In this edition of Broken Hearts,
Redeemed, we’ll venture forth from our peace review to find more Old Testament
passages that teach us how to pursue and attain the Shalom type of peace we’re
currently studying. Today, we’ll learn how important it is to seek God’s
counsel and keep our promises to achieve lasting peace.
Saying goodbye to Moses and venturing
forth into the book of Joshua, we’ll head over to chapter 9, verses 14 and 15
to see what’s going with Joshua and the Israelites, and a sneaky bunch of
Gibeonites.
“The men of Israel looked them over
and accepted the evidence. But they
didn’t ask God about it. So Joshua
made Shalom with them and formalized
it
with a covenant to guarantee their
lives. The leaders of the congregation
swore to it.”
The Gibeonites are a group of people
living in the land that God has told the Israelites to conquer because He is
giving that land to them. (That may seem wrong or unfair to us, but since the
Earth, and all that is in and on it, belong to God, He gets to set the rules,
just like you do in your house. And if you knew anything about the people who
were living in the land, you’d probably agree with God’s plan to rout them out
of it.)
Anyway, evidently word traveled fast
thousands of years ago, even without high-speed Wi-Fi connections, and these
Gibeonites have heard what Joshua and the Israelites have done to Jericho and
the city of Ai. Being more than a tad bit worried about what might be awaiting
them, they devise a devious plan to go to Joshua and the Israelites, pretending
to be traveling, weary ambassadors from afar, outside of the land Joshua plans
to overtake. And they’re pretty good actors because they convince Joshua and
the Israelite elders to form a binding covenant of peace with them. Sounds
great doesn’t it? Signing a peace pact with someone.
Big problem, though. God has given
explicit instructions to Joshua NOT to form alliance treaties or covenants with
any other people in the land. So what happened? Why did Joshua and the
Israelite elders fail so miserably in this?
The answer lies in verse 14: “Then
the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel
of the Lord.” I like the way The Message
words it: “The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But
they didn’t ask God about it.”
Let’s specifically look at the
second part of verse 14 to discover what the real root of the problem was: “But
they didn’t ask God about it.”
Let’s read that one more time,
s-l-o-w-l-y. But they didn’t ask God
about it.
They had just come off two
brilliant, stunning victories. Victories! And I have a sneaking suspicion that
they were feeling pretty proud of themselves, puffed up with the thrill of
victory. Basking in its afterglow. And maybe a bit battle weary and vulnerable.
Other Biblical passages come to mind,
like: “Pride goeth before a fall…” They may have been reveling in pride,
patting themselves on the back, thrilled that God was showing His power in
their favor, and probably were on the road to forgetting just exactly whose
power it was that was giving them these stunning victories. Whatever was going
on, they seemed to have become complacent in their behavior and approach to
overtaking the land.
And clearly they had neglected to
consult their Commanding Officer. A soldier who makes a decision and seals a
treaty with another country without first consulting his commander in chief and
gaining approval from him can be court marshaled for insubordination.
An example of this has been played
out a couple of times in my own home.
Some time ago, my husband had
entered a business arrangement with other people he thought had the same
motives and interests as his own. Unfortunately, he entered into that
relationship when he was weary, and believed that this arrangement was going to
give him the freedom and relief he sought and sorely needed. One night, after a
long day and night, of labor, he came home and talked to me about a discussion
the five of them had about getting an unsecured loan from a bank to use as
funds to “grow” their business. Just in case they needed it, of course. An unsecured loan that amounted to seven
figures! “You and I are in this together,” he said. “What do you think of
doing that?”
Well, I was uneasy about this whole
arrangement and had been doing my own inquiring of the Lord, and had walked
this road before. And I had experience. Warning bells clanged in my brain, and
an internal voice said, Don’t do it!
And I uttered aloud to Chris: “No way! We might all be friends now, but who’s
to say what’s going to happen in the future. What if they wouldn’t be able to
repay the loan, and we’d be left holding the note, and the responsibility for
it? We’d be ruined financially and emotionally, and devastated spiritually. No.
I’m sorry. Please don’t sign anything.”
I’m still thanking God that we had
that conversation, that my husband sought my counsel and paid heed to my words,
(which were really God’s words), because soon after our discussion, one of the
partners approached my husband in the wee hours of the morning, after my
husband had been laboring all day and was beyond exhausted, and asked him to
sign the unsecured loan note. Chris quickly looked it over and noticed that no
other signature was on the paperwork. When he asked about that omission, he was
told everyone else would sign it later. In spite of his fatigue, our
conversation replayed in his head, and in a realization flash, he knew there would no other signatures on that
paper. They needed his good name
and credit to secure the loan, and that he would be left as the one solely
responsible if they defaulted.
