Exodus
3:4-5 KJV And when the LORD saw that he turned
aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and
said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. (5) And he
said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Joshua 5:13-15 KJV And it came to pass, when Joshua was by
Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there
stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and
Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our
adversaries? (14) And he said, Nay; but as captain of the
host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the
earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his
servant? (15) And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto
Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou
standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Joshua
6:1-5 KJV Now Jericho was straitly shut up
because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came
in. (2) And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given
into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of
valour. (3) And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of
war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six
days. (4) And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven
trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city
seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
(5) And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast
with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the
people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall
fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight
before him.
Ephesians
6:10 MKJV Finally, my brothers, be
strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
When God spoke from the THRONE MODEL of the Ark it was from ATONEMENT
perspective.
- THRONE coupled with ATONEMENT
means something powerful.
- Why is a THRONE associated
with ATONEMENT?
- That means the words God
spoke to help Israel were allowed to be spoken all because they were
ATONED to God - reconciled to God.
- Just as in the most holy
place, God speaks to Moses that he has entered HOLY GROUND.
- And instead of the ark, the
BURNING BUSH is his origin of speech.
- And since the BURNING BUSH
was where God spoke of HIMSELF USING MOSES and delivering Israel
THROUGH MOSES, we see the ATONEMENT idea.
- God can only do something
THROUGH US if we are AT ONE WITH HIM.
- If sin separated us from Him,
then He could not use us unless that sin was removed.
- And once sin is removed, we
are vehicles for God's KINGDOM.
- And that's what God told
Moses -- He would deliver Israel, personally, by USING MOSES.
- And the burning bush not only
stood in the place of the ATONEMENT ark of the covenant, where we see a
picture of a throne of God on earth.
The branches of the burning bush show attached branches to a single
unit that does not burn out.
The emphasis of the bush not burning out right when the time God spoke
to Moses after Moses abandoned all hope of ever doing a work for God
tells us a message.
- Realize your KINGDOM UNION to
Jesus and let God teach you how He can WORK THROUGH YOU IN HIS POWER,
and you will NOT BURN OUT.
- What causes you to not be
able to take it any more is using your own power.
- And ATONEMENT is trying to
teach us that WE ARE IN UNITY WITH HIS POWER, but we just have to get a
real revelation of that.
- We have to learn to stop
using our power and burn out, and instead let His power flow through us
where we go forth in the power OF HIS MIGHT!
An angel of the Lord appears to Joshua, just like the angel of the Lord
appeared to Moses in a burning bush that would not burn out.
- There is the idea of VICTORY
OVER ENEMIES AS WARRIORS in KINGDOM UNION that God is trying to show us.
FROM THE THE MODEL OF A THRONE, FROM A BURNING BUSH REPRESENTING GOD'S
POWER ON US THAT DOES NOT BURN OUT, to a SOLDIER WITH A SWORD RAISED!
And when this ANGEL OF THE LORD SPEAKS TO JOSHUA, it is GOD SPEAKING -
not Gabriel or Michael.
Exodus
3:2 KJV And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of
fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush
burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
Exodus 3:4 KJV And when the
LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the
midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
Joshua 5:15 KJV And the
captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off
thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did
so.
God spoke to JOSHUA ON HOLY GROUND from something that shows us
something else ABOUT UNION TO KINGDOM GLORY.
- Just as speaking from THE ARK
THRONE shows a message about KINGDOM UNION TO JESUS, and the burning
bush that doesn't burn out shows how we can be used by God in God's
power and not burn out, speaking from the picture Joshua saw on holy
ground gives another clue about what Kingdom UNION does for us.
GOD SPOKE FROM A SOLDIER.
Exodus
3:4 KJV And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God
called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses.
And he said, Here am I.
And when the soldier speaks to
Joshua, IT IS AGAIN GOD SPEAKING.
Joshua 6:1-4 KJV Now Jericho
was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out,
and none came in. (2) And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I
have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the
mighty men of valour.
There is a message of UNION TO HIS KINGDOM GLORY THAT GIVES US POWER
OVER ANYTHING.
People try in THEIR might to conquer evil in this world.
- I am talking about Christians.
When the Captain answered Joshua's question as to whether or not he was
for Israel or for their enemies, the Soldier said something unexpected.
What did he mean?
- "No"?
- He meant that he was neither
FOR Israel nor FOR their enemies.
- HE WAS CAPTAIN!
- He was not someone who would
follow Joshua, nor follow the enemy and help them.
- He would LEAD JOSHUA, since
He came as CAPTAIN, not a lieutenant or corporal.
We think God is our pie in the sky and is there at our beck and call
for our situations.
- We want God to do this, or to
do that.
- No.
- He has come to LEAD US as
CAPTAIN.
They had never fought a city like this before.
- Yet God told them to go in
and possess the place.
- Imagine Joshua's thoughts.
- How will they ever do this?
- No catapults, ladders to
scale the walls with, no battering rams.
- What a dilemma.
- They only had swords, spears
and slings.
Joshua was not supposed to look at God and realize that God will join
his army and be on his side.
- The army is not Joshua's.
- It is God's.
- God does not come to join you.
- God is in control, not us.
- The battle is therefore not
Joshua's. It is God's battle because God is King.
This angel did not ask Joshua what instructions Joshua might want to
give to him.
