The Book of Joshua – Part 11, Joshua 10:1-15 ‘I know that You hear Me always…’

“And I know that You hear Me always, but because of the people who stand by I said it, so that they may believe that You have sent Me.” – John 11:42

[Study Aired May 6, 2023]

Central to this Study in Joshua 10 is the mind-boggling impossibility against all laws of physics by the sun and the moon standing still in the heavens.

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day.

If the sun instantly stood still in the heavens, it means that the Earth instantly stood still since the revolution of the Earth gives the appearance that the sun rotates around it. The Earth rotates in one day at the rate of 1,037 km/h, and if the Earth suddenly stops, everything, tall buildings, homes, trees, all living things and the scoured ground, loose boulders and the oceans, would chaotically detach instantly at a little lower than 1,037 km/h (644 mph) to the east. Our near neighbour, Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere, only travels at a bit over half that speed.

I’ve belaboured the point thus far in the study of Joshua that the Lord is graphically etching in young Israel’s heart and soul that the successful outcome of all wars and tribulations is by His power alone. Of course, the Body of Christ immutably knows that Israel, without the holy spirit, is a fruitful and bright understanding for the Elect’s sake and a fruitless experience for old Israel until the resurrection to judgment. Yet, some dedicated souls like Moses, Joshua and Job, to name a very few, did their fleshly best, learning to keep the laws of the Commandments by the Lord’s power’ roughly perfectly’ (false negative). Through Israel’s tumultuous journey, God was ramming home to our spirit that our works are utterly useless without him, and Israel was our patsy (Rom 9:20-21).

Joh 6:63 The spirit is the life giver; the flesh is of no value: the words which I have said to you are spirit and they are life. (BBE)

Yet, no number of outrageous miracles to titillate our senses without His spirit ever changed Israel or us. The sun and the moon stopping in the heavens is as excessive as a miracle can get. It is like God saying, “Is your power frustrating you yet?”

Job 38:1 And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
Job 38:2 Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge? 
Job 38:3 Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers. (BBE)

So, let the Moon (New Jerusalem above)  stand still in the glory of the Sun (Christ) and be strengthened by the holy spirit for us to be that man of war, mighty confident in lockstep with Christ and learn from Israel’s endless frustrations.

Jos 10:1 And it happened, when Adoni-zedek (Phonetic: ad-o”-nee-tseh’-dek) king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it (as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king) and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 
Jos 10:2 they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all of its men were mighty.
Jos 10:3 And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
Jos 10:4 Come up to me, and help me, so that we may strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.
Jos 10:5 And the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves. And they went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon, and made war against it.
Jos 10:6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Do not withhold your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered against us. 
Jos 10:7  So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of war.
Jos 10:8 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. There shall not a man of them stand before you.
Jos 10:9 And Joshua came to them suddenly, coming up from Gilgal all night.
Jos 10:10 And Jehovah troubled them before Israel, and killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and struck them to Azekah, and to Makkedah.
Jos 10:11 And it happened, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the descent of Bethhoron, Jehovah cast down great stones from the heavens on them to Azekah, and they died. The many who died from hailstones were more than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
Jos 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun! Stand still on Gibeon! And, moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon!
Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day. 
Jos 10:14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man. For Jehovah fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

Study Exposition:

Jos 10:1 And it happened, when Adoni-zedek [ Phonetic: aw-done’– Definition: 1. firm, strong, Lord, master] king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it (as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king) and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
Jos 10:2 they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all of its men were mighty.

Just as the Lord endlessly drives home the same message to old Israel in the wilderness, today our belief and faith are empowered to believe that our Lord will kill our enemies without an outward miracle.

Before being dragged to the Lord, we sat in our temple as King of Old Jerusalem, garnering support for our false doctrines from striking hands in oaths against our Lord from our leering friends. If the Lord ever got frustrated with us, it is because of disbelief that He is good on His word against us being god, and we sit masterly and resolutely in the temple of God.

Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him here [boy with a demon] to Me. 
Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour. 
Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out? 
Mat 17:20 And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.

All of our enemies fear Christ, Who goes before us to fight our battles, just as the demons of the two demon-possessed ones in the country of the Gergesenes feared Christ. Likewise, these five kings infesting the Promised Land were stricken with dread for the same God of Israel. A Gergesene means H1086 – ‘a stranger drawing near’, and its people are Girgasites, the very same “clayey soil” enemies Israel fights.

Mat 8:28 And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, two demon-possessed ones met Him, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time? [Lake of Fire]

As we discovered in Part 10 of Joshua, the Girgasites were part of “seven nations stronger than you (Israel)” (Deu 7:1. Jos 3:10. Jos 24:11), symbolised as being cast into the resurrection to judgment. These kings and their peoples are symbolised as legions of evil spirits whom Israel tormented by fear and death before their typified time in the Lake of Fire.