Unfortunately, the partnership did
go on to crash and burn, and Chris and I—years later—are still thanking God for
His divine intervention.
But still you might be wondering,
“Well, once the Israelites discovered they’d been snookered, why didn’t they
just break or ignore the treaty and snuff them out?”
I’m so glad you asked!
They didn’t do that because God
expected them to honor the covenant they swore before Him. And we know that’s
why they kept it because that’s the reason they gave the Gibeonites, and the
complaining Israelite congregation, when asked why they didn’t break it. They had
invoked God’s name in the vow, and they had His good name and theirs to keep
unblemished.
There are many passages in Scripture
talking about how important this is. I’ll give you just two to think about.
Both are taken from The Message.
“When you make a vow to God, your
God, don’t put off keeping it;
God, your God, expects you to keep
it and if you don’t you’re guilty.
But if you don’t make a vow in the
first place, there’s no sin. If you
say you’re going to do something, do
it. Keep the vow you willingly
vowed to God, your God. You promised
it, so do it” (Deut. 23:21-23).
“Moses spoke to the heads of the
tribes of the People of Israel: “This
is what God commands: When a man
makes a vow to God or binds
himself by an oath to do something,
he must not break his word; he
must do exactly what he has said”
(Numbers 30:1-2).
Do you see these critical
admonishments?
1) God expects you to keep your
word;
2) If you promise to do something,
do it;
3) Don’t break your word;
4) Do exactly what you promised to
do, and don’t put off doing it;
5) If you don’t keep it, you’re
guilty;
6) And if you didn’t make a vow in
the first place, there wouldn’t be any issue.
(Read
that one again. He’s telling us that we need to consider our promises
more carefully, keep our mouths shut more
often and to stop making promises
or vows we’re
unsure we can keep. Ouch!)
Ever been faced with keeping a vow
you couldn’t keep, or didn’t want to keep
any longer? I’d love to say I’ve never experienced that pain, but that
would be an untruth.
Unfortunately, my husband and I are
walking that painful valley right now. Kick,
kick, kick, kick!
About seven or eight years ago, my
husband I got coveting eyeballs and puffed up hearts and entered into some land
“covenants” we thought we could make a fast buck on. It all sounded so easy. We
ignored internal warnings. And we didn’t
seek the Lord’s counsel. (I suspect we left Him out of it because, in our
hearts, we knew He’d stamp a big red “No” on our neatly devised, greedy plan.)
It all seemed to be going well. What
we hadn’t counted on (which was shear stupidity and arrogance since we’d seen
it happen before while we lived in the Midwest and California) was the economic
collapse. Can anyone say “The Big Recession” loudly?
To make a very long, painful story
short and painful: we are still paying for that mistake in so many ways. We’ve
taken on extra jobs to make the necessary payments. The exhaustion from that
extra work has compromised our physical, emotional and spiritual health. The
money that could have been used for charitable giving, education and family
vacations is going toward paying off the loans. The time spent at the extra
work is time robbed from family and friends. Time we can never reclaim. We are
in bondage to our own sin and vow, and we are paying the steep price.
Yes, we could have broken our vow
because it was more convenient for us to do so, and we would have been like many
who did break their promises. But that would have tarnished our good name. More
importantly, it would have tarnished God’s perfect
name. Since we are His ambassadors here on Earth, we represent Him, and we
are determined to honor those vows and keep His name lifted up and honored.
Because we want others to find His people honorable. Not only do we represent
God, we represent a body of believers to whom we are responsible in word and
deed. And we are also determined not to pass this burden onto our children.
While we may never recover on this side of Heaven from this mess we created, we
do not want our children to inherit it.
Please don’t get me wrong, here. I’m
not bragging about our vow keeping. What I am doing, though, is bragging about
how God has upheld and sustained us and made sure we can be faithful to our
vow. For without His mercy and provisions (some of which have been nothing
short of miraculous) Chris and I would go down in a fireball. We would rob our
children of some of their heritage. Perhaps He is sustaining us for their
sakes. Whatever the reason, we are grateful.
Yet every month I sit down to write
out those checks, I feel a little physically ill, and I give myself four swift
mental kicks. Kick, kick, kick, kick. Every
December I write out four more checks for the property taxes. Kick, kick, kick, kick. Some years have
been real squeakers, ones where we weren’t sure where the money was going to
materialize from. But God always provided, so we could pay. I thank God that He
has provided so generously for us to keep that foolish vow, and maintain His
honor.
Making the vow dismantled our
personal peace and threatened to shred our marital and family peace. That vow
created so much emotional, physical and spiritual agony. But keeping, and being
able to keep the vow has restored our Shalom and hope. In spite of it, God has
worked everything out for good for us. He has taught us so much about keeping
our word and the blessings (and peace) that come from it.
