I mean, God did flood the earth because humans turned wicked. So, it’s likely, you can use the same train of though. As humans, we don’t need justification for God’s actions. We don’t question Him
“Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” —1 Cor. 2:12
I loved reading this section today! One of my roommates has been talking about how hard it is to understand the Bible and all of the big questions she has about it. This is an amazing reminder that we have the gift of the Spirit to reveal to us the heart and God and the mind of Christ. May we seek wisdom from the Spirit, and not wisdom from man.
I love that Paul says “I know nothing but Christ and Christ crucified.” He doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, he just knows what God has done for him and wants to share the love he feels!
This passage puts on display the powerful hand of God in the judgment of wicked nations. It simultaneously displays God’s sovereign kindness and mercy to the people He has drawn to himself.
Omg! I loved reading Joshua.. all those battles?!! Amazing!! Let us be like josh.. brave enough, courageously enough to fight battle after battle knowing that God is with us.
I think it’s amazing how God said that he will give Israel that land and he did without a blink. I am
Just in awe of these Joshua chapters!!
Can’t imagine the wars and battles Joshua and the Israelites fought to take the Promised Land. Harder chapters, idk but maybe as women we are built to raise and bring life not take as often, but these were harder chapters for me.
Imaging if I happened to have been born and raised in one of those nations, this has a been difficult struggle for many years. No way around it being difficult, but two things help me with this: 1) The scripture that talks about being without excuse in Romans. God does reveal Himself to all, and people choose to believe and accept Him in faith and follow Him or not. Many around the world still face having to choose family and acceptance in society (freedom even life/ death) OR following the one True God as Rahab and Ruth did; 2) Realizing this was a completely different setting from what we know. Our western mindset does not resemble the way they lived. The times were brutal. God takes seriously us living holy and separate lives without intermingling faith in Him with idol worship. He was trying to help them guard their hearts and teach them the importance of following Him only.
I hope this helps some. I have had to just accept God’s plans are not always completely understood.
This helped a lot! I too was having a difficult time with the book of Joshua. My mind always goes back to, why is God killing the people that he created through other humans. But your explanation has helped me understand a little better. Thank you!
12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
I struggle with this because it IS a reality today. ISIS is terrorizing people in the name of ‘god ‘, claiming holy war and purification of those who do not adhere to their strict, oppressive, religious beliefs. Do they believe a Messiah is coming to usher in righteousness? Yes! Do we justify slaughter of potentially millions back in Joshua as ‘holy war’, as long as it’s OUR belief (and we’re safe at home, thousands of miles away, without daily threat to our lives)? Indeed this is hard.
I understand the concept of holiness and purging from sin. Let us read, sisters, with fear and trembling. God uses hail even to wipe out the disobedient in this passage. Although ISIS is far away, natural disaster is not. And these come on the evil and the good. God’s desire for holiness hasn’t changed since Jesus died on the cross. He desires we all be saved–He desires the Ammorites to be saved, yet did not show mercy. Because we live in peace at the moment, it does not excuse unholy living. Thank Him for His mercy and kindness that leads to repentance.
And we need to be in constant prayer for our brothers and sisters facing immense persecution at the hands of religious holy war. More Christians have died since 1900 than all centuries combined. Pray we will stand firm to the end.
I think part of this is also Gods way of adding credibility to His people. If you look at these passages through the lens of those times vs our modern day society I think all the tribes and countries were violent and brutal. In order for God to be respected as the One true God, Joshua and Moses had to engage in war with the same methods employed by the other tribes to show Gods true power. Once established Kings and leaders began to bow down to God. Whole countries of people dedicated their lives to God. I can’t explain most of this but in my heart I have always been able to be more comfortable with these types of passages knowing it was Gods plan and He had to establish Himself and His people using the same rules of engagement of the times.
