July 29, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You must operate by faith that God sees to engage
what God's going to do that you do not see.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Doctor Tony Evans says, when you trust God beyond what
you can see, you'll start witnessing Him work in ways
you never imagine.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And nothing will make God more real to you and
me as when He enters into our natural affairs supernaturally.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Some contracts are
loaded with fine print, but God's covenant with the Israelites
was clear. Choose obedience and live in his blessing. Today,
doctor Evan shows how deception and distraction can detour us
(00:47):
from our purpose, and how God's grace can still bring
victory even if we've signed a bad deal in the past.
Let's join him as he explains.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
The Book of Joshua is about the conquests of the
Canaan Land, which was the Promised Land. Every Christian has
a promised land, a place God wants to take you
in history. The promised land is not heaven. It's God's
purposes fulfilled in your life in history, and so you
(01:18):
want to fulfill your purpose, that promise, that place God
is taking you. But as we've seen thus far, the
Promised Land didn't come without problems. There are problems in
the Promised Land because they are the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Jebisites.
So the Promised Land is not a place where there
(01:38):
are no challenges difficulties, but it is a place where
you and God together arrive in the fulfillment of your
divine destiny. So at the end of chapter eight Joshua,
in verse thirty three, all of Israel, with their elders
and officers and their judges, were standing on both sides
(02:00):
of the ark before the levitical priest, who carried the
ark of the Covenant, which represented God's presence in the
midst of his people. Half of them stood on Malgerzium
and half of them on Mount Ebel, just as Moses,
the servant of the Lord, had given command at first
to bless the people of God. So the purpose of
blessing is your experience and extension of divine favor.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
On your life.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Afterward, he read all the words of the Law, the blessings,
and the curse, according to all that is written in
the Book.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Of the law.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
There was not a word of all that Moses had
commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly
of Israel, with the women and the little ones and
the strangers who were living among them. So he wanted
everybody to hear this. Now, if you go back to
Deuteronomy thirty, where Moses did this, where Joshua is doing
(02:51):
what Moses did. He has given them the blessings and
the cursings and making covenant with them in chapter twenty eight.
And then he comes and he makes his statement in
verse fifteen. See, I have set before you life and prosperity,
death and adversity. In that I command you today to
(03:13):
love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways,
to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments,
so that you may live and multiply, and that the
Lord your God may bless you in the land where
you are entering to possess it. So you see the
connection between this statement and Joshua and Joshua, they're in
the land here in Deuteronomy. He's preparing them for the land.
(03:36):
He says, in order to go in it and in
order to maximize it, make sure you here pay attention
to God to his word and to his commandments. And
then he says, if your heart turns away and you
will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other
gods and serve them, I declare to you today that
(03:57):
you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days
in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to
possess it. I call heaven and Earth to witness against
you today that I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order
that you might live, you and your descendants, so they
(04:18):
would live or die based on their choice. God set
before them life and death. He calls it life and prosperity.
And he says you choose why because when God created you,
he created you with a will that will. Freedom means
(04:41):
a choice. There is no freedom unless there are options.
If there are no options, then you're not free to
choose it because there's no other choice. But if there
is is freedom, that means they're options. That's why I'm
the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam and Eve a choice.
They could choose to eat the Tree of Life or
the Tree of the n good and evil. He gave
a choice. Now there's a battle for God wants you
(05:04):
to choose this. The devil wants you to choose that. Okay,
so God wants here. Here's the point. God wants to
be your God by choice, not by mandate. So therefore
he offers you a choice. The problem with the choice
is you don't control the consequences. Joshua is repeating it
with Israel so that Israel could maximize what the Promised
(05:29):
Land had to offer. And in chapter nine it comes
about all the kings who are beyond the Jordan in
the hill country. They gather themselves together with one accord
to fight Joshua verse two with Israel. So he's in
the Promised Land, but he's got a problem. In the
Promised Land. The enemies are set against them. When the
(05:54):
inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho
and ai victs had already had, they also acted craftily
and set out an envoy, took worn out sacks on
their donkeys, wineskins worn out, torn and mended and worn out,
(06:15):
and patched sandals on their feet, and worn out clothes
on themselves, and all the bread of their provisions was
dry and had become crumbled or moldy.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
So what are these folks trying to do?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
The Gibbe and Knights heard that Israel was on the
march and what they had done to Jericho and Ai,
and they said, oh.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
You know, so they're scared.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So they send out this envoy to Joshua in verse six,
to the camp at Gilgal and said, we have come
from a far country. Now therefore make an agreement with us.
