THE WARS OF THE LORD (6)
[p. 330] THE WARS OF THE LORD (6)
Joshua 6:12 - 21; Joshua 8:10 - 23; Joshua 8:26
JT There are four wars of the Lord recorded in the book of Joshua in which the people have part. Firstly, Jericho, then Ai, Gibeon, and Merom. The last named involved the overthrow of the city of Hazer, which is said to have been the head of all the kingdoms in Canaan. In these great battles, thirty-one kings were overthrown, so that this section gives us much as to the subject with which we are engaged. There is a verse in Judges 3 that should be borne in mind in connection with our reading: “these are the nations that Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, all that had not known all the wars of Canaan”,(verse 1). The wars of Canaan have, perhaps, the greatest place in our subject.
AFM Would they include the wars of the Lord or go beyond them?
JT The wars of the Lord would include them, only in the book of Joshua the Lord is seen as the Captain of Jehovah’s hosts.
AP Did the overthrow of these thirty-one kings involve the securing of Jerusalem?
JT Well, the book of Joshua shows that Jerusalem had been taken, but it was not fully acquired until David’s time. Its king is slain in chapter 10. David took the head of Goliath to Jerusalem and afterwards occupied the city.
ANW Ephesians 6:12 says, “Our struggle is ... against principalities, against authorities”. Is that why you emphasise the smiting of the thirty-one kings of chapter 12?
JT I think they may allude to spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenlies.
WB-w Did the overthrow [p. 331] of the thirty-one kings bring about a division of the land from Shiloh?
JT Yes the conquest first, and then later the division of the land.
FL I suppose that in this particular spot in Canaan was concentrated the most fearful wickedness and cruelty of man.
JT Yes; “the iniquity of the Amorites” is spoken of early in Scripture, and God allowed it to mature in Canaan. As said of men in Romans 1:24, “Wherefore God gave them up”; three times this is said in that chapter.
The seven nations of Canaan were allowed of God to develop the grossest wickedness, so that His righteousness would be seen in this conquest as the scripture says, “that thou shouldest be justified in thy words, and shouldest overcome when thou art in judgment”, (Romans 3:4). This book establishes the righteousness of God in all that He does. He waited patiently until the iniquity of the Amorites was full, and a like development is progressing now in the history of Christendom, in which God’s patience is manifest. Yet He is not overlooking the wickedness that is developing, nor will it receive less severe measures. The book of Revelation shows how God will deal with it; as in Jericho, its end will be complete destruction. Joshua swore, saying, “Cursed be the man before Jehovah who shall rise up and build this city Jericho”, (Joshua 6:26). Jericho represents the world; it was carefully fortified because of the children of Israel. The world is made to know something of the power of God’s people, but at the same time the grace of God is present to save, as instanced in Rahab, who herself had part in the wickedness of Jericho, but who in acknowledgment of this, owned God and His people by faith, so that she and all her house were saved.
AFM Does that substantiate that “where sin abounded grace has overabounded”, (Romans 5:20), as witnessed in the saving of Rahab and her house?
JT Yes, and then it was the outcome of God’s own work with her. Her faith was not a mere mental assent to the truth, which is so prevalent today. It was progressive and secret. We are told she had flax spread out on the roof. Her faith is the first personal faith mentioned after the passage through the Red Sea.
AFM Do you refer to the principle of righteousness in the way of self-judgment, when you speak of the flax?
JT I think that is what is meant. The Spirit of God would not record that she had flax spread out on the roof, save for spiritual reasons. It would refer to the element of purity, however crudely understood. Then she had the knowledge of the power of God in the passage of the Red Sea, and the power of the people; the power of God amongst them, as seen in the overthrow of Sihon and Og. So that what is to be kept in view for our profit is that in the overthrow of the world there is no blank left, no void. There is always something to replace it. Israel replaced what Jericho represented, and besides, we have Rahab and her kindred without any statement as to how many there were. Rahab represents the work of God among the inhabitants of the land, God thus securing His title even there.
CAM So that in the mighty conquest of Canaan, corresponding to the epistle to the Ephesians, the riches of God’s grace are displayed.
JT That is right. The panoply of God begins with truth — “having girt about your loins with truth”, (Ephesians 6:14). We have no part in the world, hence our affections are not flowing loosely; but girt about with truth; then, “having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and shod your feet with the preparation of the glad tidings of peace”, showing that in the [p. 333] conflict, even with enemies in the heavenlies, we do not relinquish the testimony, nor our fitness for it in our armour, especially in regard to our affections.
