Miracles - God Does Not Break His Promises
Description
Introduction
• Last week we looked at the Gibeonite deception
• How Israel did not enquirer of the Lord but make a covenant / Treaty with the Gibeonites that the Lord had commanded can they must not do.
• They were presumptuous in not enquiring of the Lord
• How that applies to us in our daily life
Chapter 10: 1-15
• The Gibeonites were afraid of the people of God causing them to deceive them
• Now the king of Jerusalem had heard of the victories and that Gibeon had made the covenant and was afraid
• Gibeon on its own was a great city like one of the royal cities and all it's men were warriors
They had cause to fear
• J10 V 5 the 5 kings of the Amorites joined with the other kings.
• In J 2 v 10 2 Amorites kings had already been defeated east of the Jordan
• J 5v1 - fear was already in their hearts
Word sent to Gilgal where Joshua was camping
Gilgal was an important place for Israel
• Gilgal was the place of memorial (Joshua 4:20 - 12 stone from the river Jordan piled up here
• Gilgal was the place of radical obedience (Joshua 5:2-3 - circumcision took place here
• Gilgal was the place where reproach was removed (Joshua 5:9 - Reproach rolled away
• Gilgal was the place of obedience and the remembrance of salvation (Joshua 5:10- celebrated the Passover
• Gilgal was the place where the manna stopped, and they began to live of what the Promised Land provided (Joshua 5:11-12 The first time they tasted of the land flowing with milk and honey.
They leave Gilgal
It is estimated that the route to Gibeon from Gilgal was 20 mile (32km) with a 3,300 ft climb (1000m) and would have taken 8-10hrs through the night.
Do not fear for I have given them into your hands not a man of shall stand before you
• Fear takes away our ability to fight battles. Even in the face of strong enemies, Joshua was command to not fear and needed reminding.
• For Joshua, fear was unbelief – being unwilling to believe what God promised. So it is with us today
• God does His work, but He seeks to draws us into working with Him. Often God waits to see our initiative, our willingness to be a partner with Him, before He does what only He can do.
• This is not the idea that “God helps those who help themselves.”
• That's a lie the end,y would have us believe. Along with positive thinking rather than faith.
• The idea is “God wants to draw His people into partnership with Him in seeing His work done.”
• God honours Joshua for honouring the covenant with the Gibeonites
○ Even though it was against Gods instructions
○ Grace was given to Joshua even though mistakes had been made
• God honours his promise to give them the land
○ Gods promise is true irrespective of us
○ He is faith to his promise even when we are not
○ The Promise to Moses and not to Joshua still stands
○ Not disqualified from the promise
3 miracles
• God not only keeps his promise but he fights for them himself by
a. God threw them into panic
b. Sending a storm of hail stones that killed more than the sword
Joshua prayed this one prayer, simple, short precise
“On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.””
Joshua 10:12 NLT
https://www.bible.com/116/jos.10.12.nlt
“So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day. There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day! Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.”
Joshua 10:13-15 NLT
https://www.bible.com/116/jos.10.13-15.nlt
• God answered this simple prayer and the victory was certain
In the ESV -
“There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.”
Joshua 10:14 ESV
https://www.bible.com/59/jos.10.14.esv
The right prayer at the right time with the right heart
It's not a desperate prayer, it's a faith prayer, God had already said he would give them into their hands.
A desperate prayer would be pleading with God
A Faith prayer would be as this, a clear request to the only one who could do it.
Joshua had favour with God
David remembers this in Psalm 136 giving thanks. 17 to end.
What can we learn?
Gods faith to his promise,
• if Gods promised it will happen
• We may have to wait for it
Our mistakes do not disqualify us his call and his promise,
• It's how we respond when we have
• God plan for us as it was for Israel that we live a life in victory over our enemies
• The problem is sometimes we find it easier to partner with our enemy than we do with God who has promise us that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37
Romans 8 26 - 30
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Romans 8:26-30 ESV
https://www.bible.com/59/rom.8.26-30.esv
“For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.”
Romans 11:29 NLT
https://www.bible.com/116/rom.11.29.nlt
How we respond to them is what matters!
Questions
1) What does this story tell us about Joshua and his leadership?
2) What does it tell us about God?
3) In what way can does this story relate to you?
4) Is there any response you need to make to God in light of this story. (Have you partnered with your enemy? Have you given in to fear? Have you felt disqualified by your mistakes?)
United States
