The Gibeonites' Faith and Joshua's Covenant Keeping God

Time for a new blog.  It's about time.  :))

I'm on my way through the book of Joshua this morning.  And I came to chapter 9.  I've read this chapter before, many times, but today it's not just Logos.  It's RHEMA to me.  And that is why I

need to share with my readers.

What the Lord shows me, I'd like to shout off my "roof top", or LAP-TOP in this case!

And He requires that of us.  To wash each other's feet in the water of His Word, those who have been bathed and cleansed once in the saving blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God!

Here, in Joshua ch. 9 we have the story of the Gibeonites.  They were Hivites.  Gentiles.  Canaanites given to destruction.  BUT!  They have heard that the children of Israel finally, after 40 years of wilderness, have crossed the Jordan River and were now officially in their neck of the woods.  In Canaan.  And that was SCARY news.  It meant the end of their lives!  And they made a plan to escape sure death.

In verse 24 they explain to Joshua why they had chosen this course of action:

"Because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing."

Their faith had been put into action.  And the Lord honored that faith. Faith that caused them to risk their lives by walking into the Israelites' camp and deceiving Joshua and the elders of Israel. 

Not much different than Rahab in Jericho.  She too was a Gentile.  She too had heard.  She too had believed.  She too had acted on her faith.  And it too saved her life and the lives of soooo many others.  (Not to mention, it gave her the privilege of being in the lineage of King David and ultimately of Jesus.)

I'm also reminded of the parable of the "unjust steward" that Jesus told in Luke 16:1-8.  Though Jesus calls him "unjust", yet He commands him.  Why?  Because he BELIEVED the news that he will be 

losing his job and made plans ahead, instead of "putting his head in the sand" like Noah's generation had done.  

Of course I'm also reminded of the allegorical story of "Christian", the pilgrim in John Bunyan's work entitled "The Pilgrim's Progress".  (If you have never read this best seller, second only to the Bible, I highly recommend it!)

Christian, the Pilgrim, had heard that the city where he resided, the "City of Destruction" will certainly be destroyed.  Maybe some people in the city had never heard, but most just chose to ignore it.  Not Christian. He decided to do something about it.  To leave.  To look for the "Celestial City". Despite all the "reasons" he had to stay, despite his mocking neighbors and his loving family that could not understand him and tried to keep him home, the unrest and fear in his heart were enough to make him go in search of an enduring city and escape destruction.

But then, not only did I learn a lot about FAITH from the Gibeonites, I also learned this morning lots about COVENANT!

Our God is a Covenant-Keeping God!  

Even though the Gibeonites had secured / entered the COVENANT by trickery and deceit, Ps. 15:4 applies: "He who swears to his own hurt and does not change".

Sure "all the congregation complained against the rulers" (v. 18) but the rulers said "we have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them."

Aparently the Gibeonites also knew and believed this about our God, that He's a COVENANT-Keeping God!  

(I looked up the meaning of the name "Gibeon" and I found it means "Hill Town" or "High Hill".)

Later, God honored Joshua for keeping the Covenant with the Gibeonites by helping them in the war of Joshua 10:1-14 by binging about a day like no other, when the sun "stood still in the midst of heaven" (v13).  

Not so with King Saul years later.  He did not think a Covenant was worth honoring, therefore dishonored God!

2 Samuel 21:1-14 God sends a famine of three years in the land of Israel as a result of Saul having ignored the Covenant and having killed Gibeonites.  God only heeded the prayer for the land after seven of Saul's "sons" had been punished and killed by the Gibeonites.  (When a man chooses to ignore Covenant, his sons, his descendants pay for it.  Good time to pause and THINK, beloved!)

Interesting enough, approximately 1,285 years later, we find a young King Solomon in 1 Kings 3:4-6 sacrificing to the Lord in Gibea, and it was THERE the Lord gave Solomon a "blank check" and Solomon asked for wisdom.  He must have already been wiser than most to ask for WISDOM!

Beloved, without faith it's impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Let's also remember to keep and honor Covenant.

Our God is a Covenant-Keeping God.

And while we honor our Covenant, God will honor us.  He will be on our side and show us great miracles.  He still specializes in miracles!

At the same time, let's learn from Joshua's HUGE mistake.  It's in verse 14 of Joshua 9:

"Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD."

They trusted their senses.  Trusted their instincts.  When we think we know it all, we will not inquire of the Lord.  And we will miss out!  Proverbs 2:6 says "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

He is waiting for us to ask!  And the greatest thing we can ask for is WISDOM.

But, if we entered a Covenant, even if we were deceived into it, God expects us to keep it!

He's a Covenant-Keeping God that can only be reached by faith!  Faith in His Son Jesus that He sent to the cross for us.  And He intends to keep the Covenant that was signed there by His precious blood!

In His Grace,

Natalia in Idaho

Hurry Up and Rest!

Beloved, does "Hurry Up and Rest" sound like an oxymoron?
Not in God's vocabulary it does not!  

