Joshua 23:6-11 - Be very strong and careful to obey

23:6-8

Joshua had been urged to be strong and courageous, and he now passes this encouragement, indeed this command, to the people. They must also be careful to obey the Law of Moses, not turning to the right nor to the left. They were not to associate with the nations. This was not because of racist reasons, but so that they would not adopt the ways of the nations, in particular worshipping false gods. Instead they were to hold fast to the Lord.

23:9-11

Joshua reminds the people of what God has already done for them. The nations they defeated were “great and powerful”, naturally speaking they presented a threat to Israel, but because the Lord was with them these nations could not withstand Israel. In our own lives we should not fear when we face problems or situations which are more powerful than us, for our lives are not based just on what we can do, but on what God can do through and with us. But these victories come with a warning. The danger is that while we may start off trusting in the Lord, after success we may start to trust in ourselves. Instead we need to “be very careful to love the Lord”.

Acts 9:7-10 - They led him by the hand

9:7-9

The people around Saul did not see anyone, but heard the sound. Saul was on the ground, and when he got up he was unable to see. So the men travelling with Saul led him into the city of Damascus. Saul thought he was in control of his life, but that was never actually the case, and was now obvious to him. He was blind for three days and didn’t eat or drink anything. We are not told whether this was fasting or just not eating.

9:10

God sees far beyond what we see. We need to recognise the limits of our vision, for we so often assume that what we see and know is all that there is to see and know. God had already lined up a disciple in Damascus, called Ananias. The Lord (Jesus) called out to him and he responded that he was listening.

Joshua 23:1-5 - I am very old

23:1,2

Another key phase of Israel’s life comes to an end. “After a long time had passed ..” We are not given much information of what happened after the conquests and now, except that God had given them rest from all their enemies. Joshua was now very old and knew that his time was nearly up. So he gives Israel a charge for how they should continue to live, summoning all the various leaders of the nation.

23:3

The basis for what Joshua has to say is to remind them of all that they have seen, how they have seen the Lord work among them and give them victory. We all have a tendency to forget what the Lord has done, and it is good to remind ourselves. Note that it says the Lord did these things “for your sake”, and “fought for you”. It is amazing how committed to us the Lord is.

23:4,5

In Joshua’s time there were still peoples that had not been conquered, land that still remained to be taken. Yet Joshua had still allotted this land to the various tribes. I wonder why Joshua did not set about taking at least some of these remaining lands? We find the phrase “between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea”. With the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, the phrase “from the river to the sea” has chilling undertones. Joshua assures them that the Lord would drive out the nations before them. 

Acts 9:3-6 - Who are you Lord?

9:3,4

So Paul was on his way to implement his plan, but God intervened. “As he approached Damascus a light from heaven flashed around him”.  Saul fell to the ground and he heard a voice saying “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me”. There is a close identity between Christ and the church, we need to appreciate this. In persecuting the people of God, Saul was persecuting Christ Himself.

9:5,6

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul was a well educated man who claimed to be serving God, and thought that by persecuting the church he was doing God’s will (John 16:2). It is interesting that Saul refers to the one behind the voice as “Lord”. Saul now knows that he is encountering something greater than he. The voice replies that He is Jesus. Saul is then given an order, there is no invitation here, no suggestion, but an order. We sometimes present the gospel as an invitation, a choice. It is actually a command from God to turn from our sins and rebellions, and to turn back to God. Saul is told to go into the city. He thought he was going there to carry out his plans, but that had all changed now, and he would be told what to do. He would change from being a man in rebellions against God to one who was obedient to Christ.

Joshua 22:15-34 - A witness between us

22:15-20

The delegation arrived in Transjordania and had harsh words for the tribes there. They thought they had broken faith with the Lord, and so exposed the whole of Israel, not just themselves, to the wrath of God. They cited the sin of Peor (Num 25), and Achan’s sin as evidence of the danger. Achan was just one man, yet the whole community suffered.

