MOTIVATE

–          How do you measure the immeasurable?

• Water gallons on earth (326 million trillion gallons on earth) [How Stuff Works]
• Sand grains from beaches on earth (7.5 x 10¹⁸); not to mention deserts, etc. [Hawaii.edu]
• Stars in universe 10 ²¹⁺ [NASA]
• Atoms in body 7 ²⁷ 
• GOD IS IMMEASURABLE; difficult to understand but is revealed in Jesus & Scripture

–          New series: God of the Word. Last week “God Who Commands Worship” [publicly, privately, redemptively]. We can know Him!

–          This week: “God Who Leads” (Joshua – Esther)

• People want guidance but they don’t want a guide (much more: God – Lord)
• God leads with the intention to be followed, Knowing God by Obeying God (1John 2)
• God is seeking humble & hungry more than strong & skilled
  • Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, – Moses

EXAMINE          

God leads His people into promised place (Joshua 1:1-9)

Israel traveled for many years and many miles, waiting to enter the land and blessing God promised. The promise started with Abraham and was to his offspring. Now,Israel enters the promised land ofCanaanunder Joshua. They are blessed and do well.

µ      Emphasis of faith: “be strong and courageous” 3x

• Conquered Jericho by marching and music (Joshua 6)
• Conquered Amorites by God’s hand and praying sun to stand still (Joshua 10)
• Choosing to lead family & nation to serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)

µ      Emphasis of Scripture: Book of Law shall not depart… mediate day/night…obey

µ      God leads believers today into the promised land of eternal life in Heaven.

• John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

 

Yet, after a time…

Israel became apathetic and abandoned God (Judges 2:6-11)

The books of Judges – Esther tells the cycles of Israel’s history of relapse and ruin, loss of place and people. The heart of their failure was not for lack of military focus but spiritually forsaking the Lord. The phrase and theme repeated is “Israel had no king, everyone did what was right in their own eyes”

µ      Takes 3 generations: One believes, another assumes, another distorts & loses

µ      Tell your testimony of the Lord

 

God leads His people into promised people (1Kings 9:1-9)

For many generations Israelwas desperate for a leader – one to point them to honor God and walk in His ways. God raised up “Judges” but they were temporary guides, of whom Israel did not always follow. In their eyes, they needed a king – like other nations – to lead them as a nation and people (1Samuel 8:4-9). God warnsIsrael to view Him as their king but grants their selfish desires with their first king, Saul (1Samuel 8 – 31). Saul starts good but later turns greedy, prideful and paranoid; leadingIsrael into a national and spiritual mess.

After Saul, God raised up another king to lead His people. His name was David and was a man after God’s heart (1Samuel 13:14). David ledIsraelto be a united kingdom and was blessed by God both militarily and spiritually. God makes a covenant promise with David to keep the throne within his lineage (2Samuel 7). This would further establishIsraelas God’s promised people to bear His glory throughout the earth.

2 Samuel 7:22-24 “Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God.”

As David passes, he charged his son Solomon to honor the Lord through his ways and also to build a temple to bring God worship for the people of Israel. Indeed, Solomon builds a grand display of God’s glory. Upon completing the building Solomon prays and the Lord responds.

µ      God seeks a people distinguished and directed to declare His praise.

1 Peter 2:9-12 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

 

APPLY/THINK

µ      God leads His people because He is Lord (Matthew 22:41-46)

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? 45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.