Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.wartracebaptist.org/sermons/60463/joshua-101-28/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Let's go with me to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 10. Joshua chapter 10 is where we will be at. We will just go verses 1 through 28 this evening, Joshua chapter 10, verses 1 through 28. [0:16] I will go ahead and let you know that, well, really including verse 28, starting in 10, 28, all the way through the 11th chapter and the 12th chapter is really kind of that, I don't want to say mundane, repetitive is a better word, repetitive portion of the book of Joshua. [0:36] They go to this city and they defeat it, they go to this city and they defeat it, they go to this city and they defeat it, and they go to this city and defeat it. So we're really kind of in the core of the book, if you will, because starting in chapter 13 is where you actually begin the distribution of the land until the end of the chapter, or the end of the book where you have Joshua's final charge and the great meeting at Shechem and, you know, to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, the portion of the book of Joshua that we're all very, very familiar with. [1:10] But many times as we get into these Old Testament books, there seems to be some repetition and there's this repetitive nature. Those of you reading through the Bible right now in the Bible reading plan, and you're in the book of Judges, and you're in that repetitive nature, right? [1:25] So you've just got one judge after another judge after another judge, and there seems to be this repetition. But yet the Lord's put it in there for us for a reason, so we slow down, we pay attention to it, we see His grace and mercy all over it, and we just continue to move through. [1:40] But tonight, Joshua chapter 10, verses 1 through 28, let's open up with a word of prayer, and then we'll just get right into the text. Lord, we thank You so much. We thank You for Your faithfulness and Your goodness towards us. [1:54] Lord, we thank You for allowing us to gather together today. We thank You for the week which You have already given us. Lord, we are so thankful for Your grace and Your mercy and Your hand upon us. [2:06] And Lord, we pray that You would be with us tonight as we open up Your Word, and we pray that the truth of Scripture would speak to our hearts. Lord, we pray that we would see these Old Testament accounts more than just a recording of man's events, but we would see Your working through Your people, leading and guiding and coming to a greater understanding, not just of Joshua and the nation of Israel, but coming to an understanding of who You are, the way You move, or the things You have done through Your people and for Your people. [2:38] God, we just ask that You would be glorified and honored. We pray for those working with the youth and the children. We ask that You keep Your hand upon all that takes place in this place tonight. [2:51] Lord, You would be glorified and honored. We ask in Christ's name. Amen. All right. Let's put it in context. Joshua chapter 9 is a very, really pivotal chapter that leads us up to the events that happen in chapter 10. [3:04] As a matter of fact, the events of chapter 9, God will, not only He redeems it, we've seen, because that's the Gibeonites, the people from Gibeon who become the temple servants, which as we looked at last time we were together, I really play a prominent role even in the history of the nation of Israel, even up until the return of the nation from the Babylonian captivity. [3:24] We find them recorded in the book of Ezra. Now, they're not referred to as the Gibeonites or the people from Gibeon. They're referred to as the temple servants. But that can be traced through, if we'd have taken our time and traced it through other portions of the Old Testament, pre-exile and then post-exile, same group of people. [3:46] They're direct descendants of the people that we meet in chapter 9. If you remember, what happens in chapter 9 is the word has gotten out about what has taken place in Jericho and I, namely the destruction and the annihilation of the cities, the killing of the king and of each of those. [4:06] These are all small rulers or kingdom states, if you will, little small cities all scattered around. So when they go into the land of Canaan, we just need to understand this, okay? [4:17] They're not going in and like going into America and conquering one nation. They're going in and dispersing a lot of tribal rulers and kings. [4:28] This is why you have so many kingdoms. This is a very small geographical territory, but there's a lot of small kingdoms established through this. And even one thing, you need to pay attention as we read through the book of Joshua because it seems to be confusing. [4:42] We won't get to it so much tonight as we will when we look at what follows this. And it says that they go into these cities and they kill the king, and it says they annihilate and they kill all these people. But then when we get back at the end of the book of Joshua, it says that when Caleb in particular goes back to some of these cities, we even have mentioned tonight, Caleb still has to drive other people out. [5:03] And you're like, well, wait a minute. I thought that Joshua, and they went through there and they killed everybody. Who is he driving out? Well, one of the best ways we can understand that, that I've understood is they are warring against the people who are resisting their occupation of the land. [5:18] So they win the battle completely. There were people who fled, who left, who didn't resist. Think Rahab the harlot, Gideonites. [5:31] There's that mixed multitude. There's always that mixed multitude. So again, this is just affirmation that God does not have his people on a slash and burn genocide mission. And we see that because the same phrase that says that they killed, annihilated