Rev. Ted Strawbridge

Joshua, part 11

Rev. Ted Strawbridge

Joshua, part 10

Rev. Ted Strawbridge

Joshua, part 6

Rev. Ted Strawbridge

Joshua, part 5

Holy War is never the leading title for Seminars in Christian Conferences and Retreats. It is understandable. War is ugly. Nevertheless, God, our Father, makes Himself known as a Warrior. Now, Holy War is radically different from geo-political social conflict. Holy War is a reflection of God’s loving plan to bring the whole world to His glory. The New Testament tells us that “our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities and rulers of this dark world…”

In the Bible Holy War is bound by legal descriptions as when in Deuteronomy rules for battle are outlined. It is also told in narrative form in the stories of how God worked delivering and leading His people. War narratives were not written because the original audience was composed of Marine recruits. Rather, the true stories were told to people just like us, people who wanted God’s blessing and often found themselves sensing His distance. The heart of the stories of Joshua was for moms and business people and teachers and plumbers. It was written to people who had lost the sense of the Lord’s presence in exile and wanted to know, “How do we find our way back to the Lord’s blessing?”

In the world that we live in there is a battle that goes on. God, from before the foundation of the world had a plan to display His glory. He created an image bearer to bring His glory to the earth. When that image bearer failed to obey perfectly a battle that had been incited was blown into a rage. Sides were drawn more clearly and Satan determined to strike the heel of God’s image. God designed to crush Satan’s head. Again, God designed to accomplish His plan through His image bearer, when the first Adam and his descendents by ordinary generation failed, God sent another, also made in His image. The second Adam was the exact representation of God. He was fully God and fully man. When we see the Cristus vicor, when we see Christ, the Captain of our salvation, we are seeing God in Holy War for all of His creation. Christ was wholly consecrated to the will of His Father and the story of Joshua tells us that we too must be consecrated. Holy War meant God would be present with His people.

The story of David and Uriah highlight the importance of being consecrated for blessing. David sought to find a way to mask Bathsheba’s pregnancy. He brought Uriah home from battle and sent him to lay with his wife. But the story in I Samuel 17 tells us that Uriah would not go to his own wife because the Army of the Lord was at battle. He would not make himself unclean, lest he return to the Lord’s presence.

Before going into battle the Israelites were told to consecrate themselves, even within sight of the enemy. It is, as if, the literal shields of the enemy were visible in the distance. Yet, God declares the people must get ready for His presence. His people were so small. Their hearts were so full of fear… their memory so short. They can’t remember that His faithfulness is new every morning. They can’t remember that His presence assures their safety. They were petty little stiff necked sinners… just like us.

So, in the day of Joshua, God took them to through the Kindergarten of faith. Having them practice. March, march, march, march. He asked them to remember, “When you passed through the waters did I not save you?” When He said, “Make a flint knife and circumcise yourself…” did I not protect you?”

Consecration is key to Holy War. The people of God only receive His covenantal blessing when God comes to be present with them. The way to know His presence is to consecrate yourself and march, just like Israel did! “By the mercy of God I beseech you, my dear brothers, that you would make yourself a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord, for this is your spiritual act of worship.

War throughout the Old Testament was an act of obedient worship. Every day we find the Spirit of God in our midst. Our blessing hinges on the perfect obedience of God’s image bearer for us. We are consecrated to the Lord by His holiness. It was the same for the people in exile. The heard these stories and they knew, “If I want His presence I must set myself apart to Him.” It is the same for us today.

If you want God’s blessing today, consecrate yourself. It takes time, sacrifice, and is unto a particular calling. Won’t you give yourself to Him right now? I know, you’re American Christians, probably busy with your kids…, or maybe work.

When God marches into battle you are going to wish you had used today to consecrate yourself before Him… Don’t let it be that you were too busy. The story of Joshua was written to call the people of Israel to fall on their face and consecrate themselves in anticipation of His forgiveness, His blessing, and His fulfillment of divine covenantal blessing. Just what you need today!

What time will you give to consecrate your life?

What sacrifice will you make, today?

What calling do you pursue for His kingdom that warrants His coming to your presence? David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

Christ was fully consecrated to the will of His Father. When the writer of the book of Joshua tells his story consecration and presence is a huge emphasis. It is for us too.

