Victory Must Be Total - Joshua 10:16-43

Well, good morning. Glad that you are here. For those that I don't know, my name's Dalton Leslie. I'm the, not pastoral intern. I was that five years ago. I'm the churchill planting resident here and also the director of Outreach and discipleship, and I'm super excited to be able to preach this morning. We're also very excited that in the month of July, we do family worship, so we have lots of children here from the children's ministry who have joined us, and just wanted to bring your attention in the back, not in here, but in the lobby, we have some some kids' sermon guides that your kids to be able to to draw along and draw pictures or take notes, however they would see. Fit. There's color, there's crowns back there, there's other activities. So if you fail to get any of those, or if you just want to go back and get some more, feel free to do that. They're out there in the lobby, right there back that door. But like I said, super glad to be here with you guys this morning. Yeah, you know, in my life, I've had lots of different jobs. One, I just named like two of them. I I'm a pastoral, I almost said pastoral intern again. Church planting resident. I was a pastoral intern. I've been a youth pastor. I've worked at Discount Tire. I was a tire service technician I have been in retail, I've worked as a server at different restaurants. The most stressful job I ever had, I made snow cones and seriously, so stressful. I still have nightmares about that job. Just the people who want the giant snow cones just over and over and over again. It just never ends. But the most difficult job maybe the most pain painstaking job I've ever had, was pulling weeds. Anybody ever pull weeds? You ever get paid to do that? The very first job I ever had was pulling weeds. I pulled weeds for an 100 year old lady named Gertrude. Never heard a more aptly named woman, 100 years old, Gertrude. But she was very nice. She actually babysat my dad when he was a kid and she offered that I would go and pull weeds for her, and that was maybe 13 or so, but every Saturday for a summer, I would go and pull weeds for about two hours. Got paid 10 bucks an hour, so I was just rolling in the dough, you know. That's some big money. But pulling weeds is hard work, and there's two things that I learned that want it's hard work, and two, it's getting rid of weeds is difficult to accomplish If you want to have a beautiful garden, you have to go and pull weeds every single day. You can pull them out and you think you got the whole thing, and then the very next day, or maybe even by the end of the day, that weed right back, right? You didn't get the whole root. My mom always told me that if you were were pulling weeds, you have to get the entire root for that thing not to come back And so often, you would pull it and there's a tiny little bit probably is in there, and it would come right back. So I'm not sure if her for writing her thinking is right, but all I know is that every single Saturday I had work to do. So I would go and but sometimes it's really really rewarding. Sometimes it's a bigger weed, and you grab the bottom of it and you pull it out and you get that whole root Oh, man, I'm thinking about it right now. I think I'm gonna go home and pull some weeds. But it's great. It's satisfying. We're so happy when we can pull that full thing out and it doesn't come back. But whenever you're trying to pull weeds and have a beautiful garden, you have to be very focused. You have to be very meticulous, right? You get the bottom, you might do the whole, like, shaking back to forth kind of a thing while you're kind of gently pulling up, and you could work on that thing for a little bit, and then out of nowhere, you just pull the top off, and you're like,Okay, I'll just get it back tomorrow, right? But it's very difficult. But it's required if you want to have a nice garden.. You can't just mow them down, you can't just go in there and just start yanking. You can't spray poison on them because your flowers are right next to them. You have to do the work. You have to be focused and you have to be able to do that. You have to root out all of the roots, you have to pull out all the roots, you need to keep coming back and visiting the flower bed for any remaining weeds. the past couple weeks, we've been talking about Joshua and how the nation and of Israel is going through the land and they're wiping out different nations. And what we're actually seeing is that the nation of Israel is pulling weeds They're pulling the sinful weeds of idolatry and paganism that's in the land, the Lord Lord has given them a promised land, flowing with milk and honey. There's a promised land that's meant to be a beautiful garden of God's fruitfulness, and they're to go through and till the land, to cultivate it, to pull out these weeds. And remember that pulling out the weeds had two points to it. One, it was for their security. So if you're gonna pull out weeds, then you only leave half of them, it's going to come back. In the exact same way, if you just take out a nation or you just beat them them and they go back to their land they're just going to build back up, get stronger, and come back and attack you again. So it's for the security. The second part is for their purity. So once the nation of Israel makes their home in this promised land, if all of these weeds of pagan idolatries all around them, they're going to be tempted, they're going to be lured in and enticed by this sinful practice So it's for their security and for their purity, and the Lord has given them and said, "All of these I have devoted to destruction. These