Joshua 10:22-27 Be Strong and Courageous!

 22Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” 23So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.

24When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.”

So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.

25“Do not be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua said. “Be strong and courageous, for the LORD will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

26After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening. 27At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave in which they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day.

Be Strong and Courageous 

“Adoni-Zedek, was among these five kings. This would be the end of his reign and his life. Taken together, he is a fascinating picture or type.

· His name means, “Lord of Righteousness.”

· He was the pagan king of Jerusalem.

· He led a confederation of kings.

· He fought against Joshua.

· He resisted God’s occupation of the land.

· He kept with other kings in caves.

ii. The Bible tells us of a coming false messiah (Revelation 13:3), who will rule over Jerusalem (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), who will lead a confederation of kings (Revelation 17:12-13), fighting against Yeshua (Revelation 17:14), resisting His occupation of the land (Revelation 19:19), and hiding in caves (Revelation 6:15-17). All in all, Adoni-Zedek is a fascinating picture of the coming Antichrist.” (Guzik)

“Hanging alive seems a barbarous custom: among the Hebrews, criminals were first deprived of life; this was the debt required by justice: then they were hanged up, perhaps generally by the hands, not by the neck; this was done by way of example, to deter others from committing the crimes for which those had suffered.” (Clarke)

I thought David Guzik’s picture was fascinating with king Adoni-Zedek and the coming Antichrist. With the lawlessness in our country we need to have the same spiritual strength of Joshua, Be Strong and Courageous! Strengthen your faith and keep on, keeping on for Jesus’s kingdom.

Blessings 

Joshua 10:16-21 Conquered

 16Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. 17And Joshua was informed: “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

18So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and post men there to guard them. 19But you, do not stop there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Do not let them reach their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand.”

20So Joshua and the Israelites continued to inflict a terrible slaughter until they had finished them off, and the remaining survivors retreated to the fortified cities. 21The whole army returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one dared to utter a word against the Israelites.

Conquered

Joshua ordered that the five kings be imprisoned in the cave so the battle could continue until the enemy armies were totally conquered.

The enemy army inside us needs to be totally conquered too! Only Jesus can do that when we are born again. He removes us from the enemies book and adds us the the Book of Life! This can only happen when you fully surrender yourself to Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

Which book will contain your name?

Blessings  

Joshua 10:12-15 The Sun and the Moon Stood Still!

 12On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel:

“O sun, stand still over Gibeon,

O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

13So the sun stood still

and the moon stopped

until the nation took vengeance

upon its enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?

“So the sun stopped

in the middle of the sky

and delayed going down

about a full day.”

14There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.

15Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

The Sun and the Moon Stood Still!

“Seeing God’s miraculous hand in action gave Joshua the boldness to ask for an even more remarkable miracle – to keep the day going, to keep the sun from setting, so that Israel had time to accomplish a complete victory before darkness fell.

i. The sun and the moon had long stood as silent witnesses to the sin, wickedness, and demonic religion of these Canaanites. Now, under the command of God, they helped Joshua to complete this victory over the Canaanites.” (Guzik)

“In Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky suggested that the long day was caused by the near pass of a comet, that was powerful enough to tilt the axis of the earth. “The tilting of the axis could produce the visual effect of a retrogressing or arrested sun; a greater tilting, a multiple day or night” [page 385]. He also noted that there are records among the ancient Americans that speak of an extraordinarily long night in the same approximate time.” (Guzik)

“Like Joshua, we often wish that time would stay still. We would do well to imitate Joshua’s reasonsfor an extended time. Joshua wanted time to stay still so that:

· God would be glorified.

· God would be obeyed.

· God’s work would be continued without hindrance.

· God’s people would triumph.” (Guzik)

Sometimes the verses are so rich that we just have to soak them in. 

David Guzik’s commentary is rich too! 

Those of us in Christ need to ask ourselves in regards to Jesus and God Kingdom, are we glorifying, obeying, continuing without hindrance so Gods people would triumph in leading others to Christ?

Blessings

Joshua 10:10-11 Hail Nature!

 10And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.

Hail Nature!

Hail has several definitions, to greet, to flag down, ice precipitation, and some even say Hail Mary. It’s evident here from Madvig’s commentary below that the Canaanites practiced “Hail Nature”! 

Isn’t it interesting that the one true God would use their own sin of worshipping nature deities instead of Him as judgement in the form of large hailstones?

