Series: Joshua
Text: Joshua 10:1-15
Title: “Our Commitment To God”
I. Our Commitment Will Be Challenged (1-5)
• Whenever we make a commitment it doesn’t take long for that to be challenged.
o It was the same say with the children of Israel and their covenant with Gibeon.
Vs. 1
• Adoni-Zedek – means “my God is righteous”
o Similar to another king of Jerusalem (Salem), Melchizedek – means “my King is righteous.”
o Genesis 14:18-20
o At one time faith in God in this region had existed so the name was passed on to the next generation of kings, however the faith in God was not.
Vv. 2-5
• These kings join together because of the military success that the children of Israel were having.
o If Israel had been defeated at Jericho and had lost heart to fight Ai do you think these kings would be coming together?
o Success brings contempt and victory brings opposition.
1 Peter 4:12- 14, 16 -- 12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
John 15:18-20 -- 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
• Also notice who is attacked vs. 4, it is not Israel directly but Gibeon, how Israel had just sworn to protect.
o Often challenges to our faith do not come directly on us, but on others that have a direct effect on us.
II. Our Commitment Will Be Called Upon (6-8)
• When we commit to God to do something we better be ready to do it.
Vs. 6
• The men of Gibeon send word to Joshua that they are under attack and to send his army ASAP.
• Let’s first look at what Joshua could have done.
o He could have looked at this as an opportunity to erase the mistake He made in making the covenant in the first place.
o He could have easily reasoned that God was even using this to deliver him from a situation he couldn’t afford to be bothered with.
o He could have dragged his feet taking days to get his men ready in hopes that the battle would be over when he got there.
o I mean did not the Gibeonites deserve this fate since they had tricked Israel to begin with.
• We do this kind of thing all the time to get out of the commitments we make.
• Joshua did not think this way.
Vs. 7
• Joshua got up and went because it was the right thing to do, as a matter of fact he even drove his men hard all night just to get there, vs. 9.
o It was a distance of 20 miles and would have taken them 8 to 10 hours to get there.
• Because Joshua showed uprightness in character for doing the right thing even when it was not easy or popular, God rewarded him.
Vs. 8
• God promised Joshua victory and safety.
o Jeremiah 29:11-14
o God’s plan is for us to have victory and hope; but we must call to Him, pray to Him, and search for Him.
III. Our Commitment Will Be Championed (9-15)
• After we have been challenged and called upon and we prove faithful, God will spare nothing to champion His people to overwhelming victory.
Vv. 9-11
• Notice whose fight it was again, it was the LORD’S.
o The LORD routed them, killed them, cast down hailstones on them.
o These hailstones were large enough to kill a man and plentiful enough to kill more than the children of Israel did with the sword.
o This judgment is also a precursor to one of the ways God will judge during the tribulation.
Revelation 16:21 -- 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent (75 lbs.). Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
• However the miracles did not stop there.
Vv. 12-14
• Joshua had the men of the combined kingdoms on the run, but he was running out of daylight.
o It was imperative that they did not let them escape and therefore have time to regroup.
o So he asks God for a miracle.
• Notice also how specific his words were.
o We would have prayed something much more generic.
o Often our words are just a reflection of our faith.
o Matthew 17:14-21
o (vs. 19, “why could we not drive it out”)
• Book of Jashar was a collection of writings (poetry) that chronicled the battles Israel faced in the conquest of the land.
o Joshua did not write this account until much later in his life, Josh. 24:26
• “for the LORD fought for Israel”
o How often can we say, for the LORD fought for _________!
• How is our commitment to follow and serve the LORD?
