The Book of Joshua – Part 19, Chapters 23–24

‘We, coming from behind such a great cloud of witnesses’ – Heb 12:1-2

[Study Aired July 8, 2023]

The Book of Joshua’s profound theme, most sternly emphasised from the beginning to its end, admonishes us to keep all the Lord’s commandments. As incredibly patient as He is for our frail frame, persisting in failing to do all His words will guarantee an Elect chastisement. As Achan and others discovered, Old Israel didn’t seem to be blessed with the Lord putting up with even short-term non-compliance. Old Israel’s chastisements were physical. While ours can and often are physical chastisements, they mostly deal to us spiritual blindness.

The overview of these last two chapters of Joshua reminds Israel to remember all the Lord told them to observe before coming into possession of the land. He designed Israel’s inattention and forgetfulness as exsamples for our learning. The Body of Christ is most blessed to have such a multitude of witnesses going before us for our expected attention, not to repeat His first wife’s failures.  

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Every aspect of the Old Testament is replicated spiritually in the New, and even a budding Christ can easily see the physical fundamental representations of the spiritual. The charges Joshua gives young Israel to remember by keeping all the Lord’s words are foundational and easily understood, as any loving father establishes in his early teenage ‘daughter’. 

To obtain the most from Joshua’s book, I suggest a combined reading of this study with Ato Barne’s wonderful studies in the book of Numbers.

Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders

Jos 23:1 And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. 
Jos 23:2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:
Jos 23:3 And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you. 
Jos 23:4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward. 
Jos 23:5 And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you.
Jos 23:6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; 
Jos 23:7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: 
Jos 23:8 But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day. 
Jos 23:9 For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. 
Jos 23:10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. 
Jos 23:11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God. 
Jos 23:12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: 
Jos 23:13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 
Jos 23:14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 
Jos 23:15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 
Jos 23:16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. 

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

Jos 24:1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 
Jos 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 
Jos 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 
Jos 24:4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 
Jos 24:5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 
Jos 24:6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 
Jos 24:7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. 
Jos 24:8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 
Jos 24:9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 
Jos 24:10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 
Jos 24:11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 
Jos 24:12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 
Jos 24:13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Choose Whom You Will Serve

Jos 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 
Jos 24:16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 
Jos 24:17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
Jos 24:18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. 
Jos 24:19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 
Jos 24:20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 
Jos 24:21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. 
Jos 24:22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 
Jos 24:23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. 
Jos 24:24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. 
Jos 24:25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 
Jos 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 
Jos 24:27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. 
Jos 24:28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. 

Joshua’s Death and Burial

Jos 24:29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 
Jos 24:30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah [Timnath-heres], which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. 
Jos 24:31  And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. 
Jos 24:32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 
Jos 24:33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim. 

The Research:

Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders

Jos 23:1 And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old [85 years old upon crossing the Jordan, and now, 110 ] and stricken in age. 
Jos 23:2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:
Jos 23:3 And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you. 
Jos 23:4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward. 
Jos 23:5 And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you.
Jos 23:6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;

As secondary school children do and are full of chatter when boarding the bus for a wilderness trip to camp, the last farewells by parents are returned with kisses goodbye and hurried smiles, only to forget parental concerns about disbanding youthful lusts and keeping hands to themselves ~ until that girl or guy sparkles their eyes. We know from historical evidence that Israel’s neighbors did sparkle her eyes.

Israel’s ‘father’, Joshua, did likewise with her. His old age represents our white-haired Lord who has gone before us all these years, killing our enemies within us. He has called the elders, who today represent the Bride of Christ, before the Camp of Israel who, in our time, preach a different Jesus ‘westward’ toward the great sea of humanity. With a holy kiss, He charged His Bride to be very courageous and walk in all His commandments, and, of course, we can because His spirit is with us.

Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [the Church] one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 
Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 

Jos 23:7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods [Eph 5:12… ‘it’s a shame to speak of those things which are done of them done in secret’], nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: 
Jos 23:8 But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day. 
Jos 23:9 For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. 
Jos 23:10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. 
Jos 23:11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God. 
Jos 23:12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: 
Jos 23:13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 

Of course, and by our Lord’s design, looking over the fence to supposedly greener pastures is precisely what we do; we must go into Babylon to experience her insidious riches; we must experience what physical opulence promises only to have it burned out of us; we must experience unclean flesh to know the spirit.

To know the light, we must experience darkness until we lurch like a drunken man and die from our lusts (Num 11:31-35 re: quails) to repeatedly return to our Lord.

Jer 29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 
Jer 29:5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 
Jer 29:6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 

Upon coming out of Babylon, the following is only one broadly based “fundamental” New Covenant rendition of what Joshua said:

Walk in Love

Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 
Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 
Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 
Eph 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 
Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 
Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 
Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 
Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 
Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 
Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 
Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Jos 23:14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth [representing Christ’s death]: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 
Jos 23:15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
Jos 23:16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. 

What a classic statement! “When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God.” There it is, the expectation! The Lord designed corruptible flesh to naturally seek itself so that when we inevitably fail, we will call on Him. ‘Perishing quickly’ for the Lord’s Elect is a positive and learned joy. His people are the anointed cherubs, not Satan, who was created a murderer from the beginning (Jo 8:44).

Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets [timbrel, tambourine] and of thy pipes [groove, socket, hole, cavity, settings a. technical term relating to jeweller’s work] was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 
Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

Jehovah, the God of the old covenant and our Lord Christ, is represented as Joshua in the following verses summarising all the phenomenal benefits he has performed for Israel. Fifteen verses down, the Lord asks Israel to choose “this day” whom they wish to serve, the gods of the amorites or the gods of the people on the other side of the Euphrates. One would think that is a proverbial ‘no-brainer’, yet, as we are historically prophesied, we will do precisely the same as fickle Israel and chop and change who we serve subject to the level of pleasure or pain.

Jos 24:1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 
Jos 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood [flooded Jordan River] in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor [= snorting]: and they served other gods.
Jos 24:3 And I [Jehovah represented by Joshua] took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 
Jos 24:4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau [good and evil]: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 
Jos 24:5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 
Jos 24:6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 
Jos 24:7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
Jos 24:8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
Jos 24:9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam [ the son of Beor to curse you: 
Jos 24:10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam, [= not of the people. 1. the son of Beor, a man endowed with the gift of prophecy]; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.

Much later, Nehemiah reminded Israel (Neh 13) of Balaam’s dedication to promoting himself as a prophet in Israel. We remember with amusement the hilarious story of Balaam’s angry conversation with his donkey while on his way to curse Israel (Num 22) when his ass could see the Lord’s angel with his sword drawn, but Balaam, for some time, couldn’t. That story beautifully depicts our blindness before coming out of Babylon, after which we learn to feel blessed to be killed by our Lord’s spiritual sword.

Jos 24:11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 
Jos 24:12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 
Jos 24:13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Choose Whom You Will Serve

Jos 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood [the Euprates], or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Jos 24:16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 

The absurdity of that verse initially makes us laugh, yet, our smirk is short-lived since we easily equate our serving other gods.

Jer 29:11 For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says Jehovah; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jer 29:12 Then you shall call on Me, and you shall go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 
Jer 29:13 And you shall seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jos 24:17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
Jos 24:18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. 
Jos 24:19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 
Jos 24:20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 
Jos 24:21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. 
Jos 24:22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 
Jos 24:23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. 
Jos 24:24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. 
Jos 24:25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 
Jos 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 
Jos 24:27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. 
Jos 24:28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. 

Joshua’s Death and Burial

Jos 24:29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

Upon crossing the Jordan, Joshua was 85 years old, and it only took 25 years of the Lord’s strength and Israel’s learning trust in their Lord to conquer their inheritance. For Israel and us, it means a double witness between our Lord and us 2 x 20 (+ 5) of whom we will choose as God – Him, or our gods and the subsequent inevitable chastisement and repentance to develop our faith, represented by the number 5. That coming chastisement is also prophesied in multiples of five (5 x 5 =25). The other positive effects of the number 5 are numerous and represented 345 times in scripture. A major one is that all aspects of the Temple’s construction, which symbolizes the Lord’s Elect, are in 5’s or multiples of 5’s.

Exo 26:3 The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.
Exo 26:26 And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 
Exo 26:27 And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.

Many more examples of the importance of grace through chastising faith and our Lord measuring our Temple within can be seen in other elements of the Temple’s construction in Exodus 26 to 38. 

Of course, 50 represents our liberty (Jubilee) upon our Lord’s completion of our refinement in the furnace of affliction so that we, too, can proclaim liberty to our brothers and sisters in the final stages of the Lake of Fire.

Jos 24:30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah [Timnath-heres = portion of the sun or abundant portion], which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash [ga’-ash = quaking]. 
Jos 24:31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. 

Likewise, our Babylonian brothers and sisters of the entire world will serve us, first by the rulership under the rod of iron in the One Thousand-Year reign, since we figuratively outlived Christ’s death on the cross. They will similarly learn of all the works of the Lord in our flesh to be elevated to the high office under Christ.

Jos 24:32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem [Shechem = back or shoulder], in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor [Hamor = he-ass] the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 
Jos 24:33 And Eleazar [Eleazar = God has helped] the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas [Phinehas = mouth of brass] his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim. 

The Old Covenant resulted in blessings or curses by the hard ‘mouth of brass’ through the works of the law. If the Israelites did as they said, “The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey” that obedience always resulted in the fatness and riches of the land. Failure to diligently obey the Lord resulted in all kinds of wretched curses.

Deu 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 
Deu 11:27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 
Deu 11:28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. 

The Lord’s purpose has never changed. It began with his first wife’s fickle examples before crossing the Jordan, and today spiritually with his Bride, ‘if we hear his voice’.

Deu 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

Since our Lord’s redemptive work on the cross, our yoke is incredibly light compared to ancient Israel’s since we have God’s spirit to intercede and provide our strength to resist evil if we ask.

Gal 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 
Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

We can easily see that the book of Joshua is fundamental: milk and honey are instructions for young Israel who represents us when we are dragged out of Babylon.

Our Lord is gracious, tender and kind to His lovely ‘girl’ he found in her blood in the field of the world, enjoying every moment of her development into becoming the breathtaking beauty He has for Himself today.

This completes the study series in the book of Joshua. Amen.

The Book of Joshua – Part 2: Rahab Hides the Spies – Jos 2:1-24 (MKJV)

[Study Aired February 25, 2023]

In Part 1 of the study into the book of Joshua, we saw Joshua established as the Lord’s fearless leader over Israel. The most patient and humble man (Num 12:3), Moses, suffered and contended with Israel’s endless complaints. He never thought it easier to dwell in the corner of a rooftop than with this brawling woman. Upon coming down from the mount with the commandments of the Lord and seeing the Israelites wild partying around their golden calf, Moses said, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” (Exo 32:32)

Under Joshua, young Israel crossed the Jordan River with the initial arousal of a righteous bride in the flush of building her house upon the foundation of her God.

Pro 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

The Lord’s young carnal bride is the same woman that died in the wilderness, starting afresh, doomed to repeat her elder half’s sins. For the Elect of God, coming out of Egypt reflects the fact Babylon doesn’t magically make our lusts disappear. Learning how to rout the giants from our land is a painfully slow learning process, duplicated from our predecessor’s experiences.

Israel, under Joshua, has a honeymoon phase of successes that, after his death, transforms into a seesaw of pouting resistance and, in word only, her agreement with her Lord. With tears from chastisement and a double mind, she maintains her pleasures of the flesh.

First, a series of miraculous wins over her enemies that to this day empower her pride.

Jos 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun [phonetically – noon] sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go look over the land, even Jericho. And they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab. And they stayed there. 
Jos 2:2 And the king of Jericho was told about it, saying, Behold, men from the sons of Israel came in here tonight, to search out the country. 
Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men that have come to you, those who have entered into your house. For they have come to search out all the country.
Jos 2:4 And the woman took the two men and hid them. And she said, Two men came to me, but I did not know from where they came. 
Jos 2:5 And it happened when it was dark, at the time of shutting the gate, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Go after them quickly, for you shall overtake them. 
Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up on the roof, and had hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. 
Jos 2:7 And the men went after them on the way to Jordan, to the fords. And when they who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 
Jos 2:8 And before they had laid down, she came up to them on the roof. 
Jos 2:9 And she said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that your terror has fallen on us, and that all those who live in the land faint because of you. 
Jos 2:10 For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 
Jos 2:11 And we had heard, and our hearts melted, nor did any more spirit remain in any man, because of you. For Jehovah your God, He is God in Heaven above and in the earth beneath. 
Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear to me by Jehovah, since I have dealt with you in kindness, that you will also deal with kindness to my father’s house. And give me a true token, 
Jos 2:13 and shall save alive my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. 
Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life shall be for yours, if you do not tell our business. And when Jehovah has given us the land, we will deal kindly and truly with you. 
Jos 2:15 Then she let them go down by a cord through the window. For her house was on the town wall, and she lived on the wall. 
Jos 2:16 And she said to them, Get up into the mountain lest the pursuers meet you. And hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers have returned. And afterward you may go your way. 
Jos 2:17 And the men said to her, We will be blameless of this oath to you which you have made us swear.
Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall set this line of scarlet thread in the window from which you let us down. And you shall bring your father and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father’s household, home to you. 
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, whoever shall go out of the doors of your house, his blood shall be on his head, and we will be blameless. And whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is on him. 
Jos 2:20 And if you tell our business, then we will be free of the oath which you have made us swear to you.
Jos 2:21 And she said, Let it be according to your word. And she sent them away, and they departed. And she set the scarlet line in the window. 
Jos 2:22 And they went and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. And the pursuers looked for them throughout all the way, but did not find them. 
Jos 2:23 And the two men returned and came down from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. And they told him all that happened to them.
Jos 2:24 And they said to Joshua, Truly Jehovah has delivered all the land into our hands, for even all those who live in the country faint because of us.

