Peace: Joshua 5

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0:00 We're wrapping up our four core values, story, piece, lineage, and life. And we've talked about all three of them except for peace. So this week we're gonna talk about peace. And I think I mentioned to you how we got to these four core values now 14 years ago. Yeah. We pulled the people who were around the people of the cross at the time. Ask them what words did they associate with the cross?

0:33 I may have thrown a couple of other words in there, but peace was the top. People said, man, when we gather together, we feel a deep sense of peace in the space where we are. And actually that's a word I've gotten from friends that have visited here with us. It's just like it feels so safe. It feels comforting. It feels like a place where God is. Feedback I get from people sometime that visit friends of mine.

1:03 But 14 years ago when we asked the people of the cross, what did they associate with our little congregation, peace was the top word. And as I was like kind of meditating on what to say about peace as a core value for us this morning. Interesting set of verses came to mind. And the first one is in Matthew chapter 10. If you want to look there with me, Matthew chapter 10 verse 34.

1:35 Actually, the first one that came to mind actually was Joshua. Let's look there first. Joshua chapter five. That's Old Testament, you know? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans 1st, I mean, that's New Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. Joshua takes over from Moses, you know? Moses defied God so doesn't get to see the promised land. Joshua takes him in.

2:06 And it's a sad story. Moses gets up on the mountain, gets to look at the promised land, but gets buried by the hand of God. He and they never found his body. They make a point of saying he and a lie jar too that we never, the question is did they actually die? Or did God just take them up into heaven? And then of course, not the amount of transfiguration when Jesus is transfigured in front of his three closest friends, Moses and Elijah are the ones who they appear with him. And so people start to wonder, up there on this mountain,

2:37 they both went up to a mountain. Did they not die maybe? Moses goes to look at the promised land, and then Joshua takes over, and they walk up to the Jordan River, famously. And God splits the Jordan River just as he split the Red Sea. For Moses he split the Red Sea. For Joshua he splits the Jordan River. They walk across the Jordan River and are circumcised there. They, all of the generation besides Joshua and Caleb that left, that were adults when they left Egypt,

3:08 have died off in the desert. God waited 40 years until that whole generation that didn't trust that God would give him the promised land died. And so now they're going into the promised land, but they hadn't circumcised anyone in the desert, which was this mark that we accept the covenants of God. We will receive good things from God. We trust that even when our kids are eight days old, God will extend his covenant promises to them. And so circumcision was this mark of dependence on God. And before they go in and take hold of the land

3:40 that God's going to give them, he's like, take the mark of circumcision, know that you are ready to receive from me. And so they're on the other side of the Jordan River. They go through the circumcision and then they're getting ready to take the first city. Now this is a generation who has grown up in the desert and heard stories about being slaves. This is a group of people that has very few to know battles have they fought, right? And they're going toward walled cities with established countries and defense plans.

4:14 And by the time now they're near Jericho and Jericho is a walled city ready to be defended. And so they see this like group of who knows how many, a lot of people gathering outside their walls. And the rumor, if you read the story of Joshua, the rumor of the Jordan being split in front of them has gone ahead of them and people are a little intimidated. It seems like there is a supernatural protection and provision on these people wandering their way out of the desert. So Jericho has barred up all the doors. Nobody's going in and out of Jericho at all.

4:46 And the Israelites are standing there trying to figure out how are we gonna do this? What do we do next? They don't have a clue. Joshua doesn't have a clue. Joshua has been in some battles. So maybe he's gonna form up these guys and figure out let's just go and see if we can what take the doors. They're not gonna knock down the walls and Joshua is like walking on his own in chapter five verse 14. We might be a little bit before that. Let's say verse 13.

5:20 Yeah, Joshua chapter five verse 13. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, a man was standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said no.

