Sometimes God’s worst enemies are His own people. Joshua 5 underlines this troubling truth. To understand this, we must remind ourselves of a vital principle:
God’s words of blessing and covenant to us are sure. That is, as long as we fully agree to them, trusting God to do what He has promised.
The Israelites utterly failed to trust God. Forty years earlier, at the last moment, they got cold feet and threw away everything God intended for them.
Recall from Numbers 13-14 how twelve spies entered Canaan, their Promised Land, and ten spies reported of the Canaanites, “We are grasshoppers in their sight!” Only two, Joshua and Caleb, declared, “Trust God! He is on our side, and our victory is sure!”
The Israelites believed the ten naysayers. They came close to stoning Joshua and Caleb, groaning, “What are we doing here? LET US RETURN TO EGYPT!!” In short, they believed the Canaanites were stronger than God. They believed this even after they witnessed the ten plagues that got them out of Egypt, the Red Sea miracle and experienced God’s help in defeating the Amorites.
They displayed sheer unbelief after witnessing overwhelming evidence that God was with them.
This unbelief denied the Israelites’ entry into the Promised Land until that unfaithful generation died off (except for the faithful Joshua and Caleb). They needlessly remained homeless slaves in a trackless wilderness for 40 years, never realizing God’s promises. What a total tragedy!
By God’s grace, a new generation of Israelites arose to receive another chance. But first, they had to renounce the unbelief of their parents and grandparents before they could move forward. They had to take tangible steps (circumcision) to demonstrate they were still true covenant people of God, not infidels like their forebears. They partook the same Passover meal eaten by their parents before they left Egypt.
Only then did they cast off the spirit of Egyptian slavery that still haunted them because of their parents’ unbelief. Only then could they expect God to lead them to victory over the Canaanites. Now, the Israelites learned their lesson. Now, the captain of the Lord’s host (Jesus?) appeared, ready to assist their victory with angelic power.
Joshua 5 is both a promise and a warning to us. If God’s chosen people could fall into gross unbelief, what about us? Whatever our level of spiritual maturity, each of us is conceived in sin, easily subject to doubts and unbelief.
Unbelief takes many forms, even deceptively spiritual ones. We live in troubling, violent, times. We face personal difficulties. Do we become easily shaken by these things? Even dearly held theological convictions may result because current events appear stronger than the eternal Word of God and His personal promises to us.
We all do well to come often before God to renew our covenant with Him, even forsaking subtle forms of unbelief passed on to us by beloved parents and grandparents. We all do well to pray along with David, the man after God’s own heart, “Try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:24).
May we all renew our minds before God so that we will cling to the promises God has given us, bringing blessing to us and to multitudes in our generation. A blessed Christmas to you!
How does Christian faith resemble world religions? It doesn’t, and the Book of Joshua shows us why.
In Joshua 4, the Israelites have crossed the Jordan on dry land into the Promised Land. The priests continue to stand in the dry river bed with the Ark of the Covenant, bearing the Lord’s presence. The Lord tells Joshua to pick 12 men representing each of the 12 tribes, and command them to take up 12 stones from the river bed. They are to carry those stones to where they will lodge that night and set them down as a memorial.
In verses 21-24, we read that these stones will memorialize God’s actions:
• The day He enabled Israel to cross the Jordan on dry land into the Promised Land.
• The day He dried up the waters of the Jordan until all had crossed.
• How He enabled an earlier generation to cross the Red Sea on dry land.
The Lord required this memorial:
• To exalt Joshua’s leadership in the sight of all Israel even as they revered Moses.
• To remind future generations of Israelites how He faithfully intervened to save them.
• To proclaim to all peoples everywhere of God’s mighty hand and inspire their reverence.
The stones tangibly reminded Israelites that only God could make a way where there was no way, to lead them to a future and a hope they never could dream or reach on their own.
Many people, including those in liberal churches calling themselves “Christian,” often claim Christian faith as teachings, philosophy—and myth. But Joshua 4 reminds us that Christian faith is founded on acts of God in real time—acts to remember and cherish.
