Surprised by Grace - 250402

SPEAKER 1 Hello, I'm Rod Butler. Welcome to Let God speak. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, a second generation of Israelites were on the border of the promised land, ready to enter. The threat posed by the Canaanite military had not changed, but what had changed was the Israelites faith. Today we are going to look at God's grace not only to the Israelites, but also to a Canaanite prostitute and her family and the inhabitants of a Canaanite city called Gibeon. On our panel today we have Lena Yoon and Mike Browning. Welcome Lena. Welcome, Mike. SPEAKER 2 Thank you. SPEAKER 1 Before we have our discussion, most importantly, let's bow for prayer. Gracious Father, we thank you for the stories that we have in the Book of Joshua. Stories that showcase and outline your grace. And as we have this discussion now, we ask for the Holy Spirit to speak through us, to guide us. And also may our listeners be impressed by the Spirit's working. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Well, atheist Richard Dawkins wrote in his 2006 best selling book the God Delusion that and I quote, the God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction. A vindictive bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser, unquote. Now many who have read the book of Joshua contrast the violent events depicted there with the love, grace and mercy demonstrated by Jesus. They conclude the same as Dawkins. It must be a different God in the Old Testament. But today we're going to see from the accounts of the Israelites, Rahab the prostitute and the Gibeonites, God's love, grace and forgiveness in action. And yes, the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. Now let's pick up events with the Israelites on the border of the promised land for the second time. Now I'm going to read from Joshua 5:6. Joshua 5:6 says, for the children of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness till all the people that were men of war which came out of Egypt were consumed because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, unto whom the Lord swear that he would not show them the land which the Lord swear unto the fathers that he would give us a land that floweth with milk and honey. Now this is interesting because back In Numbers chapter 14 and verse 29, God said that all those over 20 for their unfaithfulness would not go in. They all died in the wilderness. So Len, I've got a question for you. Why were the men of war, as it says here, and the people over 20 that says in Numbers chapter 14, verse 29. Why were they consumed? Why did they die in the. In the wilderness? SPEAKER 3 Yeah. In numbers, chapters 13 and 14, we have a story of the 12 spies who were sent out to explore the land of Canaan. And 10 of the 12 spies, except for Caleb and Joshua, and brought an evil or bad report that that's the land that devours people, and the people there and of Great Stadium and so and forth. And so basically people believed what they said to them and refused to enter in. So therefore God pronounced judgment on them. So we can find this in Numbers, chapter 14, verses 30 to 30. 30, 32. So except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in, but your little ones, whom you said would be victims and I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have descend despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. SPEAKER 1 Pretty heavy. SPEAKER 2 Very heavy. You know, I can just see them saying, what are we doing here? We should have stayed in Egypt. And that was their problem. SPEAKER 1 That's it. Now the people are on the border of the promised land a second time, Mike. And being on there a second time. What does this say about God's grace to the Israelites? SPEAKER 2 It tells you how amazingly patient God is, doesn't it, really? His grace is amazing. And they learn from their parents experience. And I think that we shouldn't be brought down by bad experiences in the past, but learn from them. And obviously that's what they did. And so God gave them a gentle chance now to make it good this time, like their parents failed to do, which is very interesting. God takes people where he finds them. And I think it's amazing, you know, flaws and all. I'm going to read from First Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 11. It's an amazing statement. The Corinthians believers there, they come from pretty poor backgrounds themselves. And if you read in First Corinthians 6, verse 9 and 10, it gives a very nasty list of sins there. And then it says in verse 11, and Paul is writing to the Corinthian believers, don't forget, and he said, such were some of you, but you are washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. So yeah, God's grace is amazing. And he doesn't just write people off. He gives us a chance. And he gave the second generation a chance. SPEAKER 1 Very good. We're going to go to the story of Rahab now. We're going to pick up this reading from Joshua, chapter two and verse one. And it says, and Joshua the son of Nun sent out of shittim two men to spy, secretly