Dear Friends,
These are the days of "Precision bombing"...what with America succeeding in liquidating it's perceived dreaded enemy Gen.Soleimani of Iran using the same technology. The video of his liquidation has gone viral. Subsequently Iran in retaliation claims to have done its bit of precision bombing of US Military bases in Iraq…here I need to state that as followers of the Prince of peace-Isa 9:6-Christians should always try to be at peace with all as much as possible-Rom 12:8-as such I would not want the tensions’ in between US-Iran to escalate at any cost.
Also at the outset, Yours Truly wants to make it amply clear that purpose of this Write-up is not to commend US aggression but rather to focus upon an incident of "Precision Bombing" in the Biblical times too, lest we gloat that this "achievement" is an "exclusive preserve" of the modern scientific era. Oh yes….more importantly, we would see the case of “exclusive preservation” too, of His chosen ones’ at the time of “Biblical precision bombing". Would not drawing lessons from the same (Biblical incident of precision bombing and exclusive preservation of His Chosen ones’ in the midst of it all) be more relevant now (onset of New year) than at any other point of time especially considering the fact that all of us at the beginning of the year have prayed for His loving protection throughout 2020 and beyond. So here goes...
When the conquest of Cannan was on, under the leadership of Joshua, one needs to remember that the sin of the Canaanites had ripened to such an extent that they were even having abominable sexual relationship with animals (Leviticus 18:23-24) and the Divine mandate in response was simply to exterminate them. Gentiles who had no Law but precious God-given conscience (Rom 2:14-15) would make them naturally know that these kind of horrific sins are awful in the sight of their Holy Creator (as such they stood completely guilty before Him) and also at that time with the Land of Canaan being in the centre of the World (hub of World trade in those days), there was this live threat of horrific sexually transmitted diseases emanating therein as a result of such terrible sins infecting the whole World. That is why the Divine mandate required their total extermination. Also it needs to be remembered that the Israelites were learning a "lesson within a lesson" during the Conquest of Canaan that is… if they transgressed God Laws they too would be violently "thrown out of the Land flowing with milk and honey" like the Canaanites (Lev 18:24-30)!!!
It was precisely during this time that we see the case of "precision bombing and exclusive preservation of His chosen ones’ ” in the midst of the same"...read on...
Joshua Chapter 10 records one of the most amazing Divine interventions ever during a battle in human history. No, No, here at this stage, I neither intend to focus upon the event of sun and moon stopping in their tracks, consequent to Joshua’s prayers (verses 12-15) nor do I desire to focus exclusively here about the enemies dying on account of the hailstorm (verse 11) which God unleashed upon the fleeing army. In the midst of these greater miracles’, I want to focus upon a “silent miracle” that happened alongside them.
Also lets get straight some of the geo-historical aspects of this miracle, which happened when Joshua and his men were engaged in a battle with five Canaanite kings (Joshua 10:3-11). Close to the scene of the battle at Gibeon was, Upper Beth-horon—about ten miles distant, and approached by a gradual ascent through a long and precipitous ravine. This was the first stage of the flight of the enemy forces, who realized as the battle progressed that they were no match to the Divinely strengthened Joshua’s army. The fugitives had crossed the high ridge of Upper Beth-horon, and were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon the Nether. The road between the two places is so rocky and rugged that there is a path made by means of steps cut in the rock. Down this pass Joshua continued his victorious rout. Here it was that the Lord interposed, assisting His people by means of a storm, which, having been probably gathering all day, burst with such irresistible fury, that "they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword." Just as it is recorded in Job 38:22-23, sometimes God uses hailstorm with deadly effect in wars!!! The Oriental hailstorm is a terrific agent; the hailstones are masses of ice, large as walnuts, and sometimes as two fists; their prodigious size, and the violence with which they fall, make them always very injurious to property, and often fatal to life.
So even as these “natural bombs” from the skies were raining upon the fleeing army, has it ever occurred to us, where were Joshua and his men? Chasing their enemies, they were certainly not faraway!!! Now did these “Heavenly bombs” fall upon them? NO! Welcome to the age of precision bombing of Biblical times! And those of us who think that precision bombing with guided missiles is a modern-day invention would do well to revise our opinions. Doesn’t this miracle of hailstorm “not falling” upon the chasing Joshua’s army awe us, as much as the miracle of it precisely hitting the scampering foes does? A case of yet another miracle within a miracle…like protection of Israelites in Goshen at a time natural calamities were being unleashed on Egypt (Exo 8:22/9:6/10:23)! Hallelujah!
By now the readers would have gauged the underlying principle behind all of these miracles. The one of God’s faithful preservation of the faithful ones’ amidst full-scale destruction! Psalmist also shares this sentiment in Psalm 91:7-8. What is the lesson these miracles’ (more than one, as though to underscore a point) hold for modern-day Christians living oh-so-close to the imminent Rapture and subsequent tribulation? Having come under His saving grace, our present difficulties (varying in degree from person to person) on Earth aside, we as a Church are guaranteed to be raptured, as such taken away from a much more severe tribulation time ahead (Rev 3:10)! As a Bible teacher taking special classes’ on the Book of Revelation, I shudder sometimes, at the very thought of terrible woes awaiting the disobedient world. A detailed study of tribulation woes (Rev 6-19) would also reveal their similarity to the Egyptian woes. For one thing in both the cases it was just not one woe but a series of them. Also do not we see both of them gradually growing up in intensity? That is the second similarity. Then what about their impact on the wicked? Again we notice a similarity. Pharoah did not repent till the end and likewise nor would the wicked during the Tribulation time (Rev 9:20-21, 16:11) barring the refined Israelites (1/3rd of the total population-Zech 13:9) of the tribulation times who would repent nationally for the sin of their rejecting the Messiah in His First Advent (Zech 12:8-14). No wonder our God is said to be an unchanging God (Heb 13:8). Not only are His ways of dealing with the wicked still the same (intensity of punishment always increases gradually) but more importantly He is just as unchanging when it comes to preserving His faithful ones’ in the midst of calamities. If He has insulated His chosen ones from troubles in the past (Noah from The Flood and Lot and his family from "fiery rain" like He protected the Israelites in Goshen within Egypt), will He not keep up His promise of keeping us insulated from the fiery times ahead (Isa 26:20-21) by rapturing us first and preserving us (unseen to the World) safely in the mid-skies? Is this not one more reason to praise our glorious Savior God?
Meanwhile let’s also pray for the all to be saved (1 Tim 2:1-6). Honestly, do we not want the unsaved ones’ (especially the ones’ we know personally in or outside the Church) to accept Christ now itself without having to go through the fiery tribulation times? What about Israel? Those of us who believe that we owe our salvation to Israel in the first place-John 4:22-ought to fervently intercede for Jews (at least for the ones' we know personally) to be saved at the earliest too. It is a responsibility fulfilling which would please our Lord besides guaranteeing us His blessings (Psa 122:6-TLB).
HALLELUJAH…more loudly please. What price any theology, which doesn’t end with doxology!
Suresh Manoharan
