September 28, 2025 • 46 mins
Joshua 5 demonstrates God's perfect timing as Israel pauses for a week in enemy territory after crossing the Jordan River, showing that weakness doesn't necessitate timidity and that God's people can find peace even in opposition.
• Israel enters the Promised Land and immediately sets up camp at Gilgal while surrounded by enemies
• Joshua circumcises all the men, making them temporarily vulnerable but recommitting them to God's covenant
• The celebration of Passover reminds the people of God's promises and faithfulness
• God stops the manna after 40 years, teaching that His provision may change while His faithfulness never does
• Joshua encounters the commander of God's army who teaches him that God doesn't take sides—He takes over
• When facing challenges, our strength isn't in our strategies but in our worship and surrender
The primary question isn't "Is God on our side?" but rather "Are we on His side?" Take off your shoes and worship Him—He doesn't need your sword or shield, but He will take your worship.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lilly (00:03):
Good morning.
If y'all would join me in thereading of God's word from
Joshua 5, verses 10 through 15.
And if you're using a pewBible, that's going to be page
180.
While the people of Israel wereencamped at Gilgal, they kept
the Passover on the fourteenthday of the month in the evening
(00:25):
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 theday after they ate of the
produce of the land, and therewas no longer manna for the
people of Israel, but they ateof the fruit of the land of
Canaan that year.
(00:45):
When Joshua was by Jericho, helifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold, a man was standingbefore him with his sworn his
drawn sword in his hand.
And Joshua went to him and saidto him, Are you for us or for
our adversaries?
And he said, No, but I am thecommander of the army of the
Lord.
Now I have come.
(01:06):
And Joshua fell on his face tothe earth and worshipped, and
said to him, What does my Lordsay to his servant?
And the commander of the Lord'sarmy said to Joshua, Take off
your sandals from your feet, forthe place where you are
standing is holy.
And Joshua did so.
This is the living and trueword of the Lord.
Will (01:25):
Amen.
Thank you, Lily.
Hey guys, I I'd like foreverybody to do something uh
quickly.
Uh part of being a pastor isbeing a shepherd.
Part of being a shepherd isleading, and part of leading is
asking people to do things maybethat they don't necessarily
want to do.
This is a very easy one.
Uh some of you are note takers.
If you're a note taker, you'realready set up.
You've got something to writeon, you've got something to
write with, you got your phoneout.
If you are not a note taker,I'd like you to take one of the
(01:47):
prayer cards, one of the visitorcards in front of you with a
pen if the ushers did their job.
And uh I would like for you tograb your phone if you don't
have one of those.
And I want you to write downthree scriptures.
Let me tell you why I want youto write down these three
scriptures.
Because it's going to seem toyou when you leave today that we
have such a sharp staff that weweave together this the service
(02:09):
so beautifully that Psalm 46,that Psalm 23, and that
Ephesians 5 are just going toweave themselves through.
We did not prepare that.
I did not know Stokes was goingto open with that.
Thomas did not know thatEphesians 5 was going to be in
my sermon, and I didn't knowthat Psalm 23 was going to come
out when I wrote it.
And so I take these threescriptures in a time like this,
(02:32):
and I think if I'm payingattention to the Holy Spirit,
which I believe that I am, itwould be a wise thing for the
believer to do to jot down thosethree scriptures.
I don't have a slide for youbecause, again, this wasn't
prepared.
Psalm 46, Ephesians 5, 16 and17, and Psalm 23.
You'll you'll see it as wecontinue to move forward in the
(02:53):
service, but I feel like thosein particular are a gift from
the Holy Spirit to us as wenavigate the week ahead.
And I don't want you to missout on that.
So go ahead and write thosethings down.
Cannot tell you how excited Iam to spend time with you,
especially in the midst of whatthings have looked like and how
(03:13):
things have gone, because I canthink of no better time for a
group of people to sit down andsay, okay, God, I need your
word, I need your spirit, I needto be worshiping you.
And if you have ever doubtedthat working through books of
the Bible is gonna get youdisjointed with things that are
going on in the world, prepareyourself to be excited at God's
perfect timing and order in allthings because it is very clear
(03:37):
and apparent.
So we've been in Joshua.
Let me show you where we'recoming from.
This is Joshua 4, two weeksremoved, because Larry, brother,
thank you.
I'm still planning on wearingmy African attire.
I think we're gonna do it nextweek when we do the update.
Um, phenomenal sermon.
Check it out.
It's already on our socialmedia and on our podcast.
But this is where we left thebook of Joshua a couple of weeks
(04:00):
ago.
The people had come up out ofthe Jordan on the tenth day of
the first month.
They encamped at Gilgal on theeast border of Jericho, and
verse 20, Joshua is told to take12 stones uh as they're going
through the river and to setthem up.
Why?
This is so cool.
Because God is saying toJoshua, what I am about to do
(04:21):
with you is so certain.
I want to give you the trophyahead of time.
All right, that my girls havejust started playing soccer,
we're two games in, they'redoing very well.
Can I tell you what wouldconfuse them a lot?
If I walked up to them beforethe first game of the season and
I said, Girls, great news, I'vegot your trophies.
And they would be like, Coach,what are you talking about?
(04:42):
And I'm like, for the seasonahead, I've already got your
trophies.
They would say, Coach, we'vegot to win games.
We've got to get into theplayoffs, we've got to make it
to the end.
We have to do it.
No, not when God is yourcommander, you do not.
They are setting up thesestones, verse 24, so that all
the peoples of the earth mayknow that the hand of the Lord
(05:02):
is mighty, that they would fearthe Lord your God forever.
He gives them the trophy inadvance.
He says, I want you to put iton the mantle for the season
that is coming is a guaranteedwin.
It is a guaranteed victory.
Now they walk in, don't missthis.
Joshua and God's people have 12stones behind them, trophies on
(05:23):
the mantle.
They're looking at Jericho,which would have been one of the
greatest fortified cities ofits day and age, in front of
them, and they are standing inenemy territory.
I don't know if you picked thisup or not when we were in
Joshua chapter 4.
As soon as they get on theother side of the river, they're
in bad guy land.
Okay?
If you've ever played Capturethe Flag, you're looking around
(05:47):
a little bit more quicklybecause you can get tagged.
In their case, arrows couldstart flying at any moment,
spears could be flung, swordsand shields brandished as horses
and chariots poured over thehill in front of them.
And they walk right into enemyterritory.
Why is Israel not attacked themoment they step foot into enemy
(06:14):
territory?
Stokesy, where you at?
Hey, I didn't even have this inmy notes.
Like you were singing, I wastrying to worship with you, but
I had to get this text which youprayed over us, like led us
through, because watch how coolthis is.
Psalm 46.
The nations rage, kingdoms,totter, politics, and life are
(06:38):
sideways and askew and a mess.
But when God utters his voice,the earth, wrong tool, melts.
Remember that word.
Remember that word.
You only have to remember for45 seconds, but remember that
word.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is ourfortress.
And then this word, 10 pointsto the camp store.
(07:00):
If anybody can tell me whatSalah means.
Oh, y'all, okay.
All right, left side, we'regonna need to step up your game.
Right side, heavy.
Too many people, but I'm gonnaassume you all got it right.
It means pause, reflect, think.
Now watch what is happeninghere.
The nations, the kingdoms, Godsteps in and the earth melts.
(07:25):
And then he says, pause.
God speaks, the earth melts,and then he says, pause.
Why was Israel not attacked themoment they set foot in enemy
territory?
Verse 1 of chapter 5.
As soon as all the kings of theAmorites who were beyond the
Jordan to the west, and all thekings of the Canaanites who were
(07:47):
by the sea, when they heardthat the Lord had dried up the
waters, when they heard that Godhad already given his people
the trophy, when he heard thatthey were stacking stones in
victory, the Lord had dried upthe waters of the Jordan for the
people of Israel until they hadcrossed over their hearts
melted.
That's Psalm 46.
God utters his voice, and theearth melts.
(08:09):
And who was this?
Was this like one king?
Was this like one commander?
No.
Every king of the Amorites,every king of the Canaanites,
every evil leader looks at whatGod has done, and their heart
melts.
There was no longer any spiritin them because of the people of
Israel.
Now I will tell you what wouldhappen to me if I found out that
(08:33):
the enemy who had done me somuch harm was weak and wounded
and fearful and scared.
That is when I would advance.
When they are cowering, whentheir hearts are melting, when
their courage has fled.
That's the time you look atyour men and you say, pull out
your sword, get out yourshields.
(08:54):
These guys are crushed inspirit.
Take the hill.
That's what you would say.
But what happened after Goduttered his voice and the earth
melted, he said, Selah, nowpause for a moment and reflect.
What happens after this is notwhat you would expect.
(09:17):
You would expect Joshua to say,Let's go.
Probably the two words mostuttered on a football field, or
watching it, when things startgoing your way and momentum
switches.
Let's go.
Let's go.
But watch God make them wait.
And as he does, I want you toask yourself this question:
(09:38):
where in my life do I want torush in when God is calling me
to pause and reflect and berenewed?
Keep in mind to get to thispoint, all of them had just
buried their parents.
