10

Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem heard of the conquests of Joshua and the guile of the Gibeonites and feared greatly. He sought to make an alliance with the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon, (all these were Amorites) to attack Gibeon for making peace with Joshua and Israel. The Gibeonites called on Joshua to protect them and help them (v6).

Joshua, not making the same mistake twice and having been assured by The LORD (v8) that He would deliver them into his hands, went ahead to help them. The LORD routed them with a great slaughter (v10). All Israel seemed to do was march (v9), chased them along the road (v10). The LORD killed more by the hailstones (v11) than by the sword. v12. This was undoubtedly miraculous when you consider that the hailstones must have been large to kill people. Let’s not forget that they were sent by God, The Creator of everything.

We have here a strange request of The LORD by Joshua that the sun and moon stand still while Israel avenged their enemies. God answered and the sun and moon stood still for about a whole day whilst Joshua and Israel defeated their enemies. Joshua believed that God could do this, otherwise why ask. Men have tried to explain what happened including an eclipse etc., but the sun and the moon stood still in different parts of the land, the sun in Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Aijalon. One writer says that the earth stopped rotating but more likely that the sun and moon kept pace with the earth. This would allow them the daylight to finish the task.

Little wonder that the people said that there had never been a day like it before.

Remember, they were not fighting to obtain victories, but to receive victories already won for them by The LORD – NB v8 “The LORD said, “Do not fear them for I have delivered them into your hands; not a man of them shall stand before you. “”

They still had to obey and to fight, not to sit back and expect it all to come to pass. They had to obey and when they did, God did the rest. Even to giving them a longer day to do it in. God didn’t need a longer day, but they did. God could have done it in a shorter time, but they needed to obey, and they needed longer.

Amazing phrase in v14 “The LORD heeded the voice of a man” God does answer prayer! Sometimes “Yes” sometimes “no” and sometimes “wait” but He does answer. And did this longer day really happen? In his book ‘Worlds in CoIIision’ Immanual Velikovsky not only catalogues ancient writings which mention a very long day and others which record a very long night (as it would have been if the sun had stood still in one place) but he also quotes one which refers to how the sun was caught on the horizon and took a very long time to break through. His book deals with the incredible account of Joshua’s long day and also covers the ten—degree movement of the sun mentioned in Isaiah 38v8.

It is clear that whilst God is in control of everything and nothing happens by chance or takes Him by surprise, we cannot sit back and let it happen. God expects, even commands us to be obedient and to walk in His ways. Walk indicates movement. It is possible for us to go the wrong way and be disobedient — God will work things out despite us, but sometimes we will suffer defeat, just as the Israelites did. But the battle is the LORD’s. He had promised victory if they obeyed. They have never fully attained what God planned for them, simply because they did not obey.

How important it is for us to obey Him. Jesus said “Watch and pray” not just “pray” but watch as well.

The Epistle of James is a very practical book and indicates how we ought to live as well as exercising our trust in God. The Epistle of Peter states “Be ye holy for l am holy” “… holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15,16.)

v16-27 Joshua was informed that the five kings had escaped and hidden in a cave at Makkedah. Joshua gave instructions to roll large stones on the mouth of the cave and set guards to watch over it while the rest of them fought and defeated the cities.

They conquered the cities and brought the kings out and killed them and hung them on trees until evening (v26). At evening they took down the bodies and put them back into the cave and laid stones on the mouth of it.

View a different book

Read More

About this site

I am not a qualified theologian; I am an ordinary guy who just loves reading and studying the Bible. I recognise the importance of preaching and teaching what the Bible says because it is God’s inspired message to our world. In my lifetime of around seven decades, I have listened to the some of the finest Bible teachers and preachers and learned a lot from them. I have used the New King James Version of the Bible. Please pray that God will help you to understand it. Make your own notes if that helps you. This is not meant to be a commentary or a paraphrase. I simply want to share a few thoughts which I hope will be a help to you. Make sure that you have a bible open alongside. You may not agree with my comments. If you don’t, please read the Bible and study it for yourself and ask The LORD to guide you into all truth.

One thing has come home to me that the more I read the Bible is how it all fits together. There may be up to forty different writers/speakers but there is only ONE AUTHOR, God Himself.

A bit about me –

I was born into a Christian home but my father had a mining accident and died three months before I was born. I was brought up by a godly mother and grandparents with a largely wider Christian family around us.

I have been a member of only two churches in my lifetime, both of which faithfully teach the Bible, the Word of God. I was raised at Cave Browne Evangelical Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield near Wigan (Now Hope Church, Ashton). I realised at a young age that I was a sinner and received Jesus Christ as my Saviour at the age of eight.

I was a member there until 1970 by which time I had married Dorothy, my wonderful wife, and we had two sons. We moved to Warrington, Lancashire (now Cheshire since 1974) and quickly became members of Bethesda Evangelical Church, Stockton Heath, where we remain. (See below for our Statement of Faith)

I held leadership positions in both churches and was an elder for twenty-eight years at my present church, as well as musical director, organist, pianist at each church for over fifty years in total.

Over the last sixty years I have served the Lord in one way or another. I started work at the age of sixteen and was employed in the Magistrates’ Courts for the next forty-three years, taking early retirement in 2005. After meeting a former alcoholic who had become a Christian, and whose life had been changed by The Lord Jesus Christ beyond recognition, we wrote a book, published in 2007, which we entitled Alcohol Thriller or Killer. Having gathered sponsorship we supplied copies to every prison in the UK and some elsewhere.

As a result, we were invited to tell our story at around twenty prisons throughout the UK. We completed this ministry in 2010 after which I became involved with Christian Prison Resourcing going to prisons leading Bible Studies, which I continue to do. Our passion is to see prisoners’ lives transformed, their relationships restored and their communities rebuilt as they understand the good news of Jesus Christ. I have seen many prisoners find a personal faith in Jesus Christ and witnessed the change this brings in their lives.

During all this I have had the ever-present support of my wife, Dorothy. Our sons are both married, and we have six grandchildren.

JOHN HAYES

Bethesda’s Statement of Faith

We Believe:

 In the Divine inspiration, authority and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 

 That God exists eternally in three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit to whom equal honour is due.

 That Jesus Christ, unique Son of God, became man, being begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. 

 That He died for our sins, was buried and rose again for our justification. 

 That He ascended to the right hand of God and is now the all-sufficient High Priest of His people.

 That He will return personally to receive His people and judge the world in righteousness.

 That humanity has fallen and needs the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration and sanctification.

 That fellowship with God may be restored by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 That at death a person’s soul does not cease to exist or become unconscious.

 That the dead will be raised either to life or condemnation and that the blessedness of the forgiven and the    punishment of the unforgiven will be alike eternal.  

Our practices:

We baptise believers by immersion on their personal confession of faith, and we commemorate the Lord’s death in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Communion) every Sunday.  

Our Goal – Is to honour and worship the Lord Jesus Christ by: 

  • Proclaiming God’s good news of forgiveness and new life through the Lord Jesus.
  • Promoting faithful Christian living.
  • Preserving pure Christian truth through the teaching of the Bible.
  • Providing for God’s people.

Site design by jd-forward.co.uk