Day 18 – 40 Days of Daily Devotions – Book of Joshua Chapter 10

Day 18

Devotional Reading:

Joshua 10:1-8 (KJV)

1 Now it came to pass, when Adonizedec 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;

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.

3 Wherefore Adonizedec 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,

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.

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.

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.

7 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

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.

Don’t stop keep moving forward. Can you imagine Joshua saying over and over to the children of Israel that we must continue to move forward? War after War the battle still continued. One thing the children of Israel had a purpose. There purpose and destiny was going to cause them to triumph over the enemy if they stayed in line with God’s plan. Staying in line with God’s purpose is not as easy as we may think. Outside influences are always lurking around us trying to throw us off and get us to come into a realm of emotionalism. We must learn how to submit our emotions to the divine will of God by meditating on His Word. Israel faced defeat at Ai and went and gained the territory after a miserable defeat that left a mark on the hearts on the whole camp. We have seen victory after they have marched around the walls of Jericho and watch the walls fall, and we have seen them go in the city and defeated their enemy. We have even come to see them walk in repentance as well as a place of compromise by allowing the Gibeonites to remain in the land because no one consulted with the Lord.

Now, five kings have come together to destroy the Gibeonites because of their alliance with Israel.   The Gibeonites who were stronger than the five kings. The kings saw that the Gibeonites defrauded the Israelites with a lie and that Israel made an alliance with them. The kings decided to join forces together and come up against the Gibeonites to destroy them. After all the Gibeonites were stronger and mighter than them.   Remember after the display of the power of God who wouldn’t in their right mind want to be Israel’s friend (let alone their servants). Do you know the enemy is scared of you, and God will demonstrate His power in the midst of them to show that He is your God and that He has you covered?

We see the faitfulness of Joshua because of the oath he made to go and defend the Gibeonites after he consulted the Lord. Learn from your mistakes. Israel will now continue to move forward under the leadership of Joshua. They were on a mission that was going to purge the land so that the children of Israel would be able to dwell in peace and not be hinder or tempted to worship other gods. That’s why it is so important to cut off, come out from amongst them that will try to taint your relationship with Jehovah.

Israel had a responsibility, and that was to drive out every heathen nation so they would not be tempted to take on their evil ways. Earlier in Joshua remember they cleansed them self at the Jordan before they crossed over and circumcised themselves when they crossed over the Jordan River. God used an external act to deal with the deep-rooted things in their heart that would cause them to desire their flesh more than the things of the spirit. When coming into a place of elevation or promotion one must deal with their heart. Do not allow what was in the land before you put your foot on land to penetrate your heart. The cleansing and the circumcision was to deal with the issues of your heart.   Opening up the heart and allowing the Word of God to go deep down on the inside of you that you do not sin against our GOD. So when God tells you to cut something off, He knows that a heart that is unregenerate is deceitful and desperately wicked. The only person that knows your heart is God. So when He tells us to come out, we must come out. When He tells us to cut if off we must cut it off. When He tells us to kill it, we must kill it. (Understand this battle we are waging is not against flesh in blood.) We are not of this world we are pilgrims passing through. However, in the meantime God told us to occupy until He comes. We can do this by rooting up, throwing down, destroying the enemy and honor our God in our land.

We are already dealing with the stuff that goes on in our mind all by itself by binding our binds to Christ. (Philippians 2:5) We don’t need to allow ourselves to be shacked up with the enemy making him think that this is still his land. God gave it to you now you take dominion over it.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (KJV)

9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.

10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

13 Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.

14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

You may be thinking, but I can reform them if they don’t want to change you cannot make them change. Don’t take people on that are not your assignment. You may think you are mature, but you may end up being deceive because you are unqualified.   You are out of place and out of position and have no authority. Know what you have been called to and whom.

Leviticus 18:24-30 (KJV)

24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:

27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)

28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.

When people desire to keep their ways more than the ways of God, they will infect you and all that is around you. Keep it moving because you got land to take over and secure. God will deal with and judge sin. He is a God of love and judgment.

It’s time for us to move forward. As long as God goes before us we already have won the war. Learn from Joshua mistakes ask God before moving forward, and hear what thus saith the Lord. Humble yourself under the hands of the Almighty God and seek counsel before moving forward. When God says move, know that it is not the time to hesitate or look for a confirmation, move forward it’s time to possess the land.

Pray:

Father in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the spirit of boldness that rest upon me with the spirit of wisdom, might, and counsel. I thank you that you are promoting us in the things of God and preparing our feet to take dominion and authority over the land. I bind the spirit of fear as I move forward in your Word. Thank you that my path has already been laid out for me. Teach me how to be strong and courageous and how to walk in all your ways. When you tell me to cut it off give me the strength and the ability to obey you. Thank you that you had made me more than a conqueror.

Romans 8:37 (KJV)

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Copyright © 2015 by Pastor Misty Holmes-Dorsey