Presented to The Salvation Army's Alberni Valley Ministries, 10 February 2018 by Michael Ramsay
I recently read
an interview with David Suzuki where he was asked –among other things- about
political reform; how to give power to the people rather than politicians and
their parties. He had what I thought was a very interesting answer. He said,
‘The solution to me is we need a system where politicians are drawn from a hat,
the same way we need to set up our juries.' It has some merit. The word
‘democracy’ from the Greek roots ‘power’ and ‘people’ has come to mean ‘power
to the people’ and way of drawing lots for political representation would give
power to the people rather than the political parties. And actually, now that I
remember it, that is the way that the first Greek democracies actually did
operate, through the casting of lots. I thought it was very interesting that I
read this while we have been studying Joshua.
It reminded me of the way government was run
in the Book and the time of Joshua in the Bible and throughout the Old
Testament at least until the time of King David.
Susan, last
week, spoke about the allotment of the land in Joshua. Much of that was shown
by casting lots. When we read about Achan in Bible study on Tuesday and the way
his tribe, clan, family, and self was revealed to have disobeyed God was
through the casting of lots.
In the Bible
lots aren’t cast to give power to the people as David Suzuki suggested; lots
are cast to discern the will of God. In the New Testament, even God’s choice of
Matthias, the disciple to replace Judas, is revealed through the casting of
lots.
Probably the
most famous lots in the Bible actually have names? Do we know what they are
called? Urim and Thummim. These were kept in the High Priest’s ephod? We don’t know
exactly how these worked but we do know that that is often how they would seek
God’s direction. The people would consecrate themselves, intentionally avoid
‘bad’ or various non-holy things; pray and ask God what to do. They would then
wait for His answer to be revealed through the casting of these lots. God did
reserve the right not to answer them too, like was the case with King Saul
before he went to a medium and other times. But when they approached the Lord
in a sincere, holy and pure manner that was one way in which the Lord answered
them.
As we know,
there are a few basic themes in the Bible that the different authors, books,
letters/epistles, etc. keep coming back to over and over again over years,
decades, centuries, millennia, and varied geography, location, and situation.
One of these basic themes is that we should put our trust in God rather than in
ourselves or anyone or anything else.
Those of us who
have been coming to Bible study have noticed quite a few similarities between
what God did for Joshua and what God did with Moses. One of the most dramatic
examples was probably the parting of the Red Sea (or the Sea of Reeds) and then
the parting of the Jordan River. God parted to Jordan River to show that He
could be trusted to take care of them in the same way He parted the Red Sea when
it seemed like there was no way out. Like the people under Moses could trust
God so could the people with Joshua.
This idea that
we don’t need to turn to ourselves to solve our problems but that we can
actually rely on God comes up again and again in both Moses’ and Joshua’s
stories and even continues on as a central theme in the book of Judges, the
next book in our Bible. Who do we trust? Do we trust God or do we trust
ourselves? That is the choice set before us in our text today.
Again we can
think of Moses at the edge of the Promised Land when the spies come back
reporting on the land – the vast majority of the spies are terrified of the inhabitants
of the land. There is now a choice to make. The people must decide whether to
follow God into the Promised Land or whether to listen to the majority of the
spies and the people not follow God. It is a very long story with many twists
and turns but the Coles Notes version is this: The people choose not to follow
God into the Promised Land but instead they actually try to invade it without
following God and without God’s help and even eventually against His will. This
did not go very well. Even if we are doing something that God wants done, if we
do it without Him and against Him it will not succeed because He loves us and
He wants to be with us. Christianity isn’t a set of rules or a ‘to do list’ it
is a deferential relationship to and with our Lord. We can trust Him; we should
trust Him, he loves us and can see us through the storms of life.
For those of us
who have been reading through Joshua together, this should remind us of Ai.
Susan preached on this a couple of weeks ago. That first assault on that very
small foe ended in a heart-melting defeat because the people were attacking the
city all on their own, without consulting (and even disobeying) God.
It is only when
they consecrated themselves and came before the Lord seeking His direction and
guidance that they took the city of Ai. And we see this played out over and
over again in the Bible and in Joshua. And we see this played out over and over
again in our world and in our lives. When we try to do things on our own, when
we try to (as the refrain in the book of Judges says) ‘do what is right in our
own eyes’, when we put our trust in the wisdom and ability of ourselves or
anyone else but God, it does not work out well.
Conversely when
we trust in the Lord, we will not be disappointed. The Lord is trustworthy. The
Lord will take care of us. I handed out some verses to people in the
congregation; I will ask you to read them out now:
·Psalm 20:7: Some trust in chariots and
some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
·Psalm 31:14: But I trust in you, LORD; I
say, “You are my God.”
·Psalm 56:3: When I am afraid, I put my
trust in You.
·Psalm 84:12: LORD Almighty, blessed is
the one who trusts in you.
·Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the LORD with
all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit
to Him, and He will make your paths straight.
·Proverbs 28:26: Those who trust in
themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.
·Proverbs 11:28: Those who trust in their
riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.
·Psalm 121:1-2: I lift up my eyes to the
mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker
of heaven and earth.
Ecclesiastes
9:11 “…The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food
come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned…” for, 1
Samuel 17:47, “…the Battle belongs to the Lord”, Luke 1:37, "For nothing
will be impossible with God", Matthew 19:26, “…with God all things are
possible.”
We can trust the
Lord. He is with us in the very midst of our struggles just like He was with
the Israelites in and out of Egypt and into the Promised Land and beyond.
This week, I
have had the chance to pray with and anoint a friend who was being tortured
with some terrible dreams. The Lord is with her and He can and is delivering
her from and through this. We can trust Him.
This week, a friend
of mine called me frustrated by life, closemindedness in the world and society,
and looking for some escape from the struggles all around and searching for
meaning. We talked about how as we seek first God all else that we actually
need will be added unto us – Matthew 6:33. We talked about how life is a
process not a circumstance and the act of seeking God is finding Him. The means
is the end. We can trust God. Life may not be easy bur we can trust Him in and
with it.
This week I
spoke with a friend who told me of the many people being shut out of the safety
and security they have known for a long time. I heard of extended grieving and
temptation to trepidation. But the Lord will prevail. He is bringing them
through. We can trust the Lord.
This week I
spoke with a friend who is concerned about the safety and the life of his
child; he is concerned with his health and safety and custodial issues and the
much more that is tied up with all of that. We spoke very much about how even
in all of this we can trust God. No matter what happens, we can trust God to
bring us through. This, I think, is the central theme of Joshua, a central
theme of the Bible, and this, I think, is the key to navigating all the
challenges that life sends our way. We can trust the Lord.