So the men of Israel took some of their provisions
and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Oh,
(07:01):
they bought it because it looked real. They bought it
because it sounded real. I mean, they showed them the bread,
they showed them the sandals, they showed them.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
The wine skins.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Gotta be real because look at what my two eyes
are seeing. But they did not seek counsel from the Lord.
In other words, they did not get God's perspective on
the situation, because remember, all you see is what you see.
They did not take counsel of the Lord. So whenever
(07:42):
the Bible drops those little statements in like that, it's
saying pay attention now, it's saying catch the point. God
was not brought into it what was an obvious situation.
They had come from a long country, Okay, So Joshua
made peace with them and made a covenant with them
based on what they saw to let them live, and
(08:02):
the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
It comes about now after the end of three days
where they make this covenant, that they heard that they
were neighbors and that they were living within their land.
So three days later they find out these boys up
the street. So the Sons of Israel set out and
(08:23):
came to their cities on the third day, and their
cities were Gibbeon and verse eighteen. The Sons of Israel
did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation
had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So now they're mad at the leaders for making an
agreement that violated what they were supposed to do with
near neighbors. But all the leaders said to the whole congregation,
we have sworn to them by the Lord that I'm
gonna make a very important point in a moment, the
God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. This
we will do to them, even let them live, so
(09:01):
that the wrath will not be upon us for the
oath which we swore to them. Very important point. This
is called a self maledictory oath. A self maledictory oath,
a self maledictory oath is an oath.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You make.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Where if you break the oath, the repercussions come back
on you. So it is a self condemnation in light
of the content of the oath. So the leaders say,
we can't break this oath, because if we break this oath,
the judgment do them comes on us. So He'd says, say,
(09:47):
we can't do that. So the leaders said to them
verse twenty one, let them live. So they became hewers
of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation,
just as the leaders had spoken. So now they become
servants to Israel. Okay, since we're gonna let them live,
we're gonna work them. And not only we're gonna work them,
but we're gonna have a spiritual impact on them. Notice
(10:08):
verse twenty two and twenty three. Joshua called for them
and spoke to them, saying, why have you deceived us?
Saying we are ver very far from you. When you
are living within our land. Now, therefore you are cursed,
and you shall never cease being slaves. Both hues of
wood and draws of water for the house of my God.
So he had them working on the temple. So they
(10:30):
answered and said, because it was certain, you told your
servants that the Lord your God had commanded the servants
Moses to give you all the land and to destroy
all the inhabitants. We feared greatly for our lives because
of you, and have done this thing. So the reason
we did this is because we were scared, and we
believe that this was the only way we could be preserved. Now, behold,
(10:50):
we are in your hands to do with us as
you choose. So they become then servants of Israel. But
the principle I wanted to bring out of this particular
story was the importance of consulting with God and the
power of an oath.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Maid.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Doctor Evans will return shortly with more on this story
of God's guidance and the power of commitment. Before he does, though,
I want to let you know that what we've been
listening to today is just one installment and a powerful
teaching series from doctor Evans on the book of Joshua.
It's a study about moving forward in faith, trusting God's timing,
(11:27):
and stepping into the promises He's prepared for us. In
this eye opening series, we're discovering what it means to
conquer obstacles, claim spiritual victories, and live with confidence not
in our own strength, but in God's power and provision.
