By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Joshua
10:1-15
Joshua 10:6-8
And the men of Gibeon
sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from
your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings
of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” 7 So
Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all
the mighty men of valor. 8 And
the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given
them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.”
(ESV)
In the middle of a constant
barrage of news regarding Covid19, violence, and campaign ads promising to fix
the problem, there was good news this past week that could have long-term and
even biblical significance. The good
news is news of a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Joshua
9 provides the account of Israel entering into a covenant agreement with
Gibeon. While this agreement came because
of deception, Israel is obligated to honor the agreement for it was made in the
presence of God (Joshua
9:18). In honor of this agreement,
Israel does not destroy Gibeon and allows them to live peaceably with Israel (Joshua
9:26-27), but Israel’s dedication to keeping this agreement is about to be
tested.
The Amorite kings are living in
fear because of what God did to Jericho and Ai through Israel and are also
angered at Gibeon for entering into a peace agreement with Israel (Joshua
10:1-2). Out of this fear and anger,
they decide to form a coalition to go up against Gibeon to take it back from
Israel (Joshua
10:3-5). When Gibeon sees this army
at their gates, they send messengers to Joshua at the camp of Gilgal asking for
help in defeating the armies coming against them (Joshua
10:6), testing Israel’s commitment to their agreement. While Scripture does not specifically say
that Joshua sought the Lord, it is implied in Joshua
10:7-8 with God speaking to Joshua as he sets out from Gilgal. As Joshua and the armies of Israel suddenly
come up against the kings of the Amorites at Gibeon, fear takes over and the
Lord throws the armies of the Amorites into a panic, causing them to flee
Gibeon (Joshua
10:10). As the Amorite armies flee,
God sends large hailstones down on them from heaven with more men killed by the
hailstones than the sword of the Israelite army. However, the Lord is not done with the Amorite
armies and at the words of Joshua to the Lord, causes the sun and moon to stand
still for a day, allowing Israel to take vengeance on the Amorite kings (Joshua
10:11-15). Israel acts with
diligence and honor towards Gibeon with God miraculously intervening as Israel,
1) Acts
quickly (Joshua
10:7-9) – Israel does not hesitate to come to the aid of Gibeon in honor of
their agreement but acts diligently by marching all night to take the armies of
the Amorites by surprise.
2) Follows
God’s direction (Joshua
10:8) – While Scripture does not specifically state that Joshua sought the
Lord, the fact that the Lord spoke to Joshua as he stepped out in faith to
protect Gibeon indicates he may have sought the Lord’s direction. After an embarrassing defeat at Ai and
falling for the deception of the Gibeonites, it appears Joshua and Israel may
have learned a valuable lesson by seeking the Lord’s guidance before
acting.
3) Experiences
God’s miraculous intervention (Joshua
10:10-15) – Israel already has a history of miraculous intervention by God
beginning in Egypt, continuing as Israel wandered through the wilderness, and
now manifesting itself as Israel occupies the promised land. The biblical prophecy in Ezekiel
38 represents a future miraculous intervention by God to protect Israel in
the last days.
These unprecedented times require
the Church to act like Israel did with Gibeon and the Amorite kings. The Church must act quickly in coming to the
aid of hurting individuals, taking a stand against ungodliness and sin, and ungodly
decisions by leaders while praying for these leaders (1
Timothy 2:1-2) and step out in faith knowing God will intervene on the
Church’s behalf. The Church has a
covenant with God who did not immediately take His Church out of the world but gave
it a mission to take the Gospel message to the lost living in the world. Therefore, the Church must act diligently in
honoring its covenant agreement with God by not ceasing to take the Gospel
message around the world, expecting God to intervene, miraculously if needed. May God bless everyone reading this post.
1. Lahav Harkov, Omri Nahmias. Israel, UAE
reach historic peace deal: ‘We can make a wonderful future’. jpost.com. [Online]
Jerusalem Post, August 14, 2020. [Cited: August 22, 2020.] https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/israel-and-uae-reach-historic-peace-deal-638524.
No comments:
Post a Comment