FL Is it analogous to the introduction of the testimony into Europe in Acts 16? Paul and Silas in ministering the truth, encountered the opposition of the world, but they were victorious in what was effected through the gospel of peace in regard to the jailor and his household.
JT You can see how the entrance into Philippi is marked by these elements.
CAM You were alluding to Rahab: are we right in thinking that the “cord” was of the same material as the flax?
JT There is no better raw material for strong cord than flax rightly prepared. You will remember that there are three words used. The word “cord” is mentioned first, without any colour attached to it, which would imply strength. Joshua 2:15 reads, “And she let them down by a cord through the window”. And then the word “thread”; verse 18 reads, “thou shalt bind in the window this line of scarlet thread”; it is said to be scarlet; the point is not now strength, but colour. Then finally the “scarlet line”, which was bound in the window, (verse 21). Of course, one thing is spoken of, but there are three ideas. Then Rahab sends the spies forth another way; the principle of Christianity is another way than that of the world. All that enters into this great conflict at Jericho.
FL Would the scarlet represent lordship?
JT It may be royalty. The colour in itself is arresting; it catches the eye, and that was necessary in view of the Israelites passing round the city later; they would see this scarlet line. It also has its own voice as to what is seen in us, so that we are not judged with the world.
ANW It is remarkable that Rahab should [p. 334] have been justified by works in sending the spies out another way.
JT That is the idea. She was justified by works in receiving the messengers and in sending them out another way; “another way” was in keeping with the scarlet line, which was the ground of her salvation.
AR The world is not yet overthrown publicly, but it is overthrown in our hearts and in our houses, is it not?
JT That is the thought. The type here refers to what happened in apostolic times; it is the overthrowing of the world in principle in the heart of the Christian; and in his house.
FL “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out”, (John 12:31). Would that have a bearing on this?
JT Yes. “Now is the judgment” of it.
WB-w Do you look at Rahab in any way as an overcomer?
JT She certainly was an overcomer. She represents the work of God amongst men in the world, the establishment of the truth of redemption and deliverance from the world. The Lord said of Paul, “taking thee out from among the people, and the nations, to whom I send thee”. That is deliverance from the world and then turning around to overthrow it in a moral way. Paul brought the world down by testimony, but this could only be effective by the work of God in men. Rahab represents this work. She would not have had these things viewed spiritually, aside from the work of God.
AP Do you think she had on any part of the armour spoken of in Ephesians, like the loins girt about?
JT She certainly corresponds in that she was obedient and had what was needed for the particular service required. It is not only that she is saved,
[p. 335] but she served in the testimony. She sent the spies out another way.
AP Was there not a change from “Rahab the harlot” to what was spiritual in her?
JT Quite so. The presence of the flax suggests that she was an overcomer — of what she had been. Not only was she forgiven, but there was a change of state in her.
CAM She represents the grace side, as, for instance, in the epistle to the Ephesians.
JT Yes. God was operating in grace in the very place where the judgment was to take effect. Rahab was delivered concurrently with the overthrow.
FL In reading about the host of Israel going round the city of Jericho, from what you have stated, this one woman and the two spies occupied a very important place, as an element preparatory to the work involving all the host of Israel.
JT The spies were under reproach in going into such a house; but then, see the result. Whatever men might think, the element of holiness was in that house, and an element of divine power was there. Note, too, their conversation; it was about what God did for His people at the Red Sea and what Israel did in overthrowing Sihon and Og. It would be a blessed season, because of the import of what was said; and then the quality of what Rahab had — the cord, the thread, and the line, and her readiness to comply with the mind of God as expressed in the spies; sending them out another way. They did not ask her; evidently it was her own act. David, as of Rahab’s lineage, also knew how to use linen, i.e., flax. It conveys a great deal of instruction, and helps us as to the order in chapter 6. In that chapter she is saved because of the scarlet line, but what she was is seen in chapter 2; you can understand how this enters into the order of [p. 336] chapter 6.
JS In chapter 6, we have the enemy on the defensive — Jericho shut up and barred.
