I recently taught/preached a series of Lessons/ Sermons on a paragraph in Ephesians, the material about our wearing “the whole armour of God.”

Today’s Text from Joshua also blends so well into Paul’s advice there, Ephesians 6:10-18.

Joshua is about to lead the Jews into battle. Their first encounter, the formidable city of Jericho! A little army taking on a huge metropolis!

But just prior (only a few days) to the engagement, Joshua 5:13-15 tells us of an event. An (I believe) Old Testament, pre-incarnate Appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ!

“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? 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? 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.”

Wow!

What a “militant” setting!

Jesus (the Prince of Peace) also being the CAPTIAN OF THE LORD’S ARMY! (Yes, “host” literally means “army” or “armies!)

And what an “encouraging” scene too, for Joshua! Soon to lead Israel into battle, primarily armed with the promises of God!

Yes, this is God, no doubt. God the Son … due to the fact that He accepts worship from a human being. No mere angel would have ever done that!

I’m wondering today …

When WE face trials and hardships and spiritual conflicts … can we claim His Presence? That of This Great Captain?

Hebrews 13:5 … “He (Jesus) hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Matthew 28:20 … “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Jesus being the Speaker!

2nd Corinthians 10:4 … “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” Wow!

Ephesians 6:14-17 … “Having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Did you notice? Truth, Righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, Faith, Salvation, and the Word of God … this is simply a way of restating JESUS, JESUS, JESUS!

Yes, He is with us.

Yes, He is still Captain.

Yes, there is victory in Him!

No wonder Paul avers … “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

Amen.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

For those of you who want to study more … compile a list of all the times Jesus appeared in the Old Testament, long before his Virgin Birth at Bethlehem!

 

 

 

It’s another miracle!

Performed, maybe “worked” is a better verb, by our great God!

The Jews, under Joshua’s leadership, were ready to cross the River Jordan and enter the Promised Land. And just like God “parted” the waters of the Red Sea for them to escape Egypt … He did it again! Except this time He parted the waters of the Jordan River, leaving the wilderness behind!

A River that was overflowing, in fact, out of its banks!

And once the transit was completed, God had the people collect “12 stones” (each retrieved from the middle of the temporarily “dry” river bed). Large stones, apparently, to be carried on the shoulders of 12 strong men! And these were (under command of God) piled in the middle of Israel’s first “other-side-of-Jordan” encampment, a place named Gilgal.

12 stones?

Yes, for a reason, too.

God explains to Joshua, and to us.

“And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And those TWELVE STONES, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, WHAT MEAN THESE STONES? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.” Joshua 4:19-22

A collection of rocks, God’s Idea, as a reminder of this great episode of Grace and Mercy and Deliverance … from the Hand of the Almighty!

“Object Lessons” … we might call them.

So that when others ask “What does this mean?” we can answer … with specificity, our loving Heavenly Father in His Power and Wisdom did such and such, another act of His great Faithfulness!

Examples?

Grandma’s Bible, the one from which she read and studied and memorized all those years!

That picture frame enclosing a favorite Scripture Verse of some giant in the faith! (My Mom had one, displaying one of her favorite verses, Isaiah 26:3.)

Even the pulpit of some great preacher of yesteryear! (I personally have seen two of these, gleaning further determination to stay true to the Word of God, to my calling in life.)

Maybe even the baptistry where new believers follow Christ into the “watery grave.” A picture of Jesus’ Death and Burial and Resurrection!

I’ve even known a few adventuresome Christians to travel to some out-of-the-way place where great Revival once occurred, praying for some specific need in their lives, their family’s life! Or asking God to “do it again” in America!

I’ve even ridden through once strong-in-the-faith college campuses, pleading for God to rise up another institution to stand boldly for the Word of God!

The possibilities are limitless!

What mean these “stones,” or anything else of spiritual “significance?”

Yes … use the young folk’s curiosity to teach them about our great, powerful God in Heaven!

“Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.”

Praise the Lord!

Dear readers here today, this Lesson can be practiced … by us all.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Today I am placing several photos of last Saturday’s 4 hour Bible Class (Ephesians 6:10-18, the Whole Armour of God Paragraph) on the “Standing with the Bagwell’s” Page. Intensive Study of God’s Word, I love the idea.

 

 

A promise … from God to Joshua!

Unusual as it is, the Lord fulfilled it too!

Still is doing so, really!

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I BEGIN TO MAGNIFY thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.” Joshua 1:7

The Lord solidified Joshua’s leadership position among the Jews!

God magnifying a man?

Read it again please, “This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel.”

Wow!

The verb “magnify” is “gadal,” meaning “to make great!” Also having the idea “to grow up, to nourish up.” In a continuous action sense, daily God will do this for Joshua! The verb is framed in the Piel stem as well, indicating intense action on God’s Part!

And come to think of it … Joshua did NOT face the rebellion and anarchy and insurrection that Moses (often) did! God indeed so “magnified” him!

But the verb “begin” is interesting as well. It is spelled “chalal” in Hebrew and clearly means “begin” 52 times in the King James Version. But it occurs 141 times in the Bible! And most of those times it is translated in ways like this: “break, wound,” and related terms, some even stronger!

Lesson?

Maybe God makes us “great” by humiliating us! By showing us often we are mere clay, dirt, housing the precious substance of the Grace of God!

Wow!

