In chapter number nine of the book of Joshua, which is the book that we are working through on Sunday mornings, an alliance was made between the Israelites and the Gibeonites, or the occupants of the city of Gibeon. An alliance was made. A promise was made by Joshua that these would not be put to death, that they would be allowed to live in the land. Now, in chapter number 10, that promise made by Joshua to the Gibeonites is gonna be tested It's going to be tested. It's going to be put to the test. And we have an amazing chapter in the Word of God. We're going to work through 27 verses this morning. We will not read all 27 of them right now. We will look at them as we work through the text. Let's stand for the reading of God's Word, and I want to draw your attention to, let's start around verse 12, just to kind of focus on the high point of the chapter. Verse 12 of chapter number 12. 10. And then we'll go back and we'll unpack it beginning at verse 1. Then spake Joshua to the Lord. Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. And he, the Lord, said in the sight of Israel, Son, stand thou still upon Gibeon and Thou Moon in the valley of Asjon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasser? So the sun stood still in the midst of the heaven and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like it before it or after it that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man. for the Lord fought for Israel. Let's pray. Father God in heaven, what an amazing text. I pray God that you would, through your grace and the indwelling power and anointing of the Holy Spirit, help me, oh God, to do it justice. In Jesus' name, amen. So let's get started. I want to go right to the sermon outline. We have a five-course meal prepared for you today. I hope you are hungry. We want to look at God's predetermined will, what's my responsibility. We certainly have got to discuss this idea of the sun and the moon standing still in the sky. We need to focus on Christianity requires faith. I need to take you to the end of the chapter, the hanging of the five kings and show you a picture of the future. And finally, if time permits, I'd like to get to Joshua's faith or the Lord's power. So that's kind of how we're going to move through things and you'll be able to judge how well we get through the sermon. Let's get started. In verse number one of this chapter, the narrative picks up with the king of Jerusalem. Let me remind you that this king of Jerusalem is not an Israelite. Jerusalem is a heathen city at this point. It's a heathen city. And this king becomes very fearful that his head is next on the chopping block. That's the reality. He sees what's happening. The Israelites are moving through the line. First it was Jericho, then it was Ai, and he thought he was going to get a reprieve with Gibeon. He thought that perhaps Gibeon would be a stopping point or a leverage point, but instead what happens is the Gibeonites make an alliance with the Israelites. Now I've got a real problem. I've got the Gibeonites and the Israelites aligned together in a pact or a covenant, and I am the next city in the war path of the Israelites. That's the idea. Y'all follow me? Okay? And so this is what he does. He sends a letter out to four other kings, regional kings in that area of particular cities. He says that they feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty. Those were mighty men in Gibeon, and they made an alliance with the Israelites. So this king of Jerusalem sent letters or petition to four other kings. come up unto me and help me that we may smite Gibeon for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel." Therefore, the five kings rallied together in alliance and marched to Gibeon in an encampment around Gibeon. Gibeon at this point panics, as you can imagine, and sends messengers to Joshua in Gilga. And the messenger goes something like this, Slack not thy hand from us now. Don't you dare pull back your hand now. We need you right now. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us. Why? For the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. Everyone following this? You see what's happening. If you don't get into the narrative this morning, it's going to be a boring sermon for you. But if you allow yourself to visualize what's happening, you'll enjoy it. Five kings in alliance together, the king of Jerusalem being the lead king against the Gibeonites and the Israelites. That's what we've got going on. So Joshua gets word and is moved by the Lord to move forward. Joshua sent it from Gilga and he and all the people of war with him and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said unto Joshua, God said to Joshua, and this is the message, fear them not for I have delivered, I have delivered, past tense. I have delivered them into thine hand. Wait a minute, they're not even there yet. They're not there yet. They are a full night's march away. They're not even close. Wait a minute. From God's perspective, it's a done deal. It's finished. I've done it. I've delivered them into their hands. So from this simple little sentence, we get this overwhelming continual lesson that we need to learn, that we need to incorporate into our thinking, which is, yes, God does declare the end from the beginning. It's done. God knows all who will be saved. Every single soul, God has determined that. God has elected. God has... But wait a minute. Does that mean that we sit back on our laurels and do nothing? Not at all. See, in spite of the fact that the Scripture says, for I have delivered them into your hands, what did Joshua and the men still need to do? They needed to fight. They still needed to move. They still needed to work. They still needed to march. They still needed to go forward. And we as well, we don't know who the elect are. We don't know who those of God has determined. We don't have a clue. We are absolutely clueless. So what do we do, David? We pray. What do we do? We witness. What do we do? We preach. What do we do? We communicate. What