We are offering the entire audio series on digital download,
(11:47):
as well as on either CD or USB flash drive
as our thank you gift when you support Tony's ministry
with a financial contribution, and if we hear from you
right away, we'll also include something extra. The Kingdom Family Devotional,
a fifty two week resource that makes it easy to
grow in faith as a family. Each week highlights a
(12:09):
key spiritual topic with daily insights and action steps for
every member of the family, simple enough for kids to follow,
but meaningful enough to inspire adults. This special double offer
will only be available for a limited time, so visit
us today at Tonyevans dot org or call us any
(12:29):
time of the day night at one eight hundred eight
hundred thirty two twenty two to make your request.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Well.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Doctor Evans is back now with more from the fascinating
Book of Joshua now.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Become the Chapter ten. In chapter ten, Israel is closing
in on Jerusalem. They close in on verse one, the
King of Jerusalem, and he feared greatly verse two because Gibeon,
the group we just talked about, was a a great city,
like one of the rival cities, and because it was
(13:04):
greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
So the King of Jerusalem is scared that.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
He's next, so he calls together a bunch of other
kings verse four, come up to help me and let
us attack Gibbeon, because Gibeon has now become a servant
to Israel, for it has made peace with Joshua and
with the sons of Israel. So the five kings of
(13:34):
the Emirates they get together. They gathered together at the
end of verse five and went up. They in their
armies and camped by Gibeon and fought against it. So
Gibbeon like betrayed them by trying to protect themselves. So
they're gonna pay Gibbeon back for doing that. But they're
also going to set themselves up by defeating Gibbeon, which
(13:56):
was already a mighty city and set themselves up to
come against Israel. Then the men of Gibeon said word
to Joshua, saying, do not abandon your servant. We scared again.
Come up to us quickly and save us and help us.
For all the kings of the emirits that live in
the hill country have assembled against us.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well. They had a covenant with Gibeon.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Joshua went up from gilgal He and all the people
of war with him, and all the valiant warriors. The
Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them, for I
have given them into your hands. Not one of them
shall stand before you. So Joshua came upon them suddenly,
because he came by night, because he's marched all night.
(14:40):
The Lord confronted them before Israel and slew them with
a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the
way of Betharon and struck them Verse eleven.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
As they fled before Israel.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
While they were at the descent Bethhron, the Lord threw
large stones from heaven on them as far as Ascar,
and they died. There were more who died from the
hailstones than those who the sons of Israel killed with
(15:17):
the sword One of the principle of the New Testament
is that we are workers together with God. Throughout this
Book of Joshua, you've seen God tell Joshua to do something,
and then God does something that goes back to a
principle we said it many times, and that is you
must operate by faith that God sees to engage what
(15:43):
God is going to do that you do not see.
The hailstones didn't come down until the army had marched, moved,
and begun the war that God told Joshua to do.
Then Heaven entered in history. Many times we pray for
Heaven in our disobedience, and we wonder why nothing is happening.
(16:09):
We are to call on God in our obedience Verse twelve.
Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when
the Lord delivered them rites before the sons of Israel,
and he said, in the sight of Israel, all sun
stands still at Gibbeon, and all moon in the valley.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Of Elijah lawn.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until
the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Is it not.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Written in the Book of Jeshar And the sun stopped
in the middle of the sky and did not hasten
to go down.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
For about a whole day.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
There was no day like that before it or after it.
When the Lord listened to the voice of a man,
for the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua and all
Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilga. This
is one of the greatest miracles in the Bible, and
(17:24):
one of the least known. We know about the Red
Sea and the crossing of the Jordan. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
It says God, listen to the voice of a man. Okay,
let's review the situation.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Joshua basically says, I need more daylight to finish the
job you asked me to do, which I'm committed to doing.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I need more daylight.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So stop the sun, stop the moon so that there
is no longer any night coming until we finished. And
nothing will make God more real to you and me
as when he enters into our natural affairs supernaturally, when
(18:13):
he comes out of left field and does something that
you ask him to do, that is crazy. So then
we come to the last half of chapter chapter ten,
when these five kings come together, and they told Joshua saying,
these five Kings verse seventeen. They are running it. They're
(18:37):
hidden in the cave, and this is from the army
that they've been fighting, so they're fleeing. Joshua's after him,
these five kings running the cave. Joshua says, okay, I
tell you what to do verse eighteen. Roll a stone
against the mouth of the cave and assign men by
it to guard them. So lock it up so they
can't get out. And then we're gonna pursue the rest
(18:58):
of them. So they pursued a wrestler. Guys were running.
Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord,
your God has delivered them into your hand. So it
comes about the Joshua verse twenty and Israel finished slaying
them with the great slaughter, until they were destroyed except
the few who had gotten to the forty five cities.
Then Joshua said, open the mouth of the cave that
(19:18):
had the five kings. He comes back. They did so
he brought out the five kings out, and verse twenty four.
When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called
for all the men of Israel and said to the
chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him.
Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.
So they came near and put their feet on their necks.
(19:42):
Joshua then said to them, do not feel or be dismayed.
Be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do
to all your enemies with whom you fight Romans sixteen twenty.
Satan will soon be crushed under your feet. Okay, you keep.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Going with God.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I know Satan's attacking you, I know he's after you.
But God told the Romans what he tells you.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
You keep on going.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
You keep on going, because soon he gonna be under
your total control. He will be crushed under your feet.
So that principle in Romans really was taken from this situation,
and he comes to verse forty. Thus Joshua struck all
the land, the hill country, and then the Gave and
the lowlands Verse forty two. Joshua captured all these kings
(20:29):
and their lands at one time because the Lord, the
God of Israel, fought for Israel. So Joshua and all
of Israel with him returned to Camp Gilgal. The point
was that God completed this portion. We're gonna go to
the northern part next. But the southern part now is
being destroyed. That's what they all that listen is about.
(20:50):
In those verses. Here's the closing point.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I want to make.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
God kept his word, but he didn't keep his word
apart from their activity. God's promises are sure. So let
me tell you the two kind of promises God gives
us in the Word. There are hundreds and hundreds of
promises in the Word. The promises fall into two categories.
Some promises are unconditional. In other words, they have nothing
(21:19):
to do with what you do or do not do.
They're just being faithful says I'm going to do this regardless.
So those are the unconditional promises of God. For example,
when you accept Christ, God promises to keep you saved,
so you can't lose your salvation. You can't become unsaved
(21:39):
because the Bible says even when you are faithless, he
is faithful when it comes to your salvation. So that's
an unconditionally promises that He gives to every believer. But
a lot of our promises in our day to day
life are conditional promises. They're promises, but they're tied to
the condition of our decision and whether we are following
(22:01):
through and what God said. What a lot of people
do is treat conditional promises as though they're unconditional, so
they expect God to meet the need without them meeting
the condition. So I want to make that distinction. There
are conditional and non conditional promises. God made a promise
(22:22):
I'm gonna give you the land, but he had made
that promise forty years earlier, but that previous generation didn't
get the land because that previous generation didn't meet the condition.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
So while the.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Promise was sure, it was not to be experienced until
the condition was met. So the question you have to
ask is is what I'm expecting God to do conditional
or nonconditional? And if it's conditional, what is the condition?
And then now that I know the condition, am I
meeting it? Because now once you're meeting the condition, you
(22:58):
may be in the situation where God will listen to
the voice of a man.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Doctor Tony Evans urging us to discern the difference between
God's unconditional promises and those that require our obedience, and
reminding us that when we meet God's conditions, we open
the door for him to move powerfully on our behalf.
Now before we go, I wanted to mention that today's message,
called two Kinds of Promises, is part of doctor Evan's
(23:30):
series on the Book of Joshua, a study that will
help you discover how to overcome obstacles and step confidently
into the victories God has planned for you. Don't forget
when you make a donation to support Tony's ministry, we'll
say thanks by sending you the complete audio series on Joshua,
along with the Kingdom Family devotional. Learn how to grow
(23:51):
closer to God and closer as a family day by day.
Get all the details and make your request online at
Tonyevans dot com. That's Tonyevans dot org, or let one
of our team members help you when you call one
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. That number again,
one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two. Having
(24:16):
a promise from God doesn't mean the journey will be easy,
but it does mean he'll walk with you through the
battles tomorrow. Doctor Evans reveals how God's power isn't limited
by numbers or resources, and how faith plus obedience is
the key to unlocking His provision and purpose in our lives.
