“Standing in the Doorway of a New Promise” (Part Four)

Learning the Process of Worship Encounters (Ex. 33)

In each of the leadership lessons Joshua experienced while Moses was alive, he moved steadily toward the task of taking on the leadership of the children of Israel. We saw Joshua learn the value of intercession - we called it the "well-worn knees lesson" - from the example of Moses before the Amalekites. A second experience on the "Mountain of the Law" helped Joshua understand the concept of the team and its role in leadership - "the locking arms lesson." We also observed an incident of Moses correction of Joshua when Joshua misunderstood the cries of the Israelites - "the trained ear lesson." With the knees of intercession well worn, and the arms of the leader locked firmly in the arms of the team members, and even with the ears tuned to the followers - Joshua was still unprepared to lead. Why? Each of those three lessons was external - a "how to" course on leadership that Joshua observed. Yet, he could not lead the people of God until he experienced and mastered three great internal lessons that were firmly rooted in his heart.

The three internal leadership lessons included quenching the internal thirst for God (worship encounters), finding the true compass of direction (overcoming the need for affirmation and recognition of followers in order to feel significant) and seeing through new eyes (viewing life through faith). Of the three lessons, the first is the most important. Nothing can substitute for the intimate communion with God in worship encounters, and this first great internal event was where God opened chambers deep within Joshua's heart that the man of God was unaware of until their doors were pried apart.

Deep within the heart of every man is the desire to communion with God. It began with the fall of man in the Garden of Eden when a hole was burrowed through his heart that could not (and cannot) be filled with anything but communion with man's Creator. Before sin, Adam and Eve knew the voice of their Creator. They experienced His gentle touch, and felt the warmth of His presence. After the fall, the most intimate experiences of life were now in the relationship between the two of them, and God seemed more distant. Yet, the need to know God and to sense His approval in their lives was, no doubt, still very real.

As generations passed, many of the conditions changed, yet the need to experience intimacy with God did not diminish. In an effort to mask the pain of this emptiness, men accumulated things to occupy and distract themselves. They masked the emptiness with mind numbing drugs and filled their lives with amusements of every sort. They measured life by the accumulation of material possessions and experiences. Yet, most knew that life was more than possessions and a string of events. That innate sense was a leftover of the garden days - that man was not simply material and temporal. Even in areas where the Bible has not penetrated the culture, people knew of afterlife and a "Higher Power."

I cannot resist the analogy of this sad history, evident in the book Watership Down by Richard Adams, published in 1969. The story was set in the region he grew up in, Newbury in the Berkshire Downs, England. One summer day in 1967, the author was driving along the road to Stratford-on-Avon with his family as he told the story to his daughters (then 10 and 8 years old). He later wrote the tale down that had become a children's story treasure.

For the uninitiated, Watership Down is about a group of rabbits that set out on a journey to create a new warren. It was told from the perspective of the rabbits who developed their own institutions of religion, government, economics, education, and family. From my fading memory of the book, one particular scene remains. During the exodus of the rabbits, they made their way across a farm property and discovered a pen of rabbits that were raised for slaughter. My loose paraphrase of the story will serve well enough to make my point.

The rabbits discovered the most amazing site! A fence surrounded a small group of rabbits that were happily resting inside. The weary travelers were amazed at how at ease and well fed the caged rabbits were. After some discussion, the weary bunnies decided - at least for a period of time - to join the rabbits in the pen. They burrowed beneath the rather flimsy fence and entered the cage, welcomed by the relaxed occupants. They asked the rabbits how they came to enter the place, and how they were able to eat so well in spite of the fact they had no foraging party! They were amazed at the response. "It is the most peculiar thing!" one bunny said. "Each day, the bowls are filled to the brim by the humans with these very delicious pellets. We eat the pellets, as much as we want! There is no search for food, and there is no worry!"

The traveling rabbits enjoyed the time in the cage. Yet, the whole scene seemed too easy - a suspicious setting for world savvy rabbits. Their leader detected that something was wrong, and soon his suspicions were validated. One morning he awoke to find that the largest and most impressive bunny was gone. He asked all of the other bunnies, but no one seemed to know where the large bunny went. Unsatisfied to allow the matter to drop, the Moses-like bunny burrowed beneath the cage, and began to check out the scene. Rounding the edge of the barn, he was shocked and sickened to see the pelt of the great rabbit hanging from the wall. He quickly hopped back to the cage and called the bunnies together.

"They are killing bunnies!" he cried. "We must leave here at once! We cannot stay in this place, we will all be killed." The rabbits who had traveled with him were hastily organized, but the other rabbits did not seem to care. He could not understand why they did not move quickly to abandon the doomed cage. They seemed unconcerned about their own destiny. The graphic image of the pelt burned in his mind! He pressed them, "You must leave! Your lives are in peril!"