I don't know if you forgetthis.
We get pretty amped up once youget to Joshua 5.
Everything gets good.
Remember, they weren't able togo into this land until the
(10:01):
previous generation had died.
And we think about it as, well,this is the good generation.
That is the bad generation.
Keep in mind, it's theirparents, okay?
They've just buried their lastparent in that generation.
They're ready to go, they wantto move forward, but God is
going to make them wait.
This is uh 30 boxes intended tomake you think of a calendar.
On it is the word Nasan.
(10:22):
That is the first month of theHebrew calendar.
This is when they would haveentered the promised land.
And for seven days, for onefull week, God looks at his
people and he says, I know youwant to go.
I know you want to take thehill.
I know that their hearts havemelted.
I know that everything lookslike you should charge forward.
Selah, my people, pause for amoment and reflect.
(10:48):
There's going to be a week thatbears itself out in chapter 5
this way.
Now you have to pay carefulattention when you read your
Bible, and you need to read itwith a pencil or pen in hand to
probably notice this.
But something's going to happenon the tenth day, a gap between
the 14th, 15th, and the 16th.
And in these seven days, Goddoes something very formative in
(11:11):
his people.
Here's what we see on the tenthday.
I already read it to you at theend of chapter four.
The people came up out of theJordan on the tenth day of the
first month, which is Nasan, andthey encamped.
So here on day 10, they gocamping.
They set up a tent, they're inenemy territory.
Arrows could begin flying atany moment.
(11:33):
And God says, Hey guys, we'regoing to camp out here for just
a moment.
I did Lily a big favor.
Lily just came up and read.
She was one of my youth kidsfor ages.
I love her dearly.
I get to select the uhscriptures that are read
whenever we're like on Sundaymorning.
And I don't know where Lily isright now, but I told her in the
(11:55):
pre-service meeting.
I said, Hey, I want you to knowI did you a big favor.
The word circumcision comes uplike 38 times in this chapter,
and you don't have to say it onetime.
But the very next thing thathappens somewhere in the 10th,
11th, 12th, and 13th day isthere is this odd, gross,
(12:15):
awkward command that we read.
And the command is for Joshuato circumcise the sons of Israel
a second time.
There's a big point in hereabout the difficulties of
leadership, okay?
I'm not going to preach thatpoint, but I'll just tell you,
(12:36):
as a guy who's leading a church,I am grateful that this has
never been something that theLord has called us to in the New
Testament church.
Now, I will tell you this.
The closest thing that we haveto circumcision in the New
Testament church is three pointsto the camp store baptism, and
why?
Because circumcision was anoutward sign of an inward
(12:58):
reality.
We're God's people, we'recommitted to him, we are
trusting in him.
Baptism is very similar.
And Carrie, I did not miss mynote, and I had it written into
my own notes.
We have a baptism class on the21st.
I've had a number ofconversations from you guys.
And so if you have not beenbaptized and you're trusting in
Christ, you should probably comeand check out this class as God
(13:19):
calls us to an outward sign ofan inward reality.
And that's exactly what he doeshere.
In fact, it's the first thinghe tells them to do once they
start camping.
Make flint knives andcircumcise the sons of Israel a
second time.
I'm not trying to be grosshere, but what's happening is
not that an individual male hasbeen circumcised and it just
(13:42):
didn't take.
And now he needs to becircumcised a second time.
God's word goes on and itexplains to us what is happening
here.
And I love this about theBible.
The Bible doesn't always haveto do what it does in verse 4,
but I love it when it does.
Verse 3, Joshua made flintknives and circumcised the sons
of Israel, A Gibeharah.
And this is the reason why.
(14:05):
Don't you love it when theBible says that?
Hey, here's something a littlebit uh complicated, might seem
out of context to your day andage.
This is the reason why Joshuacircumcised them.
All the males of the people whocame out of Egypt, the parent
generation, all the men of warhad died in the wilderness on
the way after they had come outof Egypt.
(14:27):
They were not going to enterthe promised land.
Verse 5, though all the peoplewho had come out had been
circumcised, yet all the peoplewho were born on the way, the
second generation, those born inthe wilderness after they had
come out of Egypt, had not beencircumcised.
Do you know the Bible neverexplains why?
The Bible never explains.
(14:48):
And the closest thing I've everread in a commentary is uh they
said, Well, they were so busymoving around that they couldn't
pull it off.
And I'm like, flag on thefield, Joshua just got the call
by God, and he's like in theback corner breaking flint
knives so that he can, like, ifyou're committed to something,
you can make this happen.
Might it be that the generationof the parents had not passed
(15:11):
down this ritual, this rite,this command to their own
children?
Could it be that God hadintentionally said, I don't want
you to do that yet?
I know I've told you to dothis, but you have so long not
been my people that until we getto this special week, I'm not
going to reconvene that you aremy people.
The Bible doesn't explain howthat whole thing played out.
(15:33):
But what we do know is this,verse 6 the people of Israel
walked 40 years in thewilderness until all the nation,
the men of war who came out ofEgypt, perished, all the parents
buried, because they did notobey the voice of the Lord.
Parents, you want to beeffective in the lives of your
(15:56):
children.
You think about the schoolsthey go to, and you think about
the sports they play.
You think about the attire theywear.
And if you have a daughter, youthink about the attire they
wear and the attire they wear.
Like everything about your kidsruns through your head all the
time.
Can I just give you the bestinstruction the Bible is going
to give you as a parent?
(16:18):
Obey the voice of the Lord.
And when God calls you and Heconvicts you, when He says, Hey,
your kid just asked for moretime on Instagram, and I want
you to say no for a moment sothat you can pause and meet with
them and shepherd their heart.
When you hear the voice of theLord, listen to the voice of the
(16:38):
Lord.
And if you feel like you neverhear the voice of the Lord, pick
up the voice of the Lord.
Parents, I can give you nobetter advice in leading your
children.
The Lord swore to them that hewould not let them see the land
that the Lord had sworn to theirfathers to give us a land that
was flowing with milk and honey.
So it was their children who heraised up in their place that
(17:03):
Joshua circumcised.
For they were uncircumcisedbecause they had not been
circumcised on the way.
I think we got to the end ofall the circumcisions.
Okay.
If we didn't, we at least gotthrough the lion's share of it.
There's this group of youngpeople.
They want to live differentlythan their parents did.
Their parents probably wantthat for them as well.
And God says, before you takethat hill, before you charge
(17:24):
ahead, pause, reflect, andthink.
I want you to pause and I wantyou to reflect and I want you to
think because generations carrya character.
This is something we actuallyget right in our world.
We talk all the time about thegreatest generation and baby
boomers and Gen Z andmillennials and everything.
The Bible actually uses termslike that.
(17:45):
Now keep in mind, just becauseyou're born into one doesn't
mean that you are stuck in sortof the character of that
generation.
But in Matthew 17, Jesus looksat the generation he's living in
and he says, You faithless,twisted generation, how long do
I have to be with you?
That's the generation thatJesus was with.
Does that mean everybody wasfaithless?
No.
(18:05):
But it means generallyspeaking, that's what he saw.
In Psalm 112, we see a positivegeneration.
His offspring will be mighty inthe land.
The generation of the uprightwill be blessed.
You'll see more of that inchapter 6.
But why circumcision?
Why this sign?
Tim Keller is one of myfavorite pastors.
(18:26):
He's gone on to be with theLord.
Um I feel like he does such agood job about taking
complicated things and makingthem very simple.
Uh and so here are a couple ofwords from him on circumcision.
Why couldn't God ask for atattoo?
Don't we all agree?
That just feels better.
(18:47):
By the way, they could havepulled that off back then.
I don't know where Kenny is.
I saw him.
Uh Kenny, one of our tattooartists in the area.
Yeah, they could have.
Do you know the history oftattoos?
They go way, way back.
Way, way back.
Why couldn't God ask for atattoo?
What is this circumcision thingabout?
It is gross and bloody, and ofcourse, that's the point.
(19:08):
Circumcision is gory, it'sgross, it's bloody and it's
intimate to show you the penaltyof sin.
Because your sin, when God seesit, is gross.
It requires a bloody mess tofix.
It is incredibly intimate.
(19:29):
When you love the things thatGod has made and not the God who
has made them, it is gory inits expression and evil in all
ways.
This is why he gave them thissign, because it aligned them
with their brokenness, but itdid something else.
Or another way to put it is inthe Garden of Eden, out goes
(19:51):
Adam and Eve because of theirsin.
And who is put at the door?
A cherubim, an angel, with asword guarding the way to the
tree of life.
Why?
Well, because it means the onlyway back into the tree of life
is to undergo the sword.
Some of you have been coming toMidtree and you have no clue
(20:12):
why our church is calledMidtree.
You think it's because we're inHarris County or because the
cross Jesus was on was the onein the middle.
Those are both great things,and they're both wrong.
The reason this church iscalled Midtree is because in the
beginning God planted a tree,and it was to be a tree of life
and goodness.
But instead of us taking thatlife and that goodness, we
(20:34):
thought we had a better plan.
So we turn our back on the lifethat God had offered in that
tree.