Nice post. I study something more difficult on totally different blogs everyday. It will all the time be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a bit something from their store. I’d prefer to make use of some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link in your web blog. Thanks for sharing.TubeSync
I was struggling with this too and it was recently brought up in church. It was put like this: God had to wipe out all generations and future generations to keep the wickedness from continuing. If He left the children to then they would only continue as their ancestors did. Gods people would not have been able to move in and gain more ground for His people. The older generations taught the younger, thus also securing their fate. We tend to look at the “here and now” while God looks at the future. The ultimate goal is God glorified. When I started looking at it from that perspective, it really helped trust Gods ways more!!
I get that the LORD was completely just in wiping out all these cities and they were worshipping other gods and likely practicing child sacrifice etc… Still it’s hard to hear about so much bloodshed and violence. Especially Joshua 11:20 is a very hard verse- I don’t like the sound of it! God help me accept and trust your goodness when I don’t understand your ways.
It makes me very thankful that I did not live in that time- im such a sensitive person that I probably would’ve been trying to save the babies and children in these cities from being killed by the Israelites and saving the horses in these passages. I would not have been able to handle so much suffering and bloodshed!
Me too!! I am forever changed now that I have a kiddo. I can’t imagine killing an “innocent” like that. Gods ways are not our ways… Still caused me to tear up a bit
I agree, this section is hard to imagine and, really, I don’t like picturing it. One thing I try to remind myself is that if they had shown faith in the God of Israel, they would have been saved. Rahab is an example of that. But it says that God hardened their hearts and none of them were humble. And if any of them WERE, or even decided at the last minute to trust God, I believe their death would take them to Him.
Depicts God as a peaceful force that guides gentle sheep. This isn’t always the case. Remember, we are in spiritual warfare all of the time. It’s bloody and is not peaceful. God wants and demands what He wants and demands. If non believers are in the way of that then they are removed.
Callie, I’m right there with you!. The thought that reoccurs in my head when I read tough passages like this is “He who gives life, also takes it.” I can only imagine that the Lord grieves the loss of all these people as well, that they lead a life of sin instead of faith.
And you’re right! Only God knows the condition of their heart, and these cities had to fall to be in accordance with His Divine Plan, we can rest knowing that He is in control of the eternal state of things, regardless of how hard it is for us to grasp the difficult and gruesome parts of the process. Death is necessary sometimes to bring Life!
I loved the Corinthians passage today! We have the wisdom of God, the power of the Spirit, and the mind of Christ! We no longer have to rest on worldly teachers. As a rather studious girl, this reminds me to seek the wisdom of God before man.
1 Cor 2:5 “so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”. true faith has to be built on God … not on the charismatic personality of a favorite speaker
25 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.”
Over and over he asks them not to fear. How often I fear even though God has proven his faithfulness.
“He (Joshua) left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.” – Joshua 11:15
I’m so inspired by Joshua’s faith and obedience to the LORD! Lord, may I have the same faith and obedience that Joshua had so You can continue winning victories for me! :)
Very good thought Kristin. Thank you for sharing. As I read through these chapters of Joshua it is hard. Hard to read of all the destruction and killing of everyone that hath breathe. So hearing your pastors approach to those ten cities. I like that. I like how it applies to me personally. Thank you.
10Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 12Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 16For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Our pastor did a 10 week series a year ago called Giant Killers. Each city that the Israelites destroyed represents a sin area. Like one city was mainly greed, another was lust, etc. And how we’re called to go in and completely destroy them in our lives. It was a really good series! Here’s the link…. http://baycommunity.com/media/series/1065/1
I love you, Father ❤️
❤️
I mean, God did flood the earth because humans turned wicked. So, it’s likely, you can use the same train of though. As humans, we don’t need justification for God’s actions. We don’t question Him
We do not understand your thoughts or ways oh God
Trusting, so hard, but so worth it.
Yess! May the good Lord help us to trust in Him, even in the toughest of times. He’s very able to help us in our weakness ❤️
9But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
❤️
12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
✅
“Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” —1 Cor. 2:12
I loved reading this section today! One of my roommates has been talking about how hard it is to understand the Bible and all of the big questions she has about it. This is an amazing reminder that we have the gift of the Spirit to reveal to us the heart and God and the mind of Christ. May we seek wisdom from the Spirit, and not wisdom from man.
