Something that causes a lot of people to question God’s justice is how he ordered the complete destruction of the people who occupied the promised land before He gave the land to His chosen people.

In today’s politically correct climate, where much is said about tolerance and multiculturalism, it’s hard to understand why God would require that every life should be taken.

I have a couple of thoughts on this.

In Deuteronomy 20:16-18 we read: “…in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them — the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — as the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God”. God knew that if any were left, they would influence negatively his chosen people.

Also, many of the things we read in the Old Testament are examples for our own individual lives today. When we become aware of even the slightest sin in our own lives, we need to be ruthless toward it and completely eradicate it. As far as we are humanly able, we must eliminate anything that could come between us and our God, our Savior, our King. A small sin today could one day bring destruction.

The lesson from Joshua 10 is we must be ruthless against evil influences if we are to live a holy life, pleasing to God.

Before I go today, I would like to take the opportunity to mention again my book, Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide. You heard several names today that we don’t often hear. My book has those names, and about 7,400 more, with every spelling from every English Bible translation. So if you are a Bible study leader, a homeschool teacher, a pastor, a lectionary reader, or just a student of the Bible and you’re tired of stumbling over difficult Bible names, or being embarrassed when you try to read them in public, Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide is for you. And now is the time to pick up your copy, because on February 1st, the price is going up. Right now, you can download your own copy at EasyBibleNamesGuide.com for just $5.99, but on February 1st, 2015, the price is going up to $15.99. Everyone’s been telling me that I’ve been giving this really great resource away for too low a price, so I’ve decided to listen to them, but I wanted to give you fair warning before the price goes up. Head over to EasyBibleNamesGuide.com and get yours today.