Joshua | Chapter 10

    Chp. 10 Southern campaign

    Victory from the camp of Gilgal

    Joshua 10:1-15

    “Don’t let the Son Go Down on Me”

    I. Intro

    II. Vs.  1-9 Blessings from blunders

    III. Vs. 10-15 Hailstones from the sun


    Intro

    I suppose that had Joshua or you and I written the 1974 Elton John hit off of the Caribou album called “Don’t let the sun go down on me” he may have spelled sun with an “O” not a “U”. There has always been seasons in our life where we wished we had a few more hours in the day to accomplish the tasks at hand. Interestingly enough Bernie Taupin who wrote the lyrics to the song did so based upon trying to help someone who miss interpreted his intentions. Thus the opening line: “I can’t light no more of your darkness. All my pictures seem to fade to black and white. I’m growing tired and time stands still before me. Frozen here on the ladder of my life.” How appropriate those words could be for the situation Joshua finds Himself in as he and the nation fight five kingdoms in defense of those who deceived them only a short time before. And now the chorus saints (and I’ve changed some of the lyrics), “Don’t let the SON go down on me; although I search myself, it’s always someone else I see. If I’d just allow a fragment of Your life LORD to wonder free. I’d be losing myself but the SON; He would be standing over me.” Ok now let’s redo “Bennie and the Jet’s”, no I’m kidding!   


    Vs.  1-9 Blessings from blunders

    Vs. 1-4 Old Adoni-Zedek whose name means (Lord of justice) was wanting to exact a little justice upon the Gibeonites for their allegiance with Israel so he turned the confederacy of nations mentioned in 9:1 upon these pretenders. It appears that this strategy was aimed at the other Canaanite nations to discourage them from joining Israel especially seeing that according to verse 2 Gibeon was a larger city and of greater power than that of Ai yet they had already surrendered. So “Lord of justice” seeks out Hoham (woe to them) king of Hebron, Piram (wild ass) king of Jarmuth, Japhia (splendid) king of Lachish (invincible), and Debir (sanctuary) king of Eglon. Wow what bunch of fellows to have as your neighbors! “Come up and help me attack for they have made peace”, Mr. Justice says. Strategically attacking Gibeon was pretty smart as geographically Israel would have to travel 25 miles and 4000 feet in elevation to protect the city. To the credit of the Gibeonites they weren’t too proud to come to Israel to seek protection but what assurances did they have that Israel whom they deceived would risk their lives to help them? 

    According to verse 2 these five kings “feared greatly” so they attacked. Yeh so? Well I rather believe that this gives us great insight into spiritual warfare my friends with regards to satan and his cohorts. You see if you are under attack you can now realize that you must have old “dragon breath” pretty sacred and that means you must be doing something right! Have you ever noticed that there are some folks who never want you to be at peace and the moment they see that you are they want to gather the wagons to attack. That reminds me of satan who always picks up his attacks on those who have receive Jesus’ the Prince of Peace offer of peace.

                Just as God used the defeat at Ai to form a battle plan for victory over Ai (chapter. 8), so also He used Joshua’s mistake with the Gibeonites to protect Gibeon and accelerate the conquest of Canaan. The mistakes we make may embarrass us, especially those that are caused by our running ahead of the Lord and not seeking His Word. But we need to remember that no mistake is final for the dedicated Christian. God can use even our blunders to accomplish His purposes. Somebody defined success as “the art of making your mistakes when nobody’s looking”; but a better definition would be “the art of seeing victory where other people see only defeat.” 

    Vs. 5-9 Geographically Gibeon was at around 4000 feet in elevation above the five kings so their armies had to come together and then ascended to Gibeon in order to attack it. Oh the lengths that our enemy will go to destroy us. This caused the men of Gibeon whom we are told in verse 2 were mighty men to seek protection from those very fellows whom they had just deceived the Israelites.

                Now what I find interesting is that though Israel made a covenant with Gibeon based upon verse 19 it only guaranteed not to touch them and let them live. There is no where that I can find that this covenant provided protection from Gibeon’s enemies. Here is where I’m going with this if I was Joshua when I heard of the Gibeonites troubles I would have assumed that God was about to deal with liars for their deceptive ways and that my problem would have been solved. “Hey fellows sorry to hear that you’re about to be annihilated but I don’t see how that’s my problem I only promised I wouldn’t wipe you out myself.” Gibeon again as 25 miles and 4000 feet higher than Gilgal and no easy task to undertake no to mention risky for Israel’s army. So here’s the amazing thing to realize Joshua went up to protect the Gibeonites even though they were lying scoundrels. Is that not like our Lord Jesus who set’s out to save those who have lied to Him? Listen up friends Jesus doesn’t just rescue those that deserve it or are worthy in fact He takes delight in saving those who least deserve it like you and me.