All people in the Bible from Genesis through Revelation gain their significance from God’s acts in their lives. Biblical accounts of Creation, of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses—and Joshua—all have their origins in acts of God, not of their own. So, too, of David, the prophets, and later, of Jesus Christ Himself in obedience to His Father in Heaven in His life, death and resurrection.
This historical foundation of the Bible, based upon acts of God, sets Christian faith apart from all other religions.
All other religions are teachings, philosophy and myths. One can never have a personal relationship with myths. That is possible only with a God who enters human history.
Because relationship with God is what we are made for, people within our spheres of influence will truly come to Christ only when they personally encounter God in tangible ways. Intellectual approaches alone will not persuade. Only God’s acts in and through His children set Jesus apart.
How true this is in IGO’s ministry! Our evangelists, students and many Indian believers testify of personal healings, deliverances and other encounters with God, convincing them of His authority, power and love through Jesus Christ.
Historical Bible events, centered in acts of an unchanging God, serve as templates for our own day. Our faith and stability grow when we see and hear of God’s acts in our lives and others. When we forget these things, chaos reigns (see the Book of Judges).
When Christians increasingly demonstrate that God’s acts are for today, not just for ancient times, revival and awakening will sweep the nations. That day cannot come soon enough!
The people of Israel reached their most critical hour. They failed once, wasting 40 years of wilderness wandering. Now, God had graciously granted them a second chance.
When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, they would begin to fulfill God’s promises first given to Abraham. Everything would change. They would no longer be nomads and former slaves but a nation, God’s nation.
Israel’s preparation to cross the Jordan River into Canaan (their Promised Land) models what we must also do to successfully enter God’s “Promised Lands” for our lives, families, churches and societies.
At this critical time, the Israelites had lost the only leader they ever knew—Moses—to be replaced by Joshua. Was he up to the task of leading them into their Promised Land against the wicked and formidable Canaanites? Was he truly God’s chosen leader, the man of the hour? The Israelites needed assurance of this to move forward with boldness, knowing that God Himself appointed him.
They were headed to Jericho where they needed to know that victory was inevitable over the formidable strength of the foe.
God gave them needed assurance by sending the priests with the Ark of the Covenant (and His presence) ahead of them. His very presence would open the Jordan River, backing it up for miles, allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land even as they crossed the Red Sea.
God’s promises to them would become a “done deal” depending how they cooperated with God to make it happen. This demanded that they set aside every hindrance to faith and obedience. They had to ready themselves to see God work in miraculous ways never even imagined before. It was an unprecedented hour demanding utmost confidence in God. They had to stop thinking of themselves as nomads and slaves and think of themselves as a nation.
This was the moment for which God called them. It was a holy moment demanding full commitment and a dramatic shift in self-perception. This is why Joshua told them, “Consecrate yourselves.” By doing so, they would participate in the miracles God was about to work. God didn’t tell them just what He would soon do, but He gave them the assurance they needed to advance in confidence.
In short, God did not require blind faith from the Israelites, but action based on evidence that things not yet seen would become reality. This is the essence of the faith that pleases God which we find in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the assurance [or evidence] of things not seen.”
This should encourage us as we enter new chapters in our own lives. God never requires our blind faith. When we face life’s challenges and tests of God’s promises to us, He welcomes our requests for assurance that we are on the right path to victory. He requires us to rid ourselves of strongholds. We may not know just how He will fulfill His promises, but He wants us to know we are on course.
We live in a time of unusual shaking with challenges to life, ministry and nation. But His promises still stand. Let us consecrate ourselves, put aside past habits of limited or faulty thinking and seek Him for assurances we need to trust Him as we join Him in His miracles of redemption and justice.
Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament? Some people think so. They see God’s judgment of the Canaanites as the work of a vindictive and bloodthirsty spirit.