5:52 That's not the answer. Joshua was looking for it, right? Yeah, I looked it up because though, when I told you this was the first verse that occurred to me as I was thinking about peace for us this morning and in my memory, this dude says neither. Anybody have a translation where he says neither, Terry does, it's an NIV, I looked it up. This ESV translates it as no. Joshua asks him, are you for us or for our enemy? And the guy says neither. Right.

6:24 No, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come. And Joshua fell to his face, on his face, to the earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord have to say to his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said, take off your sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. Remember that's the same thing that the burning bush,

6:55 the God's presence at the burning bush told Moses, take off the place that your sandals, the place where you're standing is holy ground, conspicuously when Gabriel shows up to Mary or Joseph, Gabriel is a big deal. He doesn't tell anybody taking my sandals off. When the heavenly host shows up in front of the shepherds, they don't tell anybody to take their sandals off.

7:27 Take your sandals off, you're in the presence of God. So a lot of people speculate that this angel of the Lord is like the word of God out doing the work of God, the Father in the world, interacting with people. And the word of God interacting with Joshua, getting ready to do perhaps the second most significant thing, God, well not the second most,

7:58 but God, you know, the Red Sea and Egypt is huge. Then delivering Canaan also is huge. The God of creation and life, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is about to write a banner across all of the known world and say, this is the God of power. This is the God of life and death to find your way through life and past death come in a line with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of creation and life. He's about to deliver them into the land in a way

8:29 that's miraculously pulls all the attention of the world to him and he's backing Israel to do it. And at the moment when it's just getting started, Joshua walks up to him and says, are you with us? And he says, no, I'm with myself. You happen to be standing with me right now. Our interests are aligned. And I was thinking about peace for us this morning.

9:03 This is the first verse that came to mind. God was for Israel against Jericho because Israel stood with God. Circumcised and ready, we'll take what you have to give us Lord. Whatever you have to give us,

9:34 we'll step into the raging Jordan River. We'll walk up to walled Jericho. Whatever you have for us Lord, we are with you and God is then with them. Of course, famously as the generations go, Israel finds themselves against God, standing opposed to God, spurning the things of God, assuming they know a way that is better,

10:04 clinging to the protection of Egypt or Assyria or whomever has stronger chariots than what they see the Lord is providing. And famously God rips them out of the promised land and sends them into exile. When they stand with God on God's side, then God is for them. If they oppose God, he is against them. And they do both and we see both happen. Okay, now Matthew chapter 10.

10:36 Matthew chapter 10 verse 34. This is the second verse, this is the way my brain works. I don't know, maybe it's the way yours does too, but when I think about peace and why it would be a value, core value for a church, these stories pop to my mind. First one, Joshua, and counting the angel of the Lord before the battle of Jericho, where he says, I'm not on your side

11:06 or on Jericho's side, I'm on the side of the Lord. Now would you like to be on the Lord's side? Joshua says, sure, right? And they take Jericho. All right, then Matthew chapter 10 verse 34. Jesus talking to the 12 and some others. Says, do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? I have not come to bring peace.

11:36 Yeah, remember he is called the Prince of Peace. Remember? That's like in the prophets. Jesus talking to the 12 and some others said, did you think I came to just like rock you all to sleep? I did not. Did you think that I came to bring peace on earth? I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father

12:08 and a daughter against her mother and daughter in law against her mother in law and a person's enemies will be those in his own household. Whoever loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it or whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Jesus is cryptic and confusing as always, right?

12:40 Here. Sounds pretty crazy. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. I'm gonna set families against each other. But the same principle here is true as is for Joshua in the battle of Jericho that God is not on the side of mothers or fathers. God is not on the side of daughters or sons.

13:10 God is not on your side. God is on God's side. The side of God. When he looks at Joshua, he tells him,

13:42 I'm on Israel's side or on Jericho's side. I'm with the Lord. And when he looks at the 12, he's like, you guys, I didn't come to just like make everything okay. Things are gonna be rough. I wonder what side we'd like to put God on. Anyone want to share?