In His Grace,

Ted

Rev. Ted Strawbridge

Joshua, part 4

Jericho

Michael Rauls

Joshua, part 3

Rahab the Prostitute

It is almost painful to read the story of Rahab and then read Hebrews and James call her Rahab the prostitute.  Yes, that was her occupation when she was redeemed.  However, they are not talking about her past, rather her saving faith.  She is recognized as the ancestor of King David and King Jesus, but she is still called Rahab the prostitute.

What does a girl have to do to make people forget about her past?

But that is just it.  We cannot simply forget our past.  Knowing, naming, and understanding our past sin helps us to understand the brokenness that lives within our flesh.  Yes, Christians are made new creations, but that new creation must now put to death the things of the flesh.

So when Rahab is called, named Rahab the Prostitute, she gains an understanding and grasp of what she is capable.  We must not believe the lie that “I am not capable of ____.”  “The heart is deceitful above all.” Jeremiah 17:9.  Rahab takes the name of prostitute for all of biblical history.  What would your name be?  If you were to wear the label of your lowest moment in life what would we call you?  Would you be _____ the Liar, _____ the Cheater,  _____ the Drunk, _____ the Abuser, _____ the Addict, _____ the Adulterer, _____ the Murderer?

But recognizing who we are (read what we are capable of) is only part of our growth in grace.

The story of Rahab encapsulates the nature of God that we see in the book of Joshua.  A significant portion of the book is about battle and destroying those evil people who dwell in the land.  And it is in this book that we get one of our clearest depictions of God as a Warrior as he fights for his people.  But God is not only a warrior, and in this story of Rahab, we see God as a Warrior of Mercy.

It may seem strange to hold those two attributes together, but that is exactly who God reveals himself to be.  He is both a God who is punishing wickedness and at the same time redeeming the penitent (literally as God knocks down the walls of Jericho to destroying wicked people, he also holds up the portion where Rahab and her people are).  God amazes us as we see his wrath and mercy side by side.

The church has struggled to properly present God as both just and merciful.  Either we have overemphasized “fire and brimstone” or “Jesus loves you.”  But what we see in Joshua is a God who is both Warrior and Merciful at the same time!  This expanded understanding of God is the second part of our growth in grace.

The Gospel-Centered Life says it like this:  a growing awareness of God’s holiness combined with a growing awareness of my flesh and sinfulness brings a growing awareness of the work of the cross in our salvation.  In other words, the more you see how high God is and how low you are, the more you realize how much it took to redeem you.  Therefore, you are compelled to worship your savior through obedience.

The most beautiful place we see God revealing himself as a Warrior of Mercy is on the cross.  It is there on the cross that God makes his greatest war destroying sin and death and at the same time he is extending his greatest mercy by making war on his son instead of us.

My prayer is that as we look further into Joshua we will see our Warrior God and not cower in fear but fall down in worship.  I pray that we will not try to push away the Warrior as “something from the Old Testament” but take hold of the full revealed God of the Bible and be engulfed by him

peace,

michael

Joshua, part 2

Holy War

When have you ever stood before leadership greatness?

This week Mary Lu and I have watched multiple interviews with Laura Bush and her daughters. The sweetest times in the interview were when the girls told of reading stories of their mother’s passion to have children and her joy in their childhood. She presents herself as a tremendously humble, quiet leader in support. All of them wished for President Obama’s family a protection from the wounds of politic.

Dueteronomy is the second reading of the law. Moses gathers the people at the edge of the Promised land and presents the most important things they will need to know as they follow true leadership into the land God has given to them. He cautions them with the following; Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

1 Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. 2 The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” 3 But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.

4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

The danger of success in clouding our humility is untenable. It is just as true of us today that we will begin ascribing our blessings to our performance or productivity. Notice in this passage two things. One, God is not whimsical in His destruction. He uses the Israelites to bring the vengeance that is perfectly measured to fit the deserts of the nations in the land. Second, the Israelites are none better. They are a stubborn and stiff-necked people.

So when the author of the divinely inspired stories of Joshua wrote the end of Joshua chapter one, he knew what the people before him needed to hear. The way back to God’s favor from the exile was just like the pattern that was outlined for those who followed Joshua. “…Just as we followed Moses we will follow you.” “If anyone doesn’t obey Joshua, we will kill him.” Only let not God leave you in your leadership.