This week,
yesterday, I went to the funeral of a friend. My friend died ofdue
to his drug addiction. He had struggled against drugs the vast majority of his life.
When I knew him well, he was walking with God and seeking God and even then was
being attacked by the Enemy through addiction. I have seen many people delivered
from the addiction but my friend lost his life to it. My friend has passed on
to eternity now but I do not believe that the Enemy has won; because death has
been defeated between the cross and the empty tomb and I know my friend loved
the Lord and I know that the Lord never leave us nor forsake us. The Lord is
with us, even in the very midst of our struggles.
I know that
there are some serious challenges that people here today are facing and I want
you to know that you do not need to face them on your own. The Lord is able, He
is more than able to accomplish what concerns us today; He is able, more than
able to handle anything that comes our way.
Let us pray. --- Robert B. Coote, The Book of Joshua (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998) Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2 Dale Ralph Davis, Joshua (Glascow: Christian Focus Publications, 2000) Trent C. Butler, Joshua 13-24 (WBC 7B: Grand Rapids, Mi.: Zondervan, 2-14)
Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 27 January 2019
A distinguished, prominent big city pastor cruised through a small town. As he did his eyes fell upon a child not more than two feet tall at the door of one of the houses. The boy was on tiptoes valiantly attempting to reach the doorbell. Amused and wanting to help, the pastor parked his car and went over to assist the boy. He reached up and pushed his finger onto the button and the chimes rang inside. Satisfied that he had done his good deed for the day, the pastor turned to the child, “Okay, what happens next?”
With a smile the child replied, “Now we run!”
Another story: This lady goes to the doctor. She has been in serious pain for quite a while. The doctor asks her where it hurts and what is the matter. To which she replies, “It hurts when I touch my temple; it hurts when I touch my side; it hurts when I touch my arm; it even hurts when I touch my nose.”
“I think I know what the problem is”, the doctor says, “your finger is broken.”
Today we are going to talk both about being tricked and the pain associated with pulling against a covenant. The covenant we are talking about today is the one with the Gibeonites referred to in Joshua 9 and it is one of the most important in the Bible for understanding the workings of covenants.
Covenants are important and how we live in our covenant relationships have significant implications. We know what the Hebrew word for covenant means? Berit[h] literally means to be shackled together, to be bound. The Lord promised His people that He would never break His covenant with them. As such, we are not released from our covenants simply for disobeying them (Ro 7:2) and there are often significant consequences that result from trying to break an unbreakable bond (see Num 33:55; Jos 23:13).
This is important for us as Salvationists to remember because we are a covenanted people; we have the opportunity to enter into rich and strong covenant relationships with the Lord in the form of our Officers’ and Soldiers’ covenants. It is important for any of us living in the so-called ‘First World’ too where litigation, broken contracts, and divorces occur on a daily basis both inside and outside the churches and thus people miss out on the benefits of covenants. Because of this, we should all know to what we are agreeing to when we enter into a covenant with the LORD as either a partner or a witness.- be it a marriage or a Soldiership pledge or anything else. These next few weeks our focus in the Army world is Call and Commitment. This is when we ask you to consider responding to the opportunity to enter into a covenant with God as either a soldier or an Officer.
Covenants made with and before God are good things. The Lord uses covenants to give us direct access to strength, security, and blessing. The Lord made a promise to Abraham (Gen 12) that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him and - even though Abraham and we have been unfaithful - God's promise is still fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The only reason any of us are saved is because the Lord is keeps His word. He is bound to us through His covenantal ties that will not be broken.
Even though God doesn't cancel a covenant because we disobey it there are still some serious consequences for pulling against it. In Joshua 9, Israel were disobeying an earlier covenant that they made with God to not make a treaty with the Canaanites and even to destroy them (Dt 7:1-6; 20:16-18). Also, in our passage inotice that the Canaanites lied to Joshua and the Israelite leaders: the leaders were tricked when they made the treaty with the Canaanites (Jos 9:15). They did not first discuss the matter with God and in making this covenant they disobeyed their earlier covenant with the LORD.
Betraying a promise to YHWH is not a trivial matter. In the book of Judges alone generations of people suffer as a result of this broken promise to God. For hundreds of years their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even more than that experience the consequences of continuing in rebellion against this covenant and this promise. The natural results of not respecting our covenants with or before God - whether or not we are tricked into them, whether or not we consult God before we call Him as a witness (Jos 9) - can be devastating.
The Israelites were tricked into making this covenant agreement with the Gibeonites (who are Canaanites). They didn’t realize that in so doing they were defying their previous promise to God. They entered into this new agreement under false pretences. The Gibeonites lied to them but that doesn’t change the fact that Israel is now bound through the covenant her leaders made with the Gibeonites before God. The leaders themselves are well aware that they are bound to keep this covenant (9:18). When the Israelites find out that they have been tricked, they don’t nullify the agreement: they realise that it is not within their authority to do so; Israel does not attack the Gibeonites. They don’t attack the Gibeonites because –even though they have been lied to, even though they have been tricked, even though they have been deceived – they are still bound to God and the Gibeonites via this treaty. Simply disobeying a covenant does not render it void. There are consequences for disregarding a promise but disobeying a promise made before God does not render that covenant void .[1] God says, through His angel, Judges 2:1: “I will NEVER break my covenant with you.” The covenant with or the covenant before God is not nullified; the ties are not severed just because one disobeys God.
There is another interesting point about the agreement that Israel enters into here. Israel enters into a covenant with God first that says that He will give them the land and that they will not make a covenant with the Canaanites: they will instead destroy the present inhabitants of the land. Then the Israelites –without consulting God– enter into the second covenant with the Gibeonites (who are Canaanites) promising that they will not destroy them and in the process Joshua and the Israelites disobey the first covenant agreement with God.
Israel is understandably held to its original agreement with YHWH. It is understandable that Israel suffers the consequences for disobeying God by making this competing covenant. What is interesting, however, is that the Israelites are also held accountable to this new covenant made before God with the Gibeonites even though they made it contrary to the expressed command of God. The Israelites disobeyed God in making this second covenant but they are still held accountable to it. God holds them accountable to both covenants: the one that He initiated and the one that He forbade. [2]
In Judges 2 we read the consequences of breaking the first covenant with God and in 2 Samuel 21 we see the consequences the Israelites suffer for breaking the second, competing covenant with the Gibeonites many years later. God holds us to our promises. As is evidenced here, whether we are lied to, tricked, or even enter into a covenant that is against the Lord’s commands, God holds us to our covenants that are made with Him either as a witness or as one of the parties Himself.
2 Samuel 21:1-5, 13-15:
During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years [people die]; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) David asked the Gibeonites,
“What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the LORD's inheritance?”
