Do It and Watch

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

DO IT AND WATCH

 

Josh 10:29-43

29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. 30 The LORD also gave that city and its king into Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. 31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. 32 The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. 33 Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army — until no survivors were left. 34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. 35 They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish. 36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it. 38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. 39 They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. 40 So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

NIV

This was done within one campaign and we have found a map of all these cities that we are including today to better understand what and where all this happened. Although as interestingly as that is the point of all this narrative has two main points. The first is that Joshua did just as the LORD, the God of Israel had commanded. The second is he conquered all he did because the LORD the God of Israel fought for Israel. This is where we take our lesson or see how our lives should reflect those two truths. First, it would behoove us to do just as our Lord has commanded. This is more than going to church on Sunday, or that list of don’ts and do’s that seem to creep into the church. This is about obeying the command of our Lord for every aspect of our lives, where we live, where we work and worship, along with reflecting his glory, and shining his light wherever we go. Joshua followed God’s command and fought and conquered all those cities. He went into the heat of battle because God commanded Joshua to have all the land he had given into his hand. Everything starts with God, not with us. We are not supposed to make a choice as to where we live, work, or worship and then ask the Lord to bless our choice. Nothing starts with us, but everything must start with God and then we follow his command. We wonder whether we can even love each other in the power of our own flesh, although, we know Jesus told us that if we love those who love us, what credit is that to us, even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. If we do good to those who do good to us, what credit is that to us, for even ‘sinners’ do that. Jesus said more about lending expecting repayment, ‘sinners’ do that, but he finished all that with "Be merciful as our Father is merciful". The whole of the truth is that we must do just as the Lord commands. Secondly, we also know that our Lord fights for us. We do not leave us alone in the dark world. For one thing, we no longer walk in the darkness of the world for we have the light of Jesus, in fact, we are the light of the world now and we should be shining our light into every dark place we walk so that we will never walk in the dark again, for everywhere we are there is light. However, the point is that Jesus fights for us. He wins the battles for us so that we do not have to be oppressed by the world with all its fortified cities, so to speak. The things of this world cannot overcome us, or invade our lives, because Jesus is within us and we are in him, as he fights those life battles we face. Let us always be attentive to his command and watch as he gives us victory in life. It comes down to, “Do it, and “watch”.