You all are such a BLESSING!
Joshua chapter 10.
When the five Kings joined together to go against Gibeon for making a peace treaty with Israel, I really thought God was going to let them defeat Gibeon because of how they deceived Israel into making peace. I thought it was going to be God's way of destroying them since that's what he wanted from the beginning. But God honored the peace treaty between Israel and Gibeon and protected Gibeon by handing the five Kings over to Israel.
I think about those without Jesus who are condemned to hell for being an enemy of God. When one person realizes their fate because of their sin problem and calls out to God for peace, (forgiveness of sin because of the work of Christ), God forgives them and shows them grace and mercy and love. They become a part of his family and receive the benefits of God's ongoing love grace mercy and salvation.
If God can give grace to Gibeon who were to be put to death but made peace and then were protected by grace, then think how much more he'll do for all who seek peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Thank you God for your undeserving grace mercy and love.
The Lord fought for Israel and gave the victory while there were also so many other things that happened in chapter 10! God still gives us victory today as we see in 1 John 5:4.
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
I know there have been lots of occasions when I’ve been involved in outdoor projects and wished that I could have more time to complete them at one time such as last summer when my brother and I were replacing the roof on our parents’ house. We kept working into the night to finish the section that we wanted to get done that day, but I was thinking that day about this incident with Joshua. He needed more daylight to fight the battle and so he asked God to make it happen. God actually did what he asked! People have referred to this as the Missing Day in time.
Here’s a link to an interesting article about this account and an urban legend that started being told which claimed to involve NASA computers.
https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/arguments-to-avoid/nasa-found-joshuas-missing-day/
Thanks, Jim, for sharing that link!
Joshua and the leaders could have been slow in their attempt to rescue the Gibeonites. After all, the Gibeonites had deceived them. Joshua’s response to their call for help was immediate. Makes me stop and think … how willing would I be to help someone who had deceived me even though I had forgiven him? Integrity!! Lord, let my word mean as much as Joshua’s did.
An idea that stood out to me today while reading this chapter was the 5 Kings hiding in the cave. They must not have realized who they were dealing with because there is no hiding from God. It was only a matter of time until those 5 kings met the fate they deserved.
The kings hiding reminds me of our sin. Often to the outside world, our coworkers, acquaintances, and even family and friends we have it all together and we are good people, upstanding members of the community.
But within our “cave” we hide the cycle of sin. We hide the behaviors we want to continue, hoping others never discover it about us. But what about God? He sees our sin and as our Father, He wants to see us repent and turn away from our sin. When we keep going back to it, even if we can hide it from others, there is no fooling the Lord. Just like the kings were found in the cave and met their doom, our sin will be discovered and keep our lives on a selfish, unrighteous path.
I pray we can stop the sin we are hiding in the caves of our lives!