Joshua 11 Bible Study (Conquests in Northern Canaan) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's open our bibles to Joshua chapter 11. Joshua chapter 11. Now if you were with us last week, we covered Joshua chapter 10, but not in its entirety. Joshua chapter 10 came to a halt in our study at the halfway point. And the focus of last week was really on this outstanding miracle that took place, and it is known as the sun standing still.

That light, being prolonged in daylight, being provided in a supernatural way for the purpose of Israel overcoming a specific enemy or enemies. And it was worthy of us just taking our time and realizing how profound that truly is and what it means for us, even though it's a historical thing that is not bound to be repeated. There are still timeless truths underneath the miracle itself. And this this miracle was not just the sun standing still. We know that these hailstones that came from heaven and the panic that God brought about even amongst the enemies.

Everything was supernatural. And now we've come to a a a point in verse 16 that we cannot skip because there's so much meat in these verses that if we just jump to chapter 11, we won't even be able to have the right connection for the flow that is necessary for true revelation to come. And so what we read here in verse 16 is the following. These five kings fled. Now remember, it was a coalition of five kingdoms that came against Joshua and Israel.

Now after the sun stood still, we read, these five kings fled and hid themselves in the Cave Of Makkedah. And it was told to Joshua the five kings had been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah. 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 yourselves. Pursue your enemies.

Attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand. Here's what's happening. We've looked at it from the perspective of Joshua and the Israelites and how this miracle served ultimately God's purpose through them, but now we have the angle from the enemies. And these five kings realize that they are not dealing with a human army.

They are not fighting against mere soldiers with weapons. They realize at this moment they have a God, and this God fights for them, and this God intervenes for them, and this God is after us. And so they had enough sense to realize that they're not gonna win, and so they drop all their arms and they turn the other direction and they flee. They run as fast as they can. And what they try to do is shelter themselves by coming into a cave.

See, See, they could have gone anywhere, but they realized what? What we read last week that there is these sniper stones being shot from heaven against these men, and they wanted to hide from the supernatural intervention from God. And as they come into this cave, thinking that they have a sense of security, what they don't realize is what many people don't realize today is that you can never escape God's judgment. This is a clear picture of man attempting to escape God's wrath by hiding in everything and in anything except the only thing that can help you avoid it. And so we see this today, don't we?

Now we see it this is just a physical picture of it, but we see it in so many ways, how people in our day are imitating these kings in the spirit. In what sense? Well, you have people who are trying to avoid God's wrath by pretending that God doesn't exist altogether. And so where are they hiding? They're hiding in their ignorance.

They're hiding in their denial. They're hiding behind arguments that seem wise, but really if you dig deep, they're actually foolish. And you have others who are hiding not behind this notion that god isn't real, but are hiding in their own righteousness, in their own deeds, hoping that these deeds performed will, in fact, appease and satisfy God, when in fact, they're setting themselves up for great disappointment. And then there are others who hide under this false assumption of God's grace and his mercy and have decided to eliminate a concept of God that the scriptures testify of from cover to cover and say, God won't judge us. In fact, whether you believe in him or not, we're all gonna be saved.

There's no such thing as an eternal hell. There's no such thing as eternal torment. We're in the age of grace, and God has established grace for all time. And what does grace mean? Surely doesn't mean that you're gonna go to hell.

And they hide under that false theology. Many people are hiding under that. Let me say this from this pulpit today, and please don't forget it, that there is a coming storm in the circles of the evangelical church, and it is this, an attempt to erase hell. Watch it. It's already here, and it's coming.

And don't be surprised if very popular teachers begin to bend this truth because they don't have the fear of God. And so these kings are trying to hide under a false sense of security, of assurance. But here's the wonderful truth. There is a way there is a way to escape God's wrath, and it's only if you hide in Jesus Christ. Only when you clothe yourself with his salvation.

Only when you cover yourself under the the blood that we just sang of. That is the only thing that will make, like we what we read of in Exodus, the angel of death passed by. See, in Egypt in that time, nobody had the power to overcome. Nobody had the power to convince God otherwise that the firstborn should not be afflicted by death. The only thing that can convince God was the blood of the lamb.

That's the only thing. It was the only thing back then. It will be the only thing on the final day of judgment. Nothing else that you attempt to hide in will convince him otherwise. It is what he has provided, and that's why Jesus, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one, no thing, nothing that you can hide in will bring you to the father's love. Only through the son and through his wounds can you come. And so this is a a clear picture, is it not, of man and their pathetic attempt to think that they can actually evade, avoid, dodge God. No. The Bible gives us different language.

And what Joshua does, in fact, in verse 18 is quite interesting. Joshua said, roll large stones against the mouth of the cave. In other words, here these men attempting to hide in a false sense of security, of assurance. And Joshua says seal him there. Seal him there.

Keep him there until the appointed time. See, the judgment was an immediate. They would go and fulfill a different mission until they come back, and then they would meet judgment. And that also is a picture of men today. See, people have this idea that if you're not saved, you cannot be an enemy, that there's this neutral status.

There is no neutral status in God's perspective. You're either redeemed or you're damned. You're either saved or you're severed. You're either a child of God or you're an enemy of God. This is not Old Testament language.

Jesus made that plain and clear. If you're not for him, you're against him. If you're not his follower, you're his enemy. Read the gospels very carefully. And so where do men stand today?

Where do people in this room stand tonight? Well, you are either saved or you're not. And we see this in a couple of New Testament verses. Look at John three thirty six. This is a powerful verse that is worthy of our attention in light of this truth.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Notice that word remains. It means it was always there. It's not something that was added.

