Joshua Ch22/Zephaniah Ch1
Do Everything By God’s Instructions, Not By Man’s Idea
Joshua 22/Zephaniah 1
These two chapters present a contrast between the idea of man and the will of God. In Joshua chapter 22, we see the two and one-half tribes built a very large altar of A Witness before they returned to the east of Jordan River. This is work of man’s idea. In Zephaniah chapter 1, we see prophet Zephaniah discerned in the spirit and preached God’s warning and judgment about hidden sins in the hearts of His people in a time of revival. This is a work of God’s will. Therefore, God’s children must be careful to do everything according to God’s instructions and not by man’s idea.
V. 1-8 in Joshua 22. This part of scriptures gives us the background of this incident. The two and one-half tribes did not want God’s promised land. They chose their own land in the east of Jordan River. But they did what Moses had told them to help other tribes to receive inheritant land first. Therefore, Joshua gathered them and told them return home. Joshua encouraged them to love God and obey God’s commandments when they returned home. Then Joshua blessed them and told them to divide the plunder from the enemies with their brothers at home.
Zephaniah chapter 1, V. 1-4. During the reign of Josiah, there was a revival in Judah that had never happened before. Zephaniah was a prophet. His name means the Lord hides or protects. He did not look at how prosperous Jerusalem was from outside. He lived in the shelter of God. Therefore, he did not judge by what he saw with his eyes, or decided by what he heard with his ears. (Isaiah 11:3) The word of God came to him. Then he proclaimed a warning to Judah. God would stretch out His hand against all who lived in Judah. God would cut off every idol remained in Judah and cut off the priests served other gods.
Let us meditate on these two parts. There is a difference between the message of Joshua and of Zephaniah. Joshua blessed the two and one-half tribes because he looked on the surface. But Zephaniah preached a warning in a time of revival and called the people to repent completely so as to avoid disasters. It was because Zephaniah had a deeper fellowship with God. Then, the word of God came to him. He could discern the real situation deep in the hearts of the people.
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Joshua 22, V. 9-12. So the two and one-half tribes returned to their land. But before they crossed the Jordan River, they built a very large altar. Here we see that as soon as they separated from their leader, Joshua, they did what they thought was good.
When the Israelites heard about it, they at once gathered and went to war against the two and one-half tribes. Here we see that they dealt with the problem by their own flesh.
Zephaniah chapter 1, V. 5-6. God said that He would be against those who worshipped the starry host on the roofs. He would also cut off those who bowed down and swore by the Lord and also swore by other gods. From this passage we learn that we should only worship the only True God on the roof. We shall never worship the sun, the moon, or the stars in heaven. The starry host means the spiritual giants created by God to shine for Him and lead people to Him. For example, Moses, Elijah, Paul, Peter, Mary or even angels.
Let us meditate on this two parts. We shall not worship any spiritual figures. Nor shall we depend on our own wisdom or ideas and think they are useful to honor our Lord. God had never told the two and one-half tribes to build this altar of A Witness for Him. It was their own idea. God’s children must worship only one True God. We have only one altar. We must not build another altar. We only offer our sacrifices to our only True God. That is to say, we must only do exactly as the word of God. When we add our own ideas in our service to God, we in fact get mixed up with other gods. God does not approve this kind of ministry, He will cut it off on That Day of God’s wrath.
As soon as the Israelites heard that the two and one-half tribes built an altar, they went to war against them. They thought that they were defending the Truth for God. But their action was just like those who turned back from following God. Because they solved the problem by their own flesh and judgment, they did not seek God for guidance either. They should have gone before the Lord and sought for His instructions.
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Joshua 22, V. 13-20. So the Israelites sent Phinehas and ten of the leaders to the two and one-half tribes. Maybe they thought if they sent the famous leaders and those who had records of glorious achievement, they certainly could solve the problem.
But when they met the two and one-half tribes, they proclaimed only words of the whole Israelites and words of their own. They rebuked the two and one-half tribes as Achan taking the devoted things, and God’s anger would come upon them. This was absolutely not a right diagnosis of their problem. They reminded the two and one-half tribes how the sin of Poer had provoked God’s wrath that a plague fell on the community when they mixed with the Gentile. But this reminder was irrelevant to this case.
Zephaniah chapter 1, V. 7-10. When we have a problem, first of all, we keep silence before the Lord, just like Mary sit quietly before the feet of the Lord, then she heard clearly what the Lord said. Therefore, Zephaniah could tell the people that God would punish the leaders and the princes. The leaders and the princes mean those who want to be the head or to be the king. God would also punish those wore foreign clothes. That means those who follow the ways of the Gentile. (Clothes represent behaviors.) On that day God would punish all who avoid stepping on the threshhold. God would punish those who filled the temple of their gods with violence and cheating. Proverbs 8: 34 said, “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.” The doorway means the word of God. Jesus said, “I am the gate.” He who carefully listens to God’s words everyday and walks in the path of God step by step, will be blessed. Because he continues in the teaching of Jesus. Those who run ahead and do not keep God’s word are those who avoid stepping on the threshold. They are to be cut off by God. Whoever works for God by his own flesh and violence, or by his own idea, will end up sadly. Their ministries will be destroyed completely by God, because their works are not made of gold, silver and treasure stones.
