Tie Together The Themes of The 1st 6 Books
The theme of Genesis is that man is a sinner in need of a savior.
The theme of Exodus is redemption
The theme of Leviticus is worship.
The theme of Numbers is the defeated Christian life
The theme of Deuteronomy is the Word of God and how we react to it. Obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings judgment.
The theme of Joshua is the victorious Christian life. The life where God is leading and God is fighting the battles.
Laid out before us in these themes is the order that the Christian life follows.
What must come first is the realization that you are a sinner in need of a savior. God started His book with this theme. That God is perfect Holy, Righteous, and Judgment. God is not responsible for sin, but God must judge sin. Man is a sinner. So man is under condemnation from God. If that is all, then we would have no hope. But God is also love and offers a way for man to escape the judgment.
That is the theme of Genesis. And no one is going to get any further with God until they understand this theme. That they are a sinner in need of a savior and God offers them salvation. You have to get a man lost before you can get him saved. That is why we use the Romans Road around here and not this come to God because he wants you to have a Lexus stuff that is so popular today. We start with what God started with that all men are sinners and are on their way to Hell.
After you realize that you need to get saved, then the next step is redemption. And that is the theme of the next book. After you realize that you are a sinner and God has provided salvation, then you can call upon the name of the Lord to save you.
In Exodus the Israelites were saved from the judgment of God. They were saved from the death angel by applying the blood of the Lamb in faith. It is the same with us. Today we apply the blood in faith by calling upon the name of the Lord.
After you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, then the next step is worship. And that is the theme of the next book. The book of Leviticus. First you realized that you needed to get saved (Genesis), then you got redeemed (Exodus), now you are to worship God (Leviticus). That is the normal order. And we learned in Leviticus that all worship is to be without sin.
Ok so now you are saved and you are worshiping God. That is great. But God does not take you home after you get saved. You still have to live a life here on the earth. So that is what comes next.
And we have contrasted before us in the book of Numbers and the book of Joshua two different types of the Christian life.
The first one is the Defeated Christian life (Numbers). Remember these are a redeemed people in the book of Numbers. They have been bought by the blood of the Lamb. And you cannot loose your salvation.
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
You believe and you have everlasting life. If you could lose it, then it was not everlasting now was it? To be everlasting life; it must last forever.
They did not get redeemed by the blood and then lose it. They are still God’s redeemed people in Numbers but we see them whining, complaining, and out and out rebelling against God’s Word.
And they had been given a system of worship. They had the Tabernacle and all of the different offerings that all pointed to Christ. And yet they are living defeated lives just wondering around in the wilderness until they died. Never acomlishing anything for God.
The book of Numbers shows us that you can be redeemed and even worshipping, but that is not enough to live the victorious Christian life.
And we see that all the time today. We have all known people who realize they need to get saved, so they call upon the name of the Lord. And once they are redeemed they go to church on Sunday but they live like the devil the rest of the week.
They never accomplish anything for God. They are just like the children of Israel who had to spend their life just wondering around in the wilderness. That is not the life that God wants His children to live.
But just like you had a free will before salvation, you have a free will after salvation.
Before salvation you could freely chose to accept Jesus as your savior or you could reject Him.
After salvation you can freely chose to live for God or live for the flesh.
So a Christian can chose to live the defeated Christian life that is pictured for us in the book of Numbers. And we saw that that life is not a pretty picture. That is not the kind of Christian life that I want to live.
We then have pictured the Victorious Christian life in Joshua. In Joshua they are living in the land of milk and honey. Oh there are many battles there, but God is greater than their battles. The physical battles in Joshua are a picture of our spiritual battles. God does the fighting for them. God provides the power. It is God that gives the victory. This is the life that God wants for His Children.
A life of usefulness. A life of Gold, Silver, and Precious Gems. A life that will count for something at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
John 10:10 “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.”
So before salvation we could choose between accepting or rejecting Christ. We could choose between going to heaven or going to hell.
And after salvation we can choose to live for God or live for the flesh. We can choose between pleasing God or pleasing our sin nature. We can choose between the defeated Christian life or the Victorious Christian life.
And what separates the defeated Christian life (Numbers) from the victorious Christian life (Joshua)?
It is the Word of God and how we react to it (Deuteronomy).
Disobedience will result in the defeated Christian life. Obedience will result in the Victorious Christian life.
Even the order of the books and their themes can teach a lesson. What separates the defeated Christian life from the victorious Christian life? It is the Word of God and how we react to it.
We can choose to obey it and thereby get a blessing and enter into Canaan rest.
Or we can choose to disobey and thereby wonder around in the wilderness.
Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it [to] the right hand or [to] the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Their prospering in the land was dependant upon their obedience. They were not to turn from the right hand or the left.
Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
They are to observe to do, then their way will be prosperous. Their being victorious was dependant upon obedience.