The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.
They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord 's chosen one.”
So the king said, “I will give them to you.”
13-15: “David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up. They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul's father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.”
Even though the Israelites disobeyed God by entering into this covenant with the Gibeonites (and suffered their due consequences for disobeying the covenant with God), when they disobeyed the Gibeonite covenant - even though it was made against the expressed will of God - God did not even answer their prayers until they made it right.
There are a couple of important things we need to know about our covenants with God, be they marriage covenants, soldier covenants, or officer covenants:
1), God does not sever His covenantal ties that bind us before Him; because
2) He is faithful to His promises even if we are faithless
This is important for us to remember. Again this is Call and Commitment time in the Army: We should not enter into our covenants lightly. I don’t believe that God says we can simply declare through secular courts that we are not happy with our partner so we are no longer married. I don’t believe God says that simply because we disobey our Soldiership agreement (by having a drink or whatever else) that we can throw out our covenant. I don’t think the tie is broken. I don’t think God says that just because we are not active Officers anymore that we are no longer have the opportunity to ‘make soul-saving the first purpose of our lives.’ I think God still supports us in these covenants. I think that this covenant referred to in Genesis 15, Judges 2, 1 Samuel 21 and here is Joshua 9 points to the fact that God doesn’t break His covenants with us but on the contrary, He will still be there for us when we need him. And this is important because if it is not true than none of us are saved; because if it is not true than God's salvation in conditional and we know that it is not - anyone who calls on the Name of the Lord can be saved.
This brings me to another point: covenants are not punishments; the consequences of pulling against our covenants are the natural and logical results of our own actions. Like we said, tje origin of the Hebrew word for ‘covenant’ comes from a root word meaning, ‘to be shackled together’. The image of a covenant then is of one being tied to God through a promise. One can compare a covenant with God (be it through marriage, Soldiership, Officership) to being seat-belted into a train (or SkyTrain), with God being the train. When we are belted in the train and ride comfortably in it – following the Lord’s lead - we wind up where He is going a lot faster and a lot easier than if we walk the tracks on our own. This is the benefit of a strong covenant with the Lord. However, once we are strapped in, if we try to go our own way or try to tie ourselves to something going in a different direction, it will not be a pleasant experience. The seatbelt doesn’t break. Disobeying our covenants is like jumping out of the train and trying to run in the opposite direction while we are still belted to it. It is going to hurt but this is not God’s fault. He doesn’t throw us from the train and, because God is faithful, this covenantal tie is so strong that it won’t break but we suffer are the natural results of our own actions. This is what happens in Joshua and Judges. God, wanting the Israelites to experience the full rest of the Promised Land, entered into a covenant with Abraham and then Israel. They willing belted themselves into His train but later the Israelites also tied themselves to the Gibeonite train that was going in a different direction and they suffered the consequences of their actions. This is exactly what happens to us when we don’t respect our covenants.
But there is good news in this and that good news saved the Gibeonites - even from the zeal of the of the Israelites' king. God saved the Gibeonites and God saved the Israelites. And this is good news for us for no matter how many times we are faithless and jump off that train. No matter how many times we try to break that covenant; no matter how many times we throw ourselves onto the tracks, under the wheels of the ‘God Train,’ the Lord is faithful: the covenantal tie will not be broken; God is faithful, and Jesus himself is standing there as the eternal tie that binds us in our relationship to God; Jesus provides the eternal covenant through whom whosoever may be pulled back up onto the train of everlasting life. As this is the case, instead of rebelling against God, instead of pulling against the tie that binds, let us all give our lives over fully to the Lord, buckle up, lean back and enjoy the fully sanctified ride on this train because this train is bound for glory.
See also:
Ramsay, Michael, 'Rights and Responsibilities of Covenants: a look at Judges 2' in Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today. Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army. Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com/ptl4covenants.htm
Captain Michael Ramsay, "Rights and Responsibilities of Covenant -a look at Judges 2", Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 56 , Aug.-Sept.2008, p.48-55. On-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article10-56.html
Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 13 January 2018 by Captain Michael Ramsay
Over the next few weeks we are looking at Joshua. Last week Tim gave us a brief overview of the book and gave us an introduction to Joshua himself I believe. Today, we are going to look a little bit at the conquest of Jericho and specifically Rahab (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25).
First, what do we know about Jericho? Jericho was this great fortified city. It was near the Jordan River. There was wonderful farmland all around. Its population was giants! It must have had some special significance for Joshua too. This isn’t the first time that Joshua had been over the Jordan River. Do we remember Joshua’s first encounter with the Promised Land? Remember that Joshua was one of the 12 spies Moses sent to check out Jericho 40 years before and at first how all of them except Caleb came back afraid to claim their inheritance. Joshua then quickly took Caleb’s perspective but the rest of that generation were afraid to enter the Promised Land before it was too late and so God in essence said ‘fine’ and the Hebrews wandered around the desert until everyone in that generation – except Caleb and Joshua - died.
Now in our text today the Hebrews have returned to Jericho and the Promised Land and Joshua is sending out the spies. He picks 2 young men and he sends them out just like Moses had sent him out 40 years before. These two young guys are on their first assignment in all probability and their first time away from their family Israel and their first time in the big city. So these two teenage boys or young twenty-somethings, where do they go when they get to the city? They go see the local prostitute! (Now we don’t know if they went there to give her some business or if they just thought that this would be a good place to blend in while they were spying on the town. We don’t know whether it was their idea or Joshua’s idea that they wind up at the home/business of Rahab the prostitute but here they are at Rahab’s house.
What do we know about Rahab? Every September the Salvation Army highlights those who are trafficked. Many of the people trafficked today in Canada are prostituted. While there is no evidence that Rahab was trafficked: her family was close to her; they lived in the same town as her (Jericho) and she went out of her way to save their lives when the opportunity arose (Joshua 2:12-13, 18; 6:23);[2] she was a prostitute [3] and though Shrine/religious prostitution was not uncommon in that area, we know, because of the specific language used to describe her work, Rahab was not a shrine prostitute. She was a secular prostitute not unlike those in our own time in this country.[4] And prostitutes then, like prostituted peoples today, were often outcasts from society.
It is significant that she is often referred to by her profession but another significant thing about Rahab of course was that she repented of her allegiances - when these young spies showed up at her door she, a probably young, marginalized prostitute was smart enough to see what was happening and she changed to support God (Joshua 2,6) and she was redeemed - James recognizes her for both her faith and her works (James 2:24-26). Rahab was saved and the author of Hebrews even records her as one of the heroes (heroines) of the faith. Hebrews 11:31: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Rahab, the prostitute, was saved.
