Josh 23:1-11

9 “For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you. 10 Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for you, just as he has promised. 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

This is really what it all comes down to! Love God, pursue Him above all else and seek to do what He calls us to do, not because we have to, not because we are obligated to do so, but simply because we love Him! The problem Israel and the rest of us run into in our lives is the tendency to get caught up in loving the world. Joshua was direct with Israel and to the point. “Be careful to love the Lord your God.” If we do that we stay away from the temptation to chase after other things in life. If we are careful to love God even before doing stuff that’s considered righteous behavior we will not fall short in being who He has called us to be and doing what He has called us to do. We fall into traps when our motivation is not about loving God with all our heart, soul and mind! So as you go into the weekend and the rest of this day, be careful, first and formost, to love God! Start by surrendering your day to Him right now and telling Him you love Him (if you do!).

Josh 22:10-34

10 But while they were still in Canaan, and when they came to a place called Geliloth near the Jordan River, the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh stopped to build a large and imposing altar.
11 The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River. 12 So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them. 13 First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each the head of his family within the clans of Israel.
15 When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 16 “The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him? 17 Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord. 18 And yet today you are turning away from following the Lord. If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.
19 “If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the Lord’s land, where the Tabernacle of the Lord is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord our God. 20 Didn’t divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the Lord? He was not the only one who died because of his sin.”
21 Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 “The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows the truth, and may Israel know it, too! We have not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the Lord. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day. 23 If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the Lord or to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord himself punish us.
24 “The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord.’ So your descendants may prevent our descendants from worshiping the Lord.
26 “So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, 27 but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no claim to the Lord.’
28 “If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.’ 29 Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”
30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of Israel—heard this from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they were satisfied. 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, replied to them, “Today we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.”
32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the other leaders left the tribes of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to tell the Israelites what had happened. 33 And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Reuben and Gad.
34 The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “Witness,” for they said, “It is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God, too.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Don’t jump to conclusions. Sometimes it may seem obvious what is happening, but the truth is you don’t really know until you check it out. Can you imagine what would have happened between the tribes of Israel if the 10 tribes located West of the Jordan would have attacked Reuben and Gad without inquiring what they were doing? The very people who liberated the land would have been destroyed themselves. Granted, Israel had reason to worry and the situation with Achan’s family was still fresh in their minds. But we should never jump to conclusions without proper inquiry into each and every situation. Don’t just assume you know what someone is thinking or doing without asking! But it is also clear you should not just sit back and do nothing when you think someone is doing wrong. Go and question them and then make your conclusions. A war was avoided that could have just as easily taken place and destroyed many innocent people. But thank God they checked out their inclinations and it ended well! Have a great day!

Josh 21:43-45 (Conclusion of Chapters 13-21)

43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. 45 Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

If you want to breeze through all the chapters we skipped over, by all means, do that! It’s all about all the lands given to the different tribes of Israel and all the peoples and Kings who were defeated to get that land. The point is made in these final versus of chapter 21. GOD IS FAITHFUL TO ALL HIS PROMISES!!! Not a single one of His promises were forgotten or set aside. God did all He promised Israel He would do! For us that means GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES! Everything God has promised us in the New Testament; All that God has said He would do on our behalf; All that He said He would accomplish before the end of time; God will do it all! If you want to encourage yourself today, just sit down and read all the promises God has made to you in His word. “I will never leave you or forsake you!” “But as many as recieve Him, to them He gives the power to become the sons of God!” “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you will be also!” “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do!” And there are countless others. So remember this: God will keep His promises!

Josh 11 (Read the whole chapter)

23 So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

The land was finally taken and the war was over. Joshua had faithfully led the troops forward in all the battles and had obeyed what the Lord had instructed Moses. All of the peoples in the land had been utterly destroyed except those tricky Gibeonites. That would come back to haunt Israel, but for now the worst was over. God does bring us to the end of our battles, but not before we have faced all our enemies and certainly not until those enemies have been totally defeated. Most of us who experience momentary victories over our enemies tend to think we have accomplished much and that the war is over. But real victory is never acheived until the enemies we face are totally destroyed! Had Israel simply routed these armies that came out against them and let them run off into their fortified cities there would have been other days and reconstituted armies and further battles. God knew Israel would not rest in the land until all their enemies were completely crushed and destroyed. That is also true for us. Our rest in the Lord is hard to come by when those things that wage war against us remain capable of attack. So don’t be satisfied with simply winning a battle. We must carry on the war until all our enemies are defeated in the cross. God be with you all and at the heart of every battle you face this week.

