Joshua 10 John Lasken

The spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

This verse is not just a promise that we're going to be resurrected just as the Lord was, but this is a promise for us now that we can experience a spiritual resurrection and that's why we meet daily.

That's why we're here this morning to gather to worship and praise him because of the new life that we have in Christ because of the spirit making us alive and that's why we gather to worship him.

So let's pray. Father we just bow our hearts before you. We look unto you Lord the author and finisher of our faith.

We pray as we look unto you and praise you and worship you or that the cares and the concerns that are on our hearts and minds would fall away as we look upon your character and your holiness.

We pray for these ministries that we lift them up to you and pray you go before us and prepare the way that you work in people's hearts and their minds to prepare them for the gospel.

We pray for lives to be changed Lord. We pray for children to be saved. We pray for the pastor's book

Lord for your anointing upon that book that it would make an impact on the church and for all these ministries

Lord. We pray for your will above all things for your wisdom and your leading and your blessing that we would be changed and conformed into your image and we pray in Jesus name.

Amen. Praise God. Let's all stand together and worship. Jesus on the altar you are

Jesus son of God be lifted higher be lifted high the cross was enough the cross was enough the cross was enough the cross was enough on the altar of Jesus son of God lay down your perfect life you lay down your eyes you are

Jesus son of God once again

Lord we thank you Lord for providing this time for us to be able to gather instilling us the discipline of seeking your will for our lives every day

Lord and spending time Lord in fellowship and also on our own

Lord seek you and your will and the areas that you want us to speak and share your word and share your love with others

Lord keep our eyes open to those opportunities Lord thank you God we got it here

Lord for the message today Lord we love you are not a

God first verse again you are not a

God not a

God you are created not a

God that's just a way you are

God from before time began you are

God you're the only

God whose power you're the only

God whose praise will never end you're the only

God who's the way you are

God good time and bad you are

God alone before time began he is exalted the king is exalted on his truth shall reign his voice and his holiness he his truth shall reign his voice and his hope he is exalted the king is exalted on his truth shall reign so you are exalted are exalted you are exalted you are exalted you could all take a seat our words or thoughts that we often have when we're singing in worship you are exalted we just said that a multiple times you are exalted there was a point in time in in Israel's history the prophet

Isaiah is sent to give a message to the people and in part the message addressed empty worship to the extent that the

Lord had Israel proclaim to the people even when you pray I will not listen there's a difference between prayer that is a repetition of words and prayer that swells up from the heart and ascends to the throne of God you are exalted now we we sit here and we stand here and we sing these words the question is why do we believe he's exalted another song we said saying today that you are not a

God who's created you you are the self -existent you are

Yahweh that word was so significant that in the Old Testament they couldn't even say it but yet there are times where we become almost comfortable almost almost too comfortable that it's not a it's not it's not a bad thing to say you are exalted but it is a great thing to say you are exalted and then have something that comes up behind it you are exalted because I saw your hand or you are exalted because I felt you you you are exalted because of who you are today in we're going to be in Joshua 10 and there is a because that is so powerful that to say you are exalted almost is not enough the the nation is going to be in conflict and God's going to fight for them and then

God's going to make all of these amazing proclamations the concept of having someone or something that's your protector that that you can count on that you can trust to the end is is a powerful thought

I think of a little toddler who perhaps is alongside a swimming pool for the first time now they have absolutely no idea what's there it looks different and maybe mom and dad are already in the pool and and it might be coming up somewhere halfway up their stomach or something like that and they're saying jump in I got you and I think of what that must look like for the first time for a little toddler

I'm used to seeing mom or dad completely and now I'm only seeing this much what happened to the rest of them and and I'm being told to jump in and the little child jumps why because they know they know that mom or dad has got their back that they're protected that is a powerful thing this is this is going to be our

God we'll see in a in a few minutes there was a movie that came out a while ago called the blindside the the but the background behind that starts with a guy by the name of Lawrence Taylor he was a defenseman on the

