Jesus in the Old Testament 025:

Jesus Fights for Us

Josh 5:13-15

 

Thesis: We live in a world of hostility, based both in the physical and spiritual realms. If we try to fight our battles ourselves, we are destined to fail.  Jesus alone is the universal champion of Heaven.  He commands the armies of God and is indomitable.

 

1. Nutshell w/Kids
1. Show the picture of Superman to the kids.
1. What is happening here?
2. Are these people in danger?
3. What will happen to them?
4. How do you know?
5. You believe that these people are going to be okay because you believe that Superman is able to handle whatever danger that might come.
6. Superman is a fiction, but there is a warrior who always wins and who cannot be defeated. What is that? Jesus.
2. In several places in the Bible, we see Jesus as a warrior. How does that make you feel?
3. There is no danger of Him ever losing, “indomitable.”  Jesus fights for you.
4. If Jesus says that he will fight for you, what does that mean?
5. Is there anything that can defeat you if you are walking with Jesus? No.

 

2. Deeper w/Adults
1. Context: Joshua leading the Israelites against Jericho.
1. Up to this moment, he is approaching this as an impending siege, and so is Jericho.

a)    Spies (Ch. 2, Rahab)

b)    City shut up tight (6:1)

2. Joshua prepares the Israelites spiritually

a)    Circumcised again, for they were not circumcised in the wilderness wanderings.

b)    Observed Passover.

3. Entered the land and started eating its fruit after Passover. Manna stops.
1. Josh 5:13
1. Joshua is “by Jericho.” Spying out the land.  Perhaps his army is already encamped in front of it.
2. “A Man,” The Angel of the Lord.  Not so glorious in this appearance that Joshua immediately knows that He is not a normal man. 
3. Sword in his hand. 

a)    Num 22:23, 31

b)    1 Chron 21:15-16

4. “Are you for us or against us” Joshua doesn’t recognize him, so he asks if he is one of his own soldiers or an emissary come from Jericho.
2. Vs 14-15
1. No.  Neither.  Self-revelation, “the commander of the armies of Lord.”
2. Joshua immediately worships him.

a)    We know this isn’t Michael or some other angel.  No angel receives worship (Rev 22:9)

b)    The Angel of the Lord receives worship in several of His encounters, reinforcing the case for a pre-incarnate Christophany.

3. Vs 15: Angel instructs Joshua to take off his sandals because where he is standing is Holy ground.

a)    Cf Ex 3:5

b)    Symbol or respect and honor in the Middle East, not tracking in the dust of the common world around.

4. Joshua asks for instruction.

a)    He has already been scouting out the land and developing a battle plan.

b)    God had already given general instructions for laying siege (Deut 20:1-20)

c)    Now, however, a superior force has landed upon the scene.

d)    Joshua’s response is immediate humility and receptiveness.  Is this our posture of heart in light of the Word of God and indwelling Holy Spirit?

4. The story plays out famously, with the armies of heaven handling the taking down of the wall.  Joshua’s men are only needed for the invasion of the city after the fact.  The battle is won by Jesus and his angelic army.
5. Example 2: 2 Kings 6-7
1. King of Syria sends a contingent of his army to arrest Elisha
2. 6:15 armies of heaven are visible to Elisha, but not to his servant.  His eyes ore opened.
3. 6:24 ff King Ben-Hadad of Syria comes and lays siege to Samaria.
4. People start to starve. King blames Elisha and summons him.
5. Elisha prophecies the rescue of Samaria.
6. 7:3-8.  The armies of heaven frighten the Syrians into abandoning their camp and running away, leaving all their supplies behind.
7. Jesus, the AOTL, is not mentioned, but He is the commander of the armies of heaven, and His armies won the day. The Israelites did nothing.
6. Example 3: 2Kings 19
1. Sennacherib, King of Assyria is on a rampage, conquering nations all around Judah.
2. He defies Judah and the Lord as being impotent to stop him.
3. Hezekiah takes the Sennacerib’s letter and lays it before the Lord in the temple.  It’s God’s problem.
4. Isaiah prophecies God’s reply.
5. Vs 32-34 Don’t worry.  He won’t get close enough to shoot an arrow at Jerusalem.
6. Vs 35: The Angel of the Lord kills 185,000 Assyrian soldiers overnight.

a)    They didn’t get up and fight.  They died in their sleep.

b)    Sennacherib leaves the next morning.

