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In today's sermon, we'll learn about Joshua’s zeal for fighting the enemies of Yahweh in order to conquer the land of promise. While he is fighting five kings, the sun begins to go down. He could easily have said, "Enough for today. We can take care of them tomorrow." Instead, he asked Yahweh to lengthen the day, so that he could finish the battle and gain the victory.
Zeal in battle is not optional. At the end of Judges is a story about the sin of the Benjamite city of Gibeah. A traveling Levite stops for the night and is accosted by sodomites, who rape and kill
his concubine. In response, the tribes gather to punish Benjamin, and virtually wipe out that tribe. After the battle, the Israelites realize that no one from the city of Jabesh-gilead came to fight. So, they send 12,000 warriors to that city, and killed all the men. When Israel was mustered for war, all Israel had to show up, and all Israel had to right.
Like Joshua, we have an inheritance from God and are called to conquer it. We fight in different ways, but every Christian is called to battle. And we are called to fight with the zeal that presses for victory, the zeal that does not rest until the job is done, the zeal of Joshua and of his namesake, the greater Joshua, our Lord Jesus.
The New Testament also makes it clear that we cannot be disciples of Jesus if we shrink back from battle. According to Revelation, cowards will be in the lake of fire outside the New Jerusalem, and the writer of Hebrews says, "My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in Him."
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, September 18, 2005 at 08:28 AM
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