saying, go view the land, even Jericho. And they went and came into an harlot's house named Rahab and lodged there. Now, I've got a question for you, Lena. If this is the second generation of Israelites and they've learned their lessons from their parents, why did Joshua need to send out spies? Why couldn't they just sort of go forward and let God do everything for them and just, you know, because if you remember back In Exodus chapter 23, God says, I'll send hornets to drive them out. Why do they bother sending out spies? SPEAKER 3 Yep. So the assurance of divine support doesn't override our responsibility or our preparation. So we are to do our part believing that God will do his right. So here, you know, picture this scene. The Israelites are standing, you know, at the border of Canaan for a second time. So Joshua was going to do everything possibly he could do for success. So then he would leave to God the rest of the things that he was unable to do. SPEAKER 1 And there's a lesson there for us today, isn't there? Yeah, we've got to do as much as we can and ask God to provide the deficit, so to speak. SPEAKER 2 Yeah. SPEAKER 1 So they sent spies out. Joshua sent spies out. Mike, why only two spies? And did they carry out their mission okay? SPEAKER 2 Two was all that was needed. I don't think it was quite as big an assignment as Moses gave to the original 12. He just sent them and off they went into Jericho, these two. And it's quite interesting. I'm going to read in chapter two of Joshua in verse one, the last part is, it says they went to view the land and they came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and they lodged there, which is rather interesting, which is what makes me think that this was probably a bed and breakfast with extras if required, as we can see from the description that's there. So they were staying the night there, which is really interesting. But they got discovered and I think this cut short what they were planning to do, to be honest. Verse two tells us it was told the king of Jericho saying, behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country. So they were. They were found. So verse three says, the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, bring out the men who have come to you who have entered your house, for they have come to search out the country. So this was a, this was a deadly moment for the two spies. They were in a very difficult position. But in answering your question, did they fulfill their commission? Well, they pretty much did. Because if you look at verse nine, it says that Rahab said to these two men, I know the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen us, fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint hearted because of you. That was all they needed to know. The people were terror struck because of the approach of the Israelites. SPEAKER 1 So they got that verbally without going physically. SPEAKER 2 They didn't have to go out and go and find out. Exactly. SPEAKER 1 So Lena, there was two spies and as Mahesh just said, they've gone to Rahab's house. Why do you think they went straight to Rahab's house? Why not somewhere else? SPEAKER 3 Well, that's very interesting, but I think that was divine and we can see this was God's grace in action. So, you know, the residents of Jericho had this decadent and corrupt culture and probably Rahab also lived a similar sort of lifestyle as we could imagine there and bought God in her heart and he was able to see her heart and the faith that she had. So basically, you know, God used whatever Rahab had, whatever faith she had, whatever good she had. So that's the amazing part. And also, and God, because of that reason, God directed the two spies to her very house so that, you know, God actually gave her chance to get to know God and to declare God and, you know, so that she could belong to God. So that's amazing if we, you know. SPEAKER 2 It was really a divine appointment, wasn't it? SPEAKER 3 Yeah. SPEAKER 2 And I really am quite convinced God does that to believe brings people across our pathway just like that. And just when these people need it. So I can see God moving and directing them there. SPEAKER 1 In the New Testament, Luke 19:10 says, Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Well, here we have in the Old Testament an example of God sending the spies to seek and save a person who had faith and send them straight to their house. Out of all the people, he read her heart and said there wasn't a. SPEAKER 2 Lot of faith either. But it was faith that was the point. SPEAKER 1 God respected the faith that she had. SPEAKER 3 Yeah. SPEAKER 1 So Mike, what was Rahab's response to the king? SPEAKER 2 Okay, so Rahab is in a corner now because it's known that she's. That these people, these two spies have gone to her house. And so she's in trouble. So her response to the king is rather interesting. She actually lies to the king or the King's rep. Verse 4 says the woman took the two men, hid them and she said, yes, these men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. And