7. Again, Jesus and the armies of heaven in the battle, and God’s people just watch and enjoy his protection.
6. Example 4: Rev 19:11-16
1. Clearest, “revealed” image of Jesus as the commander of the armies of heaven.
2. Sword not in his hand, but coming out of his mouth, the spoken word of the Lord is powerful and effective! (cf Isa 11:4)
3. The armies of heaven, led by Jesus, go and make war.  The church watches from behind.
7. Application:
1. When God says that He will fight for us and that all we have to do is be still, He means it. Rest in His protection.

a)    Ex 14:14

b)    Deut 3:22

c)    Deut 20:4

2. This security continues past the physical realm into our spiritual lives. Romans 8:31-38
3. The weapon of Jesus ins the Word of God (Rev 19).  This weapon is available to us as well.

 

 

Discussion Questions:

1. What battles are you facing?  What do you need protection against today?
2. Have you asked Jesus to fight these battles for you, or are you trying to fight them yourself?
3. The weapon of Jesus is the Word of God.  How can you make use of this weapon in your battles?
4. Spend a moment praying as a family and asking Jesus to fight the battles you’ve mentioned.

 

Jesus in the Old Testament 24:

The Gospel and Rahab

Joshua 2, 6

 

Thesis: Salvation, in the NT, is clearly based on faith and grace, but many see the OT as so thoroughly different that even salvation operates dissimilarly.  The story of Rahab is a clear example of God’s salvific formula operating consistently in the Old Testament as it does in the New.

 

1. Nutshell w/Kids
1. How do people get saved?  What happens?
2. Do you think that this is the way it always worked? Or do you think it was different in the Old Testament?
3. There is a story in Joshua 2 about a woman who lived a sinful life and came to be one of God’s people, and her story is very similar to how it would have happened today. (recount)
1. She heard and believed.
2. She made a confession of faith
3. She stopped living her sinful life and did her best to obey the Lord.
4. She joined God’s people in fellowship.
5. Later on, the Bible mentions her twice as a person of faith.
6. She was even included in the family line of Jesus.
4. God loves people, and it has always been his plan to save them by faith.

 

2. Deeper w/Adults
1. Previous instructions regarding people of the land. Deut 20:10-18
1. For cities “far from you,”

a)    Offer peace

b)    Besiege those who reject peace

c)    Kill men

d)    Leave women, children, and livestock as plunder.

2. For cities “near you” and those of the “ite” tribes of Canaan

a)    Utterly destroy, save alive nothing that breathes.

b)    Devote to destruction, like an offering to the Lord in judgment

3. Why? Not an “ethnic cleansing.”

a)    Vs 18: That they will not teach you the abominable practices of their worship of their gods and so make you sin.

b)    Similarly, Deut 7:1-5.

c)    The point is purity of worship, not of DNA.

d)    The danger of the situation is borne out in history.

(1)  Psa 106:34-39

(2)  Neh 13:23-27

4. The situation, then, was one where the disposition of God toward the people of the lad was one of judgment because of their sin and idolatry, and He had declared that they were bound for destruction. 
1. But then, there’s Rahab. Josh 2
1. Vs 1-3.

a)    Josh sends an advanced-scouting party to spy out the land before they attack (vs 1)

b)    They stay in a brothel?  She lives in an apartment built into the wall, which some archaeological evidence suggests was a common practice in the time for the location of an inn. 

c)    The leaders of the city know where to look for visitors (vs 3), which would not have been so easy if her home were simply a brothel.

d)    Rahab is specifically introduced as a prostitute, but there is no indication that the spies took advantage of this fact.  They seem only to lodge there.

e)    Some commentators attempt to limit her perception as a harlot because the word Zona, used here, is used in some extra-biblical sources as an innkeeper as well as a prostitute.  Certainly, she was also an innkeeper, since that is the clear sense in which the spies employed her.

f)     However, the Septuagent uses the word “porne” to describe her, and both of her references in the NT use that word as well.  It only refers to a prostitute, not an innkeeper.

g)    She was a pagan, a member of the tribes whose utter destruction has been declared, and a member of a sinful profession.