do we do? We work. And we fight. And we pray. And we witness. And we sing. And we worship. Because those are all responsibilities we never we never let me say it one more time we never say oh whatever will be what will be That is never our perspective. Our perspective is always, what would you have me to do, Lord? What is my responsibility in this situation? Should I be praying more? Should I be witnessing more? Should I be working harder? What should I be doing, Lord? I know God, according to Isaiah 46, you've declared the end from the beginning, but you have also ordained the means whereby this will come to pass. And so consider this for just a moment with me and before we move on. The very salvation of a soul could be ordained by you being the means whereby God brings that to part. You, personally. Don't put it off on somebody else. Don't put it off on God's election or predestination or any of those things. You say, wait a minute, this is my responsibility. God has called me to witness. God has called me to preach. God has called me to pray. in spite of the fact that it's already determined. It says right there in the scripture, I've already delivered them in your hands. And yet they're 20 miles away. It's a done deal from God's perspective. Verse nine says, and Joshua therefore came up to suddenly and went from Gilgal all night. You've been there before I have. Those of you in the room, you've been on those all night foot marches. I mean, until daylight. And that's what we've got going on here. They spend the entire night, a foot march, 20 miles. They move 20 miles all night long only to immediately engage the enemy. Immediately move into combat operations with the Amorites. Look at verse number 10. And the Lord discomforted. I think the ESV says threw them in a panic. The Lord did that. The Lord intervened. And the Lord threw the Amorites into a panic. Now once again, what is the means whereby God has ordained that the Amorites are thrown into a panic? I'll tell you what it is. It is not expecting that 30,000 Israelites show up at your doorstep in the morning. They had no idea that the Israelites were going to respond that quick. They had no idea that the Israelites were going to commence the marching all night long. And suddenly when they're thinking they've got another week to prepare, they're right there in your face. Israelites everywhere. Warriors, mighty men of valor. Not sissies. Okay, these are guys that like a good fight. Remember, hold on. Let's remember last week when Joshua told them they couldn't kill the Gibbonites, they copped an attitude about that. They were looking for another fight. So all night long they move. On the right side of our screen is the Jordan River. There's Gilga, there's Jericho, and we've got to move all the way over to Gibeon. Once we get to Gibeon, the folks start scattering in every direction, and you have Israelites pursuing all along into the southern corridors of the promised lands. So I say to you this morning, notice that the Amorites lose their free will. God takes it away from them. What free will? The free will to be brave? The free will to be courageous? They lost that. What are they left with? Fearful, running, panicked. This large scale battle opens campaign routes in all directions for the eventual victory in the Southern campaign to take the promised land from the idolaters and the heathen and to give it to God's chosen people. Verse number 11 in your Bible says, and it came to pass as they fled from before Israel, that they were going down to Bethlehem, that the Lord, notice this particular language. The Bible gives us this visual imagery that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them, that the Lord is doing this. Now, before you question how significant this would have been, look at this picture with me. This is, to our knowledge, the largest piece of hail ever found. The largest piece of hail ever found. This is a tape measure underneath it. On the left side of the screen you see a 3, and on the right side of the screen you see a 10. This is a 7-inch piece of hail. Seven inches. Let me put that in perspective for you. Those are two regulation softballs at 3.8 inches, slightly bigger. Two softballs together, that's a chunk of hail. Now wait a minute, let's stop there. The record descent that we found hail falls at is 100 miles an hour. Does anyone have any idea what it would be like to be under a barrage of hail falling from the sky twice as big as softballs at a hundred miles an hour? What would that be like? Mike, what will be going through your mind as you're fleeing from guys that are chasing you with swords and from the sky, hail is striking people in the head, left. You don't need artillery. You got the Lord fighting for you. Casting down hail. That's hail damage. That's hell damage. Verse 11b says, And there were more that died with the hailstones than those whom the children of Israel slew with a sword. There were more that died from the hailstones than the ones that the Israelites were cutting with swords. Does anyone have any clue what the utter panic must have been like to be an Amorite as you've got Israelites chasing you down and you've got hail coming down at you and no tomorrow? Where would you run to? Where would you go? How would you get away from it? Wait a minute. Look at Revelation 16.21 on the screen with me. You might want to write this down on the side of your margin, but Revelation 16.21. Look at this picture of the future. In the future, the Bible says, and there fell upon men great hail out of the heaven, every stone about the weight of a hundred pounds. A hundred pounds? Hail coming out of the sky with a weight of a hundred pounds? Does anyone have any idea what it's gonna be like to be on the wrong side during the seven years of tribulation? Does anyone have any idea what it's going to be like to be one of those that have taken the mark of the beast and failed to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Hail is coming out of the sky weighing a hundred