Beginning the Study:

Jos 2:1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Joshua’s name is rarely referred to simply as Joshua; he is broadly called “Joshua, son of Nun”. The origin of the name “Nun” means 1. (Niphal) continue, to increase, propagate 2. (Hiphil) continue, to increase, propagate. Indeed, during the honeymoon phase of Israel’s entry and conquering the Promised Land, their success after success elated them and their numbers and wealth rapidly increased.

As with Israel in the flesh, the Bride of Christ today has viewed her spiritual land of inheritance, Christ, and by his decree, nothing will subdue her arousal for Him. She has become her Lord’s wife with her harlot sister under her feet as she bathes in the fully encompassing brightness of the sun in Him.

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed [encompassed] with the sun, [Christ] and the moon [Jews who say they are Jews but do lie] under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

The Woman clothed in the sun came from the lesser light, the moon, who became a harlot still in the wilderness. The Woman clothed in the sun by her husband is one in him as they rule as one in the One Thousand-Year reign with both the moon and the earth under their feet.

Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

Under Joshua’s leadership, the children of Israel have yet to come into the fullness of her harlotry and become the rejected wife. For now, she is gung-ho, especially when the Lord proves His word by repeatedly going before them to consume their enemies ~ and we know from personal experience following amazing victories that banqueting, dancing, and intemperate merriment is the impulse.

Pro 15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

There was a “mixed multitude” who saw the Lord’s work with the Hebrews and who came out with her from Egypt (Exo 12:38). Those people are simply referred to as those “outside the camp”, even though they became part of the nation of Israel effectively grafted in through belief. 

Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of armies is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is he who takes up your cause; he will be named the God of all the earth.

Though Israel knows her espousal to her Lord (Exod 19:1-25), she doesn’t know that she will be represented as the “moon”, as the Lord’s first wife, and would naturally be a bit mystified as having children as voluminously as the sand of the sea (Gen 22:17). For now, she will not suffer her historically distant brothers and sisters of the Promised Land to share in her inheritance. Yet, as we know from many years of study, the Lord’s church, His first wife, shares her inheritance and pollutes her land by sharing her husband’s ‘fair jewels’ of truth with her pagan brothers and sisters. The very first conquest of which is Jericho, whose name means H3391 ‘moon’.

Jos 2:2 And the king of Jericho was told about it, saying, Behold, men from the sons of Israel came in here tonight, to search out the country.

The Elect of God today are given by Him the eagerness of the Shulamite, graphically seen in the Song of Solomon, to seek Him with single-minded passion in our Babylonish night when our sisters are asleep to excitedly search out our land within.

Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The Elect of God is inspired to enquire that there is more to Christ than their dull-eyed Nicolaitan church leaders can teach, who are ruled by Satan, the king of Jericho. The Elect of God enthusiastically searches their country within, routing it of falsehoods to match the Lord’s spiritual land ~ the Sun of God. (No wonder the Lord’s word spiritually discerned is gobble-de-gook to the world)

Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men that have come to you, those who have entered into your house. For they have come to search out all the country.

There is a dual meaning for Rahab: she is both the world and the Bride’s former self. Joshua’s two men (2 = witnesses) are the Bride of Christ before the resurrection to life and are about to save the world in the flesh from utter destruction, yet rule the figurative Rabab and her sisters dwelling safely from war in the One Thousand Year reign.

Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Joshua’s physical wars and rebuking of the nations afar off with the Lord’s command to “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong” (Joe 3:10) abruptly come to an end at the beginning of the One Thousand Year reign with the rod of iron. The rescuing of greater Zion, the elder sister of Babylonian Christianity, and the mixed multitude of the world begins with the end of that age, in which war, lies, and every other letting of spiritual blood will not be tolerated!

The one thousand-year rule is the beginning and preparation for Rahab being absorbed into Zion and then gradually on the Eighth Day saying, “come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.”

Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Much more exciting symbolism surrounding Rahab in subsequent Joshua studies is attributed to her God-given ‘shady-lady’ entrepreneurial dealings, which will be revealed. Without blowing those wonderful disclosures here, the secondary shadow of Rahab is her representing the world being saved from utter destruction at the end of this age. She will live safely with her future sisters of Babylon in the one thousand-years, where figuratively, Joshua’s rulership and implementation of the rod of iron will establish all physical delights and health without one person being converted. Just like Israel in the wilderness under forced rulership of the Lord’s commands did not change their hearts.

Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and [this time] they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 

Jos 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Jos 2:4 And the woman [Rahab] took the two men and hid them. And she said, [to the king of Jericho] Two men came to me, but I did not know from where they came. 

Gentile Christianity has likewise hidden the Lord’s Two Witnesses, His Body, in the walls of that great city (figuratively Jerusalem within) that had become a harlot while the witnesses spied out their inheritance. Neither does Gentile Christianity, let alone the world, know from where they suddenly appeared, especially with their modern surveillance where nothing escapes their knowledge.

Jos 2:5 And it happened when it was dark, at the time of shutting the gate, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Go after them quickly, for you shall overtake them. 

The spiritual shutting of the gate to the First Resurrection will likewise happen when the Beast powers turn on the Moon and utterly consume her with fire. The outlawing of Christianity is already stirring for that Great City called Sodom, Egypt and Babylon and her imminent destruction. Speaking the word of God will be an indictable act where new people attempting to know Christ will grope in the dark and be unable to find the “two men” no matter how eagerly they are pursued to gain knowledge or to kill.

The one thousand-year rulership under the rod of iron is the Seventh Day, where Christ and His Christs perform no heart-changing work. The gates of understanding are shut; thus, no man can come in or out.

Neh 13:17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 
Neh 13:18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 
Neh 13:19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

On the Eighth Day, the walls of Jericho, Babylon and Egypt are flattened; the gates are effectively opened, and everyone symbolically dies in the Lake of Fire, the resurrection to judgment, and are spiritually circumcised on the Eighth Day.

Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 

Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

At the end of the Seventh Day, Gog and Magog, surrounding the camp of the Elect of God, will not “overtake them”. 

The earth, represented by Rahab, helped the Lord’s servants. She kept them above herself in the heavens of the rooftop under flax so that if it caught fire, no smell of smoke would be on their clothes, nor would the fire hurt them, for they have learned to be comfortable in the fire. They are not in Jericho to warn that city but to bring forth judgment.

Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up on the roof, and had hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. 

Part of the reason for hiding the spies under the flax “laid in order” was to cause their pursuers to see the orderly pile of flax as having not been disturbed, which would give away their hiding place. God gives a distinct order in proclaiming the truth and church operations in the Body of Christ, whereas chaos reigns in Gentile Christianity.

The Wife of Christ is given white robes made of linen, and we know linen is cloth woven from flax. In its raw “natural” symbolism, the spies hiding under the flax are the precursor for their much later successors being clothed in spiritual linen.

The Lord loves order. The Shulamite’s teeth (The Bride of Christ’s perfect consumption of truth) are twins and perfectly set in her beauty.

Act 21:24 taking these, be purified with them, and be at expense on them, that they may shave the head. And all shall know that all what they have been told about you is nothing, but you yourself walk orderly, keeping the Law.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order. 

1Co 15:22 for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.

Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and let us exult, and we will give glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb came, and His wife prepared herself.
Rev 19:8 And it was given to her that she be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.

Jos 2:7 And the men went after them on the way to Jordan, to the fords. And when they who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 

Mat 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 
Mat 12:16 And charged them [Rahab] that they should not make him known:
Mat 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Mat 12:19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
Mat 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
Mat 12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles [eventually] trust.

Jos 2:8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 
Jos 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

Psa 2:8 Ask of Me, and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. 
Psa 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. 

Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 
Jos 2:11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

The forthcoming sacking of Jericho at the Lord’s hands, typified by most of the biblical cities of the Promised Land and their demise, represents the ultimate end-time destruction of Babylon.

Isa 13:4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
Isa 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 
Isa 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 
Isa 13:7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
Isa 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: 
Jos 2:13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

Rahab’s request of the two spies to remember to save her and her family is reflected in Joseph saving his father Jacob’s house during the famine. Joseph’s “token” H226 means a sign, signal, distinguishing mark, and remembrance. A “true token” is a faithful and reliable signal. Benjamin was effectively a token for the reliable bringing forth of Jacob’s household to Egypt and their salvation in the coming famine. 

Likewise, when the death angel passed through Egypt and slew all the firstborn, a faithful and reliable signal, a token of blood, was placed on the lintel over the door so that death passed over the Hebrew’s homes. 

The origin of the word “blood” (H1826) means to be silent, to be still. Rahab assured the spies that she would be silent if the city’s guards questioned her about the spy’s whereabouts. When Israel came to crush Jericho, the spies saw Rahab’s “scarlet” sign of concealed and dual meaning (red being a harlot’s sign) hanging in the window of her home in the walls of Jericho. The invading army of Israel would effectively “pass over” destroying her home and thus saving her life. 

Exo 12:12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 
Exo 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 
Jos 2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 

Just as the Shulamite represents the New Heavenly Jerusalem, with her embedded towers symbolising her breasts, Rahab is pictured as a type of Old Jerusalem. She lives upon the walls of her city, Jericho, where her breasts were bruised by her many suitors, just as the Saints of the Lord had their breasts bruised by our many suitors in Babylonian Christianity, represented by Oholah and Oholibah. The Body of Christ came out of and is the daughter of “one mother”, Babylon the Great, though she is represented as two; Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem above.

Eze 23:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 
Eze 23:2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
Eze 23:3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 
Eze 23:4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. 
Eze 23:5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours.

Progressively and with increasing astonishment, we shall see that Rahab represents the woman we once were.

Jos 2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 
Jos 2:17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

Verses 16-19 reveal to us that we are forewarned of the coming destruction of our old man within. The only way to survive is to flee to the mount of the Lord.

Psa 11:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

“Three days”, mentioned 63 times in scripture, is powerfully significant in that it means a process for the completion of judgment; and for the Elect of God, particularly its spiritual completion. We flee to and wait on the mountains of our Lord for our perfection for three symbolic days for the destruction of our flesh until the hoped resurrection to life, just as Christ did at His death. Afterward, we will “go your [our] way” with Him to rule with the iron rod on the Seventh Day.

Christ is our “scarlet thread” by the blood of His death upon the cross. We figuratively escape our pursuers by that sturdy rope from Jericho’s walls as we flee Babylon and are in the three-day process of being saved on the mount of our Lord (Isa 2:1-5)

The words of Moses were powerfully in the minds of the two spies; they warned Rahab that she had better be true to her oath. Otherwise, she would perish with the rest of Jericho since the two spies were dedicated to keeping their side of the oath.

Num 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

For God’s people today, however,

Jas 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

If it is our Lord’s will, we, too, will be saved from the coming destruction of Babylon both within and, hopefully, physically.

When destruction comes to Jericho, the two spies require Rahab’s entire household to be in her house to be protected by the sign of the scarlet thread. The scarlet “thread” is a cord strong enough to at least hold the weight of one man; however, viewed from a distance, it would appear as a thread. The fact that Rahab’s home was the only structure left following the destruction of the entire walls of Jericho was outstanding in its own right. Rahab’s home would have thus become a tower, not too figuratively dissimilar to the Shulamite’s two breasts pictured as towers embedded in the walls of Jerusalem, the city she represented (Son 8:10). Rahab’s symbolic one breast, the seat of her emotions, represents unity, and Rahab’s faith in what the Lord of Israel was doing in that nation, unified her identity with them. Rahab’s faith through belief by her works justified her salvation from the coming demolition. For the Church today, that unity is the Lord singularly focused on the apple of His eye, His Bride, with one chain around her neck, likewise identifying her being saved by the scarlet blood of the cross. (Zec 2:8. Son 4:9)

Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Heb 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Having gone into Jericho, the spies can symbolise them coming out the window of the city’s womb of Jericho, the “moon” (church) on a scarlet thread, symbolic of Israel, the firstborn; yet, at this point, the coming unwitting rejected wife of God.

Likewise, the Church of the firstborn is coming out of Babylon’s womb on the scarlet thread of Christ’s blood to be killed daily inside Jerusalem. Jericho, Tyre, Ethiopia, Babylon, and Old Jerusalem are one and the same, and they being the elder, serve the younger New Heavenly Jerusalem above who, like Christ, walk in truth today and tomorrow in the death of the old man.

Luk 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying to Him, Go out and depart from here, for Herod will kill you.
Luk 13:32 And He said to them, You go and tell that fox, Behold, today and tomorrow, I cast out demons and I complete cures, and the third day I will be finished.
Luk 13:33 Yet I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following. For it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34 Jerusalem! Jerusalem! the one killing the prophets, and stoning those having been sent to her; how often I desired to gather your children in the way a hen gathers her brood under the wings, and you did not desire it. 
Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. And truly I say to you, You will not see Me until it come when you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jos 2:20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

The Elect of God doesn’t go around today forcing their God-given truths on Jericho. Today is not Jericho’s time to begin salvation. Noah’s and Rahab’s households symbolise the latter times “little flock” who go before their brothers and sisters of Jericho and Babylon, who are Gog and Magog, the entire world (Eze 38. Rev 20:7-10)

Jos 2:21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

The scarlet thread in Rahab, the harlot’s window, is significant with its connection to Rahab effectively putting forth her hand from the window’s womb of Jericho, and Zarah, the son born to Judah upon his adulterous affair with his daughter-in-law, putting forth his hand from Tamar’s womb unwittingly masquerading as the firstborn of the twins (reminiscent of Jacob grabbing Esau’s heel). In fact, Pharez was born last, sustaining the principle of the elder, Zarah, serving Pharez, the younger and that each man will be saved in his own order by the spiritually younger one.