everybody, and they left no survivors. [5:47] And then we read the end of the book that there are still people there. So the only way we can reconcile that is those who resisted what God was doing put themselves under the ban and therefore under condemnation and judgment. [6:03] And God's judgment was rendered upon them through his people. Okay? Those who either fled or even, we'll see tonight, those who go into the fortified cities, they don't do anything to them. [6:16] They just leave them alone. They don't necessarily chase them down just to kill them all. So we need to reconcile that and understand that because it changes how we view Joshua and the nation of Israel because I think too often what we see is, well, here's God's people coming in like a bunch of barbarous warriors. [6:34] And I mean, and they're like the Huns, right? They're going to come in, they're going to take no captives, and they're going to kill everybody, and they're just pushing through. And even history and archaeology tells you, and this is what some people kind of question, even the Exodus event, and even the book of Joshua historically. [6:51] I'm not saying biblically, and I'm not saying Christians. I'm talking about historically because archaeology shows no evidence of complete annihilation of inhabitants at any time in the land of Israel because it didn't happen that way. [7:07] And that's okay for us to say that because God drove them out little by little by little by little. What archaeology does show is there seems to be this point in time in which cities weren't burned, but the inhabitants changed practices. [7:25] They went from being people who behaved this way and used this type of practice to all of a sudden they're behaving totally different. Well, what happens is we have different people living in the same houses. [7:38] And that's exactly what God says. You live in houses you did not build and drink from wells you did not dig and eat from gardens you did not plant. Now, archaeologists in history shows us those things. [7:49] So we understand, okay, this isn't just a complete modern-day movie warfare. of what's going on, but it's God using his people as instruments of judgment for those who oppose him, which is consistent with the rest of Scripture. [8:07] We come back with Christ in the battle where he resists those who oppose him. Okay? We're in that battle. And he slays them with a sword coming out of his mouth, which is the word of God. [8:20] We're there on horses with him. So this is consistent from Genesis to Revelation. Joshua chapter 10, starting at verse 1. [8:31] The events of Nine lead up to this. Now it came about when Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it, just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were within their land that he feared greatly. [8:54] Look at this. Because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. Therefore Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent word to Hohem, king of Hebron, and Piram, king of Jeremuth, and Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debir, king of Eglon, saying, Come up to me and help me and let us attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel. [9:21] So the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jeremuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, encamped by Gibeon and fought against it. [9:36] Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp of Gilgal, saying, Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us. [9:49] So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors. The Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. [10:00] Not one of them shall stand before you. So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal and the Lord confounded them before Israel and he slew them with a great slaughter of Gibeon and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Ezekiah and Mekata. [10:18] As they fled from before Israel while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Ezekiah and they died. [10:29] There were more who died from the hell stones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel and said in the sight of Israel, O sun, stand still at Gibeon and O moon in the valley of Ajalon. [10:47] So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. [11:00] There was no day like it or like that before it or after it when the Lord listened to the voice of a man for the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp of Yilgal. [11:12] Now these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in the cave of Mekata. It was told Joshua saying the five kings have been found hidden in the cave of Mekata. Joshua said roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and assign men by it to guard them. [11:27] But do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies and attack them in the rear. Do not allow them to enter their cities for the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand. It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter until they were destroyed and the survivors who remained of them had entered the fortified cities that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Mekata in peace. [11:50] No one uttered a word against any of the sons of Israel. Then Joshua said open the mouth of the cave and bring these five kings out to me from the cave. They did so and brought these five kings out to him from the cave the king of Jerusalem the king of Hebron the king of Jeremuth the king of Lachish and the king of Eglon. [12:08] When they brought these kings out to Joshua Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him come near put your feet on the necks of these kings so they came near and put their feet on their necks on their necks. [12:23] Joshua then said to them do not fear or be dismayed be strong and courageous for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies with whom you fight so afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death and he hanged them on five trees and they hung on the trees until evening and he came about at sunset that Joshua gave a command and took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves and put large stones over the mouth of the cave to this very day. [12:47] Now Joshua captured Micah on that day and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword and he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it he left no survivor thus he did to the king of Micah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. [13:01] Joshua chapter 10 verses 1 through 28 we see another pile of stones in this chapter. We also see the last recorded miracle of God in this chapter as far as the book of Joshua's record goes. [13:13] The last miraculous events of the book of Joshua is recorded here. We see two of them we'll get to those in just a minute. Upon the hills of their covenant with the people of Gibeon the nation of Israel now experiences a great victory. [13:31] As a matter of fact God uses the covenant that they entered into with the men from Gibeon to draw out five kings and deliver them into the hands of the nation of Israel. [13:44] If these events had not taken place they would have had to go into each location separately and fought separate battles but in the omnipotent plan of God he uses the events of chapter 9 to draw out these kings and their men to stage one great battle. [14:01] And in that battle God does the miraculous not once but twice as we will get to in just a moment. So overwhelmingly we see God's redemption of their mistake and we have to call it a mistake in the 9th chapter in which they unwittingly entered into a covenant relationship with people living within their land and according to the book of Deuteronomy that was absolutely not allowable. [14:25] They were to enter into no covenants of peace no contracts no agreements nothing with anyone living within their land. They could according to Deuteronomy chapter 20 enter into covenants with people living outside their land but in no way could they enter into a covenant of peace with anyone living in their land. [14:41] You remember the account the men from Gibeon came and they had disguised themselves and appeared to have traveled a long distance and the nation of Israel there the leaders took it says their provisions and looked at it and then made this decision. [14:52] We said that they took the scientific approach not the spiritual approach because it said they did not consult the Lord their God. They didn't search for wisdom. The book of James tells us if you lack wisdom to ask and the Lord your God will give it to you right? [15:05] They did not ask for wisdom they did not ask for guidance they did not ask for understanding they just made a decision and they found out after three days that they were neighbors living literally within the land about 25 miles away from them at that point but they had already not only extended peace they had also entered into a covenant with them and that covenant was based upon the Lord God of Israel so they put God's name on the covenant all through the ninth chapter God is silent we don't know as some have said what God's response will be to their mistakes the last time the nation of Israel makes a mistake is when Achan sees things covets it takes it home and buries it in his tent and as a result of the mistake of the people of God because Achan's sin becomes their sin now and as a result of their mistake people die right they have to handle that mistake they have to repent of it and they have to confess it and they have to deal with it we don't know how this is going to come about again because [16:13] God is silent all through the ninth chapter we know that they have very clearly disobeyed and done exactly what they should not have done but as we see throughout scripture the grace of God and the mercy of God is often on display in the most unlikely events because now not only can I not ransack the cities the four cities of the men of Gibeon that were wealthy cities and the people could have plundered and they could have enriched their lives with it not only could they have ransacked those and also driven them out now because of this relationship there is a bigger battle but I want you to see tonight how they move from compromise to conquest because this covenant actually begins the conquest of the southern portion of the land of Canaan the remainder of the tenth chapter lists for us the cities that they go to and the battles they win if you go back many Bibles will have it titled the conquest of the southern portion starting in chapter 9 because the covenant that they enter into in chapter 9 sinfully we can add by mistake not living in obedience [17:36] God redeems and uses it to begin the conquest of the entire southern portion when Joshua and the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan river they went directly across to Jericho and then they went to Ai and they essentially cut the land of Canaan in half and after cutting the land of Canaan in half they go north and go to Shechem and they worship and then they come back south and it is there in Gilgal that they make that covenant relationship with the men of Gibeon and after the events that we have read tonight they just continue south and they go through the hill country there and they're on this southern slope and you can look at the maps and maybe next time we get together we'll put a map up on the screen and they essentially just stay south and they defeat everybody they win all the battles because they have cut it in half right so nobody can come down because they're winning the battles below the line that they've already drawn after they win the southern portion chapters 11 and 12 actually chapter 11 primarily tells us then they turn north and they go and they win all the battles up north and then 12 just gives us a