Victory’s Battle Cry-A Study in the book of Joshua-Part 3: Leaving All to Lead the Way
As we saw in the first two lessons from Joshua, Moses has died and Joshua has been chosen by God to lead the people into the Promised Land. So, He now prepares the people. Among the Israeli nation, there were two and a half tribes that had been given the land east of Jordan because they were the tribes that raised the livestock. They had large herds of livestock including cattle and sheep. This land had been appointed to the descendants of Reuben, Gad and half-tribe of Manasseh (descendants of Joseph) by God through Moses. This we can find by reading Deuteronomy 3: 12-22. These tribes had already been established along with their wives, their families and their herds in the land God had given them east of the Jordan River. They have known peace, prosperity and have rested from their wandering. They had no need to go across the Jordan River with the remaining tribes to claim any land. They had already arrived to their destination. Yet, Joshua has now commanded all their men that could fight to cross over to the west side of the Jordan River ahead of the remaining tribes who would enter the Promised Land west of the Jordan. Imagine this, they now must leave their wives, their children and all of their possessions behind to go in front of the remaining tribes and to lead them in battle and they are not going to possess any of that land. Once the remaining tribes have secured their land and position, these men will cross back over the Jordan to rejoin their families.
photo courtesy of istockphoto.com
Along this Christian journey, we must not become so comfortable in our current situation that we are not willing to go forward in the frontline to assist other Christians. We must not become too comfortable during our moments of great blessings that we forget our brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling. We must not get so comfortable that we forget those Christians and missionaries who must risk their life everyday for the gospel. We cannot become so complacent that we do not speak up for the truth of the gospel when it is not “politically correct” to stand for Christ.
Indeed, when Joshua called these men out to go ahead of the fellow Israelites, they essentially said; “here we are—send us. Only be strong and Courageous!”
As you read their response, ask yourself—is that what I would say? Joshua 1:” 16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.”
Let us as Christians unite in prayer and humble ourselves before God that we might go forth victorious in our lives and be always willing to put God first, even when we are asked to surrender all that we have. As was so aptly written by Abraham Lincoln on March 30,1863 when he appointed a day of fasting and prayer. Please read this as follows:
March 30, 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation:
And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:
Page 156 And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[L. S.]
Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
So, the question is: Are you willing to stand up for the gospel of Christ at whatever personal cost to You?
Can you sing “I Surrender All”
© 2014 Effie Darlene Barba
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to any brands, products or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides regarding the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”