The God Who Fights

We're here to get into God's Word today. Let me ask you if you would like to join me in the Old Testament, if you're new with us today, we've been walking through the book of Joshua.

We're not going to take the whole book this time. We're getting ready in a week or two to kind of button this up. But today we are up to Joshua chapter 10.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

What is the book of Joshua? It is an historical book about the conquest of ancient Israel. And today we're up to chapter 10 and there is quite a bit of action.

And quite a few verses to read. So if you want to find that, follow along with me as I begin in verse 1. There's a lot of place names, a lot of people names.

I'll do the best I can. And I'm going to make it up, the pronunciation, as I go. So you'll just believe me. Alright. Beginning in verse 1. As soon as Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted

it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he greatly feared.

Because Gibeon was a great city. Like one of the royal cities. Because it was greater than Ai and all its men were warriors. So Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Hebron, to Piram, king of Jarmuth,

to Japhia, king of Lachish, and to Debir, king of Eglon, saying, Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.

Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.

So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands.

Not a man of them shall stand before you. So Joshua came up upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at

Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them as far as Azekah and Makedah. And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died.

There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. At that time, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel.

And he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon in the valley of Ahajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 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.

So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makedah. And it was told to Joshua, the five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makedah.

And Joshua said, roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them. But do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies.

Attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand. When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered their fortified cities,

then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. Then Joshua said, open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.

And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

And when they had brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.

Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. And Joshua said to them, do not be afraid or dismayed. Be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.

And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening. But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves.

And they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this day. As for Makeda, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword.

He devoted to destruction every person in it. He left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makeda, just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makeda to Libna, and fought against Libna. And the Lord gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel.

And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it. He left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libna to Lachish, and laid siege to it, and fought against it. And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel.

And he captured it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libna. Then Horem, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish.

And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining. Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it, and fought against it.

And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.

Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it, and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king, and its towns, and every person in it.

He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon. And devoted it to destruction, and every person in it. Then Joshua and Israel with him turned back to Debir, and fought against it.

And he captured it with its king, and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword, and devoted to destruction every person in it.

He left none remaining, just as he had done to Hebron, and to Libna, and its king. So he did to Debir, and its king. So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country, and the Negev, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings.

He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. And Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea, as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon.

And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp of Gilgal.

Let's pray, shall we? Father, we have read ancient words. And so, Father, we trust that in them, you will speak to us today, because you tell us they are from you.

So, Lord, humble our hearts, and let the implanted word now take root in them. Teach us today for your glory. And we pray this in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Amen.

That is a lot to read. But, you know, more than just a lot to read, that's a lot to happen in one day. One day. A long day. We'll get to that in just a minute.

But our narrator, please understand, he's actually also giving us, especially as the chapter moves on, he's giving us an account of things that happened probably over several days.

It's not like Israel did everything, went to all these five towns in one day. That may have taken as much as a week or more. But we know it's a single military campaign.

That's what he means when he says, at one time, Joshua did this. But let's get back to the top of the chapter, because we need to understand what's going on in the first couple of verses here, and what it is that brings Joshua's army out for this whole battle anyway.

Well, here's what's happened in verse one. It's our king of Jerusalem. Remember, realize, I should say, Jerusalem is not yet under Israel's control.

It's a Canaanite city. It's an important one. This king of Jerusalem is apparently the big guy on the block. This Adonizadek. Anybody whose name starts with Adoniz is probably going to be a bad dude, right?

Adonizadek. He does not like the reports that he's hearing of not just Joshua's heroics at Ai and at Jericho. So there's been a new development with our partners, or those whom we thought were our partners, the Gibeonites.

If you remember from our last chapter, the Gibeonites, Gibeonites, I should say, have made peace with Israel. If you didn't hear it last week, it's a really interesting story.

They played the ruse. They deceived Israel, tricked them into making a covenant, and they saved their own skins. And so the headlines around Canaan are like, Gibeon has done this.

They've made peace with Israel. They've struck a treaty. They are now their vassals, which means they are allied with Israel. And we're told that the king of Jerusalem doesn't like this.

And he feared greatly. Because we're told that Gibeon is a great city, like one of the royal cities. Our narrator even tips them off that, hey, these Gibeonites, they're like really good fighters.

So much for the picture of these Gibeonites that we sometimes have, that they're these sniveling weaklings. They're apparently crafty, but they're not weak.