JT You can understand this with such a testimony in it as Rahab would give. We cannot but suppose that she had communicated her mind to other persons as well as to the spies. Whether she had done so or not, the testimony was there, if only in one person, to God’s power. They barred themselves up against Israel because they feared them. The testimony of this power had come out beforehand, not only when Israel crossed the Jordan, for it was in this woman’s heart. She could speak of it intelligently; and so the city is barred up. But how is the victory to be obtained? “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts”, (Zechariah 4:6). Humanly, they did not strike a blow to bring down the walls. First of all, it is the testimony, the blowing of the priests’ trumpets, and the carrying of the ark. There is a show of power, because the military men go first, but it is the combination of the marching round the city, the blowing of the trumpets, the carrying of the ark, and the shout of the people that brings down the walls. The testimony that God had in His mind is in full display. It is to show that the excellency of the power is of God and not from us.
JS Do you see that demonstrated in the apostles — the power of their testimony to overthrow?
JT That was the principle. Paul says, “For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds; overthrowing reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God”, (2 Corinthians 10:4,5). It is an allusion to this very thing.
AFM The trumpets are called blast-horns. They were not a mechanical but a natural product; the sounding of these and the people’s shouting brought the city wall down flat.
JT Quite so. The horns would [p. 337] allude to the creature from whom they came, probably a sacrificial thought.
JHE Would you say Paul was a wonderful example of this, going about from city to city taking them by storm? And he could say to the Galatians, “far be it from me to boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world”, (Galatians 6:14).
JT Quite so. That would be the secret of his power, as he says, “that the surpassingness of the power may be of God, and not from us”, (2 Corinthians 4:7). That is, I think, what is to be learned in this great conflict in Canaan; God’s power working in those who renounce the assumption of any power in themselves.
AR The ark was among them.
JT That is where the power really was. The epistle to the Corinthians speaks of Christ as God’s power and God’s wisdom. Paul’s testimony was “not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”, (chapter 2:4). Israel’s going round Jericho’s walls was really in outward weakness, for after all, what was there for the natural eye in all this? The king of Jericho might have said to himself as inside, If this is all, we need have no anxiety. But it was to bring out this very fact — that the excellency of the power was of God.
WB-w Did not the protracted period of six days compassing the city and then the seventh day compassing it seven times test the people as to the power they had?
JT I think so. That is what is needed — to learn patience. The power of God is brought out in patience. Jacob says, “I wait for thy salvation”, (Genesis 49:18). He was doing it. Saul could not wait. Our patience is tested typically in all this marching round, but in due course the walls came down. The people had power to shout “with a great shout” at the end;
[p. 338] they were not weary. What we have to learn is to wait, and be in accord with God’s intervention at the end.
WB-w It was when Joshua said “Shout!” No matter what intervened; that was the time for the people to do so.
APT In war-time, soldiers are often inclined to be impatient; they want to get to the objective, but have to be kept back. Would that not apply to us?
JT I think it comes out in a practical way when matters arise locally; at times the issue is not clear and the saints get impatient; they do this and that, failing to observe that God has His own principles and will pursue those principles; they that are with Him will wait and pursue them with Him. It is for us all to learn how to wait and see the issue of things, to see what will come out of that which does not seem clear to us. If the issue is not clear to me, is it clear to somebody else? Why not consult someone who has more experience or spirituality, and see if he has not a little more light than I have?
ANW It would suggest early rising, both in connection with Joshua and the people. I mean, waiting does not mean that there is no rising early and alertness in connection with it.
JT That is a fine combination, rising early, but still waiting on God. It tests you in your spirit and patience. Even if they did rise early on one day, they did not get victory that day. They had to wait for another day and yet another day. Patience is one of the greatest lessons to learn — in view of the issue. As James 5:11 says, “Ye have heard of the endurance of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion”. We need not fear if God has the matter in hand; He will carry it through. “Let patience have her perfect work”, (James 1:4).
CNP The waiting period would be characteristic [p. 339] of the day of grace. Rahab had opportunity to get her father’s household into her house before the judgment came, and all were saved. So that the waiting period was working out grace in a city that was doomed for destruction.
TEH The apostle Paul laboured with tears, teaching publicly and in every house, testifying repentance toward God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, in conquering the great city of Ephesus.
JT Quite so. He says, in speaking about his warfare at Corinth, “the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds”, (2 Corinthians 12:12). Patience comes first. Let us see what God will do. Joshua says, “Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall a word proceed out of your mouth until the day I say to you, Shout; then shall ye shout”, (Joshua 6:10).
Ques What is the significance of Jericho coming into view before the people actually went over Jordan?