    Further more Joshua wastes no time in fact he marches all night traveling up 4000 feet in elevation against all odds just to save those who were pretenders, fakes and frauds. We have just seen the lengths that satan will go to attack us but I suppose I can say for myself I deserve it but look at the lengths the Lord will go to delver those who don’t deserve it!

    After getting over my anger at having Jesus’ church broken into I awoke to God’s heart towards the person or persons responsible which is, “How tragic and sad it is that theses folks felt that they had to break into the sanctuary of God to take so little of what God so wants to give them for free!” Have you ever stop to think of what lengths God has gone to lavish His love upon thief’s, murderers and liars? Here’s what’s cool God wanted to demonstrate His love through His people who the Gibeonites just lied too so he allows five kingdoms of whom they were previously aligned with to mount an attack against them. Why? So that they would see how much God loves them and they don’t need to trick Him into it! Every single moment of everyday, constantly before us is our Lord with a huge sign of the cross that says, “Free love available”! Most of the time folks just walk by with broken hearts and lives ignoring His free offer. But because the Lord knows how much we need to receive what we so desperately need He allows those whom we thought were our neighbors, friends, family and allies to attack us so that we remember that as Proverbs 18:24 says that in only Jesus do we have a “friend who sticks closer than a brother.” The Psalmist proclaims in Psalm 27:10 “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.” Very few of us parents could ever imaging forsaking our children but as much as we love our kids the Lord declares that He loves them more than even all us father’s and mother’s. Did you know that God’s blessing are much greater than our blunders?

    Speaking of blunders on Thursday an article appeared on Fox news concerning the atheists add campaign in London. It seems as though they have risen over a $100,000 to place ads on the famous London buses proclaiming the benefits of being an atheist. Their slogan? Well it reads, “There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” Now I’ve got to tell you that’s a pretty amazing admission from atheists isn’t it? But based upon their confession of “probably” I’m not so certain that those who have not trusted in His love should stop worrying and enjoy life.  

    Joshua and the nation made a big mistake in not “asking counsel from the Lord” with regards to the deceiving Gibeonites and the Gibeonites made a big blunder in thinking that the only way they could align themselves with God is by faking it. But our God is so much bigger than their blunders as He turns them into blessings as the Gibeonites get to see what lengths God is willing to go to deliver deceivers and the Israelites get to see that God doesn’t need there reasoning to take down five kingdoms at one time. So saints next time you make a blunder start looking around for the Lord to turn it into a blessing!


    Vs. 10-15 Hailstones from the sun

    Vs. 10-15 As the Israelites were giving chase after the great slaughter and were chasing the enemy down the road called “Beth Horon” (house of caverns) all the way too “Azekah” (Dug over) and “Makkedah” (place of shepherds). What it seems is that these five kings and kingdoms were looking for a place to hide from the Great Shepherd who would have taken them in as His own as He had the Gibeonites it they would only stop fighting and running from Him. Here we are brought into two miracles of the Lord as He turns blunders into blessings.

