Sermon: Spiritual Strongholds (Part Three): God’s Intervention
#1667
Martin G. Collins
Given 20-Aug-22; 73 minutes 2022-08-20
watch: Go to the Spiritual Strongholds (sermon series)
description: (hide) When the Gibeonites tricked Israel into making a treaty with them, they incurred the wrath of their prior Amorite allies for being traitors, making themselves vulnerable to attack. If Joshua were a cowardly, expedient-driven leader, he could have let nature take its course, disposing of an annoying problem. But Joshua, mindful of the covenant made with God, determined to go to the Gibeonites’ aid. Joshua realized that for the first time in his life, he faced the combined forces of the Amorites. God Almighty intervened on Joshua’s behalf, driving out the Amorites with thick clouds loaded with lethal hail, a perennial weapon in His arsenal (Psalm 18:12-14; Psalm 78:47; Psalm 105:32; Exodus 9:23-25, Revelation 8:1-6). Hail, as well as earthquakes, have served as emblems of God’s displeasure. God speaks in unmistakable power when the time is correct for intervention. In addition to dispatching the talent sized hail, God responded to Joshua’s request to extend the day—requiring an infinitude of miracles, bringing endless scoffing from academia refusing to believe in the absolute sovereignty of God who inhabits eternity, having power over everything that exists. God had to miraculously regulate circadian rhythms, air currents, wind currents, atmospheric patterns, magnetic field lines, tidal locking, etc. Job learned to appreciate God’s infinitude compared to man’s puny temporariness (Job 38) which led Moses to remind all of us to number our days and Peter to remind us to redeem the time (Psalm 90; II Peter 3:8). Though we are hemmed in by time and space, God is above time, patiently monitoring the development of our godly character, which will transcend time.