Day 72 - Joshua 10-12

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 72 - Joshua 10-12 (God Wants You to be Victorious)
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"So the LORD routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.  And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword."  (Joshua 10:10-11)

In my last post we learned how because Joshua failed to wipe out the Gibeonites because he did not consult God in his desicion-making.  In this next Scripture passage, we read that five powerful kings teamed up to make war against Gibeon for aligning itself with Israel.  Upon seeing their predicament, Gibeon sends word to Joshua asking for support.  Joshua gathers his army and fights the mighty alliance and as we read above, defeats them decisively with God's help.  In fact, we read that "There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword."

Wow!  What an assurance for God's people that He is the One who fights our battles and that He merely uses whatever He has given us so we could have the privilege of being a part of His plan in history.  It is a reminder to us as God's people that we must be careful not to fight our battles in our own strength so that we would not be puffed up and think that we are strong enough and do not need God's help.

This was not the only instance when God supernaturally intervened to fight for Israel.  In the same battle against the five-king alliance, God made the sun to stand still for an extra day until Israel completely destroyed her enemies.  When Moses fled from Pharoah and his army, God divided the Red Sea so Israel could cross over but then God made Egypt's chariots get stuck in the middle of the sea and ordered the waters to come down on the entire army.  When the Assyrian army laid seige on Jerusalem, God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers while they slept during the night.  There are many more instances in the Bible as well as in modern-day Israel when God miraculously intervened in order to deilver the Jews.  Why did God do it?  We do not know all the reasons but one common thread we find is that in every one of those miracles, God's people called on God for deliverance.

God is just as concerned with ordinary individuals who call upon Him for help and He is always faithful to to hear us even though He may not choose to intervene miraculously.  Jesus Himself in His humanity prayed to His heavenly Father to intervene in order to alleviate His intense suffering but then quickly submitted to the Father's will, "nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39)

Are you facing a battle in your life right now?  Although you may feel the usual urge to just toughen up and fight it alone because that is what the world expects you to do, look up to your Father in heaven who is waiting for you to call on Him for help because He loves you and also because He wants you to experience the victory that only He can give you.