are weeds to me. Go and destroy them entirely." So not a single pagan nation is to remain. The garden of Israel is to be tended and remain pure and unstained from the surrounding nations. The past few weeks, we've seen Israel go through and survey the land, right? We saw them go through and wipe out Jericho. We saw them go through through and try to take out AI fail the first time and then come back and take out again. I take it out finally and destroyed it that it was destroyed, cursed, and burned. But not with without error, right? Or learning, both of those situations were brought about with lessons. We saw Aikin on both of those. Aikin he stole when he wasn't supposed to from Jericho. And because of his sins, that they lost and lost very greatly at AI, as well as them not seeking how to go forward with the Lord Last week, we saw these nations that are surrounding, these five kings get together, and they saw that this newest member of the Israelite family, the Gibeonites, that they're a royal city, and they said, "We need to wipe these people out before they come and attack us." So these five kings in their arrogance decide to go against the God of all., the God of all creation. And they come up against him, and then in truly epic fashion, I don't use that word often, but it was truly epic, right? The sun stopped in the sky and the Lord said, the sun will stay in its place until you have taken vengeance on your enemies. And then the hail came from heaven, and you could just see them being wiped out before them, and the Lord is fighting for Israel. So at this point where we are in chapter 10 16, that these kings are defeated. They have no army, they have no people, and they're running scared So if you have your Bible, if you turn to Joshua chapter 10, starting in verse 16, we'll start there. Joshua 10, 16. is what it says. Now, the five defeated kings, had fled and hidden in the cave of Meda. It was reported to Joshua that five kings have been found. They are hiding in the cave at Meda. Joshua said, roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and st station men by it to guard the kings.B as for the rest of you, don't stay there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind Don't let them enter their cities, for the Lord, your God has handed them over to you. So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed. Although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities. The people returned safely to Joshuhua in the camp at Meda, and no one dared to threaten the Israelites. So note that the kings are already defeated. The author even puts that here, that these kings are running for their life. They have no hope. They're absolutely terrified, and they find this cave, and Joshua and the Israelites, they find it, and instead of inflicting the final blow on these people, they put a rock over it, and the army is running scared.. They're trying to get back. They're trying to get back to their cities to regroup. The weed is trying to grow back. It's trying to get more strength. Joshua says,Keep them in there. Pursue your enemies. Get all of the roots out, finish them off. Don't let them get any more strength Pursue them. Finish the job, Destroy the weed completely so it won't come back. And then he reminds reminds the Israelites it's not you. doing this. be strong and courageous for it as the Lord who has given you the victory. He's already given it to you. Just act on it. Just follow in obedience to go and destroy this nation. Go, I know it's scary, right? I don't know how many many of us have been to war in here, but it's a scary thing. I've never been But it's a scary thing. Be strong and courageous for the Lord has already given them into your hands. Just like Jerryericho, remember that everything in that city was devoted to destruction. It's the very same thing that all of these nations are devoted to destruction that they are to go and not leave any survivors for their securityrities and for their protection, that they would not grow back. So victory must be total. Victory must be complete. Anything less than complete destruction is failure and is lending them to leaving them open for an attack. So go and finish them off. Verse 20, we see that they're going, and as they're attacking these people from behind, that they finished inflicting a terrible slaughter until they were destroyed. The word, I think here is dominance, right? They were dominant as they pursued their in enemies. The readers, when we're reading this, as people of God, or Israelites, or whoever was reading this at the time, we should be thinking feel victorious. We should feel happy that the Lord has done this, that we are giving the Lord praise because he's faithful. He said, I'd give you victory, and he does. We should feel victorious in this moment, like a proud fan of a dominant team. You know, in Kansas City, we're blessed. We have a great fa football team, right? It hasn't always been that way. Ever since I've lived here, so you're welcome Just choking. But this past season for the Chiefs, if he didn't know, the record was 15 2, that seemed like a very dominant season. But I asked John Inman, if you know him, he's our resident chief's expert. He knows everything., seriously, he knows everything. But I asked him, so, how many games were like one possession games? He texts me back at 8. Eight of them were one possession games that came down to the final second Came down to the final moment. Just kind of a summary. There were eight games divided sorry, decided by a single possession that there were made field goals at the final stop. There was a blocked field goal. There was a fumble