2. Rahab’s deceit, Vs. 4-7.

a)    Lies to the city officials. Sin to lie? Act of war

b)    She hides the men in stalks of flax on her roof. 

(1)  She also made linen, as evidenced by the presence of flax.

(2)  She had a roof to her apartment, high on the wall.  There would not have been windows lower down.

3. Rahab’s confession vs. 8-14

a)    Remember that those who are saved are saved by faith (Gen 15:6; Psa 106:31; Rom 4:3-6)

b)    Confession of one’s faith leads to salvation (Rom 10:9-13).

c)    Salvation is not tied to heredity of blood, but to faith in the one true God. (Rom 2:25-29)

d)    We see here that Rahab knew enough about God (his reputation based on the reports of those nations the Hebrews had encountered) to know that he was

(1)  going to destroy the Canaanites in the land and give it to the Hebrews and

(2)  a God of compassion for those who came to him on faith. 

(3)  Notice as well that God’s judgement of others can draw people who witness it to saving faith!

e)    Her confession (vs 11).

f)     Her motivation is for the physical lives of her family members (vs 12-13), but she uses language from the new covenant.  While she is after the preservation of her physical life, her faith will preserve her spiritual life as well.

g)    The spies agree to the spirit of her request immediately (vs 14)

4. The details of the covenant vs 15-21.

a)    The spies clarify that they will only spare those in her house.  They don’t know who her relatives are and won’t ask while they are destroying the city.  Also, if she breaks her silence, they will not spare her or her family.

b)    She must tie the scarlet cord that they used to escape in the window to identify her home.

c)    She obeys.

5. The Christ connection.

a)    “Rope” H: Chebel, is always used in one of two ways in the OT. 

(1)  To measure out a plot of land

(2)  As a means of bondage or slavery.

b)    A different word for the scarlet cord in vs 18. H: Tiqwah.  Only used twice as a cord or thread, both in this chapter.  Every other usage (192 times) it has to do with hope or expectation.  Odd word choice, unless it’s intentional!

c)    Rahab was to hang a “scarlet hope” outside her window.  All in the house would be saved.  This is a clear reference to Exodus 12 and the Passover.

d)    Ex 12:21-28

(1)  Blood, red hope, on the outside of the home.

(2)  All inside would be spared.

(3)  Testimony of God’s protection for generations to come (Rahab’s memory, below)

(4)  Obedience and worship executed in faith by both Rahab (2:21) and the people (12:28).

e)    Christ is the fulfillment of Passover lamb imagery.

(1)  Isa 53:7

(2)  John 1:29

(3)  1 Cor 5:7

f)     Christ’s sacrifice is figured here, as well, in three days of hiding (Josh 2:16).

6. Rahab’s outcome, Josh 6:22-25

a)    The oath is remembered.  Nobody in her home is killed.

b)    “All who belonged to her Joshua saved alive.” vs 25

c)    Set outside the camp temporarily for matters of ritual uncleanness (Lev 13:46)

d)    She obviously did not remain outside, as she and her father’s household lived amongst the Hebrews at the time that the account was written down (probably a final edit from Joshua’s notes and accounts after his death).

e)    Her declaration of faith, supported by the testimony of her actions, wrought her salvation and membership in Israel (Jas 2:14-17).

f)     Included, not only in Israel but in the line of King David and of Christ (Matt 1:5,6).

7. Rahab’s memory is one of faith in a Sovereign God and resulting obedience.

a)    An entry in the “hall of faith” Heb 11:31

b)    An example of faith in action in James 2:25.

c)    Both passages assume her faith based on the testimony of her deeds.

d)    If we looked at the record of your deeds, would your faith be assumed?

