Bibledoorajar: What God Knew About Joshua

     I am going to pick up my 13- year- old autistic great nephew after school today and introduce him to some beginning work tasks as he is interested in earning some money. His grandmother could not remember when that was going to take place so Clay told her, "it is Tuesday, Oma." He further counseled her that she needed to work on her listening skills! She was reporting all of this to me when she called to verify. That started me thinking about Joshua and what God knew about him.
     I think God knew that Joshua had good listening skills. It seems God thought he would try his best to separate the right messages from the wrong. How very valuable he would be to God. I was telling my Bible class yesterday that I can remember the "old folks" of my youth praying in Jesus name for Jesus sake. It was important to them that whatever "work" was to be accomplished as a result of that prayer would bring glory to Jesus and not to the humans involved. That is something that we should all try to remember. Good works to God are those that proceed from holy principles and that are regulated and monitored by righteous rules. They keep the right end in view.....glory to God. It is not necessarily wrong to want to be appreciated, but it is wrong to take all the glory, forgetting where the ability came from in the first place and for whom we were made to glorify. With God's help, I hope to get some of that through to Clay today. Maybe we will talk about Eric Liddell, the Scottish preacher who ran for God's glory while Harold Abrahams, a Jew, ran to oppose racist thoughts against the Jews without thinking of glorifying HIs God. Perhaps my young autistic boy can catch the idea. Lord, make Him your chariot of fire in Jesus name for Jesus sake. Amen.

Bibledoorajar: The Commander

"Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people:  “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own." Joshua 1:10 ff

Joshua was truly a great and confident commander. He did not establish a steering committee or ask for ideas. He simply told his army officers to spread the word with preparation details.  Several things come to mind as I read this. One is that Jesus did not consult with flesh and blood as He lead his disciples. He waited for the Father to speak to Him and said He did nothing without hearing from Him. And then there was the apostle Paul. In Galatians, he said that he was" an apostle not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead." He further said that "the gospel he preached was not received from man not taught by man, but that it came by revelation of Jesus Christ". He did not consult with flesh and blood about his gospel. Galatians 1 ff. Paul added that after three years he went to Jerusalem to consult with Peter. It is good that we know our proper relationship with our commander. One unknown wrote of it in part in this way....

I am a soldier in the army of God

The Lord Jesus Christ is my commanding officer

The Holy Scripture is my code of conduct

Faith, prayer and the word of God are my weapons.

Bibledoorajar: Confidence and Courage

There were two things that God made clear and underscorably clear to Joshua. He was to put all of his confidence in God and His law and he was to courageously fear no man. There were no other elements of their discussion. 1) Trust me only and 2) fear no man. This at a time when Joshua faced strong peoples with other gods. He had seen Moses have to take this stance many times but the test was now for him and for the nation that he would be leading. If Joshua was to be confident in God and courageous against evil men then so was the nation he was to lead. Somehow in thinking about this point of their history. I feel better about God and Joshua than I do the nation. It makes me wonder just how well the Christian nation is doing in this regard and me a member of it.

In John, we read of Jesus saying  He could not entrust Himself to some folk because he knew they would betray Him. The Psalmist says it is better to put your confidence in God than man (118) and the prophets in later times were always sending this message to Israel and Judah. It seems it is a hard lesson for we God knowing people to learn deep within our soul. Usually, it is because we have put too much of our trust in the men around us and less in God and our heavenly Joshua. It's just that our situations can be so iffy, isn't it? Yesterday we were discussing the disciples' plight at a given point. Jesus had just told Judas to leave the room (he had all the money). Jesus, who could do the supernatural, had just announced he would die very soon. He said He would send another Helper but nobody in the room knew when. If one did not feel the strong attraction to Jesus and His love one could be tempted to feel a little bereft and look around to men for help. But praise God they did feel that love and stayed the course. It is a prayer for strength and wisdom we all need to make.

