Day 10 - January 25/09

Joshua 11

The rest of the kings in the land that will soon become Israel try to defeat Israel, some together and some alone, and all end up failing. God tells Joshua where to go and what to do, and it gets done. The text even says that God hardened the hearts of those kings so that they foolishly rode into battle against Joshua. God was exacting vengeance on the lands of those who had been living in ways that were not pleasing to Him. For this reason, God did not allow them to leave any person alive, because those people might lead them into the temptation of worshiping false gods.

God is not cruel and He does not act out of hatred, but rather from justice. These people didn't all fall before Israel because Israel wanted to move in; they had fallen painfully short of the mark and God wasn't going to allow them to live that way any longer. When Ninevah realized the folly of its ways and turned to God, He treated them with mercy and allowed them to live. Obviously God knew the shape of the hearts of these kings and realized that no sign or prophet would change how they were living.

When most bad things happen in my life, they are of my own making. I lie, so there are consequences. I do things that I know aren't pleasing to God, and He doesn't reward me for those actions. If I want His gifts and His blessings, I need to be living a life that is pleasing in His sight.