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A brief bit of encouragement for the journey from God’s Word. Today’s Scripture reading: Joshua 10:28-13:33 Music: “Awaken the Dawn” by Stanton Lanier
Well, a good Friday morning to you, 15th of March. So I think this is the Ides of March. Better beware today. Look around, look over your shoulder today. Beware the Ides of March. Well, this is Friday, so that means Sunday is coming.
Looking forward to the Lord's Day, gathering together with God's people, worshiping and serving the Lord. I hope your plans include that and really make that a priority for your weekend. Well, today in our Bible reading, we're finishing up chapter 10 of Joshua, and reading through chapter 13.
And in this section of Scripture, there's a lot of victory that is won on the part of the Israelites, and I want you to note three key factors to that victory. One of them from a human standpoint, and the other from a totally divine standpoint.
So what is it from the human standpoint, looking at the victories humanly speaking, that made the victory so likely, so effective? I think the answer is in the repetition of a phrase that we see over and over again in chapter 10.
Verse 29, it says, Then Joshua passed from Makeda and all Israel with him to Libna. The key phrase is, all Israel with him. Joshua is leading, and all the people are with him. You see this repeated in verse 31, Joshua passed from Libna and all Israel with him.
Verse 34, from Lachish, Joshua passed to Eglon and all Israel with him. In verse 36, so Joshua went up from Eglon and all Israel with him. Verse 38, then Joshua returned and all Israel with him to Debar.
They fought against it. And then finally, in verse 43, then Joshua returned and all Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal. Now in each of these cases, when Joshua leads and all Israel goes with him, they enter into battle, and they are victorious in that battle.
So what does that communicate to you? What does that phrase, and all Israel with him, signify? Doesn't it communicate a unity of heart, a unity of purpose, a unity of resolve, a unity around and following the leadership that God has established?
Well, I think that's an important factor to take into consideration. Have you ever been involved in a church where there wasn't unity, when there were different factions, and they were just at odds with one another?
Well, how effective was that church in communicating its vision to the lost and reaching out with the gospel and so forth? Instead, such churches are typically pretty inward-focused and fighting among themselves, and so it's no wonder that you see such churches oftentimes end up in a split.
I pastored for a while down south and lived in a community, an area where there were several, several Baptist churches, and it was interesting to learn the history of a bunch of those churches, how that so many of them came out of the same two or three different churches.
They got into a fight, split. Then the split split. They got that splitting in the DNA, and they just had no really no effective witness and testimony in that community. That's unfortunate. No, God uses and blesses his people when they are united together.
So that's looking at it from a human standpoint, but there's a divine standpoint, there's a spiritual standpoint, an unseen standpoint that is far more important, and that's brought out in verse 42 of chapter 10.
It says, all these kings and their land, Joshua took at one time because, not because they were unified, though from a human standpoint that was important and that was vital, but because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.
One of the ways the Lord fought for Israel was by giving them a united spirit, but then he also fought for them in other ways as well, in a very practical way. But the point is that they won. They were victorious because God fought for his people.
The other spiritual dimension here that is unseen is brought out in chapter 11, verse 20. Then you go back to verse 18. It says, Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon, all the others they took in battle.
How were they so successful? Verse 20, for it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, that he, the Lord, might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that he, the Lord, might destroy them as the Lord had commanded Moses.
It was of the Lord to harden their hearts. So not only does the Lord fight for his people, he so hardens the heart of the enemy that they will attack God's people only to suffer humiliating defeat in the end.
Are you discouraged these days because you see so much hostility against God's people? Take heart. Take heart. This may very well be of the Lord, this hardness of heart that you see among those who are expressing such hostility.
This may very well be of the Lord to bring some kind of humiliating defeat when all is said and done. What will that look like? Not for me to say, but I'm just looking here at this text and seeing what God has done in the past, how God's people are united, moving forward for the cause of Christ, for the cause of the gospel, in Joshua's case, for the cause of the promise inheritance.
They're moving forward, united, and God is fighting for them, and he hardens the heart of the enemy so that he might bring them into battle, that he might humiliate them in defeat. He can do that again.
I believe he will. So our Father and our God, we thank you for fighting for your people. Thank you also, Father, for the way you deal with the enemy. And Lord, we long to see those who are in hostility against the gospel to be submissive to it and come to faith in Christ.
Oh Lord, if there are those who are going to be going to be casting stumbling blocks before children and wanting their destruction, spiritually speaking, and Lord, I just pray that you would so humble them by putting the millstone around the neck and destroy such hostility toward the gospel.
This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Friday, hope you have a wonderful weekend, especially gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day. Good day.