His ways are not our ways

The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain.  You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots." --Joshua 11:6

Last week we began a study of the book of Joshua.  He was leader of a group of men, women and children who had just completed a 40 year trek through the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan.  This trip could have been made in four days, but God thought it best to lead the people at His own pace, through hardships that would teach them to trust in Him.  "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.  For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.'  So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.  The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle." (Exodus 13:17-18).

See, the people wanted to do it on their own.  They thought they were prepared.  They thought they would need to fight the Philistines who were in the coastal area between Egypt and Canaan, what is today known as the Gaza Strip.  Is it any wonder, then, that Moses instructed the people, "The Lord Himself will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14).

Now, 40 years later, the men who were armed for battle had all died.  Moses, their leader, had also died.  It was up to Joshua to prepare the people to invade and conquer the land that had been promised to their forefathers.  But Joshua did not teach the men to fight.  He did not arm them for battle.  He told them to trust in God, and to take the city with a shout, and with the sound of the trumpet.

In this season of New Year's resolutions, our church is doing a study of First Fruits.  We are being taught how tithing is an act of faith as well as an act of obedience.  See, God blesses our finances when we give our tithes and offerings first, before we spend the remaining 90%.  If when the first check we write is to God (in care of our local church body), then God is free to show us His blessing with the remainder of our finances.  We do not pay the bills first, and buy the groceries, and then give whatever is left to the church.  People who do that, and I was one of them for decades, are at best grudging givers; at worst, they are folks who fail to give to God what He asks for and deserves.  Think about it--if we pay the bills first, the money is all gone, and the few bucks we have left over we might put in the offering plate, but not without thinking of all the other things that money could be used for.  Then there are always unexpected bills, and we fight guilt because we had told ourselves we would give offerings this year, but there never seems to be any money left by Sunday.  On the other hand, if we offer God the First Fruits of our labors, then we are happy when the bills are all paid; we are happy when we have a little left over for ourselves.  In the Bible, "blessed" means "happy".

Now this is not meant to be a study on tithing, but one about God's ways not being our ways.  Just like God's blessing (and our happiness) is made manifest when we give of the First Fruits of our labor to God, God's blessing on the Sons of Israel came after the first few cities in the Promised Land were totally destroyed.  Follow me here, this is very interesting to me:  When Joshua led the people across the Jordan, the first city they took was Jericho.  When Jericho fell, it was given totally to God.  They did not take any spoils from the city.  Everything there was burned.  The same thing happened to Ai, the second city they defeated.  God told Joshua, and Joshua told the people, that Ai was to be burned, just like Jericho had been.  They were to take no spoils of war, no silver or gold, but everything was given over to God by destroying it completely.  A man named Achan disobeyed that order.  We see his confession in Joshua 7:20-21:

Achan replied, "It is true!  I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel.  This is what I have done:  When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them.  They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

You probably know the story.  Achan paid for his sin with his life; not only his, but his family's as well.  Everything there was consecrated to God, and by taking it, Achan sinned.  The moral that is most often taken from this story is to be obedient to God's commands; that disobedience means death.  But I want us to look a little deeper into the story.

Joshua continues his campaign in the southern region of the land, and the five city-states that are left band together against the Sons of Israel.  By God's power, Israel is victorious.  But nowhere does it say that the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon were destroyed.  The people of Israel were free to take all the plunder and riches that these cities had left when the inhabitants all died.  The 11th chapter of the book of Joshua describes how many more cities in the northern areas were all defeated. "Yet Israel did not destroy any of the cities built on their mounds--except Hazor, which Joshua burned.  The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities." (Joshua 11:13-14a).  In the 12th chapter of the book of Joshua, it recounts all of the cities that Joshua was victorious over: 31 in all.  Three of the cities were given over to God, and were completely destroyed by fire.  The people did not gain anything from the cities of Jericho, Ai, and Hazor.  But they grew rich off the plunder of the 28 other cities.

If you are reading this and thinking of raiders, marauders, or violent warriors, you are missing the point.  What I am trying to show is the principle of the tithe, giving a tenth of everything over to God, as He commanded them.  You know what? God gives us the same command.  Malachi 3:10 says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."  Think about how effective the churches of God could be if every member gave the tithe.  Why, the Church could have the resources to take care of the poor and needy, so there would not be a need for government welfare programs.  The Church could meet the physical needs of the community, as well as the spiritual needs.  Pastors would have more time to pray and prepare their sermons if the churches they served could hire caretakers and hospice workers and community outreach leaders.  Imagine the possibilities!

Okay, I'll get off finances again.  But I do want to go back to being obedient to God.  Joshua is again our example.

The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain.  You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."  --Joshua 11:6

Wait, what?  I've never been in the military, much less in combat.  But I would think that if I had defeated an army, I would want to go through and take their weapons, especially if their weapons were superior to mine.  First, I wouldn't want those weapons to find their way into the hands of enemies yet undefeated.  But second, can you imagine how much more effective the Isrealite army could have been if they had commandeered the chariots and horses?  They would have been a force to be reckoned with.  But God said to hobble the horses and burn the chariots.  Why?  Because He did not want them to rely on their own strength.  Because He wanted them to rely solely on Him.  Because, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." (Psalm 20:7).

Even after they rested from war, and established themselves as a people with a land of their own, God set up a unique form of governance.  They did not have a king, as other peoples had.  They were governed by the Lord their God.  They had priests who would teach them the way that they should live. They had Judges or Prophets who would interpret the laws and execute justice, and who on occasion would lead them into battle against their enemies.  This was God's desire for them as a people.  I believe it is God's desire for us, as well.  The book of Revelation speaks of a Millennial reign of Christ after the Battle of Armageddon.  Like the purge of Canaan, God's army will again destroy all who stand against Him.  Then Jesus will be enthroned in Jerusalem, reigning over the entire world for a thousand years.  Those who are faithful to Him will be rulers over cities.  I had a pastor once who said he hoped his reward would be to rule over Las Vegas.  What joy it will be to live in harmony with one another and in obedience to the Savior.

God wants to change our culture.  His best is hard for us to imagine.  Isaiah 55:8 says, "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the Lord, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." (New Living Translation).  1 Corinthians 2;9 says, "No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."  Let's give ourselves totally and completely to Him, and see what happens.