❤️
I love that Paul says “I know nothing but Christ and Christ crucified.” He doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, he just knows what God has done for him and wants to share the love he feels!
5so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.-ellie
This passage puts on display the powerful hand of God in the judgment of wicked nations. It simultaneously displays God’s sovereign kindness and mercy to the people He has drawn to himself.
Omg! I loved reading Joshua.. all those battles?!! Amazing!! Let us be like josh.. brave enough, courageously enough to fight battle after battle knowing that God is with us.
I think it’s amazing how God said that he will give Israel that land and he did without a blink. I am
Just in awe of these Joshua chapters!!
Can’t imagine the wars and battles Joshua and the Israelites fought to take the Promised Land. Harder chapters, idk but maybe as women we are built to raise and bring life not take as often, but these were harder chapters for me.
Imaging if I happened to have been born and raised in one of those nations, this has a been difficult struggle for many years. No way around it being difficult, but two things help me with this: 1) The scripture that talks about being without excuse in Romans. God does reveal Himself to all, and people choose to believe and accept Him in faith and follow Him or not. Many around the world still face having to choose family and acceptance in society (freedom even life/ death) OR following the one True God as Rahab and Ruth did; 2) Realizing this was a completely different setting from what we know. Our western mindset does not resemble the way they lived. The times were brutal. God takes seriously us living holy and separate lives without intermingling faith in Him with idol worship. He was trying to help them guard their hearts and teach them the importance of following Him only.
I hope this helps some. I have had to just accept God’s plans are not always completely understood.
This helped a lot! I too was having a difficult time with the book of Joshua. My mind always goes back to, why is God killing the people that he created through other humans. But your explanation has helped me understand a little better. Thank you!
Is there new info. I have added your article to my LinkedIn I found this on Instagram You deserve a hug right now.
http://issuu.com/startupf01nas
How do I contact support? My scripture won’t load in my plans or in the Bible section. Help!
Email: [email protected]. They’re pretty good about getting back to you pretty quickly
Thanks so much!
12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
Wow God is powerful!
I struggle with this because it IS a reality today. ISIS is terrorizing people in the name of ‘god ‘, claiming holy war and purification of those who do not adhere to their strict, oppressive, religious beliefs. Do they believe a Messiah is coming to usher in righteousness? Yes! Do we justify slaughter of potentially millions back in Joshua as ‘holy war’, as long as it’s OUR belief (and we’re safe at home, thousands of miles away, without daily threat to our lives)? Indeed this is hard.
I understand the concept of holiness and purging from sin. Let us read, sisters, with fear and trembling. God uses hail even to wipe out the disobedient in this passage. Although ISIS is far away, natural disaster is not. And these come on the evil and the good. God’s desire for holiness hasn’t changed since Jesus died on the cross. He desires we all be saved–He desires the Ammorites to be saved, yet did not show mercy. Because we live in peace at the moment, it does not excuse unholy living. Thank Him for His mercy and kindness that leads to repentance.
And we need to be in constant prayer for our brothers and sisters facing immense persecution at the hands of religious holy war. More Christians have died since 1900 than all centuries combined. Pray we will stand firm to the end.
Excellent points. Great perspective and advice.
Amen amen amen!
Amen!!
Yes thank you for this sober reminder.
I think part of this is also Gods way of adding credibility to His people. If you look at these passages through the lens of those times vs our modern day society I think all the tribes and countries were violent and brutal. In order for God to be respected as the One true God, Joshua and Moses had to engage in war with the same methods employed by the other tribes to show Gods true power. Once established Kings and leaders began to bow down to God. Whole countries of people dedicated their lives to God. I can’t explain most of this but in my heart I have always been able to be more comfortable with these types of passages knowing it was Gods plan and He had to establish Himself and His people using the same rules of engagement of the times.