    1. Vs. 11 The first one is recorded as Joshua’s early dawn attack was winding down with the five kingdoms running away the Lord caused great “Hailstones” to fall from heaven. Several things are amazing here and the first is that these cultures worshiped the earth specifically the sun, moon and the forces of nature and they were on the run down the road of many caves to the town of dug over (in fact we are told in verse 16 the five kings will make it into a cave), when the Lord intervened and rained down hail on their decent. But why the hailstones? I mean Joshua records for us in verse 11 that “There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.” What is obvious is that the manor of death was very specific and from God. If you go to Leviticus 24:16 I think we get the answer as we read the Word of the Lord through Moses saying, “Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.” So the Lord judged these five kingdoms for blasphemy and God used that very thing that worshipped to judge them in the hailstones from heaven. Friends we read in Jesus’ own words in Matthew 12:31-32 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” So just what is this “unpardonable sin” that Jesus speaks of. Well it is the continual saying NO to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to receive Jesus love for you. You do that to the point where you will never accept His loving sacrifice for your sins and you are bring your judgment that was placed upon Jesus at the cross upon your self. Is that not interesting to note that God used that which the kingdoms worshipped to judge them, so how about it folks what is it that we trust in because if it’s not Jesus then it will be that which we trust in God will use to judge us.  
    2. Vs. 12-13 Now the 2nd miracle as the Lord turns Israel’s blunder into a blessing is that at Joshua’s word to the Lord the sun and moon standing still. It seems as though this happened around mid day. There are those who immediately use this miracle as an indication that the Bible could not be true by saying that it is not the sun the moves but rather the earth that rotates around the sun and thus Joshua miss spoke. But the truth of the matter is that the sun does move as does every star and planet for every motion there is a relative motion. But be that as we may it seems specifically that the earth stopped its rotation as we are told that both the sun and moon stopped and the wording by Joshua is not scientific wording any more than most people say that we have a sun rise and a sun set and in fact they don’t rise and set as these are just figures of speech. This halting of rotation would have had natural atmospheric and even volcanic disturbances, which may account for the hailstones. Verse 14 tells us that there was no other day like it in all of human history but apart from the fact that we believe that the God who made the heavens and the earth is clearly capable of accomplishing such a miracle is there any evidence that this occurred? There was an attempt by some to prove this from a cultic group using 19th century astronomical calculations based upon their belief of a specific date of creation but this is false. What we do have is the evidence of the historical record outside of the what is recorded in the Bible and we find that such cultures completely distinct from each other as the Greeks, Egyptian, American Indian, South Sea Islanders and others record a long day. As impressive as this miracle is I can’t help but see this from Joshua’s perspective and from that angle which is the way you and I would see it which is that this is really a step of faith.
      1. First based upon verse 8 Joshua is stepping out on God’s promise. Hey did you know that according to Herbert Lockyer’s book “All the Promises of the Bible” that there are over 12,000 promises in the Bible and considering that there are 31,173 total Bible verses that means that over a third of the bible is made up of His promises. So can you imagine what would happen if you and I like Joshua began simple to act on God’s promises towards us as Joshua does? “Lord you said not a man of them will stand before me and time is running out in the day so Lord you’re going to have to make the day longer to fulfill you’re promise.” Hey saint’s could the reason we don’t experience more miraculous events in our lives is that we don’t act on the belief in God’s Word’s of promise towards us?   
      1. Secondly we take note of the fact though God promised in verse 8 Joshua acted first by doing his best to accomplish what God had promised. It is what James declares namely that “true faith works”. Joshua heard the word of the Lord but didn’t hang out wasting time. No, he gathered quickly the army of the Lord and traveled all night to begin a dawn attack. Hey you can say you believe the Word but unless you get up and march all night you won’t see it come to pass. Joshua’s trusting in the promise only occurred after he had done everything he could do to see the work of God accomplished.
      1. Thirdly, after doing his best Joshua a fresh trusts the Lord to do the rest. Notice that Joshua sees that time has run out to see the promise of the Lord accomplished and then in verse 12 we read that, “spoke to the Lord…and said…Sun, stand still over Gibeon and moon in the valley of Aijalon.” (the valley of strength). James says, in James 4:2 “you do not have because you do not ask.” Jesus said in John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”    
      1. Finally, Joshua spoke in faith “Sun, stand still”! Can you imagine being next to Joshua as he said those words and watched the sun do just that? Joshua took his words and trust and put it into action by stepping out in faith. Now here is what would have been going on in my mind, “Lord, I believe you and all but man if you don’t do this I’m really going to look stupid in front of 3 million people!” How glorious it is to see Joshua not be paralyzed by his fear of “what if” and just went for it. How many times have we not seen what the Lord wanted to do in our lives simply because we were afraid of failure not ours but the Lord’s.

    Dear ones we are facing impossible days, improbable odds, insurmountable foe’s and it is not that God is lacking it is that we aren’t willing to rise up and trust in His promises. How glorious it is to see that at Joshua’s simply trusting and acting on God’s word of promise to him that he saw the false god’s of the kingdoms of this world defeated.