My friend, perhaps you need a radical obedience today. Even in these few lines you know in your heart there is sinful disobedience to the leadership the Lord has given you? Who are you serving today? Why? How? Jesus said, “If your hand cause you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” What you need today to find the true worship of the Lord is a radical obedience to the Davidide seated on His throne. The leaders of the tribes said to Joshua, not only will we follow you, but whoever doesn’t follow you, we will kill. Strong words. What do they say to you?

You need to know your calling and do it. You need to obey the voice of the King who speaks for your Heavenly Father.

You need to pray for those who are in your leadership that the strategy for taking the land before you will be abundantly clear. Every person among you should clearly understand exactly how their gifts and talents are used today for the Kingdom. If they are not, then your community should ask the Lord on your behalf. I have asked our Small group to pray for me. Pray that our community will know the Lord’s presence in our community and for what task. We want the fullness of the Spirit’s work, “for the common good.” I Cor. 12. We ask not for ourselves, but for your Kingdom, Lord. Take from us the sense of our entitlement to measure our participation and give us the obedience that was lifted before your people wondering, “How will we get His blessing back?” How will you know the fullness of the Spirit today?

Obey your leaders. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will grant you repentance, yet today.

Ted

Rev. Ted Strawbridge

Joshua, part 1

When I was a child I read the stories of the Bible and knew that there was more to them than what I was reading.  When I decided I would become a doctor, I began to memorize all kinds of stuff trying to catch up with the other students who actually became doctors.  As for me, I had this horrific sense that I was only filling my life with data and no real understanding.  Some who became physicians learned differently than I, but I was learning not to think.  Good thing they wouldn’t have me for a physician!

Bible reading can be the same.  The story of Joshua is a true story told to an original audience who needed to hear again how God gave the land to His people.  The first nine verses outline the story of the whole book.  In those verses we find that the story of Joshua is about the invasion of the Promised Land, the distribution of the Promised Land, and the obedience of the Law in the Promised Land.  Verses 2, 6 and 7 point to the larger stories of chapters 1-12, 13-21 and 22-24.  But even that doesn’t begin to tell the story of Joshua for the people.

The question for Joshua is not whether he will be strong and courageous.  The question is, “How do the people find in this story the assurance and hope to trust God in their day?” If the book of Joshua is written to the people in the time of the early monarchy, then it is going to tell them how to safeguard the reign of their new King.  If it is written during the fall of the Northern ten tribes, it will say to the Southern two tribes, “This is how you avoid the discipline and separation of God from your life and worship.”  If it is written to the tribes during the exile, it will tell them, “This is how you find God’s provision back to His fellowship and favor.  The original audience wanted to know God’s presence more certainly in their lives.

Do you need to know how to find God’s favor in your life?  Do you want to know how to gain His pleasure and blessing?  The stories of Joshua are written for you.  Read again the challenge to meditate on His Law day and night.  How are you finding yourself growing in your trust in His daily word?  The Holy Spirit has a clear voice in this passage that the leadership and fellowship of God’s presence is found in daily submission.  When you see God as a Divine Warrior, your heart will shed its arrogant excuses for the lack of time, heart, or interest.  You will fall before Him, and He will lead you to Himself.

Over the next several weeks we will see the motif of God as a Holy Warrior who fights for you.  You can put your trust in Him, for He will never leave you nor forsake you.  These are the same words that your heavenly Father offers you in Christ, “… lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Dear friend, do you know that the Lord is a warrior who has disarmed the powers and principalities by the death and resurrection of Christ.  Do you know how that connects with your life today?  See if you can answer the following;

My purpose in life is to glorify God and serve other people through _______________ and ________________________.

Please come listen to Joshua and learn what it means to fill in your blanks.

I hope you find your life a blank fulfilled,

Ted

Rev. Ted Strawbridge

Simple Worship

Joshua, part 1

Have you ever tried something too little in place of something too big?  Being into Huskies as a little boy, I can assure you I have.  I’ve also tried screws with threads too small, wrenches with metric sockets that didn’t really fit.  Perhaps the worst attempt was extra front fork extensions on a sting ray bike that were too short to really attach.  My front wheel, extension forks and all, flew off in a wheelie that left no good options at all.  In fact now that I’m typing I could name a hundred things I’ve attempted that didn’t fit.