JT We are going into occupied territory and the occupants have to be overthrown. I believe that is why Jericho is in view here. They “went over opposite to Jericho”; the conflict of the people actually began there. As risen with Christ, we are actually in the land, and attack the enemies occupying it.
ANW Is not this crossing of the Jordan a mature move? The children are not exactly in view.
JT Yes; that is what is in mind now. Crossing the Jordan is a spiritual matter, for which spiritual stature is required.
EB Do you get the thought of measurement in going round the city?
JT Yes. The idea is that it is compassable; it is not beyond us.
AR I was going to ask about the overthrow of [p. 340] Jericho. It is not a military man who takes the lead, but the priests blowing the trumpets.
JT Quite so; the military men go before, but the trumpets are blown by the priests; that is to say, the testimony is sounded out. It is a distinct sounding out of the testimony, and that is the divinely appointed way of overthrowing the world in men s souls.
FL The footnote in the New Translation, with reference to the trumpets says, “The reverberating blast of the horn”. So that it was evidently very powerful.
AFM The marching around the city was in three parts. There are the valiant men ahead, and then the priests with the blast horns, and the ark of the covenant, and then the rear guard — a complete testimony rendered.
JT That is how the work of God is carried on. I think we may see this order, for instance, at Philippi. The casting out of the demon was military, then the priests praying and praising in the prison; then the earthquake and the gospel preaching brought down the world in the jailor. The priestly element dominates. The Lord Jesus, entering into death, is declared to be the “Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead”, (Romans 1:4). The Spirit of holiness is the priestly side. The rear guard is to assure that the results are not held loosely; they are taken care of because there is sure to be an attack in the rear.
JTJr The army must be well disciplined to be effective. It says here, “Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall a word proceed out of your mouth”, (verse 10).
JT That is very important as to matters that come up amongst us, that, as what is done is manifestly according to God, there is no insubordination, no assumption to know better. When everything is [p. 341] according to God, victory is sure. Going around six days and then seven times on the seventh day tests our patience, but it is worth while; we learn something every time in such exercises; which means that we are greater at the end.
CNP Would you say there was also development of the purpose of God in the salvation of Rahab? She gets a place in the genealogy of our Lord.
JT Quite so. The allusion here is to the power of life witnessed in the breath, whether in the blowing of the trumpet or in the shout. These are the things that are noticeable. It is the energy of life in the testimony.
WB-w Would Peter and John, at the beginning, represent those that blew the trumpets?
JT I think so. You have a great general attack at Pentecost, and the great result in the converts; also the after attack of the enemy in putting the apostles into prison, and then they are let out and they go “to their own company” (Acts 4:23); I believe the thought of the rear guard is there; that is, things are, as it were, finished off; the world is completely overthrown there.
APT The attack through Ananias and Sapphira, (Acts 5), is something like what took place at Ai; covetousness came in. The enemy would come in in that way.
JT That is the next thing — the possibility of failure. In Joshua 7 we see the evidence of this in Achan’s sin and Israel’s consequent reduction to powerlessness — a very sorrowful condition. The attack was similar in Acts 5, but the enemy was met and foiled at the very beginning by discipline.
WGT At Jericho they went up straight, but when they came to Ai their weakness became manifest.
JT Well, there was a lack of moral stamina, accompanied by great self-confidence, “And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-Aven,
[p. 342] on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the country. And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Let not all the people go up; let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither, for they are few”, (chapter 7:2,3). Compare this with chapter 2, when the earlier spies came over to Jericho — how different their attitude! There was no idea of self-confidence with them. They were entirely dependent.
AP Is it not noticeable that Joshua sent them from Jericho to Ai, as if the exultation of the first victory entered into this second immediately?
JT Quite so; they should have gone back to Gilgal and then sent the spies up from there.
AC How do you regard Joshua’s position?
JT Evidently he was affected by the leaven of self-confidence which was among the people. Even the most spiritual are capable of this, coming under the influence of what is current.
ANW This danger, I suppose, is after a victory.
JT Preservation from this is in going back to Gilgal, where the flesh is wholly disallowed in circumcision, which means the setting aside of the flesh entirely, making room for the Spirit.
In passing on from this defeat we come to some very fine thoughts in recovery. In chapter 8, we have Joshua going “that night into the midst of the valley”, and then the continued extension of his hand with the javelin. He does not withdraw his hand until Ai is destroyed — a remarkable testimony of power, pointing, I suppose, to the power of resurrection, the excellency of the power of God in a man.
