Joshua 10:29-43
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. The LORD also gave that city and its king into Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
Perhaps one thing that is notable in this passage other than the conquest of the southern cities is that Joshua was very methodical and rigorous in attacking these cities. According to the connect journal that I am using now, it says that this rigorous schedule showed that Joshua was committed to claiming God's given Promised Land and to relentlessly pursuing God's enemies. Two points to ponder here.
Firstly, the short passage read like a fast pace military historical event. It shows the commitment to go ahead and claim the land. Likewise, for us, the land and the harvest is there for us to claim. Jesus did say that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. It is obvious that in this end times, as what Michael preached today in service, people will want to come to know God. People will become spiritually interested. I was out with a few friends last night till late in the morning. Throughout the night, there were certain times in the conversation when we talked about spiritual issues. Although it was a bit difficult for me to carry on those conversation according to the way I had wanted, given that it's me vs the rest, and I could only stand my ground, it shows to me that people are spiritually interested. But yet the workers are few. Why?
For me, it seems a lack of commitment to reap the harvest with the majority of the professed believers. Statistics I last heard is that a quarter of the world population are professed Christians. I have this theory, that if one person just bring one person to come and know God, the numbers can easily increase to half of the world population. But sadly this is not the case. I dun like to criticise because I'm threading on thin line with this. But I just finished reading a book by KP Yohanan called Revolution in World Mission. Yohanan is the leader of Gospel for Asia and he is indeed an inspiring missionary for us. He commented that a lot of Christians that he sees in America are often worried about the wrong things when they have the capability to support missions overseas so as to reach populations which had not heard the gospel. Looking at my own church itself, though the value really focuses on the Great Commission, I have to admit that not everyone are actively doing so, at least from where I came from previously. Usually, the commitments are all towards school works, CCAs, internships etc, which I myself am guilty of. Yet the question remains, are we committed to claiming God's harvest?
Secondly, along with the commitment, we need to be proactive and persistent. I am thinking, often people will be convicted but not proactive enough in their efforts or not persistent enough. I can easily fall into this trap and a lot of people I see too. It goes to say that we dun really go and we dun really last. Notice Joshua only returned to Gilgal after finishing the job with the southern cities. And he proactively did it. I think we sometimes can get too comfortable and become laid back, only waiting to do what people ask us to do. How about trying to be more proactive for once? How about asking your leader what can be done for once? How about starting to pray for our group day in day for once? How about praying for our friends? I can of course go on.
Yet, even when I say all these things, the passage makes it a bit clear for us at the end. God fought for Israel. He had to be with us first. This is something that is not new to us, but something we can easily forget. Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labored in vain. Commitment and Conviction and persistence have to couple with God's presence. Actually one thing that I need to continually remind myself from the recent uni ya camp is that I need to bring along God's presence with me always. God's presence will ensure that I will be victorious.
So yeah, commitment, persistence, God. Think about it.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
Perhaps one thing that is notable in this passage other than the conquest of the southern cities is that Joshua was very methodical and rigorous in attacking these cities. According to the connect journal that I am using now, it says that this rigorous schedule showed that Joshua was committed to claiming God's given Promised Land and to relentlessly pursuing God's enemies. Two points to ponder here.
Firstly, the short passage read like a fast pace military historical event. It shows the commitment to go ahead and claim the land. Likewise, for us, the land and the harvest is there for us to claim. Jesus did say that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. It is obvious that in this end times, as what Michael preached today in service, people will want to come to know God. People will become spiritually interested. I was out with a few friends last night till late in the morning. Throughout the night, there were certain times in the conversation when we talked about spiritual issues. Although it was a bit difficult for me to carry on those conversation according to the way I had wanted, given that it's me vs the rest, and I could only stand my ground, it shows to me that people are spiritually interested. But yet the workers are few. Why?
For me, it seems a lack of commitment to reap the harvest with the majority of the professed believers. Statistics I last heard is that a quarter of the world population are professed Christians. I have this theory, that if one person just bring one person to come and know God, the numbers can easily increase to half of the world population. But sadly this is not the case. I dun like to criticise because I'm threading on thin line with this. But I just finished reading a book by KP Yohanan called Revolution in World Mission. Yohanan is the leader of Gospel for Asia and he is indeed an inspiring missionary for us. He commented that a lot of Christians that he sees in America are often worried about the wrong things when they have the capability to support missions overseas so as to reach populations which had not heard the gospel. Looking at my own church itself, though the value really focuses on the Great Commission, I have to admit that not everyone are actively doing so, at least from where I came from previously. Usually, the commitments are all towards school works, CCAs, internships etc, which I myself am guilty of. Yet the question remains, are we committed to claiming God's harvest?
Secondly, along with the commitment, we need to be proactive and persistent. I am thinking, often people will be convicted but not proactive enough in their efforts or not persistent enough. I can easily fall into this trap and a lot of people I see too. It goes to say that we dun really go and we dun really last. Notice Joshua only returned to Gilgal after finishing the job with the southern cities. And he proactively did it. I think we sometimes can get too comfortable and become laid back, only waiting to do what people ask us to do. How about trying to be more proactive for once? How about asking your leader what can be done for once? How about starting to pray for our group day in day for once? How about praying for our friends? I can of course go on.
Yet, even when I say all these things, the passage makes it a bit clear for us at the end. God fought for Israel. He had to be with us first. This is something that is not new to us, but something we can easily forget. Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labored in vain. Commitment and Conviction and persistence have to couple with God's presence. Actually one thing that I need to continually remind myself from the recent uni ya camp is that I need to bring along God's presence with me always. God's presence will ensure that I will be victorious.
So yeah, commitment, persistence, God. Think about it.
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