From Conquering to Succumbing to Retreat to Forsaking

CONQUERING
"Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up behold, I have delivered the land into his hand." Judges 1:1-2

Joshua has died, but the LORD has commanded Israel to continue driving out the Canaanites from the Promised Land. So they ask the LORD, "who's gonna go fight against the Canaanites FIRST?" It's like they understand that the individual tribes need to move forward in faith to conquer their own portion of the Promised Land, but they just want to see someone else go first... God selects Judah to go first. Judah partners with Simeon and they proceed to drive out most of the Canaanites from both their lands.

SUCCUMBING
"And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron." Judges 1:19

Why did Judah succumb to the inhabitants of the valley? Yes, they had chariots of iron, but Judah had the LORD. It seems like Judah came up against something that seemed mightier to him than his God. Why should an iron chariot defeat the child of God?

What about in my life? What's the iron chariot in my life? What one thing keeps me from moving forward in faith as God leads?

I wonder if Judah's inability to defeat those iron chariots weakened the faith of the other tribes? Beginning just two verses later in verse 21, we read a litany of failure by other tribes...
v 21 "And the children of Benjamin did not drive out..."
v 27 "Neither did Manasseh drive out..."
v 29 "Neither did Ephraim drive out..."
v 30 "Neither did Zebulun drive out..."
v 31 "Neither did Asher drive out..."
v 33 "Neither did Naphtali drive out..."
v 34 "And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain..." Not just a lack of forward movement here, but full blown RETREAT

RETREATING
Wow... now it's become worse than just a lack of forward movement - we see full blown retreat. What's going on? Why is this happening? God provides the answer in Chapter 2.

"And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you." Judges 2:1-3

God charges Israel with disobeying him in these two things:
(1) Make no league with the inhabitants of this land
(2) Ye shall throw down their altars

God sees Israel's failure to drive the inhabitants and their idols out as disobedience. God is saying that He has done His part; He has performed His promises; He has kept His covenant. But Israel has not done their part in that they allowed the idolators and their idols to remain in the land.

Pastor Sexton frequently says, "God is always advancing." So it follows that when we're walking with God, we are always advancing. A lack of forward movement in the life of a believer or a church indicates fundamental problems.

FORSAKING
"And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim. And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger." Judges 2:10-12

The next generation "knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." How has it come to this? How could God and His mighty works on Israel's behalf be forgotten so soon?

I think this is the answer. The generation that decided to stop conquering didn't want to tell their children about the mighty works of God. After all, if I tell my children about the mighty works of God, they may ask "then why do we live next door to Canaanites?" Ouch... stings the conscience too much. Let's just not have those kinds of conversations, ok? Let's just let our children assume that God's power is a thing of the past. We live like this because we have to live like this, right?

God's people stopped conquering; they stopped moving forward in faith; and to ease their conscience, they stopped talking or thinking about the mighty power of God. As a result, neither their words or their deeds were a true testimony to the next generation.

Does this sound eerily familiar? If you're an American, it should... What needs to happen? Roll the process backwards. Stop forsaking God. Stop retreating. Stop succumbing. Start conquering.

How? Stop forsaking God by repenting of our unbelief and idolatry. Refuse to retreat any farther by standing and strengthening the things that remain: be determined not to give any more ground. Stop succumbing: refuse to settle for partial victories. Start conquering: go forward with God to conquer our world in our time for Jesus Christ.

Caleb's Mountain

"Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.

Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

And now behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

Now therefore give me this mountain whereof the LORD spake in that day: for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said." Joshua 14:5-12

Caleb at the age of 85 still wants to conquer the mountain he spied out when he was 40. Why doesn't Caleb say, "Well, I've served my time, let the younger folk do it now?" Because Caleb wasn't ready to step aside for the next generation. I have a sneaking suspicion that Caleb would've whipped up on any other Israelite who tried to take his mountain!

Why doesn't Caleb say, "I wish I could've conquered that mountain, but it's too late now." Because Caleb's strength had been preserved by the LORD, and he was ready to fight! I wonder if the LORD preserved his strength each day that Caleb kept his faith alive? I wonder if that's the way it works. I know a man who, like Caleb, is still as strong at 70 as he was at 50. He's using that strength to accomplish the work God gave him to do.