CAM The great thing that was gained by the overthrow of Ai was the judgment of self-confidence, and then power is seen in the stretching out of Joshua’s hand with [p. 343] the javelin.
JT What is to be learned, I think, is the new features of warfare that come out in recovery. It is not at all the same procedure of warfare as at Jericho; there was no ark and no trumpets, but skill and strategy and the stretching out of the javelin as replacing self-confidence.
AP Do not Joshua’s feelings specially enter into this battle; he rent his clothes; (chapter 7:6); and then later on he is found among the people; (chapter 8:9)?
JT Yes. “And Joshua lodged that night among the people” (verse 9); and “Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley” (verse 13); he was taking things to heart.
AFM What does going into the valley mean?
JT I think it is figuratively going down into death. It is a new feature in warfare. A general ordinarily would occupy an exalted position, but here he goes down.
ARS That would correspond with David going down to the valley Elah.
JT Quite so.
ANW His generalship was allowed to shine in that way.
JT There is a great deal of care employed as to the placing of the forces. I believe the Lord gives a lead in that in the garden of Gethsemane in the disposition He made of those with Him, to show how we should make the most of what there is. He says, “Sit here while I shall pray”, (Mark 14:32). He is passing through the greatest conflict, but He makes disposition of His disciples. Then He says to the others, “abide here and watch”, (verse 34). So there are three positions, the first sitting, the others standing, and the Lord at a distance by Himself. I have no doubt that Joshua answers to that here in the careful disposition of his forces, and then lodging himself in [p. 344] the midst of them, and going down to the valley. He is not maintaining an official distance.
JS So going down to the valley would correspond with Gilgal?
JT I think it does; it is the humbling side. Why should a general submit to that save as the outcome of his own feelings?
AFM Would Joshua’s humble position enable him to hold the stretched-forth javelin so long?
JT I think so, “when I am weak, then am I strong” — taking the place of death he realises the power of resurrection. I think Joshua was feeling the pressure of this battle. No doubt God allowed him to feel it. Ai was not to be under-rated, but as accepting this he comes into the power of God. The apostle says, “who has delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver” (2 Corinthians 1:10), hence he comes out in power in the second letter to Corinth.
AR It says in chapter 7, “let about two or three thousand men go up”; but in the next chapter, it says, he “chose thirty thousand” — Joshua had now come to see what was needed.
JT Yes; the end of verse 2 says, “Set an ambush against the city behind it”; then in verse 3, “And Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose thirty thousand valiant men, and sent them away by night. And he commanded them, saying, See, ye shall be in ambush against the city, behind the city”. All the men of war are now in action.
WB-w In verse 12 he had set the men in ambush on the west side of the city. The points of the compass are noted now.
JT Quite so; the first are sent away by night. “And he commanded them, saying, See ye shall be in ambush against the city, behind the city; go not very far from the city, and be all of you ready”. And then it says, “Now he had taken about five [p. 345] thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city” (verse 12). Then in verse 11, “And all the people of war that were with him went up, and drew near, and came before the city; and they encamped on the north of Ai and the valley was between them and Ai”. The valley is in view. Then in verse 13, “And when they had set the people, the whole camp on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley”. That is his position.
AP Is not verse 10 important — Joshua’s place in the army? It is a matter of inspection and going “before the people”.
JT Quite so; and the elders are brought into the matter.
ANW I should like to call attention to the excellent action in verse 15. Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten before them in order to save the situation.
JT It is an attitude of weakness. They allowed themselves to be beaten. We do not like to take such an attitude, but it is necessary for victory sometimes.
AP Paul says, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling ... but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”, (1 Corinthians 2:3,4).
JT With Joshua there is dependence and an acknowledgment of weakness, which empowered him to stretch out the javelin in his hand toward Ai.
AC Do you regard Joshua at the end of this victory as greater than he was before, in that he built an altar in mount Ebal directly after it?
JT Yes. He ought to have done this as he came into the land, but now he has come to it. Returning to the thought of the javelin; the apostle says, “Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me (who is not weak towards you, but is powerful among you,
[p. 346] for if indeed he has been crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power; for indeed we are weak in him, but we shall live with him by God’s power towards you)”, (2 Corinthians 13:3,4). I believe that is the idea of the javelin being held out until the victory is complete.