Gen 38:30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah. H2226 – ‘a son of Reuel and grandson of Esau, one of the dukes of the Edomites’ Origin H2225 – ‘dawning, shining, rising’. The rising heavenly Jerusalem adorned for her husband (Rev 21:2)

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Christ is descended from Pharez and represents the Bride of Christ saved in the order the Lord ordained before her elder harlot sister Israel in the wilderness that is Old Jerusalem and Babylon are saved. 

Tremendous hope is generated for the weak of the world Lord’s Church today and their sins, as seen from Christ’s lineage coming through two harlots, Rahab and Judah’s miserably adulterous affair with Tamar, as seen in Matthew 1:1-17. The Body of Christ fully knows they have symbolically been Rahab and Tamar and have been adulterous Judah in the flesh and are now spiritual Judah.

Gen 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

The sceptre began with Abraham and ended with Christ through a long and torturous birth bringing forth the man-child, Christ.

Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Jos 2:22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 

Similarly, the Gentile Christian church today, as we once did, searches for the Lord’s truth and finds it not.

Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others [Babylonian brothers and sisters of the rejected church] in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Jos 2:23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:
Jos 2:24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

The terror striking the inhabitants of Jericho is a similar dread in today’s world as they increasingly become aware that all is not well, reflected in the glaring putridness within. The world will tremble at the coming of the Lord and again at the resurrection to judgment.

Joe 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
Joe 2:3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

Instructions for Entering the Promised Land

[Study Aired February 18, 2023]

The book of Joshua begins following the death of Moses (120 years), one of the most incredibly iconic figures in the Bible. Joshua proved his dedication to the Lord’s commands revealed in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and was chosen to lead Israel into the Promised Land. Because of their perpetual complaining about the Lord’s goodness, out of the entirety of Israel none over the age of 20 at the time of leaving Egypt could enter the Promised Land; Joshua and Caleb were the only exceptions.

Num 32:11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
Num 32:12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD (also Deut 1:34-46).

Caleb was 40 years old when he helped spy out the land of Canaan:

Jos 14:7 Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

Scripture doesn’t precisely state Joshua’s age. However, in all likelihood, the twelve spies in Joshua and Caleb’s company were of similar age, generally, give or take 10 years for maturity and spying experience. That makes Joshua roughly 30-50 years of age when he spied on Canaan. Add 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and it places him roughly a minimum age in his eighties when Israel entered the promised land. Caleb tells us he himself was 85 (Jos 14:10). Of course, Joshua died when he was 110 years of age. (Jos 24:29)

Since everyone over the age of 20 died in the wilderness, the Lord continued his espousal to a young wife in the bloom of her youth with Israel until his divorce, whose legacy of whoredom has lasted to this day.

Toward the end of Israel’s journey in the Promised Land as the Lord’s wife, a representation of purity was discovered by Solomon in a beautiful Shulamite girl. As brightly seen in the Song of Solomon studies, the wisest man to have ever lived saw something painfully unidentifiable in the beautiful Shulamite girl. His spirit seemed dreadfully unfulfilled upon his persistent “looking upon” her to distinguish the last irksome piece of the puzzle for the meaning of her presence. Scripture doesn’t say that he married the Shulamite. Even though he nearly perfectly imagined being married to her, his spirit of understanding was still of the Old Covenant Laws, and the spirit of God through Christ hadn’t yet come to reveal who Shulamite was, will be and is! The whorish nation of Israel, the Lord’s first wife, had many more works of harlotry in this new land before the distant Christ was revealed with his spiritual wife.

Before the foundation of the world and upon Moses’s death, the Lord had planned that the son of Nun, Joshua (Num 11:28), would lead Israel into the Promised Land. Joshua had proved his valour and dedication in following the Lord’s commands. The painful journey of the Lord’s people in the flesh, which unconsciously pointed to eternal life, was still in its infancy. The entirety of the old brigade of Israel over the age of 20 upon leaving Egypt, including Moses, perished in the wilderness.

Although God’s laws were evident primarily since Adam’s experience of sin, they were mostly hidden before the Lord revealed their written code through Moses, everyone since Adam, did what was right in his own eyes (Rom 2:14).

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Num 14:26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 
Num 14:27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 
Num 14:28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 
Num 14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
Num 14:30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

If we don’t recognise the commandments of Christ, we perish without the fulfillment of the Law in Him. All, including those under the carnal laws of Moses and Joshua’s rule to this day, sinned in the Law and perished under the Law, that of its own and without the spirit to come, could never change hearts for eternal life.

Rom 2:12 For as many as have sinned without Law shall also perish without Law: and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law; 
Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the Law [Christ’s spiritual laws] are just before God, but the doers of the [Christ’s] Law shall be justified.
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the Law, do by nature the things contained in the Law, these, having not the Law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15 Which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

The theme of the elder serving the younger runs powerfully throughout scripture. An old, weary, and no doubt melancholy, Moses, having suffered his brother’s and sister’s endless complaining, was given to see the vast extent of the land to be possessed as the nation of Israel’s inheritance, but he himself would die without possessing it. In a sense, Moses died outside the city, the Promised Land, to figuratively sanctify the nation of Israel. He diligently served the tabernacle of God and bore the disgrace of the old company of Israel, who likewise died outside of their inheritance.

Son 6:13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.

Spiritually:

Heb 13:10 We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Heb 13:11 Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp.
Heb 13:12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood. 
Heb 13:13 Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.
Heb 13:14 For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Deu 34:1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
Deu 34:2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, 
Deu 34:3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
Deu 34:4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
Deu 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Deu 34:6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Deu 34:7 And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. 
Deu 34:8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
Deu 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Deu 34:10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 
Deu 34:11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 
Deu 34:12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.

After forty years of pain, suffering and death in the wilderness of sin, the elder of Israel served the younger Israel and the younger, with a high hand, was about to enter the Promised Land. That principle of the elder serving the younger began in Rebecca’s womb with Esau, the elder twin serving Jacob, his brother. (Rom 9:12-21. Gen 25:19-28).

The Book of Joshua

Jos 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, 
Jos 1:2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
Jos 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 
Jos 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 
Jos 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Jos 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 
Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 
Jos 1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.
Jos 1:12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,
Jos 1:13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. 
Jos 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them; 
Jos 1:15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising. 
Jos 1:16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 
Jos 1:17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 
Jos 1:18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.

Beginning in verse two with the referral to the death of Moses, the Jordan River running from the midst of the Promised Land, ran 200 miles to the Dead Sea. The origin for the name Jordan means (H3381) ‘to go down; to lay prostrate’. Unwittingly to the Israelites, their prostration didn’t end with their forefathers dying in the wilderness; they were about to continue with their exhaustion of weak and decaying flesh as part of the process pointing to their brother’s future rest in Christ. The river Jordan symbolically continued to drain the filth of Israel to be allegorically purified in the salt of the Dead Sea, where their forefathers of Sodom, Gomorrah and the other cities of the rich plain were similarly purified.

Jos 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 
Jos 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

Verses 3 and 4 outline the “coast”, or the borders of the Promised Land, with the “great sea toward the going down of the sun” referring to the Mediterranean Sea. (It is easy to look up a map of the Promised Land).

Amazingly, the rich resources and beauty of Lebanon, regarded as a “wilderness”, suggest that it was largely protected from the surrounding nations for Israel’s sole use, featuring cedars in the future temple. 

Verse 5 epitomises and foreshadows the routing of the evil inhabiting the land, and for the Elect of God today, they have the very same Lord who spiritually cleanses their land within.

Jos 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Jos 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Our Lord’s faithfulness stands. He is in absolute command of our salvation and continues to not fail or forsake us. Without Christ, we, too, have the same precise experience of not being able to stand before our enemies within. Nonetheless, the comparative history, for our sakes, resulted in the Israelites flip-flopping their faithfulness to God as they did in Moses’ time, regardless of the Lord’s guarantee of physical salvation through minimal faith.

Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Jumping to:

Mat 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 
Mat 28:17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you: I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 
Jos 1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

Christ, in his three and half year ministry, prepared his disciples “victuals”, meaning (H6720) ‘provision of food; meat’.He has increasingly provided spiritual food that increased their faith, especially in these latter days before His return. As we see the fig tree put forth new shoots, we know that the end is near for our preparation to cross our Jordan with the spiritual Christ within to possess Him, our Promised Land inheritance through faith. (Eph 1:3-14)

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 
Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 
Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

The entire torturous process the Israelites experienced, and are still experiencing unto this very day, is for His body’s sake, for His little flock, the Church. He has given us rest in Him through His spirit of truth and our espousal to Him. Our rest is Christ, the master Potter doing His work within us, just as He gave the Israelites a type of physical rest if they utterly depended upon Him to go before and fight and thoroughly rout the evil inhabitants within their physically prized possession.

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. 

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jos 1:12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, 
Jos 1:13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. 
Jos 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them; 
Jos 1:15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy

The Body of Christ is growing into the beautiful young woman espoused to her Lord. She has spent a relatively short time devouring her Lord’s strong meat. She readily sees the spiritual truths received daily that intensely arouse her love for him and delights in finding nuggets of overlooked truth in the frequently reviewed studies. She is ever vigilant to not let her lamp oil run low as she awaits the ultimate “sunrising” shining at full strength.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 
Jer 29:14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Jos 1:17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 
Jos 1:18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage. 

Just as our Lord God was with Moses and Joshua, He is infinitely more in spirit with His chosen “little flock” today and gives us immense courage to go forth and possess Him, our promised land within.

Yet, Lord willing, we remember to not be puffed up by His revelations and rebel against His word that would assuredly land us in the resurrection to damnation and go through a more torturous process to attain eternal life. 

Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Exo 17:1-16  Thou Shall Smite the Rock, and There Shall Come Water out of It

[Study Aired July 18, 2022]

Exo 17:1  And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 
Exo 17:2  Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 
Exo 17:3  And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 
Exo 17:4  And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 
Exo 17:5  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 
Exo 17:6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 
Exo 17:7  And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? 
Exo 17:8  Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 
Exo 17:9  And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 
Exo 17:10  So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 
Exo 17:11  And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 
Exo 17:12  But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 
Exo 17:13  And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 
Exo 17:14  And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 
Exo 17:15  And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: 
Exo 17:16  For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. 

Chapter 17 focuses on two issues – the lack of water for the people of Israel to drink and the first battle that Israel fought after leaving Egypt. This was on the back of their experience with manna when they went through famine and murmured against Moses and Aaron. As indicated in the previous studies, the famine took place when they were in the wilderness of Sin after leaving Egypt. ‘Sin’ here means thorn or clay. This means that we start our walk with Christ being carnal or fleshly.

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 

After leaving the wilderness of Sin, the people of Israel moved on to Rephidim where they experienced lack of water and were attacked by the Amalekites. We can see clearly as the Israelites moved in the wilderness that they encountered problems upon problems. This is the experience of evil which the Lord has given to mankind in this life to humble them. 

Ecc 1:13  And I gave my heart to seek and to investigate by wisdom concerning all which is done under the heavens. It is an evil task God has given to the sons of men, to be afflicted by it. (LITV)

To the elect, this evil experience is the judgment we must go through to bring us to our desired haven which is to be found in Christ blameless. To the people of the world, including the physical churches of this world (Babylon), this evil experience does not lead to repentance. Rather, it hardens their heart as we see Israel rebelled against the Lord at every discomfort they encountered in the wilderness.

2Co 7:9  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 
2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Today’s study shows us the spiritual significance of this evil experience the Israelites encountered in Rephidim and how these all work for our good.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

Exo 17:1  And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

The people of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and came to Rephidim which means ‘rests’ or ‘stays’. As shown earlier, Sin means ‘thorn’ or ‘clay’ which represents the flesh. As we start our journey in Christ, we are carnal or fleshly, due to the lack of the word of the Lord (lack of water) in Babylon as we enter the place of rest, symbolized by Rephidim, which is the church of the firstborn. This lack of water is the famine of the word of the Lord which is all part of the Lord’s design to cause us to faint for thirst.

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. 
Amo 8:13  In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 

Our experience of this famine of the word of the Lord is due to the fact that the seven seals of the book had not been opened to us yet by the Lord for us to understand the revelation of Christ.

Rev 5:1  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 
Rev 5:2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 
Rev 5:3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 

Exo 17:2  Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 
Exo 17:3  And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 

In our carnal state, we tend to complain a lot against the Lord (represented by Moses) when we find ourselves in any undesirable situation. This is because of the mindset we had in Babylon where we were taught by our “men of God” that being children of God, life must be smooth and rosy without any adverse events. These “men of God” are murmurers as they walk after their own lusts, and we end up following their pernicious ways.

Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 

2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 

These “men of God” are also described as wells without water. Thus, they starved us of the word of the Lord as they did not have the capacity to give us water (the word of the Lord) to drink. As a result, we become worse off.