                This book of Jasher was apparently a sacred song book that literally means “The book of the upright ones” and we only have two of the entries left in it this one here before us and the “song of the bow” in 2 Sam 1:18-27. Not to worry the Lord knew what to preserve for you and I. There was never a day like this or will be again but my prayer is that in these last days that there will be more Joshua’s who are willing to bank on the Word of God for the Lord listens to the voice of the men and women of faith and will fight for His kids. So let’s go back to our place of worship and trust in Him and live a life that makes Him famous.             



    Joshua 10:16-43

    “Putting your foot down upon distractions”

    I. Intro

    II. Vs.  16-27 Do not be afraid

    III. Vs. 28-39 One at a time

    IV. Vs. 40-43 Hebron, Jerusalem and Kadesh Barnea


    Intro

    The remainder of the 10th chapter concerns its self with the mop up military campaign of the first 15 verses which is characterized by verse 20 statement that “Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who escaped entered fortified cities.” But knowing as we do that according 2 Tim. 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”, we must assume that there is something in this section that is “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. 

    I suppose unless you like to read about the exploits of military warfare this section with the five time repeated phrase “fought against” would be a bit boring. Yet in the Holy Spirit’s wisdom Joshua records this for us for a specific practical reason. To remind us that the possession of the promises and presence of the Lord in our lives is going to be filled with BATTLES. And we learned something very encouraging last week and that was that when the enemy is afraid he attacks (10:2, 4). Ah but here in the midst of these 28 verses of this section is recorded a series of events that point to another truth with regards to spiritual warfare and that is when the enemy is about to be defeated he distracts! So let me get this straight: “When he is afraid he attacks when he is about to be defeated he distracts.” 


    Vs.  16-27 Do not be afraid

    Vs. 16-27 Here we have for us the completion of the with those five kings and it is important to realize that as impressive as the hailstones and the sun standing still is Joshua and the army of the Lord still had to complete the task. The strategy of the Lord was to split the region in two a divide and conquer technique which if completed would be effective. Thus we see that the enemy would stop at nothing to see it not accomplished. 

    Friends the battle is not over until the enemy is annihilated and until then there is very much work to do. One of the things I find easily to fall into is a let down when I have initial victory. That’s why I love Joshua’s demonstration at the cave Makkedah where he has the five kings come out of the cave and the captains to place their feet on the necks of these kings and then exhorts them to be strong and courageous. Friends, the enemy is afraid so he is attacking that means he is on the run so it’s time to go after him and when you have him held up in a cave shut him down and finish him off. There are several things that could have been a distraction for Israel.