They're a bunch of highly experienced warriors. And this is a big part of the reason why the king of Jerusalem is so upset, because he knows the Gibeonites can fight.

And imagine that if, you know, one of your best players on your team is not only not playing for you, but then you suit up and you go out onto the field and you look and you see, well, they're playing for the opposition.

And that's exactly what's happening. Our king probably thinks he needs to send a message, lest any other Canaanite cities get an idea. And so it's a call for the royal stationary, I guess, and the king's favorite pen.

Because he's going to write some letters, send his emissaries, and get word to his four buddies in the region. And that's who he sends to, the neighboring king of Hebron, king of Jarmuth, king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

He's like, this is it, guys. This is the big one. Our former allies, the Gibeonites, they've cut a deal with Israel. Israel, Joshua and his guys have not only taken Ai and Jericho, they now control the whole central region plateau.

I tried to give you a map to give you an idea. So if you could think of the nation, or I should say the land of Israel in three parts. Like the northern section, we're not there yet, that's next chapter, next week.

And then there's the central region, that's where Gibeon is. It's like a plateau that goes all the way over to the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, and then there is southern Israel.

And that's where these kings come from. They are upset, because what Joshua has done is he has effectively cut a big swath right across the midsection of Canaan.

He has effectively driven a wedge between southern Canaanites and their counterparts to the north. And it's funny how that worked out. What we thought was a mistake and was a mistake by Israel, somehow the Lord has worked it to be to Israel's strategic advantage.

Verse 6, the Gibeonites catch wind of what's coming and fast, quickly, they dispatch word to Joshua. They're desperate. Verse 6, do not relax your hand from your servants.

In other words, don't abandon us now. We need you, and we need you to honor your word, ASAP. Come to us quickly and save us. Help us. For the kings of the southern region have all gathered together and they're going to kill us.

What happens in verse 7 is honestly worth pondering for just a quick minute. Look at how Joshua responds. Look at how Israel responds with him.

Do we hear them saying anything like, you know, we never really should have entered into a covenant with these people in the first place. I mean, should we even go?

They tricked us. God really didn't want us to defend them. But they don't do that. There is no second guessing. There's no change of mind. Nobody's looking for a loophole or a way out.

They're not backing down or even wondering. You know, is the Lord going to go with us? I mean, we made the mistake once at AI of going ahead without the Lord.

We made a mistake in making this covenant. Are we really going with the hand of the Lord with us? And wouldn't you know, but as Joshua and the men are figuratively strapping on their war sandals, getting ready for that all night march, lo and behold, but the Lord shows up

and speaks a word directly to Joshua in verse 8. What's he say? Do not fear, Joshua, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.

That would be a pretty impressive feat to have not a single warrior in the entire company, the entire coalition of these kings, to be able to stand, much less prevail against their Israelite opponent.

But that's what God's saying. That's what God's promising.

Well, in verse 9, finally the action gets rolling. After this 20 mile, all night march. You ever march 20 miles? You ever do it at night? You know, it's like the old, you know, when I was a kid, we walked to school and it was a foot of snow and it was uphill both ways.

This really was uphill, 20 miles uphill. I mean, they couldn't make that complaint on the way back. But on the way, it was uphill. They do this.

Joshua and his mighty men of valor, his army, they're there fast. In fact, they're there so fast that the coalition of kings don't expect them.

We're told in verse 9 that they came upon them suddenly. This is a surprise early morning attack. And for people like me who are not morning people, this would not be good.

Verse 10, this is where the Lord's hand gets involved. He throws the coalition of kings into a panic before Israel. It's complete bedlam, total confusion.

It's men that don't know where the enemy's coming from or which way to turn or where to run or who to swing your sword at. So Israel struck them, we're told, with a great blow there at Gibeon and they chased them as that coalition of men is now fleeing.

And if that weren't enough, that weren't enough that they were losing. In verse 11, we see the Lord's hand get directly involved. I mean, it's already been involved, but now, even more supernaturally, directly, we're told that the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Ezekiah, and they died.

In fact, we learned that there were more that the Lord killed with the hailstones than the Israelite soldiers killed with their swords. I was doing a little research on hail.

My wife is one of those people that if there's a drop of rain, we've got to get inside and take cover. You know, and I'm like, how big's the hail?

And you know, you want to see it and measure it. You know, I was a little disturbed to learn that apparently anything bigger than a quarter sized hail, if wind conditions are right, can be really dangerous.

