Joshua 9 is the story of the Gibeonites planned deception. Verse 3-5 says, “But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy.”

Their actions revealed a very well thought out plan to deceive. Why? They feared for their lives. Verse 9 says that they had come from a very far country. The truth was they were next in line after Ai. Verse 16 says, “…they were their neighbors who dwelt near them.”

What was the result? In verse 22 Joshua asked why they had deceived them. Verse 23 says, “Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves…” In verse 24 the Gibeonites gave their reason for the deception. It says, “…we were very much afraid for our lives because of you…”

Let’s go back to the first recorded planned deception and the curse that followed. Genesis 3:1 says, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which God had made…” He deceived Eve by making her question God’s command. Verse 14 says, “So the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed…on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.”

Why do we plan to deceive? It is first a thought. Our deceitful actions are premeditated. 2 Corinthians 4:2 says, “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Deceit is a work of darkness. We are children of light.

I love Joshua 8. It reveals how we are to do spiritual warfare. Let us learn from this chapter God’s secret strategic weapon and put it into practice.

Let me give you some background. Joshua had sent men to spy out the land in chapter 6. Verse 4 says, “So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.” Achan’s sin had not been discovered yet. Because there was sin in the camp they were defeated. Yet, God used it in a mighty way in chapter 8.

God instructed Joshua to set an ambush behind the city. The strategy was that when the men of Ai came out, Israel would flee as before. That was God’s trap. Verse 17 says that there was not one man left in the city because they all pursued Israel.

In Verse 18 the Lord told Joshua to stretch out his spear. Verse 19 says, “So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place…” They set the city on fire. Verse 21 says that when Joshua saw that the ambush had taken the city, they turned back and struck the men of Ai down. None escaped.

We, the church, are God’s secret weapon of ambush through prayer. Concerted, united prayer stands in the heart-gap the enemy has made. The proclaimed gospel gives them their own weapons of warfare when they believe. As they are discipled, the enemy’s strongholds are destroyed.

Jeremiah 1:10 says, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

There is nothing in the Bible like Joshua 6. In this chapter God’s secret strategic weapon was used. I’ve often wondered as I read this chapter what was going through the minds of His people. He knew every one of their thoughts. What would you be thinking if you were told to circle a high walled city seven times? Verse 10 says, “…You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, Shout! Then you shall shout.”

Hmm. How are you at keeping silent? In 1997 the Lord introduced silence as part of my quiet time. Oh was that ever a battle! Thoughts came flooding into my mind like gangbusters to thwart that new discipline. Psalm 131:2 says, “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul…” Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God…”

The reason silence is His secret strategic weapon is because the hidden rises. It cannot hide in silence. We saw yesterday in James 1:14 that we are enticed because there is something hidden within. Flesh-fruits: hidden broken expectations, covetousness, and impatience to name just a few.

Joshua 7 is a great lesson for us all. I am thinking about Christ’s body. Perhaps Achan’s sin will help us understand why the church is so weak, and why our nation is troubled. There was sin in the camp. Achan’s hidden was exposed. Could it be some thought raised up in their silent march around the city?

Verse 19 always gives me pause. It says that confessing sin glorifies the Lord. Verse 21 was Achan’s answer. It says, “When I saw…I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden…” Let’s go back to verse 11 to see how Achan’s hidden sin affected everyone. It says, “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them…” One man caused ALL of Israel to sin?

Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as though one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” When I connected Joshua and Romans it helped me to understand James 1:15 in a different light. It says, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any sin hidden in your heart, then sit still before Him. Revelation 8:1 says that heaven was silent one half hour after He opened the seventh seal.

Proverbs 6 says to sluggards to study the ant. Why? Ants are diligent to provide for their needs. Verse 8 says that they gather in the summer to store up for the winter.

I am in a battle. I have some scouter-ants looking to break the code that would allow them free access into my kitchen. I have to be diligent to find the beginning of their trail. Right now it seems to be coming from my electrical outlet.

I leave the room and come back to find a new scouter roaming my countertop. There is no food in that area, but they haven’t given up. They are determined to find something to report back to their hill that they have found provision.

As I watch, I am reminded of James 1:14 which basically says that If there are no unresolved issues, then there is nothing to entice with. It is the hidden: buried pain, root of bitterness, or unconfessed sinful lusts. That is what arises from within when we are tempted to sin. The hidden attracts and fuels the temptation.

Jesus said in John 14:30 that satan was coming, but he had NO hold on Him. Do you have things hidden that allow you to be caught in satan’s temptation-trap?

1 John 1:9 says that the hidden is removed through confession. When we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us, and to cleanse us.

Many years ago, in youth group, I learned this definition of an excuse: a skin of reason wrapped around a lie. There is no excuse to sin. It is always a choice. Hidden sin defiles us and those around us, as we will see tomorrow with Achan.

Before the children of Israel could go into the promised land, circumcision had to take place. Why? Those born in the wilderness had not been circumcised. Joshua 5:9 was the Lord’s statement after it was done. It says, “…This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you…” The circumcision set them free from all ties to their slavery.

We were slaves to sin. We were bound in iniquity. The world system was deeply ingrained in our hearts. At salvation, our hearts were circumcised. Colossians 2:11 says, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”

What hinders you in your walk with the Lord? Our hearts can get contaminated through what we see and hear. Habakkuk 1:13 says that the Lord’s eyes are too pure to look upon evil and wickedness. We are to exemplify Him. David wrote Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba. Verse 10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Our flesh is hungry. It wants to be fed. Psalm 37:3 says to feed on His faithfulness. We starve our flesh by constantly yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit. May He continue to circumcise the flesh in our hearts: circumcision made without hands. It is essential to read His word daily, so He can use it to cut out those fleshly entrapments that displease the Lord.

There is nothing like Joshua 4 in all the Bible. One man, from each of the tribes of Israel, carried a stone on their shoulders. They took them out of the Jordan while the priests stood in the middle on dry land. The reason? Verse 6 says, “That this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean to you?”

Verse 17 says that Joshua commanded the priests to come up from the Jordan. Verse 18 says, “And it came to pass…the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.” Marvelous testimony that nothing is an obstacle to the Lord, and that He is in control of all things at all times. Think about the Jericho sentinels that watched God at work.

Do you journal? I started seriously journaling in 1976. I had heard a radio broadcast by David Maines. He talked about writing down the things the Lord was doing. It was to document His intervention as something to look back on when we needed encouragement.

Habakkuk 2:1 says, “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.” I use this verse as a faith statement in my quiet time. My pen is poised to write.

Verse 2 says, “…Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” I write down verses that the Holy Spirit highlights in my daily reading. I ask questions and write the answers. I record His miraculous interventions. I also use my journal as a workbook when I am studying words and what their application means to me.

I encourage you to build your memorial stones through your journaling. Joshua 4:21-24 was the reason God had them carry out the 12 stones and build a memorial. Verse 24 says, “That all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” For me, journaling keeps me on track. The Holy Spirit will take me back to an insight and point to that memorial stone as a reminder of God’s past and present work in my life. It is a journal of my journey of progressive sanctification.

Facing The Impossible Again

If you remember, when the children of Israel came to the Red Sea, they faced two impossibilities. The Red Sea was uncrossable, and the Egyptian army was heading straight for them. What did the Lord do? Exodus 14:19-20 says that the Angel of the Lord caused a cloud of darkness to block the Egyptians, but gave light to the Israelites. They did not come near one another all that night.

In Joshua 3 they faced another impossibility. Verse 15 says, “…the Jordan overflows all its banks…” This time they had to lodge three days before their impossibility. I wonder what they were thinking as they waited.

I love verse 4. They were told to follow the ark. It says, “Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” They were in uncharted territory. Right now, we have never been in the situation that we are in today as a nation. The Lord has charted our course. He knows what He is doing.

The Lord told Joshua what He was going to do. In verse 9 Joshua told the people. Verse 13 says, “And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests…shall rest in the waters…that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off…they shall stand in a heap.” Amazing. God’s ways are so much higher than our ways!

