CWC Lent 1 - Old Testament Lesson Alt -- Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Joshua 6:16- 19, 7:13-26
{6:16}[Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. (this means that everything was given over to the LORD often by totally destroying them) 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
{7:13}This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel.14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’ 16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.
Examples of redefining God
We are tempted to redefine God
I. He isn’t all knowing
A. Text
1. Jericho
2. Commands
3. Checked out people
4. What does his action say?
B. Us
1. Do your job
2. Don’t be dishonest
3. Dishonest on job
4. What does action say?
C. Jesus
1. Temptation #1
2. Jesus example & substitute
II. He isn’t most important
A. Text
1. Achan’s actions
2. What does his action say
B. Us
1. Topic of conversation with friend
2. Read your Meditation booklet or not
3. Honor teacher or not
4.Take care of body or not
5. Have sex or not
6. Use resources to love or not
7. Speak the truth or not
C. Jesus
1. Jesus temptation #2
2. Jesus example and substitute
III. He doesn’t punish sin
A. Text
1. Threat and fulfillment
2. What does his action say
B. Us
1. People’s redefinition of God’s forgiveness
2. God still demands perfection; threatens punishment
3. What do our words and actions say
C. Jesus
1. Temptation #3 - you can do whatever you want
2. Jesus example and substitute
IA1 Joshua had led the people of Israel into Palestine. Jericho was a fortified city standing in opposition to Israel’s conquest of the land. Israel marched around the city once a day. On the seventh day they marched around it seven times with the priest blowing on the rams’ horns. Then all the people shouted and the wall of the city fell down.
2 {6:16}[Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. (this means that everything was given over to the LORD often by totally destroying them) 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
3 Some time later. {7:13}This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel.14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’” Achan was chosen.22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.
4 What did Achan’s action say about his God? His God wasn’t going to know it, if he took the devoted things. Is that true? No. Achan had redefined the all-knowing God. That is sin.
B1 When you go to work, what are you supposed to do? Do your job. For how long? For as long as you are going to get paid. When you go to school, what are you supposed to do? Your schoolwork. When you go to Catechism class, what are you supposed to have done with the Bible verses? Memorize them.
2 What is God’s command? To be truthful and honest.
3 You don’t do what you are supposed to do at work for as long as you are supposed to do it. But you get paid for doing your job for the expected duration. Or. You don’t read the book at home and you make up your book report from the movie you saw based on the book. Or. You write the Bible passages on the back of your hand and you read them instead of reciting them.
4 What do your actions say about your God? Your God isn’t going to know it. Is that true. No. You have just redefined the all-knowing God. That is sin.
C1 Jesus in the Gospel lesson was tempted by the devil to make the stones into bread. Jesus was very hungry. He needed food. What was the real temptation? To not trust that God would take care of him. What would Jesus’ actions have been saying, if He would have made the stones into bread? Wouldn’t they have been saying, “My God doesn’t know that I need bread”?
2 Jesus quoted the Bible and withstood Satan’s temptation. He was saying, “God is the One who takes care of our physical life.” Is that true? Yes. Jesus didn’t cave into the temptation to redefine the all-knowing God. Why was He doing that? Not just to show us that we can withstand Satan’s temptations by quoting the Bible. Although that is important. He did that as our Substitute. So He could take His conquest of the temptations of Satan and apply it to us. Or to state it from the positive side. To take His perfect keeping of God’s commands and apply it to us. That’s what makes us right with God.
IIA1 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
2 Achan had a clear command of God. {6: 18) But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Achan evaluated what he saw: {7:21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of
silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. What did his actions say about God? This earthly stuff was more important than God. Is that true? No. Achan had defined God as not so important. That is sin.
B1 You regularly have conversations with your friend. You talk about sports, your professions, your relationships with other humans, and a variety of other topics. Or, you regularly talk about Jesus and sneak in mention of forgiveness and eternal life when you can. Our words define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.
