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you, and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. And God said to Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. You should be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. That should be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both he who was born in your house and he who was bought with your money shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant." Now it's important to notice here that Genesis 12 to 16, Abraham had lots of lapses of faith, but also makes it very clear he is saved by faith. Remember those of you who are with us in Romans, Abraham's faith in his salvation precedes circumcision. The circumcision, this act of obedience, it doesn't save him, but it's a sign of the great salvation and the promises that God has already given. And as we just think about what circumcision meant, it meant first, God is with him and for him. So the people of Israel should always know, because they're a circumcised people, that sign reminds them constantly. God has declared, I am with you, I am for you. I hope you also heard there, I will give to you and your offspring the land of your sojourning. All the land of Canaan. It's a reminder that God is going to give them this great land. It's also a reminder that one day, a very specific son is going to be born. As you circumcise every son, you'll know that there's one son who will be born who's actually going to reverse the curse, who's going to crush sin and death, and we know that son is Jesus Christ. For now, let's focus on this land, because that's exactly where we are. This generation, the new generation, they're in the land. but they're not circumcised. Now, if you were hearing Andrew read, if you look to chapter five and verse four and five, there's a lot of words to talk about the previous generation. And it's not that nice, but it's true. They disobeyed, so they died. They did not persevere, so they perished. They refused to obey God, and so they died off in the wilderness. And now God is saying, I have a new people, the next generation. I have a new leader, Joshua. You are going to go in the land, but you cannot have it until you are properly prepared and identified as my people, and so they must be circumcised. Now, let's look at what circumcision means right here in Joshua 5. Now, it's a religious rite, but let me just be very clear what circumcision is, because it's very important for this particular place in our passage. Circumcision is cutting the foreskin from around the penis. The name where they're at, Gebat Herlot, is the Hill of Foreskins. It's a pretty graphic description of where they're at and what they're doing. Now, Joshua's commanded, go make some flint knives. So they're gonna use some pretty rudimentary instruments and go perform a very awkward and uncomfortable surgery on 20-year-old men. They're going to need some time to heal. Now, it's important to think about what's happening where and when because they just crossed enemy lines. They're on the other side of the Jordan. The Jordan was at one time protecting them. Now they're on this side of the Jordan and the kings, if God had not caused their hearts to melt, could come and attack them and conquer them because these men are not mobile. The fighting men cannot fight. This is the worst military strategy ever. But God says, I'm with you, I'm for you. Obey me. Being marked off and identified as my people is what you need. This is an act of faith. These Israelites are demonstrating a great faith by putting themselves in a very vulnerable position. They have to trust God is with them. God is for them. He will not let them be overtaken. It's more important to obey God and trust Him than to not be marked as his people. This is incredible faith. One last thing we need to look at here is verse nine is, today I've rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. There's a number of different ideas of what this could mean, but I think the one that makes the most sense, remember Israel was saved from Egypt. Egypt was pretty much destroyed Because God said, I'm going to show all the nations who the one true glorious God is. I'm going to destroy this nation and free mine so they can go in the promised land. And I believe the reproach of Egypt is the mockery that the Egyptians would still have. Your God saved you to wander in the wilderness for 40 years? That's the reproach. The Egyptians would deride and mock Israel because you were saved to wander? off in the wilderness and die, and God's saying, I've removed the reproach. You're going to enter the land, and you will be my witnesses that I am the one true God. Now, as you look at this, we don't consider circumcision a religious practice of the New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ. We don't see this in religious practice, but we see elsewhere in scripture that circumcision really points to something much, much more important than this physical sign. And the passage Robert read pointed us to this. Actually, there's some passages in the Old Testament that point us to this. Deuteronomy 10, God tells all of Israel, circumcise your hearts. And what he's saying there is cut the idols out of your worship, your longing and your affection and your love for all the other