It's something that you and I inherit. It's something that you and I walk in. Every person that you know, every single person, your coworkers, family members, friends, what is abiding, what is remaining, what is there upon their heads is an arrow mark for the wrath of God. You were there. I was there.

See, we don't see that, but this is how God sees it, that every person outside of Christ who is choosing not to hide in him is an object of God's wrath. See, here's another false notion, and I and I hope that our church has reached a point where we understand a simple truth as this. Not everybody is a child of God. Not everybody is a child of God. That is a right that we receive when we embrace Christ and when we surrender to his lordship and receive his mercy, then we become children of God.

It's John chapter one. And so what remains on every single person, what what their status is and the ceiling of their faith is the wrath of God. It remains on them. This is the same chapter where it says, for God so loved the world, by the way. See, we love John three sixteen.

We don't like John three thirty six, but it's there. This is the truth. And the only thing that can break that seal, that status, is when you hide yourself in Christ. Whoever believes on the son has eternal life. We see it in another place, in first Thessalonians five nine.

For God has not destined us for wrath, that's believers, But to obtain salvation through our lord Jesus Christ. See, we're not destined for that, but all men outside of Christ are. That is the direction that every person is headed towards. And so, yes, we are in the age of grace, but this age of grace and this season of patience that God has with humanity will come to an end. It has a wick, and it is burning.

And man does not know the day or the hour, but God does. And so this is just a simple gospel reminder, brothers and sisters. The wrath of God is real. Men are sealed for that encounter with God's eternal wrath, lest they embrace Jesus Christ. And so Joshua says, seal them up.

But his instructions don't stop there. What does it say in verse 19 of our chapter? But do not stay there yourselves, pursue your enemies, attack their rear guard, do not let them enter their cities for the Lord your God has given them into your hand. She says, listen. If they're in that cave, that's great.

You put those stones there. We're gonna deal with them later. But what your responsibility right now is this. You pursue the enemy. There was still a remnant left.

Even after the hailstones and the sun standing still, there was still a rear guard that escaped and that were headed where? They were headed towards their own cities. Why? Because that would enhance their security. They would be behind fortification.

It would be a greater deal for the Israelites to overcome them if they had made it to the city. So there was a sense of urgency. Get them before it's too late. Get it before it's be it will become more difficult to deal with them in the future. Go now.

Now unfortunately, we read in verse 20 at the second part, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into their fortified cities, meaning they made it. There is a remnant that made it into these fortified cities. And Israel has to deal with them later on, specifically in verse 31. We see that he deals with the very kingdom, some of those remnant of those kingdoms of those five kings and had to engage in warfare in the future. What do we make of this?

It's a very simple application because we wanna draw principles from this. When God gives light to certain sins in your life and mine, when God convicts us or when a brother or sister reveals something that is true about us, that is outside of Christ like character, it is absolutely important that we are urgent in dealing with that sin. It is very dangerous to delay in dealing with a certain aspect of who we are that is outside of the will of God and leave it till later. Dangerous. God is faithful to bring it to light, whether in prayer, through his word, through a message, through a brother or sister, the Holy Spirit dealing with us personally.

And when that happens, when you experience that piercing, we have to confront it and go to war with it as quickly as possible. Because if not, like in this case, it will only become more difficult to deal with when we allow it to become fortified and established and rooted in who we are. And so here are examples. I tell single people all the time, if you're single and you're dealing with pornography, kill that thing before you get married. Kill it.

Because marriage is not gonna heal your pornography problem. Only Christ can. In fact, you're bringing in some dangerous stuff into your covenant by not dealing with that thing. And so if that is something that you struggle with, it's time to go to war and not think, you know, I'll just deal with it later or this will solve it. No.

The lust issue has to be dealt with by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lust will only be multiplied if dealt with in any other way except through gospel truth. Or for another example, people might have anger issues, and they might, in moments of friction, explode and have lack of control over their words or their actions. If that is you and you know that about yourself, you know what we get from this text? Pursue it and deal with it.

Bring it before the feet of Jesus. Allow him to impart in you the grace to see it overcome. Because if not, it's only going to do more damage to your soul and the souls of other men and women in your life. So you see, God will show us things, but then it's our responsibility to respond and say, I'm willing to sever its head right now and go to war with it. It won't be immediate, but at least you're engaging in warfare with it.

And in due time, victory will come and you will know dominion over it. But the mistake they made here is what? They didn't pursue fast enough. They delayed, and it brought about future warfare. Now we might think, well, yeah, they they defeated them though later on in verse 31.

That's true. But go down to chapter 11. Look with me in verse 22 of chapter 11, near the end of that chapter. What chapter 11 is all about is how they actually overcome the entire land of Canaan, And then there's some commentary about what happens. It says there was none of the Anakim.

Now who are the Anakim? These were the giants in the land that the original first generation of Israelites were afraid of. And says, we can't overcome them. We're like grasshoppers. Now they overcome the Anakim, but look at this little commentary.

There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, in Ashdod did some remain. Now after chapter 11, though we are told that they overcame the land of Canaan, we are going to see that once Joshua gives the different territories to the separate tribes, each tribe had the responsibility to deal with a remnant of some of those from Canaan. In this case, they left some of the giants in the land. But they overcame a majority of it.

And you think that's worthy of celebration to some degree, look at the places that are mentioned. In Gaza, in Gath, and Ashdod. Now go to first Samuel 17. Remember last week, we talked about first Samuel 17. What what is that chapter about?

Does anybody remember? David and Goliath. Now look with me in verse four of first Samuel 17. And there came out of the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of where? Gath.

Of Gath, whose height was six cubits in a span. Wow. We read of the Anakim that some remained back in Joshua. Fast forward many, many years, and here comes a giant from Gath on the scene. Could it have been that they would have dealt with the giants once and for all if they had just pursued them with that zeal intensity?

