Introduction to Prophecy - Church of God - NEO

Israel grew and prospered in their newhome. But a pharaoh who did not knowof Joseph's reputation came to power. Hefeared the growing numbers of Israelitesand enslaved them (Exodus 1:8-14). Itdid not seem then as if the children ofIsrael were "chosen"-rather, theyseemed to be a people without a future.But God knew what he was doing.To the Promised LandIf you have ever read the story of theExodus, or remember the epic film TheTen Commandments, you know how Godsent Moses to deliver the Israelites out ofbondage. With a series of miracles, Godled them out of Egypt and into thewilderness. There he gave them his lawsand promised to lead them to the land"flowing with milk and honey." The childrenof Israel were a stubborn race, andtheir persistent rebellion and lack of faithpostponed the fulfillmentof this promise.The Israelites wanderedDuring David's in the wilderness for 40years, but eventually40-year reign, stood at the gates of thepromised land. ThereIsrael was Moses handed over theestablished as leadership to his faithful• second in command,a malor power. Joshua (Deuteronomy34:9). That brings us tothe first of the "formerprophets." What happenednext shows howHEBRON, KING DAVID'S FIRST CAPITAL6the future of these people was predetermined-or"prophesied."Joshua's first task was to lead the childrenof Israel into the promised landOoshua 1:1-9) . God reminded the newleader of the very special relationshipthey had with God. If they obeyed God'slaws, they would be blessed in theirpromised land above all the people of theearth. If they disobeyed, they would suffercalamity after calamity until eventuallythey would be banished from their inheritance.Clearly, there was a great responsibilityin being the "role model" for God'sway of life.The book of Joshua recounts the battlesfought and the lessons learned as thepeople entered the promised land underhis leadership. At first they met with success.With God's miraculous intervention,the Israelites easily took the frontier cityof Jericho, as you can read in Joshua 6.Full of confidence, a small force marchedagainst the next objective-the muchsmaller city of Ai. They expected to takeit easily. Instead, they suffered a humiliatingdefeat Ooshua 7:2-9).What had gone wrong? Were Joshua'Stactics wrong? No-the Israelites shouldhave easily won, except that God was notwith them on this occasion (verse 1).ONE family, the family of Achan, hadlooted a statue from Jericho-somethingthat God had expressly forbidden. He hadto teach them a lesson-they must learnthat he meant what he said. Israel's experiencewas not to be like any other people's.Other nations might not have beenable to take the strongly fortified Jericho,but would have easily defeated Ai. Israelcould only expect success if God waswith them. If God was with them-as atJericho-no power on earth could withstandthem.Thus, in the first few days of enteringthe promised land, the "chosen people"learned an important lesson.God was taking a personal hand indeciding their history. It set the patternof what would happen over thesucceeding centuries. Obey and succeed.Disobey and fail utterly. Whathappened to ancient Israel at Jerichoand Ai is an important lesson inunderstanding prophecy. That iswhy it is recorded in the "formerprophets."The Time of the JudgesJoshua was a strong leader, andgenerally speaking, the people didobey during his lifetime, and also duringthe lifetime of the leaders he had trainedOoshua 24:31). But after they died, thingsbegan to go wrong.The second book of the formerprophets-Judges- tells us what happened.It records a series of events thatwas repeated several times in the next 300or so years.