SundayDecember 3, 2017 Phone: 570.829.5216

Pastor David Miklas e-mail

Message #15“The Book of Joshua” Text: Joshua 20-23

Spiritual Perils to AVOID

INTRODUCTION: Seven years of fighting for the possession of Canaan by the people of Israel is now over at this stage of the book of Joshua. The enemy has been routed, and the land has been allotted to the people according to their tribes. Now the most important step of all must be taken. They must LEARN HOW TO LIVE IN THE LAND.

What was true, of the children of Israel in Joshua's Day, is just as true for the Christian today.

Once you have accepted by faith the finished work of Christ's atoning death on Calvary, we must now LEARN HOW TO LIVE IN THIS NEW ENVIRONMENT IN CHRIST.

In II Corinthians 5:17 we read, "Therefore, If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new."

For us, it is essential not only to believe in Christ as Savoir to receive ETERNAL LIFE, it is also essential to learn to have our lives reflect this new life in Christ. Someone said this,

"To meet a Christian who is really living the Christian life is one of the most THRILLING EXPERIENCES IMAGINABLE. To meet a Christian who is really enjoying his salvation and living in spiritual power to the FULLEST is a BLESSING. Indeed, it is so THRILLING BECAUSE IT IS SO RARE."

Now to enjoy the fantastic possibilities in the Christian life there are some PERILS we must be AWARE of and then AVOID.

FIRST:The Peril of BECOMING WEARY IN WELL DOING. In our last message, this first peril of becoming WEARY IN WELL DOING, was found in chapters 15-19.Especially notice Joshua 18:3,

“And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?”

They became satisfied in their past achievements. They became tired of fighting. As a result, they began to co-exist with the enemy.Here is the danger of Spiritual LAZINESS. Think about these statements as I ask you:

How long has it been since you have EXPECTED GOD TO BLESS YOUwithout even coming to church, or serving the Lord in some capacity, or even readingyour Bible?

How long has it been since you PRESSED ONWARD AND UPWARD in the Christian life, realizing the battle is still the Lord's and the Victory is ours?

SECOND:The Peril of IGNORANCE: The second peril found in Joshua 20 is the peril of ignorance. Here Joshua has allotted six "CITIES OF REFUGE." We read in verses 1-6

“The LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying, (2) Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: (3) That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. (4) And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. (5) And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. (6) And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.”

In Genesis 9:5-6 God gave us the command concerning the death penalty,

“And surely your blood of your lives will I require;… and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. (6) Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”

God said, those who shed blood should pay for their crime with their own blood. By the way, God has not changed in this matter; the death penalty is still apart of God's commandment. However in Joshua 20, God did make a distinction between murder and manslaughter.

Manslaughter is the accidental killing of another human being.

Murder is the pre-meditated murder of another human being.

If someone had accidentally unintentionally killed another human being, they had only to flee to one of these cities. Here they could plead their case. If they were found innocent of pre-meditated murder, they were permitted to stay in the "CITIES OF REFUGE" until the High Priest at the time had died. Then that individual was permitted to return home in safety.

The "CITIES OF REFUGE" give us a picture that we have in Christ an ETERNAL REFUGE for our souls.

He is the refuge of SALVATION. Because of His sacrifice on the cross we have found a HIDING PLACE in Christ from the judgment of a Holy God.

He is the refuge from SIN. Oh, what a blessed thought this is. We who are still prone to sin, either knowingly or unknowingly, can still find refuge in forgiveness from sin. Like me, don’t you still take a daily trip to our “city of refuge” where we can CONFESS OUR SINS, where God is still forgiving us and cleansing us from all sin by His precious blood?

He is the refuge in TIME of NEED. Oh, how often have we have had:

Pain of heart grip us, or

Weariness of soul overwhelm us, or

Depression of mind pull us down, or

Problems come to bear upon our life, and

We cry out in desperation for a place of refuge.

In Deuteronomy 33:27 we read, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms ..."