recovery. There was a clutch stop, and then if we're honest, there was multiple controversial calls. right? But with a record, like 15 and two, you think that it would have been a dominant season that no one really could stand a chance. But there was a lot of nail biters, right? And as fans of a team, we like the dominant win.ins. We may say that we like nail biting games, but whenever you lose a nail biting game, you're like, "Why did I waste my time on this?" Right? Why did I waste my time? I'm a Thunder fan, and we had lots of nail biters in the NBA finals, but we've won. We're champions, we're dominant as well. So here we go. But we like like dominant wins. And what we learned about the Israelites here is as they're obedient to the Lord, as they're strong and courageous and the listen to him that their wins are dominant, dominant. There's no one last second spear throw to kill the final guy, right? It's dominant. It's over. They pursued their enemy. There's a terrible slaughter. And then they at the very end right before the very end, sorry, we need to notice this half sentence where it says, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities." So although this victory was dominminant, it was not total. It was dominant, but it was not total. Although the nation of Israel was very obedient to the Lord's command, they were strong, they were courageous. They pursued their enemies from behind they were unable to snuff them out completely. But nonetheless, after this total terrible slaughter, they returned to Ma victorious, and then it says that no one dared to threaten the Israelites. It was complete humiliation. They completely were destroyed. No one dared to stand up against the army of the Lord This exact phrase was actually, it was an exodus. Moses was told by the Lord that the very very final plague where all the firstborn males in Egypt were going to be killed. And then the Lord says to Moses, afterfter this, not even a dog will raise its voice at you. And what he's saying is this phrase, not even a dog will sharpen his tongue." That's the same thing here. None of the nations sharpened their tongue, none of them dared to sharpen their tongue towards the nation of Israel. These people, Egypt, and these nations were destroyed, they were devastated. No one dared to stand before them We can talk about football again. whenever we have a victory where there's a controversial call or a last second play, you can turn on SportsCenter immediately afterwards, and I all these talking heads of, well, yeah, it really shouldn't have gone their way. They got really lucky in doing this. There was no talking head saying that it was going to go any other way besides for the Israelites. It was a dominant win. There was no way the nation stood a chance. No one could question the Lord's power. Again, we should leave this section feeling very satisfied that the Lord was accomplishing what he promised. But they returned to Joshua, where he was waiting in verse 22. Then Joshua said, open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings to me out of there. That is, what they did. They brought the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lish, and Eglon to Joshua out of the cave. When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, "Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings." So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks. Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid or discouraged.B strong and courage, for the Lord will do this to all the enemies you fight. So the kings are brought out of their hy hole after they've been defeated, and that they've run away scared, and they they're brought before the army of the Lord and before the commanders of the Lord This is the very God that they opposed, thinking that these five kingdoms would be strong enough to attack this God, that they would be able to overpower the people of God, their newest members. This is the same people who saw the skyies stop. The sun stopped with its place. They saw the hail coming from heaven, wiping out all of their people, and they run away scared scared, and they called out before the leader, Joshua. So they're shaking in their sandals, not their boots. They have probably have sandals. But Joshua has the military commanders come and put their feet on their necks. This is a common ancient, like sign of dominance, of victory. showing your feet at the bottom of your feet, that was very disgraceful, it was shameful. So showing that although the whole nation has not been defedeated yet, that these people have been brought under their feet, they have been defeated, that they are ashamed, that they are completely destroyed. And he puts their feet on their necks, and then Joshua makes sure to say,It is the Lord who will do this, to all the enemies you fight.The Lord will bring all the enemies under your feet. This recalls, a very beginning where God's talking to Joshua and he says, "verywhere you step foot, you will have victory. And is the Lord who is bringing every step of Joshua underneath his foot and giving him victory. So he's reminding the people, this is what it looks like when we're obeseient to the Lord. This is what it looks like to obey, and He is the one who brings total victory. So total victory is necessary, and it is God who gives total victory to his peace. It is the Lord that brings it, not us, not the Israelites. So Joshua is telling them, continueue to obey the Lord, that he may bring you total victory." 