Judges 1:11

Judges 1:11 says, And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher:  This is still speaking of the tribe of Judah in their battle against the people of Canaan.  Verse twelve states, And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.  We have the account of Caleb offering his daughter as a wife to any man who defeated Kirjathsepher.  This seems to be a retelling of events mentioned chapter fifteen of the book of Joshua.  It may be mentioned again here because this was a part of the land of Canaan that was to be defeated, and it had already been done so by Otheniel, Caleb's now son-in-law, and this was a review of what had happened..  Verse thirteen says, And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.  Othniel, Caleb's nephew, took Kirjathepher and Caleb gave him his daughter to be his wife.  Again, we may not really understand the way things were back then, or even in parts of the world today, but we do know that Caleb was a man who put this faith in God, so I believe that he was doing what he thought would be best for his daughter.  She would have a strong husband to care for her once Caleb was gone.  Verse fourteen adds, And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?  Caleb's daughter was also looking out for what would be best for her husband.  She was moved to have her husband to ask Caleb for a certain field.  I don't believe that this was from greed, but from knowing that it was going to be needed because of the water there.  When we as followers of Christ ask God for anything, it should never be out of greed or selfish desire, but should always be because we have a need for whatever it is that we ask.  Verse fifteen adds, And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.  She asked Caleb for the springs of water to go with the southland as well, and Caleb gave it to her.  Again, I believe that Caleb was attempting to insure her safety and security after he died.  We need to do the best that we can to help our children find safety and security after we die, and the best thing that we can do is to tell them about Jesus Christ.  This is the only blessing with everlasting security.  Verse sixteen declares, And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.  Some of the descendants of Moses' father-in-law went to dwell among the inhabitants of the wilderness of Judah.  Verse seventeen states, And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.  The people of Judah utterly destroyed the Canaanites that lived in Zephath, in the city of Hormah.  The people of Israel had been told to destroy all the inhabitants of the land, and sometimes they did and at other times they didn't.  We may think that destroying all the inhabitants was cruel, but once again, God sees things from an eternal spiritual prospective.  Verse eighteen says, Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.  The people of Judah continued to defeat the people in the land, just as we must continue to defeat our spiritual enemies today.  This does not mean that we are to kill them all though, but that we are to reach out to them with the love of God.  Verse nineteen declares, And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.  We are told that the people of Judah were successful through the power of God, except against the people of the valley, who had chariots.  I don't believe that the chariots were more powerful than the people of Judah under God's power, but that they more likely saw the chariots more than they saw God's power.  We today as followers of Christ may see certain things as being to powerful to overcome if we see the problem more than we see God.  Verse twenty adds, And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.  We are told once again that Caleb was given his land as Moses had said for him to be.  Caleb had remained faithful to God, and his faith was rewarded.  When we remain faithful to God today, our faith will be rewarded, if not in this life, then in the one to come.

Judges 1:1

Judges 1:1 says, Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?  Although it says after Joshua died, some of this will be a repeat of what was said in the book of Joshua.  After Joshua died, the people of Israel had no one earthly leader as they had with Joshua and Moses before him, but they still had their real Leader, Who was God Himself.  There may be times when a local church is without a pastor, but that does not mean that they are without a leader, nor that they have no purpose during that time.  God is still their leader as always.  The people of Israel were still charged with fighting the Canaanites.  Verse two states, And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.  God answered the question of who was to go against the Canaanites.  God said the tribe of Judah would go, and He also promised them victory.  We can be certain that when God sends us into battle against evil in the world today, that if we go by His direction and under His power, that victory is ours ultimately.  This does not meant hat we will always be victorious in this world, but we know that God has given us the everlasting victory.  Verse three declares, And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.  The people of Judah asked the people of Simeon to go with them to fight, and promised to go with the people of Simeon when they fought.  It is always nice to have fellow believers with us in the fight against evil today, but we really aren't told that this was God's guidance.  If God had assured the tribe of Judah of success, if they went in faith, then they would have been successful by themselves.  God may have led them to this decision, but it doesn't really specify that He did.  When we work together with other Christians today, we need to make certain that it is by God's direction and not from a lack of faith on our part.  Verse four adds, And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.  When Judah went up against the people of Canaan, God gave them the victory.  They slew ten thousand men.  Judah was not successful because of who they were, but because of who God was.  We as followers of Christ today will not be successful because of who we are in our battle with evil in the world but because of Who God is.  He gives us the victory.  Verse five continues, And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.  Judah continued to be successful in their battles because they were following God's guidance and putting their faith in Him.  Verse six declares, But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.  One of the kings fled, and they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.  This made him unable to fight or run effectively.  Verse seven says, And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.  Adonibezek said that he had cut the thumbs and big toes off seventy kings who were then subjected to him, and now God had done thr same to him.  We can be certain that one day people who do not believe in God and fight against His people will face their judgment by God.  Verse eight states,  Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.  The people of Judah took Jerusalem and burned it.  Verse nine declares, And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.   Verse ten adds, And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.  Then verse eleven concludes, And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher:  The people of Judah continued to be successful against the Canaanites because tey were doing what God had instructed them to do under His power.  We today will be successful against the enemies we face as long as we are following God's commands and are relying on His strength.