Revelation tells us that thereis a tree in heaven that brings
healing to the nations and life.
Well, how do we go from thetree of death that we chose to
the tree of life that lastsforever?
Through the mid-tree that Godprovided and put his son on.
(20:55):
Why circumcision?
Because it is bloody and goryand gross and intimate, just
like your sin.
Why circumcision?
Because something had to be cutoff so that we could enter back
into life.
And I'm not talking about apiece of male flesh.
I'm saying the Son of God hadto be cut off from the Father so
(21:18):
that you could be stitched backin.
Those who belong to Christ havecrucified.
Crucifixion is a bloody, gory,bad thing.
Do you know that's the way theBible calls you to deal with
your sin?
That's why it says if your handcauses you to sin, cut it off.
(21:42):
I'm not saying be literal here.
If your eye causes you to sin,gouge it out.
But I'll tell you what Jesussays.
Be better for you to enterheaven without an eye and
without a hand than not to enterit at all.
Because by the time you getthere, you're gonna get new eyes
and new hands anyway.
So the point of walking andtrusting God, one of the points
of circumcision, is that wewould realize in our sin its
(22:04):
grossness and we would want tocrucify it and cut it off from
us.
But this did more than justgive God's people a reason to
pause and reflect and recommitthemselves to God.
They did.
They would have feltrecommitted to God, but it
didn't just show theircommitment, it made them
incredibly vulnerable.
Let's just have a real talkmoment for a second here.
(22:27):
When, oh, sorry, one more.
When the circumcising of thewhole nation was finished, they
remained in their places in thecamp until they were healed.
Duh.
Can I tell you when you don'twant to go on a march?
Right now for them.
Hey, quick timeout, Joshua, ifwe could just get a couple days,
(22:48):
maybe?
Yes.
They are, don't forget this, inenemy territory.
And instead of charging, Godsays, pause, reflect, recommit
myself to you.
Cut yourself off from thisworld.
Draw near to me, and you'regoing to make yourself
vulnerable.
The timing could not have beenworse by worldly standards.
(23:10):
They're in enemy territory, andevery defender of God's people
is now weakened and immobilized.
The women were better fighterson this day than the men were.
The 10-year-olds were betterfighters on this day than the
men were.
And they had to wait.
Why?
Because God is giving them thegift of a week when they want to
(23:32):
charge forward.
They want to take their stand.
And instead, he says, No, we'repausing and we are reflecting.
We're going to camp out.
We're going to painfullyrecommit ourselves to our God.
We're going to remember what hehas done for us, that he would
become our God.
And then the next three stackup together.
(23:54):
On the 14th day, God is goingto say, I've made you a promise.
On the 15th day, he's going totell them, I keep my promises.
And then finally, on the 16thday, he's going to look at him
and he's going to say, Are youready?
This is what happens on that14th day.
While the people of Israel wereencamped at Gilgal, probably
recovering, they kept thePassover on the 14th day of the
(24:16):
month in the evening on theplains of Jericho.
Hey, I made you a promise yearsago that death would pass over
you, that you would eat thismeal every year on the 14th day
of Nasan.
And when you did, you wouldremember that my God overcomes
(24:39):
evil and death and darkness.
And even though we wereenslaved in a nation that hated
us, our God led us out.
And it the enemy passed rightover us.
His wrath passed right over usbecause God made them a promise.
Ephesians 3, Exodus 3:8.
I have come down to deliverthem out of the hand of the
(25:01):
Egyptians.
But that was not the wholepromise.
He said, And when you get thetrophy, I'm gonna bring you up
out of that land to a good land,to a broad land, to a land that
is flowing with milk and honey.
So do you know what happens onthe 15th day?
On the 14th day, he remindsthem of his promise.
(25:21):
Verse 11, and the day after thePassover, I love it when the
Bible does this.
You do not need a comma andfour verses here or four words
here for it to make sense.
Follow along in verse 11.
I'm gonna read it incorrectly.
And the day after the Passover,they ate of the produce of the
land.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
Yeah, but God wants to make apoint here.
(25:43):
And the day after the Passover,on that very day, all these
years ago, God said, I want youto remember the 14th day.
I want you to remember that Iled you out.
I want you to remember I gaveyou a promise.
And on the day after it,standing in enemy territory,
they start nibbling on the goodof the land, which by the way,
(26:08):
they didn't even plant.
The heart of the enemy hasmelted at God's power.
To the point that Israel eatsthe food of its enemies while
Jericho watches on.
I went over to a buddy's houselast uh yesterday so my kids
could go swimming.
We put on uh a handful offootball games.
(26:30):
It was a beautiful day,everything's wonderful.
I couldn't help myself.
Where's Keller?
I saw him walk in.
John, where are you?
I'm not gonna make you talk.
Oh, hey, okay.
I said I'm not gonna make youtalk.
I was at uh Robbie and KimJones' house yesterday.
Kids are swimming, everybodywas outside, I was in the
(26:53):
kitchen, so I went and I got aSharpie so that I could color on
the produce in their pantry andwrite semi-inappropriate
things.
Which by the way, I have doneat their house since I was 13
years old.
All right.
Uh, if you are a teenager tome, it is one of the most
wonderful things you can do.
Uh uh let people know I'm here,I feel at home.
(27:14):
I what y'all are like, Will,how on earth does this have
anything to do with Joshua?
It's okay, I'll get you there.
This brain connects a lot ofthings very quickly.
Give me just a minute.
You may feel at home when yougo to somebody's house and you
hang out with them.
You are going to feel more athome if you eat a meal with
them.
But do you want to know how Iknow that you are truly at home
(27:37):
there?
You walk in the pantry wheneveryou want and you get whatever
you want.
That's what God's people aredoing.
They are an enemy, I justimagine this.
Enemy territory.
You walk into a stranger'shouse who, by the way, hates
you, and then you walk intotheir pantry and start filing
(27:58):
through to see if they havedouble-stuffed Oreos.
Okay?
That's what's happening here.
How confident are God's peopleof his goodness?
Incredibly confident.
They are surrounded by theenemy, arrows, spears, at any
moment, and they're diggingthrough Jericho's pantry.
That's what's going on in thistext.
(28:19):
They are comfortable in themidst of their enemies.
And then something amazinghappens.
Now, I I told you I was gonnapoint to this.
There's not one arrow notched,one spear thrown.
God has literally, listencarefully to my words, prepared
(28:41):
a table for his weakened peoplein the presence of their
enemies.
And in the event that you havenever noticed this, I don't want
you to miss it.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
(29:05):
I know you want to take thehill, and I know you want to
move on.
I know you want to look at allof the brokenness that has come
before this day, and you justwant to get past it.
Saylah, sit down, reflect.
We are camping out here.
He makes me sit down as heleads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
(29:27):
He is the one who says, Do youwant to draw near to me?
Because it's gonna be a bloodyawkward mess to do so, because
you have made a bloody awkwardmess of your life.
And here he restores the soul.
He leads me in paths ofrighteousness for his name's
sake, even though I walk throughthe valley of the shadow of
(29:47):
death.
This by in case you're notpicking up on it, this is Joshua
chapter 5.
He made them lie down, he madethem restore their soul to him,
he made them.
Walk through the valley of theshadow of death, reminding them
of the Passover on the 14th.
And then what does he do?
(30:08):
He prepares a table before themin the presence of their
enemies.
So what should happen next?
What should happen next istheir cup would overflow.
What should happen next isgoodness and mercy is going to
follow them all the days oftheir life.
Do you want to see it happen?
Too bad.
Because in verse 12, here'swhat happens instead.
And the manna ceased the dayafter they ate the produce of
(30:32):
the land.
Guys, I've done my absolutebest.
I know that my mind movesquickly.
I know that my words movequickly as well.
I have tried to walk you allthe way through this week so
that you don't miss what God isshowing them.
Camp out here.
Commit yourself to me.
Remember the promises that Ihave made to you.
I have fulfilled those promisesnow.
(30:54):
Are you ready to move?
But the way God asks them ifthey're ready to move is by
stopping provision.
The manna stops falling.
God could not have stoppedproviding for them at a worse
time.
They're in the land of theirenemies.
They haven't even secured thecrops.
(31:15):
They've literally walkedthrough and grabbed some food
out of the pantry.
For 14,599 days, manifell,manifell, manifell.
What are we going to eat?
Manafel.
What are we going to do?
Manafel.
14,599 days.
And the moment they walk intothe promised land, the moment
(31:36):
they open the pantry door ofJericho, the moment they grab
the double-stuffed Oreos with nofear in the presence of their
enemies, the heavens dry up.
Do you know why?
One, to tell us that God is incontrol of our calendars, our
times, the events, thecircumstances of our lives, and
(31:56):
the circumstances of our world.
But, Christian, you are notallowed to keep looking for
yesterday's bread.
Or to put it a little bitdifferently, don't confuse the
method with the provider.
God's provision may change, buthis faithfulness never does.
(32:16):
Some of you think that the wayGod connected with you and the
way you connected with God whenyou were 13 is the same way he's
going to do it now.
Or the way that you worship himand draw near to him in your
20s is going to be the way thatyou do in your 30s.
I hope you're more sanctifiedthan that.