2 You daily take five minutes to read the www.whataboutJesus devotion that comes to your computer. Or you daily take five minutes to read the daily page in the Meditations booklet. Or you read a chapter in Bible every day. Or your life is so filled that you just don’t have time to do any of the above. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.
3 You respectfully are quiet in the classroom because you are thankful that God has given you a teacher who works hard at training your brain. Or you are noisy and fail to pay attention most of the time. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.
4 You try to eat, drink, exercise and rest appropriately because you are so thankful to God for the wonderful body which He has given to you. Or you fill your body with dangerous and destructive things. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.
5 We have sex with our neighbor’s husband or we say with Joseph “How can I do such a wicked thing as sin against God?” Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.
6 We use our money to bring the Gospel to others and to take care of the needs of others because God has given us the Gospel and takes care of our needs. Or we expend all our resources on ourselves. Our actions define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.
7 We speak the truth because we want other people to get the truth about Jesus from us. Or we use our words to take advantage of others. Our words define God as most important or redefine Him as not so important.
C1 Jesus in the Gospel lesson was tempted to bow down to Satan. What was the real temptation? To consider everything in the world to be more important than the LORD.
2 Jesus quoted the Bible and withstood Satan’s temptation. He was saying, “God is the most important.” Is that true? Yes. Jesus didn’t cave into the temptation to redefine the importance of God. Why was He doing that? Not just to show us that we can withstand Satan’s temptations by quoting the Bible. Although that is important. He did that as our Substitute. So He could take His conquest of the temptations of Satan and apply it to us. Or to state it from the positive side. To take His perfect keeping of God’s commands and apply it to us. That’s what makes us right with God.
IIIA1 {6:18} But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. God’s threat to punish was pretty clear. {7:22} So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. God’s action carried out his threat.
2 What did Achan’s actions say about God? God won’t punish me if I do this. Is that true? No. Achan had defined God. That is sin.
B1 When you hear most people in the western world, which has its roots in Christianity, talk about god, you get the correct message that He is a god of forgiveness and love. That is true. God forgives the whole world by washing away its sins in the blood of Jesus. He loves the world so much that He covers it with the holiness of Jesus. However, their description of god implies that he doesn’t care if people sin. He just overlooks it. He doesn’t punish anyone. That redefines God.
2 God still demands holiness. If I refuse to believe that Jesus is my Savior, then my sins are not washed away and I am not covered with holiness, and then God has to carry out His just and threatened punishment. If I refuse to acknowledge that I need Jesus’ forgiveness for my sins by insisting on continuing to do them, which implies I don’t really think they are sin, then God has to carry out His just and threatened punishment.
3 If I continue to get paid for what I really didn’t do, continue to turn in dishonest book reports, continue to read my memory verses, continue to refuse to bring the Gospel to people who need it, continue to not use the Bible, continue to be disruptive in the classroom, continue to damage my body, continue to be involved in sinful sexual practice, continue to refuse to use my money to love others, and continue to assault people with my words, what are my words and actions saying? Aren’t they saying, “God doesn’t punish sin.” Is that true? No. You have redefined God as one who doesn’t punish sin.
C1 Jesus in the Gospel lesson was tempted to jump off the temple. What was the real temptation? To do any kind of action you want and insist that God will continue to love you and protect you no matter what you do.
2 Jesus quoted the Bible and withstood Satan’s temptation. He was saying, “God has standards of actions that He insists on for people. Breaking those standards has consequences.” Is that true? Yes. Jesus didn’t cave into the temptation to redefine God. Why was He doing that? Not just to show us that we can withstand Satan’s temptations by quoting the Bible. Although that is important. He did that as our Substitute. So He could take His conquest of the temptations of Satan and apply it to us. Or to state it from the positive side. To take His perfect keeping of God’s commands and apply it to us. That’s what makes us right with God.
Prayer: LORD Jesus, thank You for conquering Satan’s temptations for me, covering me with your holiness. Please empower me to conquer Satan’s temptations so that my words and actions don’t disrupt my relationship with You.