Joshua Review Continued

We will continue to look at some things learned from Joshua.  The first thing is that we must rely on God to be behind whatever we are blessed with in this life.  The people of Israel did not just see a particular area and claim it for their own, but they relied on God to distribute the land.  Had they just claimed what they wanted, they could have been fighting each other over a particular area.  We today as followers of Christ must ask not for what we may want but for God's will to be done in our life.  We also saw that in some of the areas that the people of Israel did not destroy all the other people living there.  In one case, they were tricked into making a covenant, and in at least a few others it was stated that they were unable to drive them out.  We cannot afford to compromise with the people of this world, but must drive all ungodly attitudes out of our lives.  God had given them the ability to do this, and He gives us that same ability today.  We are told that when the people of Israel were faithful to God that they were victorious and that God gave them the land and an ability to live at peace.  When we are living by faith in Christ, we should be at peace in our lives.  God has already given us our heavenly home, so the question then becomes how content we will be in this life.  We also see that those who are God's leaders die.  The book of Joshua began after the death of Moses and basically concluded with the death of Joshua.  We need to realize that the earthly leaders of the church today are going to die, but that we need to look to God for the next leader.  Sometimes, they don't die but simply move to another place to serve, but God is still in charge.  Just as the people in that day had to accept Joshua as Moses' replacement, we today must accept new leaders when they come.  Finally, we see that at times there can be misunderstandings even about worshipping God, but if they occur, we need to get the facts under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  When we do, we like the people on the one side of the Jordan may find that the people on the other side really aren't being disobedient to God.  Just because we do not all worship exactly the same way does not mean that the way that others worship is wrong.  I do believe that we have a responsibility, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, to make sure that nothing that is not consistent with God's word is done in His name though.  Next, we will look at the book of Judges.

Joshua Review

We will review some of the things we learned from Joshua.  The first is that the earthly leadership of God's people changes, but God does not.  Moses was dead, and Joshua took his place.  Our faith today should never be in a earthly leader of the church, the people of God.  Even in the local fellowship of believers, the earthly leadership is going to change, but God's leadership will not.  We also see that lack of faith can cause us to wander in the wilderness, but if we return to faithfulness in God then we can go where God wants us to be.  A whole generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, were denied access to the promised land.  They were still God's chosen people, but they didn't receive all the benefits from being God's people.   A lack of faith on our part as followers of Christ today may keep us from enjoying all the blessings that God has in store for us, but that does not mean that we are not a part of His people if we have truly accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord.  We also see that even though they already had the land promised to them, that the two and a half tribes were still responsible for helping the rest of the people of Israel to possess the rest of the promised land.  Just because we feel secure and prosperous in the world as followers of Christ does not exempt us from helping others, especially fellow Christians, in their struggles.  I don't believe that God blesses us just so we can enjoy His blessings and ignore those less fortunate.  I do not see anywhere in the Bible where God said keep it all for yourself, but I find many examples where He said share with others.  Even the feeding of the five thousand began with one person, a boy, sharing what he had to help the others.  Also, we see that if we look to God instead of at the problem, then we will be successful.  The people that the Israelites were going to war with had not changed in the years that the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness, nor had God.  Once they put their faith in God, they went over the Jordan to claim the land promised to them by God.  If we put our faith in God, even those enemies that once seemed so insurmountable will seem small.  It is always a question of faith in God.      

