Tag: Joshua

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What happens when God fights for you?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah. When Joshua heard that they had been found, he issued this command: “Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks, and place guards at the entrance to keep the kings inside.” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭10‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Joshua records a brief but brutal ending to a war between Israel and the Amorites. King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem had sent messengers to several other local kings: Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon, inviting them to join him in defeating Gibeon, a large fortified city and new ally with Israel. Joshua writes, “So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a united attack. They moved all their troops into place and attacked Gibeon.” Adoni-zedek believed this to be a strategically easy victory.

For many of the battles Israel would face, their enemies began to realize they were going up against Israel’s God – Jehovah, the one true God, The men of Gibeon sent messengers to Joshua asking for Israel’s help. This massive battle is famous because of two miracles. One, God chased the Amorites off with a hailstorm – which killed more men than the battle itself. But this is also the famous story of the sun standing still for a day, because Joshua asked God for more time to finish off the enemy.

The Amorites were exceedingly wicked. God told Moses to completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Why? God told Moses, it will “prevent them from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the LORD your God.” Just do a search on the immoral things the Amorites practiced while worshiping fake gods. God’s warnings to the Amorites did not persuade them to repent. Eventually God’s judgement was to thoroughly remove them from the earth.

It was clear to the five kings in cahoots with each other that they were losing, so they fled to the hills and all five of them hid in a cave at Makkedah. As they were seen running from the battle, the Israelite men reported it to Joshua. After the Amorite armies had been defeated, Joshua returned to the cave and had the five kings brought out. He had the five kings laid out on the ground and told his own commanders to put their foot on each of the Amorite king’s necks. As they did this, Joshua told them to never be afraid, but instead be strong and courageous – a life tagline for him. Then Joshua killed each of the five kings by impaling them on sharpened poles, where they hung until evening. As the sun was going down, Joshua gave instructions for the bodies of the kings to be taken down from the poles and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding, Joshua‬ ‭10‬:‭24‬-‭27‬. Five Amorite kings died a horrible death – befitting the horrible life and leadership over the people they were suppose to serve. Joshua was indeed a warrior leader over Israel and God honored him by giving him many battle wins over their enemies.

Prayer

​Dad,
Wow, wars were brutal then and still brutal today. We live with sin that is so ubiquitous, so invasive, that it rises to the level of mass murder of our enemies. War is hell! I find it interesting that there are times that you judge nations or groups of people yourself, directly punishing them with floods, famines or even storms. Yet, other times you used people, leaders, rulers or kings to make war against a people group, effectively judging them through annihilation. I would much rather have you fighting on my behalf than doing it on my own! Thank you for a future where there will be no more wars. I look forward to that day.

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Stacked memory makers.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This miracle crossing of the Jordan river was a monumental moment in Joshua’s life, the twelve chosen men and the people of Israel. It was a mini-miracle compared to the Red Sea, but significant and remarkable nonetheless. There was no Egyptian army, with horse-driven chariots thundering at their back. There was however, a massive, flooded river blocking their way to continue their journey. However, this miracle involved more people.

God wanted the priest’s feet and their faith to be the catalyst for the supernatural. Now, on the other side…now that they crossed the Jordan, what was next? Situations leading up to miracles are incredibly stress-filled moments. Heightened nerves, shallow breath, dry mouth, racing heart – it feels like one is on the edge of a panic attack! One side of a miracle is apprehension, the other side a surreal celebration. Which side of a miracle are you on today? What sea needs to split? What river needs to recede? Remember Yahweh-Shammah, God is there!

The other side of a miracle is a wonderful place to pause, set up camp and create a very physical object lesson for yourself and your family. Gather some friends, some family to collect some artifacts from the miracle. God instructed Joshua to send twelve guys back into the river, not to activate their faith, but to graft gratitude and wonder into their story, their memories. “Take twelve stones,” God said. Physical objects from the place of the miracle. Cool huh.

Here’s what I think. If my miracle happens in a river that has supernaturally stopped flowing, I’d grab stones. But let’s say it’s a medical miracle, or a miracle excursion, or a financial blessing – grab a wristband, some sand from the exotic beach, a picture of debt cancellation. Grab something from the moment and make a memory. Stack stones and take a picture, build a box filled with tangibles, mod-podge a collage. When the time comes and a friend or family member pulls out that box or grabs a picture from the past and asks, “what does this mean?” Tell the story of God’s providence, His provision, His blessing. This powerful miracle, this magnificent memory making moment tells me to pause more. It tells me to grab a physical reminder. It also tells me to hold on to it for a while, then bring it out from time to time, to tell the story of how God cares for us.

