May 2, Day 122 – God Wants Obedience – Not Excuses
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- May 2
- 3 min read
In Joshua 19:1-21:9, we see that apportionment of the land continues for the tribes of Israelites who have been slow about staking their claim. These tribes include Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. As we said yesterday of Ephraim and Manasseh, this could only be due to unbelief, disobedience, and unwillingness to go in and claim what was already theirs. Joshua could see through their excuses. Almost sarcastically, in 17:15, Joshua begins by saying, “If you are so numerous,” and he ends in with, “You can drive them out” [the Perizzites and Rephaites] (verses 18-18). Their weak statements are reminiscent of the excuses that Jesus addressed in His parable of the great banquet (cf., Luke 14:15-20). The Israelites are engaged in the process of receiving a divine inheritance, and they’re whining about it. Who does that? We must understand that, as Jesus touched upon this in His parable centuries later, it must have been a perennial problem among the Jews, but Jesus is simply saying that such excuses are not worthy of His blessings. We need to be careful that we recognize all the benefits that God has given us and praise Him – without excuses – for those blessings. God wants obedience – not excuses. Chapter 19 closes with the portion that was allotted to Joshua. Significantly, the leader is the last to receive his portion (cf., Matthew 20:16; Luke 15:11-31). In Joshua 20, we see the Lord’s instructions to Joshua to designate “cities of refuge” in the land (cf., Numbers 35:1-34; Deuteronomy 19:1-13).
Psalm 54:4 says that “surely God is our help; He is the One Who sustains us.” This verse summarizes our entire existence before God. In reality, apart from God, we do not and cannot exist. He alone created us, and He alone sustains us. In love, mercy, and grace, God brought each person into existence. He continues to sustain us every moment – even if a person displays direct and open contempt for God – which is how many people choose to live their lives today. Remove God from the equation, and you have no equation. All creation suddenly becomes meaningless and nonexistent, and it collapses. You are left with nothing because you have removed the Creator – the Initiator – of everything. God has extended a degree of freedom to mankind, and He may allow a person (foolishly and temporarily) to live like He doesn’t exist, but at what cost? Such a life is based upon self-deceit. No human being is capable of sustaining himself – surely – who among us can keep his own heart beating, or restart it if it stops? Such an arrogant form of non-existence can only lead to self-implosion – useless ashes and empty nothingness – for removal to the dustbin of history.
In John 2, we see the first miracle of Jesus when He turns water into wine at a wedding in Cana. Christ’s mother informs Him that “the wine was gone” (verse 3). This miracle points to the new life that we have in Christ, and John tells us that “this was the first of His miraculous signs” (verse 11). John also tells us that, by performing this sign, Jesus “revealed His glory and his disciples put their faith in Him” (verse 11). All of Christ’s signs served this purpose – to demonstrate His glory and to elicit faith in Him as the One Who could bring about salvation. Miracles are extraordinary works that symbolize or portray spiritual truths. Changing water into wine is a dramatic, substantive change that takes an ordinary, created liquid – water (which contains no spirit), and supernaturally re-creates it into an extraordinary, spirit-filled liquid – wine. The water is transformed by filling it with the power of a spirit. By this miracle, Jesus demonstrated His authority over creation. He is the Creator and the Re-creator of life – and He typified the new, powerful, spirit-filled life that we receive in Christ. In verses 12-24, we see Christ – in righteous anger – clearing the temple of those selling animals and exchanging money. These buyers and sellers were engaging in contemptible and unacceptable behavior by turning “His Father’s house into a market” (verse 16). Jesus wanted obedience – not excuses.
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