The story of Rahab in Joshua 2 destroys that narrative. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God always looks for people He can save. He often finds uncut gemstones even in the filthiest muck. He found it in Rahab, the harlot.
At first glance, Rahab seems an unlikely candidate for God’s favor. Some people rationalize that Rahab was an innkeeper, but other references in both Old and New Testaments indicate she was indeed a prostitute. She plied her trade in the walled city of Jericho, destined for destruction by God through the Israelites.
So why would God save Rahab whose life represented the depravity that God wanted to destroy? Was it because she risked her life in helping to save two Israelite men who came to spy out the land? Was it because she recognized the sovereign power of the Israelites’ God?
Yes, but I believe there was even more: Rahab and her household were saved because she joined in the covenant of faith with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob right along with the Israelites.
When Rahab begged the two spies to save her life along with the lives of her family members, the two spies told her to hang a scarlet rope outside her window to identify her living place. The two spies vowed that the presence of the scarlet rope would save from destruction all those she gathered with her.
That scarlet rope became to Rahab and her family like the Passover Lamb became to the Israelites when God led them from Egypt to the Promised Land.
Her act of faith in God separated her and her family from the doomed people of Jericho. That scarlet rope was visible for all her people to see. Rahab acted in faith that God would faithfully save her and her family from His judgment—something she did not deserve but acted to claim for herself. Her family members acted with that same faith when they gathered with her.
Such faith and obedience were counted to Rahab and her family as righteousness just as real as the righteousness of faith that separated Abraham from his pagan society. Rahab was later entered into faith’s hall of fame (Hebrews 11:31), a woman of good works (James 2:25) who even entered the family tree of the Lamb of God Himself (Matthew 1:5).
If more of Jericho’s people had demonstrated the faith of Rahab the harlot, they, too, would have been saved. We can say that from what happened later with the cruel and wicked city of Nineveh that came under God’s judgment but repented in sackcloth and ashes and were all spared (Jonah 3).
God’s grace is greater, more inclusive and more ingenious than we know. This should give us great encouragement as we pray for wayward loved ones, nations and radical haters of the gospel who seem totally resistant and “impossible” to change.
May each of us learn to think more like God thinks so that we will pray with greater faith and expectancy for Him to work His grace in ways beyond our understanding.
The Canaanites were not ordinary enemies. Few peoples in history have matched Canaanite depravity. They comprised a body of various peoples who became so devoted to evil that God decided they must go or they would corrupt the whole human race.
They practiced every kind of twisted sexual immorality, child sacrifice and idolatry. They were proud of it. Their ethic was violence. They were physically large, abnormally strong and lived in fortified cities no one had conquered, not even the Egyptians with their mighty armies. An earlier generation of Israelites saw them and felt like grasshoppers in their sight.
The Canaanites had never been brought to account for their depravity and thought they were stronger than God. Even after they heard how God delivered the Israelites at the Red Sea, they refused to repent. Things were getting worse, not better.
For 400 years, the Canaanites tried God’s patience, but even God’s patience wore thin. He called upon the Israelites to destroy them. For their trust and obedience, the land of the Canaanites would become their own “Promised Land” forever.
By worldly standards, the Israelites were an unlikely people to do this. They were former slaves, nomadic shepherds and wilderness wanderers, not military people. But even the Israelites could conquer the Canaanites and take their “Promised Land” if they fulfilled the following conditions:
They were to be strong and of good courage. They were to be strong and courageous in God, convinced He would do exactly what He promised them because He was stronger than the enemy. They were inadequate in themselves, but they were not to fear the ferocity of the enemy because God would never desert them.
They were to observe all of the Law. They were to remember the covenant God made with Abraham and Moses. They were to obey God in everything He asked of them. They were to learn how to think as God thinks, not follow their own instincts. They were to heed all God told them, even when it did not seem to make sense. They were not to get distracted by other things but always hold the promises of God before them. Faithfulness to obey all of God’s word to them would prevent needless heartaches and setbacks.