22:21-34

The Transjordanians declare that they built the altar not as a place of worship, but as a reminder, or a witness, to future generations of what God had done for them. The altars were often reminders of God’s work, rather than a thing to worship (i.e. an idol). It was also to remind future generations that they were part of the whole nation of Israel. The explanation seemed to satisfy Phinehas and the tribal leaders. They reported their findings to Israel, and everyone was happy! 

Acts 9:1,2 - Saul was breathing murderous threats

9:1

We now come to possibly the most famous part of Acts, the conversion of Saul, who would become Paul the apostle. There is no great significance to the name change, Saul is his Hebrew name, and Paul the Greek name. As he was the apostle to the Gentiles it was sensible for him to use the name Paul during his ministry. “Saul was still breathing out murderous threats ...” We have seen previous references to Paul’s active hatred of Christ, the church and the gospel. Any notions that he was “on a journey”, except one to Damascus to persecute more Christians, are entirely without foundation.

9:2

Damascus was a key trading hub, and had a Jewish population of around 10 000. As a trading hub the fear was that if the gospel took hold there then it would open the way for it spreading to many other places. So Saul went there to stop this happening. As we know, God had other ideas! And far from being the man to stop the spread, Paul became the key man in spreading the gospel to the Gentile world. Saul gained letters from the high priest, authorising him to take any believers, men or women, prisoner, and bring them back to Jerusalem.

Joshua 22:1-14 - You have done all that Moses commanded

22:1-8

The book closes with three separate tales, all dealing with commitment to the Lord. The first involves the Transjordanian tribes, the Reubenites, Gadites and the famous half-tribe of Manasseh. Joshua summoned them and declared that they had fulfilled the requirements laid upon them by Moses, i.e. fighting with their fellow Israelites until the land was conquered. The Lord had given the people rest, so the tribes were free to return home. Joshua reminds them that they must keep the Law of Moses, living in obedience to God “with all your heart and with all your soul”. The tribes were blessed by Joshua. They also took with them a great deal of plunder, obtained during the various conquests. 

22:9-14

It didn’t take long for trouble to arise. The Transjordanian tribes built an “imposing altar”. Now this was not an idol, but an altar. It seems clear that there was suspicion between the Israel tribes and Transjordanian tribes. For the Israel tribes feared that they had built an idol, and their recent history had demonstrated beyond doubt that this was a very bad idea. Phinehas along with a representative from each of the tribes was sent to investigate the matter. It was Phinehas who had brought the plague after the Moab debacle to an end (Num 25), so he was a trusted man, as well as being a priest. So if there was something wrong he would spot it. The whole of Israel was ready to go to war with their brothers.

Acts 8:34-40 - The good news about Jesus

8:34,35

The Ethiopian wanted to know who Isaiah was talking about, wondering if Isaiah was even talking about himself. Philip explained that he was talking about Jesus, and starting with Isaiah he explained good news.

8:36-40

The eunuch had clearly understood what Philip had been saying, and when they came across some water asked to be baptised. Philip clearly agreed with this and they both went into the water and Philip baptised the eunuch. Note that there was no long wait between believing and being baptised. 

God had suddenly taken Philip away from Samaria, and now just as suddenly takes him away again. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing. Philip appeared at Azotis and travelled about preaching the gospel. We only get one further brief mention of Philip in Acts. This is in 21:8 in Caesarea. Here it says Philip preached the gospel “until he reached Caesarea. So it seems that he might have settled there.

Joshua 27:1-45 - Not one of God's promises failed

21:1-42

Having dealt with the cities of refuge, we now come to towns for the Levites. These were the priests, and we have repeatedly been told that they had no permanent place in the land allocation because their inheritance was in the Lord. However, the tribes had been commanded by Moses to make provision for the Levites. It seems that the Levites were concerned that Joshua had forgotten about this, so the Levite leaders approached Eleazar, Joshua and the tribal heads about the matter.

