By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia
Focal Passage: Joshua 10:6-14
Remember the old western movies with their dramatic musical scores? You could watch with your eyes closed and tell when the plot was about to change. The music became louder and more intense, the action slowed, and everyone prepared for a shoot out. Justice was at hand.
The Bible contains those same pivotal moments. One such moment occurs in Joshua 9:14 where we read that the inhabitants of Gibeon, the very ones Joshua was to clear out of the land, heard Joshua was coming so they came to Joshua incognito and in fear, seeking a protective order. Joshua was wary and “… did not ask counsel from the Lord” (Joshua 9:14) but entered into a covenant with them. Cue the music. This is serious. Three days later when Israel arrived at their cities, they learned the truth: they had been taken in by imposters, tricked into agreeing not to attack the very people God sent them to attack — all because they didn’t seek the counsel of the Lord.
Where does your theology take you now? Who is God in situations like this? We’ve stepped out of His will. He commanded one thing and we forget to consult Him and end up doing something different. The situation plays out in the heart of every believer. Can I trust God when God has reason not to trust me?
When the Gibeonites were threatened, they called Israel into action. “You promised to protect us and now, Joshua, we have a problem!” (Joshua 10:6) Israel had already made clear its intention to honor its commitment. The only question, and the question we ask ourselves today is, will God go with them? The Bible is clear. In verse 7, “Joshua went up …” with his entire army to protect them. And in verse 8, God promised to be with Joshua. The God whom Joshua had forgotten to consult, the God who had said to do differently, the God who had every right to say, ‘You made your bed, now sleep in it!’ jumped in to protect His people in spite of their own mistake. God honored Joshua’s commitment to honor his commitment.
Friends, many in the church today believe that it is the nature and character of God to stand back and let us clean up the messes we make. In our pews are many whose lives have been devastated by their own unwillingness to involve God in the decisions of daily life. Broken relationships, broken homes, financial ruin, emotional devastation have been the inevitable result. Will we stand in our pulpits and tell them they are on their own? Certainly we won’t. Instead, we’ll tell them of the love and grace and compassion of a God who “while we were yet sinners” sent His Son to die for us. That Son stepped into the dusty streets of this ramshackle world and took the bullet for us. And if you listen closely, you can hear the music change as the heavenly choir sings, “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins … .”