Sometimes what we need most in worship is a reminder that God is big.  Psalm 72 is a psalm written for worship to remind weary people like us that God is doing things on a scale that is far too grand for our eyes to behold.  It is a psalm to remind us that our present circumstances do not, cannot, define for us our reality.  Psalm 72 anticipates a King who is coming that will be like no King ever before.  It is easier for us too imagine such a King because we have Jesus to measure, but Israel knew what their King would be like long before Jesus ever came.

This Psalm extols the nature of Kingship by its fruit.  The actions of a King tell you who and what He is.  The psalmist implores the Lord to give to Israel’s King His justice.  The King who sits in the line of David will rule with justice.  He will judge the poor with justice.  The poor have been looking for such a King since the beginning of the Fall.  When Jesus comes He says that we should, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…”  In this place, the righteousness of which He speaks is not the  substitutionary atonement of Christ dying in our place.  It is not the foreign, or alien, righteousness which we rightly describe as being ours in Christ.  As hard as we work to hold these before believers, and rightly so, the righteousness of Matt 6 and Psalm 72 is justice.  Matt 6 points to our seeking first God’s Kingdom and His justice.  This is what the King will do for Israel.

When the High King comes, in the line of David, he will rule in justice.  Our eternal salvation is not removed from the coming of the kingdom.  Rather, the coming of the King’s reign establishes God’s love for the poor and the oppressed.  He will rule like no other King before.  And look, because He reigns so obediently before the Lord, prosperity comes that is unimaginable.  How do you measure a King’s reign?  One answer is the prosperity of His Kingdom.  When our King reigns the mountains will bear prosperity for the people.  How do we receive the Lord’s blessing?  We receive His blessing by our obedience.  Such obedience never merits us as if we fulfilled the Law. Rather, Christ having fulfilled the Law for us, enables us to obey.  By the filling of the Spirit, the High King makes us long to obey Him in our nature.  The Spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh wars against the Spirit.  Blessings come to Israel, because of the justice and obedience of this King.

When you are down and troubled, and you need a helping hand, when that old North wind begins to blow, etc. etc.… remember that there is a promise of a King for Israel whose reign brings prosperity.  Jesus is great David’s greater Son.  He has fulfilled the Law in such a way that justice has been poured out and righteousness flows like a never ending stream.  If that is not your experience today then you need this Psalm to lift your eyes beyond the life you live and taste and gaze upon the life that you will one day surely see.  The Davidic King will come for Israel.  He will usher in peace, justice and mercy.

Psalm 72:8 begins a passage that describes how the righteous King will be not only for Israel, but for the nations.  The Divine Warrior King will conquer all the nations.  People from every tribe and tongue and language will see His rule.  When He kneels to care for the children and the oppressed, all the other Kings will bow before Him.  His dominion will be from sea to sea.  This King will bring God’s glory to the whole earth.  Every single thing that is functioning in creation will belong to Him and all of it will be for the purpose of His glory.  It is the unfolding of this reign that conquered you.  If you are in Christ today, and Gentile by birth, you are His because He conquered you.  Your salvation is a function of the unfolding of the King’s reign.  Like a wave it swept you up, regenerated your heart, and rekindled your soul.  Christ the King conquered you to Himself.  You were His enemy and now you are seated at His table.  You, who were in mental enmity to all of God’s law and to His mercy, have been brought near.  Along with all the nations, He has conquered sin and death, demons and powers, and you.  This King wins.

Finally, when your world feels too small, when your resources don’t seem to fit, when your bun leaves burger hanging off of every side, what you need is a King big enough to make your life whole.  The Psalmist comes to this conclusion;

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
Who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be His glorious name forever;
May the whole Earth be filled with His glory!

Our worship is big.  Your life has a purpose today.  That purpose fits in a giant plan.  That plan is for the glory of God to cover the earth as the water covers the sea.  Nothing in your life or mine can separate us from the presence of the Holy Spirit.  He guarantees to us the connection of God’s plan and my future and the reign of the King of justice in Psalm 72.

Worship needs to be simple, that is not striated or stratified.  It needs to be authentic throughout.  My life is, “one.”   We live before God, each day is lived before His face.  While worship must be simple in that sense, it also must be big.  It must reflect and bear the fruit of contentment and a certainty that sees by faith what lies beyond.  God has given to us a King who is just.  He cares for the oppressed.  He runs to the side of needy children.  He will not leave us or forsake us.  All the world will one day see the righteous justice of His reign, that reign will cover the whole earth!

Be still,

Ted

Michael Rauls