"Faith of our fathers, holy faith, we will be true to Thee 'til death"
                                                                                         Frederick Faber   

Bibledoorajar: Leadership

Bibledoorajar is in Dallas this week supporting hundreds of young leaders from fellowships across the Southwest. Young people that willingly spend time doing bulletin boards, scrapbooks, speeches, poems, art mediums, puppeteering, Bible readings, signing for the deaf, song leading, choruses and more, meet to be judged by their elders. It is really quite a production. The events are designed to assist the youth in becoming more comfortable as they think of taking on leadership roles within the Christian community. The hope is that they will desire with all their hearts to continue to be as good attendants to Jesus as Joshua was to Moses. Many have prayed for, encouraged and assisted them in making their presentations possible but each young person has had to meet strict criteria for their age group on their own. May they always be willing to serve Him. One thing is for sure. He is in control and someone will. Below is a picture of the mighty group from our small fellowship. The care and concern that they have for each other makes the heart swell. Each will find out what medal they won in each of their categories when they get back home. Thank you, Lord, for every one of them and for their courage and sacrifice!

"Lord of heaven and earth. Lord of all creation. Lord of heaven and earth. Lord of all creation, of water, earth and sky, the heavens are Your tabernacle; glory to the Lord on high.
 God of wonders beyond our galaxy. You are holy, holy; the universe declares Your majesty. You are holy, holy; Lord of heaven and earth, Lord of heaven and earth...."
                                                     Lyrics by Marc Byrd

Bibledoorajar: About That Name

When the new generation was complete and the old had passed away God looked to Joshua, Mose's attendant to complete the job of leading the unique and now self- contained people into Canaan. It begins the most distinctive part of their life to date----a new generation, out of Egypt entering a completely new realm under new leadership. They have been through the wilderness of sin and trembled at the demands of the Law and have now put their trust in Joshua. This was God's provision--Joshua would lead them in. But first, back up and remember a few things about Joshua before we start that process. The first thing we learn about Joshua was that his name of origin was Hoshea which means salvation. Remember, this is the man who went up to the mountain with Moses to receive the Law and who stayed in position for 40 days and nights without wavering. And when he came down from the mountain with Moses he did not speak badly about the noise he heard with the calf debacle. He expected the best.  Further, he was one of the two spies who believed the land could not only be taken but was excellent and for which they should be striving. This man was going for God! Salvation is a great name but it could lead to the belief that a man could accomplish salvation alone. At any rate, God had Moses change the name to Joshua which, though similar in how it is written in Hebrew, denotes a great difference;  GOD is salvation. If I had been Joshua even though I had believed in strength coming from God I would have felt truly blessed and encouraged by that name change. Moses could already see that Joshua trusted God and now his name would reflect it ever more clearly.
      I once went to a Bible study in a private home in another state. The only people I knew were the hostess and the two sisters with whom I had attended. The brother who was teaching had never met me. At the second meeting the brother referred to me by an attribute that he had sensed. I smiled politely not exactly knowing what to do when just then the two friends spoke up and said that is exactly right---you have her pegged! It was a nice thing to be blessed and encouraged to know that the body has such giftings and that God graces us to share them as He wills. Here's the lesson: if we Christians are going to call names lets at least use the ones that express what God plans to give the body through another rather than concentrate on the weaknesses we all have.

Bibledoorajar: The Attendant Leader

 “Now, My servant Moses is dead.” This is an interesting comment since the Camp had been mourning the death of Moses for thirty days. However, the forward word in the sentence is the “now” or as some translations put it “and”. In other words, God’s work is going to continue on and the man to lead the way is going to be Moses’s attendant or his great supporter, Joshua. The man who had worked alongside Moses was to successfully conclude all that Moses had done before for the people by leading them out of bondage and successfully through the wilderness wanderings.  But NOW, Joshua would lead the people into the land. What a great honor it was for Joshua to carry the people into the promised inheritance. And He was to do it courageously and with great strength bringing the people in according to all the law. “The book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shall meditate on it day and night” (Joshua 1:7-8). “Do all that my servant Moses commanded”.
There were commandments and requirements. This was still the will of God. Joshua was to magnify the law and lead by it. Remember the people had told Moses that they did not want to talk to God directly. And remember that God had declared that they were right. They could not do it because they did not have a heart for God. They had a terrible weakness and God understood it and He bemoaned the fact that such a heart was not there. But that did not mean that the Law did not stand and that is why God made so many just and holy provisions for the faithful to seek cleanness.

