Have you ever had that feeling that God wanted you to do something? Maybe speak to a stranger, help out someone who has their hands full in the parking lot, but you were too afraid? Or maybe you did talk to them but you felt that you should do more and you didn’t?

            How about this, you promise God that you are going to walk with him, yet you keep that one little hidden “secret” sin that nobody knows about. Well, that isn’t what God wants. He wants all of you not part of you. He wants full obedience.

            When God gave the promise land to Joshua and the Israelites, it was full of cities that were corrupt with sin. God didn’t want these cities affecting Israel, so he ordered Joshua to take all the land and destroy the other cities. He didn’t want the temptation to keep a secret sin to be looming over Israel.

Joshua 10: 1-10

Here we see something that appears to be common in the book of Joshua. These kings knew that Joshua and the Israelites had taken Jericho and Ai, two of the most powerful cities in the region. Then Gibeon had made a treaty with Israel. So these kings applied the theory; a great defense is a good offense.

Five of the cities, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, all combined forces and attacked Gibeon. They had a great military strategy. They would take this fortified city that was in Israel’s back door and then from there be able to attack Israel. But as the battle started, Gibeon asked for help from Joshua.

Let’s think about that. Gibeon had deceived Joshua. They had lied to Israel and yet know they are asking for help. What would you do in that situation? Allot of people would have just let them suffer and die. But Joshua’s response shows his integrity. He instantly left and attacked the five armies and took them by surprise. Maybe they thought Israel wouldn’t attack. But in any case, Israel did attack and put the armies on the run.

 Joshua 10: 11-15

             This part of the story shows God’s dedication to Israel for their obedience to him. Not only did God give them the victory at Gibeon, but also he killed more of the enemy armies than the Israelites did by using hail.

            Then Joshua asked God to have the sun stand still to give Joshua more light to pursue his enemies. God allows the extra light to turn the tide on the battle. So many times we just go so far for God because we think it would be impossible to go any farther. But what if we had faith to just ask God like Joshua did. What kind of possibilities would that open up for us?

 Joshua 10: 16-28

             Now here is a group of military geniuses if I’ve ever seen them. The kings hid in a cave to keep from getting caught. But all they really did was allow Joshua to put them out of the battle until he mopped up their remaining armies. So without a leader, the Israelites were able to defeat the majority of the soldiers before they even got back to their cities.

            Then Joshua did something that speaks volumes, when he brought the kings out and had the soldiers stand on their necks this was a symbol. In Biblical times this meant ultimate domination over someone else. It was a visual presentation to his men that God had truly given them this land. As humans we crave motivation and encouragement. This was God’s way of allowing Joshua to motivate his men into not stopping and continuing on.

            And motivate them it did. In the rest of the chapter Joshua and the Israelites go onto attack and defeat the rest of the Southern cities. Not only did they defeat them but also they destroyed everyone in the cities. There was no one left to rebuild these cities or to continue the sins in that area. God wanted his people to be pure and without any temptations around them. So what temptations do you allow to be around you that God doesn’t approve of?        

            You see, most of us would have looked at the armies attacking Gibeon and been discouraged. But what really happened is God used that instance to help Israel. Think about how much longer it would have taken to siege five separate fortified cities verses all their armies coming together and fighting you all at once. God was making the way for the Israelites to march directly across the land without having to slow down for these individual cities.

            As you go through your daily live, when you see the odds stacked against you, or if you feel like it can’t get any worse. Think about Joshua, here he was attacked not by one army, but five. However God helped him defeat them and it made the rest of his mission that much easier. Maybe the battle you are fighting today is to make the rest of your mission a cakewalk.