1se 26.6. After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung their bodies on five trees, and they were there until evening. At sunset, Joshua commanded that they'd be taken down from the trees and thrown into the caves where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are still there today. So Joshua strikes him down, he executes him then hes him on him a tree. This is not uncommon. We've already seen this. The Israelites said this to the king of AI, remember? They finally defeated the king, they put him on the tree, and then they bury him with rocks, right? This hanging on a tree, was common in this time when if someone was accused and found guilty of a crime that was worthy of death, often they would put that person on a tree. It was a way of bringing a curse on that person. That they were separate from mercy, that they were found guilty, that they were ashamed, that they had all of that on them. So they would kill them and they would display them, and also to show the rest of the people this is what happens when we're guilty, when we're sinning in this way. And we see that with the kings here, we also see that it's also identifying these nations with this curse, that these nations are also condemned for destruction That's why the shame is on there. In Galatians 31:13, we see that it is being hun on a tree brings a curse. And he summarizes that from Deutomy 21:23. And this part of the law in Deuteronomy is detailing how the one who's convicted of a crime who's worthy of death or hung on the tree, but that body is not to remain on the tree overnight. Because if they were to remain on the tree overnight, then it's not just that person that dead person hanging, who's cursed, it's the whole land. So the Israelites, in a completely dominant win, if they wanted to, they would like, " yeah, let's let everybody see this, right? There could be a temptation there, but they're still being obedient to the Lord. They're not gloating. They're not saying it was us that did this. They're being obedient and submissive to God. So they take them down at sunset and they bury him. Now, interestingly enough, this is the last time we read about the Son in this account. Remember, in Joshua 10, 12 through 13, the Lord said, The Son will not set until you've taken vengeance on your enemies. As the sun sets, the vengeance is complete, as the kings are brought down from the trees, thrown into the very cave they thought was safe and they're buried there forever. The stones are still there today. This phrase,Still there today is used a lot in Joshua. And remember, if we think all the way back, when Matt was preaching in Joshua before, we were talking about memorial stones, things that were to be bringing our memory, bringing things back to our memory. A few things that were mentioned in Joshua I, when that was preaching, the memorial stones. When the Lord parted the Jordan river, they put a stack of stones in the middle of the river and they put another stack on the other side where they crossed to remind the Israelites when they walked by, the Lord parted the river. Another one we saw was Rahab. It actually says that Reab's family is still in the nation of Israel to this day. So when we look at Rehab, we look at her lineage, we even look back in the New Testament with Jesus that her lineage is meant to be a memorial stone of faith faithfulness, that it was by faith that Rahab was justified. It wasn't because she was a prostitute that she's in there, it's because she had faith. So when we look at Rahab, we should be thinking that, and drawing that to our memory, that it's by by faith that she was saved. And then we saw Aiken's family Remember in Jericho, one person was saved from them. That was Rahab, her family. And then one person was arrogant enough to not listen and read rebel against the Lord and to take the things that were devoted to destruction. And that was Achin. So whereas Rahab's family and everything in her household was saved. Aikin and his family, everyone who was in his householdhold, were stoned. and they were buried under stones, and those stones are still there to this day. We should look at Rahab's family and think, look at faith. We should look at Aiken's family and and say, "Look at sin. It's so serious." And then we saw the king of Ai that he was finally defeated, that they had a victory over the nation of Israel to begin with, but when they repented and they came back to the Lord, the Lord gave them victory, they hung him on a tree, they put him in the grave, they bury him, and now it's still there to this day. Memorial stones, remember this. walk by, tell your kids, tell everyone, you know,Remember, bring these things to your memory. Remember today that when we buried these five kings, that the Lord brought these mighty enemies under your feet, that there was complete domination, that they had been humiliated before the Lord. Remember that Yahweh, the Lord of the Israelites, is the Lord, that obedience to him is necessary, that it is good Remember the faith of Rahab. Remember the sin of Akin. Remember, treasure these things in your heart, and when you can't remember them, walk by them. Bring them back to memory. Bring them back. And it reminds me of of Deuteronomy 6, where Moses and his final sermon has given the Israelites one last word, and Deuteronomy 6, 4 through 9, he says this,Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. These words that I'm given you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children Talk about them when you sit in your house. And when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up behind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. Remember, remember, remember, talk about these things. Write them down, so when you do forget that you can draw them back to memory