Prophet of Conquest

March 14, 2021 Background Scripture: Joshua 5:13 – 6:27 Lesson Passage: Joshua 5:13 – 15; 6:1 – 5, 15, 16, 20 The Lord has strange ways. Isaiah was right when he said, “There is no searching His understanding.” Put another way, what God does, makes no sense—based on human logic. If I must fight and I want God to help me, my desire would be for God to make me stronger than my adversary. Oftentimes, God will do just the opposite. God may choose to weaken me and place me physically at a disadvantage with my adversary. If that were not enough, God may choose to also have me do something that is embarrassing on a human level. God chose Joshua as the prophet to replace Moses in leading Israel. God demonstrated His control over nature in temporarily drying up the Jordan River during the flood season. Israel walked from the East bank to the West bank of the Jordon River on dry ground. And it happened during the time of year when the Jordon overflowed its banks due to the flooding. This put fear in the hearts of the Canaanites who witnessed it. Now, the Canaanites first hope was the fortified city of Jericho. Jericho was constructed to be impregnable. It set upon a hill so that the soldiers inside the city had an advantage over an approaching army. It was surrounded by a high wall which was also quite thick. Thus, the soldiers could be stationed atop the walls and inflict mortal damage upon their attackers. Joshua was given the assignment of leading Israel in conquest of Jericho. Joshua sent two spies inside the city. However, nothing they learned would give an advantage to an attacking force against such a fortified city. But God had a plan that would utterly destroy Jericho. As stated previously, God’s plan made no sense from the standpoint of two human armies fighting each other; especially with one of them being inside a heavily fortified city. Israel was told to have a procession one time around the city of Jericho and then go back to their camp. The procession consisted of an armed Forward Guard, an armed Rear Guard, and in between the two, seven priests blowing horns followed by the Ark of the Covenant. They were to repeat this one encircling of Jericho for six days. On the seventh day, the procession was to march around Jericho seven times, the priests were to blow the horns on that seventh time, and all the people in the procession were to shout. After that, they would be able to walk into Jericho from any place around it and destroy the entire city. Joshua’s assignment was to lead the people to do exactly what God said to do. One must be a prophet of God for such an assignment. The indispensable requirement of the leader is a heart of obedience to God. None of the prophet’s logic was needed for the assignment. That’s the struggle we have with the flesh against the spirit. We want to use logic to derive a plan. We want to use brute force human strength to overcome our enemy. Neither of those is required for God’s plan. In fact, God’s plan purposely leaves no room for either. God does not allow human flesh to glory in His presence. Therefore, God’s plans are foolishness to the human mind. Can you imagine how embarrassing it was to be a part of that procession for six days—and the first six laps around the city on the seventh day? I’m sure by the third day they heard a lot of insults directed at them from the soldiers upon the walls. But Jericho was destroyed on that seventh day by using God’s plan and history records it. Because of its fortified walls and trained soldiers within, there were no human strategies that could have conquered Jericho at that time. God did not need an army to fight the battle of Jericho, He wanted an army to go in and collect the spoils of war after He destroyed the walls. God did not use a general to lead a conquering army against Jericho. He called a prophet to lead the Conquest. Robert C. Hudson February 13, 2021

Prophet of Deliverance

March 7, 2021 Background Scripture: Exodus 12:28 – 50; Deuteronomy 18:15 – 22 Lesson Passage: Deuteronomy 18:15 – 22 The lessons for this quarter focus on the ministry of God’s prophets. God anointed prophets to hear His voice and to speak His words. Often, those words of God described a future action, state, or warning. Sometimes prophets spoke of current events that the hearer(s) would otherwise be totally unaware of except for the word of God. The Background Scripture of today’s lesson describe the prophecy of two of the greatest prophets of God. We attribute greatness to their ministry because of the results that are accomplished by God through them. Moses and Jesus are presented today as fearless prophets of God. Their biblical history does not reflect that view of them during much of the time of their ministries. If it did, it is possible that their reputations might have elevated them to such levels that the people of the day would not have been able to relate to them. Fortunately for us, we have the benefit of some of their history as well as how history has treated their effectiveness over time. We can see how people related to them during their ministry and we can see how people have been affected by those ministries over time. Historically, the first prophet of today’s lesson’s focus is Moses, and the second prophet is Jesus. God used Moses to lead the greatest deliverance of people from the very presence of human bondage. Throughout human history, many nations have enacted emancipation proclamations to end state-sponsored human enslavement. The catch, however, is the people supposedly liberated were essentially required to remain in place after those laws. The new laws were typically manipulated to exact the same amount of “free” labor from the recently liberated, legally. They were free on paper but not much more than slaves—in reality. God used Moses to deliver a nation out of a nation. They were numbered at over six hundred thousand men capable of being a fighting army. The men who were not such, along with women and children, were not counted. It has been estimated that there were over two million people delivered and brought out of Egypt. Their emancipation was absolute. They were no longer under heads-of-state and were therefore free to decide for themselves if they wanted to remain free. That was over three thousand five hundred years ago. The magnitude of that deliverance is still amazing when considered today. The lesson passage revolves around the promise of God to send the second prophet, Jesus. The number of people God delivered through Moses seems insignificant compared to the number of people that are called to deliverance through Jesus. Moses connected Jesus’ ministry to his own in three ways. First, would be his nationality. Like Moses, Jesus would be born a Hebrew. Secondly, Jesus would be of the same order of prophets as Moses. They were both stand-alone fearless prophets not associated with a group or school of prophets. And thirdly, the scale of deliverance wrought by God through both is unparalleled. The numbered delivered through Moses was counted and is not difficult to know. The number of people delivered through Jesus is continuing to add to the total. Yes, Jesus is a prophet like Moses in many respects. And yet, Jesus is unlike any God has or ever will call to deliver His people. Christians are grateful to God that He made Jesus a prophet of deliverance. Robert C. Hudson February 13, 2021