They were to know that wherever they went, God was with them to bring success. To stand together in unity and trust God alone and not their own ways was the only sure way to success, even against a fierce and evil enemy like the Canaanites.
God’s word to the Israelites in the face of a vicious foe remain true today as we work together to take the Good News to all of India. We face many foes who defy God and are stronger than we are, with vastly more resources than we. Yet God guarantees victory as we remain strong in Him and think His thoughts. We have His promise that through us, the Great Commission will be fulfilled, and the knowledge of the glory of the God will fill India and the whole earth.
May God’s words to Joshua also encourage and strengthen you in these days as you remember His promises to you in the midst of your own challenges from seemingly unbeatable foes.
“For I the Lord do not change…,” Malachi 3:6 tells us.
God’s plan has never changed. As God’s redeemed people, how we live our lives means we must know what an unchanging God has always intended for us. Our salvation comes through the cross of Christ and has restored us to what God always intended for us before Satan robbed us by deceit.
To know what this means in its fullness means we can better join God in His work of redeeming all of India and the entire world from the power of Satan. So, what did God intend from the beginning?
In Genesis 1, we learn that God made us “in His image.” Often, we interpret this to mean moral, ethical and intellectual abilities. However, a more accurate view, based upon better understandings of ancient Middle East culture and Hebrew grammar, suggests a deeper meaning.
A more accurate reading of this text is, “Let us make man AS our image.” In ancient days, a ruler’s image in the town square signified that ruler’s sovereignty over that town. In other words, God created humanity as a sign of God’s rulership over the earth.
“According to our likeness” indicates that God has assigned to us an active role in rulership alongside Him. God has designed us to become His regents in the earth, to keep the world in order according to His will. To have “dominion” means to rule as God would rule, with wisdom, reason, good judgment and careful management over all things. Adam’s fall disrupted all of this. History records how we have failed miserably in our assignment.
Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). All that Satan stole from the first Adam and his descendants (us) is returned to us by the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. By His authority, He has restored to us our lost authority as His image, according to His likeness, to have dominion. We are empowered through the Holy Spirit (John 14-17), spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12) and the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16).
Through the cross, these already belong to us. All we must do now is claim and use them.
With our authority, granted by Christ, we are to use them to complete the full defeat of our adversary, Satan. Of course, Satan wants to blind us to our authority so he can continue to steal, kill and destroy. But in the end, God will still crush Satan under our feet (Romans 16:20).
As restored sons and daughters of our King Jesus, we have the opportunity to join Him in restoring the earth to its former glory—occupying until He comes, declaring the gospel of the kingdom, discipling the nations, preparing the way for the kingdom of heaven on earth where the knowledge of the glory of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. Paul tells us in Romans 8 that creation groans, waiting anxiously for the revealing of the sons of God.
May our generation not let the groaning continue! Once again, by God’s grace, we are His regents on earth. Let us learn by His Spirit to fully incorporate our unchanged assignment into our lives to His glory and for the blessing of the whole world!
It is a fact that God uses men and women to accomplish His purposes. This is the pattern throughout the scriptures and church history. Some people think that this simply “happens,” or that some are “special,” but others are not.
This is not so. Rather, there are specific reasons why God uses some but not others, and these reasons boil down to the choices that we make, often early in life. Our choices determine whether we become good clay in the Potter’s hands.
As an example of this, I mention my own paternal grandfather, Pastor K.E. Abraham.
Some of my readers know his name, life and history. Church historians and members of other denominations recognize him as the founder and chief architect of the Indian Pentecostal Church. To those who want to learn more about his life and ministry, I refer them to numerous books and seminary dissertations, a biography, and his own autobiography.
All those who knew him well and have studied Pastor K.E. Abraham’s life agree that he was indeed a man of God.
I want to suggest some reasons why God used K.E. Abraham. As we understand these reasons, we can better understand how God can use you and me more effectively and fruitfully. When he died in December 1974, I was a very young man. But as a grandson who knew him intimately, I have learned not only why God used K.E. Abraham but also why He uses anybody willing for God to use them.