Remember these things, pass them on to your kids. Remember that we conquered these kings, that the Lord gave us victory, and give them give them to our kids that when we're dead and gone, that they would continue in faithfulness to God. Remember these things, pass them on. The nation of Israel has been going through the land and they've been trying to learn to be obedient. All the things that we've seen in Joshua so far have pretty much been with Arab error, right? We saw Jericho, we thought it was complete, but then we saw the end of Aikin. And then we saw how they went to go attack A.I, and they said,We don't need that many people. Let's just send a few. They're wiped out." And then Aikin sin was found out, and they wiped him out. And then we saw the Gibeonites. It a few weeks ago. Although they are now a part of the nation of Israel, Joshua did not consult the Lord before bringing him in to the fold. Then They have not been without sin and error this whole time. But here, for the very first time, we can look at this victory, and we can think complete obedience. Remember, remember, remember what what the Lord does. The nation of Israel needs to learn what it looks like to be obedient, and they need to be reminded of the discipline that they've been in often as they're going through this. Remember the nation of Israel in the wilderness. They were were complaining often to the Lord. They would have the mana come from heaven, that they would have the water come from the rock, and they would complain, it was better in Egypt. They would have the twelve spies go and spy out the land before, and only two of them were said that we could take them. It was Joshua and Caleb. The other one said, "We can't take it. It's it's too scary that the people are giants, and that they had to walk in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation was wiped out. Remember Jericho? Remember how Aken thought he was good enough or strong enough or sneaky enough to steal all of these things and hide them away Remember Aiah? Remember the Gibbites? Remember these things. They have yet to follow the Lord with their whole heart. Until now, we, as people of God, should read this and be satisfied. Finally, they're starting to get it. They have purity of heart, and they have strong courage, and they've gone forth and defeated the enemies that the Lord handed to them. We should be satisfied in this, but we should remember this. We should recall this obedience to mind, as Israel is recalling this obedience to their mind. It is God who gives victory. When you're tempted to go ahead of God and make a decision, whether financial or about your life or anything, we have a great comfort here where we live, we have a great amount of money that we have, and we can feel like we can make whatever decision we want. But before in our arrogance, we decide to make decisions apart from the Lord, we need to remember that it's God who's ordaining our steps. We need to consult the Lord. Remember to wait on the Lord. When you want to take more than you should, maybe it's looking at something on your phone. Maybe it's more money on your taxes. Maybe it's working longer hours and being away from your family. Maybe it's eating too much. Maybe it's this, maybe it's that. Maybe it's taking more than what you should have. Remember that God takes sin seriously. Remember the stones of Ain. The sin is serious. Remember the result of obedienceience to the Lord, that it's good and untainted and pure. Remember this and pass it on to your kids So I have us, I challenge us. What are some moments of God's faithfulness that you need to remember, that you need to memorialize? That you need to write down? Have you written them down? Have you told your kids of all the faithful ways the Lord has given you things, the ways that He's taking care of you? Have you written these things down? Have you shared them with you kids? Have you shared them with others? Have you thanked the Lord for his faithfulness or are we so unaware of what the Lord is doing that we can't write anything down? Write down some moments. But from here, the nation of Israel moves to pull more weeds from these pagan nations, to pull more sinfulness out of the garden of this promised land that God has given to them. To bring up ugly idols, these ugly idols weeds and destroy them. They now have confidence in the Lord, and the memory of His faithfulness is fresh in their mind, and they go and strengt and courage. They want to go and complete the total victory that the Lord has placed under their feet. Then verses 28 through 43, I'm going to give you a summary, ' because it's about more destruction. They're going to continue the destruction of the these nations and surrounding nations. This is what it goes. Mikeda, completely destroyed, no survivors. Libna, no survivors. Lakesh, no survivors. Gazer, no survivorsors. Eglon, completely destroyed. Hebron, completely destroyed, no survivors. DeBer, completely destroyed. Everywhere Joshua stepped foot. They found victory., and everyone was completely destroyed. And verses 40 through 43, this is kind of a summary of it. So Joshua conquered the whole region, the hill country, then the Gev, the Judean foothills, and the slopes. With all their kings, leaving no survivors, he completely destroyed every living being as the Lord, the God of Israel had commanded. Joshua conquered everyone from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen as far as Gibeon. Joshua conquered all these kings and their land in one campaign because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. Then Joshua returneded with all of Israel to the camp at Gilgel. So