14:12 Paul and I were lamenting the absurdity of the University of Florida game if you're a Gator fan yesterday. I don't know if anybody saw it. Sorry if you had to see it. It was brutal. I'd love to put God on the side of the Gators, right? Steve Spurrier, God sure shine on the Gators today. Smile on the Gators today. I love that. Where else would we like to put God on?

14:42 Who else is the side we would like to put God on? Yeah, sure. I'd love to make God a Democrat. I'd love to make God a Republican. An independent or a libertarian. That's the real side of God. I have a friend who's a socialist who's convinced God's a socialist for sure. Look at the Bible. Look, if God is not an Israelite in the Battle of Jericho,

15:14 he doesn't pick sides, man. He's on his side. And when he looks at the 12, he's like, guys, don't think I came just to like, lull you all to sleep and sing a lullaby and make everything okay. It's going to be rough, right? Okay, that's the second story that came to mind. Hey, Lord, what about peace for us? Why is it a core value? Hey, the angel of the Lord with Joshua at the Battle of Jericho.

15:46 Jesus to the 12, I did not come to bring peace but the sword. Simeon. You remember it? In Luke. Go just to the right just a little bit. This was the next one. I'm telling you guys, my brain. I don't know what it is. Matthew, Mark, Luke chapter three. Luke chapter two, sorry, verse 35.

16:18 Remember this? Remember where we are in Luke chapter two? Mary's been through everything she goes through. Joseph's been through everything they've been on through. They've had the baby in Bethlehem and now they're walking him probably on their way back up to Nazareth. Remember Bethlehem's south of Jerusalem. Nazareth is north of it about a three days walk. They got to go down to Bethlehem because of the census. They don't have a place there. They get it in the inn, maybe like this barn attached to a house. They're on their way back up to Nazareth. They stopped by the temple in Jerusalem to perform the right that is appropriate for a young Jew.

16:53 They're appropriate for a young Jewish boy, getting circumcised and other things. And waiting there, not waiting there, but happened to be there were two old folks who were waiting, quote, for the consolation of Israel. Simeon, whom God had said, you'll see the Savior of Israel before you die. And Anna, who spent all of her time in the temple praying all the time. And when Mary and Joseph come in looking like nobody else, like country broke from Nazareth. Remember Jesus sees Nathaniel from Nazareth and says, what could good could come from Nazareth,

17:24 but something that smells. Like it's a small place. People mostly live in hovels. It's not any wealth. Mary and Joseph are coming in with the crowds of people just like everybody else. But God clues in Simeon and Anna. And Simeon says a couple of words to her. Actually, they become famous words, right? The Nukdamidus. We use them in liturgies all the time. But the verse that I wanted to get to you, let's start at verse 33.

17:54 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. That's what Simeon the Nukdamidus. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, behold, the child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. And for a sign that is opposed and for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce through your own soul also. So that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

18:27 That's the next verse. So first, when I was thinking about peace for us, is the angel of the Lord with Joshua at the battle of Jericho, whose side are you on? I'm on the Lord's side. The next one is Jesus to the 12. It says, did you think I came to bring peace? I didn't. I came to bring a sword and it's going to separate families together. Then the next phrase that comes to mind is Simeon to Mary. That the very beginning says, this baby right here is going to wield a sword and it will pierce your own heart.

19:00 Okay. And then the last one. Hebrews 4. This explains the Hebrews is kind of hard to find. It's like the last of Paul's letters, relations, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, verses, 2 Thessalonians, Titus, Philemon, Hebrew, and James, Hebrews 4, 11. We're pretty sure that the writer of Hebrews was a student of Paul's theology, but not Paul's syntax.

19:32 He has a very cool letter. You should read it one time and then you'll have a lot more questions. But this one little section just here in Hebrews 4 verse 11, let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that... Oh yeah. He's talking about how there is rest yet available for the people of God. Look back at verse 8, for if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken by another day later on.

