Sunday School Lesson for March 14, 2021 - Prophet of Conquest: Joshua 5:13-6:27 NASB

 

Prologue:

Joshua 1:5b NASB

5b ...Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you.

Joshua 3:7 NASB

7 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. 

God understood what He planned for Israel. He planned to put Joshua in charge. He planned to confirm His promise to Joshua with signs following. He planned to confirm His selection of Joshua as Heaven’s spokesman on Earth with mighty signs and wonders. He planned to elevate Joshua to the office of Prophet. His Prophet of Conquest. He would elevate Joshua in the eyes and hearts of the nation of Israel to the stature implied by his name, which meant, “God is my (our) Salvation.”

Joshua 3:14-17 NASB

14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark [c]stepped down into the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 then the waters which were [d]flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were [e]flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

In order to fathom the magnitude of the miracle at the Jordan river on the day that Israel crossed into the promised land, take a look at the pictures below. The Jordan River is normally about one hundred feet across and about ten feet deep in the plain where Joshua led the nation of Israel into the promised land. However, during flood season, which is when Israel crossed, the Jordan overflows its natural boundaries and expands out to a width of as much as two miles and a depth of about one hundred feet. Crossing during the rainy season would have been impossible in that circumstance. See the photographs below.

The first photo is a picture of the newly constructed Allenby Bridge with the Jordan River flowing peacefully about 30 feet below it. 

The date of the photograph above is around 1920.

 

The photograph below was taken in February 1935.  This was an unusually high year for the Jordan River and it “overflowed all its banks,” damaging and destroying surrounding buildings and roads. That bridge is pictured in the upper right section of the photograph.

 

The photograph above provides a clearer view of the bridge. The red marks delineate either end of the bridge.

 

Genesis 18:14a

14a Is anything too hard for the Lord?

So then, consider that the Lord stopped the flow of water at the point of crossing. Might it also be possible that the result was not only that Israel crossed on dry land, but that the water then backed up to, and possibly flooded the region surrounding the city of Adam, further upstream, thus adding to the dread that the people of Caana had for the people of Israel and for the God of Israel?

Joshua 5:10-13 NASB

10 While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. 11 Then on the day after the Passover, on [f]that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. 12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

John 5:24 NASB

24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Then finally, it is noteworthy that after crossing the Jordan, the children of Israel consecrated themselves. First, all of the men were circumcised, then the entire congregation celebrated Passover. This Passover celebration held special significance as it was the first to be celebrated in the Promised Land. This Passover should also hold significance for Christians, in that it is representative of a crossing over from death to life; a new beginning as a new creature in Christ. It is after these events that our lesson begins.

 

The Lesson

Joshua 5:13 NASB

13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 

“Now when Joshua was by Jericho…” The narrative places Joshua at or near Jericho at the time of his next providential encounter. Jericho was a walled city of some significance. Regarded by archeologists as possibly the oldest city on earth. It actually was surrounded by two walls, with dwellings built both in the inner area and in between the inner and outer wall. The height of the walls was around thirteen feet. Additionally, the most prominent structure within the city was a tower, some thirty-five feet in height built just inside the innermost wall. Archeologists note that because of the location of the tower, it could not have been built for defensive purposes. Thus, they surmise that the tower had religious purposes, similar to other Ziggurats found throughout the middle east. This could be compared to the Tower of Babel, the most famous of Ziggurats. Additionally, the name Jericho is derived from the Hebrew word Yarech, which is the name of the Canaanite moon god. Thus, Jericho was known as the ‘Moon City’, or “The City of the Moon God”. 

As Joshua stood within sight of the city, these facts would have been available to him. This is where Joshua encounters an armed stranger. Notably, Joshua takes a confrontational stance with the stranger, which gives us some insight into the confidence that Joshua walked in, as the leader of God’s people. 

Joshua 5:14-15 NASB

14 He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” 15 And the captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

In the very moment that the stranger identified Himself as the Captain of the army of the Lord, Joshua immediately falls on his face, assuming a posture of surrender and worship. The next words from the lips of the stranger further identify Him as a pre-incarnate appearing of Christ, literally the Commander-in-Chief of the Lord’s Army. To command Joshua to remove his sandals completely identifies Him as Yahweh, the ‘I AM’, whom Moses encountered at the burning bush.

It is at this moment, within sight of the tower of the Caananite moon god, Yarech that the true and living God of the Universe reveals Himself to Joshua, so as to demonstrate His power over the false idols and religions of the Caananite people and His utter disgust for the detestable religious practices of the people of Caana. God demonstrates to Joshua that truly, He will be with Joshua in toppling the religious structure of Caana just as He was with Moses when He (God) toppled the Pharoah and the religious structure of Egypt.

