Revision as of 20:38, 24 August 2022

Theological Proposition/Focus: We serve a Holy God and his expectation for us is personal holiness.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: As fallen creatures in a fallen world, Holiness does not happen by accident. Rather we must plan to live in holiness in a fallen world.

Introduction:

Image: Many people have said variations of "Plan for the worst, hope for the best."

A couple of months ago my mother-in-law asked me if there were special procedures in place for airlines flying across the ocean. What if an engine fails in the middle of the ocean, she asked. The answer is that airlines are required to plan for such an eventuality. The program is called the ETOPS certification. ETOPS certification designates that an airplane must stay within a certain distance of an airport at all times to allow for an emergency. The most common certification is ETOPS-120 which states that an airplane must always be within 120 minutes of an airport. So, when a route is planned across the ocean, the route is planned so that at all times the plane is within 120-minutes of an airport. In reality, an engine rarely fails, but the plan is in place so that an engine failure is not the end of the day.

Need: As fallen creatures in a fallen world, Holiness does not happen by accident. Rather we must plan to live in holiness in a fallen world.

Preview: Today as we look at Joshua 20 and 21 we are going to see that planning for holiness requires planning for life in a fallen world and sacrifice, but in the end it is worth it.

Setting the Stage:

We have been in Joshua for a while now and today we are talking through more of the land allotment. That is, after conquering the land, it was time to divide out the land. Part of dividing the land was figuring out how the land would be used. Here we will see that in dividing out the land, God led Israel to plan for holiness.

Body

Planning for holiness requires planning for life in a fallen world (20:1-6)

Almost immediately following the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, Moses wrote about Cities of Refuge (Ex. 21:12-13). Further details about these cities can be found in Numbers 35:6-34 and Deuteronomy 19:1-14. These cities were explicitly identified as places where someone could seek shelter in the case of manslaughter. Blood revenge was common in the ancient world but God values life and so while God prescribed the death penalty for murder, he also provided a way in which manslaughter did not result in more loss of life.

So, let's look closely at what Joshua wrote in order to apply this to ourselves. The first thing I want you to see is that

Life in a fallen world will inevitably be marked by some bad days (1-3).

The Devastation of the Fall means sin is rampant.

I don't think we fully grasp sin and fallenness. We talk about sin as being the bad things we do but when we say this we often only consider purposefully bad things or things that we think of as being under our own control. Certainly, these things are sin, but we need to broaden our definition a little.

In some contexts, particularly in some Old Testament texts, the term “sin” is primarily used in reference to external actions performed by human beings (e.g., murder, adultery). In other parts of the Bible, the term “sin” is expanded to include the inner actions of humans, such as their thoughts and desires. Sin is also often portrayed as an entity not dependent on human actions, such as a state of being in alienation from God or an impersonal force acting within humans or societies against God ^[1]

So there is a sense in which sin can be completely unintentional and a state of having missed God's holy expectation. Practically, this means that you can unintentionally miss God's Holy expectation of you and even though it was unintentional you are still responsible. In ancient Israel, manslaughter was one such example.

Sin, regardless of intention, has consequences.

This is going to be hard for some to hear. You see, we are taught that motive matters. Yes, motive matters, some, but our actions regardless of motive also matter. You can do everything right and still be wrong and while society might say "then it is not your fault," a holy God must call sin exactly what it is, sin. In short, there are going to be some bad days.

Life in a fallen world may require God's people, in discernment, to stick up for someone (4-5).

Consider a situation where this might happen.

Imagine the situation, Jeremiah is unhooking his cart from the oxen and slips. The cart begins to roll downhill and to everyone's horror Miriam, the neighbor's wife is struck by the rolling cart. Jeremiah immediately renders help but later that evening Miriam passes. The neighbor, in a rage of fury swears that Jeremiah will pay for taking his beloved. Jeremiah quickly packs a few items and sets out for Shechem, one of the cities of refuge in Ephraim. One commentary mentioned that Jewish tradition holds that the roads between cities of refuge were among the best kept roads. Signs along the way read "refuge, refuge," and there were even runners whose job was to help those along their journey.^[2]

Upon reaching the city, Jeremiah is greeted by the elders who listen to his situation and offer to provide protection as long as Jeremiah stays in the city. While Miriam's death was terrible, taking Jeremiah's life would not solve the problem. Jeremiah's life will never be the same but at least he has life.

In a fallen world we need to create avenues for those who fall into sin to be restored.

Here is what is striking to me. The guilty party is not declared innocent but rather the guilty party is accepted and protected. This reminds me of accountability. The church is a hospital for sick people. We need to be ready to accept sinners and help them in their sin.

Life in a fallen world requires sacrifice (6).

What about justice?

Well, consider this. The guilty party was required to stay in the city until the death of the High Priest. This could be a very long time. Life would never be the same. This is also maybe a foreshadowing of Christ's atoning death. The death of the High Priest denoted a point where forgiveness was essentially given. Ultimately, the death of Christ was the point where total forgiveness was given.

Those caught in sin need to be willing to accept consequences.

Here is something that struck me as I considered the passage. One could try to cover up their sin, to hide it, to avoid all consequences. However, in covering the sin the individual also gave-up any protection. You could choose not to go to the city of refuge but you were risking everything.

Similarly, you can choose to try and hide your sin but you would be stupid to do so. Confessing sin brought a future guarantee of freedom.

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MTR: Confess your sin and seek accountability.

Planning for holiness requires sacrifice (21:1-3)

God's people may be asked to sacrifice in order to support God's servants.

God's servants may be asked to sacrifice in what they receive.

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MTR: Ask yourself, am I living in a sacrificial way?

Planning for holiness is worth it (21:43-45)

God does give physical blessings.

God does give rest.

God does fulfill His promises.

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MTR: Determine to plan for holiness.

Conclusion:

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1. ↑ J. Jordan Henderson, “Sin,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
2. ↑ Donald K. Campbell, “Joshua,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 363.