Contemplating God's Gambits

Scripture: So Joshua and his army conquered the whole country—the nations and kings of the hill country, the Negeb, the lowlands, and the mountain slopes. They destroyed everyone in the land, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded. Joshua 10:40

Observation: This conquest of an entire region begins with one king - the king of Jerusalem - fearing the alliance between Israel and Gibeon. Instead of attacking Israel, he rallies four other kings, and the five of them plan to attack Gibeon. Joshua, leading Israel, responds by attacking those armies, leveraging the miracle of the sun stopping for an entire day to finish the work, then systematically destroying the "helper" cities, plus four more. This effectively cleared the "hill country" for Israel.

It is interesting to note, however, that the motivation of this event is ... Jerusalem choosing to attack Gibeon. Gibeon has tricked Israel into a peace treaty, and Jerusalem will end up un-attacked by Israel and in fact un-taken for a couple centuries. The two city-states that therefore sparked Joshua into this action are not conquered by Joshua.

Application: It is interesting to consider how God creates circumstances to achieve his outcomes, both from the perspective of the outcomes and the perspective of the underlying circumstances. In this case, Gibeon has deceived Israel, but God uses that lie and resulting error by Israel to instigate a victory for Israel. God further uses the fear of the king of Jerusalem to make every other city in the region vulnerable, even though Jerusalem itself is a great stronghold with no reason to fear.

How is God using today's circumstances to advance his kingdom? How can cultural conflict, race riots, pandemic, and political division actively improve the ability of the Church to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ? We have seen some of this, as a year ago the move to online church amidst personal fears created a way to engage new believers. So what is next?

I like the idea from the teaching this week, that the church is on the once place where cultural repair and cross-cultural communication occurs. Those who are seeking to improve cultural conflict should be encouraged to consider widespread Christianity as a way for achieving their aim. I hope for the chance to spread that invitation.

Prayer: Lord, may I have the courage to communicate your kingdom to others. Amen.