Let us meditate on this part of scriptures. We learn that when God’s children face a problem, the first thing we should do is to go to God and tell everything to Him. Then, we must wait upon His guidance quietly. We should never make any decision by ourselves or depend on spiritual or important leaders to solve the problem. We also learn here that those whom are sent out to solve the problem should never rely on their own experiences. Phinehas and the ten leaders depended on their flesh to rebuke the two and one-half tribes. They were like those who avoided stepping on the threshold. (V.9)
Phinehas and the ten leaders did not seek for God’s instructions about it. According to their own idea, they put together examples of the sin of Peor and Achan as their message of rebuking. They thought it fit the case of the two and one-half tribes. Then the leaders carried this message quoated from the Bible to rebuke them. The way the leaders prepared and presented their message was just like the way traders carried their bundles of goods and moved their goods from market to market. Their great message sounded right and biblical from their viewpoint, and was approved by people. But it was not from God, and was not approved by God. Such kind of work would be destroyed and cut off by God at the end.
Here let us think about the example of David. David was a man who after God’s heart. When the Philistines came to fight against David, he depended on God and defeated the enemy completely. Later when the Philistines once more came to fight against him at the same place, David did not rely on his own experience. The first thing he did was to pray to God for guidance. God instructed him a different way to fight against the enemy. Then, David won the war again. David knew that apart from God, he could do nothing. Therefore, David joined himself to the Lord closely, as a branch to a tree.
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Joshua 22,V. 21-29. Then the two and one-half tribes explained that they had no intention to rebel against God. They did not mean to build another altar for their own. It was absolutely a good intention. This was an altar of A Witness between them and the tribes on the West of the Jordan River. So that the tribes on the west of the Lordan River could not reject the decendents of the two and one-half tribes as God’s children.
Zephaniah 1, V. 11-14. God did not look on the surface of Jerusalem’s revival. He would search her (Jerusalem) with lamps. God’s word is the lamp, the standard and the plumb line. The wine looked clear on the surface, but there was bits at the bottom. People in Jerusalem thought, “God will do nothing, neither good or bad.” Therefore, they ignored God’s word and did things according to their own ideas. In fact, God would punish them according to His words.
What we can learn from the scriptures here is: What the two and one-half tribes did was not the will of God or according to God’s words. It was out of their own good intention that they built an altar of A Witness. The Bible told us that when the Lord comes, any work that is done by sinful nature, by human decision or by flesh will be burned up to nothing. Those works are made of wood, hay or straw. Only the works that are done according to God’s word and by the power of the Holy Spirit will last forever. Therefore, we should never depend on our own ideas or decisions in our services to God or in our daily lives. Otherwise, we will weep in misery. We must humble ourselves before God and do His will.
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Joshua 22, V. 30-33. When Phinehas and the leaders of the Israelites heard what the two and one-half tribes had said, they were pleased. They returned and reported it to the Israelites. Everyone was glad to hear the report. All of them regarded what was done by man’s idea as good. Again they did not ask God whether He regarded it as good or not. Is God’s will “yes” and “no” ? How could it be that at first they regarded this issue as a great sin and now regarded it as a good thing?
Zephaniah 1, V. 15-17. Prophet Zephaniah was not confused by what he saw on the surface. He proclaimed according to the word of God came on him that the day of God’s wrath and judgment was coming soon. He warned the Israelites not to depend on their fortified cities or high towers. On that day, all of them would be destroyed to nothing and the people would become gloomy.
Again we learn important teachings from this part of scriptures. Do not jump to conclusions and think that it is good when we hear people’s explanation by our ears about their good intentions. In fact what is done by human decisions will be punished by God’s wrath in the future. There is no reward from God for this kind of work. Though the altar of A Witness was very large, it would become nothing. If we ignore God’s words and do many things out of our own zealousness, we are just like the blind men guiding people to the wrong way. This way of service is a sin agianst the Lord. We are not saving people’s lives, we are shedding their blood. At the end, the two and one-half tribes were the first taken into captive by the enemies. (1 Chronicles 5: 25-26) Phinehas and the ten leaders were like the blind men leading the two and one-half tribes to the wrong way.
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Joshua 22, V. 34. The two and one-half tribes gave the altar a name: A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.
Zephaniah 1, V. 18. Zephaniah pointed out that the Israelites had provoked God’s wrath. God would destroy the whole world and all who lived in the earth by His fire. Neither their gold or silver would be able to save them.
1 John 2: 17 told us that the world and anything in it will pass away. Only the man who does the will of God lives forever. Even if you have earned lots of gold or silver and want to use them for God, your money can’t save you on the day of God’s wrath. This is just like the two and one-half tribes building an altar of A Witness that the Lord is God. Though it was out of good intention, it was not God’s will. Jesus said in Matthew 19: 21, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come, follow me.” Only those who listen to the Lord, leave everything behind and follow the Lord, and do the will of God, will please the Lord and receive great rewards from Jesus Christ.
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Joshua 22 teaches us a great lesson about the altar of A Witness. This is a work done by man’s idea and approved by man. It is a sin against God. This is exactly what God wants to destroy. Zephaniah proclaimed God’s warning according to God’s word and God’s will. Though man did not like to hear, Zephaniah’s work lasted forever and pleased God. May the Holy Spirit search our heart by His words and cut off every idea of our own in our hearts. So that we will serve Him and please God according to His word and do only the will of God. (1 Peter 4:1-2) Amen!