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 

The complaint in verse 3 by the Israelites that Moses had brought them out of Egypt to kill them, their children and their cattle with thirst is true in a positive sense. As the elect, the Lord wants an occasion to confront and put to death our old man, and one of His ways to do that is to bring about the famine of the word of the Lord (lack of water) which causes us to pursue the lust of the flesh, setting up the stage for the Lord to come and judge us.  Thus, He brings us out of the world (Egypt) to put to death the composite beast within us and its works, which are symbolized in verse 3 as our children and cattle.

Exo 17:4  And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 

One of the lessons we can learn from the life of Moses is that He always consulted the Lord in every aspect of His engagement with the people of Israel. That is what it means to trust the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding. In all the issues that confronted Moses, he sought the Lord’s face regarding what must be done. That is what it means to acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He shall direct our path.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Exo 17:5  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 
Exo 17:6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 

As we have indicated in previous studies, the rod is Christ. The rock is also Christ. The smiting of the rock is the judgment that the Lord Jesus went through so that He might be presented as a sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God on our behalf. As a result, out of Him flows the rivers of living waters which are able to quench our spiritual thirst.  As He is, so are we. This means that in this life we, His elect, represent the rock being smitten with the rod which is Christ. In other words, we, His elect, are going through fiery trials for the express purpose of causing the rivers of living water to flow out of us. This living water is the word of Christ. As explained in John 7:39, this living water is the Spirit. It is the spirit of the word of Christ which is able to quench our spiritual thirst. We are, therefore, the ministers of the spirit to quench the thirst of the people of God.

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 
Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Exo 17:7  And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

Meribah means ‘contention’. This contention by the children of Israel is not unique to them. At a certain period of our walk with Christ, we all have lived our lives complaining about any difficult situation we encountered. It is all because at that time our hearts were hardened by the false doctrines we imbibed, which, in the case of Israel, was symbolized by lack of water at Meribah.

Psa 95:8  Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 
Psa 95:9  When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 
Psa 95:11  Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Exo 17:8  Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 
Exo 17:9  And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 

Our exit from Babylon does not mean we have matured. It takes time to mature in the things of God. Our fight against the flesh is a war which the Bible describes as trying to break a bow of steel with our arms. Iron is hard and is almost impossible to break, but steel is several times harder than iron. It is, therefore, impossible to war against the flesh and be successful except the Lord does it on our behalf.

This is why the Lord led the Israelites toward the red sea so that He could demonstrate or teach them how to war – that is, depend on Him to destroy the enemy (old man) on our behalf. The coming forth of water from the rock for the people of Israel to drink is all part of the process of teaching our hands to war by equipping us to be able to confront the old man. As we indicated, this living water is the word of Christ which is the sword of the spirit. Teaching our hands to war means depending entirely on Him in our engagement with the flesh. As we had all experienced during the start of our walk in Christ, we failed miserably, because we were not equipped to deal with the flesh.

Psa 18:31  For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? 
Psa 18:32  It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 
Psa 18:33  He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 
Psa 18:34  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

As a great teacher, our Lord puts us in a situation to practicalize what we have learned, that is, depend on Him to defeat the flesh on our behalf. This was what happened to Israel as the Lord sought an occasion to confront their enemies by causing the Amalekites to engage the Israelites in a battle.

Deu 1:30  The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 

2Ch 20:17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

Exo 17:10  So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 

The name Joshua means ‘the Lord is salvation’. In verse 10, Moses represents Christ. When Christ becomes our salvation, which means when He comes to sit in the throne of our hearts and minds by dethroning the old man, we are obedient to Him as we see Joshua doing what Moses told him. Moses, Aaron and Hur signify the elect. The hill is Christ where we, His elect, receive our help from as shown in this verse:

Psa 121:1  A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
Psa 121:2  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
Psa 121:3  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

This means that Moses, Aaron and Hur going up the hill means, as the elect, our victory over the flesh is taking refuge in Christ as our help. The Amalekite represents our old man or the flesh which fights against the growth of Christ in our lives.

Exo 17:11  And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

In war, to raise up your hands means to surrender. It is as we surrender to Christ fully by allowing Him to do His work in our lives that we prevail over the flesh or the old man. As He is, so are we. In our Lord’s life here on this earth, He surrendered wholly to God to do all the works in Him.

Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

To surrender to Christ is an act of faith which deals a decisive blow to our flesh. Here is what Paul had to say about this:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 
Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

In Gal 2:21 above, we are told that we must not frustrate the grace of God. Frustrating the grace of God means trying to do things by ourselves and not depending on the Lord to work things out for us. When we depend on ourselves, our righteousness then comes from the law, which means that all that Christ did on our behalf means nothing to us. This was what was happening to the Galatians which Paul pointed out as follows:

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 
Gal 3:2  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 
Gal 3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 
Gal 3:4  Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

As we can see, immediately when Moses’ hands lowered, the Amalekites prevailed. Obtaining righteousness by the law which means working out our salvation by our own effort only strengthens the old man within to dominate us.

Exo 17:12  But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

This verse was written to underscore the importance of the body of Christ in our walk with Christ. Our ability to overcome the flesh is a collective effort of the body of Christ (His elect) as we see Aaron and Hur support Moses’ hands. If we stand alone in our walk with Christ, we shall fail miserably. We need what every joint supplies in order to prevail over the flesh. That is why we are admonished to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace within the body of Christ.

Eph 4:3  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

The uplifted hands of Moses, which suggested his surrender to Christ, was done through Aaron and Hur together with Joshua in the battlefield to win the war against the Amalekites. Joshua being on the battlefield is equally significant in winning the war. In other words, every member’s experience is for the body and is relevant for our personal victory over the flesh.  The reason many get offended and leave the body is simply because they have not seen the revelation of the role the body of Christ plays in our walk with Christ.

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 
Eph 4:9  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 
Eph 4:10  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 
Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 
Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

This holding of the hands by Aaron and Hur continued until the sun went down. This means that we are to depend on the body to support us by what every joint supplies in our walk with Christ until the sun goes down in our lives – that is, until our earthly tent is destroyed (when we die).

Exo 17:13  And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 
Exo 17:14  And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

Although the Israelites were battling the Amalekites, their victory was dependent on the raised hands of Moses. It is the same today. Although we are in this battlefield of life encountering all kinds of adversities, our victory over the flesh is not dependent on us, it is Christ who is working it out.

2Co 6:4  But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 
2Co 6:5  In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 
2Co 6:6  By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 
2Co 6:7  By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 
2Co 6:8  By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 
2Co 6:9  As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 
2Co 6:10  As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.  

The fact that this battle with the Amalekites is to serve as a memorial and written for our admonition is to let us know the way the Lord deals with our struggles against the flesh. We contribute nothing in this fight against the flesh. All we need to do is to raise our hands in surrender to Christ and He will do the work!! This reminds me of a song we were singing frequently when we were in Babylon:

All to Jesus, I surrender
All to Thee I freely give
I will ever love and trust You
In your presence daily live
I surrender all, I surrender all
All to Thee, my blessed savior
I surrender all

Even ‘surrendering all’ to the Lord is His work!! We are vessels of clay in which the potter is molding us as He sees fit for His purpose.

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

It is insightful to note in verse 13 that Joshua defeated the Amalekites with the edge of the sword. The sword is the truth of the word of Christ which is the most powerful spiritual weapon for destroying the flesh. In an age to come, all flesh will be destroyed with fire coming down from God which is the word of God. 

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 

Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 

Verse 14 says that this whole episode about the defeat of the Amalekites must be written in a book and rehearsed in the ears of Joshua. What this means is that the word of the Lord was written for the elect (Joshua) in this age or dispensation. In the age to come, all humanity will also taste of the word of the Lord.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Exo 17:15  And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah nissi: 

An altar is a raised area in the house of worship where people can honor God with offerings. It is prominent in the Bible as “God’s table”, a sacred place for sacrifices and gifts offered up to God. Moses building an altar means that as the elect, we are to build an altar to offer sacrifice to the Lord. Our altar is our bodies which we must present as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to the Lord.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Moses named the altar that he built “Jehovah nissi” which means ‘the Lord is my banner’. A banner is a long piece of cloth bearing a slogan or design, carried in demonstration or procession in a public place. Banners are raised to celebrate and honor people, usually soldiers returning from war. Banners are visible and not hidden. The implication of Jehovah being our banner is that our lives must honor our King Jesus in a visible way. Like lights of the world, we cannot be hidden but honor the Lord visibly with our lives.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Exo 17:16  For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. 

This is to show us that the Lord will always be at war with our flesh, or the old man symbolized by Amalek. If we are called and chosen, then our Lord will fight our battles with the flesh for us, and so we are assured of victory. If we intend to establish our righteousness through our works, we shall fail miserably. As long as we have identified our flesh as the enemy and we know that we do not have the capacity to take him on, the Lord will come with the brightness of His coming to deal with the flesh on our behalf.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

May the Lord grant us the grace to win this war against the flesh so that we shall be counted as overcomers in Christ!! Amen!!

Jdg 7:1-25: The People are too Many for Me to Give the Midianites into Their Hands

[Study Aired April 12, 2021]

Jdg 7:1  Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 
Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 
Jdg 7:3  Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 
Jdg 7:4  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 
Jdg 7:5  So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 
Jdg 7:6  And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 
Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 
Jdg 7:8  So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. 
Jdg 7:9  And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 
Jdg 7:10  But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 
Jdg 7:11  And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. 
Jdg 7:12  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 
Jdg 7:13  And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 
Jdg 7:14  And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
Jdg 7:15  And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 
Jdg 7:16  And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 
Jdg 7:17  And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 
Jdg 7:18  When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 
Jdg 7:19  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 
Jdg 7:20  And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 
Jdg 7:21  And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 
Jdg 7:22  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. 
Jdg 7:23  And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. 
Jdg 7:24  And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. 
Jdg 7:25  And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan. 

This chapter is divided into three components: the selection of those who were going to war against the Midianites, God’s assurance of victory over the Midianites and the defeat of the Midianites. In order to understand this chapter, we need to understand what the Midianites represent.

In an earlier review, it was shown that the Midianites represent the false doctrines which make us focus on receiving our full reward while living here on earth.  Therefore, we end up fixing our attention on the cares of this life, and so when the word of God is sown in our lives, it is choked and does not bear any fruit.

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

The Selection of Those to Wage War

Jdg 7:1  Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 

It was at the well of Harod that the Israelites under Gideon gathered in preparation for the battle against the Midianites who were in a nearby valley by the hill of Moreh. ‘Harod’ means ‘fear’, and the well represents the word of God. So it is through the word of God that we learn the fear of the Lord.  The fear of the Lord makes us walk in His ways, causing us to love Him and serve Him with all our heart and soul. As a result, our Lord causes our enemies within and without to fear us, making us victorious in our walk with Him.

Deu 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Deu 11:25  There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

It is important to note that the Midianites were gathered on the north side of the Israelites. This is to show us that the Midianites were instruments God was using to judge them as out of the north comes judgment. So the false doctrines (the Midianites) we have imbibed in our heavens serve as fuel for God’s judgment in our lives. The result of this judgment is that we learn righteousness or the fear of the Lord.

Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jer 10:22  Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

This verse is telling us that God does not want any flesh to glory in His presence. That is why God chooses the stupid things of this world to confound the wise who think that their own decisions are responsible for their current status. One of the false doctrines that makes us think our own hands have saved us is the doctrine of man’s free will. God clearly says in His word that it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. Romans 8:21 says that the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. All these verses of scriptures make it clear that we do not have our own free will to make decisions but that everything is of the Lord.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Therefore, it is God who chooses who should come to serve him and who is not blessed to serve him in this life. Those who are blessed to be chosen are those who are selected to wage war with the flesh. These are those who get caught in their sins now but those who are not part of the elect are those whose sins do not show up until later.

1Ti 5:24  Some people get caught in their sins right away, even before the time of judgment. But other people’s sins don’t show up until later. (CEV)

This is how God chooses the stupid things of this world:

Jdg 7:3  Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 

The total number of those who had gathered to battle the Midianites were thirty-two thousand. In the Book of Chronicles, the same number of warriors (32,000) got themselves ready to wage war. So this number symbolized those who are responding to calls to wage war against the old man or the flesh. However, it is one thing to be called to wage war against the flesh, but it is another thing to follow up this call to start engaging the enemy in battle.

1Ch 19:7  Thirty-two thousand troops, as well as the king of Maacah and his army, came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonite troops also left their towns and came to prepare for battle.

One of the ways that separate those who actually engage the enemy in battle from those who are called but never pursue the enemy is the fear factor. In verse 3, those who are fearful and afraid were allowed to return home, and as a result, twenty-two thousand people left. The question is, “what does it mean to be fearful and afraid?” To be afraid or fearful means we regard ourselves as being incapable to drive the enemies (false doctrines, fleshly desires, etc.) from our land as we cannot think of life without them. We therefore try to stone those who are urging us to let these false doctrines, desires, etc. go. That was what happened to Caleb and Joshua as the Israelites almost stoned them.

Num 14:6  And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Num 14:7  And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
Num 14:8  If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
Num 14:10  But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

The consequence of refusing to start this war is that we end up worshiping the beast saying, “Who is like the beast or can make war with the beast?” We are the fearful and afraid at certain periods of our walk with Christ when we are being called out of Babylon but we do not think we have what it takes to come out of the wilderness of Babylon to confront the giants (our false doctrines, desires and addictions) within us.

Rev 13:4  and they worshiped the dragon who had given its authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast and said, “No one is like this beast! No one can fight against it.”