Largest hail that ever fell in the United States was apparently eight inches in diameter, that's going to kill you. And two pounds in weight.

Block of ice. That falls on you, that's going to kill you. And amazingly, with this miracle, and I say it's a miracle, you're like, hailstorms happen.

Well, how is it that only Amorite Canaanites get killed? They only hit the Amorite soldiers? And they're not like, you know, we're on this side, they're on that side, keep your distance, it looks like it's going to rain on them.

They're in the fight. They're all mixed together. And somehow the Lord manages, not like he hasn't done it before with the ten plagues of Egypt, where he protected his people in the land of Goshen and brought all the plagues on the Egyptians.

That's what he does here. We are told that not a single Israelite soldier is injured.

And then we come to verse 12. We haven't even come to the most unique thing that happens. Something just a bit unusual. We're told that the sun stands still.

That's right. However God does it, he lengthens the time so that Israel can finish the job and prevent any of the soldiers from this coalition getting back to their fortified cities to safety.

Now, there is some debate about this, some questions that the scholars ask about this phenomenon and what exactly it is that's happening back here.

Now, I'm talking about the conservative, the evangelical scholars. The liberals are like, well, you know, that can't really happen. It's a metaphor.

It happened. Two theories. One is the one that most of us have probably been familiar with, reading this over the years, at least for me anyway.

And that's the idea that the sun stood still in the sky and lengthened the afternoon. Like Joshua commanded the sun. It was getting late in the day.

And he stopped it in the sky and gave him like a whole other day's worth of daylight. Extended, you know, turned into instead of a 12-hour day of sunlight, it's like 20 plus hours.

But I found an interesting theory this week that I'm not so sure now. A few conservative scholars actually believe what happened here was that there was an extension of the early morning darkness.

They based this on the fact that the sun is said to be stilled at Gibeon, which based on where Joshua enters the battle, Gibeon would be to the east.

So that Joshua was effectively asking the Lord to hold the sun from rising, to actually keep it from peeking over the horizon. Even the Hebrew scholars tell us that the language is a bit ambiguous.

After all, does commanding the sun to be still or stand still, does it mean stop moving across the sky because you're already out shining and just keep shining right where you are?

Or could it mean sun, stop and don't come out yet? Because we're using the cover of this early morning darkness, not to mention a hailstorm, to our advantage.

I really don't think it matters. You can choose whichever interpretation you want. I will affirm to you that something miraculous happened here.

An incredible miracle. A supernatural, inexplicable act that compares to the time when the Lord moved the shadow ten steps back on the stairs in Hezekiah's day in answer to his prayer.

And of course we know those with scientific minds are going to tell us, well, you know, technically the sun doesn't actually move. We do. The earth does.

Or others will say, you know, that couldn't have been the case because that would mess up the atmosphere, it would cause all kinds of catastrophes, tidal waves and tsunamis.

Listen, this is the God of the universe. It's the creator and sustainer of all that we know. He is the one who makes what we call natural laws and He remains completely sovereign over them.

So however it was, super long early morning before the sun dawned or 20 hour day of sunlight, that keeps the battle going, it's enough. It's enough for Israel to completely rout their enemies on this very unique, very long day.

Our narrator even adds, you know, is it not written in the book of Jashar? He's referencing an extra biblical book outside the Bible. We think this might be an anthology of songs collected after great victories that somebody wrote a song about this sun standing still and he seems to be quoting from this book.

It's almost like he's saying, if you don't believe me here and what I'm writing, I mean, go over to that book and read it.

But here's what's, to our narrator, the most intriguing thing, the most fascinating thing about this whole day. This is what he highlights in verse 14.

It's not just that the sun stood still. Verse 14, he says, there's been no day like it before or since when the Lord heeded the voice of a man and fought for Israel.

Our author marvels at not the hailstorm that selectively killed the enemy, not the fact that Joshua was able to get the sun to stop moving, all of which undoubtedly contributed to the great panic that's happening.

What he's really marveling over is the fact that the Lord heeded, listened to the voice of a human being. The God of the universe, who has control of, yes, the natural laws, did what a human being told him to do.

After all, we think back to those two previous miracles in Joshua's history, crossing the river Jordan where the waters piled up. We think about the walls of Jericho and how they suddenly fell down flat.