And not only is obedience necessary to enter into the Victorious Christian life. Obedience is also necessary to maintain the Victorious Christian life.
Things were going well at first, they had entered the land and had a great God given victory at Jericho. But then we get to chapter Seven.
Jos 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
Achan disobeyed God. And notice God’s reaction. God did not say oh that’s too bad. I know he will do better next time. So I will let it slide. No the anger of the LORD was kindled against them because of their disobedience. God is righteous and must do what He says. God said that their victory was conditional upon obedience. They were disobedient so God will not give them victory.
Jos 7:2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which [is] beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
Jos 7:3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; [and] make not all the people to labour thither; for they [are but] few.
Jos 7:4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
Jos 7:5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them [from] before the gate [even] unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
Jos 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
Without God Israel was no match for the people of the land.
Without God we are no match for the forces that oppose us.
They went from victory to sitting in defeat with dust upon their heads overnight because of disobedience. We to can go from victory to defeat just as fast if we disobey God.
Salvation is permeant. You cannot loose your salvation.
However the victorious Christian life can be lost.
It is not like I have entered into Victorious Christian life so now I no longer have to worry about sin. I will no longer have to fight temptation. I can just do whatever I want and God will just have to bless it because I am His child.
Not on your life. God chastises His children.
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
What you do after you get saved is going to have an affect on your life right now, and what you do after you get saved is going to have an affect on your rewards at the judgment seat of Christ.
We see here that Israel went from victory to defeat in a heartbeat. And the same thing can happen to us. No one gets a free pass from this principal.
Thank God he has provided a way to restore the victorious Christian life.
Jos 7:10 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
Jos 7:11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put [it] even among their own stuff.
Jos 7:12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, [but] turned [their] backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
God will no longer be with them to provide victory unless they get rid of the sin.
Jos 7:13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, [There is] an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
God is not going to give them victory unless this sin is dealt with.
And you all know what happens next. The man is found out and the sin is confessed and then the sin is put out of Israel.
And the very next time that they have a battle, God gives them victory once again. The sin was confessed and dealt with and God forgave them.
God was in fellowship with them once again. God was once again providing the power over their enemies.
It works the same for us today.
We can lose God’s power in our lives by sinning. But we can be restored.
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If you once had God’s power in your life to have victory over gossiping, but now you don’t. Get your sin right with God and you can have victory once again over gossip.
If you once had God’s power in your life to bear your illness with grace.
If you once had God’s power in your life to give by faith,
If you once had God’s power to overcome alcohol, gambling, lying, bad thoughts, you name the sin.
You can once again get God’s power to give you victory. God is not the problem. God has not run out of power. But God is righteous and He cannot bless sin.
God can deliver you from all temptation.
1Jo 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
If we are not having spiritual victories, the problem is not with God. God is greater than our problems.
O how we need to keep short accounts with God and keep our sins confessed to Him each and every day.
So that we can have God’s power in our lives. God does not force us to live the Victorious Christian life.
Let’s look at this principal in the New Testament.
Luk 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
Luk 15:12 And the younger of them said to [his] father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth [to me]. And he divided unto them [his] living.
Luk 15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
In this parable the father represents our heavenly father, and the sons represent saved children of God. You are not a son unless you are saved.
The prodigal son freely chose to be a rebel and waste his life in riotous living. He chose to break fellowship with the Father, and look where it got him.
Luk 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
Luk 15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luk 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Instead of enjoying the blessings of His Father’s table, here he is out with the swine. Notice here that the Father is not forcing him to return.
If you lose your fellowship with God, He does not force you to return. God desires fellowship, but fellowship needs to be out of a free will. So if you choose the world, God will let you live in the world.
This man is still a son. If you depart to the wilderness, you are still a son. You do not lose your salvation, and God still loves you. God’s love is unconditional. But God’s blessings in your life right now are conditional.
Is the father sending out a care package for the prodigal son? Is the father sending blessings his way while he is with the swine?
Does the father want his son to return? The father is not sending care packages and he is not sending blessings but the father greatly desires the son to return.
Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
The father greatly wanted the son to return. The father was watching for the son and saw him coming a great way off. The father welcomed him with open arms. He welcomed him with love not anger.
It is the same with us. When we get into the wilderness and when we depart from fellowship with God, God is watching for us to return and He will welcome us with open arms. He will welcome us back with love and not anger.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Luk 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put [it] on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on [his] feet:
Luk 15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill [it]; and let us eat, and be merry:
Luk 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
And notice immediately upon his return. Immediately the Father is bestowing blessings once again upon the son.
He did not put him on probation. He did not say you will get blessings if you hang around a while. No he was immediately restored. And they began to be merry.
There is blessing and joy in the Victorious Christian Life.
We can live the defeated Christian life or we can live the Victorious Christian life. The choice is up to us.
See more lessons on the Themes of Old Testament Books