Jdg 7:4  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 

Verse 4 emphasizes the point once again that it is the word of God (represented by water) that separates the sheep from the goat. It also makes us aware that it is God who chooses who should wage this war in this life and who should not. This is to make us aware that our will does not play a part in God’s salvation.

Jdg 7:5  So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
Jdg 7:6  And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 

Those who scooped up water in their hands and lapped represent those who test the spirit to see if it is from God because false prophets have gone out into the world. They do this by comparing spiritual with spiritual. The number of those who were selected was three hundred. The number 300 = 3x10x10. The number three signifies the process of spiritual completion through judgment, and the number ten stands for the completion of the flesh. Thus, the number three hundred stands for those who are in the process of being judged to become spiritually complete in this life (flesh).

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Those who bow down on their knees to drink water are those who have no discernment and just take in whatever is thrown at them without testing the spirit to see if it is of God. They are the foolish Galatians who have been bewitched so they cannot obey the truth. At a certain stage of our walk with Christ, while we were in Babylon, we were those who bowed down on our knees to drink water of the great swelling words emanating from the traditions of man’s wisdom to pollute our heavens. In this way, we behaved just like the Israelites who were ready to stone those who told them that they could overcome the giants in the land.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

As indicated, the three hundred men are those who are in the process of being judged to become spiritually complete in this fleshly life. These are the people that are able to wage war against these false doctrines in our heavens represented by the Midianites and remove them from their land.

Jdg 7:8  So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

This verse reflects the giving of food and other resources of those sent away to the three hundred men who were going to wage war with the Midianites. Spiritually, this is the same as saying that those sent away were made disobedient so the elect will be shown mercy. In other words, the food and other resources meant for those turned away were given to those going to wage the war. Later on, they will also be given the food and other resources (will be shown mercy) by the three hundred warriors who have received mercy in this life.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
Rom 11:31  even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

Assurance of Victory over the Midianites

Jdg 7:9  And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 
Jdg 7:10  But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 
Jdg 7:11  And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

Our Commander in Chief, our Lord Jesus Christ, knows how to motivate us to wage war against the flesh as we engage in this long drawn-out war with the old man or the flesh. Without assurance of victory, we may likely draw back and concede that there is no way we can win this war, just as the whole world think that this war cannot be won. This is because we may be discouraged at some points in our walk due to the intensity of the battle. That is why we are admonished that we should never draw back but walk in faith.

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Our Lord is always assuring us of this victory throughout the word of God.  For example, when Joshua and the Israelites were getting ready to fight Jericho after crossing the Jordan River, Joshua had an encounter with the Lord who assured him of victory as follows:

Jos 5:13  And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Jos 5:14  And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
Jos 5:15  And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Of course, the captain of the Lord’s host is Jesus our Lord, and if He is for us who can be against us? All that the Lord requires from us based on this encounter with Joshua is that we should loose our shoes from off our feet as we are standing on a holy ground. That means that we should change from our old ways of walking with Him as we get to know Him. Standing on a holy ground means our eyes are seeing and our ears are hearing the word of God.

We have been assured, just like Gideon and Joshua, throughout the word of God that victory is ours. Thus, we are not to retreat or surrender but move forward always even if the situation seems like we are losing the fight!!

As long as we see the Ark of the Covenant being carried by the priests, we are to move on. This was the command Joshua, representing Christ, told the elect (the officers) to tell the Israelites. The Ark of the Covenant represents Christ who is the word of God, and the carrying of this Ark by the priests signifies the elect who speak and walk according to the word of God. So, as long as our eyes are seeing and our ears are hearing the word of God, we must move on irrespective of our failures, which includes the sins which easily beset us, our addictions, etc., and victory will definitely be ours!!

Jos 3:2  And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
Jos 3:3  And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.
Jos 3:4  Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

As we follow the Ark, there must be a space of two thousand cubits. This means that as we are understanding the word of God, we must always be conscious of not neglecting the testing of the spirit to see if it is of the Lord by comparing spiritual with spiritual. Two thousand cubits space can be broken down as: 2000 =2x10x10x10. This means that as fleshly beings (number 10), we must always remember to have a witness (signified by number 2) concerning the word of God which is the Ark.

Jdg 7:12  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 

The Midianites, the Amalekites and the children of the East are described here as grasshoppers for multitude because they are without number, and they enter into the land to destroy it. According to Strong, grasshoppers and locusts are the same. From Revelation 9:3, we read that these locusts come out of the smoke from the bottomless pit (our sea of flesh). The smoke that darkens the sun and the air are the false doctrines which keep us from seeing the light of Christ. The locusts therefore are the product of our darkness which further deepens our darkness as they cover the earth bringing the land in darkness. That is, this oppression of the Midianites in our lives sends us into more darkness, blocking us from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. We all, at a certain period of our lives, have encountered their effects in our lives.

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Exo 10:13  And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
Exo 10:14  And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
Exo 10:15  For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Jdg 7:13  And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 
Jdg 7:14  And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
Jdg 7:15  And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 

As indicated, our Lord allowed Gideon to hear what the enemies were discussing to assure him of victory as promised by the Lord. The cake of barley bread that tumbled into the host of the Midian and into the tent typifies the fiery word of God which destroys our false doctrines (the Midianites) from our tents which is our hearts and minds. This is confirmed in verse 14 when one of the Midianites said that the cake of barley bread is the sword of Gideon, which is the word of God.

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The Defeat of the Midianites

Jdg 7:16  And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 

The dividing of the three hundred men into three companies signifies that the defeat of the enemies in our lives is done little by little just as the trials we face in our lives are carried out little by little, less we faint.

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Rev 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

The trumpet in the hands of those selected to fight symbolizes the need for the elect to sound the alarm for us to wage this war against the old man. The empty pitchers with the lamps within the pitchers represent the treasure, which is the lamp (the word of God) in our earthen vessels (pitchers).

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Jdg 7:17  And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.

In this verse, Gideon represents Christ, and as our Chief Commander, we are to look up to Him and follow Him by doing what He did while walking here on earth.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Jdg 7:18  When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

One of the things that our Lord Jesus did while walking here on earth is that He warned us of this impending war with the old man. That is what it means to blow the trumpet as we see Gideon instructing the people with him to blow the trumpet after him. In His dialogue with the disciples, Jesus was always warning them of this war as follows:

Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

To love your life means you are not ready for war.  The process of losing your life is this war we are talking about.

Joh 2:13  And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

This war is the clearing of our temple of all that offends as Jesus did.

Joh 2:18  Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Again, the destroying of our temple is what this war is about. Our old man representing this temple must be destroyed before the new man comes.

Jdg 7:19  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
Jdg 7:20  And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

This call to war against the flesh (blowing of trumpets) is about the breaking of pitchers.  To break the pitchers means that the beast within is being taken and destroyed. It is only when it is destroyed that the lamp, which is the word of God or Christ concealed within us, begins to shine forth in our lives. So the breaking of the pitchers signifies the dying of the old man and the simultaneous birth of the new man after the image of Christ.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

The weapon we need to win this war is the sword of the Lord and of Gideon as proclaimed by the warriors. The sword is the fiery word of God which is a consuming fire and is able to burn into ashes all our false doctrines, additions, fleshly desires and our self-righteousness.

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Deu 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Jdg 7:21  And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 
Jdg 7:22  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
Jdg 7:23  And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. 

Although we are called to wage war against the enemies within, we do not do it by our own strength.  The battle is the Lord’s!! Our God fights our battles for us. The scriptures have demonstrated in several places that it is the Lord who fights our battles for us, and all we have to do is to desire His righteousness above all else as we stand still to see the salvation of the Lord. Standing still therefore means having confidence in the Lord that what He has started in us, He is able to finish!! There is also this element of patience as we stand still to see the salvation of the Lord, for without patience we cannot inherit the promises.

Deu 20:4  For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Did the Israelites have to do anything to defeat the Egyptians? The answer is absolutely, “No!!” If victory depends on us, then who can be saved? Incidentally, this was the question that the disciples asked Jesus when He told them about the requirement for an overcomer.

Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

The rich man here is you and me who trust in our own righteousness.  In other words, he thinks it is within our means to become righteous. This is contrary to those who are poor in spirit, that is, those who come to realize that they are the worse sinners.

Jdg 7:24  And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
Jdg 7:25  And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

Our victory inspires others to also join this fight and win this war of the flesh as demonstrated by the men of Ephraim joining the war when Gideon and his warriors started winning the war. It was through the men of Ephraim that the two princes of Oreb and Zeeb were captured and killed. In a similar vein, the victory of David over Goliath inspired the Israelites to go after the Philistines and victory became theirs.

1Sa 17:50  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
1Sa 17:51  Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
1Sa 17:52  And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

May the Lord help us to win this war and so inspire others to also overcome the flesh!!

[Study Posted January 1, 2021]

Jdg 1:1  Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 
Jdg 1:2  And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 
Jdg 1:3  And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 
Jdg 1:4  And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 
Jdg 1:5  And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
Jdg 1:6  But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 
Jdg 1:7  And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. 
Jdg 1:8  Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 
Jdg 1:9  And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley. 
Jdg 1:10  And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. 
Jdg 1:11  And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher: 
Jdg 1:12  And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. 
Jdg 1:13  And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 
Jdg 1:14  And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? 
Jdg 1:15  And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. 

Introduction to the Book of Judges

There is no indication as to who wrote the book of Judges, but Jewish tradition names the prophet Samuel as the author. What is most important is that the Book of Judges is the fiery words of the Lord! Judges were leaders God raised up during the time when there were no kings in Israel to rescue His people. The time period of the Judges therefore stretches from the period after the death of Joshua until Saul was made king of Israel.

We are not going to look at the Book of Judges from the letter – the historical facts. That will be a waste of time for everybody! We are going to focus on the spiritual aspect and how it applies to our personal lives, for the spirit gives life but the letter killeth!

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

We can learn a lot from the Book of Judges as it relates to the war in our heavens. There is this recurring phrase in Judges, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).  This recurring phrase indicates how, when the beast is in the driving seat (on the throne) in our lives, we tend to do what is right in our own eyes and in this way provide the necessary fuel for our own judgment.

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Jdg 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

After going through the wilderness experience when we were under bondage to Babylonian principles and doctrines, God in His mercy sent from above a deliverer in the form of Joshua (representing Christ) to draw us out of many waters (Psa 18:6). The many waters here refers to the sea of our lives which is the flesh. It is Jesus who has dragged us to cross the Jordan and to begin the overcoming process. To this end, we have had initial victories in the land of our minds (the defeat of Jericho, Ai, etc.), but there is still more work to be done to rid the land (our body) of the giants (the Cananites, Perizzites, Philistines, Medianites, etc.). This war to overcome these giants is what Paul described in Corinthians and Ephesians (For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places).

Psa 18:16  He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

After crossing the Jordan, the stage is now set for the continuation of the conquest after the death of Joshua.

Jdg 1:1  Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 

The book of Judges starts with the death of Joshua. The name Joshua means “The Lord is Salvation”. Thus, the death of Joshua signifies the death of Jesus, who is our Lord and salvation. Without the death of Jesus, there is no victory over sin. As He was here on this earth, so are we. We, his elect, must also die to the old man to fill up that which is behind the afflictions of Christ. Where there is death, there is victory!

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

One of the questions that is often posed is, “How do we wage this war against the flesh?”  This is what the Israelites wanted to know when they posed the question, “Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first?”  The Israelites wanted to know how they could sustain the initial victory they wrought. This is the Lord’s answer:

Jdg 1:2  And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 

To understand what this verse means and its implications for our lives, we need to go to the story of Jacob’s wife Leah.

Gen 29:31  And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
Gen 29:32  And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
Gen 29:33  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.
Gen 29:34  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.
Gen 29:35  And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

So God in essence is telling us that the campaign against the giants of our land begins with praising the Lord, which is the meaning of the name Judah. Praising the Lord is part of our worship. What is most important is that when Leah realized that it was time to praise the Lord, she stopped bearing. This is insightful in the sense that it means that it is not our labor, works or effort that will bring about the victory as Leah initially thought. Victory over the flesh is the work of the Lord alone!

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

During the time we were so engrossed in orthodoxy (the Babylonian system), we invested so much in praising the Lord thinking that will unleash the power of God in our lives. I remember sometimes we held night vigils just singing and thanking the Lord using all kinds of musical instruments but devoid of the fiery Word which is able to burn the chaff in our lives. We forgot that praising God is a form of our worship to God which must be done in truth and in spirit. We were only focusing on the physical way of praising God by singing songs of praise and thanking God.

Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

What the scriptures tell us about true worship is this:

Rom 12:1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Rom 12:2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

Our spiritual worship is presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God and not conforming to this world but being renewed in our minds. That is our praise (Judah)!!  Our battle against the flesh (our land) is when we stop conforming to the world and begin to renew our minds with the word of God. That is the beginning of the process of presenting our bodies as living sacrifice. That signals our Judah taking the lead to battle the giants in our land!!

Psa 119:164  Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

The number seven means complete. Our complete praise should embrace both the good times and the “bad” times (God’s righteous judgment) because all things will work for our good!

Psa 107:15  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The wonderful works mentioned here relates to how God raises the stormy winds (righteous judgment) to bring us to our wits’ end in our lives and then delivers us.

Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

It is when we get a better understanding of the sovereignty of God that we can understand why we should praise Him at all times. If we know He is at the center of everything happening to us (both good and bad), we will praise Him in difficult times knowing our faith is being tried to work out patience in us. This is what will deliver the land into our hands (Jdg 1:2).