Joshua 6:1-5 NASB

1 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. 2 But the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with its king and the valiant warriors. 3 And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down [a]flat, and the people shall go up, everyone [b]straight ahead.”

The Lord then gives Joshua succinct clear instructions on how they are to proceed. Most importantly, the Lord does not instruct them to use arms or weapons, but only to march, thus demonstrating complete obedience to and faith and trust in the Lord, God. After all, this battle belongs to the Lord, not to Joshua.

Joshua 6:20 NASB

20 So the people shouted, and [a]the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down [b]flat, so that the people went up into the city, everyone straight [c]ahead, and they took the city.

For six days, the army of Israel silently marched around the city of Jericho, but on the seventh day the trumpets sounded and the people shouted, and… the walls fell. The army of Israel then went in and took the city of Jericho, according to the Word of the Lord and under the leadership of God’s own prophet, Joshua.

Epilogue

Joshua 6:24-25 NASB

24 Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the [k]house of the Lord. 25 However, Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua [l]spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Just a final thought on how complete God’s judgment against the city of Jericho was and on how great the mercy and grace of God is to those who love Him and commit themselves to His will and His way. The Israelites were commanded to completely destroy everything in Jericho, both the people and the livestock, and then to burn everything that would burn. They did as the Lord commanded, and found favor in God’s sight. 

Additionally, because of her faithfulness to the spies of Israel, God rewarded Rahab with a place of prominence in the community of Israel and in the eternal household of faith. Literally, she was grafted into the royal lineage of Christ as the mother of Boaz, the husband of Ruth, and the great-great-grandmother of David, a place and position of eternal honor in the legacy of Heaven.

Sunday School Lesson for March 7, 2021 - Prophet of Deliverance: Exodus 12:28-50; Deuteronomy 18:15-22

 

        Welcome to the beginning of the Spring Session. The over-arching theme for the next twelve lessons “Prophets Faithful to God’s Covenant”. The theme for the first unit, the first four lessons is “Faithful Prophets”. They were faithful messengers and leaders at times when Israel’s leadership was absent or insufficient. Our primary focus during this session will be the actions and motivations of the individual prophets being studied. The office of the prophet or the spiritual gifts surrounding prophecy will be secondary, or even tertiary in this series of lessons. Let’s get started.

The expository portion of this week’s lesson is restricted to Deuteronomy 18:15-22. We will limit our exposition to those verses only.

Deuteronomy 18:15 NASB ✦

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen; to him, you shall listen.

The author of the Book of Deuteronomy is Moses. It was written as the children of Israel were completing their forty-year journey through the wilderness and were preparing to enter into Caanan, the land God promised to them through their ancestor, Abraham. For forty years, Israel followed one leader, Moses. In Egypt, Moses had fallen from a Prince of Egypt to a lowly shepherd of Midian. Then God called him at the Burning Bush and instructed Him to set Israel free from the bondage of slavery. Thus, a prophet and, a deliverer was born. God confirmed Moses’ position as leader in the eyes of Israel and Pharoah with many mighty signs and wonders. Ultimately, God used Moses to deliver Israel out of Egypt, where they had been captive for over four hundred years. They then journeyed through the wilderness for the next forty years.

But now, Israel had come to the brink of their goal: Caana, and a change in leadership would be forthcoming. Why? A couple of reasons: 1. Moses was old. 2. Both Moses and Aaron had disobeyed God at Meribah in a quarrel with the Israelites over water. God was not going to allow them entry into the promised land.

So then, Moses is preparing the people for entry into the promised land. His chief responsibility then is to review the promises God made to Abraham in order to call them into accountability to that agreement before crossing over the Jordan into Caana. 

In addition to restoring Israel to covenant relationship with God, Moses also had to leave a leadership umbrella in place that would result in Israel’s success in occupying the promised land. A leadership umbrella that did not include him. 

In that moment, Joshua was the obvious de facto successor to Moses however, more was required. Moses would have to train God’s people on how to recognize the next leader chosen by God to lead them. This is where we pick up the lesson today. Moses’ literal instruction was, “Look for a leader like me”. To lead like Moses, the nation would have to be certain that that leader was actually sent by God and he had to be someone from among them, God’s covenant people. 

John 1:21 NASB

21 And so they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

There are a couple of things to point out about prophecy at this juncture. The verse above, Deuteronomy 18:15 stands apart from other prophetic verses. There are verses that point to the coming of the Messiah, throughout the Old Testament. They are referred to as Messianic verses. The ultimate fulfillment of that verse is Jesus Christ. In John 1:21 above, we see the priests and Levites inquiring of John as to whether or not he is the ’Prophet’. This indicates that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were looking for one like Moses to come some 1500 years later.

