Sometimes it seems everything goes against us. People refuse to help us finish a project. Our best friend makes decisions that violate our convictions. An agreement with someone comes back to bite us. It’s tempting in times like these to withdraw, give up and pull out of the battle. In this study, we receive encouragement to continue moving in the right direction because someone fights for us.
The king of Jerusalem formed an alliance with five Amorite kings to attack Gibeon. He feared Israel because they destroyed Jericho and Ai plus Gibeon was a great city with mighty men (Josh. 10:1-5). Joshua fulfilled his commitment to help Gibeon because of a prior covenant made with them.
Joshua and his valiant warriors relayed God’s word to Gibeon that they would completely defeat this coalition. No need to be afraid (Josh. 10:7-8). How often do we lose heart when the going gets tough or obstacles confront our path?Joshua believed God’s promise. The Lord fought for Israel and Gibeon by sending huge hailstones from heaven. More died from them than those Israel killed with the sword (Josh. 10:11). When we keep our commitments, God comes to our aid.
Not only to God bring huge hailstones, but the sun stood still in this same battle to provide necessary daylight for Israel to defeat all their enemies (Josh. 10:12-13). Praise God for His supernatural victories in front of others so others will be encouraged to trust Him to fulfill their destinies. He can even supersede the laws of nature to assist in the spiritual battle if we call upon Him. God provides sufficient time so we can pray through to the end and see Him be victorious (Josh. 10:14).
In Josh. 10:25, Joshua repeated a promise he heard earlier from Moses to be strong and courageous (Josh. 1:6-7,9). In addition to prayer, meditation on the word of God is critical in being victorious in battle (Josh. 1:8).
Joshua and army utterly destroyed every person and left no survivor throughout the land. They captured all these kings and their lands at one time because the Lord fought for Israel (Josh. 10:28-40). For the body of Christ to take our cities from Satan’s grasp, we have to be mission-focused and united in prayer. Who are the kings in our cities? It’s the philosophies that guides peoples’ minds like materialism and sensuality.
God calls the church of Jesus Christ to take peoples’ thought processes captive to the obedience of Christ by teaching a Christian worldview so they follow Him (2 Cor. 10:3-5; 11:3). We do this by making disciples in every nation and cultural sphere (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15).
In Joshua case, they captured the land from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and from Goshen to Gibeon (Josh. 10:41). We aren’t fighting these battles by ourselves because God empowers us (Josh. 10:42).
Remember that God provides the necessary resources to defeat our spiritual enemies in making disciples, even if it means hailstones or the sun standing still (Matt. 28:18,20b; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8).
Application:
1. Watch John Piper video that lasts less than 4
minutes to motivate you to make disciples. 2. Memorize 2 Tim. 2:1-4.
3. Begin praying for a disciple (“Timothy”) who you
can help grow in Christ.
4. If possible, invite several of your friends to pray
about finding “Timothys” so you can encourage
and be accountable to one another.