I hope you have grown fromthat.
(32:37):
I hope that you haven't alwaysassumed that however God has
provided must be the way he willonly ever provide.
No, I think there's somethingfor God's people here when he
says, How are you going torespond when I change the way
that I provide?
It is not as though God wasshutting up the heavens.
It's not as though he waspulling back his blessing from
them.
(32:57):
God's people were weak, and yetthey were the ones who were
feared.
Believer, do you believe thatweakness should cause timidity?
God does not.
Do you believe that theweakness in your body, the
weakness in your family, theweakness in your mind, the
perceived weakness of yourfuture should cause you to be
(33:19):
timid?
God does not.
They were looking upon afortress of their enemy in
hostile land, and do you knowwhat they decide to do?
Have a picnic?
That's what they choose to do.
Believer, do you allow thepresence of opposition and evil
to take away peace and bringabout doubt?
(33:40):
Let me ask you that again.
Do you, believer in the room?
I can't talk to the unbelieversin this moment because Psalm 23
and Psalm 46 and Ephesians 5,they are not true of you yet.
If you're an unbeliever in theroom, I'm pleading that you
would come to the cross ofChrist and that you would cut
yourself off from sin and thatyou would find true life.
But for those of you who havewalked with the Lord for some
(34:02):
period of time, do you allow thepresence of opposition, do you
allow the presence of evil totake away peace and bring about
doubt?
This week has had an abundanceof evil on display.
And what Scripture makes plainis two things the presence of
(34:24):
evil in this world and theproximity of Christians to it.
We are not insulated from it.
You do not find God's people onthe other side of the river,
you find them in enemyterritory, and you don't see
them scared.
You see evil being perpetratedall around them, and they're
having a picnic.
(34:45):
Because they're great?
No.
Because the God who has alwaysprovided, the God who has made
every single promise and keptevery single promise, his plans
are not negated when our worldsseem upside down.
The murder of the Ukrainianwoman on the train, shooting of
(35:10):
Charlie Kirk, the next day, theremembering of 9-11.
Christian, you better lookcarefully how you walk.
You better not get lured into asense of security.
You better remember you'vecrossed the river of the blood
of Christ and you are standingin enemy territory.
(35:33):
He's already given you thetrophy.
It is a guaranteed win.
You can set up a picnic in thepresence of this kind of evil.
But when you walk in it, pleasedon't be unwise.
Be wise.
Make the best use of your time.
These days that we live in,they are evil.
(35:54):
So do not be foolish.
You must understand what thewill of the Lord is.
And I don't think this meanslike the secret specific will
for you.
That certainly could beapplied.
What Paul is saying is do youknow who God has always been?
Do you know who God will alwaysbe?
Do you know that we are livinga blip in this world?
These days are evil.
(36:15):
Don't be foolish.
Make the best use of the timethat you can.
And this is exactly what God'speople are doing.
I've made you a promise, I'vekept my promise.
Now are you ready?
And God literally shows up.
This is cooler, by the way, I'ma history guy, so I love the
(36:35):
calendar.
I love the dates.
I love the points that build.
There is nothing cooler thanwhat's about to happen in this
text.
Nothing cooler.
And Joshua comes across inbeast mode fashion.
Like, this is the guy you wantto be.
Check this guy out.
When Joshua was by Jericho, helifted up his eyes and looked.
And behold, a man was standingbefore him.
(36:57):
Okay, this fee does this notfeel like a different chapter?
Doesn't it just feel likesomething huge just changed?
Let me tell you what'shappening.
After this week of God saying,pause, stop, think, reflect,
recommit, make sure you're rightwith me, Joshua goes on a walk.
He goes on a walk in a land hehasn't been to in 40 years.
He probably picked something toplay on the radio or on his
(37:18):
phone that has some kind of anostalgic feeling.
Because it's been a long timesince Joshua and Caleb walked
through this land this way.
And he's walking through it 40years later, knowing that God
made promises and keepspromises, and on this nostalgic
walk, a man was standing beforehim with a drawn sword in his
hand.
Okay.
If I am walking through myproperty, if I am, and I'm just
(37:46):
having this beautiful day, Godis good, I'm having a picnic,
just raiding my neighbor'spantry, double stuffed.
I don't like the double-stuffedOreos.
I'm the freak that likes likethe teeniest little bit of the
cream in the middle, the thins.
Those are my favorite.
Y'all can hate me if you want,whatever.
He's walking through, raidingthe pantry, and this dude shows
(38:07):
up and he pulls out a sword.
You know what Joshua has in hishands?
Oreos.
Not really, but that's whathe's got.
Did you see what Joshua doesnext?
And Joshua went to him.
I'll tell you what, I'm notdoing.
If I see a guy I don'trecognize with a sword in my
property, I'm not going, oh,hello.
(38:29):
Let's just spend some timetogether.
Joshua couldn't care less.
He's been camping in enemyterritory, raiding their pantry,
trophies already on the shelf.
He sees a guy with a sword,he's like, Well, I definitely
want to meet this guy.
And he said to him, Are you forus?
Or are you for our enemies?
(38:51):
Why does he have this kind of aconfidence?
I'm gonna walk right up to you.
Which means he didn't know ifhe was for him.
He doesn't know.
Are you on our team or not onour team?
I see you've got a sword.
I got my Oreos.
What's up?
Right?
Where does this confidence comefrom?
Here's where his confidencecomes from.
(39:12):
His confidence comes from thefact that God had given him a
promise.
Everywhere your foot treads,I'm gonna give you that land.
His presence is assured.
I'm gonna be with you, Joshua1, 5, and 9, the same way that I
was with Moses.
For the first time that we see,basically in the Old Testament,
all of God's people are alignedand they're like, Joshua, lead
(39:32):
us.
We're gonna do whatever yousay.
We're not gonna grumble, we'renot gonna complain.
We are the best generation, iswhat they would be saying here.
The enemy tremble as theirheart melts.
They are led by the presence ofGod in the Ark of the Covenant,
and the river gets ripped open.
They stack stones, theircovenant is renewed, they have a
celebration, and the future isno longer coming from above
(39:55):
them, it is right in front ofthem.
Why is Joshua confident?
Here's why.
Because who God is, what hedoes.
And the commander of the Lord'sarmy answers this question Are
you for us or are you for ouradversaries?
Now I would like to step onyour toes as we wrap this up.
Stokesy, you can go ahead andcome on up.
(40:16):
Are you for us or are you forour adversaries?
No.
Nah.
Wait, wait, wait.
Are you for us?
There's a battle coming.
It's an A or a B decision here.
Are you for us or are you forour enemies?
No.
No.
You silly little simple-mindedperson.
(40:38):
No.
I am the commander of the armyof the Lord, and I have come.
Joshua fell on his face to theearth and he worshiped.
Let me tell you why thismatters.
In Revelation 19, John standsbefore an angel.
When the angel appears, Johnfalls on his knees, and the
(40:58):
angel says, Do not worship me.
Get up.
I'm a created being just likeyou.
Do you see Joshua beingreprimanded for worshiping here?
No, because he's standingbefore God, potentially before
Christ.
Joshua, Yeshua, the Savior, isactually standing before the
(41:20):
Savior.
And he looks at Jesuspotentially and he says, Are you
for us or are you against us?
And Jesus says, No.
No, no, no.
That's not how this works,buddy.
What do you mean you're not forus or against us?
The Lord is for his ownpurposes.
(41:41):
The Lord is for his own name.
The Lord is for his owngreatness.
And the Lord is for his ownglory.
We operate in this world asthough God has picked certain
people, he has picked certainnations, and he has not picked
others.
And we do see blessing in somenations more than others.
And we do see blessing in somepeople more than others.
(42:04):
But the question is not, is theLord on our side or is he not?
The question is, are we on hisside?
This is the question.
I highly doubt that you aregoing to find anyone in this
life that is better than Joshua.
I doubt it.
But even Joshua puts on displaythat there is no nation and
(42:28):
there is no power, there is nomovement and there is no party.
There is no leader that isalways on God's side.
The question is, are you onGod's side?
Joshua looks and he says, Areyou for us or are you for our
enemies?
No.
(42:48):
Joshua walking on a land with40 years of nostalgia.
The commander takes out hissword and he says, I'm not here
to take sides.
I'm here to take over.
And son, I'll take it fromhere.
Joshua, you're not going toneed a sword for this.
(43:09):
You're not going to need ashield for this.
Do you know how to worship me?
That's what you're going toneed for this.
And the commander of the Lord'sarmy said to Joshua, take off
your sandals, for the placewhere you are standing is holy.
And Joshua did so.
(43:31):
He's ready to move on.
He's ready to conquer.
And God says, Son, I'll take itfrom here.
If you are not a Christian inthis room, there's no better
message I can give you thanChrist saying, I'll take it from
here.
You've made it to church andyou've heard the gospel.
You've realized you need to becut off from your sin.
(43:52):
Please let Jesus take it fromhere.
You don't need to beimpressive.
You don't need to show me oranybody else your good deeds.
All you need to do is say, God,would you take it from here?
All I need to do is fall downand worship you.
Would you take it from here?