Now today when we hear the name Rahab, we often think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho into the Hebrews’ hands. Does anyone know what the name ‘Rahab’ literally means? It - translated from Hebrew- means ‘fat’, ‘broad’, or ‘large’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’, and ‘pride’.[5] In the Bible, the country of Egypt is sometimes derogatorily referred to as a Rahab. Rahab is an insult word used of one of the Hebrews’ off again / on again enemies, the Egyptians.[6] Egypt - according to Isaiah and according to the Psalms – Egypt is a fat, insolent, Rahab (Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 51:9; cf. Psalm 87:4, Isaiah 30:7). Rahab in our story today was a prostitute. But Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed.
Many of you know some of our own personal history. Susan, the girls and I were soldiers with 614 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside prior to being commissioned as Officers in The Salvation Army. And since then we have served the LORD and the Army in Saskatchewan, in Winnipeg downtown and at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. And of course we spent the previous few years in downtown Toronto. We made more than a few friends in these environments who –like Rahab- were relegated to the margins of society by circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. We had friends in our Bible studies, church services, and/or staying in our very home (we ran a transition residence in Vancouver) who were prostituted peoples, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and suffering everything else common to those environments.
We have had more than one friend, for whom our hearts still break, overdose, convicted of murder, and other such things – some even since knowing the Lord. Sometimes we fall back but even still I have seen God transform many lives: sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice, or even more as need be. There are many more people still relegated to the margins of our society even here in our community - they (we) are not unredeemable; they (we) are as ready for redemption as anyone. During the many years we lived and worked in Saskatchewan between Nipawin, Tisdale, Carrot River, Maple Creek and Swift Current, I spent many hours sitting with my friends in the courts, speaking with our friends in the courts, speaking on behalf of friends in the courts, praying with friends in the courts. There are many people we knew there and in Toronto and Vancouver and that we are getting to know even here who wind up on the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. They can be redeemed. We can be redeemed.
There are many of us in The Salvation Army who at one time or another have found ourselves outcast like Rahab. Rahab in our story today, Rahab was a prostitute. Rahab was a Canaanite. Rahab was marginalized. Rahab was an outcast. And Rahab is saved! And Rahab is redeemed! We can be saved! We can be redeemed!
I have been involved with AA at various times in my life and ministry and at AA we speak about a how a higher power, God, can deliver us. And God can redeem us and God can save us. And God offers salvation not only from alcohol; not only from addiction; not only from a horrible, storied past of abuse and other things; but from all else as well. There is one name by which we all can be saved not only for the here and the now but forever (Acts 4:12). That Name, that One is Jesus. Jesus has died and he rose again from the grave so that we don’t need to be trapped in our addictions; we don’t need to be trapped by our prejudices; we don’t need to be trapped in our sins; we don’t need to be trapped in our struggles. Jesus rose from the grave conquering sin and death so that even those of us most caught by sin and by circumstance can be saved. Rahab was prostituted in a doomed pagan city. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We, no matter who we are and what we have had done to us what we have done, we can be saved. We can be redeemed (TSA docs. 6&10).
After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty (Tal Megillah 15a; the others were Sarah, Abigail, and Esther).[7] Rahab may mean ‘broad’ but this Rahab is a beauty. The Bible tells us Rahab married Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, Matthew 1:5). We remember too the wealthy landowner, Boaz, who married the Moabite Ruth of the book of Ruth; this rich, prominent Boaz was Rahab the Canaanite’s son. Ruth was Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, Rahab’s grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great great grandson... do we know who that was? Who was Jesse’s most famous son? He was King David from whose line is God’s promised Salvation; A Dominion to be established for ever! (Matthew 1:5-6; cf. 2 Samuel 7). This Dominion is of course accomplished through another descendant of Rahab the redeemed prostituted Canaanite – that is Jesus, the Redeemer himself, the Messiah! (cf. Matthew 1:16).
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” – and God chose to send His only begotten son through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab.
Scholar Richard Hess tells us that, “the story of Rahab confirms God’s welcome to all people, whatever their condition. Christ died for all the world and the opportunity is available for all to come to him through faith, even the chief of sinners [like you and like me] (1 Timothy 1:15)...Rahab exhibits faith and understanding of the God who saves her. She becomes part of the family line that leads to the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) and [she is] a model of faith for all Christians” (Hebrews 11:31).[8]
Rahab, who was once a prostituted Canaanite on the margins of society now stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed, and as one of the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no matter who we have been, no matter what has happened to us, we too can be saved from it all. Jesus died on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so that we can live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13). It is my prayer that today each of us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and of His Redemption.
--- [1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 50:15-21: Regarding Forgiveness: Do not be afraid, for are we in the place of God? Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 07 August 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/genesis-5015-21-regarding-forgiveness.html And Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 39:2a: The Lord was with Joseph and He Prospered. Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 July 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesis-392a-lord-was-with-joseph-and.html [2] Cf. Robert B. Coote, The Book of Joshua, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 592. [3] Cf. RCMP Criminal Intelligence. Project SECLUSION: Human Trafficking in Canada (Ottawa: 2010). [4] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2 [5] ‘Rahab’ in Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0003054 [6] ‘Rahab’ in Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=3&wid=S10094 [7] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2 [8] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1996 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 6), S. 89
Based on the Sermon 'Rahab the Redeemed' presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 25 September 2011, the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking and 20 October 2013 ( http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/09/rahab-redeemed-joshua-2-hebrews-1131.html ). Presented on the same same occasion 25 September 2016 at Warehouse Mission in Toronto. Presented also on the 15th Anniversary of Corps 614 Regent Park in Toronto, 01 October 2016 ( http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/09/rahab-redeemed-2016-jos-2-heb-1131-jas.html ).
Today when we hear the name Rahab, we often
think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho
into the Hebrews’ hands. Did you know the name ‘Rahab’ translated from Hebrew means
‘broad’ or ‘fat’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’,
and ‘pride.’ In the Bible, the word ‘Rahab’ is used commonly as an insult for
the country of Egypt. Rahab, the lady in this passage, was a marginalized,
prostituted Canaanite. But Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed!
After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by
God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know
how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she, a lady
who was extremely marginalized, became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal
Megillah 14b). She is listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty
(Tal Megillah 15a). Rahab may mean ‘broad’ but this Rahab is nonetheless a
beauty. She is – to quote Reba – she is not a back of the store lady; she is a
front of the store lady! Like we all can be front of the store people! The
Bible tells us Rahab married Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1
Chr 2:11, Mt 1:5).