However, the matter had not been forgotten, and appropriate allocation was made, for which we get all the details. So the allocation of land was now complete.

21:43-45

It is the end of the chapter which has the most interesting part, and the part which promotes the most debate. These verses imply completion of the takeover of the land. However, we know, and the book has explicitly stated, that while there had been a lot of conquering, there were still some areas that had not been properly conquered, and some peoples who had not been entirely defeated (Josh 13:1). However, the emphasis of these verses is one what the Lord has done. He had given them all the land, when they faithfully went into battle and got on with the work, they won. But if they were less than diligent, problems still remained. It was not the Lord’s promises that failed, but Israel. The same applies to all of us in our Christian lives. Christ’s work of redemption is complete, but we have not yet “taken all the land”. 

Acts 8:30-33 - Do you understand?

8:30,31

Philip obeyed quickly, running to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah. This provided an opportunity for Philip and asked the man if he understood what he was reading. Our response today may have been “Well I think it means ...”, but the man was humble and knew that he needed someone to explain it to him. And he invited Philip to explain it to him. We need to have the humility to admit when we need help.

8:32,33

The passage was Is 53:7,8. He may well have been reading more than this. They did not have chapter and verse numbers in those days, so quoting a verse or two may have been referring to a whole section. It was an excellent passage to provide an opportunity for Philip. Isaiah 53 is the clearest prophecy of the cross and resurrection in the Old Testament.

Joshua 20:1-9 - Cities of refuge

20:1-9

The general allocation of the land has been dealt with and we now come to some of the finer details, with this chapter dealing with the cities of refuge. These cities have had several mentions already, the first being in  Numbers 35:6-34, though the principle was mentioned in Ex 21:12-14. The object was to distinguish between the case where someone had deliberately killed someone, and where he had accidentally killed someone. In both cases the victim’s family would feel greatly aggrieved and maybe liable to exact vengeance. The cities of refuge concept was designed to deal with this latter case. If someone fled to one of these cities they were to present their case at the entrance to the city. There would be a trial to determine the truth of the matter, but the man claiming it was accidental was to be allowed to have a fair hearing. Even if it was shown that the death was indeed accidental, he would still have to pay compensation, but he would not lose his life. Six cities in total were set aside for this purpose, three each side of the Jordan. The rule applied to Israelites and foreigners alike.

Acts 8:26-29 - Reading the Book of Isaiah

8:26

The “Acts of the Apostles” has often been called the “Acts of the Holy Spirit”, in truth it is the acts of the apostles and the Holy Spirit, for that is how God works. He works by men and women listening to Him and trusting Him. Here we find God making a dramatic intervention, and one that we would not have made, indeed we would have thought it a distraction from what should be done. Philip was leading a very effective mission to the Samaritans, but an “angel of the Lord” tells Philip to “go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza”. There was no logic to this, nor rational, but God knew what was happening and the reason for sending Philip. We need to recognise that God knows a lot more than we do!

8:27-29

On the way Philip ment an Ethiopian eunuch. Now eunuchs were royal officials and not all of them had been emasculated. The “Kandake” was a female ruler in Ethiopia.  The man was a “God-fearer”, having gone to Jerusalem to worship. On the way back he was reading the Book of Isaiah. He was quite possibly reading aloud, as was common in those days. The Spirit told Peter to go to the chariot and stay near it. If the man was reading aloud, then Peter would know what he was doing. We should note that the Bible considers it quite normal for the Spirit to give specific directions to a man or woman. 

Joshua 18 & 19 - More allotments

18:1-3

The battles were almost at an end with “the country brought under their control”. However, seven of the tribes had yet to receive an inheritance. Joshua was not pleased with the situation, and was not pleased with the seven tribes, for the reason they had not received their inheritance yet was that they had not taken possession of it! There is an obvious parallel that can be drawn with the Christian life here. There are aspects of life that God has done His part, but we have failed to do our part. God does not have passive partners.

