What is an Amorite?
The first battle in the Promised Land was with the Amorite, that proud look of self-love and self-importance that separates one group from another and is the basis for one man to hate another.
Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.
In Joshua 5:13 the Bible talks about Joshua meeting with a "man with a drawn sword" before the battle for Jericho. The use of the sword was contingent on Joshua’s attitude, the sword was drawn and the angel was ready to use it. Joshua asked, “are you with my group or theirs?" Joshua had that “Better than thou” spirit (the Amorite) that still needed to be conquered inside him. What did the angel say in reply to “are you for us or against us”? He simply said “No”. He didn’t even bother to answer the question. “Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come”.
Perspective
So, why wouldn’t the angel have been on Joshua’s side? It was because Israel should have been on the Lord’s side, not the other way around; it was a matter of perspective.
God cannot ally Himself with an Amorite spirit, something that He hates. Joshua had to fall on his face and give up… give up his Amorite point of view, loose his shoes and get back to the basics, re-evaluate his belief system, his own understanding of what God was doing and submit to God’s plan. I believe the angel would have had to kill Joshua if he hadn’t submitted (fallen on his face). God does not give idle threats.
Leadership
Joshua was the leader of Israel at the time, so how does this relate to the leadership in the Body of Christ today? What will happen when they meet the angel before our battle with the Amorites for Jericho… the beginning of taking the Promised Land? What will the leadership do?
Will they think the giants are too big, choose to keep things the same, run back and wander in the desert another 40 years? Will they die spiritually from the sword the angel is ready to use, or will they utterly give up to the Creator of the universe and to His plan; forsaking their idea of what God's plan might be? What if their idea is wrong? How real will they let God become to others? To themselves?
God is interested in a people; a people that will take His name (nature), His Bride; a people made up of individuals who will become one with Him. God knows who are his. Who are we in our arrogance to think we can choose for Him? Are we lined up with God? Do we love our brother? Jesus said that this was important!
Matthew 22:36-40 "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Will the leadership love their neighbor and consider them of equal value and allow them become equally important to God as they think they are themselves? How about those in a different church that might believe differently?
I cannot ignore our brothers and sisters in religion with the self righteousness of an Amorite and think I am superior, they are also of the household of faith. Biblical relationship comes from the Father and it is immature for me to think of my brothers and sisters as opponents. God does not enjoy seeing his children squabble.
My brother in Christ is not the Amorite I must face, he is fighting the good fight alongside me. MY Amorite is inside MY Promised Land that God gave ME. It is MY responsibility to take MY land. It is time to "put the knife in our fat man".
Judges 3:15-30
How they defeated the Amorite
The first battle in the Promised Land was for Jericho, a city whose king was an Amorite. Not only did Israel have to sanctify themselves and become circumcised, but to defeat Jericho, they had to defeat the Amorite in themselves. The Bible shows us how they did this in
Joshua 6:10 "And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout."
They overcame the Amorite by not saying anything. As one they had to shut their mouths and not say one word for 7 days. They had to depend on God to fight the battle for them, Jericho was too strong a city for them to defeat in their own strength.
The ram’s horns were blowing continually but that’s not what I’m talking about when I say God told them not to toot their own horns. It seems that tooting is still going on when we say “We are special, God’s chosen ones on the earth” excluding our brothers. “You have to come to my church to reach your full potential in Christ”. This is the sin of pride, the first thing God hates and an abomination to Him.
Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
God must have REALLY HATED the Amorite nature. After it was all done, Joshua said “Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho”. It was to be UTTERLY destroyed.
Joshua 6:21 "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword."
Utterly destroyed with two exceptions
When Jericho was taken, everything had to be destroyed, but for a two things.
1. Rahab and her family
2. Vessels
Joshua 6:17-19 "And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD."
People...it's what's important
We know that vessels are types of people. Once again we see that that people belong to the Lord and are important. Verse 19 gives us an additional clue. Where else do we see this combination of metals?
We see this in Daniel 2:31-45 in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image of a man made of these types of metals. Starting in verse 39, Daniel explains to the king that these different metals are kingdoms that will arise one after another. Kingdoms are made up of people. (As a sidelight, this gives new meaning to the word "mettle" or determining someone’s "mettle", perhaps it started out as “metal”.) ;o)
Verse 35 says that all of the metals were broken to pieces together (mixed), became like chaff and the wind carried them away and there was no place found for them. This doesn’t mean that they disappeared, it just means that there was no one gathering place. If people are the pieces and are scattered all over the face of the earth, doesn’t it go to show that the only one that has any control over them is God and not man?
This stone that struck the image in Daniel grew to become a great mountain and fill the whole earth. It consumed all of the scattered pieces and they became part of it.
I sometimes feel like one of the scattered pieces because the Lord has not allowed me to become a part of any group. I kind of feel like Jesus did when the Bible says there was no place to lie his head. It’s hard to break the conditioning of being part of a group. I’ve got to face it, belonging to a group produces pride in my life and this is the first thing God hates in Proverbs 6:16-19. Pride promotes self-love or the Amorite spirit and that’s what God's people were trying to defeat.
The Amorite is the first giant in OUR land, the land God has given US.
Numbers 13:30
I love your view of having a humble spirit, and I agree whole-heartedly. God hates a proud look. But standing for righteousness can also be misconstrued as a proud look. Those who opposed Jesus thought he was proud. He even stated that he was meek and lowly, and that looks like a proud statement. So where do we draw the line between between Babylon New Jerusalem? Israel had to have a conviction they were right and that their enemies were wrong, or they wouldn't have tried to conquer them. Jesus knew who he was. Without a vision--an identity and a reason to exist--the people perish. I know pride gets in there. But what are your thoughts on Isaiah 4:1? And what about all the seemingly proud statements by the apostles, such as 1 John 2:19, 1 John 4:6? Being right without the Amorite! Would love to read your thoughts, Brother David.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. Great questions! I think I will have to break my replies up into smaller bites.
