Joshua 11:1-5 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
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Joshua 11:6-9 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.
And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. 9 And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.
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The important focal point for us is the fact that Joshua did "as the Lord bade him".
We get so fleshly that often we deliver a word from God and then we fret over that which we delivered to that person who was doing evil. We think we were too harsh. Or we think maybe we were wrong. All sorts of fleshly thoughts come to our minds to condemn us for being godly.
From the examples in the Old Testament we should see that God deals with the wicked.
God destroyed the entire earth population, every one who breathed, except for Noah. And the destruction from God was because of their wickedness.
Genesis 6:6-7 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that HE had made man on the earth, and it grieved HIM at HIS heart.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
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And what does God do at the end of this present world?
The wrath of God will come upon this earth to judge man. Revelation 8-16
Most of the church is so fleshly today, including ourselves, that we often want to shun the judgments of God and not read about such nor think about it.
But if we will learn to rejoice in God's judgment as the angels of God rejoiced in God's judgment we will put ourselves on God's side instead of putting ourselves on wicked man's side.
Revelation 6:9-12 And when HE had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
And they 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?
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, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of HIM that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Revelation 6:17 For the great day of HIS wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
And they 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?
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, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of HIM that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
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This is the wrath of God we are reading about in this book of Joshua. We should rejoice in that which God does as HE judges the evil doers! Why would we side with the flesh of man?
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Revelation 6:17 For the great day of HIS wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
God sees truly, where we often allow our flesh to view the situation.
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Revelation 14:14-20 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
This happens when the iniquity has come to the full.
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
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Revelation 15:2-4 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.
Revelation 18:19-20 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Revelation 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Revelation 19:1-2 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
For true and righteous are HIS judgments: for HE hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of HIS servants at her hand.
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Joshua was assigned by God to replace Moses and to lead the children of Israel into the promised land which God had given to them and to serve as an instrument of judgment for God against all the wickedness done by the people of those lands.
How can we not rejoice when we read these acts which were authored by God?
Joshua 11:7-12 So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.
And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.
And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.
And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.
And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.
And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.
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Joshua 11:15 As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.
20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that HE (God) might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that HE might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses.
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In 1982, God said to me: "The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God."
After that, God began to show me evils that were being done by various big-time TV preachers.
When I couldn't get a message to these men, I began speaking these messages on my radio broadcasts, naming these men by name and telling that which God showed me.
Hate mail from their followers poured into my office.
My own office workers were very disturbed. Most of them were in the faith movement churches and had been taught a doctrine opposite from the judgment of God. So when they heard that which I said, they were disturbed.
My coordinator, who worked on my travel arrangements and helped with the selection of my clothing, came to me and asked, "Joan, is there any way you could be wrong?"
I replied, "No."
She left me as did most of the others.
They were so accustomed to a doctrine of, "God loves you and wants you to prosper and be happy," so do what you want to do.
Indeed, the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God and Jesus returns for the righteous church, that church which hates sin and loves judgment. For by judgment, the people are delivered.
People develop God in their own fleshly image.
We see God as we read these Old Testament passages.
When I was first born again in 1975, God started me in the Old Testament to teach me about HIMSELF.
We see by these scriptural examples that God is righteous. He is not as fleshly man.
We know the great tribulation is coming where God brings HIS wrath upon the earth and upon the men of this world who do evil. How, seeing this, can we think God is like some kind of Santa Clause grandfather figure?
It is time to see God in a true Bible image.
And if this image causes us to fear God, good!
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do HIS commandments: HIS praise endureth for ever.
If we have a fear of the Lord, we will handle the Bible carefully, not as many who use scripture for their own covetousness purposes.
Not only will we love the Word of God but we will greatly respect the Word of God.
The apostle Paul says:
II Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
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Joshua 11:21-23 And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.
There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.
So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
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