New York Giants who made a who made a science made an art of getting through the offensive line and going after the quarterback from his backside see a quarterback getting ready to make a pass and he can't really see behind him that's called the blindside and he made an art of getting to the quarterback and making quarterback pancakes sometimes injuries unfortunately so the story talks about this individual by the name of Michael Orr who he's described as being quick as a hiccup strong as a bull and he was encouraged to play football and he played left tackle because guys like Lawrence Taylor were going after the blind side of the quarterback if you could have somebody quick as a hiccup strong as a bull who could stop that rush you could protect the quarterback so guys like Michael Orr would be the protector from the from the blind side today's passage we're in in Joshua chapter 10 and one particular verse

I'm switching to my reading glasses I apologize one of the particular verses of encouragement to the people and to us in verse 25

Joshua said to them do not be afraid or dismayed be strong and courageous for thus the

Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight Joshua is given an encouragement and he passes it on to the people because God is the one to be depended on he is exalted he is he is the ultimate

Moses was in the wilderness now earlier he was protected from birth from from being killed he grew up in Pharaoh's palace he was privileged as a youth and then he was placed in power as a young man but all this went away in an instant when

Moses saw an Israeli being abused by an Egyptian guard and he killed the

Egyptian and so he fled for his life into the wilderness the things that he had received from the world the accolades the privileges the power and everything else had disappeared and now in in the wilderness he encounters a very unusual sight a bush that is on fire but not being consumed and he approaches and God says remove your sandals for the very place where you are is holy and he does and God has a message and he has a task for Moses to go to Pharaoh to let my people go and Moses says

I'm not the guy how can I possibly do this and God encourages him and so now

Moses is going to go and he says uh but but what what should I say to the people how can

I how can I assure them and in Exodus 3 God said to Moses I am who

I am and he said say to this people of Israel I am has sent me to you

God also said to Moses say this to the people of Israel the Lord the

God of your fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob has sent me to you this is my name forever and thus

I am to be remembered through all generations I am is the one who's got

Moses back I am is the one who's going to give Moses the strength the power the very words that are to be said now as we fast forward

Moses goes to the court and he proclaims God's word but Moses heart is hardened and there is plague after plague after plague and and Pharaoh refuses to listen until finally the last is that unless there is blood on the lintel and on the doorposts of the land that is slain the firstborn in every house will be killed and so the angel of death came and the people of Israel were protected because of the blood but not so for the

Egyptians and so Pharaoh says just go just go well then Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he goes after them and so after the

Passover and after the deliverance then after their departure comes the Red Sea and comes challenge again but God protects them because I am is the one who is the protector of all and so he parts the sea then the nation goes through but they're not so the

Egyptians they are killed they go to Mount Sinai and they get the words then there's a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by the day to guard them as I am takes them on the way and they finally reach the promised land at Kadesh Barnea they're told to send spies one from each tribe and they go in and they wander through this land for 40 days and they come back with this amazing news this is the most amazing all -inclusive you guys have ever seen let's go well sort of they said the land flows with milk and honey but they're giants and we're grasshoppers we can't can't do it except for Joshua and Caleb and so now we have another 40 years as the people wander and that generation dies until they come to Shittim and their camp on the east side of the river

Jordan and God tells Joshua only be strong and very courageous being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant has commanded you do not turn from it to the right hand or the left that you may have good success wherever you go this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night your way will be made prosperous you will have good success have

I not commanded you be strong and courageous do not be frightened do not be dismayed for the

Lord your God is with you that great protector Yahweh I am the

Lord God is with you wherever you go and so they enter the land

God departs the water again this time in the river and while they're there the land is is there's there's dangers and there's opposition in fact there are those who have opposed

God who must be put to death they must be judged and so the people go into the land to take the land for for God and and there are dangers but there's protection and there are times of obedience and blessing there are times of disobedience then there's time of judgment but we now get to Joshua chapter 10 where we are today now six weeks ago

I was up here and we spoke out of Joshua 9 many of your bibles will talk about Joshua 9 as the great

Gibeonite deception it's where Joshua is going after the Canaanites and the

Canaanites are afraid and one of the clans the Gibeonites the

Gibeonites instead of standing with the world culture they seek protection under Joshua in front of the

God of Israel and yes they do they deceive they do but here's the thing the nation of Canaan was under the judgment of Haram they were to be killed they were to be completely eliminated because of their obstinance against God but these people the

Gibeonites wanted to be associated with the

God of Israel by the way we've seen this before Rahab she was a Canaanite woman and she stood in opposition to the culture of the day and stood by and gave information and helped

God's people God judges the heart he always does and so when the heart is soft to God the

Gibeonites their approach we can challenge it but their heart was judged by God and so they made an alliance with the nation and so at this point in time as we go into chapter 10 there are kings in the land and they understand the reputation of the

God of Israel and how he fought for them at Jericho and how he fought for them at Ai and the stories of the

Red Sea and the stories of the river Jordan and the stories on the other side of the river they knew all of this the reputation of how

God has fought and gone before and with his people they also realized that there now was this alliance with Gibeon and Gibeon who prior to this had been one of them and in fact it says that Gibeon was one of the greatest of the cities and there's an alliance and Israel right now is not with Gibeon they're over by the river

Jordan that's some 25 miles away but the nations in the land are in distress and so now they start to make alliances and they start to make plans because there's a threat to them and they need to deal with it dear

Lord as we turn to your word today we recognize the truth that your people are protected by you are watched by you that there are not to fear because you go with them but we recognize

Lord the dangers in the land Lord we see the nation Israel we see the people of Gibeon and we see how the world is going to stand in opposition to them father as we open your word as we consider it teach us how to rely on you we pray in Jesus name

Joshua 10 starts in verse 1 as soon as Adonai Zadok king of Jerusalem heard how

Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them he feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city like one of the royal cities and because it was greater than Ai and all its men were warriors so Adonai Zadok king of Jerusalem said oh him king of Hebron to Piram king of Jarmath to Japhia king of Lachish to Dabir king of Eglon saying come up to me then help me let us strike

Gibeon for it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel so here's the scene the people of Israel have been having success

Jericho has fallen Ai has fallen and now

Gibeon has chosen to be in alliance with Israel because of the

God of Israel and so these people here and they fear

Gibeon has made an alliance and this upsets the people of the land you see when

God intervenes the world is going to react when people side themselves with God the world will react and we're seeing that in this passage how

Gibeon who had been part of the brethren of the Canaanites is now standing alongside

Israel and so they are now a threat and the world will attack what are they doing well they're eliminating the impact of Gibeon they cannot abide how

Gibeon would stand alongside God and so they're going to seek to eliminate him probably they're also seeking to discourage anybody else who might be considering going down that path as well it won't go well for you and so they want to discourage anybody else who might stand alongside those who stand with God and maybe they're weakening

Israel's chances for when they finally attack and so the alliance is made the forces are amassed and Gibeon is the target not

Israel Gibeon is the target and what's got to happen is cancel

Gibeon that sounds too familiar today Gibeon must be canceled we have to eliminate let's join all of our forces together and get rid of this

Gibeon thing that's going on maybe this will also weaken Israel see

Gibeon had gone against the world culture they had acknowledged the

God of Israel they had even abandoned their prior identity you remember the story from chapter nine how

Gibeon attempting to protect themselves they said no no no we're not from here see our clothes how worn they are see how bread how moldy it is our wine skins are about to fall apart we're some we're from some far away land we're not part of these people have mercy on us

Gibeon had denied their world culture and their world culture was not happy about this and so their attack was going to be on Gibeon and they were going to go after them any pursuit any pursuit of God is against the world culture the story of human history has

God's redemptive plan written all through it as we read scripture but in addition there is this reality of Satan Satan who stood as one of the highest angels who decided against God and said

I will make myself like the most high Satan who is banished to earth Satan who makes it his agenda to cancel anything