I am in the epistle to the Hebrews this morning.  Been in Hebrews for a while now.  What an awesome book!  For some reason, instead of reading Chapter 12 as I was "supposed to", I found myself back in Chapter 4.  But, since it starts with the word "Therefore", I just had to glance back into Chapter 3.  All right, now I'm going backwards!  

Isn't it awesome that no matter how we read the Word of the Lord, even backwards, it's sure to be as glorious as its Author?!

3:17 says He was angry with all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses, because they "sinned" and "did not obey".  I was wondering how did they sin, how did they not obey?
I was praying, "Lord show me, help me see what they did, that made You "angry forty years".  What makes You angry?  

And the Lord opened my eyes to see the answer right there in v. 19: "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."  (Is there a sin greater than unbelief?)

What had happened?  God had promised to take them into a land that "flows with milk and honey".  He even helped them believe by sending the twelve spies into the land to bring report of all the good things that were awaiting them.  But what did the spies do?  Ten of the twelve came back with a discouraging report.  

It's like walking into a majestic palace with glorious gardens, awesome furnishings and marvelously set tables full of delicacies waiting to be enjoyed. And being told, all this is yours.  You may enjoy them at no cost for the rest of your life.  But then, seeing a miniscule cob web in a darkened corner or some dust on a windowsill and deciding to turn all that away.  

God had made them glorious promises but all they could see were imposibilities.
And all that after they had seen the sea open and they crossed on dry land.  

What was their sin?  UNBELIEF!  

Going into Chapter 4, it tells us a similar promise remains for us:  entering His rest!  Many times in the Scriptures we're told not to fear.  But here it actually tells us to FEAR!  Fear of not entering that rest!  We're called to enter His rest!  To rest in Him.

Why is FAITH needed?  V. 2 says "the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it".  Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."  In this Romans verse, "Word" in the Greek translation is "RHEMA".  Whereas in Hebrews 4:2 the Greek translation is "LOGOS".  

So when the hearer mixes the Word (Logos) they hear with faith, what they end up getting is RHEMA!  Logos not being mixed with faith, profits the hearer nothing!  

Fear not entering His rest!  He is our Sabbath Rest!

Verse 10 says "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."

2 Peter 1:4 says we too were given "exceedingly great and precious promises".
The only way they can be claimed is by FAITH!

Lord Jesus, increase in us Faith!  Help us mix the Word we hear with faith so it will not be unprofitable to us.  Speak to our hearts Rhema, Your Word that is powerful enough to change our hearts more and more into Your image.  Help us rest in You just as You have finished the works and rested!  Thank You Father!  Amen!

Would you like to see GOD?

"Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

For months, this verse worked me!  Day and night, no matter what I'd be doing, it was at least in the back of my mind.  I could not even shake it off.  "Blessed are the pure in heart".  It was my dilemma and at the same time my prayer.  It seemed that was my part, something I had control over.  And then, the second, the one about seeing God, would be some kind of a reward.

Lord, how could I be pure in heart?  Cause I'd sure like to see You! 

Growing up I used to think "pure in heart" meant perfect, holy, blameless, sinless, spotless, blemish-free, wrinkle-free.  In the back of my mind I knew I could never achieve such perfection so the best I could do was to just pretend that verse was not there.  Besides, I thought this referred to seeing God in the next life, in heaven.

But now, for the first time I was beginning to realize that "seeing God" was not referring to seeing Him in eternity only.  It was talking about seeing Him here and now.  With the spiritual eyes of faith. I just needed to figure out how to have a "pure heart".  

I started researching, praying, listening to sermons on the beatitudes.  In a sermon that my pastor preached years ago, even before we joined the church, I heard (on an audio CD) an explanation that caught my attention.  To be pure did not mean at all what I had thought for all these decades.  

It's like a glass of water.  Pure water means it has no additives.  If I add to it a drop of milk, it's no longer pure water.  If I add to it a grain of salt or sugar, it's no longer pure.  Pure means to be of one substance.  No additions.  Only molecules of water.  

Another verse that was brought up by my pastor was Psalm 86:11 "Unite my heart to fear Your name."  It was a prayer of David.  A united heart has only one focus.  God!  

We all know what it means to have a divided heart.  A child is sick, bills need to be paid, I just got stopped for speeding, and on top of it all I have a big written exam coming up tomorrow.  We try to focus on a million things at the same time.  And maybe God is somewhere in there, too.

When we have a "united heart", we're of one substance.  We focus on the Lord as much as I focused on this verse for all those months!  Twenty-four/seven.  "Blessed are the pure in heart!"....

I was still meditating on the first half of the verse, when one night I got out of bed sometimes after midnight, to go to the living room ("Loving Room" as I now call it) to spend some time with the Lord.  Peace.  Quiet. All are sleeping, the phone is not ringing, bills can wait, even a dish in the sink is forgotten for the time being!

