Tag: fought for Israel

50.c. Wilderness – 14.i. “To deliver you and to give up your enemies before you”

 

Deu 7:1  “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.

Joshua 6:17   And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction.

 Joshua 10:30   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.

 Joshua 10:42    And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.

 Joshua 21:44    And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands.

Deuteronomy 23:14   Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

Israel wasn’t in the land yet, but Moses still instructed them as if it were a certainty. This was based on the faithful promise of God, but it was also according to His principle of preparation. “Sure,” Moses said, “the Canaanite nations are greater and mightier than you. But they are not greater and mightier than God.” God brought Israel to face a challenge that was impossible in their own strength – but entirely possible in Him. God could be counted on. Yet, God would not do it all for them. The extent of the work would depend on their faithful response to what God would do. 

This principle of battle until absolute victory is the key to victory as we take the Promised Land of blessing and peace God has for us in Jesus. We show no mercy to our enemies in the land, but we destroy them utterly. Many of us, truth be told, simply do not want to completely destroy the sins which keep us from God’s Promised Land of blessing and peace – we want to weaken them, and have some control over them, but we do not want to utterly destroy them. (Guzik)

Here is a strict caution against all friendship and fellowship with idols and idolaters. Those who are in communion with God, must have no communication with the unfruitful works of darkness. Limiting the orders to destroy, to the nations here mentioned, plainly shows that after ages were not to draw this into a precedent. A proper understanding of the evil of sin, and of the mystery of a crucified Saviour, will enable us to perceive the justice of God in all his punishments, temporal and eternal. We must deal decidedly with our lusts that war against our souls; let us not show them any mercy, but mortify, and crucify, and utterly destroy them. (Henry)

188. I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears.

2 Kings 20:1  In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

Joshua 10:12-14     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 Aijalon.”  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

God creator, author of all there is, all powerful, and all mighty spoke all there is into being.  All of nature and science obeys the voice of God from creation to forever.  Why do we find it hard to understand that the author and creator can control and manipulate what He has created?  Stopping the sun and moon for a full day, retreating the sun for however far it takes to go back ten steps is nothing compared to what God can do.  He is unlimited.  Scripture says He can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  And we still have doubts.  We still have anxious thoughts. We worry and fret. We become afraid.  When we come to the place where we have surrendered our trial/trouble in the hands of Jesus, and we say not my will but yours be done, it is then we find the blessed assurance, peace that passes all understanding, faith that moves mountains, hope that conquers fears, and trust that gives us strength and courage in the midst of our trials/troubles.  Stay close to Him, seek Him, desire Him, and above all lay your burdens at His feet and rest in His unfailing love.

75. And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped.

Joshua 10:12   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 Aijalon.” 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.

Job 9:7  who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars;

Psalms 74:16  Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.

Isaiah 28:21  For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed—strange is his deed! and to work his work—alien is his work!

Habakkuk 2:20  But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Zechariah 2:13  Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

It is hard to try to understand how the Sun and moon could stand still for about a whole day.  Likewise, it is hard to understand how God created heaven and earth, light and darkness, man, animals, plants, and everything else that was created.  Our minds do not have the capacity to understand the vastness of God or what He can do.  Scripture says He can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  Who can imagine the 8 plagues He caused on Egypt, the host of miracles performed in the wilderness, and the numerous works, deeds, and wonders of Jesus Christ?  All of these are beyond our knowledge but not our believing.  With our heart and mind and soul, we trust in God and believe He is able, sovereign, all-powerful, mighty, and awesome, capable to do more than our limited understanding.  It is good to rest in His awesome unlimited love and power.  In Him, we find peace, rest, comfort, hope, and purpose.  

 

Do not limit what God is capable of doing by your lack of belief.