Now think about the people in Jericho. They were watching that whole scene. Joshua 6:1 says, “Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.” The enemy was watching them just like some of them watched God in action at the Red Sea.

Nothing is impossible for God. He can move our obstacles of mountain proportion. He can split the skies and rescue us. He can part the waters that block our way. As we each face our impossibilities, let us look to the One who can do all things. Ask Him to intervene in your situation, doing what only He can do. That is His speciality 💜

I love the book of Joshua. Last night, as I was reading chapter two, I made an application to today and the Church. The enemy witnessed God’s miraculous intervention which caused their hearts to melt with fear. Yes! Lord, do it again in our day.

Somehow the folks across the Jordan River witnessed God taking His children through the Red Sea. What was a true obstacle, became His means of defeating the Egyptian army. They also witnessed His utter destruction of the two Amorite kings.

In Joshua 2:9 Rahab told the two spies, “…I know that the Lord has given you this land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you.”

God’s ‘gem’ for strategic warfare was recorded. Verse 10 says, “For we heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea for you…” Verse 11 says, “As soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of You, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

Early this morning I was rehearsing this chapter. Ephesians 3:10 says that the Lord will use His church to display His multifaceted wisdom before our enemies.

We face our own ‘red sea’ impossibility. We, the Church, are on display. What will the enemy witness of God’s miraculous intervention on behalf of our nation? Will they see His church going through on ‘dry land’ and using it to destroy the work of the enemy against our nation?

Oh Lord, we marvel at You who is All Powerful. There is no One like You, and there is no One Your equal. We are standing on our watch, and looking to see what You will say to do. Help us to discern your manifold wisdom, and yield our hearts to follow You through what appears impossible. Thank You for Your excellent strategy to defeat and destroy those that are opposing You and Your purpose for America. Let their hearts melt with fear.

Joshua 1:8 says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Notice the words ‘observe to do’ is the fruit of meditating. Joshua was instructed to meditate out loud. That connects for us from Romans 10:17 which says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Meditating on God’s word requires us to first bring it into our heart so we can ruminate on it. Then we speak the truth and activate it through experience. It is not head knowledge but heart acceptance and practice.

1 Timothy 4:15 says, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” As we meditate on God’s word, we are transformed in our character to be more like Him. Our roots go deeper into our Source of life, and our thoughts become more like His thoughts.

Psalm 1:3 says that when we meditate on His word, we will be like a tree that spreads out its roots by a life-giving source of water. We will not be barren but fruitful, because He will cause everything we do to prosper.

Psalm 119:15 says, “I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways.” Verse 34 says, “Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.”

I started reading Joshua yesterday. I felt the Holy Spirit stopped me at these words ‘observe to do’ in verse 7. It says, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.”

Notice that the ability to observe came from being strong and very courageous. As I thought about this my mind went back to fear. Fear can capture our senses and cause our thoughts to go out of kilter. Moses is a great example for us. Exodus 3:3 says, “…I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” It was a normal occurrence for Moses to see a bush combust, but this bush was different. It was not consumed by the fire. Moses saw beyond the visual and the obvious.

I am a fast reader. Therefore when I read through my Bible, I have to slow down so I can read with understanding. It is so easy to skip through familiar passages. Remember the tortoise and the hare race? We need to plod along and allow the Holy Spirit to stop us along the way. Joshua was instructed to observe the law so that he would not turn from it. His path would not deviate from what God had spoken.

Joshua heard Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 28:13. God set forth a condition. It said that the Lord would make them the head and not the tail, and they would be above and not beneath, “…IF you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day to observe them.” Verse 14 explained the result of their observing to do. “So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” Proverbs 4:27 says that when we don’t turn aside we will be kept from evil.

1 Samuel 12:21 says that when we turn aside, it will lead us into empty pursuits. Our one and only true pursuit is the Lord. However, satan and his minions are always on the prowl to lead us aside God’s chosen path through temptations to be afraid, to rush ahead of God, serve the idols in our heart, or distractions to pull us off course. Beware.