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Joshua 7-10
We are back in The Nation stream and continuing the story of Joshua after Jericho.
We are reading from the Modern English Version this week.
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Prayer
“Lord God, we are yours. To stray from you and your plan is not a light matter. And yet your children have been prone to wander. So we pause and pledge yet again that we belong to you: our lives, our future, our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. And when we are weak, Lord Jesus, we ask that we be sustained as you hold on to us! Amen.”
The headline of the day was “Jericho has Fallen”. Panic had overtaken the land. The Canaanites all knew that the Israelites, with God on their side, could conquer anything and anyone, anywhere, anytime. They have commenced upon decimating the Canaanites without any problem. And it’s ‘on to the next city!’ Right?
Chapter 7
Joshua 07 – Well there was a problem and Achan was the perpetrator of this problem. He thought he had the matter in the bag and ‘all sewed shut’. God didn’t think so. But it’s not dealt with until after a defeat at
City #2; Ai. God could have remedied the situation right away, but this way the lesson is burned deep into the whole nation and they all learn that personal transgressions are not private matters. They become national. If it were just between Achan and the devil violating God (however we may perceive this deal), then only Achan would drop dead. But 36 perish because of what Achan did. And, stop and think, if what he thought he was doing was fine, why did he put the stolen items in a hole in the ground under his tent? He knows it is wrong and embezzles anyway. Would WE have walked away from a bag of gems? It’s also of note how God tells a grieving Joshua to get up, stop the wailing and deal with Achan. The justice is swift and severe as all he possesses and has sired is destroyed…Achan thought that his sin was just his business.
Chapter 8
Joshua 08 – After the memo of Achan was taken seriously God again musters Joshua’s courage and the battle v.s. Ai resumes – with God assuring victory over Ai and Bethel. The battle tactic used here is genius and still studied in the annals of war today. It’s brutal material but God made it clear that He wants to set up a new nation in this land by first removing godless paganism along with its source. In a solemn ceremony, the covenant is renewed at the end of chapter 8. If you think you just read this somewhere it’s because we just did in Deuteronomy 27; 15 chapters ago. Moses ordered this solemn activity to take place not long prior. It is also of import that Abraham also built his first altar in this area, 600 years prior. So this has become a significant region because of many deeds and activities by key biblical figures.
Chapter 9
Joshua 09 – Achan’s sin taught them a stinging lesson two chapters back. The Israelites are now taught a second lesson here that they best learn from. They made a decision without asking for God’s guidance. Read v. 14 again for your life depends upon it. They made an emotional decision and were deceived. We just read this ruse through and, well, a vow is a vow, good or not. What we need to learn from this is simply to be reminded the lyrics of an old hymn, “…take it to the Lord in prayer.” But the Israelites made a decision based upon sentiment, a wrong one, that a few simple questions laid upon the Gibeonites could have averted. The secondary result of this incident is that others in the area now saw fit to band together to take on the Israelites. Thus comes the following story of an epic battle.
Chapter 10
Joshua 10 – An alliance of kings band together against Israel. Their thinking is “the more, the mightier”. But what is “mighty” against God? Their move against Gibeon is unwarranted, thus Israel’s need to defend them is unwarranted but things went as such. Israel responds to this giant skirmish and God backs Israel. The fatal hailstones are of ‘biblical’ proportion. They are akin to softball-or-bigger rocks coming to earth at terminal velocity; ca. 120 m.p.h. Yet still more time is needed so the earth stops rotating … for a day … ! The Israelites were short on nothing for the needed victory; nothing but time. So God provided that too. There is much on the internet to be searched about this ‘missing day’ in the cosmological record. The multiple cultures of the earth who also observed this phenomenon is impressive. What Joshua asked for was for the benefit of Israel’s army. And it is keenly noticed by other peoples of the earth who also experienced this very long day! Numerous documents from many nations also tell of this event that would have, no doubt, affected others. It was not a local occurrence requiring subjective hallucination in one land. To think otherwise is as myopic as thinking that Noah’s flood was also a local event. During this protracted day of an extra 24 hours (some argue it was 23:50), Joshua and Co. are afforded time to conquer all five kings that banded together against him. Then the fight moves south and Joshua conquers numerous cities clear to Goshen where they once were slaves at the mouth of the Nile. Hear v. 42 and don’t forget that all this victory was because the Lord fought for Israel. And let’s be asking, “are we, every step of the way, on the Lord’s side?”