“The hailstones that killed the retreating armies of the Canaanites were obviously miraculous. The hail itself could have been a phenomenon of nature, but its aim and timing were evidence of the hand of God.”

“The Canaanites, who worshipped nature deities, must have thought that their own gods were aiding the Israelites.” (Madvig)

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. –” R Zaccharias

What has sin cost you?

Blessings 

Joshua 10:9 Hard Work!

 9After marching all night from Gilgal, Joshua caught them by surprise. 

“This took hard work and initiative on Joshua’s part. The march from Gilgal to Gibeon involved a climb of 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), over a distance of about 20 miles (32 kilometers). This was eight to ten hours of hard marching, all through the night.” 

“God does His work, but He draws us into working with Him. Often God waits to see our initiative, our willingness to be a partner with Him, before He does what only He can do.” (Guzik)

Hard Work

After my spouse and I were born again as Jesus says in John 3:3, He was drawing us into working with Him towards foster care, so we thought! We took the initiative, had the willingness to partner with Him to adopt a ten year old boy that no one wanted.

It was like the march from Gigal to Gibeon over a distance of years, not one night! 

But we endured and I believe He has blessed us, even though we are sinners.

Your mission is to take the initiative, have the willingness to figure out the hard work He is calling you to do.

Blessings 

Joshua 10:8 Not One!

 8The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have delivered them into your hand. Not one of them shall stand against you.”

“Fear takes away our ability to fight God’s battles. Even in the face of strong enemies, Joshua was commanded to not fear. For Joshua, fear was unbelief – being unwilling to believe what God promised. So it is with us today.” (Guzik)

Not One

“Not one of them shall stand against you”

Look at this promise! So it is with us today.!

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.

Not one will be lost from the Son’s hand!

John 10:29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

Not one will be lost from the Fathers hand!

Christian, rest assured in your salvation promise! Not one will be lost!

Do you hold on to that promise?

Blessings 

Joshua 10:7 Sense of Honor

 7So Joshua and his whole army, including all the mighty men of valor, came from Gilgal.

“Here for the first time Israel does not initiate the aggression but responds to an ally’s appeal.” (Hess)

Sense of Honor

“We should have the same sense of honor. Though Joshua was only bound to not kill the Gibeonites himself (Joshua 9:15), he also felt obliged to fulfill the spirit of the vow he made to the Gibeonites.” (Guzik)

John 5: 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Romans 2: 10but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek.

Revelation 4: 9And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne who lives forever and ever, 

The Bible says a lot about honor. Honor to God, the Son and to man.

Do you have the same sense of honor?

Blessings 

Joshua 10:6 Save Us!

 6Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Amorites from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

· Gilgal was the place of memorial (Joshua 4:20).

· Gilgal was the place of radical obedience (Joshua 5:2-3).

· Gilgal was the place where reproach was removed (Joshua 5:9).

· Gilgal was the place of obedience and the remembrance of salvation (Joshua 5:10).

· Gilgal was the place where the manna stopped, and they began to live from what    the Promised Land provided (Joshua 5:11-12). (Guzik)

Save Us!

“Just like the Gibeonites claimed protection on the basis of covenant, so do we because of our participation in the New Covenant. In light of our covenant with God, “Do not forsake Your servant…save us and help us” is a good prayer to pray.” (Guzik)

Luke 22: 20In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.

Do you participate in the new covenant?

Blessings 

https://www.gotquestions.org/new-covenant.html

Joshua 10:3-5 War

 3Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4“Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

5So the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces and advanced with all their armies. They camped before Gibeon and made war against it.

“This again displays that the Canaanites were organized as city-states instead of one unified nation. It took the leadership of Adoni-Zedek to bring them together.

Though they were afraid, they were still clever. Afraid to attack Israel directly, they attacked their subjects, the Gibeonites.” (Guzik)

That’s the same strategy the devil uses on us! He doesn’t have the power to attack God directly so he attacks His creation, His subjects and His children! 

How do you withstand the wiles and cleverness of the devil when he makes war against you?

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Are you studying Gods word daily and fellowshipping with other Christians on a regular basis?

Blessings 

Joshua 10:1-2 Enemies

 1Now Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction —doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king—and that the people of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living near them. 2So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.