retelling of all the cities that they have defeated so this actually begins the conquest what happens after these events is just boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom right this city this city this city this city this city this king this king this king this king this king and it's really things pick up as we would imagine that it would in any really march of troops to take over a land so how does it happen how do they move from a compromise where they messed up but yet they stayed true to their word because when they got there they would not just say well all is fair in love and war and go ahead and ransack the cities because they'd entered into a covenant so they stayed true to their word and they would not touch them they let them live they give them a covenant of life and peace and they let them live so they made a compromise and they shouldn't have done it and they tried to make it right and then they made them servants and God redeems the people of [19:30] Gibeon we know that we see them as they come out of the Babylonian captivity still voluntarily going back to serve in the temple amazing thing they wanted to go back and serve in the temple so they had put themselves around the people of God and all of a sudden they began serving the Lord God and they wanted to continue serving the Lord God but will he redeem the nation of Israel and that's what we find in the 10th chapter can the compromise they may be turned into a conquest that he has called them to first thing we see is the response towards Gibeon this is worth noting it says that when the king of Jerusalem heard notice there are three things he heard he heard what happened at Ai that the nation of Israel had went back and won the battle and killed the king of Ai and they had heard what had happened at Jericho that the walls had fallen down and the king of Jericho was dead it's really becoming a bad day to be a king in the land of Canaan right all the kings seem to be dying and then he heard that the men of [20:34] Gibeon had entered into a covenant of peace with Joshua and with Israel and that bothered him and the reason that it bothered the king of Jerusalem is because the city of Gibeon was as one of the royal cities it was larger than Ai so it should have resisted more because the men of Ai had won the battle to begin with and yet it's a larger city that has not even fought they entered into a covenant of peace and then we have this comment that all the men pay attention to this I don't think that God's word messes up all the men of Gibeon were valiant warriors so the king of Jerusalem is really distraught because these valiant warriors have made peace so it doesn't look good but it also gives the nation of Israel a bigger foothold in the land so Jerusalem not too far away from this area this king decides well I've got to do something so he calls four of his friends and they gather together but notice what they do they don't form a coalition of five kings and go to Joshua and the nation of Israel Gilgal they go to Gibeon it says that upon hearing this the king gathered these people together and he says in verse four come up to me and help me and let us attack Gibeon for it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel friend notice that when the men of Gibeon reached out in desperation really as a last ditch effort to try to save their lives they reached out to [22:21] Joshua which name which his name means what the Lord saves right Joshua's name means the Lord saves so in desperation they go out not necessarily in an honest well not in all in an honest way doing whatever they could to try to save their lives they reached out to Joshua and as soon as they had peace with Joshua they had hostility with everyone else as soon as there was peace with Israel there was trouble with their neighbors the covenant of life that they found with Joshua led to a condemnation of death by their enemies because Joshua's enemies all of a sudden become their enemies this should stand out to us because Jesus himself said if they oppose me they will oppose you the thing that really sticks out into my mind is old Lazarus you know Lazarus had probably a relationship with Christ that really nobody else had Jesus called him out of the grave by name [23:37] Lazarus been there for a little while he was already stinking and Jesus said Lazarus come forth and he calls him out and he comes out there then the very next time we read of Lazarus it says that many people were coming out and they were hearing what Lazarus had to say I mean Lazarus had a story right I was dead I mean I was beyond dead I can tell you about not my near-death experience but my four-day death experience I can tell you about coming out of the tomb he can tell you all this stuff and then we read that the Pharisees were seeking not only to kill Jesus but who else were they killing they wanted to kill Lazarus now all of a sudden the enemies of Christ have become the enemies of Lazarus and the reason they become the enemies of Lazarus is because Lazarus knew life he knew the truth of these matters so to understand this is the reality is this the moment an individual finds a covenant of peace and life with the people of God all of a sudden he becomes an enemy to the people of the world the response is not always pleasant I try to be honest with this when I proclaim the gospel I trust that you're honest with this when you proclaim the gospel [24:54] Satan leaves you alone as long as he has no concern for you but the moment you connect yourself to Christ he begins to oppose you you're not his enemy until you unite with Christ Satan's not bothered by the sinner Satan's not bothered by the lost he's not had no concern for me whatsoever until I came to Christ he had me right where he wanted me I was already his servant Jesus says you're either a slave of Christ or a slave of Satan you say I wasn't serving Satan yes you were serving the