Those were God's idea. Those were miracles initiated by God. This one appears to be different. In this one, God is responding to a prayer, a powerful prayer from Joshua.

Well, verse 15 might seem a little out of place, maybe premature. It tells us Joshua and company went back to camp. But in actuality, based on what we go on to read right after this in verses 16 to verse 42, they don't return to camp.

What's happening here is a common technique in Hebrew writing, Hebrew narrative, where you summarize an event and then after you've summarized it, you kind of back up and retell it and give all the other details you want to give.

That seems to be what's happening here. We get now more specifics about not just this one battle, but about the whole campaign. Verse 16 now tells us that the five kings of the Amorites, watching their armies completely

decimated, selectively taken out by hailstones, they're panicked, they're afraid, and they flee. And they go hide themselves, all five of them together, in this cave at Machedah.

Only problem is, Joshua seems to immediately find out. I guess they're not very good at hide and seek. You know, Joshua's like, found you. And so he commands these great stones to be rolled against the cave's mouth while the kings are still in there.

He posts some guards. And this is why. He's like, we cannot stop and deal with this now. We are going to deal with this, but not now. Now, you need to pursue your enemies.

Pursue your enemies, verse 19. Attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.

And what Joshua wants to happen does happen. Israel pursues and kills the vast majority of these forces in a great blow, leaving only a small remnant to kind of scatter like ants back to their fortified cities.

In fact, the battle goes so well for Israel on this day that, quote, all the people return safe to Joshua in the camp at Machedah, just like the Lord said.

Not one of them is going to be able to stand against, much less prevail, any one of your soldiers.

And we're told that not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. This is not people in the camp. This is people in the region.

In other words, no one's daring, you know, to utter a threat like, oh, get you back, Joshua. Nobody. None of the Canaanites.

Meanwhile, verse 22, we still got those kings in the cave, right? Joshua proceeds to lead his chiefs of war, his generals, in what looks to be a holy execution ceremony.

A ceremony that's intended to send a message to everyone. He says, bring out the five kings from the cave. Kings come out. Joshua summons each of the commanders.

Put your foot on the neck of a king. And they proceed to do that. This might seem kind of barbaric to us today. But please understand, for thousands of years in our world, this has been a symbol of dominance after you win a victory.

To literally have your enemies under your feet. Even the Psalms talks about that. How the Lord's going to put his enemies like a footstool under the feet of his son.

Verse 25, Joshua now speaks to his commanders. He says, don't be scared of these guys. Don't be dismayed. Be strong and courageous. Interesting how Joshua's repeating the command that had been given to him at the start of the conquest.

He says, this is what the Lord is going to do. For thus the Lord will do to all the enemies against whom you fight.

You know, we remember that Israel didn't start this particular battle. This five king coalition started it by attacking Gibeon. And we also remember that these wicked kings are rulers of kingdoms and towns and cities where grotesque sinful living is happening.

Things that we learn about in the book of Deuteronomy that are forbidden to Israel. Gross sexual immorality. They are hip deep in the occult.

They practice regular child sacrifice. So as these kings have these feet on their necks, don't feel bad for them. They are wicked, wicked men.

And the Lord had said that the land was going to vomit them out. And it's happening now. Joshua proceeds to execute the kings in verse 26. And then ceremonially he hangs their bodies on trees until evening.

Again, a common tactic in the day for any watching Canaanite eyes in the hills to see impaled these five kings. But in obedience to God's word, it's only until evening.

Because God's word said, after sunset you have to take the bodies of your enemies down and you must bury them. And that's what Joshua proceeds to order once sunset finally arrives.

And this great day ends. It's ironic. It's the same cave. It's the same heap of stones. And I think I like how one scholar puts it. He says that these kings, what they thought was their place of refuge, became their temporary prison.

And now it will be their tomb.

The remaining verses of our chapter, from verses 28 on, are kind of a rapid fire retelling of where the campaign goes after this historic first day.

The people march on right to each of these wicked Canaanite cities where the remnant has fled. First up is Makeda, where the cave's at. Verse 28.

Makeda is dealt with, we're told, on the very same day. Captured, put to the sword. Every person devoted to destruction. All according to the Lord's clear instructions.

And when we read that he left none remaining, please understand what that means is none that we're holding out in the city. Because in point of fact, we know that there are other Canaanites that do run off.

You say, well, how do we know that? Well, we know that because Israel is not quite at the point where they're ready to possess all the land.