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Jdg 1:3  And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 

Just as Judah needed Simeon, we also need each other. This war is not going to be won by us walking alone. We need each other for encouragement, edification and comfort and also to provoke one another to love and good works so that we can defeat the enemies. We need to stand with each other in prayer and in the sharing of the word. Simeon means ‘God hears’. So Judah beckoning Simeon to join him can mean that God hears our praise. This should give us more comfort.

1Co 14:3  But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

What day do we see approaching? The day of the Lord, which is judgment, and the coming of the Lord to take His residence in our heavens.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Jdg 1:4  And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 
Jdg 1:5  And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

Immediately the Lord gave His word, and Judah took the lead in the conquest. Obedience to the word is essential if we are to have victory.

2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Luk 11:28  But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

The Canaanites and the Perizzites were defeated in Bezek. It is very insightful to note that ten thousand men were defeated at Bezek.  Ten thousand consist of multiples of 10 which signify the flesh. Bezek means ‘lightening’. So what this verse is telling us is that certain aspects of our flesh are defeated within the twinkle of an eye as we heed the voice of the Lord, thankful in every circumstance and not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. According to Strong, the word Canaanites by implication means a peddler (H3669). One of the enemies that are cleaned from our heavens as we begin to worship God in truth and in spirit is our peddling mentality. Paul said:

2Co 2:17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (NIV)

Jdg 1:5  And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 
Jdg 1:6  But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 
Jdg 1:7  And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. 

In spite of the victory wrought in Bezek, Adonibezek managed to escape. Adonibezek means Lord of Bezek. This means we are dealing with a higher level of the enemy within us who has been successful in defeating us over and over again in time past as Adonibezek recounted how he had incapacitated threescore and ten kings.  Three score and ten means seventy which is 10 times 7. Ten signifies the flesh and seven indicates completeness. This shows how our flesh has succumbed completely to the dictates of the enemy (Adonibezek) in times past. As the Lord continues to give us victory we should be relentless in our desire for the enemy to be removed from our heavens. The fact that we have experienced defeat several times does not mean the strategy of worshiping God in spirit through the surrendering of our bodies as living sacrifices does not work or that victory will never come. As God deals with us to make our obedience complete through judgments, we will surely catch up with Adonibezek, defeat him and finally remove him from our heavens.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Psa 37:23  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Psa 37:24  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

It is discerning to know that it was when Adonibezek was brought to Jerusalem that he died. We think because our carnal nature has been dealt a blow and been incapacitated, we are free from its dictates. Sometimes, however, the flesh resurfaces, and until we bring the enemy to Jerusalem to die (death of the old man), we may have these intermittent carnal influences.

Jerusalem here is used in a positive sense to refer to our gathering together. When we come to the heavenly Jerusalem (our brothers and sisters who are worshiping God in spirit and truth), an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly and the church of the first born, that is when the enemy will finally be defeated. It is in this heavenly Jerusalem that we hear the voice of the Lord speaking of better things that will ultimately bring about our salvation.

Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Jdg 1:8  Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 

The Jerusalem being talked about here in verse 8 is this Agar which is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. We can only “defeat” this Jerusalem (Babylonian system of false doctrines) with the edge of the sword, which is the word of the Lord. As we come to this heavenly Jerusalem of our brothers and sisters worshiping God in truth and in spirit, we will hear the voice of the true shepherd, and this will hasten our deliverance from orthodoxy and eventually we will be completely separated from its influence. Note that Judah after capturing Jerusalem, set it on fire. The Babylonian system and its false doctrines must be burned out of us with the fire of the word of God. This is not a one-day victory. It is a long process.

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Jdg 1:9  And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley. 
Jdg 1:10  And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

This war we are waging is on levels. God leads us to have victories over the enemies within which are easy to deal with before we are brought to fight stronger enemies. Paul said there are principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph 6:12). The reason God does not lead us to fight stronger enemies early is that we may end up going back to the world (Egypt) when we encounter intense battles early.

Exo 13:17  And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:

After the defeat of the Canaanites, Perizzites and Jerusalem, Judah began to fight the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountains and the valleys. These are much stronger than the enemies initially encountered. Among the Canaanites in Hebron were the giants (Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai), but God granted them victory. The giants in the land represent the false doctrines which have become our idols and the sins that easily beset us. When David slew Goliath a type of the giants in the land, he used a sling and a stone to do that.

1Sa 17:50  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

To understand the spiritual meaning of the sling and the stone as tools for defeating the giants, let’s turn to this scripture:

Pro 26:8  As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.

A sling is only useful if a stone can easily be catapulted. Constraining a stone in a sling in the biblical sense means giving honour to a fool. The flip side of this verse will therefore mean that we give honour to the wise – Jesus (remember the scriptures are focused on Christ who is the only wise God, our savior) with a sling and a freely moving stone just as David used a sling and a stone. Thus, giving honour to the Lord is what David used to defeat Goliath, the giant. What does it mean to honour God?

Jud 1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Isa 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 

We honour God by obeying him and not speaking our own words, not finding our own pleasure and not focusing on our own ways.  That is what will ensure our victory over the giants in our land just as David defeated Goliath.

Jdg 1:11  And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher: 
Jdg 1:12  And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
Jdg 1:13  And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 
Jdg 1:14  And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? 
Jdg 1:15  And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. 

In Joshua 15:15-19, the same story is recounted of how Caleb offered his daughter to Othniel for defeating the city of Debir. The repetition implies there are significant lessons to be learned. There are several accounts of how the Israelites defeated Debir in the bible.

Jos 10:38  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:
Jos 10:39  And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.
Jos 11:21  And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.

Some of the Anakims (giants) lived in Debir. This town Debir was defeated by Joshua earlier. However, it is likely that it came under the Canaanites rule again as a result of Israel’s sins against God.  That is what Peter describes as dogs going back to their vomit. In any case, it has to be defeated again by Othniel who is a kind of God’s elect.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Othniel was offered an incentive of marrying Achsah, Caleb’s daughter, if he was able to defeat Debir. As God guides us to die daily to the flesh, we will be provided with the virtuous wife represented by Achsah (the bride of Christ who is the true church) who will bring about the upper springs and the nether springs. The upper and nether springs represents the full counsel of God’s words. In other words, when we come into the heavenly Jerusalem, the true bride of Christ, we will be endowed with the counsel of God as we feast on His words.

Pro 18:22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the LORD.

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

The favor here in Proverbs 18:22 is for your eyes to be opened to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven as we find the true church (wife). This was the incentive for Othniel (a type of elect) as he waged war against Debir (the enemies within).

Pro 31:10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Pro 31:26  She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

The virtuous woman here is the New Jerusalem, and the law of kindness represents the law of the spirit of life which sets us free from the law of sin and death which we were subject to when we did not know the Lord.

If the Lord permits, we will continue next week to end Chapter 1 of Judges.

[Next study in this series is here.]

“Conquest and Failure”

August 31, 2020

The Awesome Hands series is now at the book of Judges. We have seen the blessings the Lord has given Israel so far, but things will change when the old man dies.

The process of the old man dying is always with us. Moses had to die before the crossing of the Jordan could take place. Now, Joshua must die before the next phase of the relationship with Israel and the Lord can move along. These are just examples of types and shadows of the old man dying and the new being born into the next “phase” of that particular story.

Jdg 1:1 KJV  Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
Jdg 1:2 KJV  And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
Jdg 1:3 KJV  And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.
Jdg 1:4 KJV  And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

It is so true, and the point of the title of this series I’ve been doing, that the hands of the Lord are in the workings of all things if only we would stop to marvel at it.

Here we read the same story, written in this generation of God’s people from which these events took place, but it is the same story with different details.

We are God’s people, chosen to do something for the kingdom of God during our lifetimes, our aion, for this “age” and on the day of the Lord, and when you look at what happens, it simply points to God being in control of it all. Judah here is a part of the same story, and that is how we can relate to it in the sense of “us and them”, “me and thee”, head and body, above and below, Jesus Christ and another Jesus, Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau, Judah and the rest of his brothers.

Judah goes up against the Canaanites first, just like it happens with Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He goes before us in the fight.

Gen 49:8 KJV  Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Gen 49:9 KJV  Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

Rev 5:4 KJV  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5 KJV  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

The Lion must be changed into something else for the plan of God to work, and therefore the Lion is “raised” into the Lamb.

Rev 5:6 KJV  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Rev 5:7 KJV  And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
Rev 5:8 KJV  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9 KJV  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 KJV  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

These two aspects are speaking about the Lord from two different angles.

Joh 1:29 KJV  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

So, from the beginning the Lord has been with Judah.

Jdg 1:5 KJV  And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
Jdg 1:6 KJV  But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
Jdg 1:7 KJV  And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
Jdg 1:8 KJV  Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
Jdg 1:9 KJV  And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.
Jdg 1:10 KJV  And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

The enemies of Judah are completely destroyed in type and shadow. Not only are they conquered, but the king reaps what he sows because Judah requires the king to cut off two thumbs and two big toes. Without big toes, your walk is always affected, and you can barely do anything with no thumbs.

The “walk” of the enemies of God and the “work”, that which is done with working hands, are now controlled by God.

There is so much symbolism being given here in this first introduction to Judah in the book of Judges.

The “old man”, King Adonibezek, goes to Jerusalem to die. The “children” of Judah, spiritually you and I, are the ones who are being used for judgment. These are just types and shadows to show us who we are in the Lord from the foundation of Israel on through from the foundation of the world.

There is a new Jerusalem and an old Jerusalem, one above and one below, and they also strive against each other.

You can see this mini-story here, even though this story is talking about different physical nations. The “children of Judah” go to the mountains, valleys, and south and conquer as they go.

They even slay three more giants. Giants were so common that they are casually named like everyone else here in scripture, “Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai”.

It is clear that the Lord is with Judah, so He is against something or someone else. The next mention of hand is found towards the end of the chapter, but we will read the context of things on the way to getting there.

Jdg 1:11 KJV  And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher:
Jdg 1:12 KJV  And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
Jdg 1:13 KJV  And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
Jdg 1:14 KJV  And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?
Jdg 1:15 KJV  And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.
Jdg 1:16 KJV  And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
Jdg 1:17 KJV  And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.
Jdg 1:18 KJV  Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.
Jdg 1:19 KJV  And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

The Lord gave Judah many victories, but for some reason, the inhabitants of the valley were not driven out. Maybe these inhabitants become a thorn in the flesh of Judah, spiritually speaking.

When God is with you who can be against you?

From the beginning of this chapter, God has been showing us that He indeed favors certain people for His continuation of His kingdom. While some tribes in Israel could not conquer those around them, Judah and Simeon, and a few other tribes, succeeded overall.

Jdg 1:20 KJV  And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.
Jdg 1:21 KJV  And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
Jdg 1:22 KJV  And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.
Jdg 1:23 KJV  And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)
Jdg 1:24 KJV  And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.
Jdg 1:25 KJV  And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.
Jdg 1:26 KJV  And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

Speaking of marveling at things the Lord does, when the spies saw a man come out, those spies probably didn’t know this guy would be the future establisher of a opposing city named Luz?

When we follow the breadcrumbs, we see that Luz is only used a few times in scripture.

Jdg 1:26 (KJV+)  And the man^H376 went^H1980 into the land^H776 of the Hittites^H2850, and built^H1129 a city^H5892, and called^H7121 the name^H8034 thereof Luz^H3870: which^H1931 is the name^H8034 thereof unto^H5704 this^H2088 day^H3117.

Jdg 1:26 KJV  And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.

H3870
lûz
Total KJV Occurrences: 8
luz, 8
Gen_28:19, Gen_35:6, Gen_48:3, Jos_16:2, Jos_18:13 (2), Jdg_1:23, Jdg_1:26

H3870
lûz
looz

Probably from H3869 (as growing there); Luz, the name of two places in Palestine: – Luz.

Total KJV occurrences: 8

The Hebrew word H3869 is the root word of Luz.

H3869
lûz
looz

Probably of foreign origin; some kind of nut tree, perhaps the almond: – hazel.

Total KJV occurrences: 1

It is used one time in scripture.

H3869
lûz
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
hazel, 1
Gen_30:37 

There is a certain story that is meant to show the simplicity there is in the Lord and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is fairly memorable once you have heard it, but in case you haven’t, I am going to read a little of it out of Genesis 30:37.

This is known as the prosperity of Jacob. Nothing captures the word of God like the Word of God, so I am going to read some of these verses pertaining to the only time we see the root of the word “Luz” used in scripture.

It has to do with the separation of the property of the Lord, us, as opposed to the separation of the property that is of the “them” of the world. Yes, the Lord favors one versus the other.

Gen 30:25 KJV  And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
Gen 30:26 KJV  Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
Gen 30:27 KJV  And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.
Gen 30:28 KJV  And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
Gen 30:29 KJV  And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
Gen 30:30 KJV  For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?
Gen 30:31 KJV  And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock:
Gen 30:32 KJV  I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
Gen 30:33 KJV  So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.
Gen 30:34 KJV  And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
Gen 30:35 KJV  And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
Gen 30:36 KJV  And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Gen 30:37 KJV  And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
Gen 30:38 KJV  And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.
Gen 30:39 KJV  And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
Gen 30:40 KJV  And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle.
Gen 30:41 KJV  And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
Gen 30:42 KJV  But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
Gen 30:43 KJV  And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

Though the Lord shows us favors, he still gives us our “Luz”, our thorn in the flesh. Early in our walk we need Luz, but Luz later is sent packing and stays a thorn in our side afterward. It is because Luz is still the “anointed of the Lord.”