We remember the wealthy landowner, Boaz,
who married the Mobitess Ruth; Boaz was Rahab the Canaanite’s son. Ruth was
Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, who was Rahab’s
grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great
great grandson was King David from whose line God promised Salvation and
Dominion for ever! (Mt 1:5-6; cf. 2 Sam 7). This salvation was of course
accomplished through another descendant of Rahab the redeemed Canaanite – that
is Jesus, the Redeemer himself! (cf. Mt 1:16).
God chose to do this through, to send His
only begotten son through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab. Scholar
Richard Hess tells us, “the story of Rahab confirms God’s welcome to all
people, whatever their condition. Christ died for all the world and the
opportunity is available for all to come to him through faith, even the chief
of sinners [like you and like me] (1 Tim 1:15)...Rahab exhibits faith and
understanding of the God who saves her. She becomes part of the family line
that leads to the birth of Jesus (Mt 1:5) and [she is] a model of faith for all
Christians” (Hb 11:31).
Rahab, who was once a prostituted Canaanite
on the margins of society stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed, and as one of
the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no
matter who we have been, no matter what has happened to us, we too can be saved, we too can be redeemed. Jesus died
on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so
that we could live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13)!
As such, it is my prayer that today each of
us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and
of His Redemption.
Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 25 September 2011, the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking and 20 October 2013. Presented on the same same occasion, 25 September 2016 at Warehouse Mission in Toronto. Presented also on the 15th Anniversary of Corps 614 Regent Park in Toronto, 01 October 2016. Also presented to Alberni Valley Ministries in Port Alberni, By Captain Michael Ramsay
This is the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking version. To view the Alberni Valley Version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/01/joshua-2-redeemed.html To view the Corps 614 version, click here:http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/09/rahab-redeemed-2016-jos-2-heb-1131-jas.html
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We have just been speaking about human trafficking in Canada and I am going to lighten the mood a little bit here before we briefly examine the story of Rahab today. Here is something that I ran across the other day when researching another topic.
A distinguished, prominent big city pastor cruised through a small town. As he did his eyes fell upon a child not more than two feet tall at the door of one of the houses. The boy was on tiptoes valiantly attempting to reach the doorbell. Amused and wanting to help, the pastor parked his car and went over to assist the boy. He reached up and pushed his finger onto the button and the chimes rang inside. Satisfied that he had done his good deed for the day, the pastor turned to the child, “Okay, what happens next?”
With a smile the child replied, “Now we run!”
Another story: This lady goes to the doctor. She has been in serious pain for quite a while. The doctor asks her where it hurts and what is the matter. To which she replies, “It hurts when I touch my temple; it hurts when I touch my side; it hurts when I touch my arm; it even hurts when I touch my nose.”
“I think I know what the problem is”, the doctor says, “your finger is broken.”
Now, of course, today we have been speaking about the real pain associated with Human Trafficking. And the most logical passage in scripture to speak about addressing this would be the story of Joseph,[1] Genesis 37 [38] – 50, as he was actually was trafficked into slavery but as we have just spent quite a bit of time looking at Joseph over the summer, I thought we would deal with the story of the prostitute Rahab today instead (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25). While there is no evidence that Rahab was trafficked: her family was close to her; they lived in the same town as her (Jericho) and she went out of her way to save their lives when the opportunity arose (Joshua 2:12-13, 18; 6:23).[2] Most –or at least many- of the people trafficked today in Canada, however, are prostitutes, in a similar manner as Rahab was a prostitute:[3] though Shrine prostitution was not uncommon among the pagan peoples in that area, in those days, Rahab was not a shrine prostitute: the language used of Rahab’s profession refers to her strictly as a secular prostitute not unlike those in our own time, in our own country.[4]
Prostitutes then, like prostituted peoples today, were often outcasts from society. The significant thing about Rahab of course was that she repented -she changed to support God (Joshua 2,6) and she was redeemed - James recognizes her for both her faith and her works (James 2:24-26). Rahab was redeemed and the author of the sermon (or letter) to the Hebrews even records her as one of the heroes (heroines) of the faith. Hebrews 11:31: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Rahab, the prostitute, was saved. Rahab was redeemed.
Now today when we hear the name Rahab, we often think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho into the Hebrews’ hands. Does anyone know what the name ‘Rahab’ actually means? It -literally translated from Hebrew- means ‘broad’, ‘fat’, or ‘large’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’, and ‘pride’.[5] In the Bible, the country of Egypt is sometimes derogatorily referred to as a Rahab. Rahab is an insult used of one of the Hebrews’ off again / on again enemies, the Egyptians.[6] Egypt - according to Isaiah and according to the Psalms – Egypt is a fat, insolent, Rahab (Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 51:9; cf. Psalm 87:4, Isaiah 30:7). Rahab in our story today was a prostitute. But Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed.
Now many of you know some of our own personal history. Susan, the girls (the oldest 2 anyway), and I were urban missionaries with 614 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside prior to being commissioned as Officers in The Salvation Army. And before we were appointed to serve the LORD and the Army in Saskatchewan, we served in Downtown Winnipeg and Winnipeg’s North End; I also served in Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. We made more than a few friends in these environments who –like Rahab- were relegated to the margins of society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. We had friends in our cell groups, Bible studies, knee drills, church services, and/or staying in our very home (we ran a transition residence in Vancouver) who were prostituted peoples, addicted to drugs and alcohol, reliant on theft and deception... I have elsewhere previously told the story of transvestite friends of ours whom the Lord redeemed and transformed through –among other things- simply reading the Bible in community with the rest of us.
We have had more than one friend, for whom our hearts still break, convicted of murder – some even since knowing the Lord. Sometimes people fall back but even still we have seen God transform many lives: sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice, or even more as need be. There are many more people still relegated to the margins of our society even here - they (we) are not unredeemable; they (we) are as ready for redemption as anyone. I have spent many hours since we have moved to Saskatchewan between Nipawin, Tisdale, Carrot River, and Swift Current, sitting with people in the courts, speaking with people in the courts, speaking on behalf of people in the courts, praying with people in the courts. John, Ron, Sylvia, and others here through the food bank and other ministries are walking people through many of life’s challenges. We have post-food bank interviews now where volunteers sit down with people in need and we try to help out in anyway that we can. There are many people we know here who wind up on the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. They can be redeemed.
There are many relegated to the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. Many of us at one time or another have found ourselves outcasts like prostituted peoples, like Rahab. Rahab in our stories today, Rahab was a prostitute. Rahab was an outcast. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We can be saved. We can be redeemed.
I have been involved with AA at times: I would fairly regularly attend meetings in Nipawin and the AA Roundup has had their annual celebrations here, at the Swift Current Corps, the previous few years. I have been to more than one AA meeting and at AA we speak about a higher power. Step 1 in AA: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.” Step 2:We “came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” and Step 3: We “made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.”