Jos 10:3 And Adonizedek [‘aw-done’] king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 
Jos 10:4 Come up to me, and help me, so that we may strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel. 
Jos 10:5 And the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem [‘aw-done’], the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves. And they went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon, and made war against it [against Gibeon!].

The definitions of the other four kings:

Hoham king of Hebron – Definition: Hoham = whom Jehovah impels. Origin H2267 – Hebron, association; company; magician; charmer.

Piram king of Jarmuth – Definition: Hebron. [Location only] Origin H2267 association; company; magician; charmer. Jarmuth – Phon’ ‘yar-mooth’ – def’ ‘heights; to rise up; to be set on high; exault’.

Japhia king of Lachish – Phonetic: yaw-fee’-ah. 1. a town on the border of Zebulun and Issachar. Origin: H3313 1. to shine, shine forth or out, cause to shine, send out beams.

Debir king of Eglon – Debir – ‘deb-eer’ means ‘sanctuary’; the holy of holies; temple; an oracle-god. Eglon – ‘eg-lawn’ – calf-like; bull calf.

From that aggregate of meanings for the Kings and their locations for our spiritual understanding, we see our God-given broad company of 44,000 odd Babylonian Christian doctrines within ourselves. While in Babylon, we were unwitting magicians charming the laity with falsehoods from the traditions of ‘godly’ fellow Christians, exalting ourselves while preaching another Jesus (2Co 11:4). We were giddy with the delusion that we were saved by ‘greasy grace’, and unwittingly reflected the light of the first “moon” so that we were blinding ourselves by our brightness. Little did we know we were ‘holy cow’ worshippers, Canaanites. The five kings all have the same spirit of mind for our glorious chastisement (Rev 3:19) to be given faith by grace. They all are represented by their principal king Adonizedek [‘aw-done’], of the (first) desolate Jerusalem that much later developed into more of a “city of peace”, as projected for our understanding.

The armies of all five kings fought their countrymen of Gibeon, which we remember, ironically means the city of Benjamin. We see within the same pattern that happened much later with Ammon and Moab.

2Ch 20:23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab stood up against the people of mount Seir to completely kill and destroy. And when they had made an end of the people of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another.

Pro 16:7 When a man’s ways please Jehovah, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Since Gibeon (the Hivites) is Israel’s city through Benjamin, they are typified as our Babylonian Christian brothers and sisters. Typically, they are interested in a different Jesus with only enough fear to believe that the Lord, and in this case, Israel, will save their hides, yet, they can be us if we haven’t been given to go the distance to keep all the Lord’s Commandments.

Jos 10:6 And the men of Gibeon [symbolic of our Babylonian Christian near kin, Benjamin] sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Do not withhold your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered against us.

Mat 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works? 
Mat 7:23 And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness! 

The Hivites (from the land of Gibeon) are our Gentile Christian kin of the world with whom we rub shoulders every day. They are not too dissimilar in appearance to Israel and blend in with Israel’s inherent affability (when Israel should have generally been more circumspect for the Lord’s commands). While the Lord’s focus was Israel, all these heathen nations of the ‘world’, including the Hivites, helped sculpt Israel for our immense spiritual benefit.

Joh 17:9 I pray for them [the Elect of God]. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
Joh 17:10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11 And now I am in the world no longer, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father. Keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those that You have given Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition [us, if we go back to being a worldly Hivite] that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 
Joh 17:13 And now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world that they might have My joy fulfilled in them.
Joh 17:14 I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I do not pray for You to take them out of the world, [away from the subtle lies and bombastic ruling of the laity of our Babylonian kin] but for You to keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They [the Lord’s people ~ aliens Lev 19:34; 1Pet 2:11] are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through Your truth. Your Word is truth.

Jos 10:7 So Joshua [Christ and his Christs] went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of war. 
Jos 10:8 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. There shall not a man of them stand before you.

For those verses and the longstanding Saints’ awareness, it seems banal to state the obvious (and we will), that our ravished hearts for the Lord’s word is demonstratively Shulamite; there is always a hidden gem hidden for our finding and child-like joy when a Body member reveals the discovery of a sapphire or nugget. And, so…

We don’t half-step into battle. “All the people of war” are the Lord’s Elect and are “mighty men of war” ~ how?

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world’s rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
Eph 6:13 Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness 
Eph 6:15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Eph 6:16 Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, 
Eph 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. 
Eph 6:19 And pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 
Eph 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in bonds; so that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Jos 10:9 And Joshua came to them suddenly, coming up from Gilgal all night.

The Lord’s people are given to see perfectly at night since Christ is their pillar of fire (Exo 13:21), who came suddenly in our long spiritual darkness, rousing us from our sleep while drunk on Babylonian wine (another Jesus).