The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever” (Hebrews 13:7-8).
God shapes a leader over a lifetime. Some leaders finish well, others do not. A recent study of biblical leaders by a well-known Bible scholar indicates that only one of three leaders finished well. We all want to finish well. How do we do that? What are the ingredients of a well-lived life, used effectively by God? What can we learn from Pastor K.E. Abraham that we might experience the life that God uses for His glory and for the blessing of others?
RECOGNITION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
From the beginning, K.E. Abraham knew that he could never live an effective Christian life apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Christian life is not a matter of self-effort, religious temperament, or anything else. First and foremost, it is the life of the Holy Spirit working through him in every facet of life. He recognized early that Christianity is a supernatural power.
AN UNQUENCHABLE DESIRE TO LIVE BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
A person can recognize the importance of the Holy Spirit without a desire for the power of the Holy Spirit. K.E. Abraham allowed that desire to consume his days and nights. In his prayers, he searched for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. He spent seven years diligently studying the Scriptures to understand the importance of the Holy Spirit. He even walked 100 miles from his hometown to spend time with a godly man, seeking to be immersed in the Spirit.
A STRONG SENSE OF CONVICTION
K.E. Abraham never wavered in his desire to seek God’s truth or do His will. Knowing that God is faithful, K.E. Abraham was willing to pay the price, whatever the cost. When he took a stand, he stood by principle regardless of where it led. That is the sign of a leader, in contrast to a politician whose decision is determined by the polls.
A desire for truth is not always understood by others, especially those who don’t seek it. K.E. Abraham found himself in the minority. Others misunderstood him. He endured harsh criticism and insults. His Syrian Orthodox church excommunicated and reviled him, but he passionately continued to search for the truth, knowing that God would vindicate him.
For six months, these events forced him to worship God in isolation. But when a cobra bit one of his neighbors, God worked through him to bring healing and demonstrate the truth that God revealed to him. After witnessing that healing, the priest who had expelled him six months ago asked K.E. Abraham to preach at the church the following Sunday.
FULLY SURRENDERED, TOTALLY FOCUSED
K.E. Abraham wanted nothing to distract him from God’s call over his life. He knew that a focused life is like a laser beam. He was a teacher, but he surrendered his job, his future, and everything he had to whatever God would do in his life. He gave all to God. He did not believe he was perfect, but he knew what was best, the Lord Jesus Christ and His work. He treasured it above all else and was willing to give whatever he had to get it. As Henry Varley once said, “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man who is totally dedicated to him.” Like Dwight L. Moody before him, K.E. Abraham said, “I will be that man.”
A SIMPLE LIFE
K.E. Abraham’s single-mindedness kept him from distractions. He travelled light literally and metaphorically, he did not clutter his mind, he did not give himself over to worry, he placed no value upon possessions apart from their relationship to the kingdom of God. That freed his spirit so that people could become more important to him than possessions. His simplicity was a conscious choice, a discipline he followed. But his simplicity was not merely a philosophy of renunciation. People knew him as a man of joy. He always dressed neatly, neither shabby nor ostentatious. He found himself at home among rich and poor alike because their possessions meant nothing to him. With no need to impress people with material things, he impressed people instead with his life.
A STUDENT OF GOD’S WORD
From the beginning, K.E. Abraham recognized that for God to use him, he must have the mind of Christ. This meant that he must hide the Word of God in his heart and meditate on it constantly. By the time he was only eight or nine, he had read the entire Bible several times. A priest discovered that not a single page of this child’s Bible was unmarked. As a young boy, he knelt, prayed, and studied the Word. Only this foundation made possible the unforgettable sermons that moved so many people or trained the many outstanding teachers who followed him. This emphasis kept the Indian Pentecostal Church balanced and free from extremes.