18:4-10

So Joshua gave the recalcitrant tribes instructions on what to do. These instructions were quite clear. The problem was not that the lands had not been conquered, but that the tribes hadn’t done anything about it. The Levites get their usual mention. The relevant tribes finally got on with the job, doing as Joshua had instructed them and the areas were allotted by lot.

18:11-19:51

We then get the allotments for the various tribes. The lists are not very exciting. There are only a couple of points of note (which I can see, which doesn't mean that there aren’t more). One is that part of the inheritance for Judah was given to Simeon. The other is that Joshua had his own allotment. Eleazar the priest and Joshua were in charge of assigning the land to the tribes (Num 34:17).

Acts 8:20-25 - You full of bitterness and captive to sin

8:20-23

Peter is not interested in the money, and is appalled that Simon should even make such an offer. Instead he declares that in his current state Simon had “part or share in this ministry” because his heart was not right before God. Peter tells him to repent , and states that he sees that Simon is full of  “bitterness and captive to sin”.

8:24

Simon asks Peter to pray that he will not perish. We are not told whether or not Simon did repent. There are several things to learn from this incident. The first is that a verbal statement of believing is not sufficient. It may or may not indicate a true change of heart. The second is that Peter is not shy to speak directly to Simon, stating clearly what his problem was.The gospel demands change. It is not simply a matter of verbal or emotional assent. Thirdly, Simon and his history meant that he was captive to bitterness and sin. The issue was addressed directly.

8:25

Having laid hands on people, and prayed for them to receive the Spirit, Peter and John proclaimed the gospel and testified about Jesus. They then returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages on the way. The work of Stephen had encouraged them to do this. 

Joshua 16 & 17 Equality and Diversity

16:1-10

A short chapter, with more land allotments, this time to Ephraim and Manasseh. These were sons of Joseph. This chapter gives details of the land allocation to Ephraim. It concludes with the statement that “they did not dislodge the Canaanites ...” It doesn’t say why, whether it was because they were unable to, or because they didn’t try hard enough. It is also strange because they were able to make them do forced labour. This would later cause problems for Israel.

17:1-18

Chapter 117 deals with the land allocation for Manasseh. This was the tribe of Joseph’s firstborn. Perhaps the most interesting part of this chapter is the part relating to the daughters of Zelophehad. Numbers 27 deals specifically with Zelophad’s daughters and their receiving an inheritance, and Numbers 36 deals more generally with the female heirs. Feminists in particular will sometimes criticise the Bible for being “patriarchal”. The actual picture of the Bible is that men and women are equal and share in the inheritance. Worldly views seek to divide, the Bible is concerned with unity. And there is diversity, for men and women have different roles (which may sometimes overlap). So when the inheritance went to the man, it implicitly went to the man and woman. If the man had died, then special rules, as outlined here and the chapters in Numbers, applied. I would rather have Biblical equality and diversity than the corrupted worldly version.

Again, there is mention of the failure to drive the Canaanites out, and more explanation of their being made to do forced labour. It seems in 17:16-18 that some of them wanted a “free” inheritance. Joshua was having none of it. The Lord would enable them to take possession of the land, so they had to get on with it.

Acts 8:14-19 - And they received the Holy Spirit

8:14-17

This is an interesting little section. The apostles heard that people in Samaria were accepting the word of God. So Peter and John were sent to Samaria. Remember there are two key facts here. The first is the long standing animosity between Israel and Samaria, the second is that Jesus sent them to “Jerusalem, Samaria and the ends of the earth”. Peter and John had no problems with the Samaritans accepting the gospel, for they immediately prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.  Now why had the Holy Spirit not yet come upon the Samaritan believers? It is probably because of the long standing animosity, and the need to ensure unity. The Holy Spirit coming upon them only when Peter and John prayed with them showed that the Jerusalem church accepted them, and that God accepted them as equals. If they had received the Holy Spirit immediately, then they may have been tempted to continue their separate existence from Israel. Note also the implication that there was visible evidence of the Holy Spirit coming upon them.