pounds each? Where do you run from hail that weighs a hundred pounds? Where do you go? Where do you hide as the sovereign God of the universe is casting down hail stones a hundred pounds towards the enemy? Does not that bring fear into your heart right now? Do you not realize that you could be alive during the tribulation? Do you not realize that if you don't submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you might take the mark of the beast, and you might be on the wrong side, and you might get crushed with a hailstone? Oh, I know, right now you're saying, it'll never happen to me. Not me. It happens to somebody. So much so that it says, "...and the men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceedingly great." Exceedingly great! This is an amazing plague! So verse 12 brings us to our key verse. The Bible says, Joshua spake to the Lord, then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of the Lord. And the Bible doesn't record what Joshua said, but the next thing we get is that the sun is being commanded to stand still and the moon is being told, don't move. And the only one that tells the sun not to move and the only one that tells the moon not to go anywhere is God. Not mother nature. The sovereign God of the universe says, you stand right there and you hold right there. Now, comprehending how this took place is problematic. I agree with you. And I know for a fact that this morning there's somebody here that's a doubter. There's a skeptic assembled amongst us and looks at this and says, there's no way this could have happened. I realize that. I know that from all the laws of nature that we know that the earth needs to keep spinning. I've got that idea. I understand that. In the same way that a plane needs to move forward to keep from dropping out of the sky, the earth needs to keep on spinning to keep us from flying off, which again is mind-boggling to me because I'm thinking if it's spinning, we should be flying off. Am I the only one like that? There's three of you that are getting to the sermon and the rest of you, I mean, do you not understand what I'm saying? All you science teachers, you're looking at me like you idiots. I know. But I'm just telling you, I mean, I don't understand it. I don't understand why all the guys on the South then aren't falling off the planets. I mean, I've got a pea brain in those senses. I mean, this is a wild universe we're in. Does everyone admit that? This is an amazing universe that we're in. When I hear stuff from the scientists that if we were any closer to the sun, we'd burn up. And if we're any further away, that we'd go into an ice age. I mean, all of this is exceptionally complex. Look at verse 13, please. Look at verse 13, please, in your Bible. And this is what the text says. It's not confused. The text is not struggling at communicating what it intends to communicate. It says that the sun stood still and the moon stayed. That's what the text says. It says, and it did that until all the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. This is difficult. I've got that. So I ask this question, is this all just poetic language? I was shocked, those of you that are Sunday school teachers and students, you know that I've recommended this commentary series over and over again. It's a series of conservative commentaries. I was shocked this week to discover that David M. Howard makes the point that this language of sun standing still and moon being stayed is poetic language and should not be understood as a cosmic supernatural event. What are we to make of that? I was shocked. I'm not surprised when the liberal scholar coming out of one of those far left-wing seminaries says something like that. I'm used to that. But when a guy declares he believes in the sovereignty of God and a miraculous God and then says something like that, I'm like, whoa, how do you reconcile that? I wish that Howard could come and spend some time with us. I'd like to ask him some questions. Howard says that he wants to compare Joshua chapter 10 to Isaiah 55 12 and Psalm 98 8. In Isaiah 55, 12, it says, the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. In Psalm 98, 8, let the floods clap their hands. Let the hills be joyful together. He says that's poetic language. And I agree with him that that is poetic language. I don't have any problems with that being poetic language. But I do have a problem with a book of the Bible that is narrative in nature called Joshua containing poetic language. Now, I've got to teach you something this morning here. We're not surprised when we turn to the Psalms, any 150 of them, that we have creative language. It's a song. It's a poem. We're not surprised there. But wait a minute, we're not reading Psalms right now. We're not surprised when we go to Isaiah and we read a prophetic book that we have some colorful language because we're in a prophetic book. But that's not what Joshua is. Joshua is a historical record of the people of God taking down the enemies of God. Context matters. Let me say that one more time for those of you that go to various churches and maybe aren't part of bringing on a regular basis. Context matters. We're in Joshua chapter 10. We're not in a minor prophet. We're not in a psalm. We're in a historical record of the taking down of the promised land by the people of God. So Mr. Howard, I would ask, is the hailstones also figurative? See, see, if the sun's standing still and the moon not moving is figurative, where does it stop? So wait a minute, first you describe a historical event, hailstones coming out of the sky and killing more Amorites, and then you immediately move to poetic language? Wait a minute, how about, let's just back up a chapter or two. What about the walls coming down on Jericho? Is that also figurative? I mean, where does it stop? I mean, can I count on this book to be the Word of God or not? I mean, that's what it comes down to. Because if you go down and rob the idea of poetry, poetry, where does it stop at? If this, if this is poetic, how can we say there has not been a day like this before or after? Now that's an important point. You don't talk that way when you're describing poetry. You don't say there's never been a day like this before or after it. And then I want to fast, finally, what's the point of the reference to the book of Jasher? J-A-S-H-E-R. Why are you saying that? I mean, that's an important point. Let me illustrate it this way. If I go out fishing on a weekend and I come back and I tell you that I caught a fish this big, and you know I'm not a fisherman, and you know that I'm lying through my teeth, you're gonna say, did anybody see it? And what you're looking for is me to make reference to somebody else who can authenticate the size of the fish I caught. That's why he says, is this not written in the book of Jasser? In case you're doubting the authenticity of this from my perspective, go read this historical account. It's in there too. Now, what's your point? When you read Isaiah 55, the trees clapping, it doesn't say, is this not written in another book? When you read the psalmist and describes poetic language, he doesn't say, is this not written in 1 Samuel? He doesn't say that because he doesn't expect you to see what he's writing as a historical record of what happened. He expects you to receive the figurative language. Let me say it one more time. The inclusion of a specific reference to a book of Jasser, a lost Jewish book, is meant to add validation to the authenticity of the supernatural phenomena described here. You say this morning, Pastor, what's the big deal? I'll tell you what the big deal is. It's the credibility of the Word of God is the big deal. Is this the Word of God or not? Let's just be abundantly clear this morning. If what Mike Martin has in his hands right now is not the Word of God, let us stop assembling for church every Sunday and get caught up on our laundry. Because we're not here to play church. We're not here to check a religious block and make ourselves feel good that we're good humanists. If there is no heaven and hell, let's stop wasting our time and give to the United Way and help feed the hungry. Where do you start and where do you stop when you start chopping at the Word of God? Don't waste your money on these nonsense books named the same thing. They're not the book of Jasser. These are all just fragments and fictitious books written with that title to get people to buy them because they see a reference in Joshua to Jasser and say, I need to go find this lost biblical book. It's not in the canon. You're not going to find it. So what's going on here? Did God refract the light through atmospheric variations to provide continual illumination? Am I supposed to do my very best to come up with alternative scenarios instead of reading what the Bible says and believing it? I mean, what happened on that day and how big is your God? What happened on that day and how big is your God? Yes, I'm one of those wacko fundamentalists. I believe that the Word of God is the Word of God. But that doesn't mean I deny the natural laws. I believe in the natural laws of science. I believe in those laws. We're not denying that they aren't there. All we're saying is our God's bigger than them. That's our basic premise. Do we believe in the natural laws? Yes. Don't jump off a building. You'll fall flat and die. It's a natural law. What comes up must go down. All we're saying this morning is we believe our God exists outside of those laws and doesn't confine himself to those laws. That he ordained those laws and they operate on a regular basis as he sees fit. But he is not bound to those laws. That's it. How big is your God? How big? We're not trying to create Christians who do not understand science. We want Christians who love science. But we will not subordinate God to science. He exists outside of it. He formed it. He created it. That's what you need to grasp. How big is your God? And you know what? I want a big God when I'm praying. I want a huge God. How many of you want to pray to a puny, infinite God? See, when you want God to hear and answer your prayers, you're going to want a giant God. But when someone questions whether you really believe in that audacious stuff that's found in the Word of God, and now you've got to choose what side you're going to be on, then you become a closet Christian. You know, you know what I'm saying. On your knees, man, he's huge, big, and powerful. But in the break room, when we're talking about whether God can raise the dead, you're backing off on that. That's not what the world needs right now. The world needs bold, audacious, passionate Christians who are bananas for Jesus. See, here's the question. If Psalm 33, 6 is right, and Psalm 33, 6 says that God spake the universe into existence, then you're going to tell me that the God who speaks the universe into existence can't stop the sun when he sees fit? Oh, so what we've got is a God capable of speaking the sun into existence, but then once the sun is in existence, he can't do anything with it? Don't allow yourself to be influenced by the knuckleheads out there. Just trust the Word of God. Just trust the Word of God. You won't regret trusting the Word of God for your life. What do you do with this language? Look at verse 14, please. If all we're talking about is poetic language, then what do you do with, and there was no day like that before it or after it? For example, if all we're talking about is the refraction of sun because of atmospheric conditions, how can we say there was no day like that or after it? I mean, there are long days up in Alaska. But that's not what the text says. The text says the sun was going down and Joshua had sufficient faith to know that God was capable of giving him more light. God will get him on the run right now. And if we don't kill them now, God, they're gonna make them back to their fenced cities. And if they get inside their fenced cities, it's gonna be a lot more difficult to kill them. So Lord, if you could give us some more light, that'd be