GMacP Joshua assumed that Ai would fall before the conflict really began.
JT To have assurance of the victory is a great comfort. If you are sure that God is with you, that you have no personal motive, but are simply acting for the Lord, you may be sure that victory will be granted.
FL The time of victory is the time of the greatest danger of being swept off the ground, so that we need to be on our guard.
JT That is indeed true, for the next chapter exemplifies another defeat, in Israel’s deception by the Gibeonites. In result, however, God gave victory in connection with them also.
AP Did not this matter of Gibeon incite the Amorites to battle and destruction?
JT Yes, it was the greatest battle of all, in a sense, because heaven is brought into it. Stones from heaven fell on this combination of kings; the sun also stood still, Jehovah having “hearkened to the voice of a man”.
WB-w Referring to the victory at Ai, would you say it represented recovery in the present day?
JT I think all the divisions (alas! we must so speak of them) extending back for many years — each of them was most humbling and involved a great deal of loss — but there are results from which we are profiting today, as there was gain from the failures at Ai and Gibeon. Great results accrued and have remained as wealth amongst the people of God.
WB-w Ai means “the heap”. Bethel “the house of God”. Would that help in your thought of recovery from ruin?
JT Quite, if you have the house of God in mind. The new features of warfare, that arose after the sin of Achan was judged, are remarkable.
JHE What result was achieved at Gibeon?
JT Well, the deception by Gibeon was a humbling matter, and yet these Gibeonites were incorporated amongst the people of God, even as Rahab, and they performed valued services in Israel. They typify those who serve today — hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation of the Lord, a service very much like that which the Lord Himself performed in the wilderness. He was the “Rock that followed them”. We should recall that God would not sanction the slaying of the Gibeonites later (2 Samuel 21:1).
AFM “They were hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the assembly” — a great privilege!
FL They came out honourably in the time of David.
JT Joshua said they were to be “hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the house of my God”. I think Mr. Darby said he was just a hewer of wood and a drawer of water when he made his translation of the Bible for the assembly!
APT This ambush is a new military tactic. We never had it in Jehovah’s wars before. Is it connected with this recovery?
JT I was thinking of these different features in relation to Ai. There is nothing corresponding with Jericho in the tactics employed, and I think they all bear on humiliation, and Joshua is thoroughly equal to it. It is a great thing to learn to be humble, because it is really a weapon afterwards. As soon as I allow myself to be beaten, I am more powerful than I have been.
CAM It is a very remarkable thing. It [p. 348] is just the opposite to pretending to be something you are not.
FL So the Gibeonites deceived the princes and Joshua was humiliated, but the time came when it was said there was no day like it before it or after it, that Jehovah hearkened to the voice of a man.
JT Joshua stands out here as never before. These poetic lines of verse 12 have hardly an equal. What a word they contain! At the voice of a man, the sun stood still about a full day. There is in this a suggestion of a man in Christ. That is what I think is meant; Paul spoke of his humiliation in Damascus, and then tells of his experience as a man in Christ, having been taken to a most exalted position; (2 Corinthians 12).
FL Paul says, “I know a man in Christ ... caught up to the third heaven”.
WB-w Will you tell us what form of evil marked these Gibeonites?
JT It was deception, but there was something in them that indicates faith. They recognised the name of Jehovah, Israel’s God, and His fame, and they called upon Joshua to help them, and it is in that connection you get this great display of divine power from heaven.
AP Joshua and the princes were involved in making a covenant with Gibeon, but it is said they did not inquire at the mouth of Jehovah. Was this not humiliating?
JT It often happens that we are at fault, but God overrules in such instances, and the result is blessing even for the Gibeonites.
JTJr In effect, heaven is at the command of the earth. Is that going on now?
JT That is the thought, it is the voice of a man; what a man can do. This is a wonderful day. There will never be such a day as this, Christ in [p. 349] heaven ever living to make intercession for us, and God hearkening to the voice of a man.
AFM It is like “a thousand years as one day”; the one day of our dispensation has been nearly two thousand years in length.
AP Do you think the prayers of the saints enter into it today?
JT That is in keeping with the Lord’s position and intercession on high.
GMacP Would Acts 16 show that heaven listened to the voice of two men — Paul and Silas?
JT Quite so, and the prison was shaken. That is the idea. So that our Monday nights are universally used for prayer, and it is an immense comfort to know that heaven hears and answers.