A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey
Joshua 10:12-14
12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
“O sun, stand still at Gibeon,
And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.”
13
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.
14 There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
The Israelites that easily conquered the City of Jericho suffered a defeat in the small City of Ai because God left Israel on account of a single person who committed the sin of disobedience. Only after Achan’s sins were removed from Israel, God was back with Israel and immediately, Israel achieved victory. One of the mistakes that people are inclined to make is that they fail to figure out God’s will while they are busy doing God’s work.
Then, what is God’s will? As said in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification,” it is for us to be holy. What seemed urgent and important to the Israelites was to take more of the Canaan Land quickly. But in God’s sight, their turning away from sins and maintaining holiness was more urgent and important. It’s the same today.
Even if you’re given many titles and busy sharing the Gospel, visiting others, etc, there is a more important thing. Even if your spiritual eyes are opened and you see the spiritual realm in depth, to obey God’s will is a priority. It is to constantly reflect on yourself, cast off sins and evil, and pursue peace and sanctification with all men. Otherwise, you cannot bring God joy. So, no matter how many works you do, you are void of essence. You should first purify your heart, receive the Spirit’s guidance, and wholly obey the way God wants. Only then can you abundantly bear good fruit in all affairs and glorify God as well.
Today, I’ll speak about how important it is to discern God’s will before achieving God’s work and how God works for the people who conduct themselves according to His will. I hope that all of you’ll figure out all the words you hear today in the inspiration of the Spirit, engrave them on your heart, discern God’s will in all affairs, and show full obedience. As you do so, I pray in our Lord’s name that God will be glorified greatly and quickly guide you to the land flowing with milk and honey.
After the Israelites conquered the City of Ai, they proclaimed the Law of God on Ebal and Gerizim according to Moses’ command. They camped in Gilgal and prepared for the next battle. But one day, some strangers visited their camp, asking for a peace treaty.
They claimed to be a tribe from a distant land. They said they wanted to make peace with Israel, having heard of the great power manifested before Pharaoh and the kings of the East side of Jordan. God warned the Israelites never to make peace with the Canaanites because He was concerned that they would come in contact with Canaan’s corrupt customs and get stained by sins and evil.
But He permitted the Israelites to make peace with people from a region located far away from Canaan and offered to serve them without having a fight. These people didn’t just request a peace treaty but presented various evidences of their having come from afar. The bread which they had allegedly carried with them since their departure had become crumbled, and their allegedly new sacks had worn out. Their old wineskins had been mended here and there.
They looked shabby in their worn-out clothes and shoes. Because it seemed clear that they were from a region farther than Canaan, seemingly, it’d be okay to do as they wanted. How did Joshua respond? The Bible says, “14 So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD. 15 Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.” They promised not to kill them and made peace.
Joshua 9:14-15
But in fact, they hadn’t come from afar. They were the Hivites, one of the seven tribes of Canaan. Gibeon in which they’d lived was not far from Gilgal where Israel’s camp was. And, their crumbled bread and worn-out clothes were all false evidences to back up their lies. This was already the second time Joshua had made a major mistake. In attacking the City of Ai, he arrogantly made his decision at will without asking God about that. So, many people died and God was dishonored.
Even though he’d repented and conquered the City of Ai, he again made the same kind of mistake. Before making peace with them, he should’ve first asked God about how to deal with this. If so, God would’ve notified him of their falsehood. Even if God hadn’t directly told him, He would’ve given him awakening so that he won’t be deceived. Even as we roughly look at this, we find the Hivites with too many mistakes. Let me share just a few.
Because they said they’d heard about God’s works and about Israel, they must’ve already known which land Israel was to conquer and what tribes God commanded Israel to destroy. God commanded Israel to conquer Canaan and utterly destroy its tribes. Then, did people living far away from Canaan have any reason to make peace with Israel? For a peace treaty, they had to kneel down, submit themselves, and accept Israel’s demands. They had no reason at all to do so.