God so that he can be raised in a position of preeminence cancel

Gibeon anybody who stands for God for his church today is in the crosshairs of the attack and it seems like we're caught in the middle and yes we are anyone who stands on the side of God is a target against today's culture against Satan and in this

King in this case against the five kings Psalm 85 speaks of those who stand in opposition to God and it says in verse 5 of Psalm 83 for they conspire with one accord against you they make a covenant the world is united in its assault on God and in this case

Gibeon is the one that's in the crosshairs starting in verse 6 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 going back to chapter 9 we understood this alliance that was made between Israel with Gilgal it's called a vassal relationship and so the greater is in a bonded position to protect the lesser and in this case

Israel is in a bonded position to stand up in defense of Gilgal so Gilgal comes

I'm sorry Gibeon comes and says come quickly and help us so Joshua went up from Gilgal he and all the people of war with him and all the mighty men of valor it was time for Joshua to take a stand the battle is not against them at this point in time the battle is against Gibeon but Gibeon is in a relationship and Gibeon has proclaimed their alliance and their desire towards Yahweh and so it is time for Israel to stand up this would be the greatest challenge they've ever had five kings in alliance against them at the same time and so Joshua prepares and he musters all the people all the mighty men this is an all -in response by Joshua and so God responds in verse 8 and the

Lord said to Joshua do not fear them how many times in the

Old Testament Jeff has told us do not fear shows up I believe it's 366 easy to remember one for every day of the year plus the leap day do not fear this is

God this is the God he is not a God created he is God the creator of all and when he says do not fear there's a lot of comfort behind that because he's got your backside he says do not fear

I have given them into your hands not of man of them shall stand against you now catch that also

I have given them into your hands there is an exhortation of action on our part the world stands against us and the world would counter against us and God says don't fear because I'm with you but brothers and sisters we are still to go forward and we are still to be part of this of this battle the battle belongs to the

Lord but he's going to use us no man can stand before you Joshua has to take action but it's

God who's gonna give the victory verse 9 Joshua takes his people and they march all night now where they are in Gilgal to where they got to go is over mountains and it's like a 25 mile march and they march all night and they get there and they come upon the

Kings suddenly then the

Lord threw them into panic them the Kings the Lord threw the Kings into panic before Israel he struck them with a blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horn and struck them as far as Azekah and Mekedah and they fled before Israel and while they were going down the ascent of Beth Horn the

Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as as it Ezekiah and they died there were more who died because of hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with a sword

God takes control and he puts fear in the hearts of these five kings who would think they could stand up against Gibeon because well they're

Gibeon they're not standing against Israel well God will protect those who stand on his side and so God throws hailstones down unless you miss this this is a protracted battle they're going to be going from Beth Horn to Azekah it's a valley it's not mountains but we're talking 25 miles give or take now trained military men probably can proceed about four miles an hour most average people may be three miles an hour we're talking somewhere between six and eight hours of these people fleeing from before Israel and God is following them all the way with hailstones this is going on for a long time this is a battle and this battle belongs to the

Lord but catch this also there were more who died of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword it does not say that Israel stood by and watched

Israel is taking part in this battle because there are those who are killed with the sword and so Israel is all in and Israel is taking part in this

Gibeon had a choice to make as this was coming about the five kings are coming

I believe that Gibeon had the choice to say you know brothers we were wrong my bad we do not want to stand with Israel anymore now would that have changed

I don't know but let's fast forward into the time of Isaiah in chapter 36

Sennacherib is the king of Assyria and and they're encamped in Lachish they've been defeating city after city after city in Judah and Jerusalem is now the big target and again remember

Satan get rid of anything God get rid of anything God so he can be like the

Most High Jerusalem is that last bastion and so they've had all these successes and now they're gonna go up to Jerusalem and they're gonna attack and Sennacherib sends his

Reb Saka which is his field general and he goes by the wall and he says make your peace with me and come out to me this is tempting there's danger out there and the