The Failure of the Pharisees Part 2
Matthew 23:13
5-25-08

Joshua 10:29-43

29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah, and fought against Libnah. 30 The Lord gave it also with its king into the hands of Israel, and he struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor in it. Thus he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho.
31 And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish, and they camped by it and fought against it. 32 The Lord gave Lachish into the hands of Israel; and he captured it on the second day, and struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah.
33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua defeated him and his people until he had left him no survivor.
34 And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon, and they camped by it and fought against it. 35 They captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; and he utterly destroyed that day every person who was in it, according to all that he had done to Lachish.
36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it. 37 They captured it and struck it and its king and all its cities and all the persons who were in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor, according to all that he had done to Eglon. And he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it.
38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to Debir, and they fought against it. 39 He captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had also done to Libnah and its king.
40 Thus Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon. 42 Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. 43 So Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

It may seem a little boring reading about all these conquests of Israel. After all, they all end the same. They captured the cities and killed the king and all the inhabitants and moved on to the next target. The tendency we may have is to just glance over the accounts and just move on in the Scriptures until the next interesting account catches our eyes. But if you do that you may miss important words that sneek up on you, like those words that come in vs 42. Joshua and Israel enjoyed many victories, but lets be clear about the WHY! The WHY is, “because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.” You don’t loose when God is for you. You don’t loose when God fights against your enemies. Going into each and every day I want the Lord to go before me just as He did for Israel. Confronted with each and every situation I face I want the Lord to rise up on my behalf just as He did for Israel. But I don’t get that just because I want that! It requires my obedience and my faithfulness to Him! Israel’s desire to do just as the Lord had told them kept their focus on the tasks at hand. That allowed God to move on their behalf. Focus today on being faithful to your God and look to Him to defeat your enemies!

Joshua 10:16-28

28 Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

“Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies with whom you fight!” That was specific to the Israelites of that day under Joshua’s leadership. But it is appropriate for us to look at what God did for Israel as they lived in obediance to the Lord. All of their enemies were not a problem while they obeyed. So Joshua wanted them to know the benefits of following the Lord and looking to Him for their deliverance from their enemies. While we cannot just take this verse out of context and apply it generally to our lives and our own enemies, there is a lesson here about the benefit of listening and looking to God in all things. We are certainly far more apt to find His blessings as obediant followers than as wandering wannabees. Israel ran into problems when they disobeyed and were victorious when they obeyed. Draw your own conclusions, but my conclusion is this: It is far better to obey and succeed, than to falter and fail! Have a good day!

Joshua 10:1-15

15 Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp to Gilgal.

Here is the famous story of the day the Earth stood still. It is known as the “missing day” account in the scriptures. If you are a liberal theologian you just call this a faith building story that didn’t actually happen. That is because you don’t believe in the miraculous and you probably think God never works outside of known scientific parameters. If you have been around a few years as a Christian you may have heard the story about NASA doing math calculations and finding a missing day in the Universe. It was made popular in the 70’s and was used to validate the biblical account. Unfortunetly, it is a fictitious account. However, this is not a fictitious story. God is fully capable of stopping the Sun, the moon or the earth or anything else should He choose to do so. The fact that this is included in the scriptures leaves us with two alternatives. Either it happened as it says, or throw out all the Scriptures because you cannot know what is true and what is not. I pick the former! In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we are told “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” God doen’t inspire lies! It is truth that inspires!

Joshua 9:16

22 Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you are living within our land? 23 “Now therefore, you are cursed, and you shall never cease being slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24 So they answered Joshua and said, ” Because it was certainly told your servants that the Lord your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25 “Now behold, we are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.” 26 Thus he did to them, and delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27 But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, in the place which He would choose.

Getting in a hurry can get you in trouble. But once you give your word to somebody, do you stay with your word and maintain integrity, or do you try and get out of the contract. Joshua made a mistake and formed a treaty with this group of people with out checking it out with the Lord. Once he found out they had decieved him he could have reacted by withdrawing his treaty and killing them all. He could have justified himself because they tricked him. But he did not do any of this. He kept his word! He understood that God would hold him accountable for a promise made and not delivered. So this man of integrity told all of Israel they would have to honor the treaty, even though the people murmured against the leadership. There are lots of reasons we go back on our words to people. There are lots of ways of justifying our change of hearts. But this passage defines integrity for us even when it costs us dearly. Keep your words! Be men and women of Integrity and let God work through your mistakes.

Joshua 9:1-14

14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. 15 Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

The most telling words in the whole story before us are found in verse 14. “But they did not consult the Lord.” Wow! Israel was told to wipe out all the peoples in the land by God. You’d think after Jericho and then Ai they would be a little more focused on the task at hand. They did seem to be a little concerned about where the Gibonites came from, but they were unwilling to wait on the treaty for even a day and to inquire of the Lord in prayer. God had made a habit of talking with Joshua so there is not reason to believe God would not answer Joshua’s inquiry about these people. But, like all leaders, leadership can go to your head and you begin to think your are something when you are nothing. It doesn’t take long, and all of a sudden, there you are making decisions about what God would do without asking God about the problem at hand. What this story communicates is the importance of taking life’s situations to the Lord in prayer. Ask God what He thinks and give Him some time to let you know the answer. Don’t be in such a hurry to get things done unless God has already made it clear to you what He expects. Otherwise, do as the song suggest, “Take it to the Lord in Prayer” before you do anything.