They've been pushed into the battle. They have captured, they've defeated these cities. And what seems to happen over a period of time is those that run off come back so that people like Caleb, when he's getting his apportionment of the promised land, some of these very same

cities that are named here right now, he's going to have to drive out more Canaanites from them. Stories the same for Libna on the next day, and then Lechish day after that.

And then what happens here in, what verse is it, verse 33? Is this king from Gezer, neighboring Gezer, which is a little further to the north?

It's like this guy. You're not on the target, bro. What are you doing? He gets a crazy idea that he's going to come and try his hand and get involved and try to help his buddy, the king of Lechish.

And that's a mistake. Because he's no match. From Lechish on to Eglon, verse 34. From Eglon on to Hebron in verse 36. And then one final turn back to Debir in verse 38.

Everywhere Joshua goes, new town, same story. Joshua and Israel are completely invincible, and they march right through southern Canaan without so much as a scratch.

Our last few verses summarize it well, with a nod to the geography. For you geography buffs, basically Joshua does everything God wants here.

Israel now controls the whole land, meaning the whole region. They fought and been victorious over all these kings and their land at one time, meaning in one single military campaign.

So when the chapter opened, that swath of the central plateau, that was Israel's. And yet now as the chapter closes, they have the whole southern region too.

And now, we read in the very last verse, verse 43, that it's time for a break. As Joshua and all Israel with them now return to Camp Gilgal.

You know, you read stories like this one, accounts of ancient warfare. And you cling to a verse like Romans 15.4 even harder. What's Romans 15.4 tell us?

It says that everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. All of what we read in the Old Testament was written for our instruction.

And so, we want to know, how are we to be instructed? Because I don't think there's any enemies out there I'm supposed to put my foot on their neck, right?

We're not called to warfare, literally, physically. We're not ancient Israelites under the Mosaic law, given a particular mission to go take an actual tract of land.

But, we are God's people. We are under the blood of a new covenant. A covenant cut for us in the blood of His Son, Jesus. Jesus, who forgave us, and bought us, made us new, and made us God's people.

You know, 1 Peter 2 says that. It says, once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. So, we are the people of God. And so, what is there for the people of God?

I think three things. This morning, I want to offer you three truths that I think we see illustrated here in Joshua 10. For the first truth, looking back in our chapter, I'm going to take you all the way back to verse 7, because that's where this first truth comes out.

Truth number one is this. God keeps us as we faithfully keep our commitments. As we faithfully keep our commitments, God keeps us.

You know, I don't think this is a small thing. What happens here in verses 6 and 7. The Gibeonites are rightly freaking out. Don't relax your hand, Joshua.

In other words, like, pick up your sword. Come to our rescue. Help us. These five kings are bearing down on us. And we're in real trouble if you don't come fast.

You made a covenant with us, Joshua. That's a commitment. We're your vassals, remember? We draw your water. We cut your wood for the sacrificial system.

Just like you said we would have to do. But part of our agreement, part of your commitment to us, is that we're under your protection. And we're calling for that now, desperately.

Come fight for us. Come make good on your commitment.

Now we ask ourselves, was it a commitment made under some unusual circumstances? Some suspicious circumstances. Yeah, it was. It was done by deception.

See the last chapter if you missed it. Gibeon had played the ruse and really tricked Israel about their true identity and had made them enter into this covenant unbeknownst to Israel who they really were.

But, nonetheless, Israel had sworn their commitment and they had taken a solemn oath, we're told, before God. Even if it's not what God would have wanted, and it wasn't at the time, they had committed themselves under God.

And now, now, it was time to see what's what. What are Joshua and Israel going to do? I can't imagine it's a small thing to say, there's just like this coalition of half of Canaan, five kings and all their armies.

We're going to set out like right now tonight. Put your sandals on, grab your sword. It's like 20 miles in the dark uphill. But don't worry, we won't be tired when we get there.

But hurry! This took some faith. Keeping their commitment.

No hesitation. None of this like, well, Lord, don't you remember that we weren't really supposed to do this? I mean, is this from you, Lord?

A providential opportunity to get rid of the Gibeonites? Commitment made. Commitment kept. And who, in response to this faithfulness, who is going to keep Joshua and all Israel in the process?

God. God would keep them as they kept their word. As they honored their commitment. I wonder again, we mentioned this last week, are there some of us who have made some serious commitments before the Lord that we need to keep?

