Last week we saw how becoming tired of incessant battle can lead to becoming impatient and attempting to rush what God is wanting to do in His way and His timing. It can also lead a person to feeling defeated and abandoning the fight. David boldly declared in Psalm 119, “I will run the course of Your commandments . . . and I shall keep it to the end” (Psalm 119:32a, 33b). We must be determined to run the course of God’s calling in wholehearted obedience, and overcome our fatigue, or perhaps our discouragement, if we ever hope to gain new spiritual territory.
David’s use of the phrase “run the course” is similar to our expression “stay the course,” which is a term “used in the context of a war or battle, meaning to pursue a goal regardless of any obstacles or criticism.”(1) An example of this usage can be seen in the movie “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, a fictitious Revolutionary War hero.
Benjamin Martin’s 18-year-old son, Gabriel, enlisted in the conflict and tragically became a casualty of war. Martin, as he was grieving beside his dead son, was ready to quit the cause. Colonel Harry Burwell, a Continental officer, tried to persuade him not to give up; for he recognized how Martin had great influence on the soldiers and that his departure would demoralize the troops.
As the scene opened, the Colonel said, “Stay the course, Martin. Stay the course.” This was the same thing that Benjamin Martin’s wife, who had died years earlier, had told him whenever life became difficult. And always, her admonition to stay the course would provide him the necessary courage to continue, whatever the obstacle.(2)
David not only declared that he would run the course, but in Psalm 19:5 of the NIV, he stated that the person who “rejoices” in running is the true champion. The Christian singer Carmen, in his song “Heart of a Champion,” stated, “I can feel the pressure coming down on me. People say that I’m not destined to succeed; but I have the faith I need to carry on . . . knowing that the dream can still survive.”(3) If we want the dream or calling that God’s placed on our heart to survive, then we must have the heart of a champion and be determined to stay the course.
Becoming Discouraged from Fighting (vv. 16-18)
16 Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain - the mountains of Israel and its lowlands, 17 from Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, and struck them down and killed them. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
In just two verses Joshua and the Israelites are portrayed to have conquered seven different regions, capturing and killing all their kings. The Israelites witnessed a lot of battle in possessing Canaan, revealing that fighting is unavoidable in claiming the Promised Land. Joshua and the Israelites “fought high” in the mountains, they “fought low” in the lowlands, and they even “fought in between” in the plains. They fought every which way they possibly could, and verse 18 summarizes their efforts by stating, “Joshua made war a long time” (v. 18).
We might presently feel like we’ve been fighting for our Promised Land a long time, and fighting will wear us out emotionally and physically and lead to discouragement. Battle is not a pretty sight, and as we tire of spiritual confrontation, we might be tempted to ask ourselves, “Why am I fighting? What is this really accomplishing? Why not just live at peace with everyone, and let them believe what they want to believe?” And we contend with constant resistance to our message, we might feel like giving up, shaking the dust off our feet and moving on.
This is the state of mind in which many believers find themselves today. As our country moves further along the slippery slope to becoming a post-Christian nation, and as more and more people become hostile towards those who actually do believe in Christ, we find ourselves growing weary in sharing our faith. Our words are often met with resistance and even minor persecution; so, instead of waging spiritual battle, we ask, “Why can’t we all just get along?” and thus, we resolve to seal our lips in the presence of unbelievers.
In the name of tolerance, we cry out for peace, and peace is definitely something to desired; but unfortunately, in this present life, peace is just a novel idea. The Bible teaches that as long as this world exists there will always be a clash between good and evil. Believers will always be at war with the forces of darkness, and there will always be spiritual conflict (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We will always meet with resistance when we share the message of salvation in Christ alone; for even Jesus said in Matthew 10:33-38:
Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
If we desire peace before truth, and therefore fail to share our faith with our friends, family members, and neighbors because we do not wish to upset them, then Jesus said we are not worthy of Him. There will be a spiritual battle that takes place within the hearts of those with whom we share the message of Christ, and the spiritual climate will feel as though swords have been unsheathed; nevertheless, we must fight the good fight (2 Timothy 4:7).
Fighting is absolutely necessary and unavoidable, and in battle there are either winners or losers. Granted, there is the option of a truce, however this is only a temporary state, for sooner or later someone will become offended and the fighting will begin again. The perception of peace is only obtained when someone surrenders and becomes the loser. Which side do we want to be on? In the name of peace will we forsake our faith in Jesus Christ to bow down to another religion, or to submit to a secular and humanistic belief system? As we grow tired of conflict will we give up on trying to claim our friends, our local civic club, or even our town for Christ?