Now. Here we are all these years later and how are we to apply this lesson to our lives in these New Testament times? Well, if you want to understand the importance of the Law, read Galatians. If you want to understand God’s redo for needy people who deserved His wrath read Ephesians. If you want to understand why a great apostle could boast in all his weaknesses read Paul’s testimony (1 Corinthians 11). If you want to read about The Truth becoming apparent in the earth read the book of John. You will find that the grace given by Jesus Christ was not opposite the Law but was complimentary. The law stands but the Leader named Jesus whom God sent understood(stands) the weakness of the human heart. He died to give a new one to all who would believe. This new heart can be recognized by one that appreciates and desires to speak to our Holy Father in all HIs rightness and Law. In our weakness, our new hearts can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  The triumph of the Gospel lives in the hearts of believers. We serve Him, not in any way we please, but truthfully with joy and gladness because Jesus fulfilled ALL of the Law. Praise God for the Great Attendant of the Law and all that He made possible for you and for me. Every time you have a successful victory over some sin contrary to God’s law you can boast in Him. For every struggle not yet bested you can boast in Him for the privilege and position you have through His grace and mercy. It’s the truth; He is Truth. We take the land with Him and Him alone.

Bibledoorajar: Wait, Just One More Thing

     I cannot let us go into the Land without discussing one more great Levitical ceremony that was given by God. We discussed the Pascal Lamb that took away sin and we discussed the Scapegoat that got away while the other goat paid the price for sin. But God also instituted another great gift when He gave the Levites the responsibility of the slaying of the red heifer. The red heifer was the only female sacrifice in the Levitical system. It is thought that she was selected by God to represent the ability to give life. She had to be perfectly red, eyelashes, nose, hooves, all. If they thought they had bred one but found as little as two non-red hairs, she was not a candidate. This emphasis on red hair and body was so that the dehydrated blood at death could not be easily seen. Further, she could never have been yoked or worked.
     When the heifer was killed for the good of the people, the Levite priests had to take it outside the camp. There the blood was collected and the priest would take the hyssop and soak it in the blood. He would return to camp and sprinkle it before the Tent of Meeting seven times. This obsolved the nation as a whole from guilt. That priest would have to change clothes and clean his body. Another priest would burn the body of the heifer completely until only ashes remained. The ashes would be mixed with water (living) and individuals needing purification would be anointed. The priest would completely dispose of the ashen water outside the camp and would change clothes and clean his body. The priests, having cleaned themselves ,would remain unclean until dark. The death of the heifer, a giver of life, was needed to take away the guilt of sin that destroys individual conscience and that of nations. The historian Josepheus says that no one but Moses really understood the efficaciousness of the red heifer ceremony. It was a mystery. But Jesus makes the mystery known through His death. As He hung on the cross He was able to tell the thief that he would be with Him in Paradise because He hung there until dark and became clean for believers. The thief's guilt was gone. It was a miraculous dark that could not be explained by solar or lunar events. It was the work of God.
     And so, on Sundays when I share the Lord's Supper with my Fellowship, I am also atONEment with the Father who miraculously over time cleans me up and sanctifies me. Do I have regrets about some of my actions in my past? Yes, but I have no guilt because my Saviour saw to it that that would not  happen to His disciples. I can serve the Lord with gladness. My works will not be dead (useless). Hallelujah !!!

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  Hebrews 9:13-14

"GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY, HIS WONDERS TO PERFORM" 
                                                              William Cowper, 1773