- He came to take over.
- He did not ask for Joshua's
battle plan.
- He did not ask for Joshua's
opinion.
- Joshua was to submit to this
one and be servant, not vice versa.
- Joshua would take orders from
him.
- Joshua would ensure he
realized all leadership was in this one's hands.
Joshua received the message.
Josh
5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am
I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship,
and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
He called the CAPTAIN "LORD".
- He called himself "SERVANT".
Just as Moses ran the show and was corrected by God, Joshua had a
similar idea.
The Lord corrected him.
BOTH CORRECTIONS REGARDED THE PERSON'S MISTAKEN IDEA TO LEAD.
The last time God showed Himself on holy ground, and commanded shoes to
be removed was when He worked to deliver Israel and save them from
Egypt by the blood of the lamb.
- But this time was not
salvation from Egypt by the blood.
- This time it was victory over
the enemy after they were saved.
- Church, we need to realize
that God is not just the leader when He saves us from sin.
- But He remains leader
throughout our entire lives and leads every battle and makes all the
strategies for us to follow.
- HE IS AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF
OUR FAITH!
Moses saw UNION.
- It's what saves us!
- And Joshua sees POWER OVER
ENEMIES WITH UNION after salvation.
And it involved the ARK, the SYMBOL OF UNION by ATONEMENT.
If we could ever really grasp the blessings of ATONEMENT.
Both these men came to this holy ground and removed their shoes after a
FORTY YEARS PERIOD.
Moses was forty years in the desert after.
Acts
7:22 KJV And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
Acts 7:29-30 KJV Then fled
Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where
he begat two sons. (30) And when forty years were expired,
there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the
Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
Numbers 14:33-34 KJV And your
children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your
whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
(34) After the number of the days in which ye searched the land,
even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities,
even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
Joshua 5:6 KJV For the
children of Israel walked forty 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 sware
that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their
fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
And this is the chapter where the Captain of the Lord's host came to
Joshua.
Forty years is a generation in the bible.
- A whole life.
- The part of us that wants to
do its own thing must die.
- This LIFE must go.
- And there is a YOUNGER life
inside us, that was only born since the day we were saved, and the
older part of us that was born on our birthday is a great hindrance.
- But it is as though that
older part is dead and out of the way now when we fully yield to God
and allow Him to run the show.
God waited forty years for the time Moses could be correctly used of
God.
Forty years before Joshua met this soldier, Israel was supposed to
enter the land, but THEY DID NOT HAVE THE REVELATION OF ATONEMENT UNION.
Like Moses, they only thought of their own strength.
Moses thought it would work, and at least the Israelites who came to
the borders of Canaan knew their own strength would not work.
- 1. But they
went too far the other way.
- They totally gave up and said
they cannot enter the land.
Numbers
13:27-29 KJV And they told him, and said, We came unto the land
whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and
this is the fruit of it. (28) Nevertheless the people be
strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very
great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. (29)
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and
the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the
Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
Numbers 13:30-33 KJV And
Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once,
and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. (31)
But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against
the people; for they are stronger than we. (32) And they
brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the
children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to
search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all
the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
(33) And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of
the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we
were in their sight.
The ark of the covenant was right there with them.
- They said the giants are
stronger than them!
- They could not stop thinking
of their own power.
- Recall that God told Joshua
to take the ark and carry it behind seven priests who would blow
trumpets of ram's horns.
- Atonement means HIS POWER is
with us,
- 7 HORNS.
- PERFECT POWER.
But the people did nothing with the ark this day.
- It sat to the side laying
there.
- No significance.
- The SYMBOL OF KINGDOM
ATONEMENT and UNION TO THE KINGDOM was abandoned.
But Joshua had the concept!
Numbers
14:6-9 KJV And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of
Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their
clothes: (7) And they spake unto all the company of the
children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search
it, is an exceeding good land. (8) If the LORD delight in
us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which
floweth with milk and honey. (9) Only rebel not ye against
the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread
for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us:
fear them not.
They distinctly feared WALLS OF THE CITY.
- And when God told Joshua the
KEY TO VICTORY, as he told MOSES THE KEY TO DELIVERING VICTORY, THE
WALLS WERE SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED.
Joshua
6:5 KJV And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long
blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet,
all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city
shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight
before him.
Later when they carried the ark on their shoulders, they were
signifying that BECAUSE OF UNION TO KINGDOM GLORY. GOD IS WITH US,
WE'RE ONE WITH GOD, AND IN HIS POWER THE WALLS WILL FALL.
After Israel heard from God that they would wander forty years until
they were dead, they decided to go ahead and enter rather than die.
Numbers
14:39-45 KJV And Moses told these sayings unto all the children
of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. (40) And they
rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the
mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which
the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. (41) And Moses
said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but
it shall not prosper. (42) Go not up, for the LORD is not
among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. (43)
For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye
shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD,
therefore the LORD will not be with you. (44) But they
presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the
covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
(45) Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which
dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto
Hormah.
Notice it specifically said the ARK DID NOT GO UP.
They went from thinking they could do NOTHING on their own to TRYING
EVERYTHING on their own.
Both times THEY DID NOT CONSIDER ATONEMENT UNION with GOD WORKING WITH
THEM.
Let us always realize that without
Him we can do nothing, but with Him we can do all things!