God's judgment and grace displayed in Jericho, AI and Gibeon (Joshua 5:13-9:27)

Joshua 5:13-9:27
AIM: God's word and his people bring clarity to our personal journey

A) God’s Judgment of Jericho – Joshua 5:13-6:27
5:13-15) Joshua sees the captain of the host of the LORD, fell face down, "remove sandals this place is holy"
 - Lifted up his eyes:  Abraham (Gen 18:1-2), Jacob (Gen 28:16,32:24,30), Balaam (Numbers 22:31), Daniel 8:3, 10:5, Acts 1:10
 - Remove sandals: He washed their feet and opened their minds
6:1-14) Siege of Jericho
 - “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands." - past tense
15-27) Fall of Jericho
 - Joshua commanded, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!” The soldiers shouted with all their might, and “by faith, the walls of Jericho fell.” Heb 11:30

B. God’s Deliverance of Ai – Joshua 7-8
7:1) Achan's sin of apostasy.
From BSF notes,

As so often happens in our lives, trouble followed the triumph. “The Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things.” One man disregarded God’s command to devote everything in Jericho to the Lord. Achan, of the tribe of Judah, took some things for himself. Sin always has unforeseen, uncontrollable consequences. The ripple effect of Achan’s sin affected the entire community: “The Lord’s anger burned against Israel.”  

2-5) Defeated at AI because of self-confidence 36 men died
6-9) Joshua distraught, facedown prayer till evening - brought question and doubts to God
 - Principle: We can be transparent with God, he knows us completely but when we are open with him, he reveals truths to us that were previously hidden from our view.

Personal testimony part 1/Appliction: during this lesson, I was thanking God for his faithfulness in keeping me away from "sin that so easily entangles" Hebrews 12:1-3. Having endured harsh yet loving discipline from the Lord, I was making stickers for MNTC Alpha group members (The Lord disciplines those he loves - Heb 12). 

10-26) Deliverance from Achan's sin, Lord said: "Stand UP!, you've violated my covenant, destroy sin I'll show you"

Personal testimony part 2: During this time of personal worship, the Lord brought to mind that I had carried out of my past music equipment that I used in the worship of false gods. I had recently taken this out of storage and began playing with it again. I even purchased a pocket operator drum machine and was visiting Guitar Center often. 

8:1-29) Victory over AI

Personal testimony part 3: I let this thought percolate for a week and then threw away this gear. Literally that morning I received notice of a job interview, then another, then another. I had been trying to find a good fit of work for 9+ months, now the floodgates opened. From mid-September till mid-October, I interviewed almost daily and was in the running for 5 great jobs. I accepted the best offer on October 30 and start Nov 12. 

30-35) The Altar - remembering God, and His law
 - Burnt offerings expressed God's forgiveness for worshippers sin and worshipper's full dedication to God; flames consumed the entire sacrifice.
 - Fellowship offerings expressed thankfulness to God for fellowship with Him and with one another, worshippers consumed much of the sacrifice.

Personal testimony part 4: What an awesome year in BSF, MNTC Alpha and EMAW - I'm excited to see God at work in 2019!

C. God’s Grace to Gibeon against division even of a bad treaty – Joshua 9
9:1-6) Gibeon's strategy - look poor, desperate and from far away
7-21) Israel's error, didn't inquire of the Lord but took things at face value
22-27) After they found out, came to win-win, Gibeonites serve Israel, Israel protects them