Last night we had an awesome time in our series "It's Time to Get Going". We learned that Joshua was facing what seemed like insurmountable odds; armies were all around him and Israel. He could see his dilemma before his own eyes; this was not going to be easy. The Bible says in Joshua 11:4-5: They came out in full force, all their troops amassed together--a huge army, in number like sand on an ocean beach--to say nothing at all of the horses and chariots (MSG). So I think its clear now, and we can appreciate the situation that Joshua has found himself in. This was his Dilemma...However...
Joshua heard a Word from God; a Word of Comfort/Encouragement: God said: "Don't worry about them. This time tomorrow I will hand them over to Israel, all dead. You'll hamstring their horses and you'll set fire to their chariots (Joshua 11:6 MSG). Now this is actually prophetic language, because they are living in today, and God is talking about tomorrow. This is so often the case with you and I. Here God has already said what He is going to do, and what Joshua and Israel is going to do. Victory has been proclaimed in Word, but not yet in deed. This is a clear example of God calling the things that are not, as though they are. But God can do this; He is a God that declares the end from the beginning.
So Joshua has this Word from the Lord, and he now begins to take action. If you read the rest of the chapter you'll find that everything happened as spoken to him by God. He and Israel defeated everyone; they hamstrung the horses and burned the chariots. Did you expect anything different? I mean God is the one that said it.
Let me show you what intrigues me about the battle. Two things happened that involve the senses of mankind, and one usually overrides the other. The Bible says that Joshua saw the armies amassed against him, huge armies gathered like sand on an ocean beach. He saw the challenge. He saw the dilemma. He saw the troops dressed for battle, BUT, he had heard from God. Now, even in a court of law, a jury would rather have an eyewitness over an ear-witness. They would rather be told what someone saw with their own eyes, above what someone says they heard. So in our way of thinking, eyes are more reliable than ears. But the beauty of this is that Joshua was not derailed, nor deterred by what he saw amassed against him. Contrarily, he took great comfort and courage in what he'd heard from the Lord. Although it was a prophecy; it would come to pass tomorrow. But today he had to go on believing and participating in faith, that God would do what He said He would do.
How does this apply to your life? Are you believing everything that you see amassed against you? Or, do you believe and participate by faith, in what God has said about the situation? Sometimes you just have to say: I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES!!!
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