Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20040215.htm

SAMPLING GOD'S "FEAR NOTS"
Part VII: God's Victory Over Crisis We Bring On Ourselves
(Joshua 9:3-10:27)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

The Bible tells us in 1 John 1:8, 10 that every Christian still has a sinful nature, and thus all believers in Christ have committed ACTS of sin as believers !

Of course, we are to confess our sins and God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; 1 John 1:9 is clear about that. Then, we are to avoid sinning, and lean on God's power for upright living, 1 John 2:1 with Galatians 5:16-23.

However, SOMETIMES our SINS produce serious ENTANGLEMENTS that yield HUGE CRISES, and we need to know IF God will help us in these CRISES, and HOW. Consider for example the following true story:

A generation ago, a single young man who knew Christ as his personal Savior one day traveled from northern California to Reno, Nevada to have a good time. He became drunk, the only time he had ever been drunk with alcohol in his life, and he woke up the next morning in bed with a bar room girl to whom he had just been married!

He was horrified at his marital entanglement; however, he knew from Scripture that marriage is a permanent arrangement, so he chose to face the difficult task of taking his bar room girl bride with him to introduce to his parents back home.

The marriage was a great cross for this man to bear. The woman he married soon became mentally deranged, and, at one point, planned to kill him while he was asleep. He was graciously spared by the Lord, and so he had her committed to a mental institution where his bar room bride lived out the rest of her days.

Meanwhile, he had several daughters by this bride, and chose to try his best to raise them as a single parent.



Can a believer in THIS situation expect GOD to HELP him out IN his CRISIS due to the WRONG TURN he had made to PRODUCE his crisis?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "I have FAILED to OBEY God's Word in a certain issue so NOW I face a HUGE crisis! WILL God STILL help me NOW?!"
  1. By FAILING to FOLLOW God's lead, Joshua and all Israel UNWITTINGLY made an UNBIBLICAL treaty with a Canaanite city, an act that led to a WAR to protect the Canaanites, 9:3-10:6:
    1. God had instructed Joshua to follow His leadership and Israel not make any peace treaties with the godless people of Canaan :
      1. Joshua had been instructed by Moses to consult the Lord via the High Priest prior to making leadership decisions, Numbers 27:21.
      2. Also, Joshua and Israel had been told by God's servant in Moses to avoid making any treaties with the people of Canaan, Ex. 23:31-33.
    2. Well, when Joshua failed to consult the Lord, he and Israel were deceived into making an unbiblical treaty with a Canaanite town:
      1. Aware that Israel was obliged to make peace with Gentiles who were outside of Caanan (Deut. 20:10-11 and Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, ftn. to Joshua 9:3ff), the Gibeonites of Canaan pretended they were from a distant land and came to Israel to make peace, Joshua 9:3-6.
      2. Joshua and Israel disobeyed Numbers 27:21 in not seeking God's counsel regarding their visitors and ended up being deceived into forming an errant alliance with the Gibeonites, Jos. 9:7-15, 16-18.
    3. Then, as the Gibeonites dwelt deep in Canaan's hills, their treaty with Israel threatened the other Canaanites of the area, so five cities of the Canaanites gathered to destroy Gibeon to protect themselves, 10:1-5.
    4. Yet, their treaty with Gibeon obliged the people of Israel to fight all five cities at ONCE (Joshua 9:19), so Israel's unbiblical alliance led the nation into a huge crisis!
  2. Knowing he was OBLIGED by GOD to protect these Gibeonites, Joshua mustered Israel's men to FIGHT in Gibeon's defense, 10:7.
  3. God HONORED Joshua's BIBLICAL RESPONSE to the CRISIS he had ERRANTLY PRODUCED, telling Joshua to "Fear not," that GOD would HELP him RESOLVE this crisis, Joshua 10:8:
    1. Having just handled the troublesome turnaround battle of Ai, Joshua suddenly found himself having to fight five armies in open ground!
    2. Nevertheless, his decision to honor his oath made in God's NAME with the Gibeonites was upheld by God: the Lord told Joshua to "Fear them not," that He would give Joshua a great victory, Joshua 10:8.
  4. Accordingly, Joshua did his human best while also seeking God's help, and God worked ENORMOUS MIRACLES to AID him and to SOLVE the godless entanglement's CRISIS, Joshua 10:9-21:
    1. Realizing his chance to avoid long sieges of their cities by taking out all five armies that were gathered in an open field, Joshua planned a surprise attack by marching his forces toward the enemy all night long, going uphill for 25 miles , 10:9; Bib. Know. Com., O.T., p. 350.
    2. God responded by greatly helping Joshua implement his battle plan:
      1. The Lord helped Israel's tired army by sending a hail storm to slay more of the enemy than Joshua's men could destroy, 10:10-11.
      2. God heard Joshua's prayer for the sun and moon to "stand still" to provide enough daylight hours for Joshua's men to destroy the enemy while they were still outside their protective city walls: God miraculously held up the earth's rotation to give enough daylight for Joshua's battle plan to succeed, Joshua 10:12-14; Ibid., p. 351.
  5. Indeed, Joshua encouraged the people of Israel with his OWN "Fear not," revealing God would HELP them whenever they thus properly responded to their needs for CORRECTION , 10:22-27:
    1. Following their great victory, Joshua led Israel's military leaders to place their feet on the necks of the prostrate, captive, enemy kings; this posture symbolically pictured their conquest, and Joshua then told them of God's "fear not" promise of future help, Joshua 10:22-25.
    2. Joshua then executed the five enemy kings in accord with God's will, hanging them on trees until evening and burying them beneath rocks in symbolic recollection of God's help over the king of another similar turnaround victory -- the king of Ai, Jos. 10:26-27 with 8:29.
Application: If we have made a WRONG turn in life and NOW are in a huge CRISIS, (1) may we ADMIT our FAULT and (a) trust in Christ for salvation from sin, John 3:16; (2) or, IF we are SAVED, let us confess our error to God for His forgiveness, 1 John 1:9. (3) Then, like Joshua, (a) make a sensible plan that (b) heeds God's WILL IN the CRISIS EVEN if our FAULT PRODUCED the crisis. (4) GOD, Who LOVES to SAVE to His own glory will HELP and RESCUE us by His great power!

