Heralds Digest

"All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel." (Joshua 10:42 NKJV) If anything more, the minimum requirement for an intimate relationship with God is the possession of His character. No experience (either appearing good or evil) ever happens by accident. All experiences can turn a helpful tool to the attainment of God's nature, if embraced. Prior of Joshua's one-time victory experiences with the battles to overthrow the inhabitants of the land of promise, he has a defeat experience at Ai. This experience had instilled more of heaven's standard of holiness in Joshua. All-time success is good; but in reality, good success embraces near-miss experiences.

"So it was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, cast them into the cave where they had been hidden, and laid large stones against the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day." (Joshua 10:27 NKJV) From moments of relevance to moments of obscurity, the general operational principle of pride embraces the use of the deceit mechanism. Having wasted their moments of grace, Adoni-zedek and his other four king colleagues decided to shift their respective magnificent palace into a single cave palace. Although pride appears to claim self-sufficiency in moments of relevance, the life of deceit cannot cover the shame of pride in the days of reckoning.

“Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” (Joshua 10:4 NKJV) Although the SOS call that sounded from Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, appears a distress call from someone in trouble, it was a persecution-support call against the peaceful Gibeon. While the gathering of the kings of the Amorites is commendable, a self-imposed problem of pride cannot not provide relief for an externally-generated treatment. Instead of negotiating possible coverage through a peace push through Gibeon, King Adoni-zedek preferred the hostility option because of his proudful disposition. The only relief for pride problem is an early call for peace before escalation into destruction.

"So they answered Joshua and said, “Because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing." (Joshua 9:24 NKJV) Life is consistently good only to those who are willing to surrender to the will of the Maker of life. Unlike many other nations who played strong, the Gibeonites preferred to play smart. Every man is entitled to his desires, but the acknowledgment of the supremacy of God's will is the antidote against frustration in life. How blissful would our world, nations, organizations, and families be, if the will of God can supersede personal interests? Smart bargain is actually not a show of weakness, but the exchange of personal strength with divine strength.

"Now the Lord said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land." (Joshua 8:1 NKJV) Moment is often defined by both the state and statements around life. After the defeat in Ai, Joshua and Israel are in a state of fear and discouragement. Statements of people under this condition of despair can hardly improve their state of minds. Fortunately, the statement that makes a difference in moment of despair does not necessarily depend on the declared veracity of the state. Out of all the voices that come to mind in moments of apparent failure and rejection in life, the only voice of truth comes from God. Therefore, a defining moment is meant to be captured by the Lord's declaration; and not by any man's definition.

"So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?"" (Joshua 7:10 NKJV) There is a subtle infection of unprofitable quietness that often rob believers of their rights to victory and good success in life. Beside the ignorance of Joshua about the infection from sin within the camp of Israel, the defeat at Ai could have been blamed on over-confidence or loss of concentration of the chosen 3,000 men of war. However, Joshua's disquieting intervention broke the silence of heaven. While quietness as regard the sharing of personal discomfort in the public can be counter-productive, quietness with respect to closet sharing of concerns with God is unprofitable.

"Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” " (Joshua 6:10 NKJV) Without the type of restraint enforced by Joshua, senseless strategy is bound to generate sensible shouting for order. Faced with a securely fortified Jericho wall, it is normal to anticipate strategy that guarantees progressive weakening of the fort with daily engagement of the army of Israel for six days. Instead, a circumferential march around the wall was recommended, followed by nothing but rest. Obviously, the six days of match focuses on the relationship of the army of Israel with God rather than any interaction with the wall of Jericho. Strategy that demand quietness may appear senseless, especially in terms of provocative confrontations, it may provide the much-needed fellowship with God as a reliable refuge.