Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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In our story last time we met the children of Israel experienced their first and only defeat in the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey.
What could be better?
What an exciting thing, but as soon as they get in the land, after Jericho, comes another little city called Ai, which has a small population of only about 12,000 at that time.
And this mighty arm of Yahweh, of God, is defeated before the people of Ai, which caused them to reassess this whole "God called me to this place" stuff.
"If God called us here, why are we experiencing defeat?
All the promises he said we would encounter, where are they?"
Very difficult soul-searching time for the children of Israel.
Don't be afraid, Joshua.
He was afraid.
God tells Joshua what God told Joshua in chapter 1. Don't be afraid, Josh.
God tells Joshua what Moses told Joshua in Deuteronomy 31.
Don't be afraid, Joshua.
Don't be dismayed.
The Lord is with you.
So don't be afraid nor be dismayed, Joshua had heard at least twice before in his life.
Now he's hearing the same message a third time.
Maybe Joshua is thinking, when the Lord said this to him, I already know this sermon.
I've heard it before.
I heard it before in chapter 1. You're telling me the same thing you did in chapter 1. Moses told me this sermon back in Deuteronomy 31.
The Lord's telling him the same thing 3 times.
Why? It's pretty obvious why.
He's forgotten.
The circumstances of life have blinded his eyes to see the truth, that God is with them.
That's why some truths bear repeating.
What Peter said in his book,
I know you know this stuff.
Let me repeat.
Paul in the book of Philippians.
Some truths bear repeating.
And there are some truths that bear repeating because we forget them, because the circumstances of life blind us to the truth.
So we walk into situations fearful.
Though he says, don't be afraid.
Don't be dismayed.
Now, hold onto your seat belts.
I'm going to read a whole chunk of this.
We'll sum it up, because it's pretty obvious.
And remember the day before?
The people of Israel fled before them and 36 were killed.
Now, the king of Ai sees Israel coming back and they go, oh, they want more?
You want some of this?
You want round two of this?
And so, they go out, not knowing it's an ambush.
Now does that sound familiar?
He's stretching out his hand during the whole battle.
Who else did that?
Moses did that with both his hands.
No spear in it, just his hands were up.
When they fought the Amalekites and his hands got tired, so a couple of guys came and hoisted up his hands until the battle was done.
Where did I leave off?
Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal.
Mount Ebal is next to another mountain called Gerizim.
Two hills that mark the geographic center of the land of Israel.
It is here, years before, where Abram came and built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
And it was there, in that place, that the Lord God first told Abraham his promise for the land that he was giving him and his descendants after him.
So Joshua built an altar in that same spot.
But notice this.
Wow.
What a labor to write, no computers, no typewriters, no paper.
They probably wrote on stones, whitewashed stones, as Moses commanded the words of the law.
That would have taken a long time.
And all of the words were recorded.
Now, it says it was the commandment of Moses.
You say, where was it the commandment of Moses?
In Deuteronomy chapter 27.
Before Moses died, he told Joshua, he told the people of Israel these words.
So they are doing exactly what the book says.
They are doing exactly-- they believe in the literal interpretation of scripture.
They're not spiritualizing it.
Well, what could that mean?
How can we apply this to our lives?
I'll tell you how we apply it.
We actually get stones, whitewash them, and write the words on it.
So they did it.
Now, it's interesting.
They're divided into two.
One are the descendants of Jacob through his two wives, Rachel and Leah.
And the other were the descendants-- the six tribes-- were the descendants of Jacob through the handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah.
Two different allotments, two different sections.
One shouting out the blessings, one shouting out the cursings.
The law of God written down and people saying amen to it.
Amen.
Amen, as the blessings and cursings were read.
We won't read them all.
So they worshiped before the battle in chapter 5. Now they worship after the battle at the end of chapter 8.
I'm following Joshua's lead.
There's not one word that we don't read and apply to our lives on our Sunday night Bible studies.
We believe the whole Bible for the whole church for the whole of history.
We believe in the whole counsel of God.
So all the law that had been given so far was written.
It could be referenced, it could be applied.
They were a textual community.
They were enjoying fellowship around the text of scripture that God had given them.
Father, thank you for the blessings that are announced, promised throughout your word.
Thank you, Lord, for a time and a place where we can gather to not just reflect on a verse or two-- a Psalm or a New Testament verse or principle-- but we can take verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book.
Consider the holy writ, consider here the Old Testament, the very words of the apostles and Jesus and the New Testament believers.
That was their Bible.
We're reading their Bible.
And Lord, I pray that we would take these grand principles of blessing and cursing and realize that we can be blessed in our cities and blessed in our needing troughs and blessed as we go out and come in.
Or we can be cursed in all those areas.
I pray that we'll trust you.
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