desires of your flesh and the appetites of your own body and going after your own way that's exactly what he wants you and he could care less about you and he doesn't oppose you and there's no there's no real spiritual battle over there but the moment you unite with Christ the battle begins and that's all too often the response it seems like the coalition unites and people begin to oppose Jesus himself spoke of this in the parable of the souls this are the people who who receive it with great joy but because of the pressures and the trials and the tribulations they fade away they fade away the seed on the rocky soil never had any pressures trials tribulations they didn't have anything but we see this the response towards gibbon found peace on one side but war on the other number two we see the reliance upon the covenant that is the men of gibbon's reliance upon the covenant I love how [26:39] Warren wearsby puts this Warren wearsby said in desperation the men of gibbon went to Joshua looking for life and in anticipation when they ran into trouble they went back because they knew they needed just more than one encounter with them when the men of gibbon look out and these five kings come and oppose them now what does the Bible say about the men of gibbon we've paid attention to it a couple times all the men of gibbon were valiant warriors one thing I have found in Scripture Scripture does not put valiant warrior behind somebody's name just to make them feel better right usually valiant warriors are valiant warriors I think about David's mighty men right we have the accounts where they swing the sword until their arm goes numb and their hand grows tired and they won't quit swinging the sword those accounts are awesome to me or the the guy who fell into a pit with a lion on a snowy day and killed the lion and in all these wonderful things right they take their stand in the field and and their arms get tired but they won't quit and they won't quit and they won't quit these are valiant warriors right the word valiant means something and when the Word of God refers to the men of gibbon is all of them as valiant warriors what we find out here is they had the physical ability and even the militaristic ability and even the knowledge to know how to battle but when it came time they didn't trust in their own abilities as a matter of fact their reliance was upon the covenants they didn't say well we're valiant warriors every one of us we can go out and fight this battle we fought it before as I told you most of the inhabitants of canaan weren't necessarily buddy-buddy with one another right it was they were used to fighting each other you say well this is probably a bigger battle they've ever fought well we don't know that right we're reading more into the text and what the text gives us all we know is the battle the Bible tells us they're valiant warriors and we know that when the battle comes to them rather than trusting in their own abilities they go to [28:38] Joshua and they go to Joshua and say do not forsake your servants and they plead to him do not abandon your servants come to us quickly and save us and help us that doesn't necessarily sound like valiant warriors right why would they do that because Joshua had extended to them a covenant of life and they are trusting more in the covenant relationship they have with Joshua and the people of God than they are in the abilities they possess within themselves God's people always always always get in danger when we trust more in our own abilities than we trust in the covenant relationship to deliver us when the battle comes on the doorsteps of our lives and we understand that the enemy opposes us simply because of our association with the Lord Jesus Christ rather than saying we can do this because we've done it time and time again we need to turn and say Lord I am your servant this is your responsibility it is a trust and reliance upon the covenant relationship because he will not fail us these could have trusted in their abilities they could have trusted in in their strength in their might but they chose not to they chose rather to go and to ask for help and to plead for deliverance so we see what's going on with the men of Gibeon number three we see the reassurance of the word of God the reassurance of the word of God up to this point we do not know how God is going to respond to the nation of [30:33] Israel in light of what they have done with the people of Gibeon we do not know God has not said right God has not declared God has not said anything God has not chastised him he has not rebuked him his people know they've messed up they've admitted that right they admitted in chapter nine which is a big difference by the way from the sin of Achan the sin of Achan they never confessed it until it was too late here they've already confessed it they've already admitted it and we see that they they realize their mistakes and therefore they make them servants we get that at the end of chapter nine but now all of a sudden Joshua and his men are faced with this conundrum if you will because they're at the camp Gilgal and and they're sitting here and they know they've made a mistake and all of a sudden the people of Gibeon reach out and say do not abandon your servants come and help us and deliver us and save us so now Joshua and his people have to make a decision the leaders the nation of Israel and Joshua and it would have been real easy as many have said to say well we shouldn't have entered into a covenant with them anyway at least this way we're not killing them we told them we would leave them alone we didn't say anything about the Amorites and they could have sat back and done nothing and this would have been a way for God to drive them out they could have done that but they didn't because Joshua here took the high road and he understands we entered into a covenant with them therefore we are responsible for them friends