Are you tired? Are you afraid? Are you fearful for some reason? Are you hesitant? Maybe it's a commitment to raise your children the right way.

It's a lot of work to raise kids. Whether they're born to you, or fostered by you, or adopted by you, it takes a commitment. And we make these commitments before the Lord.

Others of us, if you're in a state of matrimony, we've made commitments to a spouse. We've taken vows before God. Till death do we part. Is that how it is?

We need like a preacher to say it, right?

A commitment to honor the Lord in a marriage. A commitment to honor the Lord just maybe in how you invest yourself. How you invest your time.

How you conduct yourself in your business if you're working. How you invest your finances and steward what God has given to you. A lot of us make commitments.

I don't know about you, but we know what comes in, and we make kind of a budget, and we plan on what we're going to give to the Lord. We make that commitment.

All the things that we commit to do in the sight of God, God wants His people to be a people who faithfully keep those commitments. And when we do, when we do, He faithfully keeps us.

He will faithfully keep you. Of course, sometimes it's not easy. In fact, sometimes there's a bit of a fight involved. And this was quite literally the case for Israel.

And that's our next point. Number two. Truth number two is this. God fights for us as we courageously fight our battles. It's kind of interesting, that interplay, that dynamic.

It's not one party doing all the fighting. I mean, once in a while in Scripture, it is all God. But not on this day. Not on this campaign. But Israel didn't have to go fight alone.

Sure, that surprise attack was a good start. But armies that go against each other, last time I checked, especially in this kind of warfare in the ancient world, you suffer casualties on both sides.

It stands to reason each side is going to suffer pretty significant losses. That's how the history of warfare typically works. But not this time.

Because it wasn't just the element of surprise with the night attack that Israel had on their side. It was also a hailstorm. A deadly hailstorm that, again, amazingly, did not touch a single Israelite warrior.

And then they had another meteorological miracle. Can we call it that? Or whatever. Sun standing still. Moon stopping. Lengthening. And extending an important moment in time that's going very, very well for you if you're an Israelite.

And very, very poorly for you if you're an Amorite Canaanite. Some of you know what this is like at a much, much, much lesser level if you've ever played a sport.

You know what it's like when one team gets momentum? This is what timeouts are for, right? Think basketball. One team gets momentum. What happens?

Well, they start to believe. They believe they can do anything. They start chucking up shots from everywhere, and they keep going in because they believe.

They start stopping you on defense and stealing the ball. And the coach recognizes what's happening. They're on a run. They have momentum on their side.

Timeout. Timeout. Break their momentum. Regroup. Come on, guys. But that's not allowed to happen this time. Not on this day. There will be no timeout.

Not with Joshua's army on them. Not with whatever it is meteorologically that's happening where this part of the day or early morning, whichever it is, that's in Israel's favor that's going so well for them is being extended.

Can you imagine if you're an enemy soldier how much more that's adding to your panic? What is going on? Will that sun ever come up so we can see who we're supposed to be fighting?

Or if it's the afternoon, it's blazing hot out here. We cannot do this any longer. What is it like? Eight o'clock at night? I mean, looks like it's still noon.

This isn't just Israel fighting. It's their mighty God fighting for them. The psalmist reminds us of who God is in Psalm 24, verse 8. The psalmist writes, Who is the King of glory?

Psalms 24:8

The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. Or if you even just go back to the very first verse of that same psalm, Psalm 24, verse 1.

Psalms 24:1

We're reminded there how the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Or other translations say the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.

And this is exactly what was happening in this day. The Lord, strong and mighty in battle, was doing to his earth exactly what he wanted by freezing this moment so that Israel could keep winning.

And I think that's an important point for you and I to take away. To remember that as we fight our battles courageously, whatever they are, that God fights for us and with us.

Again, sometimes it would be nice. I don't know about you. It would be nice if God just did all the fighting. And you know, sometimes He does.

Jericho was pretty much all Him. But at other times, dare we say even most of the time, God's people have to make those long night marches. Don't they?

God's people have to muster their courage and be strong and courageous and actually do some of the fighting.

Because Joshua and his men, once they showed up at Gibeon, they were not coming as spectators to the battle. They were going to have to engage.

