Last night at church I made the statement that all of the Bible is inspired by God and has a message and purpose for us.
I was challenged to find purpose in Josh 12.
I’ll admit that it is a bit difficult to keep your mind on what is being read and not drift off into some other thought. But then, that may prove my point.
Josh 12 says:
These are the kings east of the Jordan River who had been killed by the Israelites and whose land was taken. Their territory extended from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon and included all the land east of the Jordan Valley.
King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, was defeated. His kingdom included Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge to the Jabbok River, which serves as a border for the Ammonites. This territory included the southern half of the territory of Gilead. Sihon also controlled the Jordan Valley and regions to the east—from as far north as the Sea of Galilee to as far south as the Dead Sea, including the road to Beth-jeshimoth and southward to the slopes of Pisgah.
King Og of Bashan, the last of the Rephaites, lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei. He ruled a territory stretching from Mount Hermon to Salecah in the north and to all of Bashan in the east, and westward to the borders of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. This territory included the northern half of Gilead, as far as the boundary of King Sihon of Heshbon.
Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites had destroyed the people of King Sihon and King Og. And Moses gave their land as a possession to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
The following is a list of the kings that Joshua and the Israelite armies defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir. (Joshua gave this land to the tribes of Israel as their possession, including the hill country, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountain slopes, the Judean wilderness, and the Negev. The people who lived in this region were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.) These are the kings Israel defeated:
The king of Jericho
The king of Ai, near Bethel
The king of Jerusalem
The king of Hebron
The king of Jarmuth
The king of Lachish
The king of Eglon
The king of Gezer
The king of Debir
The king of Geder
The king of Hormah
The king of Arad
The king of Libnah
The king of Adullam
The king of Makkedah
The king of Bethel
The king of Tappuah
The king of Hepher
The king of Aphek
The king of Lasharon
The king of Madon
The king of Hazor
The king of Shimron-meron
The king of Acshaph
The king of Taanach
The king of Megiddo
The king of Kedesh
The king of Jokneam in Carmel
The king of Dor in the town of Naphoth-dor
The king of Goyim in Gilgal
The king of Tirzah.
In all, thirty-one kings were defeated.
A list of names and places most of us don’t know and maybe don’t care about.
On the surface it appears to be nothing more than a big list of names.
Boring may be the feeling you get when you read this portion of God’s word; but it’s the message you get when you meditate on God’s word.
However these kings and peoples had to be defeated before the Israelites could take possession of the promise land.
God had told them, “I will hand over to you the people now living in the land, and you will drive them out ahead of you. Make no treaties with them or their gods. They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught in the trap of idolatry.” Ex 23:31-33
Each king and kingdom was well established with fortified cities and an army; yet these vagabond wanderers waltzed into the territory and one by one took out the inhabitants.
This, of course, was done through the power of God. (Remember Jericho?)
Israel could not be ruled by Torah in a nation of their own until those foreign to the idea of God’s Law had been obliterated.
Likewise, God’s word cannot rule in our hearts until we allow Him to conquer the “kings” in our life.
There are many things that would pull us away from or come between us and God.
These are the things that must be conquered and destroyed, much like the kings and kingdoms that Israel had to rid out of the land.
Do not make a treaty with the idols and kings in your life.
Do not allow them to cause you to sin against God.
Instead, allow God to rid them from you.