Enemies 

“Adoni-Zedek also had reason to be concerned from a strategic perspective. The previous victories across the middle of Canaan effectively separated Canaan between north and south.” (Guzik)

“Israel controlled the Benjaminite plateau, the crossroads between the hill country and the Judean wilderness. It provided access to the coastal plain and lowlands to the west via the Beth Horon pass.” (Hess)

“The enemies of Israel feared greatly; but like our spiritual enemies, they did not retreat but launched even more bold attacks, as a wild animal might fight when it feels threatened.” (Guzik)

Spiritual Enemies 

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Can you recognize an attack from spiritual enemies?

13Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 

How do you fight spiritual enemies?

18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.

Stand your ground or live in fear, it’s your choice.

Blessings 

Joshua 9:24-27 Acceptance for Repentance

 24They replied to Joshua and said, “Because your servants were told in no uncertain terms that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the land’s inhabitants before you, we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and so we did this [deceptive] thing. 25Now look, we are in your hands; do to us as it seems good and right in your sight.” 26So that is what he did to them; he rescued them from the hands of the Israelites and they did not kill them. 27Now on that day Joshua made them cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place which He would choose.

“Both Rahab and the Gibeonites came to the God of Israel as sinners, Rahab as a harlot, and the Gibeonites as liars.” “Both Rahab and the Gibeonites were willing to risk the forsaking of their former associations and be counted among God’s people.”(Guzik)

“The Gibeonites became servants at the tabernacle, just as Joshua had commanded.

· Gibeon becomes a priestly city; the ark of the covenant stayed at Gibeon often in the days of David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 16:39-40 and 21:29).

· At least one of David’s mighty men was a Gibeonite (1 Chronicles 12:4).

· God appeared and spoke to Solomon at Gibeon (1 Kings 3:4-5).

· Gibeonites were among those who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:7 and 7:25).

· Prophets such as Hananiah the son of Azur came from Gibeon (Jeremiah 28:1).” (Guzik)

What we see in this commentary is Gods love for us and His acceptance for repentance!

Lay your sins at the foot of the cross and be used mightily by the Lord.

Blessings 

Joshua 9:21-23 Slave

 21They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.

22Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far away from us, when in fact you live among us? 23Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

“Joshua could not kill the Gibeonites, but he could control them by making them perpetual workmen for the tabernacle service. They would serve in menial ways such as cutting wood for the sacrificial fires of the tabernacle and carrying water used in its service.” (Guzik)

Isn’t it better to be cursed as a slave “for the house of my God” than to die?

God had laws on how slaves were to be treated because the Israelites were once slaves under Egypt. 

In a sense, aren’t we slaves for the house of king Jesus?

Our son recently said he’d like to find a better job. I gave him several suggestions that I learned from the school of hard knocks.

Always be early and the last to leave.

Never complain.

Do your work as though you were doing it for the Lord.

Can you imagine if everyone acted like that in the workplace?

Are you a slave for Christ?

Blessings 

Joshua 9:16-20 Oaths

 16And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. 17Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. 18But the children of Israel did not [f]attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

19Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. 20This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.”

Oaths

“The rulers of Israel were wise in not allowing one sin (wiping out the Gibeonites) to follow another sin (making the oath without seeking the LORD), especially in light of public pressure to do otherwise.” (Guzik)

Zechariah 5:4 I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”

But Jesus said:

Matthew 5: 33Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

As you can see Jesus said it’s better not to make an oath because if you don’t fulfill it it’s a sin. Rather, just let your answer be yes or no.

Can a promise be considered an oath? Have you made a promise that you didn’t keep?

Blessings 

Joshua 9:7-13 Don’t Hold Back His Fame!

 7Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?”

8But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

9So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, 10and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ 12This bread of ours we took hot forour provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. 13And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”

Don’t Hold Back His Fame!

“because of the name of the Lord your God;”

“all that He did in Egypt,”

“and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites”

“to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan”

Sometimes there’s so much revealed in scripture we miss the obvious!

The Gibeonites lied greatly to Joshua but they came out of respect because of His Fame!

“because of the name of the Lord your God;”

Do the people around you see His Fame in you because of your free gift of salvation?

“share the good news with others. Do not hold back; tell your friends at church first, and join with them in fellowship; let the watchman of the city, the pastor, be informed of your discovery, and then proclaim the good news in every place.” (Spurgeon)

Don’t Hold Back His Fame and let them know about the name of the Lord your God!

Blessings