22 July 2010
Psalm 50; Joshua 9:3-21; Rom. 15:1-13; Matt. 26:69-75

Joshua and the leaders make a foolish decision because they did not inquire of the Lord. They were not to make treaties with any of the peoples of the land but here they do exactly that due to the deception of the people of Gibeon. Joshua is learning as a leader that when he doesn’t ask the Lord for wisdom in a matter he makes mistakes that are costly. The people of Gibeon claim to have knowledge of all the Lord did in Egypt and also seem to be counting upon the Israelites to be more ethical than they are willing to be. Why should the Israelites honor an oath or treaty which was entered into in this way? The law concerning oaths would have demanded that they keep faith even with those who have dealt dishonestly with them. This treaty means that a portion of the land will not be theirs and yet the leaders allow the treaty to stand with the caveat that the people will be limited to hewing wood and drawing water.

Peter’s horrible moment of shame and failure. How awful that sound must have been of the cock crowing when it reached Peter’s ears. Peter was afraid. He didn’t know what they would do to anyone who had been a follower of Jesus. Jesus was accused of leading the people astray into apostasy and if Peter were a follower he might also be accused and found guilty of the same. The punishment was death and Peter knew this. He couldn’t, on this night, bear the thought of facing his death for Jesus’ sake and so he denied knowing Him. There would come a time, however, when Peter would not deny Jesus and he would redeem Himself for his failure this night.

The work of Jesus was to make Himself a “servant to the circumcised.” He constantly said that His mission was to Israel and he submitted completely to them, unto death. Paul sees that in the work of Jesus the Gentiles have seen God. The way in which He revealed the Father is the work of those who are called. We are to reveal the Father in our lives as well, we are a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, just as the Israelites were. The purpose of the church, according to Lesslie Newbiggin is:
The church is the bearer to all the nations of a gospel that announces the kingdom, the reign, and the sovereignty of God. It calls men and women to repent of their false loyalty to other powers, to become believers in the one true sovereignty, and so to become corporately a sign, instrument, and foretasteof that sovereignty of the one true and living God over all nature, all nations, and all human lives. It is not meant to call men and women out of the world into a safe religious enclave but to call them out in order to send them back as agents of God’s kingship.

How are we doing with that? We are called to not be compromised by the world and not to be fooled by the world into making treaties and compromises and yet we fail to ask God for wisdom and discernment. Are we denying Jesus in the process or are we insisting on the scandal of particularity?

I will sing of your might;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been a fortress for me
and a refuge on the day of my distress.
O my strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.