In Psalm 46:1-2 we read, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear...”

The composer wrote:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!

What more can we say then to you He hath said,

To you who for REFUGE to JESUS have fled.

To the Jews, the “city of refuge” was a place of safety, where one could flee having out of IGNORANCE accidentally murdered another individual.

To those who are in Christ Jesus, He has become our eternal refuge. "He is my refuge and my fortress, My God in Him will I trust."

THIRD:The Peril of INCOMPATIBILITY found in Joshua 22:1-10. Let me say before we venture into our text, it is not DELIBERATE AGGRAVATION that causes most of the troubles in our churches. Rather, it is the simple, inadvertentMISUNDERSTANDINGS where we have the most trouble.

“Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, (2) And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: (3) Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. (4) And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan. (5) But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. (6) So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents. (7) Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them, (8) And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. (9) And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses. (10) And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.

Just before the crossing of the Jordan, the two tribes of RUBEN, GAD and the half tribe of MANESSEH had staked a claim on the wilderness side of the Jordan. Joshua agreed they could do so on one condition, that they come into the land and help subdue the enemy. Now in the verses just read, they have done that and Joshua has honorably discharged them from their service to return to their land.

When the other tribes heard what was happening, they immediately jumped to aFALSE CONCLUSION and presumed that this ALTAR was for WORSHIP of a false God. They presumed these tribes were showing a division by departing into APOSTASYto no longer worship their God. So the tribes which had remained with Joshua in Canaan prepared to attack the supposed apostates. We find this recorded for us in verses 11-22,

“And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel. (12) And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them. (13) And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, (14) And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. (15) And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, (16) Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD? (17) Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, (18) But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel. (19) Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God. (20) Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity. (21) Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel, (22) The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day).”

Before going to war, the nine and a half tribes sent a committee to discover what the other two and a half tribes were up to and to complain about their actions. Now you need to notice verses 23-29,

“That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it; (24) And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel? (25) For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD. (26) Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: (27) But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD. (28) Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you. (29) God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.”

Thankfully they discovered they were not going to sacrifice to another god on the west of the Jordan, but provide a witness to their oneness with the people on the other side. What might have ended in tragedy, ended in closer ties of fellowship. Now that is the story!

What lessons can we learn from this peril of incompatibility (or misunderstanding) between Christian and Christian?

How easily misunderstandings occur.

How rapidly misunderstandings spread, and the farther they go, the worse they get, until a church is completely ruined by this very sin.

Why is it that we are so ready to listen to gossip?

Why is it that we are so quick to impute the worst motives to

other people?

Why do we believe so quickly a rumor concerning either a person’s character or a matter of hearsay, and then repeat it with an hundredfold exaggeration?

Oh, how the devil uses this peril in our lives, in our families and the church as he causes estrangement between Christian brethren. Within this peril are some dangers that threaten to destroy even the very witness of this church. I am going to be somewhat frank, yet truthful, as we focus on THREE dangers I see from this almost tragic story of Joshua 22.

NUMBER 1:I see the danger of JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS: It is true these tribes had built an altar. Certainly the other tribes could have DISCRETELY inquired of the two and a half tribes as to their INTENTIONS before JUMPING to CONCLUSIONS.

Didn't the FACT of FAITHFUL service mean anything to the nine and a half tribes?

Had not the armies of these two and a half tribes left their families behind to help the rest of Israel win the west?

There is another fact from the text, the nine and a half tribes should have considered. The ALTAR was built on the WEST side of Jordan, not the EAST side where the two and a half tribes lived. It would stand to reason if the two and a half tribes were going to establish an independent place of worship they would have done it in their own land.

Again, I point this out to show the nine and a half tribes JUMPED TO A CONCLUSION BEFORE GETTING ALL THE FACTS.

Now the story was true, they had built an altar. However, the tragedy is that the WHOLE STORY WAS NOT TOLD. Notice again verses 26-28,

“Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: (27) But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD. (28) Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.”