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JOSHUA 10:15-43
Lesson #11
BE AN OVERCOMER AND DO NOT PERMIT THE SURVIVAL OF THE ENEMY
- Memory verse: Galatians 3:13
- The five kings and the southern campaign:
- A confederation of five independent Amorite city-states (Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon) had formed to oppose the Israelites.
- The confederation was dominated by the king of Jerusalem. They were upset at the Gibeonites for defecting to the enemy.
- The city-states decided to attack the Gibeonites to teach a lesson and set an example to other possible defectors.
- The Gibeonites call on Joshua to help them defeat these five kings. Joshua was faithful to his treaty with the Gibeonites and helped them.
- Read Jos 10:15-28
- After the battle with these 5 southern kings, Israel RETURN ed to their home base at Gilgal and the 5 kings fled.
- The five kings in the cave:
- Joshua learned that the five kings were hiding in a cave.
- Joshua gave the order to seal the cave with a large stone and continue the battle.
- The cave was at a place called Makkedah.
- The name Makkedah means = worshipping.
- Later Joshua told the soldiers to bring the 5 kings out of the cave to deal with them. (22)
- This tells us spiritually that we must not leave sin in the caves to later haunt us because it hinders our worship.
- Sometimes Christians come to the Lord from deep hurts and messed up lives with which they have never dealt.
- In order to worship the Lord more fully with all of your body, soul, and spirit, you need to clean out the past sins and hurts in your life so that the Lord can bring cleansing and healing.
- God wants to heal us of all the bad things that happened to us in the past.
- Unless we bring them to the feet of Jesus, they never receive the healing Christ purchased for us.
- What are some of these sins hidden in the caves of our inner man?
- They are the battles of our own personality, such as:
- Anger, greed, pride, laziness, insincerity, unfaithfulness, resentment, etc.
- It may be something that you have dealt with and stumbled over through all your life.
- If similar situations keep raising their heads in your life, it could be something with which the Holy Spirit wants you to deal.
- If you find yourself at a dead end spiritually, it may be because you have not dealt with certain issues of character that keep you in a defeated rut in life.
- Pick a personality trait to work on this week using Jos 10:8, 14 and Jos 11:15.
- We are to claim the victory over these types of personality sins.
- Joshua uses the symbol of total victory, “feet upon the necks” of the enemy. (24) We must destroy him totally.
- Read Gods promise in Joshua 1:3
- Read Joshua 10:25.
- The public testimony of Gods victory.
- The bodies of the five kings were hung on five trees.
- This was a common practice in many parts of the ancient world to instill fear in surviving enemies.
- It was a public display of victory.
- Read Galatians 3:13
- Spiritually speaking, the believer in Jesus Christ has the victory over the enemies of the flesh through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the tree (the cross). He took on Himself the deficiencies of our personality and as we identify ourselves with His sacrifice, we share in His victory.
- The fifth memorial of stones: (27)
- What is the significance of this new memorial of stones in Joshua 10:27 which was different from the others?
- It marked the place where victory results when one is faithful to the commitment to do things Gods way.
- It also marks the place where believers do battle together against the flesh nature which is the believers enemy.
- Believers in Jesus Christ need to help each other overcome the sins of the flesh nature by praying for others.
- Believers need to forgive each other easily so that these sins of the flesh nature do not mar the unity of the Spirit.
- Believers need to extend grace and mercy to other believers in the form of agape love, so that a root of bitterness does not grow in the body of Christ.
- Believers in Jesus Christ should mark in their lives this victory over sins of the personality that tend to plague us if we do not deal with them through Christ.
- We must die to the flesh nature on a daily basis.
- In the same way, the Israelites could not keep the 5 kings forever in the cave. They were supposed to kill all the inhabitants of the land.
- Read 2Pet 2:10
- Read Eph 2:2-10
- Read Jos 10:29-43 Possessing the Land
- The southern battle :
- From Makkedah to Libnah, to Lachish, to Gezer, to Eglon, to Hebron, to Debir. (If you have a Bible map you may want to locate these places on the map.)
- They had the direction of God for the campaign (Jos 10:8)
- The whole southern portion of land was conquered in one campaign by breaking the military and political strength of the enemy.
- The southern portion of land was conquered, but it was not occupied.
- In order to possess the land, people need to live in the land. The Israelites were not ready for this yet. (43)
- It is one thing to defeat the enemy in warfare but that is not possession of the land.
- The Israelites must settle down in the land. They must build houses, plant crops, establish cities and local governments. This is possession of the land = to use it for their own benefit to sustain their families and raise their children.
- Before the believer in Jesus Christ can possess the riches of Gods kingdom, he first has to conquer the enemies in the flesh nature.
- This is the process of Christian maturity. As you grow in Gods grace, you come to dominate more areas of your flesh nature.
- God wants to use every area of a believers life for His glory.
- To do that, He must come to dominate your flesh nature by means of the Spirit nature inside of you.
- Then you begin to reap the blessings of the fruit of the Holy Spirit such as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (or self-control). (Gal 5:22-23)
- Application:
- Notice that this southern campaign was so successful that the army moved from one victory to the next in a very short time. Why?
- Obedience to Gods plan leads to victory.
- Joshua, like all humans, must first learn obedience to God.
- The Israelites learned it through the defeat at Ai.
- Joshua learned it through the treaty he made with the Gibeonites.
- Obedience is the hardest lesson to learn, and some Christians never learn it.
- Instead we make excuses for our personality sins and blame them on God who created us the way we are.
- Then we wonder why we do not see more of the spiritual victories and the spiritual blessings in our lives.
- An unwillingness to deal with these personality sins eventually makes us complacent.
- When the believer becomes complacent to Gods changes, his spiritual life stagnates. This is why some Christians never go beyond a certain level of living the Christian life by means of the flesh.
HOMEWORK
JOSHUA 11
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.
- Application of Joshua 10:15-43
- What personality sins does God want you to take out of the cave and hang on the cross?
- When the believer considers himself dead to these sins of the flesh, he is on the path to victory over them. When they raise their head again, you must keep fighting this battle by considering yourself dead to them. Read Rom 8:10
- Preparation for Joshua 11
- Read Joshua 11:1-15
- Cross reference scriptures:
- Identify the Christian’s battles in the following verses:
- Rom 7:19
- Rom 7:23
- 2Cor 10:3-5
- 1Tim 1:18-19
- 1Tim 6:12
- 2Tim 2:3-4
- Eph 6:11-18
- Read Joshua 11:16-23
- Something to think about: Do all children of God inherit equally?
Memory Verse: Ephesians 6:12-13