J Vernon McGee says that Caleb had
(1) Faith to forget the past,
(2) Faith to face facts, and
(3) Faith to face the future.

Is this faith quality the secret to Caleb's preserved strength? I think so. The reverse seems logical to me, too. Why should God preserve the strength of one who has already stopped conquering?

Why doesn't Caleb say, "I'm looking for a younger partner to help me conquer this mountain. Anybody interested?" Because Caleb already has a partner; "...if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said" (Joshua 14:12). Caleb had this idea that God was all the help he needed.

This is the profile of a life-long conqueror. We need a generation of Calebs today to stack hands with almighty God and conquer our land for Jesus Christ.

What's my mountain to conquer? I think my mountain is the public schools of Midland. I still have a heart's desire to establish Bible Clubs in each school. I still have a heart's desire to conquer the Freshman schools for Christ.

I need to forget the past - that we gave up our two former clubs. I need to face the facts - as Shajara says, it will be hard. I need to face the future - keep thinking of the day when we can fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to take the Gospel into our own Jerusalem by sharing the Gospel at every campus in this city.

To the Victor belong the Spoils

Well, word sort of got around that God had dried up the water of the Jordan River so that the Israelites could cross over such that the inhabitants' hearts melted within them and they had no spirit in them. In other words, they feared the God of Israel. These are the same people that stubbornly refused to turn to God for over 400 years! They know their day in Canaan is over and Israel is moving in!

So the Canaanites are to afraid to mess with Israel. Now God commands Joshua to circumcise the nation and they rested there in peace until they were healed. After a passover celebration, the manna stopped and the nation ate the fruit of Canaanland from then on.

Then Joshua meets the captain of the LORD's host. The fact that the being allowed Joshua to fall down and worship him indicates that this is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. The LORD gives Joshua some peculiar instructions for battle, which Joshua follows.

Upon completion of these instructions, the walls of Jericho fall down, Israel utterly destroys every living thing in the city except Rahab and her family, and takes the gold, silver, brass, and iron for the treasury of the house of the Lord.

"And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD they shall come into the treasury of the LORD." Joshua 6:18-19

In other words, the spoils were not to be divided among the people; they were all to be given to the Lord. I believe this was to remind the nation of Israel that God had fought this battle for them. God had won the victory, so He was to keep all the spoils. To the victor belong the spoils.

The Saving Faith of Rahab

"And she [Rahab] said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." Joshua 2:9-11

All the people of Jericho had heard about the parting of the Red Sea and the defeat of the two kings just across the river. And as soon as they heard it, their hearts melted with fear. They all knew that Israel's God was the true God of heaven and earth because of His great works that they had heard about (not seen, but heard about). Yet Rahab is the only one who identifies herself with God's people and asks for mercy. Later in the Scripture, we find that Rahab's faith saved her and her family from destruction in the battle of Jericho.

It's strange that the other inhabitants had the same information as Rahab, but didn't ask for mercy. Why didn't they ask for mercy? Because they refused to acknowledge God as their God. They understood from the evidence they heard that God is THE God, but they were unwilling to acknowledge God as THEIR God. Big difference.

What about us? Like the inhabitants of Jericho, we have heard about the great works of God - they are recorded in the Bible. We have even more information than Rahab and the inhabitants of Jericho. We certainly have sufficient evidence to understand that the God of Israel is indeed THE God - the true God of heaven and of earth. But not all are willing to acknowledge God as THEIR God.

Like the people of Jericho, the people on our planet today are not condemned for lack of evidence or lack of knowledge of God. They are condemned because of their refusal to accept God as THEIR God. Why do they refuse? This passage in John 3 answers that question.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John 3:16-21

It's not the absence of light (knowledge, evidence) that condemns men - it's a love for the darkness that condemns men.

Be Strong and of a Good Courage

God appoints Joshua to be the leader of Israel and tells him to "be strong and of a good courage" three times in the first chapter. Each time the instruction is given, God also gives a command alongside the instruction.

