Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: joshua

  • for it was not the season for figs – 4

    for it was not the season for figs – 4

    Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

    John 6:15

    יַמּא דטבריא; גִּנֵּיסַר
    Lake Tiberias – Rome’s name for Kinneret [Sea of Galilee]

    Conspiracy to force Jesus to be King

    Returning to Galilee, held by Rome..

    Jesus faced crowds with different motivations than the Lord God on occasions other than His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

    The Prophet Jeremiah had warned:

    The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:

    who can know it?

    – Jeremiah 17:9 KJV

    Jesus knew the motivations of the crowds.

    John 6: ESV

    After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick…

    9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number…

    14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

    15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

    The Messiah who cursed the fig tree knew the hearts of men who would be led by a King rather than follow the Lord God.

    Returning to a time after the Judges, let us recall briefly the appointment of Israel’s first King. The Elders of Israel have conspired against the Lord.

    1 Samuel 8:

    4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “… Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

    7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

    Jesus knew the hearts of the crowds, of the leaders of Israel, parties of religious officials of the Temple. Their hearts deceived them and their wickedness chose any course other than obeying the Lord.

    Rule Over Us

    Returning now to Judges and Gideon, mighty man of God after the Lord’s great victory:

    JUDGES 8:

    22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon,

    “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 

    … 33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

    King Saul of Israel before David;

    kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord warned by the Prophets;

    King Herod, puppet kings to Rome motivated by men —

    Kings, Presidents, Premiers, Prime Ministers, Princes —

    Prophets (who are as false as gods carved from stone) — all men of the people!

    Jesus would be like none of them.

    Jesus could only be the One King obedient to the LORD God.

    But that was not what the crowds desired.

    It never was and never will be.

    To Be Continued…

  • for it was not the season for figs – 3

    for it was not the season for figs – 3

    You will break the oppressor’s rod,
    just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.

    Isaiah 9:4b NLT

    the Oppressor’s Rod

    We expect a powerful King to save us, not a loving, all-powerful King.

    “..and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

    Isaiah 53:3
    We will return to the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree. If you have missed Mark's telling, just go back to our prologue. But first let's look back to the time of the Judges of Israel just after Moses.

    God Commissions Joshua

    Mt. Gerizim [Israel, Samaria]

    [circa 13th. c. Before Christ]:

    Joshua 1 (ESV)

    1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

    2:7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

    Joshua 24: 

    Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel.

    Shechem – near Mt. Gerizim

    And they presented themselves before God.

    2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,

    ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.

    3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many.

    The LORD Leads. He Empowers Judges.

    Conquest of Canaan

    Judges 1

    After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”

    Judges 2:11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.

    16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them.

    17 They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so.”

    – Do the people not remain rebellious against God?

    The Rod of Midian

    Is it not the Lord who does punish? Will the suppression of Jacob by Rome centuries after Gideon not accomplish the Lord’s purpose?

    Though we have forgotten the former days, Israel had hoped for a messiah to remove the rod of Rome. Those who followed Jesus wanted a King, not a Judge. Israel sought Gideon’s redemption, not a Savior of souls.

    We remember and laud our heroes, while forgetting the causes of God’s punishment.

    “How suddenly in success do we forget the Lord.”

    Judges 6:

    The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

    Judges 7:

    2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

    … 9 That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand…

    And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.

    To be continued…

  • Reflections: Israel – a place in time

    Reflections: Israel – a place in time

    To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! – Romans 3

    Joshua 1 

    God Commissions Joshua

    After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.Promised_boundaries

    4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

    5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

    2014.03.30-The-Ten-Words8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

    For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

    It is a covenant relationship with a covenant people chosen by the LORD. The Hebrew people about to enter the land of Israel promised to Abraham have ONLY to obey the LORD.

    Two basic commands for those entering the Promised Land:

    “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth

    “you shall meditate on it day and night. – Joshua 1:8

    Joshua 11:3 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

    Yet between the days of Moses and Joshua, until the days of the Kings of Israel: Saul, David, Solomon and generations to follow; did the people of God not do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?

    And lest we become so full of grace as to not confess our own failings:

    Are Christians any better at keeping the Commandments of God as part of our speech or keeping it in prayer and our thoughts day and night?

    Chosen or adopted, each of us sins and we all struggle with obedience to God.

    Joshua 23:14 NKJV

    “When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

    The LORD God is a personal God. He loves those who love Him and hates those who love other gods and do evil. He IS a God of justice, yet a God of mercy. He has compassion on those wronged and will avenge those to whom we do evil.

    What is your witness and covenant?

    Who IS your lord?

    To be continued…