A MAN OF PRAYER
A person who prays knows his strength comes from God. God uses the praying person most effectively for His purposes. K.E. Abraham knew how to spend days in fasting and prayer. Even as a young boy, he began to develop a prayer habit. He took all manner of things to God. He closed himself off from others and from food to prevent any distractions. When he married a couple, he spent a day in prayer for them. He learned to trust God entirely for his needs, not even telling family members, so he could watch the Lord consistently bless.
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT TO GODLY VISION
Out of K.E. Abraham’s commitment to God’s truth through the Holy Spirit, the Word, and prayer emerged a godly vision for the World. This godly vision gave him a lifelong task from which he did not waver. As he depended upon God for strength, God gave him the strength to remain faithful in his task. K.E. Abraham’s vision was to reproduce people for the ministry through personal mentoring, and through them build dynamic churches. Because of his commitment to this godly vision, he produced people with a similar vision, willing to die if necessary for its fulfillment.
REGARD FOR MONEY AS A TOOL ONLY
As a person dependent upon God for all his needs, K.E. Abraham did not let the love of money or material gain consume him. He saw money as a tool to further God’s kingdom, not the dominant goal of a person’s life. He gave generously and with compassion to those in need. When he died, his account showed a balance of only 5 rupees, the minimum balance needed to maintain a bank account.
GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR
As a person dependent upon God through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and prayer, K.E. Abraham was at peace with God and himself. This gave him the freedom to smile at life. It also provided apt humorous illustrations for talks and sermons. He had a remarkable sense of humor and a playful spirit that attracted him to children and grandchildren.
A HUMBLE AND NATURAL SPIRIT
As he came before the Lord, K.E. Abraham met him in different ways that changed his life. Recognizing his dependence upon God, he put aside dependence upon his own strength, social class or his own spirituality. Therefore those who met him recognized genuine humility. He put on no spiritual airs. Nor did he adopt artificial means to appear either richer or poorer than others to elicit sympathy or respect. He did not dress either rich or poor. He did not put himself above or below others whom he knew that God loved as himself. He discouraged all artificiality in others.
AN ABILITY TO SEE VALUE IN EVERY PERSON
K.E. Abraham saw God at work in all people regardless of age, class or caste. He realized that God does not set up barriers to separate us from one another. Where others made distinctions, K.E. Abraham saw people as equals to himself, as potential partners in ministry and fellowship. He instilled in people a sense of dignity. Therefore, he could influence multitudes of people from different walks of life.
A TRAINER OF PEOPLE
As K.E. Abraham depended upon God and His Word, he recognized Jesus Christ’s calling upon him to teach people to do the same. Because he could value all persons regardless of background, he developed an ability to mentor and train others from every level of life to positions of leadership. He recognized the potential in all kinds of people, regardless of their background. As a result, he prepared thousands of leaders and helped found hundreds of churches. Every person was always a potential person for him to help, teach, and develop God-given abilities. Wherever he went, he took someone along to encourage them, to give them a sense of belonging and significance. In the end, many of his assistants became great leaders who made important contributions to the Indian Pentecostal church and the cause of Jesus Christ in India. K.E. Abraham’s desire for the church and those he trained was for them to remain grounded in the Word and balanced without extremes.
A PRACTICAL SPIRIT
K.E. Abraham saw God work in the lives of people in practical ways. This became his goal as well. He was a detail-oriented man who knew how to organize. We see this in the way he started schools for disenfranchised people. In his day, only the wealthy and high-caste people had a place in Indian society, while the poor and powerless had little chance.
K.E. Abraham provided free education to hundreds of lower classes to uplift them. His home became a shelter and place for training. He and his wife raised and taught orphans as if they were their own children. Also he was not satisfied to teach, but to go out to different places and personally establish churches.
Like all of us K.E. Abraham was a sinner saved by grace. There was nothing special about his background, but with God’s help, he made the right choices. God desires to work through each of us, even as He worked through K.E. Abraham, to do something significant for His Kingdom.
