Welcome to Joshua study number 10 verses 1 through 43. Going to cover the whole chapter, Lord willing, and the church don't rise, which means I'd be out of here. And hopefully you would be too. And we're going to get into this chapter with the purging of the land with total war against godless, wicked Amorites. And that's Joshua depicted there in an AI generated image behind me. And one of these days we're going to get to meet him. But in the meantime, we're going to study his book. With prayer, we're going to open things up. Father, we thank you for helping us to understand this book. We do look forward to meeting Joshua, who is a type of Jesus Christ. And of course, Jesus is the first one we want to see. We're ready to go any moment. In the meantime, we just ask you help us to faithfully Study your word, and may your Holy Spirit have his way in our hearts and minds and in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. So, we got some ground to cover, so I'm gonna jump right in here. verses one and two. Now it came to pass when Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, had heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it as he had done to Jericho and her king. So he had done to Ai and her king. And how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them. verse 2 that they feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city and as one of the royal cities and Because it was greater than AI and all the men thereof were mighty so The Gibeonites Who submitted to being ruled over by the Israelites and These guys weren't, you know, I jokingly, only kind of half jokingly refer to the, you know, timid, skinny, jeans type of sissy men. But, you know, it's something else for you. Look at this, the king of Jerusalem. Now, of course, we know what eventually Jerusalem becomes, the holy city, as it's called. I put that in quotes because it wasn't very holy much of the time, and by the time we get to Revelation, it'll be called Sodom. But then when Jesus returns and establishes his kingdom, it truly will be the city of peace, Jerusalem. But Adonai Zedek, the name of the king there, means Lord of Righteousness. Obviously, you know, you think about all these people, like all these people down in Mexico named Jesus. I mean, we pronounce it Jesus, but they're named Jesus. You know, don't give me a name like that. I don't want to, that's something else. Think of trying to live up to that name. Just, you know, it amazes me when you see some of these names that people have and you're like, King. A lot of certain group of people in our country name their kids things like King. I feel sorry for those kids. But anyway, that tells you the kind of fear that had fallen on the inhabitants of the land whenever the Gibeonites You know, these guys are the bad guys. I mean, they're the guys that really are feared in the land. And yet they submitted to being ruled over by Israel without a fight. So verse three says, wherefore Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent unto Hohem, king of Hebron, and unto Piram, the king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia, or Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debar, the king of Eglon. So I count five kings there. These are the remaining city-states of the Amorites there, deciding that they're gonna punish the Gibeonites for surrendering. But Whether or not they knew it, that meant war with Israel because Israel had made a pact with them. So these Kings say verses four and five, come up unto me and help me that we may smite Gibeon. So this is Adonai Zedek calling on these other kings. So these Gibeonites, they've really worked out a cool deal for themselves. Not only are they not destroyed by Israel, which was the original idea, but now they have Israel fighting their battles. That's how things work out. When we don't seek God's counsel, as we learned in the previous chapter, God's counsel was not sought. They made a league with the Gibeonites, and now just the same way the Gibeonites, our sins just find a way of hanging on and causing us trouble, even when we receive forgiveness from the Lord. I kind of use this as an obvious example, but sexual sin can be forgiven. God will forgive you if you will turn to Him with repentance and confess your sin. If you're unsaved, all your sins are forgiven when you get saved. But as Christians, it's sad, but sometimes Christians commit such sin and God will forgive. There's a resultant pregnancy or an STD. You know, those things don't just disappear. Consequences remain. It's a permanent life-changing effect. And that's what's happening here with these Gibeonites, with Israel. So now Israel has to deal with the consequences of their rash league that they made. Verses 7 through 10. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal. He and all the people of war with him and all the mighty men of Valor. Verse 8, And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not, for I have delivered them into thine hand. There shall not a man of them stand before thee. Verse 9, Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night. verse 10 and the Lord discomfited them before Israel and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth Horon and smote them to Azekah and unto Makeda. Now you have to look at a map to see that and we're purposely not including graphics and things in these videos. We're just making them straightforward teaching videos. If you have a Bible or software or you can go online, be careful and make sure you get a good resource. You'll see that's quite a trail of bodies left behind by the Israelites running kind of southwestward from above Jerusalem, right down into the heart of the promised land. And this is the amazing thing. The Lord sent in air support. Look at verse 11. And it came to pass as they fled from before Israel and were in the going down to Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died. It's like big bombs. There were more which died with hell stones than they whom the children of Israel slew with a sword. Can you imagine what these Amorites thought when they're being bombed with great hell stones while they're trying to fight Israel? It would be another 3,300 years before an army would be bombed from the air like that during a ground battle. or when an allied force would receive air support like that. So it's an amazing thing. Verse 12 says, then