Sunday, July 24th, 2016
The book of Joshua records the culmination of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land. Here we see God fulfill His promise to give the land of Canaan to Jacob’s descendants. Joshua portrays the Lord as their general, the One who would lead His people in victorious battle if they would trust and obey.
God is the ultimate promise-keeper. As faithful and present as He was with Israel, so He is with us. “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
As you read and study together, make sure to work hard at hearing from everyone that has gathered together. Pray for one another and be accountable to applying the word of God to your lives.
Questions for this week:
- How blameless were these pagan kings? Were the Hebrews unknown? With the defeat of Egypt more than 40 years before, stories from the wilderness and their exploits at Jericho and Ai, how likely was it that the pagan kings didn’t know who Israel was and who their God was? Discuss how their refusal to work with Israel worked out for them.
- Why does Joshua have the army commanders place their feet on the necks of the captured kings? Discuss the significance of the moment. How would you have felt, knowing your parents were slaves in Egypt?
- Discuss the attitude change of the pagans from Joshua 10:3-4 and 10:20-21. Are there any recorded instances of the pagans acknowledging God, even after defeat? In each of the subsequent campaigns, do any of the besieged people acknowledge God or his power?
- Have you ever had a time when your pride caused you to make great preparations and alliances with something in your life, apart from God, only to have it brought low when God acted in his way? Maybe a job, a love interest, an occasion of serving or not serving the church? Where you tried to force your will on something larger that God was doing? How did it turn out? How did your attitude change from the beginning of the endeavor to the end?