I have loved reading the book of Joshua. Joshua is a prophet that I never really knew about. I have loved learning about him. He did a lot of really awesome things for the children of Israel. He helped them get to the promised land and conquer all of their enemies. One thing I thought fascinating about the true power Joshua had is found in chapter 10. The Israelites are battling the Amorites and Joshua commands the sun and the moon to stand still. As the student manual pointed out, it was actually the earth that stood still as we know that the sun doesn't move. It is easy to see that and think that it totally contradicts science so the Bible couldn't possibly be true. But it is! Heavenly Father controls the laws of nature. He can change them as He wishes. And, how would you explain all that is supposed to happen during the second coming?
The Israelites fought against a lot of different nations. By reading the chapter headings of chapters 7-22, here are the outcomes:
Failures
-Defeated by people of Ai
Successes
-They defeat Ai
-Gibeonites are made servants to Israel
-Defeat Amorites and their allies
-Conquer many cities and nations
-Conquer two kings on east of Jordan and 31 on west
-All the tribes receive their inheritances
-The Lord fulfills his promises and the Israelites are able to rest.
In the final two chapters of Joshua, Joshua gives his final address to the children of Israel before his death. He spends most of his talk encouraging the Israelites to serve the Lord. Based on the list above, I think he chose this topic to confirm to the children of Israel that they can accomplish great things with the Lord on their side. And it is true. We CAN accomplish great things with the Lord on our side. We can accomplish the impossible, for nothing is impossible for the Lord. I know that as we strive to follow the Lord, He will be on our side and fight for us every step of the way through this life.
No comments:
Post a Comment