Prayer

Dad,
What a beautiful, true story of your grace and presence being with Your people at critical moments in history. However, it brings memories to my own mind. Memories of how you have done similar in my life, my family, my story. Wow! You are good. Thank you for being Yahweh Shammah for them and for us today.

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Barrier crossing is a big deal!

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.” In the morning Joshua said to the priests, “Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across the river.” And so they started out and went ahead of the people. The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’”” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Moses was gone and now leadership rested fully on Joshua’s shoulders. Joshua had learned a lot in the time he was coached and mentored by Moses. God had also prepared the hearts of the people by directly dealing with those who complained, disobeyed or sowed discord. Joshua was ready to lead and the people were ready to follow. However, that did not mean there were not barriers and battles yet ahead!

The Jordan river crossing was a mini-reminder of the big Red Sea crossing. The Jordan river was huge, in the springtime of the year, when the river is in its flood stage, it was wider than its normal width of 90-100 feet and deeper than its average 3-10 feet. A 100+ feet wide and 10+ feet deep in a swift-water crossing meant guaranteed death for 2 million+ people. The Jordan river crossing has multiple applications for the Hebrew people (The word “Hebrew” is עברי (Ivrie) means “to cross over, or pass through”) and for us today.

One, God told the people to prepare beforehand, “purify yourselves.” This was a learned ritual of washing, praying, fasting and even refraining from marital relations! It was a way of putting the body, soul and spirit on high alert for what’s ahead.

Two, God made sure the people followed the Ark of the Covenant, which was symbolic of the presence of God. God didn’t live in the box, but He wanted them to understand that His covenant (the law) and specific memory items were represented as object lessons. At that time the ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. The priests carrying the ark went first and when their feet touched the river-water, the miracle of stopping tons of cubic feet of rushing water, began miles up, at the city of Adam.

Three, God had the priests, stand with the Ark of the Covenant in the middle of the river as yet another physical reminder of “passing by” in the safety of obedience to God’s leading, “Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.”Vs. 17‬.

And fourth, after everyone safely crossed over God commanded them to stack memory stones at their campsite, marking the supernatural event and provision of God. Knowing one day the children would ask about the stones, “We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’” (4:6‬). Joshua even stacked 12 stones of his own in the middle of the Jordan river and the Bible says they still stood in that day as a reminder.

The Jordan river experience is a lasting example, a life lesson, that getting to God’s promises will normally mean crossing some kind of barrier. And, crossing those barriers in faith is not for the weak or faint of heart! But also, every barrier crossing should be celebrated and memorialized as praise to God and reminders that He is faithful to His promises.

I love the verse in 1 Corinthians 16:9 where the Apostle Paul reminds us of this Jordan river principle – “There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.” With God’s help, barriers, like rivers and oppositions are meant to be met and crossed.

Prayer

Dad,
There are barriers and opposition everywhere I look! Yet, with faith, I can see beyond them and find opportunities that lie ahead of me. Great opportunities + opposition = faith in You. Jesus even said there’d be tribulation, but be of good cheer because He has overcome the world! I am up for the great adventures and opportunities ahead.

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The impossible becomes probable.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭28‬-‭31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Gabriel has two assignments: visit Zechariah and visit Mary, and tell them what is going to happen. To Zach, the angel tells him about his son that will be born. Zach, being old, has a difficult time believing. Gabriel tells him, oh IT WILL happen, then removes Zach’s ability to speak until he writes out his son’s name – “His name is John.” To Mary the angel says she is favored and blessed (eulogeó: to speak well of). Luke records that Mary is extremely agitated and thoroughly confused by this visitation especially because of these unexpected, encouraging words. Gabriel hadn’t even told her the message from God! And in that moment, Mary couldn’t understand why she was greeted in this way. “Why am I considered favored and well spoken of?” she pondered in her mind. What teenage girl believes that they have a good life and reputation in their friend circles? Gabriel tells her not to be afraid while she was still struggled with a genuine compliment! Then the high ranking angel continues, “you have found grace with God!” All of this is overwhelming to Mary. The super affirmation and the declaration that God has extended grace to her – and she has done nothing but exist as an average, quite invisible teenager living in the poor, armpit community of Nazareth. Gabriel tells her not to fear, but I get the impression she was overwhelmed with the lavished kindness and attention that she could not even fathom. Maybe she felt worthless, unseen, small, insignificant and completely unimportant in those moments. She had to have asked herself… “who is this?” and more disturbing, “who am I?” She never saw herself as worthy of ANYTHING and now God has put a holy spotlight on her. Gabriel then tells her the purpose for the visit, you’re going to have a supernatural baby boy and you will name him Joshua (Jesus in Greek) – God saves. Mary, like Zach, had her doubts, but doesn’t offend Gabriel by saying, “how can I really know, know this will come true?” Instead she responds, “But how can this exist or be? I have not experienced a man.” Mary’s humility and curiosity is not offensive to Gabriel, so he tells her. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And the power of the most high will overshadow, envelop you. And you will give birth to the holy one, called the son of God! The plot thickens up until the day Jesus is born.