Still, Joshua had the Word of God on it. “That they (the Israelites and other peoples of the world) may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.”

The preposition “with” is powerful!

Spelled “im” in Hebrew, it means “in fellowship and companionship!”

With Almighty God!

I don’t know if I’ve ever written a 3 “Wow” Lesson or not …

But here goes … Wow!

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.”

I stand amazed!

Now I’m remembering Psalm 75:6-7. “For PROMOTION cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and SETTETH UP another.”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Really I sit amazed, in front of a keyboard on a cold Tuesday morning in January, 2017. A text or two today, concerning the Lesson, might be encouraging! At 770-844-7627, my cell number.

 

 

I am not advocating a system of “works” today. I am not saying that a man can be “right” with God via moral living, or whatever. Salvation is given by “Grace,” a freely bestowed and eternal state of right standing before Almighty God.

But still I’d like to use Joshua 3:5 as our Text for the Bible Study this morning. It contains a vital truth about God’s dealings with His people, after they have been saved.

“And Joshua said unto the people, SANCTIFY yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do WONDERS among you.”

Wow!

I am sitting here thinking … perhaps one of the reasons why we no longer see many of God’s “wonders” among us, is that we no longer properly “sanctify” ourselves!

The verb “sanctify” here translates the Hebrew word “qadash,” literally meaning “to prepare, dedicate, consecrate” or even “to set apart” oneself! And it’s an imperative here, a clear and direct command from God to the Israelites!

If God is going to do those mighty wonders … the Jews must prepare themselves, clear all known sin out of their lives!

God even gives them a day’s notice … as if we followers of the Lord should need to be told to live right! What a kind, loving God He is!

And if Israel does so clean herself … God will do what?

“Wonder,” simply spelled “pala” in Hebrew, is translated “hard” things five times in the Bible, but “marvelous” many times more! In fact, twice the word suggests a “performance!” God, if you will allow me to say it reverently, “putting on a show!” To His Glory!

Wow again!

Lesson is over for today.

There may be exceptions to the rule, but here it is in the Bible. The more holy (more godly, more purely) I conduct myself … God is then more apt to do those wondrous acts around me, before me, for me.

And this was true in Joshua’s time even of a Nation!

Amazing!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

What a story!

And factual to the core, having literally occurred!

Really all of Joshua chapter 2 reads like a classic “spy” novel, except it is instead non-fiction, the absolute truth!

Here’s its first verse, number one of twenty-four: “And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim TWO MEN to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named RAHAB, and lodged there.”

Where did Joshua learn to send “spies” like this?

From Moses. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search (spy) the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.” Numbers 13:1-2

No doubt Joshua was a good learner!

Furthermore … Joshua’s spies had a plan.

They would locate and use a “house” somewhere in the City Jericho … as a base of operations for their covert mission. But HOW they chose the place is not recorded for us!

Yet God, surely, had gone before them, preparing their way!

Their hostess (a harlot named Rahab) already had been “touched” with a holy fear of the Almighty! And she was favorable to the two (likely young) Jewish boys, soldiers.

Long story short … Rahab protected the men.

And wanted for her (and her family) to be “saved” when the Jewish attack finally came!

All of which transpired, exactly as planned.

Virtually … the next thing we know of Rahab, she is married!

And a mother!

Matthew gives us the details, five hundred years later!

“And SALMON begat Booz of RAHAB; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias.”  Wow, Matthew 1:5-6.

We now know the name of Rahab’s husband. He was a Jew, as one might suspect. “Salmon,” to be precise. He and Rahab were parents to a baby they named “Boaz!” (Yes, the Greek spellings are a little different than the Hebrew, but the names are essentially the same.)

So Rahab is mother to Boaz and grandmother to Obed and great-grandmother to Jesse? Yes, clearly so. That makes her then the great-great grandmother to David, King David of Israel!

And so forth, down through the centuries until Jesus Christ is born, God’s Son!

Rahab, in the “godly line” that gave us Jesus, the humanity of God incarnate?

Yes!

What an event of Grace!

What a biography!

Truly fact is often stranger than fiction!

More beautiful, too!

Oh, one more thought, a possibility anyway.

What was Rahab’s husband’s name?

I remember, we just learned it … Salmon.

I’ve wondered for years … at least it is imaginable … Salmon well could have been one of the very spies (there were two of them, you recall) who first came to Rahab and offered her the marvelous Grace of God! Whom Rahab protected, at great risk!

Is Joshua 2:1 a love story, or the start of one?

Was it maybe “love at first sight?”

If so, no wonder Rahab was so impassioned in her desire to save the spies, no matter what it might have personally cost her!

And if things happened that way, God has once again shown His sweet Mercy and ingenious Wisdom in the lives of us human beings!

We used to put it this way, when I was a boy:

Rahab + Salmon!

And if that be the case, the equation fully reads …

Rahab + Salmon = Boaz!

And then you (we all really) know the rest of the story!

Can I prove this? 

No, certainly not the part about Salmon being one of the spies.

But the rest of the account, yes!

It’s the inspired Word of God.

But “love” got into this story somewhere!

(Wish we could have heard all the conversation between this presumably pretty gentile girl and her two guests during that whole time!)

Mercy, God is good!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Husbands, think back today to the hour God led you to the girl who is now your wife! Then thank the Lord for the “love story” you can tell!