Joshua blessed him. He gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite still today, because he gave himself totally to God, the God of Israel.
The name of Hebron used to be Kiriath Arba, named after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.
And the land had rest from war.
Joshua 14:13-15
Once Caleb took possession of Hebron, the land rested from war. This teaches us a number of important lessons:
Before a breakthrough there will be a state of chaos
In our lives as believers in Jesus Christ, there will be times when before we breakthrough to the next dimension, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. There will be a time of chaos and even confusion however this is not designed to defeat you, it is designed to promote you. You just have to resolve that by the strength of God you will breakthrough to your next level:
For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
Psalm 18:29
The Promised Land is a place of total rest
You see, once we get to the Promised Land in the New Jerusalem, there will be no more tears and all the chaos of this present world will cease:
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Revelation 21:4
We can enter into the rest of The Lord even whilst on earth
Even here on earth there is a state of great peace that we can attain once we decide to give our lives to Jesus and obey His Words. This rest and peace comes when we trust The Lord and keep our minds steadfastly on Him knowing that He will never let us down:
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)
Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to fight to take possession of all the land that You have given me so that it will rest from war in Jesus name.
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So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war
Joshua 11:23
We have seen from the past few months that Joshua and the Children of Israel did not enter into the Promised Land by sitting around and folding their arms. They had to fight in order to dispossess the land of the former inhabitants whom God had said they should drive out. However after he took the whole land and gave it as an inheritance to Israel, the land rested from war. This teaches us a number of important lessons about our own Christian journey:
We will have to fight in order to possess our possessions
The story of Joshua shows us that we must fight in order to possess all the possessions that God has already given us through His Word. We have to fight for our family, health, finances, ministry, businesses, career etc. We are freely given the gift of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, however in order for us to be able to enjoy all that Jesus Christ died to give us, including eternal life, we have to fight the good fight of faith:
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12
After the war, however there is rest
Joshua and the Children of Israel did not fight forever. Once they took the whole land, the land rested from war. You see, when you obey God, there is a place in Him where you no longer have to fight because when your enemies come against you, God will make them to scatter in seven different ways:
The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
Deuteronomy 28:7
We should strive to enter into the rest of The Lord
The land rested from war because Joshua obeyed God. Let us therefore strive to walk in obedience to the Word of God so that we too can enter into the rest of The Lord:
Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:11 (NIV)
Prayer
Dear Father, I know Your Word says there is a time for war and a time for peace. Please give me strength to fight in the time of war so that I can enter into Your rest in Jesus name.
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So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
Joshua 10:10 (NKJV)
When the five neighbouring kings heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had destroyed it, as well as what he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, they were very afraid. Therefore the five kings of the Amorites gathered together and went up with all their armies to make war with Gibeon.
The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua and pleaded with him to come quickly and help them. So Joshua and all the men of war went with him. The Lord assured Joshua “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.” Joshua and his army marched all night to Gibeon, so it was a complete surprise when he attacked them.
The Lord caused those armies to be very confused when Israel attacked. So Israel defeated them and won a great victory. While they were chasing the enemy, the Lord caused large hailstones to fall from the sky. Many of the enemy were killed by these large hailstones. More men were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the soldiers of Israel.
On that day the Lord gave Israel the victory against the Amorites. Joshua stood before all the Israelites and said to the Lord: “Sun, stop over Gibeon. Moon, stand still over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun did not move, and the moon stopped until the people defeated their enemies.
The Lord heeded to the voice of Joshua to make the sun and the moon stand still because He was committed to fight for them.
When you accept Jesus Christ into your heart, and are committed to Him, He will be committed to you and no matter the spiritual armies that come against you, The Lord is committed to fight for you.
Remember that as long as you are alive, you will have those who will gather together to fight against you. However whenever you face a battle that seems too hot for you alone to handle, just give it to The Lord because He is committed to fight for you. He declares in His Word that whoever will gather against you shall fall for your sake:
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
Isaiah 54:15
He also goes on to say that no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. The weapons will be formed however they will not succeed. Also every tongue that speaks against you, you have the authority to condemn:
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 54:17
No matter the battle that you may be going through today, be encouraged because The Lord will fight for you.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I thank You that You are The Lord of Host who is committed to fight for me. I hand over every battle in my life and ask that You fight for me just as You fought for Joshua and his army in Jesus name.
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How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams
The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh obeyed Moses. These men crossed the river in front of the other people. These men were prepared for war. They were going to help the rest of the Israelites take the land God had promised to give them. About 40,000 soldiers, prepared for war, passed before the Lord. They were marching toward the plains of Jericho.
Joshua 4:12-13
In this story we are told that the children of Israel were about to cross the river Jordan to go into Jericho, to take the first city that God had promised them.
Even though the men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had already secured their land on the other side of the river, they did not just sit and wait for their brothers to capture their promised land alone. Instead these men were prepared for war.
As Christians, we also have a promised land ahead of us that we have to reach. Our promised land is not made by human hands, for its architect and builder is God Himself (Hebrews 11:10); it is the New Jerusalem which is coming from heaven down to earth:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared. Now there was no sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said, “Now God’s home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his people. God Himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.”
Revelation 21:1-4
This New Jerusalem, just like the promised land of old, is not easy to attain, we also must be prepared for war in order to reach it. Just like the children of Israel had to destroy the inhabitants of the land before they could possess their land, we too have spiritual giants that we must destroy in order to possess our promised land.
However unlike the Children of Israel who fought a physical fight using natural weapons with their enemies, the Bible tells us that our fight is not against human beings but spiritual forces:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places
Ephesians 6:12
What Does It Mean To Be Prepared?
To be prepared is to be ready “standing by,” ready to meet the opportunity (challenge) at hand; ready because the necessary preparations are done (or are sure to happen as needed).
What Is The War About?
War is a conflict between opposing forces.
You will see from the scripture we are about to read that the war is between God and Satan, and the war started in heaven however it has moved down to earth and we human beings are caught in it, whether we like it or not:
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
And theyovercame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Revelation 12:7-12
So, the forces involved in this war are:
Two Kingdoms – the Kingdom of God with Jesus Christ as its King and the kingdom of darkness with the great dragon, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan as its king.
Two opposing Angels – Michael, the Archangel and his angels and Satan and his angels.
The battlefield – the war started in heaven however the battlefield is now the earth and people in the earth.
Battle strategy – Satan is out to deceive as many human beings as he can so that he can drag them down to hell. He continually accuses the children of God day and night. Satan’s strategy is to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus has come that we may have life in its fullness:
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly
John 10:10
God in His love has provided salvation, strength, Kingdom of God and the power of His Christ to all humanity who choose to believe in Jesus Christ His Son:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
How Do We Overcome Satan?
We overcome him by:
The Blood of The Lamb – we apply the blood of Jesus Christ when we accept that we are sinners and ask Him to forgive us and wash us clean with His blood. When we accept Him He becomes our sacrificial lamb (Hebrews 10:10).
The Word of our testimony – we testify when we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Romans 10:9).
We do not love our lives to the death – this means that we will be willing to lay down our lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are also encouraged to die daily to our flesh or natural desires (1 Corinthians 15:31).
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25
Next week we’ll be looking at how you can prepare for war.
Prayer:
Dear Lord please help me to be prepared for war as the men from the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Please help me to always be ready to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life, in Jesus name.
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