they were able to do it in one campaign, the exact length of this time, we don't know, but they didn't have to reset and come back. They were able to continue to go from kingdom to nation to nation to king and wipe him out in one campaign, because the true warrior of Israel, the Lord fought for Israel. And that everyone would be destroyed. In all of this, there are seven nations mentioned. And if you read the Old Testament, even the New Testament, when you see the number seven, you should be drawing to mind complete, perfect, just like this the seven days that the Lord created on the sixth day he finished it on the 7th, he rested. We should be drawing to mind that seven means perfect So, this is supposed to draw our attention and to give the implication of the complete destruction of these nations, of the surrounding people, that the Israelites completely dominated this region. We should be thinking that. This shorter summary in 43, we see that they did exactly as the Lord commanded. They conquered the land They were able to do this because God fought for them. And then they returned to the camp at Gilgau, where it was where they were camping before they went to help the Gibeonites last week. The summary of obedience and domination of the Lord is meant to show the Israelites that it wasn't their victory, but it was the Lord's. They simply obeyed. You simply did what you were supposed to do. Israel, you could be blessed in this obedience, but you should not be puffed up thinking that you were the one who caused it to happen. Continue to obey, and watch as the Lord gives you victory. But we should leave this section feeling satisf.fied. When we read Joshua, as opposed to judges, we should leave this thinking, finally, they got it. Look at the faithfulness of Israel. They're starting to finally obey the Lord Verse 42 here would rightly probably be considered the thesis of this, that Joshua captured all these kings in one campaign because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. So we learned that obedience was required, but God fighting on their behalf was absolutely necessary Absolutely necessary. Now, this section, 28 through 43 could be classified as a stylized summary, that there was actually different nations that were there, that were not included in this list because they wanted to list seven nations. It's a stylized summarymary of the campaign. We actually later learned that there are some cities and regions that are yet to be fully plucked out of the land Although they mentioned seven Nations trying to draw our attention to complete destruction of the southern part of Israel, we learned that there are still others that remained, even in this section. The victory is not total yet. There are still weeds that need to be done. Now, if we were to zoom out, from Joshua, even looking at judges, some of the Old Testament in the New Testament, we're going to see that this stylized submarine leaves out a few things. These nations that are yet to be plucked out, some of them are part of the kingdoms that we just read about in last week. The kings of Jerusalem and Jermuth, their nations were not mentioned here. We actually will learn that Jerusalem will not be fully conquered until the reign of David which is 3 34 years after this. Remember that the whole root of idolatry must come out, that it must be destroyed for their protection and for their purity. If we don't pull out all of it, it will come back. If we were to fast forward, we would learn that Joshua in his lifetime does not see total victory That we actually wouldn't see that total victory of this land would not be claimed until Solom's.ign. And that's only for a brief period. The root of idolatry remains after Joshua. He didn't see the total victory that was required. The people failed to pluck the the nations out. They disobey, and they make covenants with the pagan people, the sinners of the land, and God responds, and judges and 3. He says, you are not, I told you to not make a covenant with the inhabitant of this land, you were to tear down their altars, but you have not obeyed me. What have you done? There, I now say, I will not drive these people out before you. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a trap to you. The very weeds that were meant to be destroyed have now become thorns in the side of the garden that the Lord is trying to plant, that they will now be a trap for the nation of Israel, that they will begin to start to be enticed by these false gods, that they would start to look more like the nation surrounding them doing these detestable acts and continuing to worship idols. They've been trapped in their idolatry, and we see that eventually that their sin is looked down, God looks down from heaven, and he looks at Israel, and instead of seeing him, his chosen people who are Abane, he sees another nation that needs to be plucked out of his garden, and he plucks him out and takes him to Babylon in exile. The people failed to take the land, but they also failed to to pass it on. Back in Judges 2, 8 through 12, we see that Joshua dies at the age of 110. They bury him. The whole generation that was part of what we just read, they also die. And then in verse 11, verse 10, that whole generation was gathered. After that generation another rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel. The Israeles what was in evil in the Lord's side. They worshiped the Baes, and abandoned the Lord, the god of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them They angered the Lord. They failed to pass down what they learned. A whole generation, a whole generation of kids were not taught what the