8:18,19

While this good work was going on, we come back to Simon the Sorcerer. He witnessed the giving of the Holy Spirit, and then offered the apostles money in return for them giving him the same ability. Simon clearly had little understanding of the gospel or of what was going on.

Joshua 15:1-63 - Give me also spings of water

15:1-12

We are now into a number of passages which give exhaustive details on the land allotment, starting with Judah. Maybe we can draw a parallel with the Christian life in that we are given clearly defined areas of life which are ours. Within those areas we are to live as Christlike people. These areas include our role as husbands or wives, parents, children, employees, bosses. There can also be areas of ministry.

15:13-19

Caleb is mentioned again. Joshua was the clear leader of Israel, but Caleb receives a lot of attention. Caleb was a man of faith and exercised that faith, that is clearly considered as valuable by the Lord. He was also concerned for the man whom she married. 15:18 seems a little odd. It starts with Aksah urging her husband to ask her father for a field, but then Caleb asks his daughter directly “What can I do for you?”, so the first part seems a little pointless.

15:20-63

We finish with a whole bunch of details. If anything, it does show that God takes account of everyone in His plans. 15:63 mentions that the Jebusites could not be dislodged. The Jebusites were not dislodged until the time of David. They were an enemy of Israel, Adoni-Zedek was a Jebusite (Josh 10:5), and again in Josh 11:3.

Acts 8:9-13 - Simon had practiced sorcery

8:9-11

We now come to the incident of Simon the Sorcerer. His activities would probably have included predicting the future, healing people and casting out demons. People were amazed at him and he had a very high opinion of himself. However, people’s admiration for him, and his own self-esteem seem to have been very shallow, even though they called him “the Great Power of God”. This does imply that he did do some miracles of sorts, and he had been doing these things for a considerable length of time.

8:12,13

However, when Philip came along the people’s attention quickly changed. We read earlier that Philip performed various signs (8:6). There it says that “they all paid close attention to what he said”. Now we read that he preached the good news of Jesus Christ. This was the key difference between Philip and Simon the Sorcerer. It really doesn’t matter whether Simon actually did miracles or not, the key difference was that he was just doing stuff, and no doubt earning money for himself. Philip proclaimed the gospel, this told the people about themselves, and what God had done in Christ. The Holy Spirit would be with him and would open the eyes of many. So many people, men and women, were baptised. Simon also believed and was baptised. This raises the question of whether or not his “believing” was genuine or not. We do read that it was the “great signs and miracles” that attracted him, but that does not in itself mean his faith was shallow. It could be that because he himself worked in the area or miracles, seeing these done in the name of Jesus particularly struck him. 

Joshua 14:1-15 - Caleb

14:1-5

We now get information on the division of the land west of the Jordan, i.e. to the nine and a half tribes who did not take the Transjordan land.  Eleazar the priest was the son of Aaron. There is mention again of the Levites. The point of all this is to emphasise that things were carried out in accordance with the commands of Moses. I.e. all this is a continuation of what began when they came out of Egypt (or what began with God;’s promises to Abraham, to go further back).

14:6-15

The first detail of the allocation is to do with Caleb. Caleb was, along with Joshua, one of the two spies who brought back a good report, and said that God would enable them to take the Promised Land. Caleb had been faithful while most of Israel was unfaithful, and he was rewarded for his faith. He entered the Promised Land, and he remained in excellent health. Calen asked for “this hill country” and was ready to drive out the Anakites. He continued to live by faith. Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron. Caleb is referred to as a Kenizzite. There is some doubt as to who exactly were the Kenizzites may have been a Gentile people (i.e. not Jewish by birth) who had joined with Israel and become part of them (https://www.gotquestions.org/Kenizzites.html) Whether or not this is the case, the emphasis here is on the faithfulness of Caleb, of his belief in the Lord. 