gods, cut them out. And then in Deuteronomy 30, God says, I will circumcise your heart. I will let you worship me as the one true God, the Lord of lords, the King of kings. The outward sign of circumcision points us to this internal removal of sin, perversion, death, and idolatry. So think about circumcision and that physical surgery that takes place. I want us to just meditate for a moment on God, the great physician. God is a heart surgeon. And His desire is for our good so that He would come in and He would untie those knots in our hearts. He would soften the rock that refuses to love Him. He would keep us from being perverted and confused and loving things that aren't Him and worshiping gods that aren't true. God does heart surgery. And I want to tell you, it's oftentimes very painful. Because what God does is He takes the things that we love in a way we shouldn't love them. He takes the things that we love more than we love Him, and He removes them. And the more we have found comfort and love and self-righteousness in these different idols, the more painful they are when they're removed. And the more His grace abounds to heal us and to lead us into what true worship is. As we think about the cutting away, friends, we still need the circumcision of the heart that changes us inside. This is what truly matters. If you're not a Christian here this morning, there's just an assumption here that I need to explain, and that is everyone in this room is a natural-born idolater. We all just tend to love things that aren't God in a way that only God deserves to be loved. That's just a matter of fact. It's the way we live. Everyone in this room has a tendency towards sin. We're all sinners and we naturally love sin. God's people are marked by faith in Christ and then he marks them with baptism. If you're not a Christian this morning, what you're marked by is your sin. Every Christian is ruined. Before we became Christians, we were marked by sin. That's how we were identified. We were sinners deserving of judgment, but then we believed in Jesus Christ. And then God no longer looks at us as sinners. He sees us in the light of his own Son, who forgave us, who washed us of sin with his blood, who gave us a new standing of righteousness and of love in his Son. I found a Christian this morning. There are two ways God sees everybody. We're either seen as sinners and we will get the judgment we deserve, or He's going to see us in His Son, forgiven in a right relationship and beloved. You see, the difference is rejecting Christ or believing in Christ. You don't have to make yourself clean. You don't have to wash yourself up. You don't have to figure out what can I do to make myself look better to God. He sees who we truly are. What you need to see is who you are, and who Christ is, and He's your Savior if you believe in Him. If you are not a Christian, please do not leave here without talking to somebody about what that means. Let's look at our second. God delivers his people. God delivers his people. And this is verses 10 to 12. Well, the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal. They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month and the evening on the plains of Jericho. And the day after the Passover, on the very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased that day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel. that they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. Before we get into the passage, verse 12, it kind of stands out as a simple remark, but again, it's very significant. God's people are in His land. He's no longer having to give them special provision from the wilderness. He's letting them eat out of the land. God is providing for His people in His promised land. Most of our attention needs to be on verses 10 to 11. We have circumcision, which is that first identifying marker of God's people. And then we have Passover, really their second most important religious practice, or these two are the two most important of their religious rituals and practices. We need to go back again, and we don't need to turn there, but Exodus 12 is where the Passover takes place. They're in Egypt. There's been plague after plague after plague, and the king of Egypt has refused to listen to God and Moses, and he's getting harsher and harsher, and now God brings the final plague, and he tells Israel, in order for you to not suffer under this last curse, under the last judgment, you're gonna need to kill a lamb. You're gonna have to have a feast, and then you're gonna get the blood of that lamb, and you're gonna put it over the mantle of every doorway, and that's an act of faith that says, we trust you, God, in what you're doing. And when the judgment of God went over all of Egypt and every home that did not have that blood on the mantle, on the doorpost, the firstborn child died. Pharaoh, who's putty in God's hand, sends Israel out. Now, the Passover is how God demonstrates His great love for His people. Israel doesn't realize how great that love is yet, because we know, looking back, that what God is actually saying in this moment is this. I'm going to pass over the judgment of every home and not slaughter, not kill the firstborn of every one of your sons. Because one day, I'm going to send my son, My most beloved