1. Josh 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage... divide their inheritance to them... reach out and accept the gift (like the gift of salvation - we have to reach out and accept it)

2. Josh 1:7 Be strong and of a good courage... obey me completely - meditate on my Word day and night and DO IT (like the process of sanctification - knowing and DOING the Word of God)

3. Josh 1:9 Be strong and of a good courage... trust in God's might and presence, not your own (like spiritual warfare - 2 Cor 10:4 "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds")

4. The fourth time is different, because it is the nation of Israel speaking to Joshua.
Josh 1:18 Be strong and of a good courage... we will obey you and will put to death those who rebel against you (like church discipline - putting the sowers of discord out of the congregation)

A good picture of the Christian life. It takes strength and courage to accept the gift of salvation. It takes strength and courage to be sanctified. It takes strength and courage to fight spiritual battles. It takes strength and courage to separate from rebellion. All of it founded on trust in God's mighty power and constant presence. We can have courage and strength to obey God's commands because God is powerful and always with us.

Israel's National Anthem

Someone has said, "Let me write the music of a nation, and I do not care who writes the laws." In other words, the songs have more influence than the laws! How true this is in our present-day culture. Music has gained a pre-eminence in our culture to such a degree that it may legitimately be considered "The American Idol".

Deuteronomy 32 contains Moses' final song. This was to be a sort of national anthem for the nation of Israel.

The song opens by calling heaven and earth to witness the conditions under which God is putting Israel into the Promised Land and the conditions under which He will put them out of the Promised Land. God will deal with Israel in the Promised Land in a very public way for all the world to see.

Verses 7-9 declare that God gave the nation of Israel The Promised Land as an inheritance through Jacob. The Promised Land then is Israel's possession because of God's grace. God did not choose Israel because they were the best, mightiest, most noble, most deserving nation. He chose them and gave them the Promised Land for a permanent possession simply because He loved them.

So the possession of the land is Israel's unconditionally as a fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Verses 10-12 remind Israel that God brought them out of Egypt and led them through the desert as an eagle bears her young on her wings. Verse 12 reminds Israel that it was God alone that led them from Egypt to the Promised Land - "there was no strange god with him."

Verses 15-18 tell of Israel forgetting God in her prosperity and turning to false gods. Sounds like America today...

Verses 19-31 tell of God's chastisement upon Israel for idolatry. God will hide His face from them and withdraw His protection such that one of their enemies "shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight" because God has "sold them" to their enemies. In other words, without God's protection, their enemies will conquer them with ease.

Moses' song ends with restoration: Israel returning unto God, God avenging Israel and showing mercy to Israel

Their national anthem can be summed up like this:

God chose us

God delivered us

God led us

God fed us

We waxed fat

We forgot God

We chased idols

God abhorred us

God hid His face from us

God sold us

We were conquered

We suffered

We remembered God

We called upon God

God heard our cry

God restored us

God avenged us

Mouths and Hearts

"For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
Deuteronomy 30:11-14

Paul refers to this in Romans 10:6-10,
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

God has not hidden the way of salvation. He hasn't made the way of salvation so high that only the most spiritual can attain it. He hasn't made the way of salvation so distant that only the bravest and fittest can reach it. God has made the way of salvation as near as our mouths and our hearts.

The way of salvation is by faith - available to all who have mouths to confess and hearts to believe.

To Believe or Not To Believe

"And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land. The great tempatations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day." Deuteronomy 29:2-4

Israel had seen with their very eyes all the great works of God as He miraculously delivered them from Egypt and Pharaoh. Yet they still did not perceive because God had not opened their spiritual understanding.

It's easy to look down on Israel for their unbelief. I like to think that if I had seen the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, my faith would be HUGE! Right? Wrong. The cause of my unbelief and lack of faith is not lack of evidence. There is evidence of God's power all around me in the lives of the redeemed who are being transformed into the image of Christ right before my eyes. Nor can I blame my unbelief on what I read in the Bible; the fulfilled prophesies of the Bible are evidence of its reliability. No, my unbelief comes from within. There is always that stubborn innate emnity with God that quenches my capacity to perceive the things of God.

If only I could remember to ask for help when that stubborn unbelief rises up to do battle with my faith and say, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

Warfare

Deuteronomy 20 gives two important principles about warfare:
(1) Make sure you're on God's side. That you're fighting for what is right.
(2) Be enthusiastic about winning. Fight to win.