“Also visit my web blog”
https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1867837168/about
Nice post. I study something more difficult on totally different blogs everyday. It will all the time be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a bit something from their store. I’d prefer to make use of some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link in your web blog. Thanks for sharing.TubeSync
no fault divorce
http://www.LV8KowDTZ9.com/LV8KowDTZ9
I was struggling with this too and it was recently brought up in church. It was put like this: God had to wipe out all generations and future generations to keep the wickedness from continuing. If He left the children to then they would only continue as their ancestors did. Gods people would not have been able to move in and gain more ground for His people. The older generations taught the younger, thus also securing their fate. We tend to look at the “here and now” while God looks at the future. The ultimate goal is God glorified. When I started looking at it from that perspective, it really helped trust Gods ways more!!
I get that the LORD was completely just in wiping out all these cities and they were worshipping other gods and likely practicing child sacrifice etc… Still it’s hard to hear about so much bloodshed and violence. Especially Joshua 11:20 is a very hard verse- I don’t like the sound of it! God help me accept and trust your goodness when I don’t understand your ways.
It makes me very thankful that I did not live in that time- im such a sensitive person that I probably would’ve been trying to save the babies and children in these cities from being killed by the Israelites and saving the horses in these passages. I would not have been able to handle so much suffering and bloodshed!
Me too!! I am forever changed now that I have a kiddo. I can’t imagine killing an “innocent” like that. Gods ways are not our ways… Still caused me to tear up a bit
I agree, this section is hard to imagine and, really, I don’t like picturing it. One thing I try to remind myself is that if they had shown faith in the God of Israel, they would have been saved. Rahab is an example of that. But it says that God hardened their hearts and none of them were humble. And if any of them WERE, or even decided at the last minute to trust God, I believe their death would take them to Him.
God is a God of peace AND war. Modern day Christianity often dep
Depicts God as a peaceful force that guides gentle sheep. This isn’t always the case. Remember, we are in spiritual warfare all of the time. It’s bloody and is not peaceful. God wants and demands what He wants and demands. If non believers are in the way of that then they are removed.
Good point re: spiritual warfare – I hadn’t considered this aspect in relation to these passages in Joshua!
Callie, I’m right there with you!. The thought that reoccurs in my head when I read tough passages like this is “He who gives life, also takes it.” I can only imagine that the Lord grieves the loss of all these people as well, that they lead a life of sin instead of faith.
And you’re right! Only God knows the condition of their heart, and these cities had to fall to be in accordance with His Divine Plan, we can rest knowing that He is in control of the eternal state of things, regardless of how hard it is for us to grasp the difficult and gruesome parts of the process. Death is necessary sometimes to bring Life!
I loved the Corinthians passage today! We have the wisdom of God, the power of the Spirit, and the mind of Christ! We no longer have to rest on worldly teachers. As a rather studious girl, this reminds me to seek the wisdom of God before man.
I am working on this too, Savannah. It’s hard to break the habit of calling a confidant or just grumbling in my mind before stopping to consult Him.
1 Cor 2:5 “so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”. true faith has to be built on God … not on the charismatic personality of a favorite speaker
25 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.”
Over and over he asks them not to fear. How often I fear even though God has proven his faithfulness.
Amen!
“But we have the mind of Christ.”
I found this very powerful and convicting! Such an awesome way to end that chapter.
“He (Joshua) left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.” – Joshua 11:15
I’m so inspired by Joshua’s faith and obedience to the LORD! Lord, may I have the same faith and obedience that Joshua had so You can continue winning victories for me! :)
Thanks for sharing Kristin. So interesting!
Very good thought Kristin. Thank you for sharing. As I read through these chapters of Joshua it is hard. Hard to read of all the destruction and killing of everyone that hath breathe. So hearing your pastors approach to those ten cities. I like that. I like how it applies to me personally. Thank you.
10Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 12Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 16For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
This struck me so powerfully today!
I have come across so many unbelievers lately and this explains a lot.
Our pastor did a 10 week series a year ago called Giant Killers. Each city that the Israelites destroyed represents a sin area. Like one city was mainly greed, another was lust, etc. And how we’re called to go in and completely destroy them in our lives. It was a really good series! Here’s the link…. http://baycommunity.com/media/series/1065/1
Thanks Kristin!
Thank you
Ah- that helps it make sense
Excited to check this out. Thanks for sharing!