it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out. Where the men went, I don't know. Pursue them quickly, you may overtake them. So she was lying to protect them and herself? SPEAKER 1 Actually, yeah. Look, many people are troubled with this fact that she lied to protect the spies. So Lena, how do we account for the fact that God's sort of allowing this lie? SPEAKER 3 Yes, to a Christian lying is sin and cannot be justified. But a person like Rahab, she was the product of this, you know, corrupt already we discussed corrupt, sinful and pagan culture. But she had enough faith. We already discussed that. You know, she believed that, you know, the two spies were sent, you know, by God. And so basically she chose to save the spies by lying. And. But God accepted her faith and actions and you know, if she had had enough faith, she would have asked God for help. Right. But she didn't. Her faith was little at this point. So when, you know, people come to God and just God accepts them where they are at, but they must grow in grace. SPEAKER 2 So. SPEAKER 3 And once we know sin and there's no excuse, we must repent from it and stay away from it. So we can find this Acts chapter 17, verse 30 here, very well known by verse. Truly these times of ignorance got overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent. SPEAKER 1 So God sort of winked at this. Yeah, this lie because it may have been okay, no culture, we don't know. But as she grew in grace, she'd know that not to do that in the future. So it says in verse seven that she went and hid them on the roof. Mike, you mentioned earlier that she sort of despised, sort of did do their work. What actually, actually happened? Hiding on the roof. She went and spoke to them. What did the spies say? SPEAKER 2 Okay, Julie, it's a very interesting discussion. Chapter two, verse nine to start with. And she says to the spies, I know that the Lord has given you the land. The terror of you has fallen on us. And all the inhabitants of the land are faint hearted because of you. And then we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt. That's interesting. So they all know, all the nations around, they knew what happened back in Egypt 40 years ago. And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. So. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. So they are, she is telling them rather everything they needed to know, that the people of the land are scared stiff about the approach of the people. SPEAKER 1 Of Israel because not only would she have, they knew about the Red Sea, they would have known this vast multitude of people would have been supported in the wilderness with manna, food, miraculously, and water. SPEAKER 2 That's right. SPEAKER 1 And then these, these two kings that were wiped out with their people, they were fierce people. SPEAKER 2 Yeah. SPEAKER 1 So yeah, they were, they were quite terrified. Quite terrified. SPEAKER 3 Yeah. SPEAKER 1 Lina, what was the significance of that? What Rahab told the spies? What's the significance? SPEAKER 3 Yeah, we are, we've been discussing this. You know, the inhabitants of Jericho were scared and actually terrified, and they knew that their judgment day was coming right at the corner, and also they would be destroyed by the Israelites. So this was the great encouragement that the spies actually had to tell, report back to Joshua that God was with them and God would actually deliver land in the hands of them. So we can find these verse in Joshua chapter 2, verse 24. Here he says, and they said to Joshua, truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint hearted because of us. SPEAKER 1 And that's what Joshua needed to hear. SPEAKER 2 Yeah, he did. SPEAKER 1 So, Mike, what was the agreement that Rahab struck with the spies? SPEAKER 2 Okay, and this was a fair agreement. She starts off, this is Joshua chapter 2, verse 12. And she starts off by saying, look, since I've shown you kindness, protected you, will you also show kindness to my father's house? So verse 13, he says, spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And so the men answered her very interestingly, our lives for yours, life for life. If none of you tell this business of ours, and it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, we will deal kindly and truly with you. So that was the arrangement, and it was a good arrangement. SPEAKER 1 It's interesting that Rahab's house has a sort of analogy towards Noah's Ark, because if all those who had faith in what Rahab said went into her house. SPEAKER 2 Good point. SPEAKER 1 They had, they had this protection in the house, but if they went outside, the elements would get them. SPEAKER 2 Yeah. SPEAKER 1 So again, there's God's grace. All those had faith. SPEAKER 2 Yeah, that's true. SPEAKER 1 They had to believe Rahab and go into the house or they had to. SPEAKER 2 Act, didn't they act out their faith, what faith they had? SPEAKER 1 That's correct. Lena, a question for you. Just comparing the spies, the two spies versus the 12 spies. What are some of the similarities and differences we see between what happened 