K.E. Abraham began, as we all must, at the foot of the cross. What separated K.E. Abraham from others was that he remained at the foot of the cross.
May we learn from his life that we may also become men and women serving God.
As we follow Paul’s ministry in the Book of Acts, we note that at Paul’s conversion, Jesus told him that the day would come when he would proclaim the gospel before kings (see chapter 9).
That day arrived when he was arrested and stood before Ananias, the high priest, followed by appearances before Antonius Felix, governor of Judea, Porcius Festus (Felix’s successor), and then King Herod Agrippa and his wife, Bernice (read Acts 22-26).
All these rulers were known even in their own day as corrupt tyrants, marked by greed, incest (Bernice was Agrippa’s sister), violence, plunder, cowardice, disrespect for God and man alike.
The historian, Josephus, contemporary of Jesus, Paul and all these potentates, has much to say about these rotten excuses for leaders. For example, Ananias, the high priest, sold food meant for ordinary priests for his own profit, causing priests and their families to starve to death. He betrayed his own people to the Romans and was eventually murdered for his betrayal.
Nothing changed their eternal destinies even after Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, eloquently and fearlessly gave them the gospel. These oppressors paved the way for Paul to present his case to the most powerful (and corrupt) of them all—Caesar himself, namely, Nero.
Not everyone is called by God to such daunting service. But God formed in Paul an intensity of purpose that allowed him to face this challenge with dignity and grace.
Still, we might ask ourselves, why did God require this sacrifice by Paul, since none of these monsters ever actually bowed the knee to Christ?
We must remember that God not only wants us to join Him in heaven one day, He also wants to revive and reform human society on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus mandated His followers to disciple the nations. This can happen only when governments cease to actively obstruct the gospel and human dignity.
During Paul’s day, 25-40% of the Roman Empire’s peoples were slaves. Women and girls had minimal rights. Life was cheap. People lived in fear of death by torture or crucifixion by unpredictable and unaccountable rulers obsessed with power, not truth. Even their religious leaders were hopelessly corrupt.
God called Paul to start the reformation of government by clearly and fearlessly proclaiming Christ to the powers of his time. They did not submit, but we are told that Felix “trembled” and Agrippa was “almost persuaded.”
Though they did not heed, others also must have heard—and they were persuaded.
We get a strong hint of this in Philippians 4:22 where Paul sends greetings from “the household of Caesar” who followed Christ. The “household of Caesar” included all kinds of people in service to Caesar ranging from slaves to high government officials in positions of influence and authority.
Even when the most powerful refuse to believe, the gospel still penetrates to the highest and most degenerate parts of society. As a result, Christlike values begin to permeate the culture.
Wherever and to whomever the gospel goes, even if they refuse to submit, Jesus makes His mark. When we submit to Christ as Paul did, His Word, spoken with Holy Spirit power, will never return void. In the end, God always wins, even when He appears to lose.
Hebrews 11 portrays the miracle of Jericho in Joshua 6 as one of history’s greatest examples of faith.
Perhaps even more miraculous is that this is not just a record of what happened to Israel 3000+ years ago. The miraculous fall of Jericho becomes a template for our own day when we are linked in covenant with Israel’s God through the cross of Jesus Christ. It becomes a timeless model from a timeless God of how we can face our own “Jerichos,” those seemingly impossible foes and insurmountable odds, whatever they may be. Our weapon is our faith in Him.
We all know the story. The Israelites, led by Joshua, approach the walled, fortress-like and hyper-evil city of Jericho. They have no battering rams, catapults, ladders or anything else to break through city gates or scale those high walls.
In obedience to God’s command, the people march in silence around the city once a day for six days, seven times on the seventh day. At the sound of the priests’ trumpets, they shout a great shout, and the walls fall flat. The city is taken and all its unspeakably demonic inhabitants are slain.