Joshua, I'm sorry, then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. And he said in the sight of all Israel, I'm sorry. And he said in the sight of Israel, son, Stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Agelom. Every once in a while you'll see that. You see the sun over here and the moon over here. Sometimes they're closer. It's hard to see the moon if it's closer, but that happened not too long ago here. But if you watch them long enough, you'll see them move. The sun going down, the moon coming up. Well, Joshua calls out and calls for the sun to stand still and the moon to stand still. This is a biblical miracle that almost all the unbelievers will mock, but even professing Christians refuse to believe it has written. And so Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still. And what's it say? Verse 13. And the sun stood still and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and hasted not to go down about a whole day. Now I'm not a flat earther, to make that clear, but I am a geocentrist. And I don't break fellowship over the matter, although there have been some heliocentrists who cut me off because they think I'm nuts. But that's between them and God. But I invite you to watch a documentary titled The Principle. and to look up the works of Malcolm Bowden, B-O-W-D-E-N, and Gerard Bau, B-O-U-W, and others. It's not our purpose to convert people to geocentrism, so we don't make a big deal about it, but when you come to a text like this, I believe what the Bible says. But the claim that geocentricity has been debunked is nonsense. And the fact is the Bible itself is a geocentric book. The Bible says in our text, and the sun stood still and the moon stayed. The sun stood still. You say, well, it always stands still. No, it doesn't. It can't stand still if it's already standing still. Then according to the Bible, the sun was moving and God made it stand still. Even heliocentrists have to admit that the Sun is moving by the way. They just deny that it has an orbit around the Earth. It says the Earth goes around the Sun and so forth. But our whole solar system is moving. Our whole galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy is moving. Everything's moving. So the idea that the Sun is standing still is a misnomer to begin with. But documentaries and lectures and videos and other published materials that I just referred you to a moment ago you'll see models that show how it works and that the claim that only the heliocentric model works is hogwash and likewise the moon orbits the earth but it stayed it stood still It stopped its orbit. Now, the unbelieving evangelical, and I said that correctly, I'm not talking about the unbelievers. I'm talking about evangelicals who can't believe the Bible. They'll say, well, that's impossible. If the moon stood still, then the tides and gravity would all go out of whack. It'd be catastrophic. My response to both is a two-word response, but God. You got a tiny weensy little God there. If you don't think that he could design this universe where the planets all function the way we see them, but there's this special arrangement with the earth and the sun. And you got a tiny little God, if you don't think he can make the sun stand still and then make the moons stand still and not allow the natural effects. That's a supernatural thing. It's what, that's what a miracle is. And it's just ridiculous and small-minded of so many people to refuse to believe that God, he's supposed to be omniscient, omnipotent, and the most unfathomable being in existence, and yet he can't do that? I don't even waste time on it. We're not gonna get hung up on it. We have no problem with what the text says, only unbelievers of varying degrees have issues. And then the Bible comment on this event is on verse 14. Verse 14 says, and there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. And that's that. The sun stood still, the moon halted its orbit as huge hail bombs poured out of heaven onto the wicked Amorites. And I also want to mention, it said there in the previous verse, it referred to the book of Asher. It's referred to because it's a book that did exist, but a lot of unbelievers and heretics will read that and claim that there are missing books of the Bible. It never said that the book of Jasher was the word of God. It never said that that book was supposed to be in the Bible. It was an historical documentary source that during the time of Joshua and the writing of Joshua existed and recorded all this information. So it was a secondary, uninspired source that came to be. he makes reference to. And if we ever found the book of Jasher, it would confirm what we read here. But then all the heretics and crazies, just like with the book of Enoch and the gospel of Thomas and the other apocryphal books and everything, they would be trying to shove them in our Bible. So I really hope they never find it. I just don't want the headache. So a lot of people call this the lost day because since the sun stood still for a whole day, there wasn't a full day. So it didn't. I'm doing this with the sun, but it didn't. You know, there was some claim that some NASA scientists or something that come up with figures that proved there was a lost day. And I've heard that that was that was an urban legend. But it doesn't matter, the Bible tells us so. So the battle was won, but the kings that we mentioned previously, the five kings of the Amorites, they tucked hell and ran into hiding. Let's read several verses here. Verse 15, and Joshua returned and all Israel with him unto the camp to Gilgal. But these five kings fled and hid themselves in a cave at Makeda. And it was told Joshua, saying, the five kings are found hidden in a cave at Makeda. Verse 18, and Joshua said, roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave and set men by it for to keep them. Verse 19, and stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies and smite the hindmost of them. Suffer them not to enter into their cities, for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hands. So they turned the cave into a prison, temporary prison to hold these kings until the battle was over and done. Verse 20, and it came to pass when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities. Verse 21, and the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makeda in peace. None moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. And verse 22, then said Joshua, open the mouth of the cave and bring out those five kings unto me out of the keg. Verse 23, and they did so and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. Now, let's just pick up right there and continue reading what he does with these five kings. Verse 24, and it came to pass when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near and put their feet upon the necks of them. Verse 25, and Joshua said unto them, fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage, for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom you fight. Verse 25 in the new versions is quoted a lot, but on coffee mugs and stuff, it'll say something like, fear not and have courage, or something like that. They water it down. Fear not, don't be dismayed, be strong and of good courage. They'll say something like that. People rarely go back and look at the context of what we're reading right here, where that passage appears. In verse 26, and afterward, Joshua smote them and slew them and hanged them on five trees, and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. This is another trigger passage. We don't spend a lot of time on it. We've talked about it previously, but all the Jezebels and the unbelievers and the People who love their sin and want to destroy the Bible and all the limp-wristed effeminate crowd. Oh God is so mean But if you think this is rough Read up on the great white throne judgment that's gonna be You know, it'll make this look like game time at recess for the kiddies at school and So you better get used to this stuff. God is holy. God has a right to kill everyone who's ever sinned. So what we ought to be doing is saying, wow, what an amazing God who didn't kill us the first time we sinned, which is what we deserved, and let some of us sin probably tens of thousands of times, and let us live, and was long-suffering, giving us space to repent. And then he saved us through no effort of our own. See, that's what the person with the heart who's right with God looks at it that way. But if your heart's not right with God, oh, these poor Amorites. God is mean. Verse 27, and it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid and laid great stones in the cave's mouth which remain until this very day. So their hiding place had then become a temporary prison and now it became their permanent grave, their tomb. And at the time of the writing of the book of Joshua, folks could have jumped on a mule or a donkey and taken a little ride out to that cave and it would have served as a memorial. of God's victory over his enemies. But the fighting continues on to, well, we'll name the places here as we read, beginning verse 28. We're gonna read a few verses here. And that day Joshua took Makeda 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 Makeda as he did unto the king of Jericho. Verse 29, then Joshua passed from Makeda and all Israel with him unto Libna and fought against Libna. Verse 30, 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. This just keeps going on, that's why we're just gonna read it. It's the same thing, every city. Verse 31, and Joshua passed from Libna and all Israel with him unto Lachish. and encamped against it and fought against it, verse 32, 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 Libna. And I don't lose sight of the fact that the sun has stood still, meaning they didn't have nighttime. So all night long, the sun stood up there until it came back around to the time that it began to sit still. And then it started to move again. That gave you a full day, night, and day, where it was day the whole time, no nighttime. Verse 33, then Horeb, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish. Joshua smote him and his people until he had left him none remaining. Verse 34, and from Lachish, Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him, and they encamped against it and fought against it. Verse 35, 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. At this point, you've grasped this, you're okay with it, or you've turned me off. Verse 36, and Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron, and they fought against it. Verse 37, 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. Verse 38, and Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debar, and fought against it. Verse 39, 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 Libna, and to her king. It's just a major route. One major city-state after another throughout the land of the Amorites in Canaan. Like hot knife through a butter, or like hot butter on a corn cob. And it could have been like this for Israel, and they could have taken all the land and had got rid of all the Canaanites, and it would have been like the millennium. But they didn't obey. You not only have what happened to Achan and what happened with the Gibeonites, but there are gonna be other examples as we continue on in our reading in Joshua. But we pick up verse 40, 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. The thing to do is not get mad at God for being holy and destroying the wicked and destroying all sin. The thing to do is to be saved, become Saved and holy with his holiness and righteous with his righteousness so that you aren't among those who are destroyed That's the thing to do Verse 41 and Joshua smote them from Kadesh Barnea even unto Gaza and all the country of Goshen even unto Gibeon Gaza the land of the Philistines we're going to see a lot more about that as we continue on and Then verse 42 and all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time Because why because the Lord God of Israel fought for? fought for Israel the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel Don't you want God to fight your battles? You can't lose when God's the one fighting your battles. And when it comes to our sin, our need of salvation, you try to earn your way, you're going to go to hell. But if you receive what Jesus did, pay the full price for sin, he's fought your battle and he's won it. If you'll just put your faith in Jesus Christ, repentance toward God with faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can be saved. And we close the verse 43, and Joshua returned and all Israel with him unto the camp at Gilgal. But for time, we could have said a lot more. Tune in next time. Lord willing, and the church don't rise.