Lord did for their parents. Remember, pass it on. pass it on. Now, we may look down on the Israelites. Why can't you get this right? But we'd be wrong to assume that we'd be any better. The same incapable, sinful nature that's in the Israelites resides in us as well. Psalm 14 2, and 3, we see that the Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, to see if there there's one who seeks God, but all have turned away. All alike have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not even one. All are thorny weeds of sinful idolatry. The Lord looks down from heaven to find one person who's obedient, and he can't find one. The Lord, looking down at his creation, looking to purify and cultivate his garden of fruitful worship, would look against us as sinners and look to pluck us out of his garden, because we are sinners. He would leave no survivors because of our sin, and we would be rightfully judged as script Scripture says, for all sin, fall short of the glory of God. God looks down from heaven and sees a garden full of weeds and no flowers, deserving of life, to pluck it up, to destroy it. He was rightfully send a divine army to come and eradicate the sinfulness of this word, this world and that would include us. We would run and hide in a cave, just as the kings did, as we recognized the wrath of God that would come for us because of our sin. Yet instead of a divine army to come and purge the land of the thorns of sinfulness. He came and took a crown of thorns in your place and in place of the sinful nations. Instead of taking the sinful kings of our land and putting them on a tree to die and be a curse and to be a symbol that were cursed, the righteous king of kings willingly got on the tree himself. He took the curse for you. He took the curse for me, and he died. In the wonderful mystery of the gospel, the Lord looked down from heaven, and saw our sinful, thorny, sinful sinful flesh, and he took pity on us. He took pity on his enemies, and instead of pouring out wrath on sinners, as he could rightfully be able to he poured out his wrath on his perfect son, and substitution for the very sinners that we read here. A few verses in the New Testament that we should bring to memory. 2nd Cothians 521 God made the one who did not know sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Galatians 3:13, I mentioned earlier, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. He took the cross for us by becoming a curse for us. Romans 58, we read it earlier, but God proves his own love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for his enemies. Jesus came down and died in the place of his enemies. us. He did this so that we would have life., that his righteousness, that his perfect position before the Lord, would now be ours, and our sinful position would be paid for on the cross that the penalty of our sin, the punishment that we deserve, would be finalized on the cross and his death. Yet on Good Friday, the very enemies that Christ came to show grace to take his dead body off the cross. They put him in a cave, just like the kings, and they roll over their stone, trying to lock away the King of kings forever, trying to forget. But the third day came when the stone stone that would have been forgotten to history of a lost king is rolled away and opened for the king of all kings to step out and declaim the victory of lost souls to God. He has risen, he has conquered the graveve, he has power to forgive sinners. The stones that mark the defeated kings that remain to this day are not the stones that would be on our savior's grave, because that that stone is gone. The empty the closed tomb that reminds us of the sinfulness of the land is not the same symbol that we should remember for our king that the stone has rolled away and that the tomb is empty, that we have a king who is alive. The Israelites could not have total victory in the land, but Christ has gained total victory on your behalf. You cannot have total victory on your own because of our sin, but Christ has won, and He's shown you mercy so that you don't have to. He gives it to those who ask freely. So we should worship him with a pure heart of love towards the one who took away our sin and our punishment. We should be stirred up in praise towards him who showed us grace. Call out to God for salvation today, if you have not already. Call out for his mercy to be shown to you. If you seek him with your whole heart, he will let you find him. Remember his faithfulness, give him glory each day for the price that he paid. Turn from the sin that you keep running to. Christ has paid the price for that sin, and he has given you victory over it. He has won, and he's coming again. Let's pray. God, you are good, you are gracious toward sinners. You have shown us mercy when we did not deserve it. Lord, we see your victory in the Old Testament through the use of sinners and how it was not complete. But, Lord, we look at your life and how in your own power, in your own mercy and grace that you complete the victory for us. Lord, I pray that you would warm hearts in this room. That thing there are some in here who do not know you, Lord, that you would call them to repentance, that you would break the stony heart that they have of sin, and that they would turn to you and have a soft heart that loves you. Lord, for the Christians in here who have walked astray and who continue to run after the weeds of sinfulness in their life, of idolatry, Lord, I pray that you would convict them and give them the power to say no to sin and yes to you. God, we thank you for the Resurrection Sunday. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen.