Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Our reading today is Joshua 6-10. After that I’ve got some comments. I’m calling the show “You Want Us To Do What?”. 

Comments on Joshua 6-10

Thoughts on Joshua 5 and 6

When God tells you to do something, don’t question Him. Even if you think doing it will make you look silly. 

How crazy must the people in Jericho thought the Israelites were when they looked outside the walls on the first day, and saw the parade pass by. “What do those desert wanderers think they’re doing? And what’s with those strange trumpets?”, they must’ve said. 

And on the second day, “What? They’re doing it again? That’s weird.”

And so on for six days.

Then, on the seventh day: “Oh for crying out loud. They’re back. Oh well. They’ll be gone soon.” 

“Wait. They’re going around again. That’s strange.” 

“And again?”

And if you’re one of the Israelites, how silly must you have felt to be walking out there, doing nothing, saying nothing. “Come on! If we’re going to take this city, let’s take it already! Let’s storm the walls! Let’s build a battering ram for the door! Let’s DO something! What’s with all this WALKING?”

“Wait. Joshua’s telling us to go around seven times today? What? We’re supposed to yell when we hear the ram’s horn? Does he really think that’s going to scare the inhabitants into surrender, or something? Sheesh”

Of course we know what happened, but since they didn’t have the book of Joshua to read back then, this whole series of events must have looked and felt incredibly silly and stupid at the time.

When God tells you to do something, don’t question Him. Even if you think doing it will make you look silly. 

Thoughts on Joshua 7

The first word of today’s chapter is “But”. Whenever we see that, we need to remember what the previous statement was, because “but” is a word that ties two thoughts together. If I say to you, “But I’m going to have a snack,” you don’t know the full meaning of that statement. I might have said,”I just ate” or “I’m late for an appointment” or “I’m on a diet” or “Dinner is in fifteen minutes” or any number to other things. Each one of those opening statements gives a bit of a different flavor to my “But I’m going to have a snack” statement.

Here in Joshua 7, we have to go back to the last sentence of Joshua 6, which read, “So the lord was with Joshua, and his reputation spread throughout the land.”

And the first sentence of Joshua 7 was, “But Israel violated the instructions about the things

set apart for the Lord.” 

And then the story of what happened unfolds. We see that the sin of one man ignited God’s wrath against the entire nation. You’ve heard the phrase, “No man is an island”? That fact is shown to be true here. Our secret sins, even if we think they won’t affect anyone, are seen by God, and they do affect others. Our families, our churches, our communities, our nation. 

The fact that Joshua was committed to doing what was right in God’s sight was evident by the fact that he was willing to tear his clothes and lie face down on the ground before the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the presence of God, until the evening. And then God told Joshua what the problem was, and how Joshua should address it.

As the narrowing down process went forward, Achan had every opportunity to step forward and confess. The fact that he didn’t do that sealed his fate. It wasn’t until God revealed that this was the one that he confessed, and told the details of his sin. Note that he knew that all of the plunder was to go to the Lord, but when he saw that Babylonian robe he allowed himself to begin thinking about how beautiful it was. And that led to coveting it and then the silver and the gold. His sin began like all others. Not in the seeing, but in the rolling it over in his mind, imagining himself owning it. 

Beloved, whenever we’re tempted, the safest thing we can do is not to try to fight it, but to run. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says “Flee from sexual immorality…”. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee the evil desires of youth…” Ecclesiastes 21:2 says, “Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent…”

Thoughts on Joshua 8

Given the state of the world right now, I think it appropriate that we take a look at the first part of the opening sentence of Joshua 8. It says, “Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged.'”

In the previous chapter, unbeknownst to Joshua, there was sin in their midst. Achan had taken and hidden some of the plunder from Jericho, and as a result, Israel was soundly defeated by Ai. Joshua was badly shaken by the defeat, and he sought God as to why He had allowed this to happen. God told Joshua that there was sin in their midst, and told him how to find where it was. Joshua followed God’s leading, and took action against Achan. 

The last sentence of Joshua 7 was, “So the Lord was no longer angry”. And again, the first sentence of chapter 8 is, “Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged.'”

Isn’t it good to be reminded that if we are diligent to rout sin from our life, if we deal with it from a truly contrite heart, if we are merciless against the sin and seek God for His help in eliminating it, He will take our side. He will bless us. He will lead us in the way which will bring Him glory and which will benefit us the most. Here in Joshua 8 God gave the Israelites a second chance to defeat Ai, which they did. 

Maybe you have an Ai in your life. Maybe there’s something that you have been unable to defeat. Is there unconfessed sin that you’ve been harboring? Rout it out. Seek God. He truly does want to forgive and restore you.

Thoughts on Joshua 9

How many times have I made the same mistake as the leaders of Israel made in this chapter? I have a decision to make, and I rely on my own “wisdom and intelligence” to gather what I think is the appropriate information to make the right call, and everything blows up in my face because I didn’t seek the Lord. 

As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9, there is nothing new under the sun. Seems like each generation has to learn from their own mistakes, huh?

Thoughts on Joshua 10

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. 

At first blush it seems unnecessarily brutal. But let’s take a closer look.

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. 

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 6 NIV; Ch. 7-8 NLT; Ch. 9 NIRV; Ch. 10 CEV

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Joshua 6-10: You Want Us to Do What? (LSFAB S13E010)

[TEASER – 00:00]
Whenever we’re tempted, the safest thing we can do is to, not try to fight it, but to run.

[INTRO S13E010 – 00:14]
Coming to you from Riverside, California, and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we’ll read through the entire Bible in a year. Today our reading is Joshua 6 through 10, and after that I’ve got some comments. I’m calling the show, “You Want Us to Do What?” But before we read, let’s pray.

[OPENING PRAYER – 00:35]
Our gracious, heavenly Father, I ask, Lord, that you bless the reading of your Word today. Teach us, Lord. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Alright, let’s begin.

[JOSHUA 6 (NIV) – 00:48]
Joshua, chapter 6.

(1) Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

(2) Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. (3) March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. (4) Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. (5) When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

(6) So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” (7) And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”

(8) When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. (9) The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. (10) But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” (11) So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.

(12) Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. (13) The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. (14) So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

(15) On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. (16) The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! (17) The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. (18) But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. (19) All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”

(20) When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. (21) They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

(22) Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” (23) So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

(24) Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. (25) But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

(26) At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:

“At the cost of his firstborn son
he will lay its foundations;
at the cost of his youngest
he will set up its gates.”

(27) So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

[JOSHUA 7 (NLT) – 04:59]
Joshua, chapter 7.

(1) But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.

(2) Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of Ai, east of Bethel, near Beth-aven. (3) When they returned, they told Joshua, “There’s no need for all of us to go up there; it won’t take more than two or three thousand men to attack Ai. Since there are so few of them, don’t make all our people struggle to go up there.”

(4) So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai (5) chased the Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away.

(6) Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the Lord until evening. (7) Then Joshua cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! (8) Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? (9) For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?”

(10) But the Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? (11) Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. (12) That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.

(13) “Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.

(14) “In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the Lord will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the Lord will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward one by one. (15) The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel.”

(16) Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out. (17) Then the clans of Judah came forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of Zerah came forward, and the family of Zimri was singled out. (18) Every member of Zimri’s family was brought forward person by person, and Achan was singled out.

(19) Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.”

(20) Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. (21) Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.”

(22) So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest. (23) They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the Lord.

(24) Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. (25) Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. (26) They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble ever since. So the Lord was no longer angry.

[JOSHUA 8 (NLT) – 09:45]
Joshua, chapter 8.

(1) Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land. (2) You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the town.”

(3) So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of his best warriors and sent them out at night (4) with these orders: “Hide in ambush close behind the town and be ready for action. (5) When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from them. (6) We will let them chase us until we have drawn them away from the town. For they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ Then, while we are running from them, (7) you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town, for the Lord your God will give it to you. (8) Set the town on fire, as the Lord has commanded. You have your orders.”

(9) So they left and went to the place of ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night. (10) Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel. (11) All the fighting men who were with Joshua marched in front of the town and camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the town. (12) That night Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town. (13) So they stationed the main army north of the town and the ambush west of the town. Joshua himself spent that night in the valley.

(14) When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurried out early in the morning and attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley. But he didn’t realize there was an ambush behind the town. (15) Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten. (16) Then all the men in the town were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the town. (17) There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.

(18) Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded. (19) As soon as Joshua gave this signal, all the men in ambush jumped up from their position and poured into the town. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.

(20) When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers. (21) When Joshua and all the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned and attacked the men of Ai. (22) Meanwhile, the Israelites who were inside the town came out and attacked the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle, with Israelite fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them, and not a single person survived or escaped. (23) Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

(24) When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men of Ai in the open fields, they went back and finished off everyone inside. (25) So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day—12,000 in all. (26) For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed. (27) Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for themselves, as the Lord had commanded Joshua. (28) So Joshua burned the town of Ai, and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day.

(29) Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today.

(30) Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal. (31) He followed the commands that Moses the Lord’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.” Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. (32) And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar the instructions Moses had given them.

(33) Then all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had previously given for blessing the people of Israel.

(34) Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction. (35) Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.

[JOSHUA 9 (NIRV) – 15:08]
Joshua, chapter 9.

(1) All of the kings who ruled west of the Jordan River heard about the battles Israel had won. That included the kings who ruled in the central hill country and the western hills. It also included those who ruled along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea all the way to Lebanon. They were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. (2) They brought their armies together to fight against Judah and Israel.

(3) The people of Gibeon heard about what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. (4) So they decided to trick the people of Israel. They packed supplies as if they were going on a long trip. They loaded their donkeys with old sacks and old wineskins. The wineskins were cracked but had been mended. (5) The men put worn-out sandals on their feet. The sandals had been patched. The men also wore old clothes. All of the bread they took along was dry and moldy. (6) They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal. They spoke to him and the men of Israel. They said, “We’ve come from a country that’s far away. Make a peace treaty with us.”

(7) The men of Israel spoke to the Hivites. They said, “But suppose you live close to us. If you do, we can’t make a peace treaty with you.”

(8) “We’ll serve you,” they said to Joshua.

But Joshua asked, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”

(9) They answered, “We’ve come from a country that’s very far away. We’ve come because the Lord your God is famous. We’ve heard reports about him. We’ve heard about everything he did in Egypt. (10) We’ve heard about everything he did to Sihon and Og. They were the two kings of the Amorites. They ruled east of the Jordan River. Sihon was the king of Heshbon. Og was the king of Bashan. He ruled in Ashtaroth. (11) Our elders and all the people who are living in our country spoke to us. They said, ‘Take supplies for your trip. Go and meet the people of Israel. Say to them, “We’ll serve you. Make a peace treaty with us.”’ (12) Look at our bread. It was warm when we packed it. We packed it at home on the day we left to come and see you. But look at how dry and moldy it is now. (13) When we filled these wineskins, they were new. But look at how cracked they are now. And our clothes and sandals are worn out because we’ve traveled so far.”

(14) The men of Israel looked over the supplies those men had brought. But they didn’t ask the Lord what they should do. (15) Joshua made a peace treaty with the men who had come. He agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community took an oath to show that they had agreed with the treaty.

(16) The people of Israel made a peace treaty with the people of Gibeon. But three days later they heard that the people of Gibeon lived close to them. (17) So the people of Israel started out to go to the cities of those men. On the third day they came to Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. (18) But they didn’t attack those cities. That’s because the leaders of the community had taken an oath and made a peace treaty with them. They had taken the oath in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

The whole community told the leaders they weren’t happy with them. (19) But all of the leaders answered, “We’ve made a peace treaty with them. We’ve taken an oath in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. So we can’t touch them now. (20) But here is what we’ll do to them. We’ll let them live. Then the Lord’s anger won’t fall on us because we didn’t keep the oath we took.” (21) They continued, “Let them live. But make them cut wood and carry water for the whole community.” So the leaders kept their promise to them.

(22) Joshua sent for the people of Gibeon. “Why did you trick us? You said, ‘We live far away from you.’ But in fact you live close to us. (23) So now you are under a curse. You will always serve us. You will always cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.”

(24) They answered Joshua, “We were clearly told what the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to do. He commanded him to give you the whole land. He also ordered him to wipe out all of its people to make room for you. So we were afraid you would kill us. That’s why we tricked you. (25) We are now in your hands. Do to us what you think is good and right.”

(26) So Joshua saved the people of Gibeon. He didn’t let the people of Israel kill them. (27) That day he made them cut wood and carry water. They had to serve the community of Israel. They also had to serve at the altar of the Lord at the place where he would choose to put it. And they still serve the people of Israel to this very day.

[JOSHUA 10 (CEV) – 19:27]
Joshua, chapter 10.

(1) King Adonizedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured and destroyed the town of Ai, and then killed its king as he had done at Jericho. He also learned that the Gibeonites had signed a peace treaty with Israel. (2) This frightened Adonizedek and his people. They knew that Gibeon was a large town, as big as the towns that had kings, and even bigger than the town of Ai had been. And all of the men of Gibeon were warriors. (3) So Adonizedek sent messages to the kings of the four other towns: King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon. The messages said, (4) “The Gibeonites have signed a peace treaty with Joshua and the Israelites. Come and help me attack Gibeon!”

(5) When these five Amorite kings called their armies together and attacked Gibeon, (6) the Gibeonites sent a message to the Israelite camp at Gilgal: “Joshua, please come and rescue us! The Amorite kings from the hill country have joined together and are attacking us. We are your servants, so don’t let us down. Please hurry!”

(7) Joshua and his army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal.

(8) “Joshua,” the Lord said, “don’t be afraid of the Amorites. They will run away when you attack, and I will help you defeat them.”

(9) Joshua marched all night from Gilgal to Gibeon and made a surprise attack on the Amorite camp. (10) The Lord made the enemy panic, and the Israelites started killing them right and left. They chased the Amorite troops up to the road to Beth-Horon and kept on killing them, until they reached the towns of Azekah and Makkedah. (11) And while these troops were going down through Beth-Horon Pass, the Lord made huge hailstones fall on them all the way to Azekah. More of the enemy soldiers died from the hail than from the Israelite weapons.

(12-13) The Lord was helping the Israelites defeat the Amorites that day. So about noon, Joshua prayed to the Lord loud enough for the Israelites to hear:

“Our Lord, make the sun stop
in the sky over Gibeon,
and the moon stand still
over Aijalon Valley.”
So the sun and the moon
stopped and stood still
until Israel defeated its enemies.

This poem can be found in The Book of Jashar. The sun stood still and didn’t go down for about a whole day. (14) Never before and never since has the Lord done anything like that for someone who prayed. The Lord was really fighting for Israel.

(15) After the battle, Joshua and the Israelites went back to their camp at Gilgal.

(16) While the enemy soldiers were running from the Israelites, the five enemy kings ran away and hid in a cave near Makkedah. (17) Joshua’s soldiers told him, “The five kings have been found in a cave near Makkedah.”

(18) Joshua answered, “Roll some big stones over the mouth of the cave and leave a few soldiers to guard it. (19) But you and everyone else must keep going after the enemy troops, because they will be safe if they reach their walled towns. Don’t let them get away! The Lord our God is helping us get rid of them.” (20) So Joshua and the Israelites almost wiped out the enemy soldiers. Only a few safely reached their walled towns.

(21) The Israelite army returned to their camp at Makkedah, where Joshua was waiting for them. No one around there dared say anything bad about the Israelites. (22) Joshua told his soldiers, “Now, move the rocks from the entrance to the cave and bring those five kings to me.”

(23) The soldiers opened the entrance to the cave and brought out the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. (24) After Joshua had called the army together, he forced the five kings to lie down on the ground. Then he called his officers forward and told them, “You fought these kings along with me, so put your feet on their necks.” The officers did this, (25) and Joshua continued, “Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged. Be brave and strong. This is what the Lord will do to all your enemies.”

(26) Joshua killed the five kings and told his men to hang each body on a tree. Then at sunset (27) he told some of his troops, “Take the bodies down and throw them into the cave where the kings were found. Cover the entrance to the cave with big rocks.”

Joshua’s troops obeyed his orders, and those rocks are still there.

(28) Later that day, Joshua captured Makkedah and killed its king and everyone else in the town, just as he had done at Jericho.

(29) Joshua and his army left Makkedah and attacked the town of Libnah. (30) The Lord let them capture the town and its king, and they killed the king and everyone else, just as they had done at Jericho.

(31) Joshua then led his army to Lachish, and they set up camp around the town. They attacked, (32) and the next day the Lord let them capture the town. They killed everyone, as they had done at Libnah. (33) King Horam of Gezer arrived to help Lachish, but Joshua and his troops attacked and destroyed him and his army.

(34) From Lachish, Joshua took his troops to Eglon, where they set up camp surrounding the town. They attacked, (35) captured it that same day, then killed everyone, as they had done at Lachish.

(36) Joshua and his army left Eglon and attacked Hebron. (37) They captured the town and the nearby villages, then killed everyone, including the king. They destroyed Hebron in the same way they had destroyed Eglon.

(38) Joshua and the Israelite army turned and attacked Debir. (39) They captured the town, and its nearby villages. Then they destroyed Debir and killed its king, together with everyone else, just as they had done with Hebron and Libnah.

(40) Joshua captured every town in the land: In the central hill country and the foothills to the west, in the Southern Desert and the region that slopes down toward the Dead Sea. Where ever he captured a town, he would kill the king and everyone else, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded. (41) Joshua wiped out towns from Kadesh-Barnea to Gaza, everywhere in the region of Goshen, and as far north as Gibeon. (42-43) The Lord fought on Israel’s side, so Joshua and the Israelite army were able to capture these kings and take their land. They fought one battle after another, then they went back to their camp at Gilgal after capturing all that land.

[COMMENTARY – 25:46]
Well, today I’ve got comments on every chapter, so let’s get going on thoughts on Joshua 6. When God tells you to do something, don’t question him, even if you think doing it will make you look silly.

How crazy must the people in Jericho thought the Israelites were when they looked outside the walls on that first day that they did the parade around the city and saw this parade pass by. “What do those desert wanderers think they’re doing and what’s with those strange trumpets,” they must have said.

And then on the second day, “What? They’re doing it again? Well, that’s weird.”

And so on for six days.

And then on the seventh day, “Oh, for crying out loud. They’re back. Oh, well. They’ll be gone soon.”

“Wait, they’re going around again. That’s weird.”

“And, again?”

And if you’re one of the Israelites, how silly must you have felt to be walking out there doing nothing, saying nothing? “Come on! If we’re gonna take this city, let’s take it already! Let’s storm the walls! Let’s build a battering ram for the door! Let’s do something! What’s with all this walking?

“Wait. Joshua’s telling us to go around seven times today. What? We’re supposed to yell when we hear the ram’s horn? Does he really think that’s gonna scare the inhabitants into surrender or something? Sheesh.”

Well, of course we know what happened, but since they didn’t have the book of Joshua to read back then, this whole series of events must have looked and felt incredibly silly and stupid.

But when God tells you to do something, don’t question him.

Alright, thoughts on Joshua 7. The first word of chapter 7 is, “But”. Well, whenever you see that word, you need to remember what the previous statement was, because “but” is a word that ties two thoughts together. If I say to you, “But I’m going to have a snack”, you don’t really know the full meaning of that statement, do you? I might have said, “I just ate”, or “I’m late for an appointment”, or “I’m on a diet”, or “Dinner’s in 15 minutes”, or any number of other things. Each one of those opening statements gives a bit of a different flavor to, “But I’m going to have a snack”.

Well, here in Joshua 7, we have to go back to the last sentence of Joshua 6, “So the Lord was with Joshua and his reputation spread throughout the land.”

So opening chapter 7 with, “But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord”.

And then the story of what happened unfolds. We see that the sin of one man ignited God’s wrath against the entire nation. You’ve heard the phrase, “No man is an island”. Well, that fact is shown to be true here, isn’t it? Our secret sins, even if we think they won’t affect anyone, are seen by God and they do affect others. Our families, our churches, our communities, our nation.

The fact that Joshua was committed to doing what is right in God’s sight was evident by the fact that he was willing to tear his clothes and lie face down on the ground before the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the presence of God, until the evening. And then God told Joshua what the problem was and how Joshua should address it.

As the narrowing down process went forward, Achan had every opportunity to step forward and confess. The fact that he didn’t do that sealed his fate. It wasn’t until God revealed that this was the one that he confessed and told the details of his sin. Note that he knew that all of the plunder was to go to the Lord. But when he saw the Babylonian robe, he allowed himself to begin thinking about how beautiful it was, and that led to coveting it and then the silver and then the gold. His sin began like all others, not in seeing, but in rolling it over in his mind, imagining himself owning it.

Beloved, whenever we’re tempted, the safest thing we can do is to not try to fight it, but to run. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, “Flee from sexual immorality…” 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee the evil desires of youth…” Ecclesiastes 21:2 says, “Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent.” Are you picking up a pattern here?

Let’s take a closer look at Joshua chapter 8. Given the state of the world right now, I think it’s appropriate that we take a look at the first part of the opening sentence of Joshua 8. It says, “Then the Lord said to Joshua, Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

In chapter 7, unbeknownst to Joshua, there was that sin in their midst. Achan had taken and hidden some of the plunder from Jericho, and as a result, Israel was soundly defeated by Ai. Joshua was badly shaken by the defeat, and he sought God as to why he had allowed this to happen. God told Joshua there was sin in their midst and told them how to find where it was. And Joshua followed God’s leading and took action against Achan.

The last sentence of Joshua 7 was, “So the Lord was no longer angry”. Again, the first sentence of chapter 8 is, “Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged’.”

Isn’t it good to be reminded that if we’re diligent to rout sin from our life, if we deal with it from a truly contrite heart, if we’re merciless against the sin, and seek God for his help in eliminating it, he’ll take our side. He will bless us. He will lead us in the way which will bring him glory and which will benefit us the most. Here in Joshua 8, God gave the Israelites a second chance to defeat Ai which they did.

Maybe you have an Ai in your life. Maybe there’s something that you’ve been unable to defeat. Is there unconfessed sin that you’ve been harboring? Rout it out. Seek God. He truly does wanna forgive and restore you.

Chapter 9 makes me think, “How many times have I made the same mistake as the leaders of Israel made in this chapter?” I have a decision to make and I rely on my own ”wisdom and intelligence” to gather what I think is the appropriate information to make the right call. And then what happens? Everything blows up in my face because I didn’t seek the Lord.

As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “There is nothing new under the sun.” It seems like each generation has to learn from their own mistakes, doesn’t it?

In chapter 10, 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.

At first blush, it seems unnecessarily brutal. But let’s take a closer look.

In Deuteronomy chapter 20, verses 16 through 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.” You see, 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 possible, 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.

[LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE – 34:12]
Tomorrow is Psalms Wednesday and we’ll read chapters 3 through 5.

Let me hear from you. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511, and if you’re outside the US remember to put a +1 at the beginning of that number. You can also comment on the show notes page for this episode at lifespringmedia.com/s13e010 or email me at st***@*************ia.com. There’s a really good chance I’ll play your audio comment or read your comment on the show. And remember that every Wednesday and Sunday we’ll be sharing prayer requests and praises. So that means tomorrow being Wednesday, we’ll have a prayer request day. So please, if you have a prayer request, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and fill out that form there. Just let me know whatever information you’d like me to have. If you wanna remain anonymous, you can do that.

[LISTENER EMAIL – 35:06]
I have an email here that I’d like to share with you. It says, “Dear Steve, my name is Rob Kirkpatrick. I found the Lifespring Family Audio Bible by listening to ‘No Agenda’.”

Well, welcome. In the morning to you.

Rob says, “Your original Godcaster moniker was intriguing since I’m also a believer and I’m involved in podcasting. Your show became a solution to a long-term problem I’ve had trying to get consistent in daily connections with God’s Word into my life. Thank you.”

Well, Rob, you’re welcome.

Rob says, “I love the new addtion of recorded messages for listeners to call in with prayer requests. Now that you’ve expanded on how people can reach out to you, I wonder, today, if you’ve ever had someone reach out to you with a serious need that, in addition to prayer, you felt like they also needed to connect with a professional Christian counselor. If so, I’d like to let you know about a way you can help them get started on a path toward healing. I work at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where I serve as the Executive Producer,” – get that – “our Executive Producer for our daily radio show and all of our podcasts. We’ve been podcasting since 2006.”

Rob says, “One of the resources Focus on the Family has that you might find helpful to let people know about is our counseling service. People can call to set up a time to talk with one of our vetted counselors, free of charge. Here’s a link to a page on our website that has more information about the help we provide,” and he of course put that link there.

He said, “Thanks for all you do, Steve. Gratefully, Rob Kirkpatrick, Executive Director.”

Well, Rob, it is great to have you in the Lifespring family, Brother, and thanks for the link. I’ll put that link in the show notes page for this episode at lifespringmedia.com/s13e010 and I’ll keep it available for referrals in the future too.

Beloved, I’ve known of and been a fan of Focus on the Family since the early Eighties when Dr. James Dobson founded Focus on the Family. At the time, I was a brand new daddy and I was the manager of the book department at a large Christian bookstore here in Southern California. Dr. Dobson wrote several best selling books on raising kids, and they had a radio show. I have a lot of respect for Focus on the Family, and I’m happy to endorse ’em.

And Rob, I’m humbled to have you as a Lifespring member. Thanks again for reaching out. God bless you.

And by the way, this is not a paid endorsement or an ad for Focus on the Family. It’s just that, um, I think it’s cool that, that Rob is part of the family and I’m thankful for the link he sent and if you’d like to talk to a Christian counselor, I don’t think you could do any better than talking to someone at Focus on the Family. So, uh, that’s great. Again, thank you Rob.

[WEBB’S EASY BIBLE NAMES PRONUNCIATION GUIDE – 37:54]
Did you know I wrote a book? I did. What are people saying about it? Well, this review on Amazon was five stars, and the subject line is, “Get it. You need it.”

“This is a must. As a preaching student, I find some names a bit challenging, but this book breaks them down into easy-to-pronounce sections. It’s not a bunch of accent marks and stuff that most people can’t remember. This puts the names into plain English.”

Well, “Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide” is meant just for that. Anybody who reads the Bible, anybody who studies the Bible, anybody who wants to enjoy the Bible more, even preachers, and yes, Sunday School teachers will find value in “Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide”.

You can find out more about it at biblenames.link. You can even get a free chapter. I’ll give you the chapter that covers all the A’s in the Bible, how to pronounce every single name that begins with A. I think once you get to look at it, you’ll agree that this is something you want to have in your library, and when you buy the book, you’re helping to support the show and because you’re helping, I want to give you a discount since you’re part of the Lifespring family. When you check out, be sure to use discount code PODCAST and you’ll get a 25% discount, but you’ll only get that at biblenames.link

[SUPPORT THE SHOW – 39:15]
Thanks to Kirsty who does the newsletter for us. Thanks to Sean of San Pedro who does the chapters, and Denise who corrects the transcripts. I’m so thankful for you. Comment on the show by calling the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511, by going to comment.lifespringmedia.com, commenting on the show notes page on at lifespringmedia.com/s13e010, or emailing me at st***@*************ia.com.

Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you for being here. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Transcript corrected by Denise