Joshua 5:10-12
Hear the word of the living God
with me as we read Joshua 5, 10, 11, and 12. It says, while
the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover
on the 14th day of the month in the evening on the plains
of Jericho. And the day after the Passover
on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened
cakes and parched grain and the manna ceased. The day after they
ate of the produce of the land. There was no longer manna for
the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land
of Canaan that year. Amen. This is the word of the
living God for us, his children. These things were written for
our instruction. Well, if you think about a fresh
start in a fresh place, and you are going to be untouchable by
your enemies, Our modern mind thinks of the witness protection
program, right? My kids over the week at the
beach watch some movie with Steve Martin, My Blue Heaven, something
like that, about the witness protection program. So it got
me thinking, fresh start, fresh place, untouchable from your
enemies. That’s what it is, right? The witness protection program.
Well, how about the nation of Israel? They’re going to have
a fresh start in a fresh place, and they are not going to be
touched by their enemies. This is not the stuff we read
of in this passage of mafia star witnesses and drug cartel eyewitnesses. This is the God of Israel giving
to his people, as he promised, the land. It’s going to come
at a great difficulty to them. but he is going to give them
this promise land. I want us to think about our
passage tonight under, under two, two P’s Passover and provision. I want us to think about them
having Passover in the land. That’s going to be significant,
but also them having provision from the land or of the land. Hopefully you caught those two
things as we read through our passage. And just by way of reminder,
it’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve last looked at this, but
Israel is entering Canaan. They have crossed over the Jordan
River on dry land. They’ve set up their memorial
stones. circumcised the firstborn males
of this generation. Remember their fathers died in
the wilderness and this generation was raised up to enter the promised
land. They were not circumcised. And so before God does a mighty
act here, he wants them circumcised. We looked at that a few weeks
back. But tonight, we want to think about the last rite, so
to speak, the last ceremony they must do before they get down
to business. Now, getting down to business is the Battle of
Jericho, the Battle of Ai, the Battle of this, the Battle of
that. And for many years, they will fight many battles, clearing
out the land of wicked people and taking over the land of promise,
the land that flowed with milk and honey. that God promised
to give them. So as they prepare to enter the
land and take it, they’re having a new start in a new place. And
there are these ceremonies that remind them God has made promises
and God has kept promises. These ceremonies are going to
require that they take about a three day halt, three day stop
in their procession into the promised land. They’re going
to observe circumcision. We’ve looked at that and they’re
going to observe Passover. And you know what all the pragmatic
people in the camp probably said, look, Moses or look, look, Joshua,
we’re on a roll here. We have prepared for a three
days journey. We have crossed over the Jordan
on dry land. All the headlines and all the
local newspapers, all the Twitter feeds seem to be telling us.
These people are scared of us. Let’s keep going. Let’s press
on. Let’s go on to Jericho and break
down those walls. Let’s go, go, go until we have
taken over the whole promised land. Well, in good fashion,
God says, no, we’re going to stop and have a ceremony. We’re
going to stop and we’re going to have church. Uh, you need
to observe the signs and the seals of all my covenant promises. So he had that generation circumcised
and now they’re going to observe Passover. Uh, you know, sometimes
when we get to church and I felt this way this morning when we
had the Lord’s supper and I looked at my watch and it was 1204 because You know, the preacher went on
a little long and we’re starting communion and it takes about
20 minutes. So it’s going to be 1220 and y’all are going to
be late to the golden corral and, um, the blue ribbon diner. And so I have in my head, I need
to hurry it up, but I have in my heart, uh, we need to slow
it down. And, you know, sometimes we’ll
say something, look, y’all, we, this communion Sunday, the hour
is late. If you got somewhere better to be, go ahead. Go, skip
the benediction, right? Skip the Lord’s Supper. Go be
wherever it is you gotta go. If the golden crow is calling,
have at it. That’s a really good meal. This
one won’t give you a tummy ache, but that one will. Those are
the things that go in with my crazy mind up here, right? Y’all
just think I look normal and all buttoned up, but there’s
all kinds of things going on in this head and service. And sometimes
we just wanna get pragmatic. Let’s hurry up and get on out
of here at 12, right? But God has given us the whole
day. He’s given us the whole day, morning and evening set
aside for rest and for worship. And here he’s given them three
days. We’re going to stop and we’re going to circumcise the
firstborn. We’re going to stop and observe
Passover. We’re going to stop and we’re
going to keep the ordinances, the ceremonies that remind us
of all God’s promises. The ceremonies that remind us
of all God’s provision. So let me encourage you. I know
this is a Sunday night crowd. I’m speaking to the choir. As
a church that’s growing in grace and maturing, it will go as far
as the bulk of the congregation goes. And so if you sit tight
for a few extra minutes and aren’t, you know, You know, I think I’ve
heard stories of people that used to sit in church like this.
I don’t see all that. Thankfully, I’m busy up here.