Joshua 24:26

Joshua 24:26 says, And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.  Joshua recorded the words of their covenant in a book of the law of God.  God's word has been preserved for ages by His people, and we today have the completed book of God, the Bible.  He placed the book close to the sanctuary,  Verse twenty-seven states, And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.  Joshua said that the stone that he set up would be a memorial to the people of Israel and their covenant with God.  The cross is our symbol of our covenant with God today.  Joshua said that God had heard all the words that the people of Israel had said to Him that day, when they promised to be faithful to Him, just as He will hear any person who promises to be obedient to Him today.  Just as the stone was their witness, the Holy Spirit is our witness to let us know if we are straying away from God.  Verse twenty-eight declares, So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.  Joshua then let the people go to their own inheritance, or homes.  They had committed themselves to God as a group, but it would be up to each individual to keep that commitment in the world.  We today gather together as churches, local fellowships of believers, where we profess our obedience to God, but then we go to our separate homes, where it is up to us individually to remain true to God.  Verse twenty-nine states, And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.  After this, Joshua died, and once again the people of Israel were without an earthly leader.  Those who lead the church today will die, but God is still in charge.  We have a personal relationship with God through our faith in Christ which is not dependent on any earthly person, so when one leader dies, we can be certain that God will call another until the time of the return of Christ.  Verse thirty adds, And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.  We are told where they buried Joshua.  This does not mean that we need to attempt to find his burial place today though.  Joshua is not there, but he is in heaven with his Savior, Jesus Christ, even though Jesus did not come until centuries later.  Verse thirty-one declares, And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.  The people of Israel continued to serve the LORD all the days of Joshua and the elders who out lived him who knew the LORD and His works.  I don't believe that means that every person followed God, but that the people as a whole did.  Likewise, not every person who is a Christian or proclaims themselves to be one will always be totally obedient to God's word and will.  Verse thirty-two adds, And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.  Joseph's bones, which had been brought out of Egypt, were buried in a parcel of ground bought by Jacob.  The people of Israel had been in the promised land before until they went into Egypt.  If we have made a sincere profession of faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we have a home in our promised land, heaven.  We may have to struggle through this world below, but we can be certain that God will bring us safely home, just as He did the Israelites.  Verse thirty-three concludes, And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.  Eleazar, the high priest, the son of Aaron, died as well and was buried.  The old leaders were passing away, so it would be time for new leaders to arise.  There remained the question of whether they would or not.  As has been stated many times, we as followers of Christ are just a generation away from total lack of believers.

Joshua 24:14

Joshua 24:14 says, Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.  Joshua called on the people of Israel to put away the other gods that they had once had in their lives in Egypt and on the other side of the flood, and to serve the only true God in sincerity and truth.  We, as Christians, can substitute the cross for Egypt and the flood, and we need to put away anything that was a god to us before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Then we are to serve God in sincerity and truth.  Verse fifteen declares, And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  Joshua called on them to make a choice.  They could either choose to serve some false god or the one true God.  There were many other gods to choose to worship, from those worshipped before the flood to those of the people of the land the people of Israel had just conquered.  We today must at some point choose whether we are going to serve the gods of this world or the God Who created this world.  Everyone will choose one or the other by their acceptance or rejection of Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Joshua said that he and his family chose to serve the true God.  We really can't make that determination for our family, but we can and should point them to Christ.  Verse sixteen states, And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;  The people of Israel proclaimed faith in God.  This did not mean that they all would remain faithful to God though.  It is one thing to proclaim ourselves to be faithful to God, but the proof will come when we are faced with temptation or a fearful situation.  Verse seventeen adds, For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:  The people professed that God had delivered them from Egypt and bondage.  Christ has already delivered everyone from the bondage of sin today, if people will only accept that deliverance by putting their faith in Him.  Verse eighteen continues, And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.  They testified to what God had done for them, just as we must testify to what God has done for us today if we are followers of Christ.  Verse nineteen declares, And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.  Then verse twenty adds, If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.  Joshua warned the people of Israel that they could not serve God and serve false gods at the same time.  He said God was  jealous God, expecting their total allegiance and He still is today.  We cannot serve God effectively and allow anything to become more important to us than He is.  Verse twenty-one says, And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.  Once again, the people declared there obedience to God.  I believe that we must each day declare our obedience to God, or we may find ourselves chasing after the things of this world, which in effect become gods to us, since they become more important than our relationship to God.  Verse twenty-two declares, And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.  Joshua said that their declaration of obedience to God served as a witness against them.  When we proclaim ourselves to be followers of Christ, our words of faith serve as a witness against us.  If we are not sincere in our profession of faith, or if we later falter in our relationship with God, we alone are responsible.  Verse twenty-three adds, Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.  Joshua charged them to put away any strange gods, just as we must today.  Verse twenty-four states, And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.  The people of Israel once again stated that they would serve the LORD their God.  Joshua made the choice very clear, and every time the people of Israel said they would serve the Lord.  Though salvation is a one time decision that lasts forever, we must daily choose whether or not we are going to allow God to be first in our life.  Verse twenty-five declares, So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.  Just as Joshua made a covenant with the people, we as followers of Christ make a covenant with Him, and then we are called on to daily fulfill our part of the covenant.  Christ has already fulfilled His, when He died for us on the cross.