True peace will only be obtained when God’s kingdom is finally established on earth. Our job, as a believer, is to help usher in the kingdom (Matthew 23:14); and as we do, there will be spiritual conflict and violence. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12b). If the kingdom of heaven is to be established, then we must at times use violent force - spiritual force that is. We must be unafraid to fight for the kingdom of God.
When the kingdom finally arrives in all its fullness, then there will be true and everlasting peace for all eternity. The wolf will finally lie down with the lamb, and a little child will lead them (Isaiah 11:6).
Remember Why You Are Fighting (vv. 19-20)
19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle. 20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
War is such a messy thing. We look at Israel’s conquest of Canaan, and it sometimes appears to have been a bloodbath. Our minds then connect the dots to the Crusades in the Middle East, which were the religious wars of the eleventh through thirteenth centuries, intended to eradicate Islam and reclaim the Holy Land for the kingdom of God.
Many of us get a bad taste in our mouth when we read of Israel’s campaign, but there was a reason why so many people were put to death - which I will explain in a moment. It is very likely that the Israelites grew weary of the constant fighting and killing; but they were able to do what was necessary because they kept their focus on the reason why they were fighting, and on the goal they were attempting to attain.
If we wish to remain strong in our resolve to fight for the name of Jesus Christ, and to battle for our Promised Land, then we too must remember the reason why we are fighting. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27, “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
Paul stated that he never forgot the reason why he was running the long race of faith. He also said he was not as one who beat the air without an opponent in mind. When he mentioned “beating the air” he was referring to “shadow boxing,” which is a training technique in which a boxer practices fighting an invisible opponent in order to hone his skills. However, sometimes shadow boxing is demonstrated only for exhibition purposes.
Paul was saying, “What’s the point of shadow boxing if you don’t have an opponent, or you’ve forgotten who he is? I know the reason why I’m fighting, and I know who I’m fighting, and I’m training with this particular goal in mind! If I forget this one thing, then I will be disqualified from the race, and I will lose the fight!”
For what purpose did Israel have to fight? In Numbers 33:55 the Lord informed His people, “If you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.”
The Lord stated that, as a result, the Israelites would perish from the good land that He gave them (Joshua 23:13). The Lord had warned His people that letting those who worship foreign gods remain in the land, would lead to their views infiltrating and contaminating His own people, thus resulting in Israel going astray to worship these false gods. This actually occurred later on, and as punishment the Lord allowed His people to be taken captive by the king of Mesopotamia (cf. Judges 3:5-8).
God Almighty was to become the only God of the land; therefore, the Israelites were fighting to purge the land of idolatry, and to establish and glorify the Lord - the one true God; and like Israel, we are fighting to glorify the one true God, and the one true Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
There will be times that we will grow tired of fighting the good fight, and become weary of the resistance, and we might be tempted to ask, “Why not let people believe what they want to believe?” We might even reason, “We all worship the same god; we just call him by different names” - and based on this reasoning we could easily resolve to surrender.
But do we all worship the same god? We often want to say that those of the Islamic faith worship the Lord, because their faith can be traced back to Abraham. However, the Lord declared to Jacob, “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac” (Genesis 18:13a). He did not call Himself “the God of Abraham your father and the God of Ishmael.” The one true blessing, and the one true Messiah would only come through the lineage of Abraham and Isaac; and there is only one God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:6), the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - the great I AM (Exodus 3:6, 14).
There is only one true God, and if we do not worship Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, then the god we call upon is a false god, and nothing more than an idol. We want to say that everyone worships the same god, and that we should all live at peace, but each religion has its own set of values that actually conflict with one another, resulting in tension and eventually conflict. As I stated earlier, the only way to obtain true spiritual peace is when there is only one deity who is worshipped. We must fight to make the Lord the one true God of the land, or else we will be submitting to a lesser and false god, or lesser gods plural.
Notice how the Canaanites were granted mercy if they submitted to the Lord. We are told how the Gibeonites “made peace with the children of Israel” (v. 19), but “all the others they took in battle” (v. 19). Those who made peace were allowed to live and obtain peace, however those who did not were destroyed. We often complain about war in the Old Testament and say that God must be merciless, but the people could have chosen to repent, and then they would have been spared death and destruction had they done so.
