Hey Bible Readers! I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble and
I'm your host for The Bible Recap. [Music] Before we launch into today's recap, you need to remember something
we read in Deuteronomy 20 to help it all make sense. In that chapter, God gave very different
instructions on how the Israelites were supposed to handle cities outside
of the Promised Land versus cities inside the Promised Land. For those cities outside Canaan, they were supposed to greet
the cities with peace and kill only the males, and only
if they opposed them. But for those inside Canaan, they were supposed to operate by
a principle called "cherem" where everything is dedicated to Yahweh
and devoted to destruction. As we've talked about before, God used this
practice to serve multiple purposes Today we meet another group of people from Gibeon - they're called the Gibeonites
or the Hivites - and they've apparently gotten word about God's
instructions to the Israelites. They lived in Canaan, but decided to
pretend like they didn't, so that they could get a more
lenient treatment and not be entirely destroyed.
Pretty sneaky! They ask Israel to enter into a protective
covenant with them. Remember yesterday how Joshua won
the battle against Jericho then failed to ask God for guidance when fighting against Ai, and they lost? Then he won against Ai when he
followed God's commands? It seems like he learned very little from
that incident because here he is, failing to ask God
for guidance again, and just forging out on his own. So he gets duped into making a covenant
with his own enemies, which is in direct violation of God's command
to Israel in Deuteronomy 7. Pretty quickly, the Israelites find out that they've been deceived, and they want to destroy the Gibeonites. but the Israelite leaders tell them that they
have to keep their covenant, and that they'll just have to suffer the consequences
of their sin and entering into the covenant. So they don't kill the Gibeonites/Hivites, and instead just assign them to do manual labor
in the service of the temple which makes the Gibeonites pretty happy, because they know they've avoided
being destroyed. One thing I found interesting about this is that even God's enemies who have
deceived God's people end up serving God's purposes and glory. Some other local kings get wind
of what happened, and they gather together to go to war
against the people of Gibeon, because they've made peace
with the Israelites. The Gibeonites panic and beg
Israel to help them out. So Joshua talks to God about it - good
call - and God says, "Do not fear, for I have given them
into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand
before you." I love it when God speaks of the future
in the past tense! "I have given them into your hands." It's almost like He wrote the story
before it happened. In this battle, God uses some
miraculous tactics - confusion and hailstones and
cosmic events - and He wins the war for Israel. Joshua knows how to proceed because he
listened to and believed God. He remembers what God said to him, and he quotes God's words to the people
as they wrap up the battle. After this, they defeat six more cities
in southern Canaan. As a result, the kings of the north get
pretty nervous, as you can imagine. As Joshua talks to God about things, God tells him that the next day, He'll
give all of them to Israel in battle - and He does! Joshua is beginning to listen carefully
to what God said, and because of God's unique covenant
with this nation-state, they continue to see victory in battle
when they obey. Joshua makes sure to do all that
God commanded Moses, and he begins to display thorough obedience. And all this fighting takes about seven years, so he also displays persistent obedience. As we wrap up today's reading, we saw
that Joshua defeats the Anakim - and they're always a reminder that there's likely
more going on here than meets the eye. It's possible that these people the
Israelites are destroying are the enemy's attempt to wipe out
the bloodline of the Messiah by interbreeding with humans. It's what the ancient Jews believed. And honestly, who knows? But this has been a pretty consistent thread
in the books we've read so far, so we don't want to dismiss it. The end of our reading was a little challenging, but the final paragraph is what made 11:20
a little easier to process. It says, "For it was the Lord's doing |
to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle in order that they should be devoted to destruction and receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses." This phrase "harden their hearts" isn't an
easy phrase anytime we encounter it, but we can't cut it out of scripture. There's obviously something in it that God
wants us to notice about Himself. When He was talking to Moses in 33:19, He said, "I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy." This has a way of chafing against our
sense of justice and equity. It can make us feel like God isn't fair. So it's always important to remember
that all of us are sinners who only deserve death and eternal
separation from God. For those of us who don't get that, we are the only ones for whom
things aren't fair - we do not get what we deserve. There's a lot of mystery in this that none of us will understand on this side of eternity - it's okay to have a hard time with it, to wrestle and question - but keep holding it with an open hand and asking God to reveal Himself and
His heart to you in this pursuit. The enemy of your soul wants nothing more than for you to mistrust God and His heart. But I hope you've seen enough of
His heart by now to trust Him even when there are parts of Him
that you don't yet understand. There's a 100% chance that you won't
always like what God does, because He's a different person
than you are. As one pastor says, "If your God
never disagrees with you, you might be worshiping an idealized
version of yourself." Joshua learned that the hard way,
by losing battles and lives. Hopefully the lesson won't be
as hard for us. What was your GOD SHOT today? Mine was in that moment where
the sun stood still. I found it so odd that Joshua would pray
for the son to stand still. Who would even think of that prayer? And not only that, but God listened to him
and answered him with a "yes". This story always reminds me of a quote that
I think is attributed to Charles Spurgeon. It says, "Joshua set his heart to obey God and the days
were not long enough for his battles. God did not hasten his victory.
He lengthened his days." I wonder why Joshua didn't just pray for a
quicker victory instead? He had the direct line to Yahweh! He asked for something impossible
and God granted it, but I wonder what would have happened
if he'd prayed bigger? Our God has great things in store
for His kids - He's merciful and He's big on the
miraculous, and He loves us. I want to ask Him for big things today, and I want to trust Him and praise Him,
even when His answer is "no". Because ultimately His answers
aren't what I'm after - I'm after Him, because He's where the joy is! Okay Bible Readers, it's time for
our weekly check-in! How's it going? No matter when you're watching this, even if you're "behind" in the plan, I believe you're right on time. And, no matter where you are
in the plan, I want to remind you of something
super important: always be looking for Jesus. In John 5, Jesus says the Old Testament
is all about Him. He doesn't just show up in
a manger in Matthew, He's been here all along, even
since Genesis 1. So keep looking for Him - for prophecies of Him,
for pictures of Him, and even for some surprise visits He makes to earth in advance
of His birth. [Music]