8. We see then that every step of the salvific journey that we know so well in the New testament was experienced by Rahab, a gentile saved by grace through faith, whose transformation was borne out by her works and verified by others.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. Rahab was not a Jew.  Why is it a big deal that she was included in the family of Jesus?
2. How did Rahab become one of God’s people? 
3. How is this experience similar to your own?
4. Why is it important that we see that God saves in the same today as He has always has?

The Blessing: Numbers 6:22-27

The Blessing

Num 6:22-27

Thesis: It has already been argued and demonstrated that everything that God does he does out of a zeal for His own glory.  This may lead to the conclusion that God is selfish.  However, one of the many ways that He displays His glory is in the unmerited love and affection he steadfastly lavishes on His people. All aspects of the Godhead play a role in this steadfast love which He maintains for His elect.

1. Introduction
1. Irish Blessing:

“May the road rise up to meet you.  May the wind be always at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the palm of His hand.”

2. People in the past were much more concerned with receiving blessings and avoiding curses than contemporary westerners today. 
1. The fictionalization of these kinds of things.
2. Our reliance upon the material and empirical has made such spiritual realities seem less real, but scripture assumes that blessings and curses are in fact things that have a place in reality.

a)    God blessed Adam and Eve (Gen 1)

b)    God cursed creation, the serpent, Adam, and Eve (Gen 3)

c)     God cursed Cain (Gen 4)

d)    God cursed the ground in the flood (Gen 7)

e)    God Blesses Abraham to be a blessing and promised to bless everyone who would bless him (Gen 12)

f)     Melchizedek blesses Abraham & God (Gen 14)

g)    Rebekah’s family blesses her upon her marriage to Isaac (Gen 24)

h)    Isaac blesses Jacob and Esau (Gen 27, 28)

i)      Jacob blesses Pharaoh (Gen 47)

j)      Jacob blesses his sons (Gen 48)

k)    Jacob curses the anger of Levi and Simeon (Gen 48)

3. God desires to bless his people (Leviticus 26:3-13; Deut 28:1-14)
4. God commands the priests, from the very beginning of the ordination of the Levites, to bless His people in His name.
1. [Deu 10:8 ESV] 8 At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD to stand before the LORD to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day.
2. [Deu 21:5 ESV] 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled.

2. Numbers 6

[Num 6:22-23 ESV] 22 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

1. Vs 22-23: The commanded blessing
1. God told Aaron and Moses, and the priests which would follow after them, to use this blessing upon the people.
2. Recited over the people with outstretched arms, after the conclusion of the morning and evening sacrifices.
3. Rote prayer in the Bible is unusual, but appropriate in this case.  God did not want any failings in Aaron’s faith toward God or love for the people to get in the way of the blessings He intended for Israel (Spurgeon).
4. Three-fold blessing.  The name of God is given 3x, as a prefiguring of the trinity.

a)    In the original Hebrew, each iteration of the name of God has different accents written, as if they are slightly different names (Matthew Henry and John Gill’s commentaries). 

b)    Each line corresponds to an activity of a person of the Godhead in blessing His people.

c)     [2Co 13:14 ESV] 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

5. Jesus passed this blessing to his disciples as the last thing he did on earth.

[Luk 24:50 ESV] 50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.

[Num 6:24 ESV] 24 The LORD bless you and keep you;

2. Vs 24: God the Father, the physical blessing
1. Bless, Provision

a)    Barek, To kneel down.

(1)  From lesser to greater: to worship or praise.

(2) From greater to lesser: A father or king lowering himself to the level of a child or subject and looking them in the eye to give a gift (blessing).

b)    When we Barek God, we glorify Him and make Him great.

c)     When he “Bareks” us, he gives us gifts, which Include material wealth and physical provision, above.

d)    Only in a right relationship with God can true blessing be known (Gen 22:17-18).

2. Keep, Guarding

a)    Semir, To guard or protect.

b)    God Keeps his people in a covenant relationship with Himself.