They had to draw their swords. Bend their bows. They had to fight. And so I would say to you, if you're in a spiritual fight, a fight of some kind in an area of your life where there is something you're contending for or someone you're contending for,

maybe it's the heart of someone you care about, maybe it's a commitment in like a marriage you're contending there, maybe it's something in your health or in the health of someone you care about, they're contending, I would say keep fighting.

Because you can know that as you fight, the Lord fights for you and with you. He does not abandon you. God fights for his people as his people courageously fight their battles.

Now let me leave you with one more truth before we're done. We can't skip past this one. Truth number three. Truth number three is that God answers us.

God answers us as we boldly pray according to his promises. Boldly pray according to his promises. What's Joshua doing here in verse 12? What's he doing?

Talking to the sun? This probably won't surprise you. There are a few liberal scholars out there that are like, see, the Israelites, they aren't really monotheistic.

He's speaking to the sun god and the moon god just like the Canaanites did. No, he's not. He knows who he's beseeching. It's the Lord. I mean, he may address the objects, but this is a prayer.

Undoubtedly.

He's addressing the one he knows is God over all the earth including sun and moon. And he's praying quite boldly. Boldly because he knows the Lord has just done some pretty bold things.

The hailstorm, by the way. But he also knows that he himself with his own ears has just heard the Lord make some very bold promises. Do you remember what the Lord said to him back in verse 8?

Joshua, do not fear them for I have given them into your hands. Not one of their guys is going to be able to stand against any one of your guys.

That was a promise from the Lord. And Joshua was praying a bold prayer according to that promise. Lord, we're on a crazy winning streak right now.

Lord, I don't think we've lost a man. And I don't want to let this moment pass before we can finish the job. And what's the Lord do in response?

Verse 14. This is what he does. He heeds the voice of a man.

They have a word or a phrase for this in, I guess, what they call it, Christianese. Right? The things Christians say. It's called answered prayer.

Answered prayer. 101. And this is something that the Bible calls us to do repeatedly in many places to boldly pray before the throne. I mean, even the Lord Jesus himself in the Gospel of John.

What's he say in John 14? John chapter 14 verses 13 and 14. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:13

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. In other words, he's saying, in my name. Ask according to my will. Ask according to my promises, Jesus says, and I'll do it.

I was thinking about this just this past week in a very practical challenge that our family faces. We hit a little financial aid snafu for one of our boys in school.

I don't know what you're like, but right away, I'm like, as a dad, I go on like the war path. Like, no, this is wrong. We're going to fight, fight, fight.

We've got to fight this. We're going to fight the system. We're right. They're wrong. But then I was reminded that I simply need to commit this to the Lord.

Right? I don't know what his purposes are in this. To me, I'd like to spend less money. But I know that the Lord wants to do things in the hearts of our children, like help them grow, increase their faith, increase their endurance

and adversity, because that feeds and builds character, James says. In fact, those are promises because they're written in his word. That as you endure hard things, you grow in wisdom, you grow in endurance, and you grow in hope.

Those are promises. So, here's what I came to decide I've got to pray. Not just, Lord, get us the money, but Lord, do what will be good for our child.

Lord, you know, I know, that your word says that for those who love you, all things work together for good, so do good in this situation. I can have a 100% guarantee that he's going to answer that prayer, because it's in accordance with what he promises.

People of God, know that your God answers when you boldly pray according to his promises. That's what Joshua was doing right here in the midst of his fight, and that's what you and I should do in the midst of whatever it is that we're facing.

Look for the promises of God. Look for what we know is his will, and pray confidently, and watch God answer.

And speaking of prayer, why don't we do that right now? Let me ask you if you would stand with me as the team comes when we sing our final song.

Heavenly Father, you know, I don't know the fights, the struggles, the challenges that are facing your people right here this morning to whoever is in listening distance to my voice.

Whatever those battles are, Lord, of any type, any kind, however long we've been fighting them, remind us this morning that this is what you're like, this is what you do.

Most often, Lord, you let us fight, and you fight with us. Lord, you make us promises that we need not be afraid, that you will never leave us, never forsake us, and that ultimately all of our enemies from Satan to death itself will all be conquered and defeated.

but in the meantime, Lord, we are in the battle. And so, we pray that we would fix our eyes upon you. We pray that we would also fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and creator of this faith that we have.

May he perfect it. May you perfect it in us as we strive to be faithful to you. So, Lord, let us persist in prayer. Let us persist in the battle.

And we will do it all for your glory. And we pray this together in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen.