June 22, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Joshua? Here’s today’s reading:
Joshua 11 (NIV)
Northern Kings Defeated
1 When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, 2 and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; 3 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah............Continue Reading
I was so happy to hear the last few words of this chapter when it said “Then the land had rest from war” So much fighting and death and amazing the faith of Joshua to go into battle after battle with the physical odds stacked against them but because he trusted God and followed His commands victory was theirs time and time again!
God surely intended to protect Israel till the end…
Joshua 9&10
Joshua 11
I thought of how some battles for Joshua seemed to go quickly and then I read of how “Joshua made war a long time with all those kings” Joshua 11:18. No matter how skilled Joshua was, he faced challenges day after day, year after year, and remained strong and courageous. In all of life’s challenges, I need to remain strong and courageous no matter what is going on around me.
20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
We have discussed at various times how God will harden the hearts of people; pharaoh being a common example of this. The concept that we are the pot and who are we to complain to the potter can be a difficult one. I do believe though that God is never “making someone good into someone evil” but rather He is enforcing what is already there.
Regardless, God’s sovereignty is something we need to come to accept in our walk.
God does what it takes to accomplish His plan. These nations were evil and were to be driven out because of it. In addition to His great mercy, He is also not to be trifled with. In humility we will be drawn to Him or in pride we will push away. God is not changed by our decision. But we are….
Joshua 11
23So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lordhad directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.
It is a comfort to know God’s plan up front. “But the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”” I think of all of the promises and prophesies that are forgotten or ignored….how many times do we fail because we do not believe what God has said.