Reb Shaka is saying make your peace with me come out to me then each one of you will eat his own vine and each one of his own fig tree and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern until I come and take you away to a land like your own a land of grain and wine a land of bread and vineyards just compromise and come with me and make peace with me that's what the world chooses to tell you compromise make peace with me and life will be good but Gilgal does not do this

Gilgal turns to Joshua because he knows that the God of Joshua the

God of Israel is Yahweh and that's the place where he needs to turn starting at verse 12 at that time

Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel and he said in the sight of Israel son stand still at Gibeon and moon in the valley of Aijalon there are a couple of lessons in this particular passage one is what happens when leaders deal with faith

Joshua is in the middle of a battle it's going well but he hollers out loud to the

Lord in the sight of Israel it says we're all could hear son stand still moon in the valley of Aijalon he's putting it all on the line things could go pretty bad for him here if it doesn't happen now but Joshua had already experienced the power of God at Jericho and at Ai he knew that God had put fear in the hearts of the

Kings he knew that through Rahab and in the midst of battle he has seen God's intervention but here he is right now with courage in the middle of battles yelling to the

Lord son stand still moon in the valley of Aijalon with conviction faith when leaders when godly leaders lead with faith things happen 2nd

Corinthians 5 7 gives us some insight into the concept of a godly leader he who has prepared us for this very thing is

God a godly leader is chosen by God and a godly leader walks with God he who has given us the spirit as a guarantee a godly leader is confident because of God because of the

Holy Spirit we are always of good courage a godly leader has courage because he knows that he walks with God we know that while we were at home in the body we were away from the

Lord a godly leader chooses to put his focus on the kingdom of God not on the things of the world for we walk by faith and not by sight a godly leader has faith son stand still this is a godly leader a man of faith now here's the second interesting thing this account son stand still a

Gibeon moon in the valley of Aijalon and the Sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on their enemies what happened now from their perspective at that time everything is very human centric world centric the

Sun is going around the world well we know from Galileo it's actually everything is still and the earth is rotating that's why we see the

Sun rise in the East and set at the West Joshua's calling to the

Creator Joshua is calling out to him who creates and sustains all things

Psalm 95 for the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods in his hand are the depths of the earth and the heights of the mountain also are his and Hebrews 11 says faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen and so Joshua calls out to this

God and so what happened the earth stopped now there are those who try to dismiss this with some explanation like an eclipse or clouds but it goes on to say that there has never been a day like this ever before when the

Lord heeded the words of man and the Lord stepped in this happened the world stopped spinning this is a powerful moment what didn't happen the earth at the equator the circumference of the earth at the equator is approximately 24 ,000 miles the earth rotates on its axis in 24 hours somebody do the math how are you moving right now a thousand miles an hour you didn't even know it did you you're going a thousand miles an hour at this moment in time

Joshua calls out Sun stands still and God did it the earth stopped rotating you would have gone from a thousand miles an hour to zero in an instant without a seatbelt no airbag nothing happened to anybody except the earth stopped the oceans going a thousand miles an hour stopped but all the water didn't slush to one side in great tidal waves it just stopped there is something called centripetal force and you're sitting very comfortably in your seat over the years

I said a little deeper in my seat as my scale goes higher and higher but there's something called gravity and it is the attraction of two objects towards each other that's what draws us to what we know as earth but the force 32 feet squared is countermeasured by what's called centripetal force we're rotating a thousand miles an hour which is a force outward and God has designed our world so that the resultant of the vectors of I'm using big words

I'm sorry the resultant of the centripetal force versus the gravitational force makes you feel very comfortable as you are guess what the earth stopped rotating at a thousand miles an hour and all that was left was gravitation and we don't record that everybody was squashed like a bug because of the force of gravity why were people not disrupted because they went from a thousand miles an hour to zero why did the oceans stay still even though they went from a thousand miles to nothing and didn't solution great tidal words why did the people not get squashed because centripetal force isn't there

God is the answer he is the creator of all this is one of the most amazing miracles