(24:36):
Be sure to join US
You must operate by faith that God sees to engage
what God's going to do that you do not see.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Doctor Tony Evans says, when you trust God beyond what
you can see, you'll start witnessing Him work in ways
you never imagine.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And nothing will make God more real to you and
me as when He enters into our natural affairs supernaturally.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Some contracts are
loaded with fine print, but God's covenant with the Israelites
was clear. Choose obedience and live in his blessing. Today,
doctor Evan shows how deception and distraction can detour us
(00:47):
from our purpose, and how God's grace can still bring
victory even if we've signed a bad deal in the past.
Let's join him as he explains.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
The Book of Joshua is about the conquests of the
Canaan Land, which was the Promised Land. Every Christian has
a promised land, a place God wants to take you
in history. The promised land is not heaven. It's God's
purposes fulfilled in your life in history, and so you
(01:18):
want to fulfill your purpose, that promise, that place God
is taking you. But as we've seen thus far, the
Promised Land didn't come without problems. There are problems in
the Promised Land because they are the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Jebisites.
So the Promised Land is not a place where there
(01:38):
are no challenges difficulties, but it is a place where
you and God together arrive in the fulfillment of your
divine destiny. So at the end of chapter eight Joshua,
in verse thirty three, all of Israel, with their elders
and officers and their judges, were standing on both sides
(02:00):
of the ark before the levitical priest, who carried the
ark of the Covenant, which represented God's presence in the
midst of his people. Half of them stood on Malgerzium
and half of them on Mount Ebel, just as Moses,
the servant of the Lord, had given command at first
to bless the people of God. So the purpose of
blessing is your experience and extension of divine favor.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
On your life.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Afterward, he read all the words of the Law, the blessings,
and the curse, according to all that is written in
the Book.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Of the law.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
There was not a word of all that Moses had
commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly
of Israel, with the women and the little ones and
the strangers who were living among them. So he wanted
everybody to hear this. Now, if you go back to
Deuteronomy thirty, where Moses did this, where Joshua is doing
(02:51):
what Moses did. He has given them the blessings and
the cursings and making covenant with them in chapter twenty eight.
And then he comes and he makes his statement in
verse fifteen. See, I have set before you life and prosperity,
death and adversity. In that I command you today to
(03:13):
love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways,
to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments,
so that you may live and multiply, and that the
Lord your God may bless you in the land where
you are entering to possess it. So you see the
connection between this statement and Joshua and Joshua, they're in
the land here in Deuteronomy. He's preparing them for the land.
(03:36):
He says, in order to go in it and in
order to maximize it, make sure you here pay attention
to God to his word and to his commandments. And
then he says, if your heart turns away and you
will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other
gods and serve them, I declare to you today that
(03:57):
you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days
in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to
possess it. I call heaven and Earth to witness against
you today that I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order
that you might live, you and your descendants, so they
(04:18):
would live or die based on their choice. God set
before them life and death. He calls it life and prosperity.
And he says you choose why because when God created you,
he created you with a will that will. Freedom means
(04:41):
a choice. There is no freedom unless there are options.
If there are no options, then you're not free to
choose it because there's no other choice. But if there
is is freedom, that means they're options. That's why I'm
the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam and Eve a choice.
They could choose to eat the Tree of Life or
the Tree of the n good and evil. He gave
a choice. Now there's a battle for God wants you
(05:04):
to choose this. The devil wants you to choose that. Okay,
so God wants here. Here's the point. God wants to
be your God by choice, not by mandate. So therefore
he offers you a choice. The problem with the choice
is you don't control the consequences. Joshua is repeating it
with Israel so that Israel could maximize what the Promised
(05:29):
Land had to offer. And in chapter nine it comes
about all the kings who are beyond the Jordan in
the hill country. They gather themselves together with one accord
to fight Joshua verse two with Israel. So he's in
the Promised Land, but he's got a problem. In the
Promised Land. The enemies are set against them. When the
(05:54):
inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho
and ai victs had already had, they also acted craftily
and set out an envoy, took worn out sacks on
their donkeys, wineskins worn out, torn and mended and worn out,
(06:15):
and patched sandals on their feet, and worn out clothes
on themselves, and all the bread of their provisions was
dry and had become crumbled or moldy.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
So what are these folks trying to do?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
The Gibbe and Knights heard that Israel was on the
march and what they had done to Jericho and Ai,
and they said, oh.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
You know, so they're scared.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So they send out this envoy to Joshua in verse six,
to the camp at Gilgal and said, we have come
from a far country. Now therefore make an agreement with us.