20:07 So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever enters God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. There's a rest available for the people of God. Sounds kind of peaceful, Beverly. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that peaceful rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

20:38 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of his heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him, to whom he must give an account. This is what Simeon is alluding to when he talks to Mary. It brings it down further and further.

21:09 Did you catch it? When God is associated with a nation, his reputation is pinned to that of Israel. The grandeur of Israel equals the grandeur of God. When the stakes are high, when he says, these are my people. And at that moment, Joshua, the leader of Israel is ready to carry the banner of God, and he says, are you for us or against us? And he says, neither, I'm not for you or against you, I'm for myself. To the degree that you carry my banner, I will go with you.

21:41 And so the sword of the Spirit of God cuts between nations and says, you stand with God or against God. And then Jesus, when he's talking to the Twelve, says that the way of God splits down between families. It's not here to just go, your family's fine. Your way of living is fine. Your, the stories that you tell yourself, the failures of the past, the hope of the future will all be hunky, dory and easy.

22:13 He says, this is not what I came for to rock you to see and bring peace. He said, the way of God will separate families. And then, and then he gets even further, right? And Simeon tells Mary, the mother of Jesus, the one with whom God found favor, whose willingness and submission to the Spirit allowed her to cooperate with God to such a point that he incarnated the flesh of Jesus in her womb. This one, Simeon says, the sword will pierce your own heart too.

22:47 And the writer of Hebrews writes to the church and it's preserved and brought down to us today. That the word, the way of God will split you into two. In you, there are pieces of you that stand against God. And God has no peace with that. In this sense, God is not for you at all.

23:22 To the degree that you find yourself aligned against God, trusting your own provision instead of his. Thinking your own glory instead of his. Pursuing your meeting your own needs instead of him meeting them for you. To the degree that you find yourself set against God, he is not for you.

24:00 He is against you. So, why is there so much peace in the presence of God? What was the last time you read the story of the Battle of Jericho?

24:30 It's crazy. It's one of those things that people who like to try and prove the historicity of God get into the archaeological record. And who knows if it's true, but they'll claim that they can excavate down to a layer that shows the walls of Jericho falling out. Who knows if that's true? But the angel of the Lord, after telling Joshua, I'm not on your side, but I'm on the side of God.

25:06 Joshua's cool with that. Hey, I'm on the side of God as well. Let's do it. He says, great, God's already given Jericho into your hands. And they're all hiding behind the wall. He says, just walk, take that arc of the covenant. Walk the thing around there. Once a day, for six days, quiet. Don't say anything. Just parade out of the range of the arrows for heaven's sake.

25:39 Because they're going to shoot down and throw rocks and stuff. Walk around it. Once a day, for seven days, don't do anything else. The seventh day, walk around it and then celebrate. Because the city's yours. Blow the horns, scream cries of victory. Because it's yours. And you know, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. And only Rahab, who had already previously aligned herself with the way of God, with the side of God on God's side,

26:15 though she was a citizen of Jericho, had communicated, I'm on God's side, cool. You can live. The rest stand against God, done. And God gave it all to him. The walls of Jericho came tumbling down. There is a part of you, miraculously, that is on the side of God. On the side of God is every good thing.

26:51 Peace that transcends understanding. Peace that rages against fear. Peace that is stronger than anxiety and doubt and worry. There is part of you that stands on the side of God. And that person, that part of you, has victory forever. No wonder you find peace in the presence of God.

27:27 Because he has conquered death and eternity already on your behalf. And working its way out in you is a life that will never end. That is fully on the side of God forever. We put peace as a core value for the cross because we know that in the presence of God,

28:00 the parts of us that are on the side of God get rest forever. Let me pray that we could be people of peace. Hey Lord, thank you for the gift of your son and the promise of peace. Teach us how to put aside, to put down, to leave behind the parts of us in our thinking and our actions that are set against you.

28:38 And in repentance and forgiveness, move forward with peace towards the parts of us that stand with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.