Well, there is one higher power, God, through whom salvation is offered not only from alcohol; not only from addiction; not only from a horrible, storied past of abuse and other things; but from all else as well. There is one name by which we all can be saved not only for the here and the now but forever (Acts 4:12). That name, that one is Jesus. Jesus has died and he rose again from the grave so that we don’t need to be trapped in our addictions; we don’t need to be trapped in our sins; we don’t need to be trapped in our struggles. Jesus rose from the grave conquering sin and death so that even those of us most caught by sin and by circumstance can be saved. Rahab was a prostitute in a doomed pagan city. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We, no matter who we are and what we have done, we can be saved. We can be redeemed (TSA docs. 6&10).
After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she married Joshua and became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is also listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty (Tal Megillah 15a; the others were Sarah, Abigail, and Esther).[7] The Bible tells us she did marry Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, Matthew 1:5). We remember too the wealthy landowner, Boaz, who married Ruth of the book of Ruth; this prominent Boaz was Rahab’s son. Ruth was Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, who was Rahab’s grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great great grandson was King David from whose line God promised Salvation and to establish His Dominion (Matthew 1:5-6; cf. 2 Samuel 7). This was of course accomplished through another descendent of Rahab the redeemed prostitute – that is Jesus, the Redeemer himself, the Messiah (cf. Matthew 1:16).
“For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” – John 3:16 (AV) – and He chose to do this through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab.
Scholar Richard Hess tells us that, “the story of Rahab confirms God’s welcome to all people, whatever their condition. Christ died for all the world and the opportunity is available for all to come to him through faith, even the chief of sinners [like you and like me] (1 Timothy 1:15)...Rahab exhibits faith and understanding of the God who saves her. She becomes part of the family line that leads to the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) and [she is] a model of faith for all Christians” (Hebrews 11:31).[8]
Rahab, who was once a secular pagan prostitute now stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed of her sins, and as one of the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no matter who we have been, we too can be saved. Jesus died on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so that we could live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13). It is my prayer that today each of us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and of His Redemption.
[2] Cf. Robert B. Coote, The Book of Joshua, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 592.
[3] Cf. RCMP Criminal Intelligence. Project SECLUSION: Human Trafficking in Canada (Ottawa: 2010).
[4] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2
[5] ‘Rahab’ in Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0003054
[6] ‘Rahab’ in Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=3&wid=S10094
[7] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1996 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 6), S. 89
Presented to Swift Current Corps, 20 September 2009 By Captain Michael Ramsay
Hebrews 4 is an important part of Hebrews for Salvationists and all others who believe in holiness but, like much in this book, this is somewhat confusing. I know personally in researching this, I read through the text a number of different times and consulted quite a few Biblical journals and commentaries. You remember –of course- that the book of Hebrews is (probably) really a sermon[1] and right in the midst of this sermon here is another 3-point mini-sermon on King David’s Psalm 95.[2] It is a sermon about a sermon. So then today we are all listening to a sermon about a sermon within a sermon. That would seem to be 3 sermons for the price of one. Not a bad deal – but that doesn’t mean you can skip out the next two weeks’ sermons – and you can probably see why this might be somewhat confusing.
This part of the mini-sermon that we are looking at today (Hebrews 4:1-11,12&13) deals with rest.[3] I have recently discovered ‘youtube’, though I confess that I haven’t quite figured out how to use it. Carlye Morris (our Salvation Army War College practicum student this summer) showed Susan, the girls and I this clip about rest…
The Pink Panther in this clip did finally enter into some rest but it isn’t entirely the rest that the preacher to the Hebrews here is speaking about. The preacher of Hebrews in his sermon on David’s Psalm 95 mentions God’s rest as it pertains to three different groups: God himself at the time of the creation of the world (4:4,10); we ourselves, today (4:3, 6-11); and the Hebrews with Moses and Joshua when they stood at the precipice of the promised land (4:1-3, 8-10).
Israel failed to obtain rest
The preacher begins this section of his mini-sermon by reminding us that, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the Israelites who left Egypt didn’t enter the land that was promised to them. They did not enter the rest that God had prepared for them (Hebrews 4:1,3,5,8, Numbers 14).
It was all sitting there for the taking. God had provided this amazing meal for them, metaphorically speaking. These people had been living off of bread (from heaven mind you, Exodus 16, Numbers 11, Deuteronomy 8, Nehemiah 9:20, Psalm 78:24, John 6) and water (It would be even twice from a rock, Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-13; Deuteronomy 8:15; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalms 78, 105:41, 114:8, Isaiah 48:21) and now they have the opportunity to have fresh food (see Exodus 16, Numbers 11, Joshua 5:12 and also Revelation 2:17). Grapes as big as can be imagined – better than any GM foods – and picked right off the vine (Numbers 13:27). God had grown all the produce in this land here, preparing this great meal for His invited guests. While they were just spending time wandering around the desert, God was preparing this great feast to welcome them home into their promised rest from all that wandering. The people were tired and cranky and very hungry. God takes 400 years (Genesis 15) to make this great feast for them and when they finally get there, God offers them this great feast in ‘the land of milk and honey’ they say… ‘No thanks we’ll pass’. Can you imagine?
I remember years ago I owned a tutoring company and I even did some private educational instruction for a family on Vancouver Island, myself. Many nights of the week I would be working late at their place so the mom would often make these amazing meals and invite me to join the family before I headed off to my next appointment. One time, to repay the favour, we decided to invite the family to our house for dinner. Susan spent the day cooking this amazingly fancy meal and making the house look presentable while I was at the office. I returned and then Susan and I both went all out making this whole fancy dinner set-up for our chosen guests and they were late (not the 40 years late that the Israelites were for God’s meal but they were late). We were waiting for them and waiting for them and waiting for them. We had gone to all this trouble and then when they finally arrive and sit down for dinner the teenage sons let us know why they are late: “We’re not hungry; we just ate at McDonald’s.”
This I think must be about how God feels. He invited the Israelites to this special feast of ‘milk and honey’ that he took 400 years preparing (see Genesis 15) and by the time they finally arrive, God invites them in and tells them to help themselves to the best food that they have ever seen and they say ‘no thanks’. Of the first Hebrews to see the land, all except for Joshua and Caleb say that no, they don’t want it. They’ll just eat at McDonald’s. They’ll just return to Egypt (Numbers 14:3,4).
God is understandably a little bit upset and says to them. If you’re going to be that way than I don’t want you here either. Go away (Number 14:20-25). I’ll invite Caleb and Joshua and another generation of people back. Your kids can come without you to this promised feast, this promised rest, after the rest of you have died (Numbers 26:65, Numbers 32:12, Joshua 14).