The Canaanites were only destroyed because of their pride and defiance to God. Let’s apply this knowledge to sharing our faith in Christ, as we will undoubtedly encounter people who will defy and resists the Lord. Paul told young Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:15-16, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners . . . for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”
Paul stated that for those who choose to believe in Jesus Christ, they will be shown mercy, meaning they will be granted eternal life and spared an eternity in hell. Peter confirmed this truth saying that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Paul continued to tell Timothy in verses 18-19, “This charge I commit to you . . . [that] you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.”
He encouraged him to wage the good warfare, meaning to wage spiritual battle sharing the message of grace and mercy in Jesus Christ; and Paul cautioned Timothy that those who reject the message will “suffer shipwreck” (v. 19), meaning that they will be spiritually destroyed.
We read of the Canaanites that God hardened their hearts so they would come against Israel that He might destroy them (v. 20). The Lord did the same thing with Pharaoh, declaring, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth” (Romans 9:17; cf. Exodus 10:1). This hardening of heart occurred as the Lord allowed people the freedom of choice. Pharaoh’s hardening of heart was of his own choosing, for the Bible says, “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he [lower case] hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said” (Exodus 8:15; cf. Exodus 8:32, 9:34).
This hardening of heart was the Lord allowing the Canaanites the free will to choose Him or reject Him. God did not force them to believe; it was a personal choice. Therefore, whenever people refuse to believe in the Lord, they will be destroyed by their own actions and bad choices which lead to spiritual turmoil, and spiritual death. People will say, “I can’t believe in a God who would send people to hell.” And what is the correct response? The Lord does not send people to hell; they send themselves there by refusing to believe in Him.
When people reject the Lord then He receives greater glory. This gives Him an opportunity to shine even brighter among the darkness, and to aid His people in overcoming those seemingly impossible odds that are against them. We must remember that we are fighting to glorify the one true God; and even when it looks like everyone is against us, the Lord is going to receive glory through our faithful and obedient service, as He works through us to do a great miracle in the hearts of those who are lost.
We must also realize that we are not fighting in order stir up trouble, to delay the course of peace and unity, or to be judgmental and condemning of others. We are fighting to promote the only true pathway to peace, and that is through Jesus, the one and only; and to establish the one true kingdom and reign, which is the rule of the kingdom of God. If we lose sight of our purpose, then we will be contaminated by a secular and idolatrous way of thinking, and eventually be overcome by the world.
Battle Subsides after Faithful Service (v. 23)
23 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 did as God commanded and took the entire land, and then divided it among the tribes of Israel. The Lord had earlier instructed him in Joshua chapter, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses . . . Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them” (Joshua 1:3, 6).
Keep in mind that Joshua was able to possess and divide the land only “after” he had the courage to step up and fight, and only “after” he had battled a long time in faithful service. Israel was able to receive her inheritance only by fighting, and afterwards “the land rested from war” (v. 23). We do not read that the land was “free” of war, but that it “rested.” There was a pause, a break, and a momentary relief from fighting.
If we want to see a let-up in the conflict then we must keep pressing ahead until we possess the land and establish the Lord’s presence. The war will never be completely over until we reach our home in heaven, but if we will work to transform the minds and hearts of the people group, or even the town, that we are trying to reach then the battles will begin to lessen.
Time of Reflection
Paul encouraged Timothy, “Fight the good fight of faith . . . to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12). The reason why the Lord called us to embark on a journey to the Promised Land, is for us to eventually arrive there, and then fight in order to possess it. Why? In order for us to “confess the good confession” of faith in Jesus Christ before numerous individuals.
As people begin to receive Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord, and as they too confess the good confession, then God the Father will be glorified, and His kingdom will advance upon the earth. Therefore, I encourage you to maintain your joy in the Lord, who is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10), and do not grow weary in the day of battle. Do not lose heart out of a deep fear of war and conflict. Keep focused, remember your mission, and above all, stay the course!
Now, I mentioned people receiving Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord. That’s what we have to do in order to be forgiven of our sins and receive eternal life. If you’ll recall, I shared earlier how Peter stated that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God in heaven wants everyone to be forgiven of their sins and live forever on high. So, how do we do this? Romans 10:9-10 tells us how. It says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
NOTES
(1) “Stay the Course,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_the_course.
(2) “Stay the Course,” Free-Sermons, http://www.free-sermons.org/pdf/print.php?t=5899; the original source is PreachingToday.com, “The Patriot: Perseverance in Heartbreak.”
(3) Carman, “Heart of a Champion,” MetroLyrics, http://www.metrolyrics.com/heart-of-a-champion-lyrics-carman.html.