    1. Vs. 16-19 Giving to much attention to the big things that you neglect the little things: You see here were the leaders of the these five nations “Lord of justice” “Woe to them”, “Wild ass” “Splendid” and “Sanctuary” held up in a cave. It would have been very tempting to exact some “Justice” to send some “woe to them” you know a little “wild ass” whipping on those who thought they were “splendid” and the cave was their “sanctuary”. But that was not what the priority was at that time and Joshua stayed focused in completing God’s victory so he just imprisoned the five kings and set a stone over the cave and a guard at the jail. The enemies of our faith our very crafty and the first means of defense is distraction.  
    2. Vs. 20-21 The best way to stop people’s mouths is to let your actions speak louder than you words: I’m afraid that far too often we are tempted to get into a shouting match with the enemy rather than keep on task and finish the work God has given us to do. Satan won’t be defeated by our rhetoric and neither will our flesh but by our faithful obedience to complete what God has called us to do will. These folks of Canaan knew by the actions of the Israelis that God was at work and that any thing they said was futile. We are told in Romans 14:11 that “Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Friends this ought to be what the Church is like for those that come here it ought to be a place where people hear the truth of the Word of God, experience the practice of the Love of God and the combination of these two things ought to cause the unsaved person to say, “Hey, if I keep coming here I’m going to conquered by God and I’ll have to submit my life to Him.” I’m afraid that too many churches portray a harmless God that requires no surrender and the body of Christ becomes a sanctuary that offers no hope, and no power of transformation instead it is a warm fun place to go on the way to hell.
    3. Vs. 23-27 Make no compromise with those things that can destroy you: The stone was removed the five kings brought ought and Joshua called for the army and then the captains to come forward and put their feet of the necks of the five kings. Wow what a symbolic gesture this must have been as these captains took turns putting their feet on the neck of these kings. All of this reminds us of Paul’s words in Romans 16:20 where he writes that “the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” It was a demonstration to each of them not to allow the things that use to rule over your life to have life. Hey folks sometimes you just got to well, “put your foot down” upon the neck of that what controls you and threatens to destroy your fellowship with the Lord. Those kings of lust, pride, covetousness, anger, and self worship have got to be slain and not allowed to reign in our lives. Don’t you love the fact that in verse 8 that the Lord encourages Joshua and now in verse 25 Joshua is the one encouraging the rest of the people to be “not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” The Lord will do it but we have to be willing to put our foot down upon the necks of the things that use to rule over our lives, the things that keep us from inhabiting more of His promises. After having put the foot down upon the necks of these five kings Joshua tells us that he did three specific things to make sure that these things would never rule over them again:
      1. Vs. 26a He struck them with the sword and killed them: Interesting as this speaks to my heart about killing the things that rule over our lives with the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God. That’s the only thing strong enough to end their reign friends! Folks we need to take these things that want to lord over us, keep us from the presence of the Lord to the obedience of His word.
      1. Vs. 26b-27a He hung them on a tree: Ah again I see a picture of the new testament as we reckon the old man to be dead. But did you notice that they were only to be on the tree until evening then they were to be taken down? Saints we need to reckon the old man to be dead but we also need to remember that the new man is alive to God in Christ. That’s what Paul says in Romans 6:11 where we are told that we need to “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  So as far as the flesh is concerned it needs to hang on the tree but don’t keep it there because the new man is alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
      1. Vs. 27b He cast them into the cave and sealed the entrance: What a great word this is in making sure that those enemies of our faith that have ruled over our lives won’t ever be able to do so again. You see they were sealed up into the pit to where they were hidden. You can’t give access to those things that use to rule over your life even after they have be slain, seal them up and let them remain that way. It has been my experience that if you don’t place them in a sealed tomb those bones have way of escaping and coming back into our lives to trip us up.         

    Vs. 28-39 One at a time

    Vs. 28 The proximity of these cities to one another gave advantage to Joshua and the army as long as they stayed of task: Jerusalem was only 6 miles from Gibeon, Hebron (the place of the Jewish patriarchs) was 19 miles south west from Jerusalem, Jarmuth was 16 miles west over looking the coast, Lachish, Eglon were all close by as the army headed south.

    • Vs. 28-39 Don’t get overwhelmed at all the battles take them one at a time (verse 42): Here we are given six cites of the Canaanites that were taken by the Lord through Joshua and the Israelites (seven including Gezer who came up to help Lachish). The distraction here is the sheer volume of warfare that Joshua and the army faced. Have you ever felt defeated and discourage when it isn’t just one battle you face but every where you turn there is another fight on your hands? Well notice that Joshua didn’t get over whelmed because he just took them as they came. Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” On the same day those five kings hung from the trees Joshua and the army defeated Makkedah as apparently watching five dead kings hang from tress was a waste of time so he went after Makkedah defeated it and returned before nightfall to remove their bodies. Paul tells us in Ephes. 5:16 that we need to “redeem the time, because the days are evil.” So no wasted day for Joshua as they accomplished two things in one day. Next we are told that they defeat five more cities three of which belonged to those kings. When things mount up, and your hard pressed on every side remember what Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:8 if you may be “hard pressed on every side” but you won’t be “crushed” and you may get to the place where you “are perplexed” but you won’t be in“despair”. So from verse 28-39 Joshua lists those cities that he took one by one as he and the army of the Lord fought against each of the six cites and when one was defeated they moved on to the next one and just keep going until we are told in verse 40 that “Joshua conquered all the land: the mountain country and the South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded.” All the land the “mountain country” the “South” the “lowland” and the “wilderness slopes” all as the Lord had commanded.      

    Vs. 36-37 What this must have been like to take this city where Abraham, Isaac Jacob and Sarah’s tomb’s were. They had been there 40 years earlier as spies when they saw the giants. The man in who the Lord spoke in Genesis 12:1 “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” And here where Abraham and the patriarchs lay for hundreds of years the promise of God under the occupation waiting to be fulfilled as Joshua and the armies of the Lord walked through Hebron it was fulfilled. Did they walk by the cave that held their bones and one day would hold Josephs as well and say “Father Abraham, today God’s promise to you is fulfilled?” In Hebrews 11:9-10 we are told of Abraham that “By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Oh what a day this must have been to walk into the promises made to Abraham all those years ago.