listen to me covenants are so important in scripture God does not take covenants lightly they're of absolute importance and he expects his people to uphold their end of that covenant relationship we get that [32:14] Joshua and the leaders had willingly entered into a covenant and therefore had assumed all the responsibilities that would come in light of that covenant we get this perfect picture of Christ right we don't want to read too much we don't want to what they call over spiritualize the text because we're reading the history but we also see in Christ here when we come to Christ and he enters into a covenant relationship with us by the way the men of let's just just lay it out here for us so we can really see this picture in this type Gibeon asked for peace Joshua extended a covenant big difference big difference peace says okay we'll leave you alone a covenant says we're responsible for you understand it you go to Christ and you're wrestling in your life and you're under conviction and you're you know you got that white knuckle sweaty palm that gut wrenching feeling in your stomach and the spirit comes and it's doing his job as Jesus said the spirit comes to bring conviction of sin and the knowledge of sin and all of a sudden the spirit's doing all those things in your life and you have this holy conviction of sin and you don't know what to do and you're at literally at the end of your your rope and you just all you know is you need peace right God is drawing you to himself you don't understand it you don't know how to put it in writing you don't understand that because it's a mystery he tells Nicodemus that in John chapter 3 the spirit moves and it's a mystery and all of a sudden you know something's not right in your life something's not right I don't have peace with God and you go to Christ and you say Lord Jesus all I want is peace you know what he does he doesn't give you a peace he gives you a covenant right that covenant is your peace but he extends a covenant you don't know to ask him Lord I want a covenant relationship with you you don't know that we don't know those things in our spiritual infancy we just know we need peace and he gives us a covenant in place of peace Joshua gave that happiness to give you in a covenant in a place of peace so all of a sudden that covenant now means that [34:06] Joshua has responsibility when Christ gives us a covenant he now has responsibility for us that that means that anything now let's just lay this straight okay the the lack of peace that we experience before we come to Christ is a direct result of God's conviction on our life which means he disrupts our lives we need to go ahead and theologically and scripturally admit that sometimes God causes holy disruptions in our life he makes things uncomfortable and we need to thank him for that praise him for that right those things happen it's conviction everything that happens to us after the covenant is not a direct result of what he is doing in our lives sometimes the lack of peace after the covenant relationship of Christ is because we have allowed sin in our life right it's our doing but since he is in a covenant relationship with us he is responsible to us therefore he does not leave us understand this this is good stuff on a Wednesday night he doesn't leave us because he has entered into a covenant with us therefore Joshua goes now now note this God never speaks until Joshua and the leaders move he's silent until after they move because there comes a point in every one of our spiritual walk our spiritual lives that God no longer holds us by the hand and coddles us along we got babies my granddaughter just left got baby over here and my Mellie Sue bless her heart loves to climb and go up and down our stairs now and she's all over the place and crawling and we're so scared to death she's gonna fall off at least I am you know pops is scared to death she's gonna fall off of everything and I chased her up the staircase day and I was thinking you know there's gonna come a day she's gonna run off those stairs and it won't matter I'll be following her she's like pops what are you doing leave me alone you know I talked to a dad of daughters the other day he had three daughters I said bless your heart you got three daughters I said man nothing loves a daughter like nothing loves a daddy like a daughter he goes yeah sometimes nothing hates a daddy like a daughter you see it goes both ways he said you know sometimes they look and say we don't I don't need you right now dad it's okay that's the way Christ does with us right in our spiritual walk at first he he's there and undergirding us and speaking to the speaking and then then as we mature and as we grow and as as we mature we grow and we get those spiritual muscles then he's like you move first then I'll talk to you that's faith some of it's on us Joshua moves then the word of God comes to him it says so Joshua went up from Gilgal he and all the people with him and all the valiant warriors then look at verse 8 the Lord said to Joshua he moved first because he had responsibilities then the Lord says to Joshua by the way pay attention to this he said to who [37:08] Joshua all right that's only important in a minute these things pay attention to do not fear them for I have given them into your hands not one of them shall stand before you here we have the reassurance of the word of God Joshua is moving by faith he knows that they have made a mistake he knows that they have at least confessed that mistake they have entered they've tried to reconcile it as best they can they are being people of their word and they are staying true to that word they have not tried to correct a sin with another sin as a matter of fact they have tried to live a repentant life of that sin and moving forward in faith and trying to stay true to what they have covenanted it to do God speaks to him and reassures him with his word the reassurance