"Well," one rabbit answered, "We know that is how you feel. We also know that from time to time, one of the bunnies is missing from the pen. Yet, in balance, it is a good life we have. We just sit and eat our pellets. We don't have all your worries, we have wonderful, delicious pellets!"

What a telling analogy of fallen man with an empty heart! With no way of truly comforting himself in his distance from God and with fear of his own end, he simply ignores the reality of physical death and eats his pellets. Watch how quickly he moves from the funeral of a friend to a few drinks to dull the senses. He feels the need to fill the emptiness, and yet it is with spirits, and not with the intended Holy Spirit.

Enter the believer - one who knows God. It would seem a simple matter for the believer to have time in intimate communion with His maker. Yet, Joshua learned that knowing God was not enough. Interceding before God on behalf of the people was not enough. The hole in his heart could only be filled by times of personal and private worship. This was the source of satisfying drink that quenched the Psalmist ("As the deer pants by the rivers of water…" Ps. 42) and it is the source of strength and refreshment for every man or woman of God commissioned to lead. It cannot be neglected, replaced or overlooked.

Exodus 32 closed with the repentance offering of the children of Israel after 3000 perished because of the sin of the golden calf. God threatened to delegate the march to the Promised Land to an angel (32:34) rather than His personal presence. The news brought wailing to the camp of Israel, and Moses appealed the decision in chapter 33, as he begged God to first show Himself (33:13f) and then requested the journey be cancelled if God would not personally join the journey (33:15). Obviously the main concern of the narrative was the record of the words of God to Moses. Yet, I was struck by a detail tucked inside the record. I could not help but note the physical position of Joshua amid the debate and discussion between Moses and God.

After the sin in the camp and the death of the thousands, Moses moved the tent that acted as the "proto-tabernacle" out of camp (the actual tabernacle was not yet erected) and had it set up some distance from the camp (33:7). Moses left the camp each day and made his way to the tent to commune with God, where God spoke to him tenderly, as two old friends with many great memories shared (33:11). The record includes the detail that the men of Israel rose up each day and observed as the man of God passed on his way to the tent (33:8) and that the cloudy pillar descended on the place when Moses met with God (33:9). The great request Moses gave to the Lord to see Him in all His glory was made in that setting (33:18).

Moses entered and exited each day. This was a time for him to meet with God, yet the two were not alone! A closer look at the narrative reminds us that Joshua was present, and that he "departed not out of the tabernacle" (33:11). Imagine that scene! God and Moses communed together, the cloud ascended, and there was Joshua, serving Moses by day and staying through the night! What a place of privilege!

Isn't it interesting that Moses did not remain, but came from the camp and returned to it daily! I suspect the memory of Israel's defection after Moses was gone for forty days reminded Moses that a knowledge of his presence helped Israel remain obedient to the Lord. He returned because they needed him to be among them. Joshua did not need to return, he was not yet the leader.

I wonder what Joshua did on those lonely nights. I wonder if he felt he could let his mind wander in fields of lust or envy and greed - or if his sense of the close proximity of his God caused him to be diligent, and attend to every thought. I suspect that was the case! Yes, with a graphic display of God's presence, Joshua surely knew he could not indulge his own lazy mind. He could not allow his thoughts to drift into the forbidden.

In final analysis, I suspect that is truly the problem with those of us who have allowed our inner disciplines to slip away from honoring the Master. The sense that God is busy running the world, and the deceitfulness of the physical nature of life beckon us to take our heart walk less seriously. Television shows, songs on the radio, and even advertisements call out to us: "Physical comfort and pleasure are what is important!" How easy it is to believe!

A sense of God's very real presence in the room with us is essential to begin to walk, act and think uprightly. Paul told the Philippians they were to "ever rejoice in the Lord" and "act in a gentle and reasonable way" because "the Lord is nearby" (Phil. 4:5). The writer of Hebrews called the early Messianic followers to "draw near to God" fully assured of God's full satisfaction in the work of Messiah and His power to cleanse our sin once for all (Heb. 10:22).

The secret to acting rightly is thinking in a way that honors God. The secret to thinking rightly is perceiving God's presence! Walking daily with the knowledge that He knows everything is less important than living with a moment-by-moment reminder that He intimately knows my thoughts and the intents of my heart - and He cares about each one! Nothing escapes His holy inspection. He is near! His loving presence should evoke the same desire we had as a child to please the watchful eye of our parent. It is not fear of retribution that motivates us; it is the joy of pleasing Him! His kindness leads us to repentance; His mercy leads us to a sweet walk with Him! Joshua could see it, and the realization of God's real presence was the beginning of a heart journey that changed him!

(End of Part 4 -tbc)