The same chapter gives four valid excuses for a man not to go into battle.
(1) If the man has built a new house and hasn't had opportunity to live in it yet.
(2) If the man has planted a vinyard and hasn't had opportunity to eat of it yet.
(3) If the man is engaged to be married.
(4) If the man is fearful or fainthearted.

In other words, God recognized that a man cannot be enthusiastic about fighting even a right war if his heart is back at home, or back at his business, or on his fiancee. God recognized that a man cannot be enthusiastic about fighting if he is fearful or fainthearted. Through these four excuses, God is advocating a voluntary military.

In 2 Tim 2:3-4, Paul wrote, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."

Paul is writing to Timothy as one preacher to another to endure hardness as a good soldier, to avoid being entangled with the affairs of this life, to focus instead on pleasing Jesus Christ, his Commander.

Makes me wonder if I'm being a good soldier for Christ? Where's my enthusiasm for fighting the battles against the enemy within - my own sinful nature? Against the enemy without - Satan? Where's my enthusiasm for freeing others from the bondage of sin and eternal damnation by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Have I become so entangled with the affairs of this world that I've no heart to fight?

Our task is enormous - 64 billion people alive on this planet right now. That means there are more people alive today than have lived throughout all of human history. That also means there are more people in bondage than ever before. We live in an extraordinary time - we need to be extraordinarily committed to sharing the Gospel of Christ.

The Test of Prophecy

"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
Deuteronomy 18:20-22

I love that God gave Israel a test for determining whether a prophet was genuine or fake. The test was this: the prophet had to give a prediction about a "here and now" situation, and their prediction had to be completely accurate. If any detail was wrong, they were to be considered a false prophet and all their prophecies were to be disregarded.

For example, Isaiah predicted that the Assyrian army encamped around Jerusalem would retreat without shooting a single arrow into Jerusalem. This "here and now" prediction came true exactly as Isaiah predicted. Isaiah passed the test of a true prophet of God and the people could have confidence in his prophecies about the future, including the birth of the Messiah which occurred 700 years later.

There are still false prophets today and some of them are accurate sometimes. But God's test demands 100% accuracy.

The larger question is this: is God still revealing Himself to us through prophecy? The answer is no. God's revelation to us is complete in Jesus Christ, the Word of God who dwelt among us, and in the written Word of the Bible. The New Testament contains warnings about false teachers, but not false prophets (2 Pet 2:1). The test for teachers today is whether their teachings conform to the Bible. As a child of God, I don't have to be "tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive (Eph 4:14)". I have access to the very truth of God through His Holy Word. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Psalm 119:18

Caleb's Mountain

"Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord."
Deuteronomy 1:36

God gave Caleb the land he had trodden upon....

Caleb was one of the two faithful spies who gave a faithful report. It is true that all twelve spies gave an accurate report - they didn't lie about the facts. They correctly reported the pros and cons of the task ahead of them.

Ten of the spies looked at the information they had and concluded that they better not attempt to possess the Promised Land. They simply didn't view the task ahead through the eyes of faith. The Bible says they gave an "evil report".

The other two spies, Joshua and Caleb, looked at the very same information and came to a totally different conclusion! They insisted that Israel was well able to possess the land because God would fight for them! The Bible says they gave a "good report".

Forty years later, only two members of that generation remained: Caleb and Joshua. All others who were 20 years or older at that time perished in the desert, just as God said.

God remembers Caleb and gives him the land he has trodden upon.

What about me? Am I expecting God to bless me while I sit on the sidelines? Or am I willing to actively explore in faith areas that God wants to conquer through me?

Here's a scary question... are there areas I avoid "treading upon" so that God won't use me there?

Better to say, as Caleb said, "I want that mountain"

The Law

like a plumbline - very useful for showing the crookedness of a wall, but powerless to make the wall straight

like a mirror - very useful to showing the smudge spot on the face, but powerless to wash the smudge away

like a headlight on a car - very useful for piercing the darkness to reveal the curves in the road ahead, but powerless to steer the car safely

The Law is useful to showing us our condition and our need for a Savior; but the Law does not save. It condemns.