Standing On The Promises – The Saturday Morning Post
Today’s Passage – Joshua 16 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio –Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Titus 1 – 3; Proverbs 17; Psalms 81 – 85
Read the “0317 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto? And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel. And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only: But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.” (Joshua 17:14-18)
Good morning. The children of Joseph came to Joshua to get more land. They only were given one lot. The land that Joshua told them to take in the wood country: a hill and valley. The land had giants, and Canaanites with iron chariots, and also Perizzites living there. And that worried them. But Joshua told them, “Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only: But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.”
That great power was God. Joshua ruled Israel for 28 years. The first seven were spent conquering the promised land. The second seven years were spent dividing up and settling the promised land. His last seven years were spent enjoying the promised land. So, within 14 years, did the children of Joseph forget about Jericho? It wasn’t them who brought down the walls. It took great power.
“And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.” (Joshua 3:10)
And God told Joshua…
“And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.” (Joshua 6:2-5)
“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.” (Joshua 6:20-21)
It took great power to bring down the wall. That great power was God. Let’s fast forward to the time of Jesus.
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:8-12)
The great and only power we have is God. He kept His word to Israel, and He will keep His word to us. Many promises has He given to us in His Word. We can be like the people of Jesus’ home, where He could not work too many miracles because of their unbelief. Or, we can simply stand on God’s promises. Believe what God says. Obey what God says. Then watch as the promises of God happen.
Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God.
Peace.
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