Perhaps so. But because some remained, down the road they had to deal with a giant. Please do not feel condemned if God highlights a sin in your heart or in your attitude or in your thought life or in your habits. That is his invitation to say, we can deal with this now so you don't have to deal with it later. That's a wonderful thing.

I love the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Oh, what a wonderful thing. I can't drive without a GPS. I'm not ashamed of it. And I thank God for it.

Because when I go the wrong way, I'm told how to get back on track. And as much as that voice may not be so pleasant to me when she speaks out of my speaker, I'm so thankful for her. The Holy Spirit's conviction doesn't feel good all the time. But in the long run, it is desperately needed and we could thank God for it. Can you imagine if the Lord never highlighted anything in your life and you go ahead in a certain habit or attitude only to destroy yourself in the process?

But see, it's hand in hand. Sanctification, there's a debate. Is it up to us or is it up to God? It's up to both. God is always willing, but it's us to take his hand and say, Lord, take me where you wanna go and empower me the way you need to empower me.

God is always willing. We partner with God in sanctification. And so he says pursue, they delayed. When When it came to the Anakim, they didn't get all the giants and they had to deal with the thing later on. So consider the season that you're in right now.

Ask God to show you what needs to be dealt with, and God will give you the power to deal with it. Do not be nonchalant about it, even if it's an attitude. Conviction is an inviting thing because conviction is the invitation to change. And you and I should always pray and ask for a heightened condition that God would give us a tender conscience. And you could come to the place where even one little word that was not Christ like will be like a harpoon in your chest, and you go, I wasn't like Jesus.

And then you can come to him and say, Lord, I don't know where that came from, but deal with it. And then God comes, and he sanctifies, and he brings scriptures to mind. And he he comes with his power, and he deals with it. And you can see it yourself and others around you. It's a wonderful thing.

Don't delay. That's the lesson from this. Now as we come back to Joshua 10, we read that they they go and they do what they can, but then in verse 22, Joshua said, Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave. He says, let's deal with this. Bring them out.

They come out, but he doesn't stop there. He says, I want all the men and I want the the leaders of my men to come on the scene as well. And so they come. And then he says this in verse 25. And 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. And you know how he said this? Look at verse 24. Come near. Put your feet on the on the necks of these kings.

See, Joshua could have dealt with this himself, but he he invites the leaders, he invites the soldiers with him and he says, put your your foot on their necks. And they do. They put them perhaps on the back of their necks. Then he says, look at me. What you're doing to them, God will empower you to do to every single one of your enemies ahead.

Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. This is possible in any and every area of your life. Understand? And surely they stood there and they took it in.

But I love what Joshua is doing here as a leader because he is doing in the physical what spiritual leaders are supposed to do in the spiritual, in what sense. One of the callings of a spiritual leader on any level, especially those who oversee the people of God and serve them, is that through their lives and through their example should prove that overcoming sin is possible. Through their lifestyle, they should be able to point to men and women and say, I want you I'm inviting you into my life, not in self righteousness but by example. And I want you to see that God is able to empower you to put your foot on any neck of sin and keep it subdued, and you have dominion. Dominion over sin is possible, and leaders are the ones who are called to exemplify that through their lives.

If a leader cannot exemplify victory over sin, they have no right being a leader. That's why there are qualifications for elders in the church, and it has to do, yes, part with gifting, but mainly with character. Mainly with character. A man has no right to preach the word of God on a certain topic unless he first sees victory in that area, in counsel and everything else. You say that's a high standard.

No. It's not just for elders. It's for all men and women. Here's where many believers in the church make a mistake. If you believe that your pastors, your spiritual leaders are called to be more spiritual than you, you have already set yourself up for defeat.

What a spiritual leader is called to do is not be more spiritual than you, it's to leave you an example that true spirituality is possible. That's a big difference. That's a big difference. For a leader to to to have a role of being more spiritual and more in tune with God than the average Christian, is that that that kind of a standard in the faith? If that was me, then I would beg God to be a pastor all my life.

If that was the case, then there are certain genders that can't fulfill certain spiritual roles because there are certain roles given to certain genders. That is not the case. Leaders are called to leave examples to show the body of Christ you can live holy. It's possible. It's possible.

And so the the reason why leadership is important is because that is the role you have, to lay an example. That's why there's greater judgment against those who are called to leave an example. But please do not have this understanding that, oh, pastor so and so is well, he's a leader so he's supposed to be more spiritual. Uh-uh. There are people who are more spiritual than pastors.

But this is what it simply is. There is the person that God has allowed me to be under and I can see through his life that, yeah, I I could have victory over this. And, yeah, it's possible to be consistent. And, yeah, he he's he's flesh and blood just like me. And so if I'm flesh and blood, which we are, then I can walk in that same way.

Here's proof of that. First Thessalonians two. Listen to these words from the apostle. You are witnesses, in verse 10 of first Thessalonians two. You are witnesses, and God also.

Can you imagine? It's one thing for man to be a witness of your life, it's another thing for God to be a witness of your life. You are witnesses and they call upon the witness of God, and God also. How holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. Now I want you to see that he's setting up an argument here.

For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Do you see the order of priority there? It's not we exhorted you to live in a manner worthy of God. He says, no. You're witnesses.

You saw it lived out in us first. We lived it out. You you saw how we handled situations. You saw how we handled money. You saw how we handled this and that and how we respond and react in our priorities.

You were amongst us. You witnessed it. Now because you see that it's possible, you do it. You live it. It's possible.

So go for it. And that's where true authority comes in preaching and teaching. No man has the right to exhort any person of something that he is not living himself. That is the standard of spiritual leadership. I was able by the grace of God to walk in this, so here's the invitation to you.