Prayer

Dad,
Such a wonderful, mysterious way to announce the coming of the Messiah! I wouldn’t have expected anyone to really know how you planned to pull off such a monumental revealing. And the fact that you did so through a high priest, Zechariah, and a very average, normal young girl to bring all this about. It is still the best mid-story shocker! It’s like your jump-the-shark episode, except it was done really well. Bravo and I can’t wait for the final season!

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Wrong war, wrong enemy

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.” Joshua‬ ‭10:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​These war stories, although gory and brutal, are not the focus of the grand story God is telling in the Old Testament, but they are critical. Here’s a few things I noticed.

One: there really IS a war going on, not “wars” but a war of good verses evil. A war of Satan using men like pawns, promising them great riches and power. And all these up and coming men of worldly positions had to do was be ruthless, hungry and destroy everything that got in their way. They existed then, they still exist today. There still is A war, and men and women want to play the same game and cause as much death and amass as much control over humans as possible. These stories are not stories of patriarchal power by the way, they are about rebellion, of which men and women both clamor for.

Two: It is difficult to wade through these ancient stories where we have no comprehension or understanding of the culture at that time. We have no real sense of the brute force and unmerciful actions of these kings nor their kingdoms. And each one of these cities mentioned have their own intricate culture, a bloodthirsty DNA so to speak. The leaders created and maintained these deep cultures that ran through several generations of children, who’s little boys and girls would naturally turn into mean, nasty men and women. A couple of highlights to note: King Adoni-zedek made the first move and sent word out to all the other Amorite kings. Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon. “Come and help me destroy Gibeon,” he urged them.

Three: God spoke to Joshua promising a win. Joshua asked God for an extraordinary miracle – more daylight to get the job done! “On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” The five kings fled their cities and met up to hide in the caves, “During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah.” Joshua had men block the cave entrance until he had complete control over the cities. Then he returned and brought the five kings out for a public trial and punishment. “So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. When they brought them out, Joshua told the commanders of his army, “Come and put your feet on the kings’ necks.” And they did as they were told.” Joshua promised that this is what God would allow them to do to all their enemies.

Four: Right here there is a picture, an object lesson that is repeated throughout both Old and New Testament. “THE” enemy of God and all creation, THE rebellious one, THE liar and deceiver will find his neck under the foot of one meek, humble, innocent person far into the future – when that enemy convinced humans to crucify the messiah thinking it would crush God’s plan to finally end the war and rebellion over the entire Earth. (Gen 3:15, Ps 47:3, 1 Cor. 15:25, Eph. 1:22). Then Joshua had them spiked and displayed for all to see and later buried in the cave they had hidden in.

Five: There will be a final day of justice and there will be an end to brutality. When we see our society struggle with inequalities and misappropriated power, we want to blame men, or political systems, or even an entire race. Look deeper, follow the promises and lies behind those powers – you’ll find a puppet-master of sorts, pulling the strings of hatred, chaos and mayhem. Just make sure you know the real enemy and the very real war.

PRAYER

Dad,
One of the things I can’t stand the most, speaking as an enneagram nine, is the misplaced blame of judgment on the wrong people for the wrong problem. People are people. We are weak and imperfect. We makes mistakes and listen to lies and worse, believe liars. Help us get the story straight. Help us understand the real war and the real enemy here. It’s not each other at all. I can’t wait for your justice to be finally and forever delivered.