Son. And He will be the one true Lamb of God that will be slain in your place. The Passover is a great declaration for Israel that He loves them. Church. The cross. The Lamb of God who died on that cross is God's great declaration to us. He loves us. We must see the beauty and the power of God's plan and that He's been doing this from the very beginning to make sure we see the power of His love. Now as we look back at the Passover, they need to be circumcised before the Passover takes place. They've only observed the Passover a few times. It's supposed to be annually. Israel was not obedient. And the Passover demonstrates a few things. Every year, year after year after year after year, a different lamb has to be slain to satisfy the wrath of God and the Holy of Holies. What God does in Jesus Christ is He ends this. You see, a lamb was needed year after year after year because that lamb really wasn't sufficient to take away the sins of the world, of all that believe in Him. It was simply pointing to something more, and that is Jesus Christ, the true name of God, who was a once and for all sacrifice. He was crushed for our iniquity. He was punished for the sins we've committed so that we no longer have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, this needs to be our confidence. We do not deserve the love of God. We never have. We never will. But He gives it to us. And we know He loves us, not because we can look and say, look how lovely I am. We know He loves us because we can look to cross and we can say, look what He did for us. So that we could once again know Him as God and worship Him as God. Now I want you to see something that's clear in the Old Testament. Circumcision is required before you can partake of the Passover. You cannot rejoice in the symbolic meal of God's salvation until you have been identified as one of his promised people. We see this in Exodus 12. We see it in Joshua 5. There's a clear order. And I want you to see, because of what we now practice with baptism and the Lord's Supper, the two ordinances of Christ, I believe the same order and pattern are clear. One must first be identified as one of God's people. That's the first thing that identifies you is the church saying, I hear your confession of faith and you're baptized. That's the one time identifying mark that a church gives a new believer. And then there's the regular reminder that God gives us. The Passover. This is the covenant of my blood. The forgiveness of sins. I point this out because I just want us to see the ordinances of Christ matter. Okay, yeah, there's been a lot of debate over who should be baptized, and when should be baptized, and how should be baptized. Christ said it's His ordinance. Go, make disciples baptizing them. This is important, church. These two ordinances matter, and we need to give our attention to them and make sure every time we are celebrating them with the new life of a believer being baptized, as the Lord suffered on the first Sunday of every month, we're remembering constantly, we don't deserve to be God's people. But God sent His Son to be slain for us. If you are interested in baptism, we are starting a baptism class next week. Please talk to me if you're interested. This kind of a more mysterious passage in our text. God takes command. 13 to 15. 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, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord, Now I have come.' And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him, What does my Lord say to his servant? The commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so." Now this scene is quite fantastic. I want you to see verse 13. Joshua, he's just hanging out by Jericho, minding his own business, leader of God's new people and God's new land. And they look at the threefold repetition. He lifted up his eyes, he looked, and behold, I think the author is trying to capture our attention. He lifted his eyes, he looked, and behold, what he sees is Somewhat threatening. There's a figure, a man, standing before him with a drawn sword. It's immediately threatening. Now, most folks really want to know who this person with a drawn sword is. Is it an angel of the Lord? Is it God? There's arguments for both, and I don't think it really matters. He's a glorious, powerful warrior who represents God or is God. The focus is on Joshua. Joshua, are you going to respond appropriately to God and what He's telling you? Because I think this build-up is important. We can look back and look at Joshua 1, 6-7. Be strong and courageous, Joshua. You are the new leader of God's people. Then Joshua 3.7, God says to Joshua, I'm going to exalt you. The people will look up to you. They will admire you. And then Joshua 4.14, he was exalted, and Israel stood in awe of him. And now, Joshua is the new leader, and what God is doing, I believe, with this commander is making sure he understands his position and his place. So as Joshua here comes to this figure, this warrior, he asks him what appears to be the right question. You're in the battle zone. You're on the enemy's side now. All of a sudden, someone's standing there with a sword. You ask the logical question, what appears to be the logical question, are you for us or for our adversaries? Are you here to fight with us or against us? That