Join me in this life of victory. The apostle is saying it, but leaders just have to live it. And that will be enough. That will be enough to cause a man. And don't let the enemy deceive you again to say, oh, because they're this or they're that.

They have a calling. They have a gift. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Uh-uh.

We lived it, so you live it. What a wonderful, wonderful truth. That's what Joshua is saying in some sense. Look, guys, we can have victory, so let's go forward to this together and see more victory. And what happens?

Look at verse 27, something that we've seen over and over throughout our study in Joshua. But at the time of going down of the sun, Joshua commanded and they took them down from the trees, because they hung them, and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves and they set large stones. I was saying earlier to somebody that you can do a whole series in the book of Joshua on large stones. They imagine that as a conference theme, large stones. I wonder if people would come.

And they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remained to this very day. So these large stones served as a memorial, as a perpetual message to the generations to come. And we already learned that there were large stones that came out of the Jordan River in Joshua chapter four. And it was a memorial of the faithfulness of God. God is leading each one of the tribes to his promises.

Praise be to his name. And then there were a heap of stones concerning Achan, a man who thought that he can rebel against God and hide his sin. And there's this heap of stones over his family's dead corpses for the people to remember, you can't hide sin from God. Do you see the balance in teaching? You can't hide your sin from God.

And then there was another heap of stones with Ai. Remember Ai? They were defeated by Ai because of the secret sin, but God brought victory to Israel concerning Ai. And there's a heap of stones to tell them what? God is a God of second chances even after embarrassing failure.

And now we come to another large set of stones with a different message for the generations of Israel. And sure, one message from this is what we heard earlier that you can't escape God's judgment. If you try to hide from him and not surrender to him, you will always be found out. But I think there's even another message because this whole victory about these five kings has to deal with what we read last week. How God what did he do?

He heeded to hear the voice of a man. A man made a radical request for the sun to be stood still and for light to be prolonged, giving them the right and the ability to overcome their enemies. And I'm sure that when these large stones were visited, that the fathers of these children and their children's children would be reminded, do you know at this sight, God heard the voice of a man and answered him and gave victory to him? Son, daughter, I want you to remember this, God hears your prayers. You lift your voice to him and he will answer you according to his wisdom.

You walk in his ways and in his will, and you will see things that will astound you. And so, you know what's happening to the land of Canaan? We're getting like a spiritual museum almost created with all these large stones, with all these messages, but surely they are something that we are called to apply in our own lives. I wonder if we have lived in such a way with our prayer lives that we can point back to our own children if we have, or even to our own hearts and say, God hears the voice of a man. I'm afraid that people are not engaged in this act of faith enough to see the miracle of it and are void in their own hearts of this memorial.

But I challenge you and I exhort you to say, Lord, make it make it so real to me. Make prayer so specifically answered so that I can set this up in my own soul, so that I can revisit this or I can point others to it and say, God, here's the voice of a man. And let me tell you how. And some of you have that in your heart. Some of you have that memorial and you look back and it gives you the faith and the fuel to keep praying.

What did the psalmist say in one sixteen? I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my plea for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call him as long as I live. He had these memorials in his life. God has heard me before.

That means I'm gonna continue to pray. That is available to you, that is available to I. But we have to be able to first engage in it radically and faithfully to see it so we can establish it. Now, look at verse 29. From verse 29 down to verse 42, All you and I are getting is a highlight reel.

All you and I are getting is one scene after the other, a snapshot of different battles and conquests and conflicts that are being won by Israel. And you get the impression that it's this this victory that is experienced over a period of long time. Right? And they and the author just simply wants to do what? Just kind of save us the time and show us briefly, yes, they they conquer, they advance even more, even more.

But it's not over a series of months or years even. Look at verse 42. And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. So when you see this this list of different things that were accomplished, it happened under one military campaign. One mission and one thing after the other, one king after the other, one kingdom after the other.

And this is supernatural. This is an acceleration that that is not normal. But but we're getting the inside why. God did it for them. God was with them.

And so you can almost say this is a great spiritual high to experience. I mean, it's as though you're just being launched by some kind of a force outside of yourself, and you're almost operating in superhuman power, and you're seeing things taken over without any effort. Right? And we could talk about that in different ways in life, but I love how the chapter ends where it says in verse 43, then Joshua returned and all Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal. Over the past few weeks, you and I have been reading of supernatural stories, great victories, things that would put any person in a level of trust and faith and perhaps even consistent zeal.

And it's imaginable. Right? But you know what they do here? After this series of wonderful things, a great conquest, they pause, they stop, and they say, let's go back to Gilgal. See, names and places in the bible, we read them and go, Gilgal, okay.

They went to go take a break. Sure, they rested physically, but Gilgal has a deeper significance than that. And this is why we read our bibles with rear view mirrors. Where have I seen Gilgal before? And we know that back in Joshua four, Gilgal was the original place.

It was their base. Where what? When they took those large stones out of the Jordan River, they placed them at Gilgal. And so every time they went back to Gilgal, they weren't just there for a repose for the flesh. No.

They were there to rekindle their spiritual insight, understanding, comprehension of the faithfulness of God. So when they came back to Gilgal, and the scripture is Joshua four twenty that tells us those memorials were set up there, they would come back and they would see these large stones and as they rested there, they would also rest in truth. They would be reminded God is the one who brought us this far. And so it was this wonderful discipline of fulfilling the will of God, advancing in obedience, serving the Lord with zeal, seeing him use them in supernatural ways, but always coming back to the basics. And always coming back to park yourself in front of truth and to say, this is God.