This great act of faith did not just “happen.” It resulted from the Lord’s preparation of His people beforehand. It resulted from God’s discipline of His people. It involved remembering prior acts of God’s provision and taking account of the evidence. It involved parting with past sins, setting themselves apart for God alone, separating themselves from a victim mentality. We, too, must prepare ourselves ahead of time.
We often say that “God is in control,” but He does not choose to act alone. He did not make those walls crumble until His people got involved in the process. They were not just passive observers of God’s power. Also involved were the angelic armies. But they did not get involved either until God’s people first got themselves right with Him and became willing to obey God. Only then did He and the angelic hosts act.
To have faith meant they had to obey God even when His orders didn’t seem to make sense. Until the miracle at Jericho, no city walls ever fell, or were city gates broken through except with battering rams and other instruments of war. The Israelites could have resisted this seemingly irrational command, but they obeyed. Will we obey God’s sure orders to us when they appear foolish to our families, and even to other church people and pastors?
In a sermon on Joshua 6, Charles Spurgeon boiled down the essence of faith to three words: work, wait, win. The “Jerichos” that challenge us in life are not the result of men but of our ultimate enemy, Satan. God gives to us weak and flawed people the privilege of joining with Him to defeat that evil one who enslaved us. He wants us to get involved in winning back our own lost “Promised Land.”
In 3000+ years, God has not changed. We are still made in His image. He still requires of us the same kind of faith He required of the Israelites at Jericho. When we prepare ourselves ahead of time as did the Israelites under Joshua, God will, in the words of Paul, “crush Satan under our feet” (Romans 16:20).
Do you want to know what kind of person the apostle Paul would advise you to have as the pastor of your church? If you read Acts 20, you will get a good idea from his parting words to the elders of the church at Ephesus.
The elders were responsible for leadership and oversight of the church. They taught, preached, guarded against false teachers, encouraged believers, prayed for and visited the sick, decided doctrinal matters and trained new believers.
Paul must have done a good job with them. The church of Ephesus became one of the strongest of the early churches. This was a mighty feat, given that Ephesus had lived for more than 1,000 years under the worship of the goddess, Artemis. How did Paul do it? We are most blessed that Paul shares with us the ingredients of his successful recipe. I call them the “ten commandments” for making a good elder/pastor:
Paul taught the Ephesians with “all humility and tears.” What powerful words! Paul exhibited a strong empathy with the Ephesian people that he shepherded, whatever their background. They knew he was on their side and wanted only their best.
He boldly taught the truth. He left out nothing they should know. He held nothing back, even if it might make them uncomfortable or cost him popularity.
He preached the same gospel to all. It didn’t matter what their background was. That gospel required repentance before God and faith in Jesus Christ.
He willfully placed his life in the hands of God, knowing some in the community would become offended at the truth and speak evil against him.
He knew he had a definite call of God to preach. He had a single-minded purpose and desire to complete the mission God had given him. He would not be swayed by lesser things.
He kept a clear conscience, knowing that he preached all that God commissioned him to preach. He preached the whole counsel of God, never mincing his words, so that he comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable.
He took care to shepherd his people as Jesus would shepherd them, willing to give up his life on their behalf if necessary.
He remained alert for those who entered the flock and led others astray by charisma, smooth talk filled with false and perverse, but attractive-sounding, things.
He depended daily upon God to help him do what he could not do in himself alone. He trusted God to build up his own faith as he built up the faith of his people.
He especially bent over backward to help those who were weak, giving sacrificially of himself.
What did Paul teach the Ephesians? The epistle to the Ephesians gives us a good idea. Martyn-Lloyd Jones preached at least 232 sermons from this epistle, portraying Paul’s high view of the gospel, a profound portrait of what God intends. Is this the gospel coming to you from the pulpit in your church? Is this the same gospel that guides your life, family and community?
This gospel preached by Paul reflects the life of a man who has met God, witnessed His glory and is completely sold out to Him. May all our pulpits become filled with like-minded pastor/teachers who deliver the message of God, true to the Word and in great power and truth.
From the Desk of Valson Abraham 