This brings another point to bear concerning prophecy. Typically there is a short term fulfillment and a long term fulfillment of prophecy. Typically we see it in an immediate Old Testament fulfillment and a much later New Testament occurrence that aligns with the original prophecy in the outcome, though the circumstances are far removed from the original prophecy in time and circumstance. More about that later.

Deuteronomy 18:16 NASB

16 This is in accordance with everything that you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Do not let me hear the voice of the Lord my God again, and do not let me see this great fire anymore, or I will die!’

Proverbs 1:7 NASB

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Moses reminds them that in a previous time, at the beginning of the Exodus, God had called Israel to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. The very beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. In short, the assembling of the nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai was such a frightening experience that the people beseeched Moses to speak to them in God’s stead from that time on. They did not want God to speak to them directly.

Deuteronomy 18:17 NASB

17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They have [a]spoken well

And the Lord approved. Why? Quite simply because their approach to God on that day had been an approach of reverent fear. Beloved God is Holy. He must never be regarded as an afterthought or compartmentalized as just a part of one’s life. He is God and He must be acknowledged as Lord at all times in the life of the believer. It was true in Moses’ day and it’s still true today.

Deuteronomy 18:18 NASB

18 I will raise up for them a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them everything that I command him. 

Moses continues to recount God’s specific instructions to him concerning a future leader. One: God would select from among their own countrymen. It would be a member from any one of the twelve tribes. Joshua, who was standing there before them, was from the tribe of Ephraim. Jesus, the Messiah, would hail from the tribe of Judah. Two: God would put His Word in the mouth of His chosen prophet. His Word.

Three: God’s selected leader and prophet would speak God’s Word without fear. It was important that God’s message not be filtered or compromised by fear, intellectualism, or relativism. These were the ‘tests’ God provided to His people Israel, by which they were to approve future leaders.

Deuteronomy 18:19 NASB

19 And it shall come about that whoever does not listen to My words which he speaks in My name, I Myself will [b]require it of him. 

God was speaking to His covenant people. What He wanted them to know was that accountability would work both ways. If the chosen leader was affirmed by God, then it was important that Israel take their instructions to heart. God Himself would hold them accountable. Why was that important? Because God was Israel’s Head. If He spoke through His chosen leader, it was Him, it was Yahweh! Yes, He would hold the hearers of His Word accountable. We will see this come to bear in lessons later in this session. There were many who opposed God’s prophets. In doing so, they were rejecting God. Oftentimes, that would work to Israel’s detriment.

Deuteronomy 18:20 NASB

20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name, a word which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, [c]that prophet shall die.’

Here are two more tests. One: This prophet must not be presumptuous. Pride and arrogance must not be earmarks of the character of one who speaks for God. That is as true today as it was back then. The life and character of a believer must be a witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and, the Presence of the Holy Spirit in their life. Two: He or she must not speak in the name of other gods. Again, as true today as it was then. There are any number of people who claim to speak from a spiritual place or claim to speak in the name of something other than Christianity. They are to be disregarded out of hand. Even if they are correct on any given occasion, be reminded that a broken clock is right twice a day. Beloved, as Christians, we are not to subject our hearts to anything that cannot be confirmed by the Word of God. Then, God pronounces the punishment for any such false prophet: death. It was non-negotiable. We don’t stone those who call themselves prophets today, Thank God for His mercy.

Deuteronomy 18:21 NASB

21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How will we recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 

 However, we are commanded to try the word by the Word. Under this new covenant, we have been given the unction of the Holy Spirit. We are to discern the truth of the words we hear spoken by the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit. God is faithful. He won’t let you down.

Deuteronomy 18:22 NASB

 22 When the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you are not to be afraid of him.

The Old Testament saints did not have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, nor did they have the entire, canonized Word of God to use as a reference. Subsequently, they required some method of confirming the words of one who called Himself a prophet. Here was the simplest of test: Did the spoken word come true? As I stated earlier,  prophecies that were given by God sometimes had a dual result; one in the moment and one much later, sometimes centuries later. Using Moses as an example, the nation of Israel had repeatedly seen immediate outcomes associated with his words to Pharoah and to them. God was assuring them that they wouldn’t have to guess about His will in their lives. He would make it clear by confirming His Word in a timely manner.

God’s simple instructions to His people through and by Moses, and then Joshua concerning the prophets that He would appoint were meant to comfort the hearts of the nation of Israel as they ventured into this land where giants roamed. They could trust God. Even in discipline, His Word was meant to bring comfort, if they were taken to heart. That remains true today. When I have encountered a prophet or a prophetess who has spoken into my life, their words, even in discipline, encouraged me and always reminded me that God loves me and only intends me well.

1 Corinthians 14:1-3 NASB

1 Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one [a]understands, but [b]in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, [c]exhortation, and consolation.

Selah,

wb