This is his faithfulness. This is his power. He did it from the Jordan River and he's done it today. See, no matter how much you advance in God, you will never graduate from dependency. You'll never come to a place where you say, you know, I think we're doing pretty good for ourselves.

No. What they're showing here is that they are anchored in elementary basic truths that many people fail to remember and set themselves up for great falls in life. See, where they fell at AI is when they forgot the faithfulness of God and they forgot their dependency on God. And they thought, This is us. Wrong.

In some part, that's what they thought. But here we see that they've learned their lesson. Right? We know how to come before him. We did not forget to come before his truth and to be reminded of his truth even after we've seen him do marvelous things in and through us.

Your devotional time with the Lord, your personal intimate time with the Lord is just as important in times of victory than in times of defeat. I would argue it's even more important. Defeat or victory has their own respective temptations. And I can tell you one of the greatest temptations of being in a perpetual state of overcoming, being used by God, seeing God do great things through you, is that you fail to see your need to revisit and to part yourself at the feet of Jesus. But as long as you're doing what they're doing here, no matter how far you've grown in God, no matter what God has allowed you to do or see, you'll be safe.

You'll be more than safe. You'll be prosperous. And so what happens? What they did in verse 43 was absolutely essential for what they would face in chapter 11, and this is where we're coming to chapter 11. What we see in chapter 11 between verses one and five is almost a repetition of what you and I saw in the beginning of chapter 10.

See, what happened in chapter 10 is that the southern part of the land of Cain Canaan was taken over. So what's the main part left? The northern part. And so what happens is the northern king, specifically Hazar, here is what happens, and now he calls upon many, many other kingdoms, including those from the West and the East, to come against Israel again just like what we read of him chapter 10 with five kings. And so this is now a build up of all build ups.

Now this is like a team up of all team ups. This is something that Joshua has never faced or experienced up to this point. And what made this unique was what we read of in verse four. And they came out with all their troops, a great horde. So we're talking about a greater number than what we read of in chapter 10.

And not only that, but they came with many horses and chariots. That wasn't something that they experienced before necessarily. Before they had to deal with footmen, but now they're dealing with greater artillery, greater weapons. And in the natural, they're outnumbered not just in the men, but even in their strength, even in their intelligence, even in their speed. Everything is against their favor.

And this is what God does. He says in verse six, and the Lord said to Joshua, do not be afraid of them. For tomorrow at this time, I will give over all of them slain to Israel. Now here's the thing, I read this and I thought to myself, this is incredible. We just read in chapter 10 what?

That Joshua made a request for the sun to stay still or the earth to slow down, scientifically speaking. And he saw a day be prolonged for an extra amount of time, you would think after you experienced something like that, you would never be discouraged a day in your life. How could you be after seeing God do something like that where he takes the solar system at your word, so to speak, and to make it subdue to a man's prayers, surrender to a man's request? You would think that this person doesn't need to hear any kind of encouragement. He's experienced one of the greatest things any man could experience.

And yet God, zooming into his heart, sees that there's a little trembling and says, don't be scared. Don't be afraid. And in his wisdom and his perfection, encourages him. And so here's another thing. Large stones is one thing, but if there's another theme, it's encouragement.

And God and his wisdom knowing how much we need it, And not just those who are weak and who are consistently inconsistent, but those who are strong, and those who have been used by God, who have great insight of God, and God has done miracles through, and souls who have been saved through these men and women, yeah, even them, they need heavenly wisdom and God gives it. If God sees it fit to speak a word of life throughout the life of a man who is seeing things that all of us collectively can't even see, how much more you and I, how much more you and I in our own battle, in our own warfare, How much more you and I See, when we when we think of not being anxious, where do our minds go? Here's one verse that many people go to. Philippians four six. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything.

By what? By prayer and supplication. Thank you. Speaking of encouragement. Thank you.

By prayer and supplication. So what's the principle there? When you're anxious, pray and God will give you peace that surpasses all understanding. That's true. And that is one way that God can rescue us from anxiety.

But that's not the only way. I've been reading this proverb and this verse specifically, I've been asking God to just saturate in my heart so that it can be applied by reflex almost. Proverbs twelve twenty five. Proverbs twelve twenty five. Because there is another way that a man can be rescued from anxiety.

It can be delivered from the crippling factor of fear. Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Yeah. God can supernaturally come, and we are called to come to him so that he can evaporate every ounce of trouble in heart. But you know what else can do it?

A person who has a good word and speaks encouragement and life and hope and scripture and insight, that can also change a man's perspective and deliver him from fear. And God, oftentimes, in the answer to the prayer of the one who is anxious, will use another man to speak into his life. Isn't that amazing? And so why do I bring this up? Because, yes, we are in need of it, and we should be encouraged to know that we can encourage ourselves in the Lord.

See, I'm not less spiritual, neither are you, to come to God and say, I need encouragement. Open this word to me. Speak to my heart. And let's flip the coin. You and I have a tremendous ability to deliver people from fear by a word from God as we come and walk with them and speak into their hearts.

We need this. We need this ministry of encouragement to continually be in a place of priority in this church and in our lives. God sees how important it is. And I don't wanna make the mistake to look at a guy or a woman like Joshua who's done many things for God and think they don't need encouragement. They've they're they're being used by God and they're closer to God than anybody else.

No. In fact, many times those are the ones who need more because of the things that they face that the common men do not see. And so he says go. I'm gonna take care of them for you. But I love this little insight.

At the end of verse six, he says, you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. Now I read that and I thought to myself, well, that's interesting. God just wanted to make a statement to say, you know these things that made you afraid? They're nothing. They're powerless.

And it's true. But then the thought went deeper. As I was meditating, I'm thinking to myself, what why though? That's extra effort. That's extra time.