I read in in scripture I read about God parting the Red Sea I read about Jesus raising

Lazarus from the dead I read of the miracles and I'm amazed at my

God he is exalted he is not a God created he is the God who is the creator he is the

God who holds everything in his hands and so here we have Joshua saying son stand still he wouldn't have known the impact of what he was saying but God did and so he did it he stopped the earth and when he did that he did it in such a way that there was no impact from going from revolving around to not this is our

God this is the God who has Joshua's back it says never was there a day like this the

Lord heeded God's call and fought for his people now here's an extra sidelight to this for the people of the land the

Amorites the Sun and the moon were the great deities who just took control of the

Sun and the moon I got news for you it wasn't them it was Yahweh and in great great faith

Joshua says Sun and moon stand still and Yahweh made it happen and on that day there was a great fear the battle continues verse 16 these five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makeda and it was told to Joshua the five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makeda and Joshua said roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them but do not stay there pursue your enemies attack their rear guard the five kings were found by the way

Makeda another 25 miles so we're 50 miles away from Gibeon but they found him that's not a surprise to me in a cave hiding that's not a surprise and so they trapped him with stones continued the assault and eventually they're going to deal with these kings and we get to the ultimate words of encouragement that God gives to Joshua to give to his people in verse 25 and Joshua said to them do not be afraid or dismayed be strong and courageous for thus says the

Lord he will do to your enemies against whom you fight he will do to your enemies as he has done today those are the words of encouragement for us also there there are forces in our culture today to cancel anything

God and the attack might not be on you specifically but it is out there we need to stand up we need to stand up and be accountable we need to have the faith of a

Joshua who could yell son stand with full conviction that God would do it and so the conquest continues starting in in starting in verse 28 they're gonna go from Makeda they're gonna go down to Libna and from Libna they're going to go to Horehem and to Lachish and to Hebron and to Debir and I find it

I find it encouraging that all of these conquests are listed because it's also includes

Kadesh Barnea you remember Kadesh Barnea from some 40 some odd years earlier when they did not see

God they saw giants and grasshoppers if you look at Exodus 3 and the path that the spies take for 40 days there's a strong parallel not complete but there is a strong parallel on the path that these spies take to this battle that's listed in Joshua 10 what happened to the

Giants they're still there what happened to the grasshoppers

Israel is no more powerful than they were before what's the difference

God you see Israel is no longer looking at the people in the land who are by the way giants as an opposition or or some obstacle they are listening to the encouragement of God do not be afraid do not be dismayed be of courage

I am with you I will fight for you and so the nation of Israel successfully has the conquest in the southern nation and it's not because of who they are it's because of who their

God is Joshua and his nation are in a conquest to occupy a land that was promised years earlier to Abraham that they would have now since that time of promise there were 400 years of captivity there was a failure at Kadesh Barnea there was 40 years of judgment in the wilderness as a generation died but then as they approached the

River Jordan God tells Joshua don't be afraid I'm going with you

I'm going before you Psalm 46 one teaches us

God is our refuge and strength a very present help in time of trouble now

Israel faced Giants yes they did but there was God and Israel was going to be confronted with powerful alliances yes they were but there was

God Israel was even going to have failures but there was always God and as Joshua encouraged the nation with words

I want to encourage you with these same words do not be afraid or dismayed be strong and courageous for this

Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight amen destined to die

God's only son suffered as victory is your savior

Savior of you oh

Jesus awesome and powerful awesome and power speaking the

Father's plan sending us out light in this broken throne

Savior of you oh

Jesus awesome and powerful awesome and great is your name became your testimony testimony everyone

Savior of you oh Jesus awesome and powerful awesome and great is your name you overcame

Savior worthy of honor and glory worthy of all of our praise you overcame

Jesus awesome and powerful awesome and great is your name you overcame as we go be encouraged by these words coming from a

Psalm of David in Psalm 37 trust in the Lord and do good so that thou wilt dwelt in the land and verily thou shalt be fed delight thyself also in the

Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart commit thy way unto the