Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / April 22 - Joshua 10

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April 22 - Joshua 10 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday.
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  It's the 22nd of April, which would you believe, all around
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  the world. Today is International Mother
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  Earth Day. Today is the day that you are
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  invited. In fact, the United Nations asks
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  of you that you and I make a choice to do something that does
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  not involve plastic today. Is there something we can choose
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  that is an alternative to the plastic solution that we would
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  normally face? And when we're walking around
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  today, if we see a piece of litter, particularly a piece of
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  plastic lying on the ground, we can pick it up and dispose of it
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  thoughtfully. And in doing that, we can
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  encourage each other and we can remind ourselves that this
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  planet of ours, we've got to care for and hand it to our kids
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  and their kids and their kids and their kids.
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  I can do that. That's my challenge.
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  I'll do my best. Will you join me, friends?
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  Oh, I hope you will. And no matter what you do with
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  plastic today or not with plastic right now, let's read
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  another chapter of God's Word. Israel has been hoodwinked by
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  those southerners, and they have made a treaty, unbeknownst to
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  them, with some people who live in the land that God had given
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  them. But now they continue further
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  South, and they will defeat the other kings in the South and
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  take over the land that God had prepared for them.
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  So let's do it, friends. Let us continue reading through
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  this incredible conquest where they arrive in their
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  inheritance. As we read Joshua chapter 10,
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  Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured
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  and completely destroyed I and killed its king, just as he had
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  destroyed the town of Jericho and killed its king.
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  He also learned that the Gibeonites had made peace with
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  Israel and we're now their allies.
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  He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this,
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  because Gibeon was a large town, as large as the royal cities and
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  larger than I, and the Gibeonite men were strong warriors.
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  Sir King Adonai Zedek of Jerusalem sent messages to
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  several other kings. Horem of Hebron, Piram of
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  Jarmoth, Japhai of Lachish, and Dema of Eglon.
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  Come and help me destroy Gibeon, he urged them, for they have
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  made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.
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  So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a
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  united attack. They moved all their troops into
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  place and attacked Gibeon. The men of Gibeon quickly sent
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  messages to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal.
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  Don't abandoned your servants now, they pleaded.
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  Come at once, save us, help us, for all the Amurite kings who
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  live in the Hill Country have joined forces to attack us.
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  So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors,
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  left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon.
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  Do not be afraid of them, the Lord said to Joshua, for I have
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  given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be
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  able to stand up to you. Joshua travelled all night from
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  Gilgal and took the Amurite armies by surprise.
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  The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites
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  slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon.
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  Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth
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  Horon, killing them all along the way to Azaca and Makada.
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  As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth Horon, the
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  Lord destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven
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  that continued until they reached Azaca.
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  The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed
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  with the sword. On the day the Lord gave the
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  Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the
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  Lord in front of all the people of Israel.
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  He said, Let the sun stand still over Gibeon and the moon over
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  the valley of Ajalon. So the sun stood still and the
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  moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated
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  its enemies. Is this event not recorded in
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  the Book of Jashah? The sun stayed in the middle of
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  the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.
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  There has never been a day like this before or since when the
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  Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for
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  Israel that day. Then Joshua and the Israelite
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  army returned to their camp at Gilgal.
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  During the battle, the five kings escaped and hid in a cave
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  at Makada. When Joshua heard that they had
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  been found, he issued this command.
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  Cover the opening of The Cave with large rocks and place
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  guards at the entrance to keep the kings inside.
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  The rest of you, continue chasing the enemy and cut them
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  down from the rear. Don't give them a chance to get
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  back to their towns, for the Lord your God has given you
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  victory over them. So Joshua and the Israelite army
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  continue the slaughter and completely crush the enemy.
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  They totally wiped out the five armies except for a tiny remnant
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  that managed to reach their fortified towns.
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  Then the Israelites returned safely to Joshua in the camp at
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  Makada. After that, no one dared to
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  speak even a word against Israel.
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  Then Joshua said, remove the rocks covering the opening of
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  The Cave and bring the five kings to me.
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  So they brought the five kings out of The Cave, the kings of
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  Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmoth, Lakish, and Eglon.
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  When they brought them out, Joshua told the commanders of
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  his army, Come and put your feet on the King's necks.
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  And they did as they were told. Don't ever be afraid or
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  discouraged, Joshua told his men.
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  Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to
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  all of your enemies. Then Joshua killed each of the
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  five kings and impaled them on five sharpened poles where they
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  hung until evening. As the sun was going down,
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  Joshua gave instructions for the bodies of the kings to be taken
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  down from the poles and thrown into The Cave where they had
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  been hiding. Then they covered the opening of
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  The Cave with a pile of large rocks, which remained to this
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  very day. That same day, Joshua captured
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  and destroyed the town of Makadah.
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  He killed everyone in it, including the king, leaving no
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  survivors. He destroyed them all, and he
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  killed the king of Makada, as he had killed the king of Jericho.
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  Then Joshua and the Israelites went to Libna and attacked it
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  there too. The Lord gave them the town and
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  its king. He killed everyone in it,
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  leaving no survivors. Then Joshua killed the king of
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  Libna, as he had killed the king of Jericho.
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  From Libna, Joshua and the Israelites went to Lakish and
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  attacked it. Here again the Lord gave them
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  Lakish. Joshua took it on the second day
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  and killed everyone in it, just as he had done in Libna.
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  During the attack on Lakish, King Horem of Gezza arrived with
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  his army to help defend the town, but Joshua's men killed
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  him and his army, leaving no survivors.
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  Then Joshua and the Israelite army went on to Eglon and
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  attacked it. They captured it that day and
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  killed everyone in it. He completely destroyed
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  everyone, just as he had done in Lakish.
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  From Eglon, Joshua and the Israelite army went up to Hebron
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  and attacked it. They captured the town and
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  killed everyone in it, including its king, leaving no survivors.
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  They did the same thing to all of its surrounding villages, and
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  just as he had done in Eglon, he completely destroyed the entire
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  population. Then Joshua and the Israelites
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  turned back and attacked Debba. He captured the town, its king,
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  and all of its surrounding villages.
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  He completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors.
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  He did to Debba and its king just what he had done to Hebron
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  and Libna and its king. So Joshua conquered the whole
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  region, the kings and people of the Hill Country, the Negev, the
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  western foothills and the mountain slopes.
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  He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no
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  survivors. Just as the Lord, the God of
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  Israel, had commanded, Joshua slaughtered them from Kadesh,
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  Baniya to Gaza and from the region around the town of Goshen
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  up to Gibeon. Joshua conquered all these kings
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  and their land in a single campaign for the Lord.
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  The God of Israel was fighting for his people.
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  Then Joshua and the Israelite army return to their camp at
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  Gilgal. Our Lord, we can often have the
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  sense of you battling to get your way.
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  You know that the forces of this world disrupt and push back, and
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  then you take a bit and they take a bit.
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  And while this sounds brutal to our modern ears, the author of
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  the book of Joshua goes to great lengths to communicate that you
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  are the Almighty God of the universe and nothing stands in
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  your way. What I pray that we do not
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  forget that you are supreme and you rule everything, and that
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  when you and your will is bent on something, that is what will
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  happen. And Lord, your will has been
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  bent on saving your people, Your will is bent on restoring your
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  creation to be the way you wanted it to be, that we would
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  know you, that we would know your love, and that we would
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  know who you are. And so you achieved this in
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  giving us Jesus and conquering death and bringing us into your
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  perfect and holy presence. Our Lord, we thank you for the
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  love that you first gave us. We are so grateful and we love
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  you back and we pray all of this in the loving name of Jesus,
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  Amen.