That's extra investment to say, destroy their horses and their chariots. I mean, you could just move on and make this thing faster. But no. He wanted them to take the time to eliminate those things. And this is the thought that came to mind.

Reading this, why? And then this thought came, was Israel ever encouraged to engage in warfare with chariots and horses? I want you to think of all the war stories in the Bible, and I want you to take what revelation's been given in terms of their warfare and attempt to visualize from the truth that's been revealed if Israel engage in warfare with horses and chariots. There's some places, yes, but was that God's standard for his people? You might disagree with me, but I would argue no.

God did not have it in mind for his people to operate in warfare the same way that the nations around them did. Here's some text for that. In our study of Deuteronomy, when God says, you're gonna have a king because I know the future and you're gonna ask for a king, but when you have a king, here are some rules. What were one of the rules? Go back to Deuteronomy 17 and look at verse 16.

Deuteronomy 17 verse 16. Only he, that is the king, only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses since the Lord has said to you, you shall never return that way again. You and I read that and we understand God's wisdom. No partnership with Egypt. You're not gonna go and get horses from them because if you go and get horses from them, that that relationship of commerce, you might end up what?

You might end up also adopting their habits and their practices. I want you to completely cut off every ties that you had with Egypt. It's a picture of us in the world. But this idea of them having many horses goes beyond that. Because God didn't just want them to have no ties with Egypt.

God didn't want them to develop a strategy that would make them dependent upon their own strength. God wanted them in every act of war to depend on him in faith. God uses natural things to accomplish his will. But in the case of Israel, he really wanted them to lean on him so that when victory would come, what would happen? It would be inexplainable in the natural.

They would glorify God and the enemies would glorify their God. That is why. And so we see this in different parts of the bible. Why does God want them not to acquire many horses? Why in this scene does he say, I want you to get rid of their horses and burn their chariots of fire?

Not just to make a statement to dead men to say, yeah, you are powerless in in light of our God's supernatural strength. No. So that they wouldn't say, hey, we can use some of those chariots. And look at all these horses. What a waste.

Let's grab these horses. God says, no. I don't want you to adopt any of it. I want you to destroy all of it because I'm calling you to continue to depend on me. How can God say such a thing?

Because at one point, Elisha was surrounded by horses and chariots. And his servant stepped out of the scene and looked out and gave the news to Elisha and said, Hey Elisha, I don't know if you looked out the window yet. There is a Syrian army that is ready to just swallow us like an avalanche. And Elisha comes calm and collected because he was operating under a different revelation and he made a prayer, Lord, open his eyes that he might see. And when the servant's eyes opened, what did he see?

Let me read it to you in second Kings six seventeen. Then Elisha prayed and said, oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Destroy the chariots of fire and the horses. Why?

Because I have my own. Because around my people are horses and chariots of fire. You don't need the natural ones. Just trust in me. Just trust in me and I'll take care of you.

So then with that kind of a revelation, we read Psalms differently. Because at some points we see Psalms and they have these phrases that might seem unfamiliar to our context, but hopefully makes more sense. Now here's Psalms 20 verse seven. What does the psalmist say in light of what we're saying? Psalms 20 verse seven.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of our Lord our God. See, so we can we can pass through an insight like this where God says hamstring their horses and destroy their chariots and think, yeah, no, it's a deeper meaning. I'm calling you to trust in me totally. And I'm calling you to believe that I will fight these battles, and I will lead you, and I will provide for you. And you don't need to.

You don't need to adopt the attitudes or the strategies or the strengths of the world. I will be there for you. Does God in some context and many contexts use natural means to advance his will? Yes. Absolutely.

We're not unrealistic here. But in this time of redemptive history, God wanted to make a statement. Their war was in the physical, and he's saying this, you don't need the what the enemy has. You have me and that's enough. And that's the same parallel truth for you and I today.

Our weapons are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. And so it's the same principle, different covenant. They trusted in God in their physical warfare. You and I better believe that it's gonna take way more than natural strength to overcome the devil, the world, and the sins of the flesh. We trust in the name of the Lord our God.

He will lead us and he will guide us. Now we scroll down in chapter 11, we come down to verse 18. Because between what we just learned coming down to verse 18, what do we realize? We realize that they are now not only making advancement in the South, they are now leaking into the North, and they are taking over to the point of what you and I have been anticipating for years has finally come to pass. The people have overtaken the land of Canaan.

How do we know that? Look at verse 23 before we go to verse 18. So Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments, and the land had rest for more. This is a pivotal moment in Old Testament history, and in your reading, and in my reading, and our study every week. This is a great turning point in the book of Joshua.

But what I love about this is you and I are reading this very quickly, and verse 18 tells us to really think about what's happening. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. Don't get caught up in how things are so compressed in a matter of two chapters to think that what happened in the land of Canaan was something that happened in a few weeks. I wish they didn't have masks, and I wish I was down there to ask this. How long do you think it took them to overtake the land of Canaan?

Maybe we'll get a few guesses here. Just gotta speak louder through your mask. Anybody have a guess of how long it took them? No guesses. All we have to do is a little simple math, and we'll find out the exact amount of time that was used to be able to overcome.

So go to Joshua 14. We're gonna do some math on a Friday night. Very simple math. Joshua 14, I want you to go to verse seven. This is Caleb speak speaking.

What does he say? I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. He's retelling the story of what happened in Kardes Barnea. Where was that? That was the place where he was sent with Joshua and 10 other spies to go into the very land that they were in now and to give a good report.

Meaning, that that was the point also where God had declared his judgment upon the first generation to say, because of your unbelief, you will wander in the wilderness for how long? Minus two because you count the 40, the two, when it comes to the first two years coming out of Egypt. So technically 38, but 40 is the total number. Yes. You're right.