And Christian in the room,whether you've been walking with
the Lord for one holy week orfor 40 or 50 years, do you know
(44:14):
what your job is to do?
Take off your shoes and worshipHim.
He does not need your sword, hedoes not need your shield, but
He will take your worship.
This is the hope that we havein Christ.
I put up a few questions foryou to reflect on.
And then Stokes, when you'reready, if you'll call us to
(44:36):
worship, certainly the God whodeserves it and not only
deserves it, wants nothing morefrom us than that.
Let us be this kind of peopletoday.
Good morning.
If y'all would join me in thereading of God's word from
Joshua 5, verses 10 through 15.
And if you're using a pewBible, that's going to be page
180.
While the people of Israel wereencamped at Gilgal, they kept
the Passover on the fourteenthday of the month in the evening
(00:25):
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 theday after they ate of the
produce of the land, and therewas no longer manna for the
people of Israel, but they ateof the fruit of the land of
Canaan that year.
(00:45):
When Joshua was by Jericho, helifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold, a man was standingbefore him with his sworn his
drawn sword in his hand.
And Joshua went to him and saidto him, Are you for us or for
our adversaries?
And he said, No, but I am thecommander of the army of the
Lord.
Now I have come.
(01:06):
And Joshua fell on his face tothe earth and worshipped, and
said to him, What does my Lordsay to his servant?
And the commander of the Lord'sarmy said to Joshua, Take off
your sandals from your feet, forthe place where you are
standing is holy.
And Joshua did so.
This is the living and trueword of the Lord.
Will (01:25):
Amen.
Thank you, Lily.
Hey guys, I I'd like foreverybody to do something uh
quickly.
Uh part of being a pastor isbeing a shepherd.
Part of being a shepherd isleading, and part of leading is
asking people to do things maybethat they don't necessarily
want to do.
This is a very easy one.
Uh some of you are note takers.
If you're a note taker, you'realready set up.
You've got something to writeon, you've got something to
write with, you got your phoneout.
If you are not a note taker,I'd like you to take one of the
(01:47):
prayer cards, one of the visitorcards in front of you with a
pen if the ushers did their job.
And uh I would like for you tograb your phone if you don't
have one of those.
And I want you to write downthree scriptures.
Let me tell you why I want youto write down these three
scriptures.
Because it's going to seem toyou when you leave today that we
have such a sharp staff that weweave together this the service
(02:09):
so beautifully that Psalm 46,that Psalm 23, and that
Ephesians 5 are just going toweave themselves through.
We did not prepare that.
I did not know Stokes was goingto open with that.
Thomas did not know thatEphesians 5 was going to be in
my sermon, and I didn't knowthat Psalm 23 was going to come
out when I wrote it.
And so I take these threescriptures in a time like this,
(02:32):
and I think if I'm payingattention to the Holy Spirit,
which I believe that I am, itwould be a wise thing for the
believer to do to jot down thosethree scriptures.
I don't have a slide for youbecause, again, this wasn't
prepared.
Psalm 46, Ephesians 5, 16 and17, and Psalm 23.
You'll you'll see it as wecontinue to move forward in the
(02:53):
service, but I feel like thosein particular are a gift from
the Holy Spirit to us as wenavigate the week ahead.
And I don't want you to missout on that.
So go ahead and write thosethings down.
Cannot tell you how excited Iam to spend time with you,
especially in the midst of whatthings have looked like and how
(03:13):
things have gone, because I canthink of no better time for a
group of people to sit down andsay, okay, God, I need your
word, I need your spirit, I needto be worshiping you.
And if you have ever doubtedthat working through books of
the Bible is gonna get youdisjointed with things that are
going on in the world, prepareyourself to be excited at God's
perfect timing and order in allthings because it is very clear
(03:37):
and apparent.
So we've been in Joshua.
Let me show you where we'recoming from.
This is Joshua 4, two weeksremoved, because Larry, brother,
thank you.
I'm still planning on wearingmy African attire.
I think we're gonna do it nextweek when we do the update.
Um, phenomenal sermon.
Check it out.
It's already on our socialmedia and on our podcast.
But this is where we left thebook of Joshua a couple of weeks
(04:00):
ago.
The people had come up out ofthe Jordan on the tenth day of
the first month.
They encamped at Gilgal on theeast border of Jericho, and
verse 20, Joshua is told to take12 stones uh as they're going
through the river and to setthem up.
Why?
This is so cool.
Because God is saying toJoshua, what I am about to do
(04:21):
with you is so certain.
I want to give you the trophyahead of time.
All right, that my girls havejust started playing soccer,
we're two games in, they'redoing very well.
Can I tell you what wouldconfuse them a lot?
If I walked up to them beforethe first game of the season and
I said, Girls, great news, I'vegot your trophies.
And they would be like, Coach,what are you talking about?
(04:42):
And I'm like, for the seasonahead, I've already got your
trophies.
They would say, Coach, we'vegot to win games.
We've got to get into theplayoffs, we've got to make it
to the end.
We have to do it.
No, not when God is yourcommander, you do not.
They are setting up thesestones, verse 24, so that all
the peoples of the earth mayknow that the hand of the Lord
(05:02):
is mighty, that they would fearthe Lord your God forever.
He gives them the trophy inadvance.
He says, I want you to put iton the mantle for the season
that is coming is a guaranteedwin.
It is a guaranteed victory.
Now they walk in, don't missthis.
Joshua and God's people have 12stones behind them, trophies on
(05:23):
the mantle.
They're looking at Jericho,which would have been one of the
greatest fortified cities ofits day and age, in front of
them, and they are standing inenemy territory.
I don't know if you picked thisup or not when we were in
Joshua chapter 4.
As soon as they get on theother side of the river, they're
in bad guy land.
Okay?
If you've ever played Capturethe Flag, you're looking around
(05:47):
a little bit more quicklybecause you can get tagged.
In their case, arrows couldstart flying at any moment,
spears could be flung, swordsand shields brandished as horses
and chariots poured over thehill in front of them.
And they walk right into enemyterritory.
Why is Israel not attacked themoment they step foot into enemy
(06:14):
territory?
Stokesy, where you at?
Hey, I didn't even have this inmy notes.
Like you were singing, I wastrying to worship with you, but
I had to get this text which youprayed over us, like led us
through, because watch how coolthis is.
Psalm 46.
The nations rage, kingdoms,totter, politics, and life are
(06:38):
sideways and askew and a mess.
But when God utters his voice,the earth, wrong tool, melts.
Remember that word.
Remember that word.
You only have to remember for45 seconds, but remember that
word.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is ourfortress.
And then this word, 10 pointsto the camp store.
(07:00):
If anybody can tell me whatSalah means.
Oh, y'all, okay.
All right, left side, we'regonna need to step up your game.
Right side, heavy.
Too many people, but I'm gonnaassume you all got it right.
It means pause, reflect, think.
Now watch what is happeninghere.
The nations, the kingdoms, Godsteps in and the earth melts.
(07:25):
And then he says, pause.
God speaks, the earth melts,and then he says, pause.
Why was Israel not attacked themoment they set foot in enemy
territory?
Verse 1 of chapter 5.
As soon as all the kings of theAmorites who were beyond the
Jordan to the west, and all thekings of the Canaanites who were
(07:47):
by the sea, when they heardthat the Lord had dried up the
waters, when they heard that Godhad already given his people
the trophy, when he heard thatthey were stacking stones in
victory, the Lord had dried upthe waters of the Jordan for the
people of Israel until they hadcrossed over their hearts
melted.
That's Psalm 46.
God utters his voice, and theearth melts.
(08:09):
And who was this?
Was this like one king?
Was this like one commander?
No.
Every king of the Amorites,every king of the Canaanites,
every evil leader looks at whatGod has done, and their heart
melts.
There was no longer any spiritin them because of the people of
Israel.
Now I will tell you what wouldhappen to me if I found out that
(08:33):
the enemy who had done me somuch harm was weak and wounded
and fearful and scared.
That is when I would advance.
When they are cowering, whentheir hearts are melting, when
their courage has fled.
That's the time you look atyour men and you say, pull out
your sword, get out yourshields.
(08:54):
These guys are crushed inspirit.
Take the hill.
That's what you would say.
But what happened after Goduttered his voice and the earth
melted, he said, Selah, nowpause for a moment and reflect.
What happens after this is notwhat you would expect.
(09:17):
You would expect Joshua to say,Let's go.
Probably the two words mostuttered on a football field, or
watching it, when things startgoing your way and momentum
switches.
Let's go.
Let's go.
But watch God make them wait.
And as he does, I want you toask yourself this question:
(09:38):
where in my life do I want torush in when God is calling me
to pause and reflect and berenewed?
Keep in mind to get to thispoint, all of them had just
buried their parents.
I don't know if you forgetthis.
We get pretty amped up once youget to Joshua 5.
Everything gets good.
Remember, they weren't able togo into this land until the
(10:01):
previous generation had died.
And we think about it as, well,this is the good generation.
That is the bad generation.
Keep in mind, it's theirparents, okay?
They've just buried their lastparent in that generation.
They're ready to go, they wantto move forward, but God is
going to make them wait.