of the word of God enables Joshua to move all night long in the promise of victory friend as we step out on faith and we continue to push forward in what God has called us to do God had called them to fight in heaven to the land when we step out on faith and we move forward the word of God reassures us it reassures us over and over and over again and the reassurance from the word of God literally just motivates the next step we continue to press on because the word has spoken to us and we begin to move from compromise to conquest because the word reassures us and settles for us the matter at hand as a result of our covenant relationship with him the word speaks to us and settles it we understand it so you have the reassurance of the word of God number four this seems repetitive but pay attention to it the reality of the work of God the reality of the work of God God has now spoken and told them don't fear nobody's going to stand before you none of them can oppose you you're going to win the battle let's just go ahead and say it here it's one thing for God to say it it's a whole nother thing for us to see it right we walk by faith and not by sight I understand that but when faith is united with sight all of a sudden it becomes powerful when we know what God has said and then we see him do what he has said by the way over and over again this is why we have these things recorded for us in scripture when God proclaims something says something and then fulfill something all of a sudden we're like okay so I can't trust this so we trust his word based on what we have seen of his works the reason I can trust the word where it tells me that the righteous will not be forsaken is because I have seen that evident in his work in my own life right how I can trust the aspects of his word that are really just there as anchors and ebenezer's in my own life the parts of the word that are the dearest and nearest to me are the things where I've actually seen him do what he said he was going to do and if I had to guess it's the same way in your life the parts of the word that are the realest and the truest to you are the ones that not only have you heard it and read it you've also seen him do it the reality of his works confirming the reassurance of his word and now all of a sudden you have something to stand on this is why I say faith is not blind right faith stands on what it has seen it's it's the evidence of things not seen but when we've seen the God who works in this way I don't have to have I don't need a scientific approach as to how God created everything because the other portions of the word [40:56] I can trust because I've seen him do other things right I've seen these things so now we have the reality of his work so God says don't worry go so Joshua goes based upon the word of God and they get there they travel all night and they and they meet them at the beginning of the break in the day and they're there man the battle is there and look at what God does verse 10 and the Lord confounded them before Israel so they get there you say oh Israel surprised them no that's not what the Bible says the Bible doesn't say that Israel and Joshua surprised them it says the Lord confounded them so all of a sudden the very beginning of the battle is because of God's confounding of the enemies of the people of God the Lord confounded them right and then it says I don't know about I know the new American standard says he capitalized I hope yours does as well and he that is the Lord God slew them with the great slaughter at Gibeon now we're beginning to see his works right there's five kings against Joshua and the leaders and the valiant warriors right here's five kings and all their troops and the Lord confounds them so they begin to flee towards Beth-Ron first miracle we see happening here all of a sudden it starts hailing big huge hell stones and these big huge hell stones start striking the people that are fighting and it says that more of them died from the stones hitting them on the head and died from Israel sword you said where's the miracle in that because by the way hell storms are very familiar to this region what is awesome is when they're running away guess who's pursuing them the nation of Israel the only people hit by the rocks are the enemies that's pretty cool because somehow or another the nation of Israel runs through the same storm and doesn't die from getting hit in the head with rocks people all around them are dying from getting hit in the head with rocks but the nation of Israel is not by the way the second miraculous event people have trouble with but they seem to have no trouble with this one at all I mean I have never stood in the middle of a hell storm and not been hit it's very clearly taught right here they're pursuing them right they follow them to Beth-Ron they're engaging them all the way God is casting the hells out of heaven hell stones out of heaven and more people die in that moment from being hit in the head with hell stones than the nation of Israel kills with the sword work of God amazing and then as the battle drags on they kind of scatter and they're following them and then we have Joshua crying this great prayer now most people agree and I tend to agree with it starting in verse 12 you have this quotation from this book of Jashar we don't know what that book is it's a lost book to us and it goes down to verse 15 which is here to tell you that in verse 15 then [43:43] Joshua and all Israel went with him returned to the camp of Gilgal that's not chronologically when they returned they returned after the events of Makada because it wouldn't make sense to go to Gilgal and come back another 25 miles back to Makada which we see in the verses that follow but anyway so because of these events during this battle the battle is dragging on and there's a lot of fighting going on Joshua cries out oh son stand still right now that's a bold prayer but