ReplyDelete#1.“Israel had to have a conviction they were right and that their enemies were wrong, or they wouldn't have tried to conquer them.”
a. Perspective is important here.
b. God told them what to do, He was the leading
c. Israel did not plan or instigate the conquering; it was a sometimes reluctant obedience, not conviction of their own righteousness. They did not have a “conviction” at all. They did not do it to punish the inhabitants. In fact they created problems when they disobeyed and allowed the inhabitants to live. The land belongs to God, there can be no co-habitiation.
d. Our enemies are not our brothers, those trying to follow the Lord, but the accursed things that God hates inside of us.
What makes us different from the pagans? We have sacrificed our children to idols (a house, a job, financial security, personal interest, and even “to serve the Lord”). May God forgive our blindness. 2 Chronicles 7:14
e. God needed a natural example in Israel so that we could see a spiritual correlation.
f. If we take it upon ourselves to be right, we are not letting God fight the battle. This is critical in dealing with the Amorite spirit, especially at Jericho the first big battle.
#2 "Without a vision--an identity and a reason to exist--the people perish."
ReplyDeletea. Who is our vision? Who should we be looking at? We should be looking at Jesus for our identity, not the people around us. Who do we want to be like?
b. What happens if the people do not keep their eyes on Him? Matthew 14:30
c. Which group do we identify ourselves with? Could it be that God’s group is bigger than mine? You don't lose your group, it just becomes bigger. We must be careful not to use a wedge of Gold. See "Kindling The Anger Of The Lord (Part Two)".
d. God could not ally Himself with an Amorite spirit in Joshua 5:13. Our identity should be in Christ, nothing smaller. It is scary when we are not on Jesus’ side. Pride is in our heart when we think that Jesus should be on OUR side. Who Do We Think We Are? anyway?
e. Our perspective determines our attitude and spirit. We are not to have the spirit of an Amorite.
#3 "What are your thoughts on Isaiah 4:1?"
ReplyDelete"And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach."
Could you be a little more specific? Perhaps more background or place of focus? Specifying just this verse instead of the whole chapter seems to be incomplete without the rest.
I would be interested to hear what you have on this too.
#4 "What are your thoughts on 1 John 4:6?"
ReplyDelete"We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
Yes, this does sound like there is pride involved here, but that MUST mean I have the wrong perspective, because I know pride is one of the things God hates.
Let’s try to look at it in different perspective.
Let’s look at this statement keeping in mind God’s law of harmonics (or harmony) and sympathetic resonance.
First, take a look at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNKiFGvigrQ
If you have a “heart string” in tune with God, it will start to vibrate and make its own sound when activated by a sound of a common frequency… something of God.
If your heart string is tuned to the world, it will not vibrate to God, but to the world.
"They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them."
Having a perspective that includes God's law of harmony will allow us to be “right without the Amorite” as you so succinctly put it. 1 John 4:6 becomes an observation not a justification. It puts us on God’s side, not the other way around.
The Amorite spirit (just as Cain did) will sacrifice his brother before he will allow himself to appear wrong in the eyes of others.
If one has the wrong perspective, then 1 John 4:6 is a self-fulfilling prideful prophecy that gives license to the end justifying the means for not loving your brother.
In a desire for balance, this scripture has been abused by men when combined with Luke 8:21 to enable their domination.
Delete”And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.”
This abuse is in the form of “I am God’s spokesman for you. If you do not do what I say, then you are not a part of what God is doing. You are working against God. You are therefore an outsider and it is God's will that we dis-fellowhip unbelievers”.
These men would do well to consider the scriptures 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 and 1 Corinthians 11:3.
Men using gold (good and precious things from God) to create divisions between God's people is committing a sin with a golden wedge, it is the sin of Achan, the desire of an Amorite.
Think of what God's people had to do to Achan to turn the Lord from the fierceness of His wrath at the Valley of Achor. This is how he wants us to treat OUR Amorite spirit in OUR land.
#5 "What are your thoughts on 1 John 2:19?"
ReplyDelete"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."
As in 1 John 4:6, John is speaking of those that no longer have a desire to follow Christ. They were “anti-Christ”, denying that Jesus was the Christ and working against what God was doing.
That is different than those who simply continue to follow God and are no longer part of a group.
“Non-groupies” that are following Christ continue to fellowship with other Christians. They are discovering “What Happens When You Decide To Follow God Instead Of Men?”. (See my blog with this title).
Some have realized that pride in identity is a sin, the mark of an Amorite. They have seen it in themselves and have separated themselves because sin had become exceedingly sinful. Romans 7:13
While looking at 1 John 2:19, we also must keep in mind that the same man also wrote John 10:15-17
"As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And OTHER SHEEP I HAVE, WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again."
"Who Do We Think We Are?" (blog) takes a look at what our perspective should be as it relates to "Our Group" compared to "Their Group". They are all God's sheep. This perspective keeps the Amorite at bay.
For myself, I know I am already part of God's group. Does it matter where I am? As I said in my blog, “A Warning- Straight From My Heart”, I am not trying to fit in with any established religion. Did Jesus? We are supposed to be followers of Christ.
A couple years ago, I felt God dealing with my heart. Love God and Love your Neighbor. That's what it's about. Love. Jesus said, "No greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friend." That is what God wants.
ReplyDelete