God prepared this promised rest for the Hebrews who had been wandering around the desert. They said ‘no’ to the rest so God withdrew the offer until after they had all died. Hebrews 4:3: “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
How does this apply to us?
This is a key point that the preacher is making. God promised rest to the Hebrews in the desert and He provided rest for them but they rejected it and so they did not receive it (Hebrews 4:3, Numbers 14). The homiletician applies this promise to us now as well saying that this offer that they refused (and was thus no longer open to them, Numbers 14:26-45) if we have not rejected it, it is still open for us to take advantage of.[5]
Hebrews 4:1 and 2: “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.”
There are a couple of things that the preacher to the Hebrews goes on to examine from here in his sermon. The first thing he explains to us is how this promised rest can still be available to us. How can this rest that Israel didn’t experience it under Joshua (Jesus) – how can this rest that their generation rejected and so died in the wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16:1, Numbers 13:21) - how can this rest still be available to us today?[6]
The preacher gives us some things to think about. He says, Hebrews 4:3a, “Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” The preacher says we enter that rest – so long as we act on our faith in His faithfulness and don’t reject that rest like Israel did in the desert. He says they shall NOT enter His rest but we can still enter His rest if we choose to do so.[7]
This rest is a little bit like a warm bed waiting for us on a cold night. We have been involved in The Salvation Army for a while now in quite a few different communities. Some of the communities that we have been involved in were big urban centers like Vancouver that have an horrific amount of people suffering from homelessness and some of the communities we served in were small communities with really cold winters like Nipawin and Tisdale (and I believe that it is cold here too, we’ll find out soon) and then – of course, there was Winnipeg – it is big, urban, plagued with homelessness AND it is really, really, very, very cold! There are many people who really struggle and suffer from every evil of homelessness in the big cities. It is bad enough to be homeless in Vancouver (I would not wish this on anyone!). It is even worse to be homeless on the streets of Winnipeg when it is –40 (before the wind chill is factored in) and where it seems that every year some people freeze to death. There are shelters open to people so that they can have a night’s rest but there are never enough beds. In Vancouver, I remember seeing people lining the streets for hours waiting for the shelters to open to make sure that they are one of the ones who are able to enter that rest. They want to make sure that they don’t miss it (even if that ‘bed’ is just a mat upon a floor in the DTES). In Winnipeg I remember walking the streets with The Salvation Army on cold nights looking for people to point them to open beds so that they need not freeze to death. On really cold nights if there isn’t a bed available the police will even help by arresting some people as a means of getting them off the street and ultimately saving their lives. Inevitably though, there are some people who still refuse that rest of the shelter. There are some who choose to die outside of that rest – even though there may be a bed open and waiting for them. This is some of what the preacher of Hebrews is talking about.
What exactly is God’s rest?
That then raises the question, what exactly is His rest. What exactly is God’s rest? It must be more than simply that land that He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Israel that the generation under Moses did not enter (Numbers 14). The preacher of this sermon to the Hebrews argues here that this rest they rejected is even more than that land. The preacher explains it in terms of creation. He explains it terms of the creation of the world. He says, Hebrews 4:3b-5, “And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: ‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.’ And again in the passage above he says, ‘They shall never enter my rest’” (See also Genesis 2:1-2; Exodus 20:8-11). He speaks about us entering into the same kind of rest that God has experienced since creation but what does that really mean?
Have you ever asked yourself: ‘what does it mean that God rested on the seventh day?’[8] What does it mean that He rests? Does God go to sleep?[9] Does He turn off the alarm? Does God just spend a day at the lake or watching football? Does God stop working? Does not the Bible say that our very breath comes from God and therefore if He withholds His breath, if He takes the day off and takes His spirit from us, then we will surely die? (Psalm 104:29-30; See Genesis 2:7, 2 Samuel 22:16, Job 27:3, Job 33:4, Psalm 18:15, Ezekiel 37, Revelation 11:11.) Let us not forget too that, John 5:17, when Jesus got in trouble for healing on the Sabbath that “Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”’ Jesus said that his Father is always working – not periodically with some catnaps here and there: not taking a break to go to the lake. God and Jesus, Jesus says, are always working. They don’t (He doesn’t) take Sundays off (or the Sabbath which is Saturday, for that matter). Jesus tells us that God is always working.
So if God is always working and we are to join Him in his rest, how can we do this? How can we be always working with God and be in a state of rest? How can we always be resting with a God who is always at work? What is the preacher of Hebrews getting at? (I’m sure you can see now why I said this passage was a little bit confusing for me and why I consulted no shortage of commentaries and journal articles in preparing for today.) So what exactly is this rest of God’s that the Israelites turned down and so perished in (the wilderness of) Sin?
William Lane reminds us that rest for those with Moses and Joshua referred to relief from turmoil and secured borders that were to accompany entrance to the Promised Land - not idleness (Deuteronomy 12:9-10; see Numbers 14 and Psalm 95:7-11).[10] He further emphasizes that the preacher of the sermon to the Hebrews here is connecting God’s act of creation to Psalm 95:11[11] and Simon J. Kistemaker says, “Rest for God does not mean idleness; rather it is a cessation from the work of creation; God continues to enjoy this rest now that the work of his creation is completed.”[12] The book of Jubilees from the second century CE even tells us that God invites both people and angels to join him in this celebration of His rest.[13] God’s rest means that He has finished His creation and that is good (Genesis 1:31-2:2). God’s rest is not a temporary state of ‘taking time off work’ – because we know that God never stops working (John 5:17). God’s rest is rather a cause for a celebration that we are invited to join. God’s rest is this ‘perfect Sabbath rest’[14]
How do we enter into this rest?