Acts 8:4-8 - They preached the word wherever they went

8:4,5

Philip was one of the seven chosen to serve at tables, clearly this did not impinge on him serving in a much wider sense. The church was scattered and persecuted, but this did not stop God’s plan, rather it fulfilled it! For the church preached the word wherever they went. Samaria and Israel were, humanly speaking, implacable enemies. So the gospel going there, and the events we will read of later, are of great significance. One of things that it demonstrates is that the gospel is for everyone, it knows no cultural barriers.

8:6-8

Philip was not an apostle, yet he performed signs. This included casting out demons, miraculous healings. While it is true that the miracles in Acts are often associated with the apostles, they are not exclusively so. Any argument that seeks to support cessationism on the grounds that the gifts were only for the apostles, or were in some way intrinsically linked with the apostles, is on very shaky ground. “So there was great joy in that city”. The gospel should lead to repentance, it will often encounter opposition and persecution, but it should also bring great joy. For while our eternal salvation is the most important fruit of the gospel, it has enormous effects now.

Joshua 13:1-33 - There is still land to be taken

13:1-7

In the previous two chapters we have read how Joshua conquered lands in the north and the south, however, there was still much to do. Joshua was now very old. Remember that we first read of Joshua in Ex 17. We then get a list of the lands still to be conquered. While there was still much to do, God declares that “I myself will drive them out before the Israelites”. The work would be completed. God’s work in our own lives is incomplete, there is still much to do, but we can be confident that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6). Moreover, the as yet unconquered land was to be allocated. God bases His plans on the completion of His work.

13:8-33

The rest of the chapter deals with the Transjordanian tribes. I.e. the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh. There are just two points I would like to draw out. One is that all the land given, not just the Transjordanian lands, was conquered territory. It was land previously occupied by godless peoples. Our lives are occupied by sin, but in Christ God gives these areas of our lives back to us, but that involves us conquering areas of our lives. The second point is that there are two mentions of the tribe of Levi (13:14; 13:33), and the fact that they had no inheritance in the land, for “the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance”. In Christ we are all priests, and our inheritance is in the Lord. Just as God made provision for the Levites, He was their inheritance. So, God provides for our needs, but our inheritance is in Him, not in possessions.

Acts 8:1-3 - A great persecution broke out

8:1

“And Saul approved of their killing.” We will, of course, encounter Saul before long (the next chapter in fact), and he becomes a very different person. Acts makes clear the nature of the man before his Damascus Road encounter, and it is as someone utterly opposed to Christ, the church and the gospel.

The stoning of Stephen ushered in a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. All the believers, with the exception of the apostles, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. No reason is given as to why the apostles remained in Jerusalem. Maybe they considered it necessary to remain in Jerusalem as this was the capital, and as they were clearly dedicated to the temple, maybe they were considered too hot to persecute. Anyway, we now enter the next phase of “Jerusalem, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

8:2,3

Stephen was buried by “godly men”, and he was deeply mourned for. Saul, however, zealously persecuted the church. He went from house to house, and dragged people, both men and women, off to prison. Again, Saul’s character is clearly portrayed. He was an inveterate persecutor of the church.

Joshua 12:1-24 - Here is a list of the kings

12:1-6

This is a list chapter, and those of you who have read a lot of my blog will know that I don’t like them! Or at least I have little of worth to say about them, so I’ll cover the chapter in a single post.

It is essentially a list of the various victories of Israel, both under Moses and under Joshua. 

It begins with the transjordan victories under Moses, where Sihon and Og were defeated. It mentions the kings who were defeated, and areas of land that they ruled over. These lands were given to the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

12:7-24

This section includes many more defeated kings, and is even more of a list.The kings are all listed, with their territory, rather than their name, being listed. These lands were given by Joshua at the tribes of Israel.

Thrity one kings in all were defeated.

Acts 7:51-60 - You stiff-necked people!

7:51-53

Stephen’s speech now reaches its climax, and it is an utterly damning climax. “You stiff-necked people!” The history of Israel is the history of a disobedient people. Their hearts and ears were uncircumcised. I.e. their hearts were not inclined towards the Lord, and they could not hear the words of God. They were a people who resisted God just as much as their ancestors had done. They persecuted the messengers of God. The final condemnatory word is that though they had the Law, they were not obeying it.

7:54-56

The correct and wise response would have been to repent and seek forgiveness from the Lord. Instead, they acted true to form and reacted with anger and violence, proving the very things that Stephen had condemned them for. Stephen, however, was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up to heaven and had a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God. This vindicated the very things he had been preaching. Just to “make matters worse”, Stephen told them of the vision.

7:57-60

The Sanhedrin could not stand hearing the truth, they were so opposed to God. So instead they dragged Stephen out of the city and began to stone him. It would have been against their religion to have stoned him inside the city! Yet stoning him was murder and against the Law, also under Roman rule they did not have the authority to put people to death. We also get the first mention of Paul (Saul), who held the coats of those who were doing the stoning. Stephen acted in a manner similar to Jesus, praying for their forgiveness (Lk 23:34), and asking Jesus to receive his spirit (Lk 23:46). He then fell asleep. I.e. Stephen died, but death is not the end.

Joshua 11:20-23 - Joshua took the entire land

11:20

“For it was the Lord Himself who hardened their hearts ....” This does not mean that the various kings were not responsible for their actions. Rather it means that the Bible sees all this as part of God’s plan, happening according to His will, so that all these kings and their peoples would be destroyed. The simplistic view that it is either human freewill or the sovereignty of God is naive and not in line with the Bible. The Bible clearly portrays human responsibility and the divine decree as both working.

11:21-23

We get a brief mention of somemother towns being destroyed, but then a statement that “Gaza, Gath and Ashdod” remained. The chapter finishes with the announcement that Joshua took the entire land.  Joshua fulfilled the directions given by Moses, and the land was then allotted to Israel according to the tribal divisions. “Then the land had rest from war”. There are times of battle in our lives, but also times of peace. We need to fight when it is the time to fight, and to enjoy the peace when it is time to rest.

Acts 7:44-50 - Has not my hand made all these things?

7:44-47

Stephen then returns to more positive things, talking about the tabernacle, referring to the ark of the covenant. It went with them, even ahead of them, as they entered the Promised Land under Joshua. David was their greatest king, he enjoyed God’s favour, and he wanted to build a temple for God. Yet God refused to let him build a temple, it was Solomon who did build a temple for God. If the physical temple (and Solomon’s temple had long been destroyed) was the centre of God’s plans, then surely He would have let David build it, rather than Solomon.

7:48-50

Stephen then makes it explicit that God is not focused on any human temple. He “does not live in houses made by human hands”, and surely the religious leaders would acknowledge this as true. Stephen quotes from Is 66:1,2 to drive home his point. The Old Testament makes it abundantly clear that the things the religious leaders were focusing on were not the things that God was focused on. God did not need the religious leaders, but they needed Him.

Joshua 11:7-19 - They totally destroyed them

11:7-9

Joshua and his whole army made a sudden attack against the forces at the Waters of Merom. “And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel”. Joshua and Israel had to do stuff, but it was the Lord who gave them victory. They pursued the defeated armies relentlessly. Joshua followed the instructions of the Lord and hamstrung the horses, and burnt the chariots.

11:10-15

Hazor was the organising force behind the northern armies, and Joshua turned back and captured him, and then killed him. They put everyone to death, and burned the town of Hazor. The emphasis is on Joshua’s following of Moses’ commands. They carried off plunder. Jericho, Ai and Hazor are the only sites to have been burned by Israel. The Lord commanded Moses, Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua completed the task.