This is uh 30 boxes intended tomake you think of a calendar.
On it is the word Nasan.
(10:22):
That is the first month of theHebrew calendar.
This is when they would haveentered the promised land.
And for seven days, for onefull week, God looks at his
people and he says, I know youwant to go.
I know you want to take thehill.
I know that their hearts havemelted.
I know that everything lookslike you should charge forward.
Selah, my people, pause for amoment and reflect.
(10:48):
There's going to be a week thatbears itself out in chapter 5
this way.
Now you have to pay carefulattention when you read your
Bible, and you need to read itwith a pencil or pen in hand to
probably notice this.
But something's going to happenon the tenth day, a gap between
the 14th, 15th, and the 16th.
And in these seven days, Goddoes something very formative in
(11:11):
his people.
Here's what we see on the tenthday.
I already read it to you at theend of chapter four.
The people came up out of theJordan on the tenth day of the
first month, which is Nasan, andthey encamped.
So here on day 10, they gocamping.
They set up a tent, they're inenemy territory.
Arrows could begin flying atany moment.
(11:33):
And God says, Hey guys, we'regoing to camp out here for just
a moment.
I did Lily a big favor.
Lily just came up and read.
She was one of my youth kidsfor ages.
I love her dearly.
I get to select the uhscriptures that are read
whenever we're like on Sundaymorning.
And I don't know where Lily isright now, but I told her in the
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pre-service meeting.
I said, Hey, I want you to knowI did you a big favor.
The word circumcision comes uplike 38 times in this chapter,
and you don't have to say it onetime.
But the very next thing thathappens somewhere in the 10th,
11th, 12th, and 13th day isthere is this odd, gross,
(12:15):
awkward command that we read.
And the command is for Joshuato circumcise the sons of Israel
a second time.
There's a big point in hereabout the difficulties of
leadership, okay?
I'm not going to preach thatpoint, but I'll just tell you,
(12:36):
as a guy who's leading a church,I am grateful that this has
never been something that theLord has called us to in the New
Testament church.
Now, I will tell you this.
The closest thing that we haveto circumcision in the New
Testament church is three pointsto the camp store baptism, and
why?
Because circumcision was anoutward sign of an inward
(12:58):
reality.
We're God's people, we'recommitted to him, we are
trusting in him.
Baptism is very similar.
And Carrie, I did not miss mynote, and I had it written into
my own notes.
We have a baptism class on the21st.
I've had a number ofconversations from you guys.
And so if you have not beenbaptized and you're trusting in
Christ, you should probably comeand check out this class as God
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calls us to an outward sign ofan inward reality.
And that's exactly what he doeshere.
In fact, it's the first thinghe tells them to do once they
start camping.
Make flint knives andcircumcise the sons of Israel a
second time.
I'm not trying to be grosshere, but what's happening is
not that an individual male hasbeen circumcised and it just
(13:42):
didn't take.
And now he needs to becircumcised a second time.
God's word goes on and itexplains to us what is happening
here.
And I love this about theBible.
The Bible doesn't always haveto do what it does in verse 4,
but I love it when it does.
Verse 3, Joshua made flintknives and circumcised the sons
of Israel, A Gibeharah.
And this is the reason why.
(14:05):
Don't you love it when theBible says that?
Hey, here's something a littlebit uh complicated, might seem
out of context to your day andage.
This is the reason why Joshuacircumcised them.
All the males of the people whocame out of Egypt, the parent
generation, all the men of warhad died in the wilderness on
the way after they had come outof Egypt.
(14:27):
They were not going to enterthe promised land.
Verse 5, though all the peoplewho had come out had been
circumcised, yet all the peoplewho were born on the way, the
second generation, those born inthe wilderness after they had
come out of Egypt, had not beencircumcised.
Do you know the Bible neverexplains why?
The Bible never explains.
(14:48):
And the closest thing I've everread in a commentary is uh they
said, Well, they were so busymoving around that they couldn't
pull it off.
And I'm like, flag on thefield, Joshua just got the call
by God, and he's like in theback corner breaking flint
knives so that he can, like, ifyou're committed to something,
you can make this happen.
Might it be that the generationof the parents had not passed
(15:11):
down this ritual, this rite,this command to their own
children?
Could it be that God hadintentionally said, I don't want
you to do that yet?
I know I've told you to dothis, but you have so long not
been my people that until we getto this special week, I'm not
going to reconvene that you aremy people.
The Bible doesn't explain howthat whole thing played out.
(15:33):
But what we do know is this,verse 6 the people of Israel
walked 40 years in thewilderness until all the nation,
the men of war who came out ofEgypt, perished, all the parents
buried, because they did notobey the voice of the Lord.
Parents, you want to beeffective in the lives of your
(15:56):
children.
You think about the schoolsthey go to, and you think about
the sports they play.
You think about the attire theywear.
And if you have a daughter, youthink about the attire they
wear and the attire they wear.
Like everything about your kidsruns through your head all the
time.
Can I just give you the bestinstruction the Bible is going
to give you as a parent?
(16:18):
Obey the voice of the Lord.
And when God calls you and Heconvicts you, when He says, Hey,
your kid just asked for moretime on Instagram, and I want
you to say no for a moment sothat you can pause and meet with
them and shepherd their heart.
When you hear the voice of theLord, listen to the voice of the
(16:38):
Lord.
And if you feel like you neverhear the voice of the Lord, pick
up the voice of the Lord.
Parents, I can give you nobetter advice in leading your
children.
The Lord swore to them that hewould not let them see the land
that the Lord had sworn to theirfathers to give us a land that
was flowing with milk and honey.
So it was their children who heraised up in their place that
(17:03):
Joshua circumcised.
For they were uncircumcisedbecause they had not been
circumcised on the way.
I think we got to the end ofall the circumcisions.
Okay.
If we didn't, we at least gotthrough the lion's share of it.
There's this group of youngpeople.
They want to live differentlythan their parents did.
Their parents probably wantthat for them as well.
And God says, before you takethat hill, before you charge
(17:24):
ahead, pause, reflect, andthink.
I want you to pause and I wantyou to reflect and I want you to
think because generations carrya character.
This is something we actuallyget right in our world.
We talk all the time about thegreatest generation and baby
boomers and Gen Z andmillennials and everything.
The Bible actually uses termslike that.
(17:45):
Now keep in mind, just becauseyou're born into one doesn't
mean that you are stuck in sortof the character of that
generation.
But in Matthew 17, Jesus looksat the generation he's living in
and he says, You faithless,twisted generation, how long do
I have to be with you?
That's the generation thatJesus was with.
Does that mean everybody wasfaithless?
No.
(18:05):
But it means generallyspeaking, that's what he saw.
In Psalm 112, we see a positivegeneration.
His offspring will be mighty inthe land.
The generation of the uprightwill be blessed.
You'll see more of that inchapter 6.
But why circumcision?
Why this sign?
Tim Keller is one of myfavorite pastors.
(18:26):
He's gone on to be with theLord.
Um I feel like he does such agood job about taking
complicated things and makingthem very simple.
Uh and so here are a couple ofwords from him on circumcision.
Why couldn't God ask for atattoo?
Don't we all agree?
That just feels better.
(18:47):
By the way, they could havepulled that off back then.
I don't know where Kenny is.
I saw him.
Uh Kenny, one of our tattooartists in the area.
Yeah, they could have.
Do you know the history oftattoos?
They go way, way back.
Way, way back.
Why couldn't God ask for atattoo?
What is this circumcision thingabout?
It is gross and bloody, and ofcourse, that's the point.
(19:08):
Circumcision is gory, it'sgross, it's bloody and it's
intimate to show you the penaltyof sin.
Because your sin, when God seesit, is gross.
It requires a bloody mess tofix.
It is incredibly intimate.
(19:29):
When you love the things thatGod has made and not the God who
has made them, it is gory inits expression and evil in all
ways.
This is why he gave them thissign, because it aligned them
with their brokenness, but itdid something else.
Or another way to put it is inthe Garden of Eden, out goes
(19:51):
Adam and Eve because of theirsin.
And who is put at the door?
A cherubim, an angel, with asword guarding the way to the
tree of life.
Why?
Well, because it means the onlyway back into the tree of life
is to undergo the sword.
Some of you have been coming toMidtree and you have no clue
(20:12):
why our church is calledMidtree.
You think it's because we're inHarris County or because the
cross Jesus was on was the onein the middle.
Those are both great things,and they're both wrong.
The reason this church iscalled Midtree is because in the
beginning God planted a tree,and it was to be a tree of life
and goodness.
But instead of us taking thatlife and that goodness, we
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thought we had a better plan.
So we turn our back on the lifethat God had offered in that
tree.
Revelation tells us that thereis a tree in heaven that brings
healing to the nations and life.
Well, how do we go from thetree of death that we chose to
the tree of life that lastsforever?
Through the mid-tree that Godprovided and put his son on.
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Why circumcision?
Because it is bloody and goryand gross and intimate, just
like your sin.
Why circumcision?
Because something had to be cutoff so that we could enter back
into life.
And I'm not talking about apiece of male flesh.