I say this because king David points out just who “Luz” is.

1Sa 26:7 KJV  So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.
1Sa 26:8 KJV  Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.
1Sa 26:9 KJV  And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD’S anointed, and be guiltless?
1Sa 26:10 KJV  David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

David could have killed him here, but he lets him go.

David even wept for Saul and Jonathan.

2Sa 1:17 KJV  And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:

This rod Jacob used is the root of Luz.

Jdg 1:22 KJV  And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.
Jdg 1:23 KJV  And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)

Bethel is Luz, and Bethel had such a presence that in the bible there are several times that the house of God is the same word house of Bethel.

H1008
bêytḣ’êl
Total KJV Occurrences: 76
bethel, 66
Gen_12:8 (2), Gen_13:3 (2), Gen_28:19, Gen_31:13, Gen_35:1, Gen_35:3, Gen_35:6, Gen_35:8, Gen_35:15-16 (2), Jos_7:2, Jos_8:9, Jos_8:12, Jos_8:17, Jos_12:9, Jos_12:16, Jos_16:1-2 (2), Jos_18:13, Jdg_1:22-23 (3), Jdg_4:5, Jdg_21:19 (2), 1Sa_7:16, 1Sa_10:3, 1Sa_13:2, 1Sa_30:27, 1Ki_12:29, 1Ki_12:32-33 (3), 1Ki_13:1, 1Ki_13:4, 1Ki_13:10-11 (3), 1Ki_13:32, 2Ki_2:2-3 (3), 2Ki_2:23, 2Ki_10:29, 2Ki_17:28, 2Ki_23:4, 2Ki_23:15, 2Ki_23:17, 2Ki_23:19, 1Ch_7:28, 2Ch_13:19, Ezr_2:28, Neh_7:32, Neh_11:31, Jer_48:13, Hos_10:15, Hos_12:4, Amo_3:14, Amo_5:4-6 (4), Amo_7:10, Amo_7:13

god, 5
Jdg_20:18, Jdg_20:26, Jdg_20:31, Zec_7:2 (2)

house, 5
Jdg_20:18, Jdg_20:26, Jdg_20:31, Zec_7:2 (2)

Jdg 20:18 KJV  And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

Jdg 20:26 KJV  Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

Jdg 20:31 KJV  And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

Zec 7:1 KJV  And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;

Zec 7:2 KJV  When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,

Yes, indeed, the Lord always works out His anointing on those whom He sees fit. I’d day this man was anointed and favored of the Lord to be the one coming toward the spies when he did.

He helps the spies and doesn’t get slaughtered, but is also used to set up a city.

The Lord is always keeping His plan which He has created in order to bring about His kingdom the way He sees fit. Our lives are just another puzzle piece in that plan.

“The Covenant Renewal”

[Study Posted August 26, 2020]

Today’s study finds us nearing the end of the Awesome Hands series pertaining to “hands” mentioned in the book of Joshua.

Though we will span several of the last chapters in Joshua, most of the study will be a recap on what the Lord has done for Israel in the context of the book of Joshua.

First, we have the Levites coming to the leaders of Israel to request that the lands promised to them be given to them. This is the first mentioning of the word hand for this study which is found in Joshua 21.

Jos 21:1  Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;
Jos 21:2  And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.
Jos 21:3  And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.

The Levites requested the land that have been promised, and this sets up the rest of the chapter to be an inventory of sorts of all the dividing up of the lands to the respective tribes to whom the Lord has promised land.

Jos 21:8  And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

Jos 21:41  All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.
Jos 21:42  These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities.
Jos 21:43  And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
Jos 21:44  And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
Jos 21:45  There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Obviously all that is transpiring here in this chapter is the culmination of all the events that happened up until this point.

This is the bookend on a very long and arduous process the Lord started Israel on when He first called forth Abraham and promised Abraham a people coming forth from him to serve the Lord.

What we need to note is that this had to be a big event for the people. Even if everyone wasn’t at this event or attentive to it, this was an event that would change the way Israel lived as Israel forevermore.

Next, we move to chapter 22, and we continue the story of the dividing of the lands, but we do so from the perspective of dealing with the tribes that were left on the other side of the Jordan. Remember, not all of the tribes crossed over the Jordan.

Jos 22:1  Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
Jos 22:2  And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:
Jos 22:3  Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.
Jos 22:4  And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.
Jos 22:5  But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Jos 22:6  So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.
Jos 22:7  Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them,
Jos 22:8  And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
Jos 22:9  And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

After this meeting takes place, the eastern tribes on the “other side of Jordan” depart and go back to their lands. However, on their way over to cross the river back home, they erect an altar. This does not go very well. I will read these next verses from the ESV translation.

Jos 22:10 ESV  And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.
Jos 22:11 ESV  And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.”
Jos 22:12 ESV  And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.
Jos 22:13 ESV  Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
Jos 22:14 ESV  and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.
Jos 22:15 ESV  And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,
Jos 22:16 ESV  “Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the LORD?

What I find interesting is that the tribes on “this side of Jordan” find it a “breach of faith” that has been committed against God and Israel for building an altar. So strong is this belief that they were ready to go to war no sooner than the Lord had given them rest and peace. This is right after the end of chapter 21.

Jos 21:44  And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
Jos 21:45  There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

It tells us a lot about the state of the church and how we act initially after being given peace and life in the Lord. We immediately want to lord it over others and declare ourselves as speakers on the Lord’s behalf.

Aren’t the eastern tribes part of Israel? Therefore, are they calling war on themselves as claimed by these other tribes?

Continuing in verse 17, we see some of the details of the concerns of the western tribes:

Jos 22:17 ESV  Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,
Jos 22:18 ESV  that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
Jos 22:19 ESV  But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD’s land where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.
Jos 22:20 ESV  Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’”
Jos 22:21 ESV  Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
Jos 22:22 ESV  “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today
Jos 22:23 ESV  for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance.
Jos 22:24 ESV  No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?
Jos 22:25 ESV  For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD.
Jos 22:26 ESV  Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice,
Jos 22:27 ESV  but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.”’
Jos 22:28 ESV  And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.”’
Jos 22:29 ESV  Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

I know those are a lot of verses to read, but one can’t get the same feel for the intensity of what is happening by just saying it in one’s own words as to what was inspired to be written down by the Lord.

It is revealing that the first instinct of the larger group of Israel was to assume that the smaller group, made up of the eastern tribes of Israel, was rebelling against the Lord.

It is quite apparent that these eastern tribes were very wise and right on the money with what would be said about them in the future. It is being said about them right here in this story!

In a nutshell, these eastern tribes feared that the Jordan would serve as both a physical and MENTAL boundary to the western tribes as to whether the eastern tribes were really a part of Israel, and they were right to be concerned as proven with this very story.

They simply did something that was not understood by the rest of the tribes, and immediately the western tribes prepared for war.

In truth, the eastern tribes were wanting to make sure that Israel was always united.

Jos 22:30 ESV  When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes.
Jos 22:31 ESV  And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD.”
Jos 22:32 ESV  Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.
Jos 22:33 ESV  And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled.
Jos 22:34 ESV  The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

This story is a great example of why jumping to conclusions can be so devastating. The Lord has ultimately caused these eastern tribes to build this altar. Phinehas concludes that the hand of the Lord is stayed because the breach of faith they ASSUMED happened had not HAPPENED.

However, the staying of the Lord’s hand happened because the western tribes heard out what the eastern tribes had to say. The eastern tribes NEVER INTENDED to build the altar for the purposes the western tribes accused them. Even with the altar built, the hand of the Lord would not have come against Israel.

We know this to be true because it is recorded as such:

Jos 22:22 ESV  “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today

We find ourselves in the last chapter of Joshua that has “hand” or “hands” mentioned in it. This chapter is a good reminder of where it is we have come from, and as a result, what it is we are to do as a result of our remembrance of who delivered us. However, just remembering the work of the Lord in our lives is not enough.

Idle hands are the devil’s playground, as it is said, so let us not be spiritually idle. While this phrase is not exactly found in the KJV or other translations, the concept very much is active throughout scripture.

2Th 3:10 ESV  For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
2Th 3:11 ESV  For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.
2Th 3:12 ESV  Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

1Ti 5:8 KJV  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
1Ti 5:9 KJV  Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,
1Ti 5:10 KJV  Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.
1Ti 5:11 KJV  But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
1Ti 5:12 KJV  Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
1Ti 5:13 KJV  And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

Pro 10:4 KJV  He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Pro 10:5 KJV  He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

Pro 18:9 KJV  He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

Ecc 10:18 KJV  By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

Joshua is now going to remind Israel of where they have been brought and what they are to do with this newly found peace and freedom in the Lord.

Jos 24:1 ESV  Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God.
Jos 24:2 ESV  And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
Jos 24:3 ESV  Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac.
Jos 24:4 ESV  And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
Jos 24:5 ESV  And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out.
Jos 24:6 ESV  “‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.
Jos 24:7 ESV  And when they cried to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time.
Jos 24:8 ESV  Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.
Jos 24:9 ESV  Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,
Jos 24:10 ESV  but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand.
Jos 24:11 ESV  And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand.
Jos 24:12 ESV  And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.
Jos 24:13 ESV  I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

Fear of the Lord means a lot of things, and there has been much written on this topic. Indeed, we have lost brothers and sisters in this fellowship because of this very topic of fearing the Lord.

Nonetheless, the scripture does not say to fear the Lord in vain. We should be concerned with our standing in the Lord above all other things if we desire to be among the faithful elect of God.

The truth is, as we covered in the last study, that the Lord gives the gift of Faith. It is also the Lord that removes His gift as He wills it. So, those that are called, chosen and faithful to the end are only full of faith, to the end because the Lord has caused them to overcome their TRIALS OF FAITH with the faith the Lord has granted them!

Rev 2:14 KJV  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

Heb 3:1 KJV  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 KJV  Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

Rev 17:14 KJV  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Heb 12:2 KJV  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Here then is our instruction, coming by way of the example set for us by Joshua to the Israelites:

Jos 24:14 KJV  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Jos 24:15 KJV  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua starts off by telling the people to put away the gods they are worshipping. Those gods are from their forefathers and from those that came before them. For us, we came from the old man in us. We came from that, but we have also been born again. That way of worshipping the old man is dead and buried in spiritual baptism.

Jos 24:16 KJV  And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
Jos 24:17 KJV  For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
Jos 24:18 KJV  And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
Jos 24:19 KJV  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

Joshua is telling Israel they cannot serve the Lord because they are obviously STILL serving other gods. Isn’t that amazing?

So, if after ALL that we have known to happen in the bible, up to this chapter of Joshua, has happened and the people still worship others gods, what should our conclusion be about the possibility that we, too, are being warned to “choose this day whom you will serve”?

Jos 24:20 KJV  If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
Jos 24:21 KJV  And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.
Jos 24:22 KJV  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.
Jos 24:23 KJV  Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.
Jos 24:24 KJV  And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
Jos 24:25 KJV  So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

The place this covenant is made is in Shechem, which means ridge. The root word in Hebrew is neck, or specifically, the place the burden is placed on.

H7927
shekem
shek-em’

The same as H7926; ridge; Shekem, a place in Palestine: – Shechem.
Total KJV occurrences: 49

H7926
shekem
shek-em’

From H7925; the neck (between the shoulders) as the place of burdens; figuratively the spur of a hill: – back, X consent, portion, shoulder.
Total KJV occurrences: 22

H7925
shâkam
shaw-kam’

A primitive root; properly to incline (the shoulder to a burden); but used only as denominative from H7926; literally to load up (on the back of man or beast), that is, to start early in the morning: – (arise, be up, get [oneself] up, rise up) early (betimes), morning.

Total KJV occurrences: 65

The place that Joshua tells Israel to ‘choose this day whom you will serve’ is in the place of ‘burden’, but it also means to literally load up and start early in the morning. This doesn’t sound like someone who is spiritually idle. This sounds like someone who is ready to fear the Lord and do the service of the house of God.

Joshua’s call was to put strange gods away. For us, we don’t have to worry about worshiping false gods of the Romans or the Greeks or any other religions or culture because that would obviously be wrong.

Our true concern is much more subtle and is with worshiping the god who sits on the throne of God showing himself to be God.

2Th 2:1 KJV  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 KJV  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 KJV  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 KJV  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

We must be diligent to examine ourselves daily to confirm that we are fearing the Lord and putting away any other god that exalts itself against the one True God. That is our covenant and calling.

Download Discussion

Awesome Hands – part 167

“The Sun stood still”

April 1, 2020

Our study today finds us joining Joshua and Israel in chapter 10 of Joshua. In this chapter, we will find that the Lord does truly hear us when we pray to Him whether He is answering how we’d prefer or in accordance with what the Lord has planned for us.

This should comfort us because the Lord always has the “new man in us” at the forefront of doing what is best for the new man to continually emerge in us. In other words, Jesus will be increasing, and we will decrease, daily, and that means we are more and more like Him as we experience the things the Lord has prepared for us in our lives.

To set the stage for the study today, I am going to read from a section of the previous study starting in Joshua 9:10-13.

Jos 9:10  And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.
Jos 9:11  Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
Jos 9:12  This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:
Jos 9:13  And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.

Our physical senses are so easily deceived. What we see is not always what is there. You can’t fault the Israelites for seeing with their eyes, and holding in their hands, the moldy bread, spent bottles, and used up shoes and clothes.

The fault is in the conclusions they drew  from what they were SEEING.

Moldy bread does not happen due to a long journey, though that can be one reason. Moldy bread happens from, wait for it……., mold.

If an angel suddenly appeared to you, or you suddenly “heard the voice of God”, what would be your first instinct? Naturally, our instinct would be to instantly worship.  However, our first spiritual instinct, Lord willing, would to be to listen for the voice of the True Shepherd in the voice of the one who suddenly shows themselves or speaks.

Today, we are continuing to see the consequences of the union that Israel made with Gibeon. As it turns out, Gibeon was a “great city” and they were fairly threatening to their neighbors because their soldiers were highly respected.

As a result, the other kings decided they must band together to take on Gibeon and their new found alliance.

Jos 10:1  Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;
Jos 10:2  That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
Jos 10:3  Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
Jos 10:4  Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
Jos 10:5  Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.

Given that there was an agreement of peace made between Gibeon and Israel, the other kings then feel threatened due to fear. Fear is a very powerful emotion as it turns out. Fear causes many things to happen in our minds and hearts with most of those things being quite irrational.

When talking about the current coronavirus scare we are going through as a collective world today, I often comment that the fear people have of not having a job, food or shelter will lead many into doing whatever it takes to help themselves and their loved ones survive the current situation.

Getting COVID-19 creates a fear in people that they are going to die when most of the people who get it will have mild cold-like symptoms. That isn’t to say that COVID-19 isn’t deadly for some, because it certainly is, but when you see the numbers, graphs and charts, COVID-19 is being survived by most people.

However, the collapse of societal norms will be what most come to fear and react to.

Bringing this back to the study, these 5 kings fear the union between Gibeon, who they already consider mighty, and Israel who have already proven that they are capable of waging and winning wars.

This fear will ultimately lead to the utter destruction of these 5 kingdoms.

Jos 10:6  And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
Jos 10:7  So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.
Jos 10:8  And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
Jos 10:9  Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

While reading Joshua 10:9, I noticed just how closely it is worded to how Jesus comes upon those whom He is going to visit “in the night”.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Yet, that isn’t the full “picture” of what the visitation of the Lord means for those who it means something to, i.e. the children of the Lord, the children of the light.

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

Is it possible that we can apply this knowledge to any situation we encounter today including the current unrest we see the world over with COVID-19?

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Notice that “they” is being contrasted with “ye” or “you”. “They” are being compared with the children of light.

1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

It is always interesting to ponder why certain things are said next to other things that are said in scripture. Notice that those that sleep are being compared with the same group who are also drunken.

Well, we can become drunk on wine. In this case, because we are talking about the day of the Lord and His visitation in the night, we can see the linkage between the day of the Lord and the wrath of the wine of God.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

In the study titled, “Confidence in the Lord”, we talked about the will of God being directly connected to thinking and speaking as Christ does when He knows that He must go on to be crucified. We too must always have the same mindset of  “thy will be done”. This is what allows us to continue the process described in 1 Timothy 5:8-11.

1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

We are going to need to have the protection of the Lord in order to get through this war in our heavens that we are in. Faith, hope, and love are mentioned together here for good reason. All of these attributes, our pieces of armor as described, are what protect us from the wiles of the devil and everything else that is going on around us.

The Lord fights for us, so who can be against us? He clothes us with all of the armor that we need. Under that armor, He clothes us with His righteousness, therefore who can stand against the Lord?

The day we are reading about is like no other before or after it. Spiritually, this day of the Lord being visited upon His enemies is the start of the destruction of the old man in those who are visited.

Jos 10:10  And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
Jos 10:11  And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
Jos 10:12  Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
Jos 10:13  And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
Jos 10:14  And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

The Lord fighting for Israel has never changed. It fought for physical Israel, and He continues to fight for spiritual Israel … those Jews are Jews inwardly.

Jos 10:16  But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.
Jos 10:17  And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.
Jos 10:18  And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:
Jos 10:19  And stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the LORD your God hath delivered them into your hand.
Jos 10:20  And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities.
Jos 10:21  And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.
Jos 10:22  Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.
Jos 10:23  And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
Jos 10:24  And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
Jos 10:25  And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
Jos 10:26  And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
Jos 10:27  And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.
Jos 10:28  And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho.

After reading all of these verses, it is easy to conclude that the nations and kings whom the Lord sends us to, for slaughter, are indeed slaughtered. However, as with all things we are considering in scripture, we should be looking to the inside if the cup, toward the heavenly places, and taking the wrath of the Lord to those places within us.

When we read about these southern Canaanite kings, we should be seeing these kings within ourselves. How do we recognize a king or a giant “within the land”?

Well, I am not the best person to consult to figure this out for you. The Lord is the best person to consult because He will reveal to us what it is that needs to be adjusted. It is all up to Him whether or not a giant or a king is slain (they represent the same thing), but we are still in the FIGHT. How do I know this to be true?

Jos 10:25  And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

The Lord will do the killing THROUGH you to those enemies He has sent you to fight. This is no different than “work out your OWN salvation with fear and trembling”.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

Are we not talking about salvation? Does this not sound like the same thing with only the timeline and characters being different? You versus Joshua and your enemies versus the southern Canaanite kings?

Let me remind you:

Jos 10:9  Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Joshua came “unto them suddenly at night” tells us that this event is much more than Joshua killing these kings in war. This is about how the salvation process works in the children of the day, the children of the light.

It is the trial of our faith that is precious to the Lord. The “faith part” He gives out freely to those whom He gives it to, but it is the TRIAL and the OVERCOMING which helps that Faith be ALIVE.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold thatperisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24  Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas 2:25  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jas 2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Here is this moment in time where the Faith of Israel, in type, was accompanied by works. Now, I do not read the following verses to bore you . I read them to help solidify just how “on your side” the Lord is. However, He is on our side for the benefit of bringing good from evil in our lives.

Jos 10:29  Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah:
Jos 10:30  And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho.
Jos 10:31  And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it:
Jos 10:32  And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah.
Jos 10:33  Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
Jos 10:34  And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it:
Jos 10:35  And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.
Jos 10:36  And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it:
Jos 10:37  And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein.
Jos 10:38  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:
Jos 10:39  And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.
Jos 10:40  So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
Jos 10:41  And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.
Jos 10:42  And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.
Jos 10:43  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promises toward us. He will fight for us, but it will be THROUGH us. We are a part of the process according to what He has willed for us.

Our battles are MENTAL and SPIRITUAL. Our fights are in the heavens. We must always be diligent in consulting with the Word of God when we need to gain more Faith or strength so that we can continue to fight the good fight.

The Sun of righteousness still fights for us today. This is obviously something that happened physically for Joshua (the sun standing still along with the moon), but it is something that happens even today spiritually in type because we are the children of the Light and the Lord fights for us to overcome the world in us.

Audio Links

Awesome Hands - part 161: “The mighty hand of the Lord” - Discussion

1 file(s) 20.76 MB

Download

Awesome Hands – part 161

“The mighty hand of the Lord”

December 2, 2019

In our previous study we found ourselves seeing ourselves in the story of Rahab and the 2 spies which she helped escape from king Jericho’s men.

In this study, we are going to skip forward a few chapters to Joshua 4. It is here that we finally see the moment the Israelites cross over into the promised land and mark the occasion with stones for a generational memorial.

This marking of the passage through the river Jordan was a command from the Lord via Joshua to the people of Israel.

Jos 4:1  And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
Jos 4:2  Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
Jos 4:3  And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

Joshua is told to appoint twelve men, one from each tribe, to take a stone from the Jordan where the priests carrying the ark stood, and place those stones in the lodging place.

Jos 4:4  Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
Jos 4:5  And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
Jos 4:6  That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
Jos 4:7  Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

If you are like me, you may be wondering if these stones are still in this place, and the answer is no. It is also an interesting study in and of itself to look into the word “forever” as mentioned here is verse 7, but I will just cover a brief point.

The word used here in English as “forever” is a combination of two words. Those two words are H5704, making the “for” part, and H5769 making the “ever” part.

What is interesting is that H5769, “ever” is the Hebrew word “olam”.

H5769

‛ôlâm    ‛ôlâm

o-lawm', o-lawm'

From H5956; properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity; frequentative adverbially (especially with prepositional prefix) always: - always (-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, [n-]) ever (-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end). Compare H5331, H5703.

Total KJV occurrences: 438

The root of “olam” is H5976 which means veil, hide or concealed.

H5956

‛âlam

aw-lam'

A primitive root; to veil from sight, that is, conceal (literally or figuratively): -    X any ways, blind, dissembler, hide (self), secret (thing).

Total KJV occurrences: 28

H5956

‛âlam

Total KJV Occurrences: 27

hid, 11

Lev_4:13, Lev_5:3-4 (2), Num_5:13, 1Ki_10:3, 2Ki_4:27, 2Ch_9:2, Job_6:16, Job_28:21, Eze_22:26, Nah_3:11

hide, 8

Lev_20:4, Deu_22:1, Deu_22:3-4 (2), Psa_55:1, Isa_1:15, Isa_58:7, Lam_3:56

hideth, 2

Job_42:3, Pro_28:27

secret, 2

Psa_90:8, Ecc_12:14

blind, 1

1Sa_12:3

dissemblers, 1

Psa_26:3-4 (2)

hidden, 1

Lev_5:2

hidest, 1

Psa_10:1

“And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever” is just telling us that God veils His purpose for all things, for only His children to discover and remember.

Obviously, this is not exactly what is said in English, but we know that the physical stones are no longer setup as a memorial for the physical Jews to ask their fathers about, so we can conclude that there is another meaning that is hidden within these passages.

The Israelites are going to do as instructed and gather the stones up.

Jos 4:8  And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
Jos 4:9  And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
Jos 4:10  For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
Jos 4:11  And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

This is one of those miracles that captures the imagination. It had to be a momentous occasion for the people of Israel. Yet, we know the miracles done to, for and around the people of God soon wane in their strength to hold their attention.

This isn’t going to happen right away, but the Lord did want to mark the occasion in His own way, and He did so with stones.

Stones have been used throughout scripture for many reasons whether to erect an altar or to mark an occasion such as we read about here. However, the chief cornerstone always comes to mind when speaking about stones in general.

1Pe 2:4  To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1Pe 2:6  Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
1Pe 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

The foundation of needing to cross the river Jordan is truly needed for all Christians. It is spiritual for us of course, but we are living stones which follow after THE Living Stone.

It is the same Greek word mentioned above for the word “living” and “lively”, G2198.

The river Jordan is where John the Baptist preached all around it (Luk 3:3), and it is the river Jordan that Jesus was baptized (Mar 1:9-10).

It is straightway coming out of the Jordan water that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove unto Jesus; therefore, the symbolism of the Jordan and the baptism in it is something that all Christians should recognize.

Just like with the foundation of the church by the 12 disciples, these twelve priests established a “monument of stones” which let everyone know that they themselves had witnessed this event and were letting everyone know this by their actions with the stones.

1Jn 1:1  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

As such and keeping in context of our story in Joshua today, we need to recognize that war is imminent and to be prepared for when we are talking about the Jordan river.

Jos 4:12  And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh,     passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:
Jos 4:13  About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto   battle, to the plains of Jericho.

Jesus came out of the river and immediately was taken into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The children of Israel show us this in type and shadow as they enter into the promised land.

What does this mean for us as Christians? Are we not supposed to be ready for war as well?

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

Are we not to be ready to fight?

Jos 10:24  And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
Jos 10:25  And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

2Ti 4:6  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
2Ti 4:7  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Do we not wrestle?

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Like the children of Israel, when we cross over into the promised land we are not simply going to have it easy-peasy. We are going to have to wage war against the inhabitants.

Only, the enemies we face are within ourselves AND within others. This is what is meant by we shall be hated by all men for His names sake.

Luk 21:14  Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
Luk 21:15  For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Luk 21:16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

We must be ready to enter into the promised land and lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us so that we can do the will of God.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the awesome hands 160 study given on Saturday, I mentioned Faith a lot. The way we make war and run the race for the prize of the makr of the high calling is to keep our focus on Jesus whom we are “looking unto”.

When we faulter and look away from Jesus for just a second, we sink into the sea of humanity of which we have come from.

Mat 14:24  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Mat 14:25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mat 14:26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Mat 14:27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Mat 14:28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Mat 14:29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Mat 14:32  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

If we want the wind to cease, we must “come into the ship”, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a storm happening. It just means the tossing to and frow doesn’t affect is and cause us to go off course.

Jos 4:14  On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
Jos 4:15  And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
Jos 4:16  Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
Jos 4:17  Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
Jos 4:18  And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

Isn’t it amazing that when we listen to the voice of the Lord, the water takes its perfect course? It is the wind the stirs up or hold back the water.

It was the wind that was contrary to the waves that caused the waves to go to and fro and knock the ship around. It was the Lord who contained the waters of the Jordan in their place until the time was right for the waters to “return to their place”.

It is always the Lord who controls the wind and the water, so what are we concerned about that causes us to fear others when we should be fearing the Lord?

Jos 4:19  And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
Jos 4:20  And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
Jos 4:21  And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
Jos 4:22  Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
Jos 4:23  For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
Jos 4:24  That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.

Notice the message is still the same for us today. “When your children shall ask their fathers in the time to come, saying, What mean these stones?”, it is then that we say it is the Lord who dried up the waters of the Jordan before you ….. that all the people of the earth might know the mighty hand of the Lord! 

We are constantly to remind ourselves, and the children of God, that He is in control of everything. He controls the earth, the water, and the wind. He controls it all.

That is to say, He controls everything we are made of both physically and spiritually. We are made of earth and water and His spirit, His wind, and we are in a good mighty hand.