Joshua 10
Read Joshua 10:1-11
In Chapter 9 we saw that Joshua and Israel got into a fearful mess when they forgot about God and did what they saw fit without consulting him. Now we see the grace of God in action. The Gibeonites, who tricked Joshua into making a treaty, were now under attack and called upon Israel to defend them according to that treaty. The Israelites were honour-bound to respond and so they marched to war against a strong force. As they did so, Joshua received a message from the Lord, “Do not be afraid of them, I have given them into your hand” (v8). God is gracious. Despite the fact that the Israelites had disobeyed him God came to them and promised to give them victory over their enemies. And don’t we see a foretaste of the gospel message here? Despite our disobedience God has come to us as Jesus and through his death and resurrection has brought victory over sin and death. It is noticeable in this passage that God fought for his people. He threw the enemy into confusion (v9), he threw great stones from above upon the enemy (v11) and gave the enemy over to the Israelites. We need to recapture that image of our Lord as a warrior. It is not a popular image these days, but it is biblical – think of the picture of Jesus as a warrior in Revelation 19. He is the warrior that defeats our enemies, sin and death on our behalf because we, on our own, cannot overcome them.
Look back at the reassurance that God gives to Joshua in v8, “Do not be afraid, I have given them into your hand”. It is very reminiscent of the encouragement he gave to Joshua in Chapter 1:5 when Joshua was starting out as the leader of God’s people. God often does this sort of thing; when a new situation comes along, reaffirming what he has said earlier. That is why it is important to read our Bibles because we often need, not a new truth, but an old truth applied to our current need.
Read Joshua 10:12-15
What a big ask by Joshua! To hold back time; and the Lord answered his prayer.
Prayer is a privilege, but it is also a miracle that God listens to our prayers. You can almost feel Joshua’s astonishment in v14, “There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man”. Isn’t it amazing that God, the creator of the universe, whose hands flung the stars into space, should listen to the voice of a man or woman who comes before him? The psalmist was just as astonished, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)
God, who is seated on high, stoops down to hear our prayers. What a great God we have.