Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 26. Jos 1:16-18; survey of Heb.Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 26. Jos 1:16-18; survey of Heb.
Announcements/opening prayer:
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb 11:9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
Heb 11:10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
"By faith Abraham obeyed…" faith and obedience are inseparable in the believer's life.
Abraham was credited with righteousness because he believed in God, and his inner faith led him to obedience to commandments and statutes from God.
Abraham received the promise but not the visible possession of the land, but to Abraham the promise of God was as substantial as its realization. The only land in "the land" that he ever possessed was the a field he purchased as a family burial ground. Yet living like an alien in the land that had been promised to him, moving his tent here and there, he did not grow impatient.
The secret of Abraham's patience? He was looking for a city of a different kind whose architect and builder is God.
Joshua, who did witness the receiving of the land, although not to the extent that God promised, did not find rest in Canaan either. Any temporal rest there was short lived. The true rest is in the heavenly Jerusalem, which the writer will allude to in chapter 12, and for the believer on earth today, who is a recipient of the promises, our rest is in the same place, for our Lord sits there and our citizenship is there, and our souls are filled with the word of the mind who built that city, which has been taught to us by His divine Spirit within us.
Heb 4:8-9 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
The Sabbath rest that remains is in heaven with Christ, the proof of finished work. All believers are there in position and so should have such a rest within their souls consistently.
God promised the exodus rest in the land of Canaan, but even when Joshua brought them in they did not find a permanent rest since so many of them continued in unbelief. The history of Israel in the Levant did not turn out to be a faithful people taking the land and then a faithful people for all generations faithfully obeying the Law of Moses. Yet even if they could have somehow done so, there would not be a rest in that land of the type that God spoke until the Messiah returns and establishes it.
The Jews of the first century were mostly taught that tribulation was always a sign of God's displeasure and they were unfamiliar with undeserved suffering and how it is a means of God's blessing. By thinking their persecution and suffering as Christians and being associated with Christians was in some way a sign of God's displeasure with them, they were strongly tempted to return to the ways of the OT. What they had to realize and understand was that there was actual rest and soul prosperity in the midst of undeserved tribulation.
The rest into which Joshua led Israel was a temporal, physical, and material rest, whereas Jesus leads into an eternal and spiritual rest. Since Jesus is better than Joshua, the New Testament is superior to and takes the place of the First Testament.
Faith is the God-ordained way of appropriating that which God has for the individual.
Col 3:1-3 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Then he uses the very appropriate example of Moses.
Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
This would have looked like folly by all worldly standards. He made the decision by faith knowing full well of the material costs.
It's not that power and wealth are in themselves a sin, if that were true then David sinned when he accepted the throne, or for that matter, it would make God a sinner, who has all power and wealth. Privileges and advantages in the hands of a good man, especially a good and godly man can be used very effectively to promote the well being of others and to help the under-privileged. Moses might have reasoned to himself that he could help the people of Israel more by remaining in the privileged and power position he already possessed.
Yet Moses saw the will of God for his life and to remain in Pharaoh's court while the people of God were persecuted would have given him a lasting dishonor.
Heb 11:25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;
The sin is not the wealth left behind, but the failure to go forward in God's plan and to choose comfort and reputation over the people of God.
Like Paul after him, who some state is the Moses of the NT, he considered what things were gain to him in the world, he counted them as loss for Christ. Like Paul, it was abundantly clear that he couldn't maintain both - he would have to choose.
Psa 89:50-51 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Thy servants; How I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, With which Thine enemies have reproached, O Lord, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Thine anointed.
Heb 11:26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
Was it the reproach of Israel that occurred all those years ago in Egypt or was it Christ?
Exo 4:22-23 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord," Israel is My son, My first-born. So I said to you, 'Let My son go, that he may serve Me'
Obviously these words could be said of Christ personally as they are said here of Israel corporately. Christ is fully identified with His people. In fact, "Israel" is one of His titles.
The Messiah is one with the messianic people, bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them; And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
Even though they rebelled against Him. Sounds familiar to us as well.
In like manner Jesus as a child was hidden in Egypt but then called out to go to Nazareth and begin His growth in wisdom and power so as to fulfill all that was promised to Abraham as well as His servant Moses.
All persecution fell upon Christ since all sin, which includes the sin of persecution of God's people, both Israel in the OT and the church in the NT, fell upon Him.
Psa 69:9 For zeal for Thy house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me.
Heb 11:26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
To readers whose perseverance was in danger of faltering because of the stigma attached to the name of Christ, the example of Moses was calculated to be a challenge and encouragement.
Heb 13:13-14 Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
It would help them to fix their eyes on the reward, as Moses did, to the future city, the future heaven, and the spiritual life that is a gift from the heavenlies and by so doing to take their eyes off of the earthly persecution.
Heb 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.
He endured in the land of Midian being a stranger in a strange land, much like Abraham was. Abraham looked to a city made without hands and so invisible to him but in faith, and so we see Moses here seeing the One or Him who is invisible.
Moses paid more attention to the invisible King of kings and His inheritance than he did to the Egyptian king and his riches.
Pharaoh worshipped visible gods, while Moses worshipped the One true God who is invisible. The author is again making reference to the permanent and abiding invisible city and inheritance as well as to the faith needed to press on into the unknown.
After the examples of the OT heroes, the writer now uses the ultimate example: the Lord Jesus Christ.
We do not therefore remove the examples of the OT heroes from our consideration, we continue to learn from them, but we never are commanded to be conformed to their image. We are not tasked with imitating any OT saint, but we are commanded to imitate Christ. We learn from them, but to be Christ-like is our real goal.
This is our fifth passage for consideration in the book of Hebrews.
Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us [not looking but gone before us], let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Witness does not imply someone looking at us, but one who testifies, or can testify, to what he has seen or heard or knows by any other means.
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