Thurs.’s Devo - The Kingdom of God

Read: Joshua 11:1-12:24; Luke 17:11-37; Psalm 84:1-12; Proverbs 13:5-6 Four more kings joined forces and came against Israel. Their horses and chariots covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. God told Joshua not to be afraid of them because by this time tomorrow He would hand them all over to Israel as dead men. Then they were to cripple their horses and burn their chariots. Joshua and his army attacked and killed everyone of them and crippled their horses and burned their chariots just like the Lord told them to do. They went to the capital city of Hazor and burned it to the ground. Joshua didn’t burn the towns but they killed all the inhabitants and kept the plunder. I’m thinking that the cities were where the kings lived and the idolatrous temples stood where the towns were where the people lived. The Israelites occupied their houses in the towns. It took a while but Joshua took the land completely destroying the enemy. They fought the descendants of Anak who had frightened the 10 spies when they saw them. They were giants that looked very mean and warlike. They had really long necks. Joshua defeated them and destroyed their towns. Some of them survived and moved to Gaza, Gath and Ashdod. Goliath came from their descendants. Joshua completed his assignment of taking the land and they finally had peace. We are given the list of the people who lived in the region and there are only 6 nations mentioned even though Deuteronomy 7:1 says that there were seven nations in the land. The one they left out was the Gergashites. We are also given the list of 31 kings that Joshua defeated. In Luke, Jesus is on his way to the cross and he stopped on the border between Galilee and Samaria. He entered into a leper colony and 10 lepers came out to beg for mercy. Jesus sent them to show themselves to the priest and as they were going, they were healed. The Samaritan leper came back to bow before Jesus and thank him. He had no entrance into the Temple so he came back to the only priest he knew which was Jesus. Jesus told the man that his faith had healed him and pronounced him healed. One of the Pharisees asked Jesus when would the Kingdom of God come. Jesus replied that they Kingdom is not visible with natural eyes. It is already here. He went on to say that the Son of Man would have to suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation. He will return in a day that looked like the days of Noah and the days of Lot. The people then were going about their daily lives like nothing was about to happen. Their destruction took them both by surprise. It was suddenly and Jesus’ return will be the same. The disciples asked Jesus where this would happen and he indicated that it would happen in a place where death is already there. Lord, thank you that you finish what you start. Help us to remember the things you have done for us in the past and to know that it is not over till we have taken all of the territory you want us to take. You have given us dominion over this earth and it is not over until we have taken it all back for you.