So the men of Israel took some of their provisions
and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Oh,
(07:01):
they bought it because it looked real. They bought it
because it sounded real. I mean, they showed them the bread,
they showed them the sandals, they showed them.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
The wine skins.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Gotta be real because look at what my two eyes
are seeing. But they did not seek counsel from the Lord.
In other words, they did not get God's perspective on
the situation, because remember, all you see is what you see.
They did not take counsel of the Lord. So whenever
(07:42):
the Bible drops those little statements in like that, it's
saying pay attention now, it's saying catch the point. God
was not brought into it what was an obvious situation.
They had come from a long country, Okay, So Joshua
made peace with them and made a covenant with them
based on what they saw to let them live, and
(08:02):
the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
It comes about now after the end of three days
where they make this covenant, that they heard that they
were neighbors and that they were living within their land.
So three days later they find out these boys up
the street. So the Sons of Israel set out and
(08:23):
came to their cities on the third day, and their
cities were Gibbeon and verse eighteen. The Sons of Israel
did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation
had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So now they're mad at the leaders for making an
agreement that violated what they were supposed to do with
near neighbors. But all the leaders said to the whole congregation,
we have sworn to them by the Lord that I'm
gonna make a very important point in a moment, the
God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. This
we will do to them, even let them live, so
(09:01):
that the wrath will not be upon us for the
oath which we swore to them. Very important point. This
is called a self maledictory oath. A self maledictory oath,
a self maledictory oath is an oath.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You make.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Where if you break the oath, the repercussions come back
on you. So it is a self condemnation in light
of the content of the oath. So the leaders say,
we can't break this oath, because if we break this oath,
the judgment do them comes on us. So He'd says, say,
(09:47):
we can't do that. So the leaders said to them
verse twenty one, let them live. So they became hewers
of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation,
just as the leaders had spoken. So now they become
servants to Israel. Okay, since we're gonna let them live,
we're gonna work them. And not only we're gonna work them,
but we're gonna have a spiritual impact on them. Notice
(10:08):
verse twenty two and twenty three. Joshua called for them
and spoke to them, saying, why have you deceived us?
Saying we are ver very far from you. When you
are living within our land. Now, therefore you are cursed,
and you shall never cease being slaves. Both hues of
wood and draws of water for the house of my God.
So he had them working on the temple. So they
(10:30):
answered and said, because it was certain, you told your
servants that the Lord your God had commanded the servants
Moses to give you all the land and to destroy
all the inhabitants. We feared greatly for our lives because
of you, and have done this thing. So the reason
we did this is because we were scared, and we
believe that this was the only way we could be preserved. Now, behold,
(10:50):
we are in your hands to do with us as
you choose. So they become then servants of Israel. But
the principle I wanted to bring out of this particular
story was the importance of consulting with God and the
power of an oath.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Maid.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Doctor Evans will return shortly with more on this story
of God's guidance and the power of commitment. Before he does, though,
I want to let you know that what we've been
listening to today is just one installment and a powerful
teaching series from doctor Evans on the book of Joshua.
It's a study about moving forward in faith, trusting God's timing,
(11:27):
and stepping into the promises He's prepared for us. In
this eye opening series, we're discovering what it means to
conquer obstacles, claim spiritual victories, and live with confidence not
in our own strength, but in God's power and provision.