But I’ve heard stories, you know, people, they look at their watch
and clear their throat and whatnot. You know, if you made appointments
to keep on Sunday, you go right ahead. But what’s God saying
here? There’s times to stop and to
look and to listen and to remember and to observe. And what a time
to be doing that for the Israelites, decades of oppression in Egypt,
not decades, centuries. Remember God told Abraham, it’s
gonna be several hundred years, 400 and some years of oppression
by your people in a nation. And then I’m gonna hear their
voice. I’m gonna rescue and I’m going to redeem them. So here’s
a group of people on the edge of promises made and provision
given. These people are on the edge
of the greatest thing. I think, in these last weeks
of all the kids graduating. I look back to high school graduation.
And at that point in time, I thought it was my greatest achievement.
I’ve done a little better since then. But at that time, it’s
pretty great. And you think, oh, four long
years. It’s just so hard, right? Standardized test, and getting
picked on in the lunchroom, or whatever else. It’s so difficult. That’s really nothing. This is
oppression. This is hatred. This is pursuit. This is living in the wilderness.
This is facing the Canaanites. Remember, the river is flowing
again. There is no going back into the wilderness. They must
face the giants. They must face their enemies.
They do it with God almighty. And so as they are, uh, in the
land preparing to have Passover, they are remembering that they
are called by God’s name. They are called by their own
name, but called in his name, by his name, they are redeemed
and being planted in the promised land. And he has supplied them
along the way. Remember their sandals did not
wear out. The moths did not eat their tunics.
The manna came from heaven. The quail came. The water from
the rock. And these are good things for
us to consider. Has our inflation hit double digits yet? It’s 8.5. It’s going to creep to 9. You
compound it with all the years of mess. It’s a really expensive
time. I know some of you are on fixed
incomes. And the more expenses go up, your spending ability
goes down. And everything’s going up. You
know, if you’re a meat eater and you should be, that’s expensive
stuff. It’s a good time to become a
vegetarian, but those are not cheap either. But you think about
Israel in the wilderness, did God provide them in hard times?
Did God give them extension of maybe longevity? I think of that sometimes. You
don’t want your heater to go out in the winter. Did any of
you see the Babylon Bee today? It said the dryer, the dishwasher
and the air conditioner all conspired in the basement to go out all
at once. That’s usually the way it works, but that’s not the
way it was for Israel. God stretched those provisions
and they made it. And so as they prepare to enter
the promised land, as they observe Passover, they are remembering
all sorts of wonderful blessings of almighty God. They remembered
the land. God is giving us this land, the
grapes from vineyards we did not plant. We’re going to drink
water from cisterns we did not dig. We’re going to live in houses
with walls that we did not build. We just crossed a river at flood
stage at the spring height, and we walked on dry land. We have
created fear among our enemies. They’re, in fact, holed up in
their cities. Their walls, as we’ll read about
Jericho, are buttoned up, tightened up. All the latches and windows
are closed. They’ve hoarded provisions where
they can outlast a siege. And they’re ready for Israel,
but the fear of God has come upon all the nations, the whole
Southern region of Canaan that they must pass through and conquer
are some big, scary, nasty, hairy, mean people. And God has put
fear in their hearts. Last time we were together, we
noticed that in the act of circumcision, God not only rolled away the
foreskin of their sin and their deceitfulness, their wickedness,
but he rolled away the reproach of Egypt. You know how it goes. We bring up a nationality or
a people. Oh, those are the ones who blank.
Well, what was it for Israel? Oh, they’re the ones that were
slaves in Egypt. Okay, that’s not real popular. Our passage tells us they’re
no longer the butt of Hebrew jokes. They’re no longer the
reproach of the nations. God has rolled away their reproach.
And then finally, he’s going to shift from daily bread that
comes from heaven to daily bread that comes from the promised
land. So fresh start, fresh place,
untouched by enemies. God calls a halt to their procession
into the promised land. They’re waging war against Jericho
and says, look, circumcise and Passover. Just practical, we’re
gonna do this. We’re gonna spend three days.
Yes, I know about the element of surprise. Yes, I know about
all these things. So let’s think just very briefly about Passover
in the land. When you’ve bought a new house
and moved in, This used to be a tradition. Generally you had
people over and you had the preacher come bless the house. You’ve
got ever do that tradition. It’s kind of a big deal. Um,
other important milestones in life. You, you have a little
ceremony. We do it with birthdays. We do it with anniversaries.
We do it with graduations. We do it with all kinds of milestones
in life. This is a really big one. We’re going to have Passover.
Okay. Whoopty doo. You say they’re having it in
the promised land. Remember the Passover was begun. exactly what, 40 years ago, 38
plus years ago, it was, they left in haste to escape the Egyptians. God had them put the blood over
the doorpost. The angel of death saw that blood
passed over their house. He did not pass over the house
of Egypt. Every firstborn male in that whole nation, whether
man or beast, baby or ox, it died. There was great mourning
and crying in the land, but Israel escaped. The angel of death because
of the blood. And so this is really a completion
of Passover in a sense. We’ve been running for our lives
for 40 years. Now, this particular Passover
is in the land and we’re not running anymore. We’ve got a
lot of hard work to do. But this is a Passover in the
land. This is this is important. Maybe some of you on your anniversary,
you go back to the place where you proposed. Or maybe you go
back to the place where you had your first date, or maybe you
go to your home church where you got married. But sometimes
place is just, well, it’s just really important. And so they
have Passover in the land. But I also want us to see the
provision of the land. God had promised them a land
that flowed with milk and honey. Now, if your realtor ever comes
to you and says, I got a great house for you, and the yard flows
with milk and honey, You wouldn’t take that euphemism and say,
well, it’s got azaleas. It’s got camellias. It’s got
a maple tree that’s going to turn orange. It’s got roses and
tulips and daffodils. It’s got a well-established lawn
with green grass. That would be what they mean.
And you would say, well, as I sit in this new house and I look
out the windows, I will enjoy the camellias in January. If
it’s those azaleas that, what do they call them, encores, they
bloom all year round, I’ll enjoy those. And in the spring, the
bulbs and tulips will pop up, the green grass, I’ll enjoy.
And so you see the benefit of buying that house. The blessings of living in the
promised land are beyond measure. It will be their land. it will
come without, well, after they kill everybody, uh, it’ll come
without work. They’re not going to have to
dig wells and build walls and raise houses and plant vineyards
and wait the seven years for the vineyard to produce. Um,
they’re just going to kick people out. It’s worse than that, but
they’re going to kick them out. They’re going to move in and
take over squatters rights, right? And they’re going to enjoy the
blessing. And then they’re going to have children and grandchildren and great grandchildren
and their, their herds are going to, increase like Jacob when
he worked for Laban or Abraham, when he returned from Egypt,
their, their land is going to just team with children and,
uh, livestock. And it’s going to be wonderful.
That’s what’s in their minds and hearts. But for 40 years,
they’ve eaten manna. Now, would you like to eat saltines
for 40 years? Would you like to eat Ritz crackers
for 40 years? Would you like to eat the same
old plain chicken without spices kind of every meal? Maybe some
of you like that. I don’t like a bland diet. I
like a little Mexican, a little Italian, a little Egyptian. Remember they cried along the
way, oh back in Egypt we had leeks and we had onions and we
had garlic and we had fish. And they were okay with going
back under the harsh slavery just for the menu. So they have
put up for 40 years, plain Jane food. Oh, but this time when
they eat the Passover also comes the provision of the land where
they’re going to eat of the produce of the land. These are significant
things. And I hope that y’all still say
a table blessing before you eat. And I hope it’s not, dear God,
thank you for the food. Bless us. Amen. Or, A step ahead would
be the Methodist prayer. My grandfather used to pray,
go with us, guide us, and be with us. Maybe I’ll remember
that prayer. Not terrible about these things. But should not
we say, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his
benefits. He’s healed my diseases. He’s
given me produce of the land. He’s made my body able to work.
The banking system hasn’t failed. I’m being a little bit exuberant
here. But all the things that go into
us having a meal, I mean, consider it, there’s babies without formula
today, whatever you think of that. There are nations in the
third world regions of our world that people eat way less in a
day than we eat for breakfast. I can look around the room and
tell, you know, none of us are missing. We’re eating the provision of
the land, aren’t we? different than Israel, different than what
he’s talking about here, the promises of God, but we are so
well provided for, and we don’t have time for communion. Well,
church went over, right? We don’t take time to stop and
give thanks. I love that hymn. We probably
don’t sing it enough. Count your blessings, name them
one by one. It’s good to get out a piece
of paper. It’s good, I think, to be a journal-keeping Christian
and look back over it from time to time and see, because we’re
forgetful, all that God has done for us, not only in Christ Jesus,
salvation, wonderful, best thing ever, right? But your daily bread,
your provision, your health, your being on your feet. I had
a neighbor Several years ago, when I lived in the Charlotte
area, he lived behind me. And every morning at about 6
o’clock, we met up outside. Not on purpose, but he would
go walking, I would go walking. And I would say to him every
morning, good morning, how are you? And he’d say, I’m vertical.
And he meant it. He was in his seventies at the
time and he was just thankful to be alive. He was happy to
be out walking. He was cheerful, but he always
just had his mind right, his heart right. You catch some people,
how are you? Well, the government, the taxes,
prices, blah, blah, blah. We’re really blessed folks. We’re
really blessed. It is hard times. But we trust
the Lord and he’ll be gracious to us. God gives them Passover
in the land and he gives them provision off of the land. And
he’s been more gracious to us because we have seen Christ and
our faith is in him. So let’s give him thanks and
go to him in prayer. Our Lord and God, we do thank
you for your loving kindness, your mercy, your steadfast love,
your covenant faithfulness. To your people of old, but to
us who sit here this day, we are the offspring of Abraham
by faith, and not a promise you’ve made him has been unkept, and
a promise you’ve made him is failing. Every good blessing
we have is from your people. your heart of love and provision.
So, we give you thanks that we are your children and we’re blessed
to know of your blessings, even to know of your hardships because
they do great work in our lives. So, hear us and help us as we
want your word to sit deeply in our hearts and minds this
night. In Christ’s name, we do pray. Amen.