Sermon Tone Analysis

Ever wish you could banish the bad.

All the rubbish in your life, or in the world, just do away with it.

Maybe think of situation in Ukraine, and war, and existance of evil.

Maybe look at your own life and own sin, the mistakes you keep making.

The desires you wish weren’t there.

Temptations that fed up of fighting and losing.

and wish you could change.

Bad it gets everywhere.

In here and out there.

What hope is there is a world full of such wickedness.

We long for solution.

Porblems in the world we put out trust in leaders, who let us down, or are corrupt, seeking a status above themselves.

In our own lives we try and suppress or fix problems, but find either change doesn’t last or sin creeps in elsewhere.

What we need is someone who can banish the bad out there and the bad in here forever.

Who can deal with it.

This is the God we meet in these verses.

Trust in the victory of Jesus

Look to our passage.

It’s passages like this that can get Christians into hot water.

Sometimes feel embarrassed about, as we try to defent brutal warfare.

Tempted to remove it or soften it.

Scholars debate over the extremity of the language, and some try to contextualise to say everyone in it doesn’t really mean everyone, but only the military forces.

Some try say its just record of events, not necessarily actions of God, execpt that our verses make clear that this was at the command of God and more than that he fought for Israel.

How are we to approach passages like this, Records of warfare.

Not by excusing or diminishing, but by looking at it through the right lens.

(the right lens through which to look)

Tendancy to look at passage and do away because the aren’t the sort of God we want to deal with.

Want one who is soft and sensitive, who makes us feel good about ourselves.

Way we treat passages like this often reflects the way we want God to be, rather than letting God show us what he is like.

Athiests uses passages like this to rule God our saying even if he is real, he is angry moral monster.

Liberals use passages like this to say verses don’t really mean what they say or aren’t supposed to be there.

I want us to see what these verses in context of Joshua as a whole and in context of OT show us about God.

First is a reminder of key truth.

God is Holy

God of bible first and formost is one who is Holy Set apart.

Creator and sustainor and ruler of all things.

God who made us to worship him.

Very essense of life is in a right relationship with him.

A life of worship.

In that life we were made to flourish, as he provides all that we need.

And this is what was lost when Adam and Eve first sinned, and all of bible God working to restore what was lost, without compramising himself.

As we look below the surface of the battles and the killings and the putting to the sword and the total destructiong.

We meet a God who is beating the bad.

Lanaguage used here “totally destroyed” = lit.

devoted to destruction.

It’s known as the ban.

That nothing is held back from GOD, irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

Language is not first applied to God’s enemies, but to his own people.

God brings people out of slavery in Egypt, rescues them from oppression and in justice and promises them life.

He gives law - showing how they are to live in right relationship with him and with each other, that life may thrive.

If we want to see and end of evil and corruption, need a God who is incorruptable, perfectly just, who isnt like all the other failed rulers.

Who doesn’t lash out uncontroallably or fail to act when see wrong.

So what we see in passage is not God waging war on people because of race or background but waging war on sin.

Lanaguage of totral destruction is about God reclaiming what is rightfully his.

It’s about God justly punishhing people who have rebelled against their maker - who refuse to acknowledge him as their King.

That is what God is doing with the Canaanites.

A people living outside his rule, whose sin was overfloowing.

normal cultural practices of incets, immorality of every kind, child sacrifice and war for sake of it.

Bibles lesn through which we can look at this text and see Authors true purpose.

Passages not to be embarrased about, but a celebration.

God brings victory for his people

Clearest thing writer wants to show us in this pasasge is picture of TOTAL VICTORY.

7 Armies fight, 7 armies are defeated.

Even the surprise attack from the Geezar King of Geezar who’d marched up.

These poweful rulers of nations in the land of Canaan.

Jericho, Ai, Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Hebron, Eglon, Debir.

Defeated by mighty warrior - the creator God Yahweh.

Everyone of them put to the sowrd - smitted.

Every one of them a total knockout.

This is what happes to those who go up against God.

Sooner or later they will face his wrath

But for those who have God on their side.

Victory.

certain and total and complete, because the eternal all powerful God is fighting for them.

Tone of this passage is a celebration of the creator God who is perfect in holiness and in justice cares about the problem of evil and has the power and willing to do something about.

That is the hope we need in our world, and in our own lives.

But it also brings a great tension.

How can we be on the side of victory?

Phsycial events of OT are picture of spiritual reality.

Gareth quoted last week

What lies behind the wars, the hurt, the injustice, the mess, out there and in here.

It’s battle against our sinful nature - our natural refusal to let Jesus be King and Satan.

And (as Gareth showed us last week) that is the fight we are called to, but its one we have no hope of winning on our own.

It’s one that God has already won for us in the Lord Jesus.

Writer wants reader to look back and know for certain that their warrior God will always bring victory because he has never failed.

(notice pattern, no longer compared to Jericho,, but to previous - just like before)

And for the Christian we are to do the same.

In world full of such evil, how can we be sure there will be an end.

In our own lives as we do battle with the devil, own sin firing against our desire to live for God, how where do we draw our confidence.

It’s at the Cross.

Where God’s Holiness and justice and love and grace meet.

As we see the Holy one enter into a broken world to live sinless life, bringing justice and hope.

As we see the warrior King Jesus lay down his crown to serve, and as he willingly devotes himself to destruction, facing wrath of God that was due for us.

As with mighty power of Holy Spirit he defeats death itself and crushes Satan by offering new life to those who were once enslaved by him and under his power.

If victory is won then why are we still fighting?! Striking in these verses is that language of total destruction is used, and yet we read later we find popping up the mention of a number of these Canaanite nations, and later battles bring final defeat.

This doesn’t undermind the totality of the victory.

But tells us that even in total defeat there are those who keep fighting.

One author uses example from war.

On May 10th 1940, the Nazi army invaded France.

In less that 2 months on June 22nd an armistice was signed, and the Axis powers had won a remarkable victory..