Can You See GOD? - Are You Looking?

The Expository Book Study of Joshua

Joshua 10: Verses 28 - 43        XVII) Can You See GOD?

                                                            Are you looking?

Week # 18 10 Nov 2010            Week # 42 of this Teaching Ministry

Joshua 10 (King James Version)

28And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho. 29Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah: 30And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho. 31And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it: 32And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah. 33Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining. 34And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it: 35And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish. 36And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it: 37And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein. 38And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it: 39And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king. 40So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. 41And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. 42And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. 43And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

Let’s take a moment and pray. Dear Father, thank You for the privilege and opportunity to come here and open YOUR WORD. The forever settled in Heaven Words of the Almighty God. Let us calm our hearts and minds from the days events and look at this passage and draw both meaning and direction from it Father, and we will give you all the Honor, Glory and Praise. In Christ’s name we pray – Amen.

So, what did you see in this passage we just read?

I saw the encounter and destruction of:

Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir, Kadeshbarnea, Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, all the way back to Gibeon

Joshua and all of Israel did this as the LORD God of Israel commanded. This is some of the bloodiest, fiercest and most debated text of the Bible. Joshua has been called everything from a Masterful War Time Leader to a Bloody Opportunist.

However; our text tonight sows up the proper analogy of Joshua with one word – OBEDIENT! All these battles, all these Kings and all these people were Destroyed at the Command of God, by the hand of Joshua and all of Israel.

Without God’s involvement – it could easily be argued that Joshua would have remained at Gilgal or at best no further than Gibeon. We can’t stop here at the reading of this text without tracing the hand of God and what great feat He accomplished, by HIS WILL – He made it so.

The old stories flowing thru all of Canaan, were of the power and might of the God of Israel and how HE opened up dry land in the midst of the Red Sea. How the this God kept the water separated for all of Israel to pass, and closed the walls of water entombing the Egyptians.

The new stories of how this God of Israel dried stopped the waters flowing in the Jordon River for His people to cross into Canann. How this God destroyed the fortress walls of Jericho. They knew of how this God did battle for the Israelites.

They had opportunity to hear the Word of the Lord God and the miracle that He performed. Yet they chose to remain in their heathenistic ways, and resist the God of Israel. Thus at God’s command – Israel destroyed them all.

In all of these events – HE – the Great I AM, revealed himself to man, through His Power and Might. YET THEY CHOSE THEIR OWN WAY!!!

All the way back to Egypt, all the plaques, locust, blood in the water and the death of the 1st born were all of Supernatural cause – but did these people, these men in leadership heed the warning – NO! A Resounding, earth shattering NO that was heard throughout the world through the ages of time.

GOD  REVEALED  HIMSELF  TO  ISRAEL!!!!

He showed His Majesty, His Might,  His Power, His Justice,  His Compassion and His Love 

These people and kings of Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir, Kadeshbarnea, Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, all the way back to Gibeon – they heard of and knew of the God of Israel!!! The Word had traveled far and wide through all of Canaan.

They chose to go the other way, and war against GOD! Brother and Sister in Christ, warring with God can only have one conclusion – and that is total destruction. Of all the people of Canaan, only one people got on their faces and chose to follow the God of Israel and that was the people of Gibeon. Joshua through God’s direction and Blessing spared the lives of the people of Gibeon.

Showing us of the current generation that God’s tender heart will spare those out of the bowels of Sin, washing them in the Blood of His son. Sins of the past, present and future. God already had the knowledge of His Son’s Sacrifice some 1,430 years in the future – and spared the lives physically and spiritually of the people of Gibeon that followed God by FAITH.

They saw the awesome power of the Great I AM. Yet today, in the 21st Century we let the business of life, the complexities of life, the pleasures of life and the world’s influence – blind us to God’s presence. To our shame, we the older “Church Saints” have even stopped looking.

We have lived many years under the Blessings of Almighty GOD, but when you look around, does this community reflect the GODLY presence of this Bible believing Church?

Are we truly looking for GOD? Does our life, our homes, our language, our conversations, our testimony reflect a people truly Seeking the Face of God?

IF THE ANSWER IS YES – then Praise His HOLY and RIGHTEOUS NAME!!!!! How then, do we convert this wonderful testimony into a relationship with this community that we can reach the hearts of men, women and children in a way that will both convict and encourage? Does our Church Testimony reflect the very presence of GOD!?!?!

IF – THE ANSWER TO OUR QUSETION IS NO – then the real work is before us. We must get on our faces, just as GIBEON did and confess our sins, and seek the lowly position of servant to Christ. We must underpin all the wonderful teaching we have sat under for 30 years with the FOUNDATION OF TRUE FAITH. A faith that is not just lip service to those around us, but a faith that like Gibeon, leads to Sacrifice and Service.

Service and Works do not bring salvation, my dear loved ones, Salvation brings forth a heart of Service and Works from within. I am here to tell you there is no RETIREMENT in God’s economy. WE WILL PRAISE HIS NAME FOR ETERNITY!!!

SO just because you are over 50, over 60, over 70 or over 80 doesn’t mean you get a pass. The disciples worked out their faith until martyred or death. Retirement is a modern world concept that was not practiced in the days of Joshua, Christ or Paul.

Are you seeking God’s face day in and day out? As Charles Spurgeon once said, do you trace the hand of God? I want to challenge your hearts tonight.

If you were among those that said yes, if you are among those that are looking for God and your life, home and testimony validates your claim. What have you done to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ today?

Have you shared a Godly Righteous Story of How HE Worked in your life this week with a friend, neighbor or stranger? Have you offered forgiveness to one that has offended you? Have you showed the Love of Christ to someone less fortunate than yourself? Have you consoled a friend or person that needed a spiritual lift?

See – the YES is in what we do…. The YES is in what we share…. The YES is in the Spirit of Christ that lives in our Heart and is screaming to come out. The YES is yielding and submitting our Hearts to HIS, and then sharing the Gifts and Blessings HE has so Graciously bestowed on HIS Servants.

The YES isn’t what we say it is – it is that which HE says it is and works within us to bring GLORY, PRAISE & HONOR to Him. And that dear friends is for the LONG HAUL, for eternity.

Yes, there are many mansions, and we will be joint Aires with Him, walking with Him and fellowshipping with Him and the Angels. But, we will be serving the FATHER for eternity – the people of Gibeon had it right. We will serve you in any way, just spare us, just let us in and we will serve forever.

As the LORD God of Israel commanded, destroy or remove all the sinful people in Canaan. We must destroy or remove anything in our lives that would get in the way of our service to God! For me this week, it was pulling my name off the Flight Rotation Roster. Flying was getting bigger and bigger for me, feeding my pride and it was getting in the way of doing God’s work. So, I had to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and yield yet another piece of the old me, to give HIM room to build the new me. Dying to self is sometimes very painful.

Dear Father, thank YOU for giving us the Holy Spirit, to lead us onto the paths of Righteousness. Help us SEE YOU Dear God. Help us Father be ever mindful of YOUR Spirit, yield to your will and then share your Good News with all around us that would hear. Be with these wonderful folks tonight, give them safe journey home, and bring them back safely this Sunday. And as always Father, we will give You the Honor and Glory for all things in our lives. In Your strong Son’s Name We Pray, in Christ – Amen.

References for this week:

King James – Holy Scriptures