It's the middle of January.  I take along a blanket and I wrap it around my body.  I usually sit in the dark, on the floor with my back leaning against a sofa.  I pray in the dark till the Holy Spirit guides me to pick up the Word and read.  As I'm sliding down, neither standing nor sitting, in a split second, the Lord shows me what it's like to "see God".  Also in a split second I'm somehow protesting, "Lord, I was not yet ready for that.  I'm still trying to figure out what it means to have a pure heart".  

And then, as I sat down, the Lord showed me in detail what He'd just revealed to me in that one split second.  He showed me that when my heart is constantly searching for Him, focused on Him, longing for His presence, I will see Him in FOUR different areas in life (in no particular order).

1.  In the Word.  From Genesis to Revelation.  He's on every page.  Not only to study about Him. Not only to aquire intelectual knowledge.  But to actually see Him, to know Him, to experience Him and His intimate presence.  

2.  In nature.  When my heart is pure, united, focused on Him, I will see Jesus in nature.  All over. Sky.  Clouds.  Mountains.  Rivers.  Lakes, ocean, trees, flowers, grass.  Animals, birds, creepy crawlers.  Everything He made has His fingerprint on it!

3.  In people's faces.  Every human face.  Tall, short, skinny, heavy, sick, healthy, male, female, adult, child, young, old, rich, poor, handsome, not-so-handsome, friend, foe, stranger, aquintance, free, or prisoner.  You get my drift.  If I see Him in every person, I'm likely to treat every person as I would treat Him.

4.  And this one boggled my mind!  In circumstances.  How astonishing to think that when He's constantly at the forefront of our minds and hearts, we'll see Him in absolutely every circumstance.

Need I mention a few?  Nah!  I won't.  I'll abstain.  But you know, there are good circumstances, "bad" ones, and even neutral ones.  Of course the "bad" ones, might only be "bad" in our own opinions.  When we realize that "bad" circumstances are taylor-made by a perfectly loving God for each of us, after we allow such circumstances to bring us closer to Him, we'll inevitably admit that they were not bad afterall.  

I just finished reading through the book of Job and one verse (among many) stuck with me: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You." (Job 42:5) 

Would Job exchange places with anyone in the world at this time?  No!  Never!  Ever!  He can truly say "But now my eye sees You"!  Who would not want that?  How badly do we want it?

In reality anyone who has "tasted of the Lord", knows that this prayer is worth making more than any other:  "Lord, I trust You, I give You permission to send in my life whatever You see fit to help me to truly see You."

John 1:18 "No one has seen God at any time." 

In Exodus 33:20 God says to Moses "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."  Is it worth dying to ourselves, to our selfish desires just to "see God"?

In John 14:9 Jesus says to Philip "He who has seen Me has seen the Father".

So, the question is:  How badly do we want to see God?  No other question is as important for a human being.  Have you ever asked that of yourself?  Again, I mean with the spiritual eyes of faith. Notice Job did not say "my eye has seen You."  He says "my eye sees You." 

And with this I should draw to a close, Lord willing.  

When Jesus walked the streets of Israel, many people wanted to see Him.  Among the many that come to mind, there was a man who truly, really, badly, wanted to see the Lord.  Care to take a guess?  If you thought of Zacchaeus, good guess!  Luke 19:1-10 tells the story.  Zacchaeus was "a man"!  (And that would be more than many males are today.)  A man! (v. 2)  He was a "chief tax collector".  I'm sure that means he was good at what he was doing.  Good in the eyes of the world.

Successful!  For it further describes him as "rich".  Again, "rich" in worldly stuff.  But spiritually bankrupt.  Broke!  POOR!  A spiritual pauper.

And he had another flaw, drawback, as none of us is "perfect".  He was "of short stature". (v. 3)

But there was one grand thing about Zacchaeus.  He wanted to see Jesus.  He wanted to see Him soooo badly, Zacchaeus suddenly did not care what people thought.  Nicodemus waited for nightfall to come to Jesus, but Zacchaeus did not!  

Zacchaeus could not wait for night to come.  As far as he knew, he might never again have the opportunity.  So he did the unthinkable.  The beloved physician Luke tells us in v. 4 that Zacchaeus "ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him".  Can you picture him running?  Climbing a tree?  

I did a little research and learned that the sycamore tree in Israel is not the same as the one by that name that gows in North America.  Its fruits look like figs, but with unpleasant taste, and are eaten by the poor.  Its limbs grow low, close to the ground.

But Zaccheus took the risk.  It was well worth it to him.  He no longer cared who saw him or what the multitude would think.  

I challenge you to read the whole story in your Bible.  Suffice it to say that on that day, because Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus badly enough, his life was changed.  And his eternity.  

Is it worth seeing Jesus?

You decide.

But it does take a pure heart!  One that is constantly wanting Him badly enough to do whatever it takes to see Him.  

If you feel no such desire, there's a solution.  Ask Him for the desire.  A short heart-felt prayer like "Lord I don't feel the desire to see You.  Please give me that desire.  May it consume me day and night.  I would not want to rest till I see You."

Jeremiah 29:13 "you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

Grace to you!

Natalia in Idaho