11:16-19

The rebellious battle had taken a short length of time, but in 11:18 we read that fighting against the kings mentioned in this section took a long time. Some battles are short, some are long. None of the cities, except for the Gibeonites (or Hivites,see 11:19), made a peace treaty with Israel. None of them wanted to, and none of them would have been allowed to. It was only because of their deception that the Gibeonites managed the feat.

Acts 7:39-43 - Our ancestors refused to obey him

7:39-41

Stephen now sharpens the attack, having prepared the ground with the stories that they all knew and accepted, but failed to see the full implications of. Their ancestors were sinful men and women who rejected Moses and rejected God. In their hearts they worshipped idols, and at the first opportunity got Aaron to make an idol for them to worship. They delighted in idol worship! That is what was in their hearts.

7:42-43

“But God turned away from them ...” The history of Israel was one of repeated disobedience. The Law of Moses, so much revered by the religious leaders, had sacrifices for sins running right through it. Yet they did not realise that they needed forgiveness, and that Christ was the means of forgiveness provided by God. So God gave them over to the worship of idols. This doesn't just mean that they worshipped idols, but they came under the power of these idols, as they came under the power of Babylon. The quote comes from the LXX version of Amos 5:25-27.

Joshua 11:1-6 - Do not be afraid of them

11:1-5

Having defeated the southern kings, attention now turns to the northern kings. Things follow a similar pattern, but without any obvious miracles. One of the kings gathers together other kings (remembering that the kings were really just local leaders) to fight against Israel. So we get the names of the kings involved, and the people they represented. They joined forces and prepared to fight against Israel at the Waters of Merom. We should not be afraid when various elements in society seem to be working together against the gospel.

11:6

The gathered armies would have seemed quite formidable. Also they had chariots, which meant they were more powerful than the southern armies had been. So the Lord reassures Joshua, and instructs him not to be afraid. The battle would last only a day, He also tells Joshua one of the things that he is to do, namely to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots, i.e. to render them militarily impotent.

Acts 7:35-38 - Who made you ruler and judge?

7:35,36

There is now another parallel. God had sent Moses to set them free, this was the same Moses that Israel had rejected, though of course this rejection happened before Moses had been sent by God. Their rejection said “who made you ruler and judge?”. Moses did indeed become their “ruler and judge”. Likewise Jesus, whom they had rejected, is the KIng of kings and Lord of lords, He is “ruler and judge”. The people’s rejection of Moses, or Jesus, makes no difference to God’s plans. Moses did lead them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. The current generation revered Moses, but could not see the parallels to how they were treating Jesus.

7:37,38

Now Moses knew that someone far greater than he would be sent by God. The reference is to Deut 18:15-18. Stephen then points out that Moses met with angels on Mount Sinai, and that he received “living words”. The Sanhedrin would all acknowledge this, even the Saduccees who only accepted the first five books of the Bible. Yet they were not paying attention to what Moses had said.

Joshua 10:34-43 - Joshua subdued the whole region

10:34-39

The conquest continued with Eglon. “They took up positions against it and attacked it” is  a phrase that appears several times. There is also a great emphasis on the cities and people being completely destroyed. Even allowing for an element of hyperbole, this does seem repulsive to us. We must remember that it was done in obedience to the Lord. We must also remember that these were not quaint little villages with quaint customs. Their customs quite possibly included child sacrifice. And so Hebron and Debir suffer the same fate. There is also mention that the kings were killed. There was to be no favouritism.

10:40-43

The conquest of the southern region was now complete, and the emphasis is on this being done in accordance with the Lord’s instructions. Evidence that “totally destroyed” etc involves some hyperbole is given in 10:41 where it says “Joshua subdued them”. Israel was victorious because the Lord fought for them. Having completed this work Joshua returned to Gilgal. 

To put all this in terms that are relevant for our Christian lives, we  are to give all of our lives over to Christ, not just parts of our lives.