Feb 24
An Early Riser
Jos 3:1 And Joshua
rose early in the morning;…
Joshua was an early riser!
Oh dear, who wants to get up at 4 AM?
I would rather lay in bed, yawn, stretch and roll over for a couple more
hours of snoozing. Alas, the Book of
Proverbs cautions against it.
Pr 6:9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt
thou
arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little
sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy
poverty
come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
The book of Joshua lists at least five times when Joshua rose
early. When scripture is repeated
several times I begin to wonder why? The
Bible is not a book of trivia, or examples of ancient literature but the Word
of God. Timothy tells us it is all profitable. So why is Joshua’s early rising
worth five mentions? One of my many
blessings is a religious library with several commentaries. But, Calvin,
Barnes, Matthew Henry, and several other volumes did not answer that question
for me. Why did he get up so early?
Insomnia? Wrong sleep number on
his mattress? What was it?
A dear old preacher friend of mine used to say “The Bible
sheds a lot of light on them commentaters” and he was right. So I decided the
Bible must explain why he got up so early, and it does.
I started by reading the passages around where it mentions
Joshua rose early.
In Joshua 3:1 he got up early because that was the day the
children of Israel were moving from the camp in the hills to the edge of the
Jordan River on their way to the Promised Land and Jericho.
In Joshua 6:12 he got up early because that was the first
time they marched around the city of Jericho.
In Joshua 6:15 everybody got up early because that was the
day they marched around the city 7 times.
In Joshua 7:16 Joshua got up early because he had to find
who was the cause of their defeat before the city of Ai.
And in Joshua 8:10 He got up early because that was the day
he led the second attack on Ai.
What is the lesson for us in all
this? No, it is not that we should get up early (Whew!) It is an even harder lesson.
When
God told Joshua to do something, he did it. He did not drag his feet and delay.
He got up and got to it. Just like we do. Or is there something that you know
God wants you to do and you have delayed doing it. Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have reminded you!
Joshua was taking the whole
nation of Israel to a river that was flooded with no way to get them across. He
got up early in 3:15 to get that job done.
I might have delayed or made excuses because there wasn’t a bridge or ferry. I would have wanted more information before I
herded all those people down to the river. But when God told Joshua to do
something he did not make excuses about why it couldn’t be done. When you know God wants you to do something do
you ever make…Oh never mind. That’s none of my business.
Joshua did not let all his
administrative chores distract him from doing God’s work. He must have had lots of things calling for
his attention. Probably he cared for
some of the administrivea when Moses was the leader. Now that he was the leader
he did not major on the minor tasks. He focused on what he had been
instructed to do. He got right to work. The 30 days of mourning for Moses were not over when he sent
spies into Jericho.
In
addition to not delaying, making excuses, or being distracted, I see some other
lessons for us in these several mentions of Joshua rising early.
In
chapter 3:1 He did not have to know every detail about how God was going to
help them get across a flooded river or attack a very strong walled city. His job was not to review and approve God’s
plans. His job was to obey. So he prepared the people he was responsible for
and in 3 days moved thousands of men women, children, cattle and all their
stuff to the river’s edge. He got up
early because it was a big job and he wasted no time with delays, excuses or
distractions.
Chapter
6 is the story of “Joshua fit the battle of Jerico, Jerico, etc” In verse 12 we
find Joshua again rising early. This was the first day they were to march
around the city. God had told Joshua how
the city was to be conquered. So the
nation marched around the city once in total silence except for the priests
blowing their trumpets.
In
verse 15 everyone got up early and marched around the city seven times, blew
the trumpets, and when the people shouted the walls fell flat. These were not the same people who had no
faith in God when they left Egypt. All those people had died in the wilderness
as they had requested. This new generation seems to be more responsive, but I
can imagine some nay-sayers asking Joshua “You want us to do what?”
After
the great victory over Jericho conquering the smaller city of Ai seemed like a
cake walk. The spies reported they only needed a few thousand men to take that
small city. Perhaps they had assumed they had defeated Jericho by their own
strength. The result was a stunning
defeat for them. What had happened? Where was God? Joshua was perplexed and lay
on his face before God. God told him to get up, get to work finding the sinner
who caused the defeat of Ai.
In Josh 7:16 Joshua again rose early and started
looking for the person who had sinned. Even when he had to pass judgment on one
of his own he did not delay, make excuses or be distracted. They stoned the
offending family and all he had.
And
lastly when God directed him to attack Ai the second time Joshua again rose up
early. Josh 8:10. This time Joshua did not delay doing again what had been a
failure the first time.
Why
did Joshua get up early? To be prepared (3:1) to follow God’s instructions (6:12,
15) to investigate and carry out judgment
(7:16) and to face previous failures (8:10)
Perhaps we do not need to follow
Joshua’s example of getting out of bed early, but we do need to follow his
example of no delay, no excuses, and no distractions in doing what we know God
wants done.
Mt 26:40 And he
cometh unto the disciples,
and findeth them asleep,…
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