Read: Joshua9:3-10:43; Luke 16:19-17:10; Psalm 83:1-18; Proverbs 13:4
We can learn a lot about spiritual warfare by reading the conquest of the promised land. We all have promises that God has given us, but Satan is guarding our blessings and doesn’t want us to have them. Today we read about the town of Gibeon that was a royal city. the people of Gibeon had heard about the conquests that Israel had made so far and they were next on the map. So they came up with a scam. (The devil is the master of deception.) They decided to pack stale bread and wear old clothes to trick the Israelites into thinking they had traveled from a land beyond their boundaries. Israel could have known easily if they had just asked God, but they didn’t. They had gotten cocky with their wins and made the decision themselves. It was the wrong one. They made a treaty with Gibeon only to find out three days later that they lived near by.
If Satan can’t hurt us from afar, he will secretly join us. Not everyone who attends our churches is on the Lord’s side. It is not our responsibility to find out who they are, God will separate them in the end. But, it is our responsibility to ask the Lord about any one we are making covenant with or making decisions with. A covenant is binding unto the Lord unless we annul it the same way we make it. We can repent of wrong covenants and undo them but damage is usually already done. Joshua couldn’t kill the Gibeonites because of the covenant he had made with them so he made them his slaves to cut their wood and carry their water.
Joshua’s hastily-made covenant with the Gibeonites meant that he now had to fight for them. The five kings of the Amorites found out about how the Gibeonites had joined forces with Israel and came to attack Gibeon. Joshua and his army went out against them in the power of God and fought them. God’s army fought from heaven throwing down hailstones. God’s army killed more than Joshua’s.
Joshua and his army proceeded to defeat four more cities before returning home.
In Luke, Jesus gave a parable about a rich man named Lazareth and a poor beggar. Lazareth stood for the rich Pharisees and teachers of the law. The poor were the Jews who had been beaten down by the laws of the synagogue. Lazareth found the truth too late but begged God to send someone from the dead to tell his brothers about hell. God told him that it wouldn’t do any good because they didn’t listen to Moses and the Prophets so they won’t hear it if someone rose from the dead. God was right. They didn’t believe Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus explained in the next chapter that we will be tempted to be offended by people but we must not be the one that offends with sin. We must be the one who forgives over and over.
Lord, help us to have forgiving hearts and seek your wisdom in every step we take.
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