Vengeance is mine, says the Lord . . .

 

READ Joshua 5–8

Yesterday, a Facebook ‘friend’ posted an insulting quote about Christians, our faith in God and insinuating we are fools. I wanted to tell her about the wonderful things God has done using His people. The first verse of today’s reading gave me pause:

As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. (Joshua 5:1)

God melted hearts of potential enemies. I don’t need to do it and in fact, my efforts could lead to more ridicule. God defended His people then and is still able to do that.

I also read this prayer from Scotty Smith’s book, “Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith” that reminded me my primary concern is not the unbelief and foolishness of others, but my own sinfulness. What he wrote went something like this:

Lord, there are times when I forget that I’m living in a fallen world, with a fragile heart, among people just as foolish as me. When my fellowship with You gets broken, I’m capable of acting in harmful ways. I lose perspective and love poorly. My expectations of You and of others become more connected to la-la land than to reality. I become a senseless mess. That You tolerate me in those times of frustration is extraordinary. That You still treasure me when I lose touch with gospel sanity is astonishing. When I shake my fist at You, Your grasp of grace is all the tighter. When I complain about a silent heaven, You actively, quietly guide my footsteps. When I try to ignore or run away from You, You’re just as resolved to end my journey in the full presence of your glory. The gospel really is this big and this good. Such love melts my self-centered heart. Continue the thaw. I’m not just a big loser when I am annoyed with unbelief in others, I’m also a thief — robbing others who need to hold on to You when this happens to them. Rescue me from my self-centeredness and demands for retaliation!

In Joshua’s day, the entire nation disobeyed God and wandered forty years in the wilderness until that generation died. Then Joshua led the remainder to obey. The Lord said to him, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” They were now out of that unbelieving world and its bondage. They kept the Passover and the very next day ate the produce of the land. No more manna but the fruit of this new life.

Joshua worshiped the Lord who appeared to him and said,

“See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” (Joshua 6:2–5)

I try to imagine myself in this situation. My Jericho this week is this ‘friend’ who mocks the Lord and His people. I want to blow my trumpet and flatten her walls, make her the spoil of victory, but God is not telling me to do that. Instead, I’m to circle her in prayer and let Him take care of her defenses, whatever that might mean. The victory over ridicule is not with retaliation, but with obedient trust. Joshua did that and, “The Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.” (Joshua 6:27)

It is easy to gloat when God blesses me, but that attitude is forbidden fruit, just as was the action of one person in Joshua’s army who took spoil forbidden by God. Because of this one sin, the next battle was lost. God told them, “You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” This is why I pray with Smith’s words concerning my own need of being clean before God. He will not fight for me if I am guilty of taking matters into my own hands, or even thinking about doing things my own way.

Joshua repented, listened to God and defeated that city following God’s step-by-step instructions. When the enemy was destroyed, Joshua worshiped, renewed the covenant and  reviewed God’s law before the people.

The Lord rests my heart when I deal with the guck in it first. If He wants me to do anything, His instructions will be specific like those given to Joshua. Otherwise, I need to be still and know that He is God and He will fight for me. Amen.