seems like the right question, but notice the warrior He ignores it, basically. No. But, I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Whoever this is, he's not some kind of mercenary who chooses sides. He's the commander of the Lord's army that God has appointed to be in charge of the army. He is going to lead. Joshua here is called to follow. Now the thing about this, we can apply this to everyone. We all must follow God. But again, as we think about the new elders we have, this is for us. You must follow in order to lead. Notice Joshua's response. He gets it right. He fell on his face. He worshipped. And he said, What does my Lord say to His servant? Joshua doesn't try to protect his territory. I'm the new leader. God exalted me. He doesn't go to dialogue. He recognizes the glory and the power of God and says, yes, I'm here to worship. I'm here to follow. God is the true commander. And I want us to just meditate upon these words. What does my Lord say to a servant? He bows down, he's worshiping, he has the right posture, he has the right position, now he's saying the right words. God, whatever you want. What do you request? I am a servant of the Lord and as you are my savior, my God, my commander, what do you want? He's brought in a full submission. Now he's ready to lead. I want us to see something here in that worship is submission and obedience. God is preparing Joshua to lead the people so that the people will come in, they will listen to God, they will obey him. Worship is listening and obeying God. Now, let me just say, when you pray this, be prepared to be terrified of what God will say. What do you require of me? Because I believe when we actually truly ask that question, God, what do you require of me? I believe what we're doing all of a sudden is taking the muzzle off the Holy Spirit that we've been quenching, and He's going to start revealing idols. And that painful surgery of the heart is going to start. If we truly want to say, God, you are my commander, whatever you request of me, just say the word. By your grace, I will obey. Be ready. It's going to be terrifying. But we don't always say that, do we? We prefer to say something like, God, I'll give you my tithe, my time is mine. God, you can have the first 15 minutes of my day, but the rest of my day, I've gotta have my evening. I love you this way, but not that way. I will forgive that guy, but you know what that guy did to me. I'm not gonna forgive him. You can't expect that of me, God. God, when we come to him, we say, what do you request of me? We have to remember, he's always saying, my grace is sufficient. When you want to obey me, my grace is going to be sufficient for you to obey. What you think is impossible to give up or to do, God says, my grace will lead you into true worship. If you want to be a more faithful worshiper, it's not going to happen accidentally. It says, I'm going to listen to God. I'm going to obey God. I'm going to ask God, you show me to be a better worshipper because when I try to figure out how to be a better worshipper, I just make myself more self-righteous. Isn't that true? When I try to figure out how I'm going to worship better on my own, I just become more self-righteous and judgmental. When I actually say, God, what do you want to do? I realize, wow, all that sin is still lingering there. Your grace is sufficient. for Israel can go to the land and be God's people, they must be purified. Joshua must submit to God. And I want us to see the three things about his worship. There's a place. He's under God. We are under the chief shepherd. It's the posture. He's bowing his head in submission, and it's the practice. That'd be purifying. remove the idols, untie the knot, break the hardness so that I can love you more, so that I can see your glory more, so that I can proclaim your praise more faithfully. Friends, we're not taking a land. We're not looking back to how a river was dried up. We're fighting against our sin. where we're fighting to be a people that's purified, and we look back to Christ on His cross, and that's our assurance that we can be a different kind of people. Because God loves us, He forgives us, and He purifies us for His purpose. Let's take a moment of silence to ask God, what do you require of us? Our great King of glory, Who can ascend your holy mountain? We ask again. We praise you that we get to ascend into that holy presence of you, the king of glory, because you sent your son down to purify us and lead us back into your worship. Father, we thank you that we can worship you and ascend to you in the name of Christ because of what you've done to us. Lord, as we long to be a people more pure, so that we might praise You more faithfully. I pray that You would help us to see the sins that hinder us, the sins that entangle us. And may You give us the grace with the brothers and sisters here to help us. May You give us the grace with the power of Your Spirit to illuminate the soul that we might come out of these sins because You have given us the grace we need in Christ. And Lord, when we get discouraged, help us to look back to the cross and remember, no, your love is perfect and your grace is sufficient. May we be a church on task of worshiping you more faithfully. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.