Israel is a witness to their Gibeonite kin so that in the Resurrection to Judgment, humanity, particularly ‘Christian Gibeonites’, will remember that the Lord’s Elect was powerfully among them in the one-thousand year reign when judged on the eighth day. However, for the moment, the lukewarm Benjaminites of Gibeon are prophetically reminded of their inherent nature.

Gen 49:26 The blessings of your father are above the blessings of my ancestors [for this parallel, Benjamin], to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him, the ruler, the leader of his brothers.
Gen 49:27 Benjamin is a wolf that tears in pieces. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Jos 10:10 And Jehovah troubled them [the Five Kings and their armies] before Israel, and killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and struck them to Azekah, and to Makkedah. 
Jos 10:11 And it happened, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the descent of Bethhoron, Jehovah cast down great stones from the heavens on them to Azekah, and they died. The many who died from hailstones were more than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

The hail that is the fiery word of God smashes all lies, culminating in the resurrection to judgment when all people therein will be reminded of their deliberate and unwittingly believed lies from their former flesh. For the marginally astute sons of God, that hailstone event is synonymous with the one-thousand year reign with a rod of iron. The many who died from those hailstones will be the entirety of humanity since Adam, who are not counted in the First Resurrection.

Eze 38:22 And I will judge him [Gog and Magog now, within], with a plague and with blood [I die daily]. And I will rain on him, and on his bands, and on the many peoples with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
Eze 38:23 So I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself. And I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. 

Rev 16:19 And the great city [you and I] came to be into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the anger of His wrath. 
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and mountains were not found [including the Kings within (us), Joshua prefigured as fighting].
Rev 16:21 And a great hail, as the size of a talent, came down out of the heaven on men. And men blasphemed God [The Elect steeply decreasing blasphemy, but all nations blaspheming now, but more so at the end of the OTY rod of iron reign] because of the plague of the hail; for the plague of it was exceedingly great.

Isa 28:14 Therefore hear the Word of Jehovah, scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem [Babylon today and within]. 
Isa 28:15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and we have made a vision with hell; when the overwhelming rod shall pass through, it shall not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood, [… For she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow…” (Rev 18:7)]
Isa 28:16 therefore so says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I place in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone [Christ], a sure Foundation; he [the Christs] who believes shall not hurry [why hurry; patience is a virtue; Christ is creating the pot at his leisure] 
Isa 28:17 Also I will lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Jos 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun! Stand still on Gibeon! And, moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon! 

The sun and the moon effectively stand still today for the Elect of God as they are given to slaughter every enemy king and child within until all their brothers and sisters are done being killed.

Rev 6:10 And they [Elect] cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season [while the sun (Christ) stands still for the Moon, the Church], until their fellowservants [Moon…] also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? [Contemporary alleged works of Jasher are spurious; its word doesn’t correspond to the Lord’s spirit in the rest of the Bible] And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day.

Christ, our sun, shines with increasing brightness on His Bride, the Moon. He is standing still for us today while we are given time to kill a great slaughter of the lies within. (Incidentally, I remember harvesting wheat at 2 am one night in Queensland many years ago. The moonlight was so bright that I easily read newsprint). 

Christ says vengeance is His, and since the Elect of God are Christs (plural), vengeance is theirs, like Joseph was to his brothers and the Elect to humanity in the Resurrection to Judgement.

Deu 32:31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges [Job 15:6  ‘… I will judge you out of your own mouth, wicked servant!’ Luk 19:22]
Deu 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall. Their clusters are bitter.
Deu 32:33 Their wine [twisted word of God] is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps. [As opposed to the words on the roof of the Lord’s mouth the Shulamite deems better than wine Son 7:9-10]
Deu 32:34 Is not this laid up in store with Me and sealed up among My treasures?
Deu 32:35 Vengeance and retribution belong to Me. Their [the world] foot shall slide in time [order of salvation], for the day of their calamity [fiery judgement] is at hand, and the things that shall come on them make haste. 
Deu 32:36 For Jehovah will bring His people justice; and He shall have compassion on His servants, for He sees that their power is gone, and only the imprisoned and abandoned remain.

Jos 10:14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man [in that age of old Israel]. For Jehovah fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

The Father listens to the man, Jesus, our Lord and God, who stands still for a little moment while His Moon gathers His brightness to soon receive the full complement of His spirit in dazzling white linen robes.

Isa 54:7 For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies I will gather you.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says Jehovah your Redeemer.

Joh 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
Joh 11:42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Joh 11:44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Our Joshua is Christ who speaks to the Father “in the day” to whom the Father listens, just as the Father listens to His Elect who are washed by their Husband’s words.

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day. Night comes when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.

Soon, we who are hopeful for the resurrection to life will hear the loud voice of the Archangel and a trumpet call when the physically dead in Christ will rise, followed soon after by those who are alive.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. 
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. 
1Th 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.