Joshua 10:28

Joshua 10:28 says, And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho.  Joshua continued to defeat those people who were already in the land.  Past success should not stop us from continuing to move ahead with the work that God calls us to.  Verse twenty-nine states, Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah:  The people of Israel, led by Joshua, continued to move ahead just as we must.  Verse thirty declares, And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho.  The people of Libnah were defeated by the power of God, working through the people of Israel.  The king was dealt with the same way the king of Jericho was.  Verse thirty-one adds, And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it:  Joshua and the people of Israel were not just resting and celebrating after their victory, but were moving on to the next enemy.  We today as followers of Christ cannot be content in celebrating one victory for God, but we must continue to fight against sin in the world.  It is not going away until Christ returns.  Verse thirty-two states, And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah.  Once more, the people of Israel were successful because God gave them the victory.  We today can only be successful by following God's guidance and relying on His power.  Verse thirty-three says, Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.  Horam, the king of Gezer, came to help the people of Lachish, and he and those who came with him were slain as well.  We should not be surprised when the lost people of the world unite to attempt to defeat those who stand for God.  Verse thirty-four adds, And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it:  Joshua and all of the people of Israel were united in defeating the people in the promised land.  We today, as Christians, must be united in defeating the enemies of God if we are to be successful.  Verse thirty-five continues, And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.  The battles were not taking long, and the result was always the same.  This was not because of the power of Israel, but because of the power of God.  Verse thirty-six declares, And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it:  Verse thirty-seven adds, And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein.  Whatever city Joshua and the people of Israel went against fell to them.  Verse thirty-eight states, And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:  Then verse thirty-nine adds, And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.  This cycle of events continued as long as there was an enemy to conquer.  We need to be as diligent when we are confronted by the enemies of God today.  We should never be content to allow evil to go unchallenged.  Verse forty declares, So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.  Joshua had said over forty years before that Israel could defeat the people of the land under the power of God, and he saw it happen.  When we have faith in God and follow His guidance, we can be just as certain of the outcome.  Yet, we too often wander in the wilderness of doubt.  Verse forty-one adds,  And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.  Then verse forty-two continues, And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.  Joshua was completely successful because God had given the enemies over to Him.  We may be the instrument that God uses, but the victory is always His, and we should give Him the credit and praise.  Verse forty-three concludes, And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.  After all the people in the country that they had encountered so far were defeated, Joshua and the people of Israel returned to Gilgal.  When we have defeated all the enemies God has us fighting against, we should return to peace and security with Him.  Of course, this may never happen in this world, but we can be certain that it will one day happen.  The victory is God's and He calls us to share in it.