A HOLY TEAM EFFORT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and were living near them. He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. So Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, appealed to Hoham, king of Hebron; Piram, king of Jarmuth; Japhia, king of Lachish; and Debir, king of Eglon. "Come up and help me attack Gibeon," he said, "because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites."

Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.

The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: "Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us."

So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you."

After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great victory at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

"O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon."

So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

Joshua 10:1-15

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the latter part of Joshua, chapter 9, we saw where the people of Gibeon successfully convincingly convinced Joshua and the Israelites that they were from a distant land when the truth of the matter was that they only lived a little more than twenty miles away. You’ll recall that Joshua made a treaty of peace with them, one that would ensure that Israel would not attack them but after becoming aware of their deception, he made the Gibeonites life-long servants of them and the Lord as wood cutters and water carriers.

As chapter 10 begins, we see where the agreement between Israel and the Gibeonites caused concern with the king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek, because Gibeon was “an important city, like one of the royal cities…larger than Ai (with) all its men (being) good fighters”. So we read where Jerusalem’s king “appealed to Hoham, king of Hebron; Piram, king of Jarmuth; Japhia, king of Lachish; and Debir, king of Eglon” telling them to come and “help (him) attack Gibeon…because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites."

So the “five kings of the Amorites — the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon — joined forces” and “moved up with all their troops”, taking “up positions against Gibeon” and attacking the city. In turn, the besieged Gibeonites called out for help, sending “word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal”, saying:

"Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us."

Joshua had little choice but to honor the call given the treaty he had sworn to and so we read where he left “Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men” and marched toward Gibeon. While on the way, the Lord spoke to Joshua, telling him:

"Do not be afraid of them (speaking about the forces assembled against Gibeon); I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you."

Once again, we see how the Lord instills great confidence in Joshua and the Israelites as they entered into battle. They knew ahead of time that they would be triumphant, not by their own might but the might of their God. Together, they made an unstoppable holy team with nothing beyond their doing and victory certain.

Well, the scriptures tell us that Joshua used a great strategy, traveling all night to Gibeon from Gilgal so to launch a surprise attack on the Amorite forces. For when the Israelites armies began their assault, the Lord “threw (the enemy) into confusion and Israel defeated them”, pursuing them “along the road going up to Beth Horon” and cutting them down “all the way to Azekah and Makkedah”. And as if Israel’s vicious offensive wasn’t bad enough for the Amorite armies, the Lord got involved further, hurling “large hailstones down on them from the sky”. Of interest, we see where there is a point of emphasis added that more enemy forces died from the hailstones than by way of the swords of the Israelites.

In other words, although the battle was a holy team effort between the God and His people, the majority of the credit for victory was placed where it should have been…on the Lord.

Now, that all would have been enough amazement in and of its own right but God wasn’t finished putting His divine power on full display. For we read where He made the “sun (stand) still, and the moon (stop), making the day supremely unique. In fact, the scriptures tell us that there had “never been a day like it before or since”…a day when the Lord listened to a man and honored his request after Joshua asked for the sun and moon to stop.

As we look at this scripture passage, we need to remember one very important thing about life for we never go into any day and the happenings within without our God being fully ready to go with us. In fact, as we go forth to carry out the cause and call of Christ to make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey all He commanded, we need to know we don’t go it alone. For Jesus, our Savior, gave us this promise:

“…lo I am with you even until the end of the age”. Matthew 28:20b

You see, ministry has always been a holy team effort and it ever will be. For as believers, we are always in partnership with our Lord as we serve as instruments used to accomplish His will and way. He tells us what to do through His Word and the leading of His Holy Spirit and then stands by to help and guide us as needed. He will always bring us through what He brings us to.

Friends, what an awesome assurance this is for us for when we stay connected to the Lord as we carry out His purposes daily, we see how He brings us success and victories, just as He did for Joshua and the Israelites more than 3,400 years ago. Indeed, He is just as much with His people now as He was then and so there’s no reason for us to ever fall or fail in doing anything as long as we remain spiritually tethered to the One who wants to work with us through a holy team effort so to accomplish everything He wants done

Today and every day we live, now and forever, let us give thanks that we serve a God who isn’t distant and disconnected but always with us and for us, a God who loves and values us dearly.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.