(1)  OT Israel kept safe by the Lord (Deut 7:12; 1 Sam 2:9)

(2) In the New Covenant, God Keeps us safe in his salvation

[Jer 31:10-11, 27-28, 31-34 ESV]

c)     God keeps them safe from the assaults of the enemy

(1)  [Psa 121:7-8 ESV] 7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

(2) [Heb 13:6 ESV] 6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

d)    Jesus ultimately does what God told Him to do in keeping his disciples.  This is the action of the Father delegated out to the Son

[Jhn 17:12, 15 ESV] 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ... 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

[Num 6:25 ESV] 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

3. Vs 25: God the Son, the revealed blessing
1. Make His face shine, revelation.

a)    Only one of the Godhead whose face has been seen.

(1)  No man can see God’s face and live (Ex 33:20)

(2) Even in the cases when OT saints “see” God, they are seeing “The Angel of the Lord,” Jesus (Ex 3:4; 40:34-38)

(3) God has revealed himself in the visible Christ (John 1:18)

(4) To see Jesus is to “see” the Father

(a)  Jesus’ teaching John 5:37; 6:36

(b) Philip: show us the Father (John 14:8-9).

b)    [2Co 4:6 ESV] 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

c)     The shining face of God is tied to his salvation

[Psa 80:3, 7, 19 ESV] 3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved! ... 7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved! ... 19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

2. Be gracious, unmerited favor

a)    The root idea is unmerited favor.  God does not act lovingly and savingly toward us because of anything we are or do, but because of his own choice to love and be merciful.

(1)  [Deu 7:7-8 ESV] 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you…

(2) [Isa 30:18 ESV] 18 Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

(3) [Joe 2:13 ESV] 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

b)    This is readily observed in the character of Christ.

(1)  [Luk 4:22 ESV] 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"

(2) [1Pe 1:13 ESV] 13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[Num 6:26 ESV] 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

4. Vs 26: God the Holy Spirit, the joyful blessing

1. Lift up His countenance upon you, smile.

a)    A lifted-up countenance means a happy face.  A downcast countenance speaks of anger or sorrow, depression (Psa 42; 43)

b)    Also speaks of attention.  God is said to turn his face away in judgment (Psa 30:7; 44:24; 104:29).

c)     The Holy Spirit, as the comforter, communicates God’s love and pleasure to His people.  We go from a sense of foreboding His judgment to knowing that we are His children.

2. Give you peace. Shalom, wholeness.

a)    The main idea is that life is complex and multi-faceted, but God seeks wholeness, completion, balance.  No cracks, nothing missing.

b)    To “bring Shalom” means to restore wholeness where something was stolen, broken, or lacking. Completing a wall, paying a debt.

c)     When Jesus is called the “prince of shalom,” He is the one who sets right what was broken in us.

d)    The Holy Spirit is frequently seen as the one who brings peace, as the “comforter.”

(1)  [Jhn 14:26-27 ESV] 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

(2) [Gal 5:22-23 ESV] 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(3) [Rom 8:6 ESV] For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

[Num 6:27 ESV] 27 "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."

5. Vs 27: The effect of the blessing
1. God will put his name on them, Ownership

a)    Note of interest: This is the passage of scripture which is represented on the oldest manuscript fragment we have. Silver scroll 700 BC. “put my name on them.”

b)    [Deu 28:10 ESV] 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.

c)     [Rev 22:4 ESV] 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

2. God Himself will bless them, Authority.

a)    Not a request or a conditional statement.  This is a statement of fact.

b)    God is not telling the Priests to bless.  The blessing does not originate in the priests. It originates in God.

3. Application
1. One of the many things God does to magnify His glory is to express His steadfast love to thousands.

[Exo 34:6-7 ESV] 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,

2. This love and blessing is for His people, not everyone.  Is He for you?

but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."

3. If You are among His people, then stop trying to bless yourself and receive the blessing that He has for you.
1. [Exo 14:14 ESV] 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."
2. [Deu 31:6 ESV] 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."