Have you ever wished that a day could last forever, that night would never come and you would never have to go to bed?
Did you know that during the summertime in the Arctic Circle there are some days that the sun never sets?
That’s right, the sun never sets and nighttime never comes for a whole day sometimes! Sadly, most of us don’t live anywhere near the Arctic, and this will never happen for us. But God did this for Israel in their time of need in our amazing story in this week’s devotional.
This week we looked at Joshua 10:8-14.
In Joshua 10:1-7, five kings and their armies are preparing to fight a city called Gibeon. Gibeon made an alliance with Israel in Chapter 9, so they called Israel for help battling these 5 armies.
Joshua came up to help the people of Gideon out, and also to conquer these armies so that it would be easier to keep conquering the Promised Land as they destroyed more and more cities. In Verse 8 of Chapter 10, God tells Joshua and all Israel, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands.”
God promised to Joshua that they will win the battle because God is fighting for Israel.
What an advantage Israel has, having God on their side!
Once the battle starts, God throws the other armies into a panic, and they run away from Israel. As they are running, God sends huge hailstones down from the sky, killing even more men from that army than Israel did in battle!
You might think that is crazy, but it gets even crazier in Verses 12-13, where Joshua asks God to stop the sun from setting, and God answers his prayer, stopping the sun from setting for a whole day so Israel could conquer their enemies.
Verse 14 sums it up best when it says, “The Lord fought for Israel.”
What a great story of God helping His people defeat their enemy. But how does this relate to us today?
The answer comes in Luke 23.
In Luke 23 we see the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. Just like the sun didn’t set when it was supposed to in Joshua 10:12-13, the sun does set when it is not supposed to in Luke 23:44-45.
The moment Jesus died, the sun stopped shining in the middle of the day, and according to Matthew 27:51-53, there was also a huge earthquake, and many dead people came back to life. Just like the sun staying up and not setting gave the army of Israel victory in Joshua, the sun setting in the middle of the day in Luke 23 happened at a moment when Jesus’s death gave us the greatest victory of all.
Luke 23 tells the most powerful, important story of the whole entire Bible.
The death of Jesus in our place shows us God’s perfect love and gives us victory over our sin and a new life in Christ.
If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can be rest assured that God will give you victory over your greatest enemy, sin.
Just confess your sin to him.
The Bible says in 1 John 1:9 that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”
God will give you victory over the sin in your life if you are a believer, all you have to do is confess and ask for His help.
But if you’ve never accepted Jesus’s salvation for you on the cross, you will never have victory over your sin or be able to get into heaven. Instead, you will be a slave to your sin and end up in hell forever after you die.
You must first believe that Jesus died for you and rose again, and that He is the Son of God. Then you must recognize that you have sinned against God, and repent of that sin, asking for God’s forgiveness and giving control of your life to Jesus, determining to live your life for God with His help.
Once you have done this, you will be able to have victory over your sin!
What a comfort it is to know that the Lord loves us and wants to give us victory in our lives!
We can be rest assured that if we just ask Him, God will give us the strength to resist temptation and be victorious over our greatest enemy, sin.
Johnathan
Let’s talk in the comments below:
How has God given you victory over sin recently?
What have you learned this week in your study of Joshua 6-10?
There were so many insights in this study. Boldness in faith, in the face of the enemy. Asking first and then letting God lead every single step. (Never going ahead of Him). Sin affects those around us on a large scale, even causing the physical death of others. Importance of repentance and then then taking the right actions after. Praying bold prayers, even when we think they are absurd. Moving when God tells us to move. Remembering that the victory is always His and always for His glory and always for our greater good.
Hi Andréa,
Thanks so much for sharing all of those awesome insights, It’s such a blessing to hear them!