So then how do we enter into this perfect Sabbath rest? How do we enter into this celebratory rest while we are still running the race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) and while we are still pressing on towards the goal (Philippians 3)? How do we enter this rest while we are still fighting the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12)? How do we enter this rest, without giving up and falling short of the prize as Hebrews 4:11 warns us (see Luke 9:62)? What does it look like to enter God’s rest? Is it simply a time after we die and go to heaven or even after that at the ultimate resurrection of the dead, at the Eschaton? Is that all it is? I don’t think so. I think it relates to something here and now in our own lives as well.[15] I think it refers to something that we in The Salvation Army, and many in the Methodist, Anglican, and Holiness traditions refer to as entire sanctification. The Kingdom of God, after all, is at hand. Pfeiffer says that, “This ‘Sabbath rest’ does not mean the end of service to God and works which are the fruit of the Spirit. On the contrary, this rest [is what] makes such works possible. It is not simply the rest of Heaven but the rest of the spirit in Christ…’[16] The Heidelberg Catechism states “that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath.”[17]
The Salvation Army’s Officers are called to give up all secular employment and work for God alone. All of us as Christians are called to serve God and serve God alone. In this way, by putting off the old self (Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9) and clothing ourselves fully with Christ (Romans 13:14, Galatians 3:27), by serving him and not ourselves, I believe that we too can experience God’s rest and the Kingdom of God that the Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 12:28, 21:32), Mark (Mark 1:15, Mark 4:11) Luke (Luke 9:27, 10:9, 10:11, 11:20, 17:21, 21:31), and John (John 3) tell us about that is at hand right now (See also Acts, Romans 13:11-14, 1 Corinthians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 15:2, Ephesians 2:8, 1 Peter 1).[18] The Salvation Army’s tenth doctrine states, “We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that [our] whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”[19] We can all enter that rest today (Hebrews 4:7, Psalm 95:6-9).[20]
Hebrews 4:12, 13 records, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
So for those of us here today who are here standing at the precipice of God’s promise, we should not be afraid like the Israelites who did not enter the promised rest. We should not to turn down God’s salvation and die in the wilderness. Rather today as Hebrews 4:11 says, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall…” Today, please let us all follow God into that celebration, into that rest and into that holy peace and security of complete fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ.
--- [1] William L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8 (WBC 47A: Word Books: Dallas Texas, 1991), p. liii. Cf. Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), p. 3 and Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), p. 5. [2] Thomas G. Long, p. 58. [3] Simon J. Kistemaker, Hebrews (NTC: Thessalonians, the Pastorals, and Hebrews: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2007), p.103; Thomas G. Long, p. 58. Long suggests that the sermon begins at Hebrews 3:12. But Cf. Fred B. Craddock, pp.44-45, 51. Craddock points out that 4:1-11 is a distinct unit within the greater section of 3:1-4:13 about the faithfulness of Christ. [4] Blake Edwards. ‘In the Pink of the Night’ Available on-line at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV5VgME5XPQ [5] Ann Hoch Cowdery, "Hebrews 4:1-13" in Interpretation 48 no 3 (July 1994), p.283: “If one agrees with Ernst Käsemann that the principal motif of Hebrews is the wandering people of God (The Wandering People of God [Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1984]), then rest can be interpreted as spatial and eschatological. Christians are pilgrims on a journey of faith, and rest is a heavenly blessing. The author's use of Psalm 95, according to Käsemann, implies that Canaan was a way station for the Israelites who were on their way toward a heavenly Jerusalem. Christians similarly receive no earthly promised land, but do live in the promise of divine rest. The Christ event is the fulfillment of the exodus. The pilgrim's life is characterized by a faithfulness that is manifested in obedience to God's Word, and God's promise is consummated when one has been led through the suffering of this world to a heavenly future.” [6] Cf. Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Everyman’s Bible Commentary: Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1962), p.36. The preacher of Hebrews refers to Jesus (which is a Greek name) by his Hebrew name, Joshua. This serves to emphasize the comparison. [7] Luke Timothy Johnson, "The Scriptural World of Hebrews" in Interpretation 57 no 3 (July 2003), p.246: Thus, when the Holy Spirit speaks through Psalm 95 that “they did not enter into my rest,” the careful reader must conclude both that the Holy Spirit is correct concerning the generation of old—Canaan is not “God’s rest”—and must inquire further into what God’s rest might be. The psalm verse, after all, creates a contradiction in scripture that must be resolved, for LXX Josh 1:13 and 23:1 declare that the Lord had given a rest to the people by means of their entry into the land. Help is provided by a third text that serves to resolve the apparent contradiction, namely LXX Gen 2:2, which states that God rested (katepausen) from all his works on the seventh day. The people’s entry into the land was a rest for them, but it was not an entry into “God’s rest.” According to Hebrews, Psalm 95 therefore extends a rest for God’s people that Joshua could not enter but Jesus already has, namely, God’s own rest on the seventh day of creation: “Therefore, a sabbath rest (sabbatismos) remains for God’s people” (Heb 4:9). [8]Ann Hoch Cowdery, "Hebrews 4:1-13" in Interpretation 48 no 3 (July 1994), p.285: “Based on Jewish tradition, the sabbath designates God's rest on the seventh day at the completion of creation. It is also a symbol for the eschaton with the priestly people of God celebrating the eternal sabbath. Sabbath instruction for the Jews suggests in addition, however, that rest and praise belong together and are to be practiced in the worship of the community as a remembrance of the past and a foretaste of the future (cf. Attridge, p. 130-31, and Lane, p. 101-02). The emphasis on "today" in verses 7 and 8 seems to present just such a challenge to the new people of God for their worship.” [9] This would be in essence the Deists point of view: God created the world and then just disappeared so everything is left to us now. Many of the intellectual leaders of the American Revolution who weren’t Atheists were in fact Deists. Practically speaking they are almost the same. Neither believes that God is relevant to our daily lives. Both reject his help and so the author of Hebrews would argue that both, like that generation of Israel, declined their salvation. [10] William Lane, p. 98. [11] William Lane, p. 95. [12] Simon J. Kistemaker, p. 108. [13] Jubilees 2:18-21. Cited in Fred B. Craddock, p. 53. [14] Charles F. Pfeiffer, p. 37. [15] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, p. 53. [16] Charles F. Pfeiffer, p. 37, cf. Ernst Käsemann, The Wandering People of God (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1984) [17] Zacharius Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, The Heidelberg Catechism, answer 103. Cited in Simon J. Kistemaker, p. 11. [18] Michael Ramsay, 'Victory: The Final Whistle (Romans 13:11-14)' Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on December 02, 2007 and presented to Swift Current Corps on August 16, 2009. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/12/victory-final-whistle-romans-1311-14.html [19] Read ‘Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine’ – an explanation of and an elaboration upon Salvation Army doctrines on line at: http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_sa.nsf/50f73564cddae39480256cf4005d2262/f46673a32c86611a80256e4e00477c1f/$FILE/sastory.pdf [20] John B. Rogers, Jr., "Hebrews 1:1-4" in Interpretation 57 no 3 (July 2003), p. 293: “There remains before us a challenge and a choice. It is not the choice of whether we shall permit God's sovereign purpose to be accomplished in our life. It is rather, as Paul suggested to the Philippians, the matter of "working out" the implications of God’s saving purpose for us "with fear and trembling," ever mindful that God is at work in us for [God's] good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13). We choose, therefore, how we shall live in response to this gospel of our salvation. How, in the living of our days, shall we choose to express the gratitude, obedience, confidence, and courage appropriate to those who inhabit God's sovereign purpose thus declared?”
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