June 22, 2023

God fights for His people.

Joshua 10

McKenna Carr
Thursday's Devo

June 22, 2023

Thursday's Devo

June 22, 2023

Thursday's Devo

June 22, 2023

Thursday's Devo

June 22, 2023

Big Idea

God's definition of success is faithfulness.

Key Verse | Joshua 10:13-14

And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel.

Joshua 10

The Sun Stands Still

1 As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction, 1 10:1 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 28, 35, 37, 39, 40 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, 2 he 2 10:2 One Hebrew manuscript, Vulgate (compare Syriac); most Hebrew manuscripts they 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. 3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” 5 Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

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.” 7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. 8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. 10 And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who 3 10:10 Or and he struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

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,

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
    and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13  And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
    until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel.

15 So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Five Amorite Kings Executed

16 These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19 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.” 20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. 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.” 26 And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening. 27 But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.

28 As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Conquest of Southern Canaan

29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. 30 And the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. 32 And the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.

33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.

34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. 35 And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.

36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it 37 and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.

38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and fought against it 39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

40 So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel commanded. 41 And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. 42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Footnotes

[1] 10:1 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 28, 35, 37, 39, 40
[2] 10:2 One Hebrew manuscript, Vulgate (compare Syriac); most Hebrew manuscripts they
[3] 10:10 Or and he

"What is the Book of Jasher?"

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Joshua 10

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting Alaska, affectionately known as the "Land of the Midnight Sun." Let me tell you, having the ability to enjoy God's creation in the middle of the night was incredible.

Similarly, in Joshua 10:13-14, we see the Lord perform a miracle (something amazing only God can do) and keep the sun still for a whole 24 hours to enable His people to successfully fight a battle. Not only did God tell Joshua not to fear, but He also told him, "I have given them [Israel's enemies] into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you." (Joshua 10:8) Here we witness God's complete sovereignty on display. He is in control of every outcome, commanding nature and battles.

In Joshua 10:12, Joshua speaks boldly to the Lord, demonstrating Joshua's confident trust in his relationship with God, the promises of God (Joshua 10:8), and the divine power of God. Joshua acts with an emboldened spirit of both obedience and confidence, and God heeds his request!

Here I recognize how limited my view of God is. God reminds Joshua in Joshua 10:8, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands." That doesn't mean that Joshua won't fight battles—in fact, quite the opposite—but Joshua understood who fought for him. God did.

I find myself thinking, "If only God could do that today!" I struggle to remember that God's character is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). How might our attitudes change if we faced our battles with confidence, recognizing that God is fighting for us?

Romans 8:31-39 reminds us, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" and "we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." When we give our lives to Christ, we are given a guarantee that nothing can "separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." This promise instills a confidence in me to live a bold and obedient life for the sake of the kingdom. The sun may never again stand still in the sky, but in Christ we will never lose the light of the Son—the One who loves us and fights for His people.

This month's memory verse

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

– 1 Corinthians 15:58

Discussion Questions

1. Often, it's easy to try to face battles on our own. We sometimes even think we've invited God to help us, but we act as if we believe He's powerless to change our circumstances. In Joshua 10, God displays His sovereignty and power, which remind us that He is the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing Creator of everything! We should imitate Joshua's boldness in approaching the throne of God, asking Him to fight our battles for us.

What is a circumstance in your life or a battle you are facing right now that you need to invite God to fight for you?

2. Reminders of God's sovereignty always renew my awe for my Savior, refreshing my perspective. For me, I tend to find these reminders as I walk around a pond filled with ducks and turtles while watching the sunset. I listen to the sound of water lapping against the shore, complemented by the soft breeze in the trees and gentle quacking, and I'm reminded of the beauty and splendor of the Creator.

What are places or activities in your life that remind you of God's sovereignty and refresh your awe for Him?

3. As followers of Christ, we're called to live bold and obedient lives for the kingdom. Jesus commands us in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Who is someone in your life that you need to boldly share the gospel with this week as you recall the sovereignty and faithfulness of the Lord in your own life?

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

HS

Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, McKenna.  Love that you got to experience Alaska like that.  Only a few times I have been for North enough to do that.  It’s a remarkable sight.  Also LOVE this, “The sun may never again stand still in the sky, but in Christ we will never lose the light of the Son—the One who loves us and fights for His people.”  Cue…all the verses with Jesus as light.    Q1.  BOOM!  What a great statement!   The circumstance that God IS fighting for me is that I have a residual reliance on unhealthy coping mechanisms.  Primarily food as a comfort giver rather than rely on the father of all comfort, (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).  Also procrastination and some struggles with discouragement.  Lastly, some lingering remorse over self-centeredness in lapsing into passivity and withdrawing from parenting when it got tough.   Q2.   Like you, they are mostly nature.  Salt marshes.  Virgin timberland.  Beaches and oceans.  Clouds.    But also sonograms & babies.  Lastly, but very importantly, addiction recovery testimonies.  Few stories are as powerful as a life redeemed.    Q3.  My next server in a restaurant.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