If they had really come for a peace treaty, they were representing their nation. But they were far from looking like representatives. If they had really come from afar, they would’ve expected their clothes to wear out and prepared extra clothes to change into. Expecting to meet another king, they would’ve made sure to bring fancy robes. They wouldn’t have needed pathetic excuses like, “Our clothes have worn out from a long travel. We’ve mended our wineskins.”
There were also other flimsy tricks. But as he just considered it a blessing for free, he failed to notice it and made a mistake. Three days after making peace with them, he realized that they were the Hivites from Canaan. By this mistake, the Israelites couldn’t attack the land they were supposed to take. But it was already too late to regret it.
In a situation like this, some people say, “Because I was deceived into making a promise, it’s okay to break it.” But what’s already been promised or vowed must be kept. Others say, “I made a vow because I didn’t know things well. I vowed driven by the atmosphere. It wasn’t by my own will.” But God said we should never do that.
Not just our vows to God but our promises to others, once they’ve been made, we have to keep them, even if it doesn’t benefit us but causes us damage. Our God also makes sure to keep His promise. But those who don’t know the truth misunderstand that even God changes His mind after making promises.
They wonder like, ‘God did promise the first generation the blessing of Canaan flowing with milk and honey. Because they failed and died in the wilderness, didn’t God break His promise?’ But whenever God makes a promise, He offers to do something under conditions. For example, when He promises to bless us, if we carefully take a look at His full statement, we find conditions. He says like, “Even if I promise this to you, with faith, you have to pray until you see it fulfilled. Only then is it fulfilled.”
Thus, if you pray with faith to the end, meeting the conditions for His answers and blessings, God will bless you at the most appropriate time, at the best time. But, after you receive a promise, if you just remember it, neither asking Him nor preparing the vessel that He wants, it’s only natural that His answer doesn’t come. People break the covenant on their part, but God never does on His part. Some may think, ‘God proclaimed the destruction of Nineveh, but He changed His mind.’ But there are always conditions with His judgment as well.
Judgment comes upon people for their living amidst sins, which means if they turn from their sins, they are exempted from it. Namely, no matter how much a person has sinned, even if he’s on the way to death, once he repents and turns back, God forgives Him. This is His love, justice, the truth, and His promise. Even when an evil king like Ahab tore His clothes and fasted and bitterly repented in sackcloth, God forgave him.
Thus, we shouldn’t misunderstand God, not knowing the truth well. Even though Joshua was deceived by their falsehood, because he’d already vowed before God to make peace, he couldn’t reverse it. He let the people from Gibeon alive. But, he had them serve Israel as slaves, cutting wood and carrying water.
We can draw a few lessons from this single incident. First, in all affairs, whether big or small, we have to ask God what His will is. We shouldn’t be like, “This is trivial. I’ll take care of this personally.” But, we should acknowledge God, rely on Him, and ask Him in all matters. Although Joshua didn’t disobey intentionally, before he rushed to make peace, if only he had asked God once about His will, he wouldn’t have been deceived into making a wrong vow.
As God’s children, you get to make various deals with the worldly people in your workplace or business. And, there are cases where evil people attempt to deceive you in pursuit of their own benefits. Suffering loss by being deceived is totally different from pursuing goodness and seeking others’ benefits. This is the reason that Jesus told His disciples to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
When you make decisions based on what is visible and man’s thoughts, we cannot figure out others’ plots, (thereby being deceived.) Especially when there seem to be benefits at hand, you believe others more easily. But, if you are inspired by the Holy Spirit with a good heart without greed, you get wisdom from God.
Then, even when others try to deceive you, you can figure out their trick. Even if you can’t, God gives you a way to avoid it. The second lesson we can learn from Israel’s mistake is how important the words of our lips are. The Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Proverbs 18:21
The peace treaty which Joshua was deceived into making by the Gibeonites served as a snare later on and Israel suffered a disaster. It happened during David’s reign long after Joshua’s death. As Israel suffered famine for three consecutive years, David inquired about this, and God replied that it resulted from Israel’s having broken the vow to the Gibeonites.