40 years earlier with the spies and what happened with these two? SPEAKER 3 Yeah, so the 10 spies out of 12 spies and did not have trust in God and despite the fact that they actually had seen the land. Right. And the 12 spies reported back to Joshua. But the two spies, on the other hand, they had not seen the land. All they heard, you know, was, you know, the thing that from the Canaanite harlot Rahab, that, you know, people were inhabitants of Jericho were terrified. And also the two spies only reported back to Joshua rather than to all the people. And the biggest difference is that the two spies had fight in God, that God was with them truly, and God would actually deliver the land in the hands of them. SPEAKER 1 They had that faith. What they heard from Rahab, from one person. Now, Rahab and her family were saved. We're going to pick that up in Joshua chapter 6 in verse 23, and it says, and the young men that were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brethren and. And all that she had, and they bought out all her kindred and left them without the camp of Israel. I can imagine her house was pretty packed full of people and there must have been a miracle that her house didn't collapse when all the walls collapsed. True, but they were certainly saved. And God rewarded that faith, which is amazing. SPEAKER 2 It did. It was a great event, actually. SPEAKER 1 It was a fantastic event. Let's move on now to the story of the Gibeonites might have. Who were the Gibeonites? SPEAKER 2 Okay. The Gibeonites were amongst the people of the Hivites, of which we know very little. Bible is quiet on the matter. But they lived on a hill called Gibeon, and hence their name, Gibeonites. And it's rather interesting, Gibeon or the Gibeonites, lived about 25 kilometers only from Jericho, where this is all happening. So it's not surprising that. That they felt as though they were next on the list. And so they're desperate and they come to seek out the leaders of Israel to see what can be done. SPEAKER 1 Yeah, we know that they'd seen the destruction of Jericho and AI for that matter. And they also could see that the people, the canines around them, had formed this confederacy. SPEAKER 2 Yes. SPEAKER 1 So what did they actually do, Lena? What did the Gibeonites do? SPEAKER 3 Yeah, so because of that, you know, they actually were terrified and they believed that they would be the next to be destroyed. So. But rather than, you know, joining the confederacy and they decided to make covenant with the Israelites and. But you know, they pretended that they were coming from a far, far country, not, you know, from Canaan. And so we can see this Joshua, chapter nine, verses three and four. But when the inhabitants Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and AI, they worked craftily and went and pretended to be ambassadors and they took old sacks on their donkeys and old wineskins torn and mended. SPEAKER 1 So they gave the impression that they were from a far distance. SPEAKER 3 Yep. SPEAKER 1 Okay, what's the. Mike, what does Joshua do? He's got these people come along, they've got all this old look like they've been travelling for ages. What did you do? SPEAKER 2 All battered and several days growth and so on. Yes, in chapter nine of Joshua, still, verse 14 it says the men of Israel took some of their provisions, that is, they took them as specimens. This shows that they're from a long distance. Right, the old battered gear they were carrying. But they did not ask counsel of the Lord as specifically says that. And that's where they made their big mistake. They thought this was an easy one to deal with. So Joshua made peace with them, verse 15 says, and he made a covenant with them to let them live. And the rulers of the congregation swore to them, that is, they made an oath that they would not let anything happen to them and would look after them. And so this went on apparently for three days. And verse 16 says it happened at the end of three days after they'd made a covenant with them, an agreement that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them just a few kilometers away and there were some red faces and they didn't know what to do with it to begin with. SPEAKER 1 Obviously it would have been quite a shock when they discovered that they were people from just down the road. SPEAKER 2 Yeah. SPEAKER 1 Absolutely, from this account. Lena, is there a lesson for us today in all this? SPEAKER 3 Yeah, sure. Mike already touched on this briefly. Joshua should have inquired for the will of the Lord and then avoided the deception of the Gibeonites. So it's a great lesson for us today too because we are to put our big decisions in the hands of the Lord. So we can see this in Proverbs chapter 6, verse, chapter 3, verse 6, well known Bible text. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. SPEAKER 2 Yeah, okay. In other words, we're to take all things to God. SPEAKER 1 Yeah, right. SPEAKER 2 God wants us to just take everything to him in prayer. I'm going to read Philippians 4, verse 6 about this, which says, be anxious for nothing, stop worrying. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And if you do that, the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. It's a real peace in committing a matter to God that's too big for us. Not only that, the little things as well. And this was the mistake that they made. They thought this was a small matter and we can get so busy about solving our own problem that we forget to pray. And that's what the. SPEAKER 1 Yeah, yeah. They just ran straight into solving the problem on their own without asking any divine help. And God could have obviously shown what that was. Now, they had a bit of a problem here because Joshua could not. They couldn't destroy them because they'd actually sworn an oath to protect them. This was part of the covenant they'd form with them, so they couldn't destroy them along with the other canines. So, Lena, what. How did they get around this? What did they do? SPEAKER 2 Well, they. I'll care for this if you like on that one. It's just so interesting what. What actually happened. If you check. Look at chapter nine of Joshua. And let's see, verse 11. When they. When the Gibeonites first approached the Israelites, the. That they said this, the last part of verse 11. We are your servants now, therefore make a covenant with us. Well, that was interesting. So they kind of, in a sense, supplied their own sentence here. And so the result of that was in chapter nine, still in verse 20. Over the page for me. The decision was made. This was the decision. Verse 20. This we will do to them. We'll let them live, the Gibbonites, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them. And the rulers said to them, let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them, that is their own rulers that said, we are your servants. So as they said, so it would be done. SPEAKER 1 And I'd imagine that's. With a vast number of people being woodcutters and water bearers. That was a lot of work. It was a lot of work for the servants. SPEAKER 2 They were just glad to be alive, apparently. Yeah. SPEAKER 1 Now, Lena, just a quick one for you. SPEAKER 3 Yep. SPEAKER 1 Do you think There would have been a different outcome had the Gibeonites said who they were. SPEAKER 3 We don't know for sure, but one thing that we are sure is that God is gracious. So God does not want to punish sinners, but, you know, want to see them repent and, you know, give them mercy. So we can find this in Ezekiel, chapter 18, verse 23 here. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? Well, God honored, you know, the decision of the Gibeonites and, you know, because rather than, you know, rebellion, they wanted to have peace and, you know, make peace with the Israelites. God actually accepted their willingness and, you know, the Gibeonites accept, actually were happy to give up idolatry and find out the true God. SPEAKER 1 Yeah, he honoured their faith. That's right. So, Mike, what are the similarities between the story of Rahab and the Gibeonites? SPEAKER 2 They indulged in God's grace to start with, and that was a marvelous thing. But both the Gibeonites and Rahab, they'd heard of the amazing miracles associated with the experience of Israel, and they believed in the supremacy of Yahweh, of the God of Israel. Both of them wanted to be saved. Right? They wanted to preserve their lives and their families. And so they wanted. And they knew that required surrender to Israel, and so they did that. And so they went ahead and they were indeed saved and became part of Israel. So there's grace at work. SPEAKER 1 There was grace because all the people around them, they didn't. They. SPEAKER 2 No, that's. That's the other thing, isn't it? They were opposed to Selina. SPEAKER 1 Quickly, what are some of the differences? SPEAKER 3 Although they both lies, you know, in their dealings with the Israelites, but, you know, Rahab lied to save the spies, but Gibeonites lied to actually save themselves. And. But Rahab, you know, actually we can see her name, you know, as the mother in law of Ruth and the great, great grandmother of King David. But the Gibeonites remember as just servants, like woodcutters and, you know, water carriers to Israel. SPEAKER 1 But the key point is that God preserved their life. And God's out to save people, not to destroy people. SPEAKER 2 Yeah, that was the point. It was a grace. SPEAKER 1 And that's what we've got time for. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, Lena. Well, God demonstrates his grace from Genesis to Revelation, and we read in Ephesians 2, verse 8, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of of God. If you don't know God or have wandered away from him, accept the gift of eternal salvation. Ask him to come in and lead your life. We're glad you joined us on Let God Speak and Remember. All past programs plus teacher's notes are available on our website, 3abnaustralia.org.au and you can email us on [email protected]. Tell your friends about our program and we encourage you to read the Book of Joshua. See you next time. God bless. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.