There was a famous trial in 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee.  Abbreviated, it was about Darwin’s book on evolution being taught in the schools. The Bible was the text used to defend the truth of scripture.  The attorney for John Scopes, the teacher, kept hammering against Biblical inerrancy.  In particular he emphasized this chapter where sun stands still.    The famous 1960 movie on the trial is called Inherit the Wind.  Worth watching.  But it has a viewpoint. Look for imbedded biases in the script and characters.   https://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechinheritthewind.html   https://www.britannica.com/event/Scopes-Trial   I like this map of the Conquest https://images.app.goo.gl/bEGbsTfMs39QLMzz5   What I really love about this chapter is the repeated instances of God’s supernatural work:   -Joshua 10:8 Most importantly, the repeated saying that “I have given them into your hand.”  As I have been taught to observe verb tense, I note this is PAST TENSE.  This is a done deal.    Also important is that God’s supernatural work requires a response of obedience.  I see this throughout the Bible.  His sovereignty is paired might the response he requires so that I am living out the call of Genesis 1:26-28.    -Joshua 10:9 While marching all night in full armor at top speed for 15 miles is amazing, it’s not as amazing as fighting a battle as soon as your “hike” is over.  Oh yeah, and then you chase them down the countryside before completing your task.  Only supernatural intervention could keep these soldiers gone that long.   -Joshua 10:11 Oh yah and then the hailstones from heaven that killed more enemies than the soldiers.  The notes remind me that Baal was the Canaanite god of the weather, snow, hail, storms, and floods.  Except that he isn’t.        -Joshua 10:12-14 If the enemies were not totally terrified by now, the suns stands still and the Israelites are pounding them non-stop…with more relentless energy. See also, 2 Kings 20:9-11, Isaiah 38:8.    What I note is this is Joshua taking the initiative to call God to act.  Not the reverse.  This is how complete and total God’s sovereignty is…noting that it’s combined with Joshua’s obedience.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

Some helpful, (if lengthy), comments from the notes:   Sometimes we can experience discouragement when we look at the host of wicked people that surrounds us, or the many sins that plague us. We may think: What can one individual do to stem such a tide of wickedness? We may even think it is useless to do anything, in view of the huge task that we face (Matt. 28:19-20). In those situations, we need to do what God puts before us to do—day by day—rather than taking on more responsibility than God wants us to assume at that moment (cf. Matt. 6:25-34). The Israelites fought one battle at a time, and so must we.   As believers experience increasing success in their spiritual warfare, they normally experience increasing opposition from spiritual enemies, as Israel did. Still, the LORD fights alongside His people no matter how fierce the opposition may be (2 Cor. 12:9). Yet we have spiritual responsibilities to fulfill as well that make victory possible (e.g., trust, obedience, using our resources, etc.; cf. Eph. 6:14-18).   The LORD Himself provides "assistance," both naturally and supernaturally. He enables us to use the strength, wisdom, and endurance that He has given us. He also does miracles, things we cannot possibly do for ourselves: like when He gave the Israelite army extra light, and sent stones from the sky. He gives us material gifts, He changes the hearts of people, and He opens new opportunities for us, to name a few of His mighty acts.   This great comment tops it off-   Sometimes we can experience discouragement when we look at the host of wicked people that surrounds us, or the many sins that plague us. We may think: What can one individual do to stem such a tide of wickedness? We may even think it is useless to do anything, in view of the huge task that we face (Matt. 28:19-20). In those situations, we need to do what God puts before us to do—day by day—rather than taking on more responsibility than God wants us to assume at that moment (cf. Matt. 6:25-34). The Israelites fought one battle at a time, and so must we.
MS

Michael Sisson

Re: Jos 10:11 Jos 10:11 (NASB) As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were >>>more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.<<< Ironic because the hail only seems to have killed Amorites, and the Amorites were worshippers of Baal, the storm god. Re: Jos 10:14 Jos 10:14 (NASB) There was no day like that before it or after it, when >>>the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.<<< See Ps 8:3-4. Re: Jos 10:26-27 Jos 10:26-27 (NASB) So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees; and >>>they hung on the trees until evening.<<< It came about >>>at sunset that Joshua gave a command, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and put large stones over the mouth of the cave,<<< to this very day. See Dt 21:22-23. Re: Jos 10:42 Jos 10:42 (NASB) Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, >>>because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.<<<
MS

Michael Scaman

God is sovereign in the universe. True whether making the sun appear to stand still. or brining many kings together to defeat them in one bug battle. One of the kings was Adonai-zedek (lord of righteousness) of Jerusalem (Jebus) and maybe a related in some way to Melchi-zedek (King of righteousness) or maybe the postfix zedek (righteousness) popular for that city then. I think Joshua bing given everywhere his sandal went goes along with putting feet on the necks of the kings. I also knew someone who didi that as part of training his watch dog letting it know whose boss.
SB

Sue Bohlin

Thanks so much, McKenna! In this chapter, God is busy busy busy behind the scenes. He honors Joshua's request to lengthen the day, and then He wipes out the Canaanites using the Israelite soldiers as His hands, His tools of war. But God is definitely the hero of the story in today's chapter! God uses past tense ("I have given them into your hands") to reassure Joshua that victory was a done deal before the first bow shot was fired. Because He was going to make it happen! It's God's power, God's strength, and God's glory. I loved reading this chapter because ever since we started reading Joshua, I've been meditating on how God told Joshua over and over to "be not afraid, be not discouraged," because He was going to be be the One who showed off through Joshua and his men. So I wrote this blog post, "Be WHAT?" at https://blogs.bible.org/be-what/
AL

Amy Lowther

1. Currently I am not “battling” anything, but I want to encourage those people who have current battles, invite God into your life and work with Him like He works with you. It is worth it. His love, His support, and His values will help you be responsible for yourself and succeed in battles you never thought would end. 2. Church and the Bible remind me of God’s sovereignty and refresh my awe of Him. 3. I am now attending the 9am service on Sundays as a guest instead the 11:15am. It presents me new opportunities to share the gospel and to share God’s faithfulness.