Today's lesson comes from Joshua 10: 5-15. Joshua was a great military leader. He used exceptional strategies to gain the advantage over the enemy, yet he constantly relied on God to give the victory. He leaned upon the promises of God and played his part in accomplishing God's will. This is essential to understand. God is Sovereign and will bring about His perfect plan. However, He uses secondary causes to execute His Providence. Those secondary causes can be people. The point is that God had given the land to the Israelites, but they had to play apart in obtaining the success.
Another point is that the Israelites marched through the night to engage the fight. To prevent the enemy from reaching fortified cities and regrouping, the Israelites pursued them and continued to fight through an "extra" long day. There may be times you feel like giving up but hold on because victory may be on the horizon. Sometimes, you just have to wait a bit longer. It is blessed to be able to "wait upon the Lord" and renew our strength.
In the lesson today, the Canaanite kings were troubled. Word had spread of Joshua's victories. The king of Jerusalem contacts the kings of four other cities: Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. They agreed to join together and attack at Gibeon (remember last week's lesson and the league the Gibeonites made with Israel). Their goal was to put an end to anyone who would join forces with the Israelites.
The first section is: "The Gibeonites Attacked." (vv. 5, 6) The Amorites were the most numerous and powerful of the Canaanite tribes. The armies of the five kings assembled at Jerusalem and marched five miles to the city of Gibeon. Through "Gibeon was a great city," and its men were "mighty men," they were no match for the forces that had assembled outside their city walls. They sent a messenger to the Israelite camp to "Come up quickly, and save us, and help us." Since the Gibeonites had made a league with the Israelites, they were obligated to help them. The Gibeonites were Israel's servants and as a result, they had the right to ask for help.
The summary points of this section are:
1. Former associates will persecute you if you identify with God's people.
2. God will protect His own.
3. When you are in trouble, call upon the LORD.
The second section is: "The Amorites Slain." (vv. 7-11) Joshua receives the request for help and realizes the ideal opportunity before him. Instead of having to fight against walled cities, the five kings are in the open field. The LORD tells Joshua, "Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand...." The march from Gilgal (the place of the Israeli camp) to Gibeon was about a twenty-five-mile march uphill. They march all night and arrive at dawn.
You may ask, why the rush? God had promised victory so why take such drastic steps as marching all night? The commentator Matthew Henry said, "God's promises are intended, not to slacken and supercede, but to quicken (make alive) and encourage our endeavors." We are to trust in God's Providence to bring about His desired end, but we have human responsibility to respond to His Word.
As dawn broke, Joshua launched a surprise attack on the Amorite forces, and the Lord "discomfited them before Israel." The enemy was thrown into a state of confusion. There was a "great slaughter" of the enemy forces. The Amorites fled westward toward Upper Beth-horon. The distance was about nine miles. Israel pursued them as the enemy went westward to Lower Beth-horon. Between the two Beth-horons was a mountain pass and a descent of 800 feet. As the Amorites made their way down the pass, the LORD cast large hailstones falling on the enemy. God kept the hailstones falling for a distance of thirteen miles. More Amorites died from the hailstones than the Israelite swords. Joshua and his men pursued the Amorites an additional ten miles. Overall, the Israelites pursued the enemy over thirty-two miles (and that is after marching uphill all night).
The summary points of this section are:
1. As a Christian, we must "endure hardness as a good soldier."
2. The battle is always the LORD's, and He will do much more than our efforts.
3. We must be faithful to do our part in spiritual warfare.
The third section is: "The Day Extended." (vv. 12-15). Joshua makes a public prayer "in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon." Joshua needed more time to complete the battle. The prayer was an expression of Joshua's faith in God. The answer to the prayer would inspire the Israelite army and renew their confidence in God that He would give them complete victory. God answered the prayer, "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies."
There have been may explanations as to how this occurred. Joshua was praying in the middle of the day, for "the sun stood still in the midst of heaven." Verse thirteen says the sun "hasted not to go down about a whole day." It could have been that God slowed the rotation of the earth on its axis. The sun's descent toward the west was greatly reduced which gave Joshua the time to overthrow Israel's enemies. Truly, "the LORD fought for Israel."
The summary points of this section are:
1. Nothing is impossible with God.
2. Sometimes, leaders need to be bold before the people.
3. Battles are won through a combination of God's Power and Providence and our human responsibility.
The Golden Text is: "Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand." (Joshua 10:8) God is Sovereign. Today's churches don't preach this much, however, the preachers of previous eras understood the concept. We don't need to live lives of fear because God's Sovereignty and Providence are directing the affairs of men. And "We are more than conquerors through him that loved us," and nothing, "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 37-39).
Next week, "Conquest Completed." (Joshua 11: 1-15, 23)
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