I'm saying the Son of God hadto be cut off from the Father so
(21:18):
that you could be stitched backin.
Those who belong to Christ havecrucified.
Crucifixion is a bloody, gory,bad thing.
Do you know that's the way theBible calls you to deal with
your sin?
That's why it says if your handcauses you to sin, cut it off.
(21:42):
I'm not saying be literal here.
If your eye causes you to sin,gouge it out.
But I'll tell you what Jesussays.
Be better for you to enterheaven without an eye and
without a hand than not to enterit at all.
Because by the time you getthere, you're gonna get new eyes
and new hands anyway.
So the point of walking andtrusting God, one of the points
of circumcision, is that wewould realize in our sin its
(22:04):
grossness and we would want tocrucify it and cut it off from
us.
But this did more than justgive God's people a reason to
pause and reflect and recommitthemselves to God.
They did.
They would have feltrecommitted to God, but it
didn't just show theircommitment, it made them
incredibly vulnerable.
Let's just have a real talkmoment for a second here.
(22:27):
When, oh, sorry, one more.
When the circumcising of thewhole nation was finished, they
remained in their places in thecamp until they were healed.
Duh.
Can I tell you when you don'twant to go on a march?
Right now for them.
Hey, quick timeout, Joshua, ifwe could just get a couple days,
(22:48):
maybe?
Yes.
They are, don't forget this, inenemy territory.
And instead of charging, Godsays, pause, reflect, recommit
myself to you.
Cut yourself off from thisworld.
Draw near to me, and you'regoing to make yourself
vulnerable.
The timing could not have beenworse by worldly standards.
(23:10):
They're in enemy territory, andevery defender of God's people
is now weakened and immobilized.
The women were better fighterson this day than the men were.
The 10-year-olds were betterfighters on this day than the
men were.
And they had to wait.
Why?
Because God is giving them thegift of a week when they want to
(23:32):
charge forward.
They want to take their stand.
And instead, he says, No, we'repausing and we are reflecting.
We're going to camp out.
We're going to painfullyrecommit ourselves to our God.
We're going to remember what hehas done for us, that he would
become our God.
And then the next three stackup together.
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On the 14th day, God is goingto say, I've made you a promise.
On the 15th day, he's going totell them, I keep my promises.
And then finally, on the 16thday, he's going to look at him
and he's going to say, Are youready?
This is what happens on that14th day.
While the people of Israel wereencamped at Gilgal, probably
recovering, they kept thePassover on the 14th day of the
(24:16):
month in the evening on theplains of Jericho.
Hey, I made you a promise yearsago that death would pass over
you, that you would eat thismeal every year on the 14th day
of Nasan.
And when you did, you wouldremember that my God overcomes
(24:39):
evil and death and darkness.
And even though we wereenslaved in a nation that hated
us, our God led us out.
And it the enemy passed rightover us.
His wrath passed right over usbecause God made them a promise.
Ephesians 3, Exodus 3:8.
I have come down to deliverthem out of the hand of the
(25:01):
Egyptians.
But that was not the wholepromise.
He said, And when you get thetrophy, I'm gonna bring you up
out of that land to a good land,to a broad land, to a land that
is flowing with milk and honey.
So do you know what happens onthe 15th day?
On the 14th day, he remindsthem of his promise.
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Verse 11, and the day after thePassover, I love it when the
Bible does this.
You do not need a comma andfour verses here or four words
here for it to make sense.
Follow along in verse 11.
I'm gonna read it incorrectly.
And the day after the Passover,they ate of the produce of the
land.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
Yeah, but God wants to make apoint here.
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And the day after the Passover,on that very day, all these
years ago, God said, I want youto remember the 14th day.
I want you to remember that Iled you out.
I want you to remember I gaveyou a promise.
And on the day after it,standing in enemy territory,
they start nibbling on the goodof the land, which by the way,
(26:08):
they didn't even plant.
The heart of the enemy hasmelted at God's power.
To the point that Israel eatsthe food of its enemies while
Jericho watches on.
I went over to a buddy's houselast uh yesterday so my kids
could go swimming.
We put on uh a handful offootball games.
(26:30):
It was a beautiful day,everything's wonderful.
I couldn't help myself.
Where's Keller?
I saw him walk in.
John, where are you?
I'm not gonna make you talk.
Oh, hey, okay.
I said I'm not gonna make youtalk.
I was at uh Robbie and KimJones' house yesterday.
Kids are swimming, everybodywas outside, I was in the
(26:53):
kitchen, so I went and I got aSharpie so that I could color on
the produce in their pantry andwrite semi-inappropriate
things.
Which by the way, I have doneat their house since I was 13
years old.
All right.
Uh, if you are a teenager tome, it is one of the most
wonderful things you can do.
Uh uh let people know I'm here,I feel at home.
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I what y'all are like, Will,how on earth does this have
anything to do with Joshua?
It's okay, I'll get you there.
This brain connects a lot ofthings very quickly.
Give me just a minute.
You may feel at home when yougo to somebody's house and you
hang out with them.
You are going to feel more athome if you eat a meal with
them.
But do you want to know how Iknow that you are truly at home
(27:37):
there?
You walk in the pantry wheneveryou want and you get whatever
you want.
That's what God's people aredoing.
They are an enemy, I justimagine this.
Enemy territory.
You walk into a stranger'shouse who, by the way, hates
you, and then you walk intotheir pantry and start filing
(27:58):
through to see if they havedouble-stuffed Oreos.
Okay?
That's what's happening here.
How confident are God's peopleof his goodness?
Incredibly confident.
They are surrounded by theenemy, arrows, spears, at any
moment, and they're diggingthrough Jericho's pantry.
That's what's going on in thistext.
(28:19):
They are comfortable in themidst of their enemies.
And then something amazinghappens.
Now, I I told you I was gonnapoint to this.
There's not one arrow notched,one spear thrown.
God has literally, listencarefully to my words, prepared
(28:41):
a table for his weakened peoplein the presence of their
enemies.
And in the event that you havenever noticed this, I don't want
you to miss it.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
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I know you want to take thehill, and I know you want to
move on.
I know you want to look at allof the brokenness that has come
before this day, and you justwant to get past it.
Saylah, sit down, reflect.
We are camping out here.
He makes me sit down as heleads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
(29:27):
He is the one who says, Do youwant to draw near to me?
Because it's gonna be a bloodyawkward mess to do so, because
you have made a bloody awkwardmess of your life.
And here he restores the soul.
He leads me in paths ofrighteousness for his name's
sake, even though I walk throughthe valley of the shadow of
(29:47):
death.
This by in case you're notpicking up on it, this is Joshua
chapter 5.
He made them lie down, he madethem restore their soul to him,
he made them.
Walk through the valley of theshadow of death, reminding them
of the Passover on the 14th.
And then what does he do?
(30:08):
He prepares a table before themin the presence of their
enemies.
So what should happen next?
What should happen next istheir cup would overflow.
What should happen next isgoodness and mercy is going to
follow them all the days oftheir life.
Do you want to see it happen?
Too bad.
Because in verse 12, here'swhat happens instead.
And the manna ceased the dayafter they ate the produce of
(30:32):
the land.
Guys, I've done my absolutebest.
I know that my mind movesquickly.
I know that my words movequickly as well.
I have tried to walk you allthe way through this week so
that you don't miss what God isshowing them.
Camp out here.
Commit yourself to me.
Remember the promises that Ihave made to you.
I have fulfilled those promisesnow.
(30:54):
Are you ready to move?
But the way God asks them ifthey're ready to move is by
stopping provision.
The manna stops falling.
God could not have stoppedproviding for them at a worse
time.
They're in the land of theirenemies.
They haven't even secured thecrops.
(31:15):
They've literally walkedthrough and grabbed some food
out of the pantry.
For 14,599 days, manifell,manifell, manifell.
What are we going to eat?
Manafel.
What are we going to do?
Manafel.
14,599 days.
And the moment they walk intothe promised land, the moment
(31:36):
they open the pantry door ofJericho, the moment they grab
the double-stuffed Oreos with nofear in the presence of their
enemies, the heavens dry up.
Do you know why?
One, to tell us that God is incontrol of our calendars, our
times, the events, thecircumstances of our lives, and
(31:56):
the circumstances of our world.
But, Christian, you are notallowed to keep looking for
yesterday's bread.
Or to put it a little bitdifferently, don't confuse the
method with the provider.
God's provision may change, buthis faithfulness never does.
(32:16):
Some of you think that the wayGod connected with you and the
way you connected with God whenyou were 13 is the same way he's
going to do it now.
Or the way that you worship himand draw near to him in your
20s is going to be the way thatyou do in your 30s.
I hope you're more sanctifiedthan that.
I hope you have grown fromthat.
(32:37):
I hope that you haven't alwaysassumed that however God has
provided must be the way he willonly ever provide.
No, I think there's somethingfor God's people here when he
says, How are you going torespond when I change the way
that I provide?
It is not as though God wasshutting up the heavens.
It's not as though he waspulling back his blessing from
them.
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God's people were weak, and yetthey were the ones who were
feared.
Believer, do you believe thatweakness should cause timidity?
God does not.