David’s predecessor, Saul, tried to destroy the Gibeonites among Israel, thereby breaking the vow made during Joshua’s time. The retribution came as famine during David’s reign, and according to the Gibeonites’ demand, Israel had seven people of Saul’s offspring killed. Only then did the famine stop. Like this, we have to bear responsibility for the words of our lips, especially, for the vows made before God in any way or form.
In Judges 11, we find a person who brought great distress upon himself because of his words. He was Iphtah, one of the Judges of Israel. As he began a battle against the Ammonites, he vowed that if God gave him victory, he would offer the first person to welcome him back home as a sacrifice. Expecting that one of his servants or maids would come out first, he made that vow. Of course, such a vow shouldn’t have been made.
He belittled a person’s life and recklessly made a vow, which was evil. Also, God is not the One who accepts a person as a sacrifice. Nor did He command Iphtah to offer someone as a burning sacrifice. But, as Iphtah made a vow for himself and God knew that he would keep his vow, He granted victory to Israel. As he returned home, the first one who welcomed him with tambourines and dancing was his lovely, only daughter.
If Iphtah had known the truth, he would’ve reacted in a truthful way, “My daughter, because I made a wrong vow out of my evil, I have to have you killed.” But, the Bible says, “When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.” It was his own fault that brought his daughter very low and troubled her, but he mentioned that she made him grieved and troubled. He continually revealed his evil.
The reason that Iphtah suffered such grief was he made an evil vow. To achieve his goal, he carelessly and hurriedly made a vow, risking a person’s life. Consequently, he had to face enormous distress. Despite bearing such distress, Iphtah kept his vow.
He said, “I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.” Believing in God, he made sure to keep his vow. If he had broken his vow and hadn’t sacrificed his daughter, it would’ve been a problem as well. As the enemy devil brought accusations for his breaking of the vow, he could’ve suffered a greater trouble than losing his own daughter.
God could’ve completely turned His face away from him or he couldn’t have been saved. Knowing this, Iphtha offered his precious daughter as a burning sacrifice on account of his careless, selfish, and evil vow. This proves how great the power of words is and that they can even make a person dead or alive. Therefore, we should be careful with our lips and prevent ourselves from ever speaking words causing Satan’s accusations. In addition to abstaining from making vows carelessly, we should cast off all worthless words including complaints and negative, judging and condemning words. Instead, we should utter only the words of truth and goodness, thereby bringing joy to God.
Actually, Gibeon that made peace with Israel was a big and strong City like a capital a kingdom. The news that even the Gibeonites made peace with Israel frightened the neighboring Canaanites all the more. The five Amorite kings residing near Gibeon quickly formed an alliance and attacked Gibeon before the Israelites arrived. So, the Gibeonites asked Israel for support. The alliance of the Amorites was a disadvantage to Israel.
But for Israel that God was with, this was an opportunity to end the battles quickly. It would’ve required quite a long time to attack the Canaanite cities one by one. But, by defeating the alliance of many kings, Israel was able to gain many cities at once. Receiving the request from Gibeon, Israel quickly advanced to the city overnight and carried out a surprise attack against the united forces of the Amorites.
Raided by Israel, the united forces were defeated and began to run away. And, Israel persistently pursued them to utterly destroy them according to God’s command. At this point, God manifested some marvelous work for the Israelites. As the Amorites were at the descent of Beth-horon, great stones from heaven suddenly rained down upon them.
The Bible says, “As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.” This was God’s amazing work, but Israel couldn’t just sit back in thrills. Once it got dark, it would become easy for the enemies to hide, so they had to end the battle before the sun went down.
