Get Up!

 

I would happen upon it while I was sorting out old papers in my office.  A list of bible verses I had written down years ago… the early years when I was desperately trying to understand scripture.  I see it written with some degree of revelation… what was it God was trying to get me to see?

Ahh… yes… but just like I’d say it to a group I was speaking to recently, “Sometimes as we age things are seen best most clearly in the rear-view mirror.”  And still God uses the richness of my findings nearly a decade later to speak to a weary heart in a struggling calendar year consumed with uncertainty twinged with a bit of fear.

God spoke the words to Joshua just following the great success at Jericho.
It was after powerful strength was given to His tired, impatient, and overworked soldier, that it was needful to speak the words, lest Joshua fall prey to a setback.

The Israelites had violated the instructions of the Lord.  “Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed and you will bring trouble on the camp of Israel.”  (Josh 6:18)

But even in their terrific success, they disobeyed.

Joshua and his men, now armed with certain complacency due to overconfidence in their abilities, marched on to what would surely be another success in defeating the enemies in a town called Ai, but were strangely defeated themselves.

And it was a shock to them.
I’m sure shear panic gripped them as they wrestled with this thought - How could this have happened?  Surely the Lord’s favor was upon them?  Surely they would be granted victory once again?

But abandonment of God and disregard of strict order were to blame for their now troubling times.  And in their grief, Joshua found himself crying out to the Lord.  “‘Oh, Sovereign Lord, why did You bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?’”  (7:7-9)

And God’s response is simple.
“Get up!  Why are you lying on your face like this?” (7:10)

Joshua was the leader in charge.
Israel had sinned.
And now Joshua was paying the price.

The things set apart for destruction that were hoarded by a man named Achan of Israel, would now serve as the very reason destruction was being heaped upon all of the land.  “For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction.”  (7:12a)  And God says, “I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.”  (7:12b)

The command came once again in verse 13, “Get up!  Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow.”  And He continues, “You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.”

It was the purification of the people God was after.
To purify means to make pure from anything that pollutes, to make clean, and this… “to be unaffected.”

Wow.

And maybe it’s what God is saying to this nation now.
Purify yourselves.
You refused to remove the things set apart for destruction.
You’ve held too tightly to the things I’ve asked you to let go of.
And until you remove these things from among you, you will never be granted success over the power of your enemies.

It’s clean atmospheres that He’s after.
It’s reformed hearts that He’s looking to develop.
It’s sin among us He’s seeking to filter out of the ones He’s called His own.

And He just might be using the most unlikely of circumstances… the most unloveliest of leaders… the most inconceivable manners to bring about the most powerful resurrection of humanity the world has ever seen.

But maybe… just maybe the withdrawal of His very presence is necessary to, “wake us up from our slumber” (Rom 13:11), and bring healing… restoration… revival.. to our ever fatigued souls!

“If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed.  Our Lord, come!”  1 Cor 16:22