the reason he could pray boldly is because he had seen God working mildly when God confounded the enemies and then began to cast the hell stones Joshua said hey he is literally fighting for us so as he's fighting for us I have boldness and prayer we are always we always gather boldness and prayer based on what we see him currently doing among us confidence in prayer is gained by observation of his work that is already going on when we realize that we witness his work and his miraculous deeds we get boldness in prayer so Joshua cries out oh son stand still moon stay course and it says it does now I'm going to tell you there's a lot of controversy on this one passage and there's many years ago Christian scientists went back and counted days and they said there's a lost day somewhere in history some people will say that's just kind of Christian mythology and and we're not here to do that okay I'm not here to go back and find the lost day I'm not here to go back and tell you how to do it because people say well how in the world could he do that how could he stop the spinning of the earth on the circumference or stop the course of the sun and and not disrupt everything and and all those well there are places all around the world where it's daylight to almost 24 hours a day and everything is not disrupted all I know is that in that one location the way it reads is is the sun stopped and slowed its course down that's what it says okay it's not that it just stopped for 48 hours it says in the text it says is it not written in the book of Jachar and the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten that did not hasten means it slowed down stopped in the middle of the sky did not hasten to go down for about a whole day so he gained a day there I'm not trying to go back and find that lost day in history all I'm trying to do is read the word of God and see what it clearly says and it clearly tells even some what I would call trustworthy Bible commentaries kind of cast doubt into this all I'm saying is the Bible says that Joshua asked for it and then it declares that God did it and then it tells us something like this there has never been a day like that before it or after it and I have to agree with one that I read that if the creator of the heavens and the earth cannot stop the sun then there is something in his creation which he no longer has control over and if his creation is out of his control then he is out of control and if he is out of control then he is not God you say how did he do it and all I can say is because of who he is how did he do it because of who he is you can give me all the genetic and scientific reasons of how a baby is formed in a womb but you just literally cannot tell me how it happens it just does the sun naturally goes across the sky God can slow it down anytime he wants to and you're seeing his mighty works you say well I don't know if I can have that type of simple faith well I can and that's I pray that we can too when we read scripture as it says he did it and I believe it it's the reality of the work of God [47:29] God stayed the course of the day and he had strengthened the people so that they could continue to fight the battle because this is something that God called them to do does that mean that we have the boldness to go out here and say God you've called me to do this and I'm going to ask you to cause that sun to stand still scripture says there's never been another day like that I don't think we don't there's a lot of occurrences I've never seen a donkey talk but I believe it did once I've never seen a bush burn and not be consumed but I believe it did once right these things happen these are the wondrous works of God among his people declaring who he is we see this finally and fifth in this section of scripture we see a reminder of encouragement to the people of God a reminder of encouragement and I know I know we need to pray and I'm closing here the five kings hide in the cave outside of Makata Joshua disperses his troops they they go after they pursue everyone he tells them to roll a large stone in front of the cave and someone to guard it not to stay there so they travel and they they fight the battle as long as they can and they all come back to Makata they're at the camp and Joshua says roll the stone away so they bring the five kings out here are the five kings that oppose the people of Gibeon that God brought before the nation of Israel and then Joshua does this event he calls these five kings out and they put them on the ground more than likely face down on the ground and he calls all the men of Israel all the leaders and all the warriors and he calls them and says put your feet on their neck now you remember when [49:03] God says none of them will stand before you do not fear who did he say that to Joshua right Joshua Joshua has them put their feet on the neck and then Joshua says this to them and Joshua said to them do not fear or be dismayed be strong and courageous for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies with whom you fight what God had been telling him he tells them they're about to start a huge military campaign to the south and to the north even after Joshua dies the inhabitants of the land will remain battles will still need to be fought Joshua is passing on what God has told him to these men and he's encouraging them they're not always going to be able to stand on the faith of Joshua they're going to stand on the faith of their own lives so he has them put their feet on the neck of their enemies and reminds them that the God who's put these five kings before them is the God who's going to put all their enemies before them and then he kills them and he raises this pile of stone over them as another memorial that God is faithful he can take our compromise and turning into his conquest he brings about his word for his glory [50:14] Joshua chapter 10 verses 1 through 28 thank you guys so