Joshua 10:11
But it required quite a long time to annihilate the numerous troops. And, they began to see the moon appearing in the east. Then, Joshua displayed such amazing faith to carry out God’s command completely. He proclaimed in the sight of Israel, “O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.” If God hadn’t instructed them to utterly destroy them, Joshua couldn’t have prayed so.
But, God commanded him to utterly destroy them. And, Joshua wanted to carry out the command, but as he was running out of time, he offered such prayer of faith, and God listened to him. No matter how powerful he is, a king in the world couldn’t command the sun and the moon. Let alone command them, the Amorites even worshipped the sun, the moon, and natural phenomena (like storms and rain) as their god. But as Joshua relied on God who governs all things, he could boldly command the sun and the moon, and the living God ensured his words.
The Bible says, “So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.” As Joshua commanded, God clothed the entire first heaven in the spiritual space. While the time flow of the spiritual realm applied to the entire first heaven, the time flow of the physical world became meaningless.
Joshua 10:13
While the sun and the moon were illuminating the sky, Joshua and the army of Israel slaughtered the united forces, almost annihilating them. By our common sense, stopping of the sun and the moon is totally impossible. But with the power of the almighty God, nothing is impossible (in the world.)
It is just as Jesus said, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Of course, God doesn’t move mountains or make the sun and the moon stop at any time. The exact order of the universe maintained by His providence of the Creation isn’t to be confused easily (so randomly like that).
Matthew 17:20
Nowadays, such works don’t have to be manifested either. But, if only God’s children demonstrate spiritual faith when it’s needed to fulfill God’s providence, God can manifest even more amazing works than the stopping of the sun and the moon. The Bible describes the battle as follows, “There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.”
Joshua 10:14
Over the long hours while the sun stayed up, Israel almost annihilated the enemy forces and killed the five kings of the Amorites. They continually advanced, quickly conquering the major cities in the Southern Canaan Makkedah, Lachish, etc. Also, the Bible says, “Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon. 42 Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.”
Joshua 10:41-42
By doing so, Israel conquered the most of the regions in the Southern Canaan. Yet, it wasn’t time to put themselves at ease or relax. Hearing of Israel’s victory, the kings on the east and west and on the north and south allied and came together, raising all their armies for a battle against Israel.
The Bible says, “They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 So all of these kings having agreed to meet, came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.” For Israel God sent down stones from heaven and stopped the sun and the moon. How do you think God worked for them again? We’ll discuss this in the next session.
Joshua 11:4-5
Brothers and sisters, Jesus said, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” As He said, throughout the human cultivation, God has always manifested His amazing works beyond man’s imagination whenever His children ask Him by faith. His works include the miracles at the Red Sea and the Jordan River, destruction of Jericho, and the stopping of the sun and the moon we talked about today. We’ve also become more convinced that the Bible is true, always experiencing amazing biblical signs and wonders (throughout the history of Manmin.)
This is the evidence of God being with our shepherd. By the way, if we indeed believe all this, we have to make sure to keep this in mind. The Grand Sanctuary and the word evangelization relate to our sanctification. Fulfillment of the providence of the end time is not done just by the shepherd on whom God bestowed His power. It also requires many people with spiritual faith, spiritual warriors. Each and every one of you should become such a spiritual warrior.
Spiritual faith by which we can manifest God’s work is given as much as we achieve holiness and gain boldness by offering fervent prayers and arming ourselves with the words. Now, please ask yourself. “How much have I cultivated my heart in light of the Beatitudes, Spiritual Love Chapter, the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of light? How much have I touched and edified others and glorified God as the light and salt? Am I able to manifest God’s works in the presence of many people in the world and proclaim the Gospel of Holiness to them?”
If you reflect on yourself and find yourself lacking, please make up your mind about what you have to do. It is to diligently adorn yourselves as His brides with prayer and the word. By doing so, I pray in our Lord’s name that when the time arrives for God’s explosive works, many of you can confess as warriors of faith, “Here I am. Send me!”