God Never Fails

Introduction

a. Promises are only as good as the person who makes them. Making promises may be easy but keeping the promise is far more difficult. What makes promises difficult to keep is that we cannot control all the events and situations that surround the promise. We promise to be at someone's house but then we don't control other drivers, train schedules, nails in roads, or the mechanical workings of our car. Promises are made without know the future and without the ability to control it. We understand that when we make a promise, we are basing those words on our abilities. We hear a promise and we understand that the person can't control all the extraneous things. Promises made frequently and not kept results in a lack of trust. Promises made frequently and kept results in integrity.

b. God makes promises and keeps them. He can be trusted. We believe this, but there are times that our trust in God is called into question. This speaks to our expectations about God and his promises. In fact, it reveals that we expect God to keep his promises. We expect that he will not fail us. Those times we feel like he has failed us that we wonder if we can trust him. We are going to look at Joshua 21 today. Like some texts in this writing, it is easy to skip over because of the division of the land with the Levites. But we must not miss the last part of the chapter as the author highlights God's ability to keep promises. It is a text that challenges and encourages.

Levites

a. Levi was the third son of Jacob. Levi and Simeon were close. In Genesis 34, Dinah, the daughter of Jacob is defiled by men from Shechem. Levi and Simeon propose that Dinah marry the man who defiled her but the men of Shechem had to be circumcised first. The third day after circumcision, Simeon and Levi go to Shechem and kill as many men as they can and plunder the town. Because of this, Jacob announces that these two sons will be scattered among the people when they come to the promised land (Genesis 49).

b. Hundreds of years pass. The people of Jacob become slaves in Egypt and then through the miracles of God, the people are released from bondage. At the base of Mt. Sinai the people encourage Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship. When Moses and Joshua return from the top of the mountain, it is the Levites that join with Moses in Exodus 32 to kill 3000 people for their sin. Moses announces in Exodus 32:29, that God has set the Levites apart for his service because of their loyalty to God. From that point on, the Levites will not get a territory but they will receive cities in the promised land. This fulfills Jacob's declaration that they were to be scattered but it also reveals their purpose. They are to serve God and him alone. They are carved out for a special purpose. Levi had three sons: Gerson, Kohath, and Merari.

c. It is from a particular line of Kohath that priests evolve. Aaron was the first high priest and all priests come from the line of Aaron. Those from the line of Gershon are responsible for the tabernacle curtains and cords. Those from the line of Merari are responsible for all the hardware of the tabernacle. Those from the line of Kohath outside of the priest line were responsible for the furnishings of the tabernacle.

d. Cities of refuge are mentioned in Exodus before the golden calf incident. The division of land for the Levites is mentioned in Numbers and Deuteronomy with special attention given to the cities of refuge. These six cities were places of protection and some of the Levites were promised these cities so that they could protect the people of God. In all 48 cities are given to the Levites. They are to be cities where those who were priests and those who were connected to serving God could filter throughout the land. They were in many ways the yeast of Israel. Six of these 48 cities were refuge places but the rest were places where the people set apart to serve God could live and encourage the people to live for God. A physical reality with a spiritual purpose. Peter will use this image in 1 Peter to describe the followers of Jesus -"You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Like the Levites of old we are to spread out in our community to reveal God's purpose and light. This is our purpose just as it was theirs.

Proclamation

a. At the end of Joshua 21, the writer gives a summary statement after the division of the land. That proclamation reveals two truths about God. First, God is a giver. Verse 43 and 44 speak of the Lord giving. Of course, Israel had to fight the battles, but the Lord was assuring them of victory before the battles began. God was at work. He gave them the land before they ever stepped foot on the western side of the Jordan. He told Joshua and the people to remain courageous because he was going to be with them and provide for them. God is a giver. He longs to give us good gifts. He assures us that all good gifts are his. Satan never once gave you a good gift. He may have given you something and called it good but you know it wasn't. Only God can give good gifts and all good gifts come from God who never changes (James 1:17). The God who gave the land to Israel is the same God who gives us good gifts as well. What are those gifts? Forgiveness, righteousness, holiness, our spiritual family, the Holy Spirit, life without end, love, joy, peace, patience and so many more. God is a giver.

b. Second, God fulfills every promise. He promised a land, houses, vineyards, wells, and food. He fulfilled every promise. Delayed at times by the faithlessness of his people but God is ever faithful. He does not fail. Every promise was fulfilled. This is our God. He fulfills every promise. The Hebrew writer in chapter 6 says that God keeps his promises because of his character and his reputation is at stake. Promises are only as good as the person who makes them. The perfect, complete and holy God makes a promise because of who he is and we can trust that he will keep it.

So What?

a. Here is what that all means. We must be patient. The promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and fulfilled in Joshua took 100s of years. Of course, there were times when people got weary. There are numerous times that they were faithless delaying the fulfillment of God's promise. On the cusp of fulfilling the promise, the people rebelled against God and a 40 year delay took place. Abraham never saw the promise but he trusted that God would fulfill it. Joseph never saw it but made the people promise to take his bones from Egypt when the time came for the promise to be fulfilled. According to Joshua 24, Joseph is buried at Shechem 400 years later. Now that's faith. Patience is required. Don't blame God for Satan's work. Don't say God is not faithful. That is Satan's lie and he is a great persuader. Don't say that God's delay in fulfilling his promise means he has failed. Learn that patience is required and by the power of the Holy Spirit, your language can be that of patience.

b. There will be struggles. The land was divided and then more fighting was required. Becoming God's child does not release you from Satan's battles. It doesn't release you from the struggles that come. But the promise of God to never leave you or forsake you allows you to face each struggle knowing that God is faithful.

c. Finally, there will be failures. Achan failed. Joshua failed in making the treaty with Gibeon. The people failed to completely drive out the enemy and then they spent 400 years waiting for David and Solomon to complete the work of God. In the meantime, there were failures. We will not win every struggle; every battle will not result in victory. But our humanity does not change the character of God. His character is not based on our success rate. His holiness is not diminished by our failures. His goodness is unaffected by our sin. That is why we trust him.

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