We are offering the entire audio series on digital download,
(11:47):
as well as on either CD or USB flash drive
as our thank you gift when you support Tony's ministry
with a financial contribution, and if we hear from you
right away, we'll also include something extra. The Kingdom Family Devotional,
a fifty two week resource that makes it easy to
grow in faith as a family. Each week highlights a
(12:09):
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us today at Tonyevans dot org or call us any
(12:29):
time of the day night at one eight hundred eight
hundred thirty two twenty two to make your request.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Well.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Doctor Evans is back now with more from the fascinating
Book of Joshua now.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Become the Chapter ten. In chapter ten, Israel is closing
in on Jerusalem. They close in on verse one, the
King of Jerusalem, and he feared greatly verse two because Gibeon,
the group we just talked about, was a a great city,
like one of the rival cities, and because it was
(13:04):
greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
So the King of Jerusalem is scared that.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
He's next, so he calls together a bunch of other
kings verse four, come up to help me and let
us attack Gibbeon, because Gibeon has now become a servant
to Israel, for it has made peace with Joshua and
with the sons of Israel. So the five kings of
(13:34):
the Emirates they get together. They gathered together at the
end of verse five and went up. They in their
armies and camped by Gibeon and fought against it. So
Gibbeon like betrayed them by trying to protect themselves. So
they're gonna pay Gibbeon back for doing that. But they're
also going to set themselves up by defeating Gibbeon, which
(13:56):
was already a mighty city and set themselves up to
come against Israel. Then the men of Gibeon said word
to Joshua, saying, do not abandon your servant. We scared again.
Come up to us quickly and save us and help us.
For all the kings of the emirits that live in
the hill country have assembled against us.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well. They had a covenant with Gibeon.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Joshua went up from gilgal He and all the people
of war with him, and all the valiant warriors. The
Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them, for I
have given them into your hands. Not one of them
shall stand before you. So Joshua came upon them suddenly,
because he came by night, because he's marched all night.
(14:40):
The Lord confronted them before Israel and slew them with
a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the
way of Betharon and struck them Verse eleven.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
As they fled before Israel.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
While they were at the descent Bethhron, the Lord threw
large stones from heaven on them as far as Ascar,
and they died. There were more who died from the
hailstones than those who the sons of Israel killed with
(15:17):
the sword One of the principle of the New Testament
is that we are workers together with God. Throughout this
Book of Joshua, you've seen God tell Joshua to do something,
and then God does something that goes back to a
principle we said it many times, and that is you
must operate by faith that God sees to engage what
(15:43):
God is going to do that you do not see.
The hailstones didn't come down until the army had marched, moved,
and begun the war that God told Joshua to do.
Then Heaven entered in history. Many times we pray for
Heaven in our disobedience, and we wonder why nothing is happening.
(16:09):
We are to call on God in our obedience Verse twelve.
Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when
the Lord delivered them rites before the sons of Israel,
and he said, in the sight of Israel, all sun
stands still at Gibbeon, and all moon in the valley.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Of Elijah lawn.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until
the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Is it not.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Written in the Book of Jeshar And the sun stopped
in the middle of the sky and did not hasten
to go down.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
For about a whole day.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
There was no day like that before it or after it.
When the Lord listened to the voice of a man,
for the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua and all
Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilga. This
is one of the greatest miracles in the Bible, and
(17:24):
one of the least known. We know about the Red
Sea and the crossing of the Jordan. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
It says God, listen to the voice of a man. Okay,
let's review the situation.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Joshua basically says, I need more daylight to finish the
job you asked me to do, which I'm committed to doing.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I need more daylight.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So stop the sun, stop the moon so that there
is no longer any night coming until we finished. And
nothing will make God more real to you and me
as when he enters into our natural affairs supernaturally, when
(18:13):
he comes out of left field and does something that
you ask him to do, that is crazy. So then
we come to the last half of chapter chapter ten,
when these five kings come together, and they told Joshua saying,
these five Kings verse seventeen. They are running it. They're
(18:37):
hidden in the cave, and this is from the army
that they've been fighting, so they're fleeing. Joshua's after him,
these five kings running the cave. Joshua says, okay, I
tell you what to do verse eighteen. Roll a stone
against the mouth of the cave and assign men by
it to guard them. So lock it up so they
can't get out. And then we're gonna pursue the rest
(18:58):
of them. So they pursued a wrestler. Guys were running.
Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord,
your God has delivered them into your hand. So it
comes about the Joshua verse twenty and Israel finished slaying
them with the great slaughter, until they were destroyed except
the few who had gotten to the forty five cities.
Then Joshua said, open the mouth of the cave that
(19:18):
had the five kings. He comes back. They did so
he brought out the five kings out, and verse twenty four.
When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called
for all the men of Israel and said to the
chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him.
Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.
So they came near and put their feet on their necks.
(19:42):
Joshua then said to them, do not feel or be dismayed.
Be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do
to all your enemies with whom you fight Romans sixteen twenty.
Satan will soon be crushed under your feet. Okay, you keep.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Going with God.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I know Satan's attacking you, I know he's after you.
But God told the Romans what he tells you.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
You keep on going.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
You keep on going, because soon he gonna be under
your total control. He will be crushed under your feet.
So that principle in Romans really was taken from this situation,
and he comes to verse forty. Thus Joshua struck all
the land, the hill country, and then the Gave and
the lowlands Verse forty two. Joshua captured all these kings
(20:29):
and their lands at one time because the Lord, the
God of Israel, fought for Israel. So Joshua and all
of Israel with him returned to Camp Gilgal. The point
was that God completed this portion. We're gonna go to
the northern part next. But the southern part now is
being destroyed. That's what they all that listen is about.
(20:50):
In those verses. Here's the closing point.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I want to make.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
God kept his word, but he didn't keep his word
apart from their activity. God's promises are sure. So let
me tell you the two kind of promises God gives
us in the Word. There are hundreds and hundreds of
promises in the Word. The promises fall into two categories.
Some promises are unconditional. In other words, they have nothing
(21:19):
to do with what you do or do not do.
They're just being faithful says I'm going to do this regardless.
So those are the unconditional promises of God. For example,
when you accept Christ, God promises to keep you saved,
so you can't lose your salvation. You can't become unsaved
(21:39):
because the Bible says even when you are faithless, he
is faithful when it comes to your salvation. So that's
an unconditionally promises that He gives to every believer. But
a lot of our promises in our day to day
life are conditional promises. They're promises, but they're tied to
the condition of our decision and whether we are following
(22:01):
through and what God said. What a lot of people
do is treat conditional promises as though they're unconditional, so
they expect God to meet the need without them meeting
the condition. So I want to make that distinction. There
are conditional and non conditional promises. God made a promise
(22:22):
I'm gonna give you the land, but he had made
that promise forty years earlier, but that previous generation didn't
get the land because that previous generation didn't meet the condition.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
So while the.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Promise was sure, it was not to be experienced until
the condition was met. So the question you have to
ask is is what I'm expecting God to do conditional
or nonconditional? And if it's conditional, what is the condition?
And then now that I know the condition, am I
meeting it? Because now once you're meeting the condition, you
(22:58):
may be in the situation where God will listen to
the voice of a man.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Doctor Tony Evans urging us to discern the difference between
God's unconditional promises and those that require our obedience, and
reminding us that when we meet God's conditions, we open
the door for him to move powerfully on our behalf.
Now before we go, I wanted to mention that today's message,
called two Kinds of Promises, is part of doctor Evan's
(23:30):
series on the Book of Joshua, a study that will
help you discover how to overcome obstacles and step confidently
into the victories God has planned for you. Don't forget
when you make a donation to support Tony's ministry, we'll
say thanks by sending you the complete audio series on Joshua,
along with the Kingdom Family devotional. Learn how to grow
(23:51):
closer to God and closer as a family day by day.
Get all the details and make your request online at
Tonyevans dot com. That's Tonyevans dot org, or let one
of our team members help you when you call one
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. That number again,
one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two. Having
(24:16):
a promise from God doesn't mean the journey will be easy,
but it does mean he'll walk with you through the
battles tomorrow. Doctor Evans reveals how God's power isn't limited
by numbers or resources, and how faith plus obedience is
the key to unlocking His provision and purpose in our lives.
(24:36):
Be sure to join US
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