Praise to God!
Moving onto Joshua 10, we read about
how Joshua and the Israelites are called on pretty quickly to keep their vow to
the Gibeonites by fighting a battle for them. It’s a day full of miracles and at
story of five foolish kings who join forces to destroy the Gibeonites and Israelites.
That attempt doesn’t go so well for them, and we find them sealed in a cave and
then decapitated by Joshua and company following a battle that utterly destroys
these kings’ kingdoms.
It’s a massive slaughter, so utterly
devastating that verse 21 says: “And all the people returned to the camp, to
Joshua at Makedah, in Shalom.
No one moved his tongue against any
of the children of Israel.”
The victory was so decisive that no
one spoke a word against Joshua or the Israelites. They stood awed into silence before them. They must
have been terrified of them and their God, who had clearly orchestrated the
Israelites’ victory. Hopefully they were also interested enough to find out
more about this God and how they could also have a relationship with Him!
The Israelites were able to move
through the land in peace. God, and the decisive victory had guaranteed it for
them.
Sometimes it takes a God-ordained
battle to achieve peace.
Questions to Ponder
1. Sometimes you can be deceived into
entering into a peace agreement with someone (or a nation) that is contrary to
the Lord’s will. They look good and know all of the right things to say to
convince you of their sincerity. Always be on your guard! Do not have faith in
yourself. As United States President Ronald Reagan said, “Trust, but verify.” You
must seek the Lord’s counsel before entering into any covenant. And make sure
you’re not boasting victory chants or suffering from battle fatigue when you do!
When was the last time you signed an
agreement or made a promise to someone?
Did you seek the Lord’s counsel before
entering into the “peace” agreement?
Looking back on it now, should you
have signed the agreement or made the
promise?
Why or why not? And how is the agreement working out for you now?
Ask God to give you a discerning
spirit about every potential promise or
covenant you might engage in. Be
absolutely sure in your heart He has given you
the okay to proceed with it. You may
need to talk to a multitude of counselors
before
making the promise.
It
can’t be repeated enough: Be careful with whom you enter into an agreement of peace, or make a promise to!
2. Have you
ever entered into a “covenant” or signed an agreement to do something that you
have since broken? What was it? Why did you break it?
If you have broken an agreement,
seek God’s wisdom on how He now wants you
to proceed. Are you in a position to
reinstate the agreement? Has it been legally
broken,
with both parties agreeing to the breaking? If it’s impossible to “make
good” on your promise, perhaps God
wants you to go to the person(s) with
whom you broke your promise and ask
for their forgiveness. See how you can
make it up to them.
If it is impossible for you to do
that, then take your apology to God. Ask Him to
forgive you for dishonoring Him and
yourself and breaking your promise. (He is
faithful
to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!) Ask Him to
help you be a better keeper of your
promises, and maybe to help you stop making promises
you can’t, or don’t keep.
Remember, in the end, the only thing
a man has—and can really keep—is his
good name!
3. In Joshua 10, Joshua’s actions (keeping his promise and Peace covenant) demonstrated
God’s power and His hand upon him and the Israelites so decisively that no one
could speak a word against them!
I don’t know about you, but I would
certainly like to have God’s favor
demonstrated
so dramatically, or even not so dramatically. And I need to ask
myself: Exactly how I can live my
life in such a way to enjoy that kind of
victory? Jesus indicates that our
faith can produce mountain-moving events, so
it must be possible, don’t you
think? We live in His power, so it must be
possible. While our battles probably
look much different that Joshua’s, they
feel like and are battles
none-the-less. And if God calls us to fight them, and
tells us we will win, then we must
know that He will keep His promises.
I’m going to go out on a limb, here,
and divulge to you what I wrote about this in
my journal. I had in my mind more of
my witnessing for Him than fighting battles,
though. It’s a personal prayer; and I hope I wasn’t too presumptive.
“Can I live in such a way that God
manifests His power through me, so that all
who witness His power are silenced? Oh,
Lord, use me! Make me your vessel.
Demonstrate your power through me
and through this family. May it be clear to
whom we belong, and may we then live in Shalom! Amen!
May all of you
have a blessed Holy Week, as you remember the sacrifice of the One who gives us
life!
Until next Monday, may your week be
full of blessings that you receive and give, your heart be full of joy and
thankfulness, and your days be filled with laughter! Build a little heaven in
your life right now, and watch your heavenly garden grow!
In Christ’s love
and peace,
Andrea
When the eyes of
the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right
here on earth. ~ A. W. Tozer
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