But 38 more specifically. So Caleb is 40 and he doesn't come to what we read of in Joshua chapter one until thirty eight years later, which makes him 78. Then we come to verse 10, and what do we read of in Joshua 14 verse 10? And now behold, the Lord has kept me alive just as he has said. These forty five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel walked in the wilderness, and now behold, I am this day 85 years old.

85 as he's speaking here. So subtract 78 from 85, what are we left with? Seven. So we can safely say that it took them seven years from the moment that they crossed the Jordan to the point where they overtook the whole land, seven years. You and I read it, and we think this happened in a matter of two, three months, maybe four.

Mm-mm. The Bible wants to make sure that you and I understand that it was a long time before they received their inheritance. What's the application? Here's the application. That to walk in the will of God and to experience his promises and blessings that have been purchased by Christ will require on our part a dedication and a commitment to him no matter what.

Too many Christians give up. They give up on the pursuit of sanctification. They give up in so many areas of their lives because they don't see immediate results. And in their minds they think, if God is supernatural and he had already purchased these things in Christ, then why can't I just walk in all of it right now? Why can't I just be mature in Christ right in this moment?

Why? Why? Why? And we fail to realize that God in his wisdom knows why. That in this long period of time of seven years, they were called to be very dependent upon the Lord.

God had said earlier in Exodus that if I take care of all your enemies now, you'd be overwhelmed with the animals that would overtake the land. God knew why. And here's the call, a call for endurance in the faith. A call for endurance in zeal, and passion, and holiness, and dedication, and ministry. Things are not dished out to us so quickly.

Are there seasons in life where there is great acceleration? Yes. We read of that in chapter 10. In one campaign, all those kings were taken over. And likewise, in seasons of our life, we can see this great grace and this great advancement that we are experiencing, this wind to our sails that doesn't make sense and all of a sudden things slow down.

And we wonder what's going on. God knows what's going on. And what they were called to do is not give up. Can you imagine if they looked at one another and said, man, we waited thirty eight years and now it's taking one, two, three, four, five years. What is going on here?

No. This is a lifelong journey. This is not a sprint. This is something that you and I take day by day, and this is something that you and I on the long term experience. And God knows why.

God knows why. And what they have saw seen here in their own warfare is something that you and I have to understand, don't give up. When you fall, get up. They fell. They got back up.

They deceived they were deceived, but they got back up. Don't give up. We push through joyfully and prayerfully. We cling to the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust that there is constant victory, and throughout that time, throughout those seven years, you know what they experienced?

Wonderful testimonies, miracles, answers to prayer, memorials to be set up. And god knew how to play this whole thing out. Trust him as you walk with him. Trust in his timing. Trust in his timing of answers to prayer.

Trust that if you've been fighting that sin and you feel like you're not winning that you will get victory in due time. Trust in him. Trust in him. What do we see here as we close in verse 19? Says there is not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon.

We learned that in chapter nine. They took them all in battle. Now look at this in verse 20. This is interesting. For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should have received no mercy, but be destroyed just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Be careful with a verse like that. Because if we read that without zooming out and looking at the totality of the scripture, what we can interpret from this is that God arbitrarily, God randomly, God because without explanation says, you know, I'm gonna allow the Hivites, and I'm gonna allow the Gibeonites specifically and Rahab, but everybody else, no chance to receive mercy. This is my doing. This is my choice. Israel needs a land, and I think this is a good location.

Whatever you want, that doesn't matter. You're out of here, you're destroyed, you can't be saved, you can't be delivered. We can read it that way and say God is sovereign, that's true, and God is sovereign. But there's a context and there's a backing to this whole book called Joshua, and it goes all the way back to Genesis. And what we know for God to come to a place of hardening their hearts so that even when Israel steps on the scene, they have already been sealed in their faith to say, no matter what is offered to us, we will come against you.

And even if you destroy us, we'd rather be destroyed than receive mercy. There is a background and understanding that in Genesis fifteen sixteen, God had told, what, Abraham that after hundreds of years of being enslaved, your people will return to this land. Abraham was in the land of Canaan. But the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. You know what that means?

That I want you to picture a cup being filled. And what God is telling him is that their sin has not reached to the brim yet. And what had happened with the Amorites, the Canaanites, those who inhabited this land, is that they had lived in such a way of constant rejection and constant exception of sin and evil and wickedness to the point where they have reached a line and they have crossed it, where their wicked ways have been sealed and their decision to stay in those wicked ways have been burned, so to speak, in a matter where God says, if that's what you really want, then have it. God can do that, you know? Listen to me very carefully.

It is possible for a people group or a person to continually reject the invitation for mercy. So much so that you could come to a point in this life where your decision is sealed and God says, if that's what you want, that's what you'll have. Proverbs 29 verse one. Look what the scripture says. He who is often reproved yet stiffens his neck will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

What does that mean? Well, to be reproved is to be rebuked. To be reproved is to be corrected. To be reproved is to be shown that there's something in your life that needs to be mended, to be, right. And to stiffen your neck is a description of the Israelites in many parts of the Bible because the opposite of being stiff is being bendable.

And for you to bend your neck is to symbolize surrender. But the bible says he who is often reproved, that you're continually being convicted and you're continually being challenged and you're continually hearing the gospel and you're continually being bombarded by people approaching you to say surrender to Christ, give your life to Christ, yet you continually stiff your neck. There comes a point where you can so stiffen yourself that destruction will come suddenly beyond hope. That is why the Bible in more than one place says, today if you hear his voice, do what? Do not harden your heart.