Joshua 24:1

Joshua 24:1 says. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.  Joshua gathered all the leaders of Israel to Shechem to present themselves to God.  They were not there simply to appear before Joshua, even if he was their leader.  They were there to appear before God.  When governmental leaders gather today, it would be good if they appeared before God first and foremost.  Verse two states, And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.  Joshua told the people what God had to say to them.  He reminded them first of where the came from, before the flood and to the time of Abraham.  Joshua said that they had worshipped other gods at that time.  We need to occasionally remember where we came from before accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord, when we worshipped other gods, so that we never forget God's gracious gift of salvation.  Verse three says,  And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.  Joshua then reminded them of God's promise to Abraham and His fulfillment of that promise, through Isaac.  God made Abraham a great nation through his one son of promise, Isaac.  God makes His great nation today through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  Verse four states, And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. Then, Joshua reminds them of Jacob and Esau, and Jacob going into Egypt.  Verse five declares, I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.  Joshua was now getting closer to their time, when Moses and Aaron had delivered the people of Israel from Egypt by the power of God.  I believe that we should always remember the day that God delivered us from the bondage of sin by our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  If we have not done this, then the Bible is just another book instead of the divine word of God.  Verse six adds, And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.  Joshua reminds them of the faithers coming to the Red Sea as they were departing Egypt.  Sometimes, we have to reach the point of total despair before we turn to God for deliverance, but the good news is that He will always be there to deliver us, unless we do say no to Him too many times.  Verse seven says, And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season  Joshua said that when the people cried out to God that He delivered them, and that the people gathered there knew personally what had occurred during the wilderness wanderings.  We may only know of what happened to the people of God in the past from reading about it, but if we are a follower of Christ, then we know personally about what has happened in our lives as we wandered in the wilderness of sin before accepting Christ.  Verse eight states, And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.  Joshua said that God brought the people of Israel into the land of the Amorites and gave it to them.  God was responsible for them being where they were and for their victory over their enemies, just as He is responsible for our salvation and victory over our spiritual enemies today.  Verse nine adds, Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:  Joshua then reminds them of one particular enemy, Balak, who rose against them in the name of his god Balaam.  We today are going to have many spiritual enemies if we are Christians.  Verse ten declares, But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.  Joshua said thst he would not harken to Balaam, so God delivered them from Balak.  God will always deliver us from the forces of evil around us, if we remain faithful to Him.  Verse eleven adds, And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.  Joshua then spoke of their victory over the people in the land on this side of the Jordan.  This was all accomplished by the power of God.  Verse twelve continues, And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.  Joshua reminded them that God had defeated two kings, not with the sword, but with hornets.  We may not have the strongest weapons today, but we will always have the strongest God if we are followers of Christ.  Verse thirteen concludes, And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.  God gave the people of Israel the land, just as He will give us our heavenly home today if we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Just as the people of Israel did not work for the promised land, neither can we work for our salvation.  Just like the promised land, salvation is a gift from God because of His mercy to us.