Do you believe that theweakness in your body, the
weakness in your family, theweakness in your mind, the
perceived weakness of yourfuture should cause you to be
(33:19):
timid?
God does not.
They were looking upon afortress of their enemy in
hostile land, and do you knowwhat they decide to do?
Have a picnic?
That's what they choose to do.
Believer, do you allow thepresence of opposition and evil
to take away peace and bringabout doubt?
(33:40):
Let me ask you that again.
Do you, believer in the room?
I can't talk to the unbelieversin this moment because Psalm 23
and Psalm 46 and Ephesians 5,they are not true of you yet.
If you're an unbeliever in theroom, I'm pleading that you
would come to the cross ofChrist and that you would cut
yourself off from sin and thatyou would find true life.
But for those of you who havewalked with the Lord for some
(34:02):
period of time, do you allow thepresence of opposition, do you
allow the presence of evil totake away peace and bring about
doubt?
This week has had an abundanceof evil on display.
And what Scripture makes plainis two things the presence of
(34:24):
evil in this world and theproximity of Christians to it.
We are not insulated from it.
You do not find God's people onthe other side of the river,
you find them in enemyterritory, and you don't see
them scared.
You see evil being perpetratedall around them, and they're
having a picnic.
(34:45):
Because they're great?
No.
Because the God who has alwaysprovided, the God who has made
every single promise and keptevery single promise, his plans
are not negated when our worldsseem upside down.
The murder of the Ukrainianwoman on the train, shooting of
(35:10):
Charlie Kirk, the next day, theremembering of 9-11.
Christian, you better lookcarefully how you walk.
You better not get lured into asense of security.
You better remember you'vecrossed the river of the blood
of Christ and you are standingin enemy territory.
(35:33):
He's already given you thetrophy.
It is a guaranteed win.
You can set up a picnic in thepresence of this kind of evil.
But when you walk in it, pleasedon't be unwise.
Be wise.
Make the best use of your time.
These days that we live in,they are evil.
(35:54):
So do not be foolish.
You must understand what thewill of the Lord is.
And I don't think this meanslike the secret specific will
for you.
That certainly could beapplied.
What Paul is saying is do youknow who God has always been?
Do you know who God will alwaysbe?
Do you know that we are livinga blip in this world?
These days are evil.
(36:15):
Don't be foolish.
Make the best use of the timethat you can.
And this is exactly what God'speople are doing.
I've made you a promise, I'vekept my promise.
Now are you ready?
And God literally shows up.
This is cooler, by the way, I'ma history guy, so I love the
(36:35):
calendar.
I love the dates.
I love the points that build.
There is nothing cooler thanwhat's about to happen in this
text.
Nothing cooler.
And Joshua comes across inbeast mode fashion.
Like, this is the guy you wantto be.
Check this guy out.
When Joshua was by Jericho, helifted up his eyes and looked.
And behold, a man was standingbefore him.
(36:57):
Okay, this fee does this notfeel like a different chapter?
Doesn't it just feel likesomething huge just changed?
Let me tell you what'shappening.
After this week of God saying,pause, stop, think, reflect,
recommit, make sure you're rightwith me, Joshua goes on a walk.
He goes on a walk in a land hehasn't been to in 40 years.
He probably picked something toplay on the radio or on his
(37:18):
phone that has some kind of anostalgic feeling.
Because it's been a long timesince Joshua and Caleb walked
through this land this way.
And he's walking through it 40years later, knowing that God
made promises and keepspromises, and on this nostalgic
walk, a man was standing beforehim with a drawn sword in his
hand.
Okay.
If I am walking through myproperty, if I am, and I'm just
(37:46):
having this beautiful day, Godis good, I'm having a picnic,
just raiding my neighbor'spantry, double stuffed.
I don't like the double-stuffedOreos.
I'm the freak that likes likethe teeniest little bit of the
cream in the middle, the thins.
Those are my favorite.
Y'all can hate me if you want,whatever.
He's walking through, raidingthe pantry, and this dude shows
(38:07):
up and he pulls out a sword.
You know what Joshua has in hishands?
Oreos.
Not really, but that's whathe's got.
Did you see what Joshua doesnext?
And Joshua went to him.
I'll tell you what, I'm notdoing.
If I see a guy I don'trecognize with a sword in my
property, I'm not going, oh,hello.
(38:29):
Let's just spend some timetogether.
Joshua couldn't care less.
He's been camping in enemyterritory, raiding their pantry,
trophies already on the shelf.
He sees a guy with a sword,he's like, Well, I definitely
want to meet this guy.
And he said to him, Are you forus?
Or are you for our enemies?
(38:51):
Why does he have this kind of aconfidence?
I'm gonna walk right up to you.
Which means he didn't know ifhe was for him.
He doesn't know.
Are you on our team or not onour team?
I see you've got a sword.
I got my Oreos.
What's up?
Right?
Where does this confidence comefrom?
Here's where his confidencecomes from.
(39:12):
His confidence comes from thefact that God had given him a
promise.
Everywhere your foot treads,I'm gonna give you that land.
His presence is assured.
I'm gonna be with you, Joshua1, 5, and 9, the same way that I
was with Moses.
For the first time that we see,basically in the Old Testament,
all of God's people are alignedand they're like, Joshua, lead
(39:32):
us.
We're gonna do whatever yousay.
We're not gonna grumble, we'renot gonna complain.
We are the best generation, iswhat they would be saying here.
The enemy tremble as theirheart melts.
They are led by the presence ofGod in the Ark of the Covenant,
and the river gets ripped open.
They stack stones, theircovenant is renewed, they have a
celebration, and the future isno longer coming from above
(39:55):
them, it is right in front ofthem.
Why is Joshua confident?
Here's why.
Because who God is, what hedoes.
And the commander of the Lord'sarmy answers this question Are
you for us or are you for ouradversaries?
Now I would like to step onyour toes as we wrap this up.
Stokesy, you can go ahead andcome on up.
(40:16):
Are you for us or are you forour adversaries?
No.
Nah.
Wait, wait, wait.
Are you for us?
There's a battle coming.
It's an A or a B decision here.
Are you for us or are you forour enemies?
No.
No.
You silly little simple-mindedperson.
(40:38):
No.
I am the commander of the armyof the Lord, and I have come.
Joshua fell on his face to theearth and he worshiped.
Let me tell you why thismatters.
In Revelation 19, John standsbefore an angel.
When the angel appears, Johnfalls on his knees, and the
(40:58):
angel says, Do not worship me.
Get up.
I'm a created being just likeyou.
Do you see Joshua beingreprimanded for worshiping here?
No, because he's standingbefore God, potentially before
Christ.
Joshua, Yeshua, the Savior, isactually standing before the
(41:20):
Savior.
And he looks at Jesuspotentially and he says, Are you
for us or are you against us?
And Jesus says, No.
No, no, no.
That's not how this works,buddy.
What do you mean you're not forus or against us?
The Lord is for his ownpurposes.
(41:41):
The Lord is for his own name.
The Lord is for his owngreatness.
And the Lord is for his ownglory.
We operate in this world asthough God has picked certain
people, he has picked certainnations, and he has not picked
others.
And we do see blessing in somenations more than others.
And we do see blessing in somepeople more than others.
(42:04):
But the question is not, is theLord on our side or is he not?
The question is, are we on hisside?
This is the question.
I highly doubt that you aregoing to find anyone in this
life that is better than Joshua.
I doubt it.
But even Joshua puts on displaythat there is no nation and
(42:28):
there is no power, there is nomovement and there is no party.
There is no leader that isalways on God's side.
The question is, are you onGod's side?
Joshua looks and he says, Areyou for us or are you for our
enemies?
No.
(42:48):
Joshua walking on a land with40 years of nostalgia.
The commander takes out hissword and he says, I'm not here
to take sides.
I'm here to take over.
And son, I'll take it fromhere.
Joshua, you're not going toneed a sword for this.
(43:09):
You're not going to need ashield for this.
Do you know how to worship me?
That's what you're going toneed for this.
And the commander of the Lord'sarmy said to Joshua, take off
your sandals, for the placewhere you are standing is holy.
And Joshua did so.
(43:31):
He's ready to move on.
He's ready to conquer.
And God says, Son, I'll take itfrom here.
If you are not a Christian inthis room, there's no better
message I can give you thanChrist saying, I'll take it from
here.
You've made it to church andyou've heard the gospel.
You've realized you need to becut off from your sin.
(43:52):
Please let Jesus take it fromhere.
You don't need to beimpressive.
You don't need to show me oranybody else your good deeds.
All you need to do is say, God,would you take it from here?
All I need to do is fall downand worship you.
Would you take it from here?
And Christian in the room,whether you've been walking with
the Lord for one holy week orfor 40 or 50 years, do you know
(44:14):
what your job is to do?
Take off your shoes and worshipHim.
He does not need your sword, hedoes not need your shield, but
He will take your worship.
This is the hope that we havein Christ.
I put up a few questions foryou to reflect on.
And then Stokes, when you'reready, if you'll call us to
(44:36):
worship, certainly the God whodeserves it and not only
deserves it, wants nothing morefrom us than that.
Let us be this kind of peopletoday.
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