Lesson: Though FAILING to seek God's guidance got Israel entangled in a big crisis, Joshua's choice to DO GOD'S WILL once he FOUND he was IN the CRISIS was HONORED by GOD; as God had BEFORE helped repentant Israel overcome her sin-caused defeat at AI, He helped an obedient Israel overcome her errantly, self-imposed crisis at GIBEON!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 At the start of this message, you recall I mentioned the true story of a young Christian man in northern California who once drove across the state line into Reno, Nevada to have a good time. For the only time in his life, he became drunk and woke up the next morning in bed with a bar room girl he had married while drunk.

The situation he found himself in was a huge trial that never ended throughout his marriage. He knew from Scripture that he was bound to stay wed to this woman for life, so he took her back home and introduced her to his parents, and sought to establish a home life with her. However, his bar room bride soon became mentally deranged and tried to kill him while he was sleeping, so he had her committed to a mental institution. Meanwhile, he sought to raise the daughters he had produced by this woman, bringing them up as best he knew how as a single parent in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

God was very gracious to him, for one of my seminary classmates and a fellow worker on a job I had when I attended the San Francisco Baptist Theological Seminary MARRIED one of the DAUGHTERS of this man! This single parent's DAUGHTER thus became a PASTOR'S WIFE, serving the Lord in the work of rescuing OTHER lives from sin and its effects!



May we never forget that REGARDLESS of the MESSES that RESULT from our FAILING to HEED God, GOD is so GREAT that He can and WILL HELP us find deliverance from DESTRUCTION if we decide to FOLLOW His WILL once we find ourselves in a self-imposed CRISIS due to our past failures.



May we ALWAYS turn to GOD'S BIBLICAL WAYS -- especially AFTER we have ERRED -- GOD is THERE and He is WILLING to work WONDERS to help us out!