So today, if there is a moment where you are receiving conviction, it demands immediate response. Because I can tell you that when a man or woman chooses to resist surrender, chooses to not accept him, chooses not to surrender, what happens? It only gets harder. It only gets harder as the days come. And it and even if a person because we all have those testimonies where we ourselves have been convicted and we haven't responded at one point in our lives.

God still reaches us. But here's the thing. This is why a gospel preacher needs to be so so so so so so careful in how he preaches the gospel, because it has to be passionate and urgent. Paul says today is the day of salvation. I'm calling you to make a choice today.

I'm not calling you to wait till then. No. No. No. Now.

Now. There has to be that zeal and that passion. Why? Because this line that a person can cross is never known. See, a person can't just say, well, there's the line, and I'm just gonna resist until I get to that place, and before I cross that line, I'll surrender.

Nobody knows that line. So this is really serious. This is urgent. This is this is not a joke. This is something that demands serious contemplation and serious reflection to say, I will at least inquire.

I will at I won't outright reject it. See, the stiffening of neck is a complete rejection saying, nope, nope, nope, nope. The Amorites did that. Pharaoh did that. And God is not interested in hardening a man's heart before a man chooses to harden his heart over and over again.

But there comes a point that happened to the nation of Canaan, that happened with a man named Pharaoh, where God did miracles, God sent a messenger over and over again, and they crossed a line where God says, if that's what you want, you can have it. And he gives you over. But God doesn't want us to do that. He speaks loud and clear. See, God is not the type of God where he goes, I hope you cross that line.

God is not there saying, oh, just reject it one more time and I can't wait to press the button and it's over. No. He speaks and he compels and he urges and he implores and he says, if you hear my voice, accept it. If you hear my voice, surrender. There's a woman named Rahab who did.

There was a group of Hivites though that what they did was wrong. Deception was in the way. Rahab didn't have to deceive. She was just humble, and God accepted. But there's a people who says no matter what, these miracles that we are told from Egypt and all this beyond the Jordan, we could care less.

We will not surrender. God says, fine. I'll give you over to yourself. And we go, why would God do that? What is God doing?

He's just giving what they want. Isn't that what people want? Isn't that the cry of the world? Just let me be. Fine.

If you wanna be, then be. In love, he shakes you up. But if you really want something, even if it's not having God, that is what hell is all about. That is what hell is all about. And I can guarantee you this, you might be shocked to hear what I'm about to say, but you better believe there are people out there who say it emphatically and passionately, that people rather have hell than have the God that we serve.

And so God on judgment days is gonna say, is that what you want? You can have it. So today if you hear his voice, you're sitting through this bible study and you sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit because you have not surrendered your life to Christ, don't wait till tomorrow. Yes, count the cost, but don't take too long counting. Accept them.

Don't be deceived to think that if you let go of the things of this life that you're gonna have no life at all. No. Isn't that the struggle with most people? Oh, if I let go of this, I'm not gonna have something to live for. I'm not gonna have enjoyment, pleasure.

And what Christ is saying is that those things are complete failures in terms of satisfying you. Come to me. And I will give you not just life, abundant life, abundant life. Let go of those things. And once you let go and you embrace him, you'll never reach out to those things again if you truly taste of his goodness.

Receive him. Don't harden your heart. Don't harden your heart. You and I are in an amazing place in the book of Joshua because we are going to see now an interesting portion where it's going to be dished out in different parts of different tribes, and we're gonna see how these different tribes deal with the promises that God has given them. And it's gonna be a great learning lesson of how different believers deal with the same promises that they've been given by God.

But for now, we pray and we say, Lord, show me in my heart what needs to be dealt with. Show me in my heart, Lord, what it is that needs to go. I I don't wanna delay on it. And, Lord, also encourage my heart to continue as you did with Joshua. Speak life into my soul, Lord.

Father, we believe tonight that you've done both things, that you have, warned the believer and you have encouraged the believer. Lord, that we have learned a new memorial, that you hear the the cry of a man, of a woman that is desperate and dependent on you. Some, Lord, trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. We trust in you. We trust in you to provide for us.

We trust in you to deliver us. We trust in you to lead us. We trust in you to solve the things in our lives that can't be solved in our own wisdom. We trust in you tonight. We bless you tonight, Lord.

And, Lord, even if there's one person who has not surrendered to the truth of Jesus Christ, may they not harden their hearts. Lord, if they hear your voice, may they sense the beauty of it and the warmth in it. May they realize that you are gentle and lowly, that your burden is light. Lord, we thank you for the truths that you've provided for us. We drink deeply from it.

We drink deeply from it. But we're in awe of who you are. We're amazed by Your wisdom, God. We're amazed by Your Word, how much life is in it. And Lord, we declare with the strength that we have today that we will press on.

And that, Lord, the same way that it took Joshua those years to get to where he needed to get to, Lord, in like manner, we choose to continue. Lord, we will not give up after the year we get saved, after two years of getting saved. Lord, we will press on from glory to glory, from story to story, from service to service, Lord. Day by day meeting with you, God, we will press on. We will not give up.

Help us not give up. Help us not lose focus that there is a mission to fulfill. But we love you, and we honor you, and we bless you, God. Receive our worship because in this room, we can testify that our hearts were not hardened towards your voice. That when we heard it, Lord, we said, yes.

I surrender to you, Lord Jesus. Lord, we do not hide in anything else except Jesus. We are not clothed in our own salvation or our own righteousness, lord. We come to the foot of that cross on Calvary, and we allow the blood to wash over us. And, lord, we gladly choose to be in you.

And thank you that you see us as you see Christ. Thank you that you love us as you love Christ. Receive our worship tonight in light of this study. Jesus' name.