Monday, March 30, 2020

Conquering the giants

Joshua 1
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you

After Moses , Gods Servant died, Joshua  Moses's assistant.

Joshua - Moses's assistant is a title I like.

For God to chose Joshua after Moses is not a choice of lottery, but God worked in His life.

Being an assistant for 40 years is not an easy job , especially under a leader like Moses. 
Joshua was an assistant for 40 years.

Moses assistant Joshua
Exodus 24:13-14
13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.

Waiting for Moses to meet with God

Exodus 32:15-17
15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”

Lingered at the tabernacle
Joshua , the assistant lingered at the tabernacle.

Exodus 33:11

And all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. 

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Gods Word to Joshua. 

sole of your foot
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you


If you step on a place, then it is yours.
God did not simply say  i give the land to you, but He said a place where your foot steps in, that is yours.
This involves Joshua working his faith. He could have simply sit at one place and say God promised him and it will come to pass.
Faith always has an action followed.

Abraham's faith was tested by stepping out his foot and bringing Isaac 
as sacrifice.

Davids faith involved an act of hitting the giant.

Moses faith involved lifting his staff over the red sea.

that means without Joshua taking a step , the promise is not inherited.

James says Faith without works is dead.

all the land of Hittites was given to you - was specifically mentioned here and the rest of the inhabitants were not mentioned.
The hittites ( as we heard last week) were a Spirit of terror.

God says Joshua  will have victory even over the hittites land when he steps in.
Whenever there is terror around us, God specifically mentions about the terror  and says that do not be afraid.
Do not fear is a phrase used great number of times in bible.

Why you should not fear is not because there is no plague, not because there is pestilence, not because the hittites were not there.

Plague was there, pestilence was there, hittites were there.

But with us God's promise is there, and the promise says
I will not leave you nor forsake you.

He is Emmanuel God . He is with us.

At the end of  this scripture - Verse 9 ,
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

But before that He says
 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you[c] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it

The verse says this Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth.
It did not say the Book should not depart from your closet.
or it did not say the Bible app should not be uninstalled.

But the Word shall not depart from your mouth.
It is more powerful than what we understand.

The Word of God should not depart from your mouth.
That means you and me should be talking what God is talking.
Jesus says 

John 12:49
49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”


Victory over giants would come by speaking what God speaks.
Too many of us speaks what the crowd speaks, what the media speaks, because that is visible.
speaks the visible , seen things is not faith.
speaking the invisible, unseen things is faith.

But Exactly speaking the Word of God is faith.

Joshua read every word that Moses commanded

Joshua 8:35
35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.
We can only see the victory, when we start speaking the Gods promise, Gods Word.

When defeating the giants,
1) Reminding of Gods promise
2) Word should not depart from mouth. Meditation of Word day and night.

3) Sanctification - You and your team, your land - declare this time as Holy.
Joshua 3:v5
And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify[c] yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”


Every time when God was about to do a might wonder, miracle, Moses or Joshua they would say Sanctify yourselves.

When God told Jacob to goto Bethel
Genesis 35:1-4

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign [a]gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

Jacob said put away all the foreign gods. 
foreign gods -your familiarity should be only the Word of God  and prayer.
Anything other than Word and Prayer for any occasion is a foreign god.
sometimes traditions,culture,background, anything could become a foreign god.
But Jacob said let us goto Bethel - put away foreign gods.
Dont expect wonders while living in sin.
Today , is there any unforgiveness, anything that is foriegn in our lives , let us sancitify, come under the blood of Jesus.
Today, the Lord is going to do Wonders, so Sancitfy yourselves.

And when the people sanctified, the priests who are carrying the ark of God touched their feet at Jordan river, the water separated , people started walking on the dry land.

The Ark represents the presence of God.
When people are sanctified, and the priests carried the presence of God, the Israelites saw the Wonder, a sign, a miracle ( separation of waters)
Now before defeating the giants , people had a sign, a wonder of what the Presence of God will do.
Not only did they sanctify, but the second generation was circumsied

Joshua 5:7
” Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

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A mighty act of Faith - A mustard see of faith can move the mountains.
Declaring the Word of God
Here Joshua speaks to the Sun, stand still 
Joshua 10:12-14
12 Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:
“Sun, stand still over Gibeon;
And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 So the sun stood still,
And the moon stopped,
Till the people had revenge
Upon their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.
When the war intensfied, the enemies got together and were fighting, Joshua changed his gear and entered into a supernatural mode and started declaring the nature, he said to Sun to stop going down.
When the enemies get together and the terror intensified, there are times you by faith can declare and command that has never been commanded by man.
Elijah commanded the rain to stop.
Joshua commanded sun to stop.
Moses command the red sea to part.

A man of faith can move the mountains.

Joshua 12: 7 - 24
And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan, on the west, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon as far as [e]Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions, in the mountain country, in the lowlands, in the Jordan plain, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the South—the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; 10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; 17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of [f]Lasharon, one; 19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20 the king of Shimron Meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; 23 the king of Dor in the heights of Dor, one; the king of the people of Gilgal, one; 24 the king of Tirzah, one—all the kings, thirty-one.

31 kings were defeated. the Promise land was taken posession.
But remember where it started.
Joshua , an assistant to Moses - who always waited at Master.
and
1) Remember Gods promise - Never leave you nor forsake you
2) Speak the Word, Meditate Day and night
3) Sanctify - put away foreign gods.
4) Acts of Faith. - Step into the faith.

As Joshua stepped his foot into the land , no one could stand before him, because the Lord was with him.












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