    Vs. 40-43 Hebron, Jerusalem and Kadesh Barnea

    Vs. 40-43 By the time 10th chapter closes approximately 7 years has gone by which is a good reminder for us that the battle we face in obtaining the promises of God won’t happen over night. Here we are given the summary the victorious battles which includes the geographical boundaries. Each battle a test, each required a new set of challenges and difficulties some were in “mountain country” others were in the “South” then some were in the “lowland” while others were fought on the “wilderness slopes”. None of them were easy and there were many distractions along the way I’m sure that are not recorded for us. 

    • Vs. 40-43 Trying to do the battles in your own strength: My friends victory was won in each of these four different types of terrain and 6 different cites because Joshua stayed focused to the truth that “the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel”. That is no doubt the biggest distraction and the reason for our defeat is simply that we face a terrain or city that we think we don’t need God’s power to conquer. Saint’s the terrain may change and the towns may differ but one things certain now matter where you find your battle at you won’t be able to be victorious and passes the promise apart from “the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel” fighting for you! I find it interesting that we are told here that the geographical boundaries included in this was Kadesh Barnea. That was the place where the original spies were sent out 40 plus years earlier and they came back saying that they couldn’t go up and posses the promises of God because though the land was full of blessings is was full of GIANTS. The name Kadesh Barnea means “holy wanderings” and it seems as though those 40 years caused them to realize that it wasn’t the nation that was going to do the fighting is was the Lord. How does this truth apply to us? Well turn over to 2 Cor. 3:18 where Paul writes that “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Our victory is certain because our transformation is “by the Spirit of the Lord” my dear ones and warfare will be constant as our Christian life is not a sprint it is a marathon. Finally notice that Joshua returned and all of Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal. Yeh so? Well saints Joshua made a habit of making there home at the place where they celebrated God’s faithfulness, recalled the necessity of cutting away the flesh and trusted in God’s power. This last week I was reminded of the need for this in my own life in a most unusual way. You see I had a young fellow not from our area stop by for a chat. Through the 30 minute conversation I was tuned into how arrogant this fellow was, how self assured and boastfully defiant, to be quite honest there were several times I wanted to ask him to leave. For the next few days I was wrestling with our conversation and then it dawned on me; “Lord you brought that guy into my life to reveal to me what my pride and self assurance looks like didn’t You?” What I wasn’t aware of at first was that the Lord put this guy in my path to show me how ugly PRIDE is and how blinded I am by my own. Friends those that want to conquer must continually be conquered. Time to camp at Gilgal I believe!!!                         

    You may note the absence of the mention of Jerusalem being conquered by Joshua as we will find out that the Jebusites who inhabited the city could not be defeated by the tribe of Judah was not taken until the time of David 400 years later in 2 Sam 5:6-7. Interesting to find that both Hebron and Jerusalem is where we find the most difficulties to posses the promises, as Hebron is where the Giant’s dwelt as this was the place where Abraham and the patriarchs lay and Jerusalem is where the temple would be built.  

    Ah friends that is interesting is it not that the place of promise and the capital was heavily fortified by the enemy? Saint’s the enemy will fight you on all the promises but resist you the most one HOLY ground. Ah but the Lord will take the Hebron’s and though it may take 400 years He will take the temple ground as well. What this speaks of is that the enemy fights the hardest in areas where the Lord wants to set up His throne and it causes us to realize that nothing lacked in God’s provision during the time of Joshua that was later supplied during the reign of David. The difference lay not in the Lord but in their trust of Him.   

    Kadesh Barnea was the place of defeat where 40 years earlier they lacked the faith to trust the Lord to keep His word now they are experiencing victory in areas where they hadn’t prior. And what was it like now for Joshua and Caleb to walk into Kadesh Barnea 40 years later and conquer that city which they so wanted to when they were younger? Friends, saints, this speaks to us about God’s faithfulness in the midst of our faithlessness and how He always keeps His promises. Oh wasted years where we have been in “holy wandering” as the Lord prepared the “Person” for the place all the while He was preparing the “Place” for the person. My mind moves to Jesus’ words in John 14:2-3 where Jesus tells His disciples “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Hey dear ones He is preparing you for the place and the place for you!!! 



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