awesome. That'd be awesome, Lord. We'll use it wisely. And he does. And thus verse 14 says, and there was no day like it before or after it. If you Google, if you go on the internet, you're going to find all kinds of people out there that say, ah, this is it. This is the proof. There's professors that write letters and dissertations and articles about this is the missing day. And this proves that what Joshua, and then someone else to get on there and disprove what they say. So when I ask this question, is there really a day missing in the calendar? And if this missing day that creates the need for a leap year. Why can't we unequivocally prove the missing day and thus validate the epic proportions of this miracle? Why is it that no scientist has been able to positively, unequivocally prove thus the missing day? Go back to Joshua 10 and then everyone says, I believe. And I'll tell you why. Because the just shall live by faith. faith in God, not in a professor who writes an article about the missing day. It's fun to speculate on all that kind of stuff, but we're not here to speculate. The Word of God says the sun stood still. Whether that created a missing day and a leap year and all that, I don't have any idea. It doesn't matter. That's what the text says, and I believe it. And so verse 14 says that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of man, that no man had ever dared to ask God to do such an audacious thing. No one had ever asked God to do anything as great as stopping the sun. No one in the world. But we should not be surprised that Joshua has this kind of faith. We should not be surprised. Joshua met God. God spoke to Joshua. Joshua had an amazing understanding. And why should we be surprised that God, who is casting down hailstones like heat-seeking missiles on the enemy, is not capable of also stopping the sun? Same God. Same heavens. And then in verse 15 it says they returned to Gilgah. And then beginning in verse 16 we have this parenthetical reference to five kings I want to talk about as we draw an end to this sermon. Verse 17 says that it was told that Joshua was saying five kings are found hid in a cave at, how do you pronounce that? Makediah? I don't know. Makediah? Thank you so much sister. Five kings are hanging out there, hidden. Joshua says, roll a great stone upon them and guard it. And then get back to killing the enemy. Secure that site. And then he says, look at it very clearly in your own Bible. Pursue after your enemies, smite the hindermost part of them. Do not allow them to enter the cities for the Lord has delivered them into your hands. So now we get combat operations going in all directions in an effort to keep them from getting to the cities. Everyone follow me? Five kings are inside this cave. It came to pass when Joshua and the children of Israel had made it end to the slaying, then with a great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest were remained in the fenced cities or the fortified cities. The people returned to Makeda, and this little verbiage is found. After this campaign, no one moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. How would you? How would you? The sun stood still and the moon stood still and hailstones were coming out of heaven. Who's going to speak against this God? Joshua says, open up the cave, open the mouth of the cave, bring the five kings out. And they did so and brought forth the five kings out of the cave. And the king of Israel, the king of Hebron, the king of Jeremoth, and the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, all five of them. They came to pass and they line them up on the ground. They line them up on the ground. You can just imagine this. Probably face down is my guess, but it might have been face up. And they're lying on the ground like this. One king after another. One, two, three, four, five kings. And Joshua says, come near and put your feet upon their necks. Wow. Would you allow yourself to wake up this morning and imagine what it would be like to have a boot on your neck right now? What would that be like? What would that be like? To be lying there and surrounded and Joshua tells the brigade commanders and the battalion commanders to come over and put your foot on their neck. What are we doing this for? And we're going to hang them in just a minute? Why this symbolic reference to putting your feet upon their necks or under your feet? What's going on here? Turn to 1 Corinthians 15 please. I know it's warm in here, but please don't check out. 1 Corinthians 15, I know you're not warmer than me. 1 Corinthians 15, please. I would like to start reading in verse 20 in order to establish a little bit of the context, but we're gonna drive to 25 and 27. This is our great chapter on the gospel. This is an amazing chapter. It may be one of my favorite in the entire Bible. This is the amazing chapter that says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, wherein also you received and wherein you stand, by which you are saved. That's the same chapter. Verse 20 says, but now is Christ risen from the dead. And Christ has become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death and by man came also the resurrection of death, for is in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, and afterward they that are Christ at his coming. Then comes the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the Father, when he shall put down all rule and all authority and all power. For, verse 25, he must reign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. under his feet. Now I get it. Now I understand why Joshua commanded the prince to put their feet on their necks. It was a symbolic picture of the future. That's what it was. It was a picture. So when you're anxious about the future and you're wondering, is God going to win? And you're wondering, what will the future hold for America? Forget about America. Focus on the kingdom of God and know that the end has already been written, that the story has already been written. It's written right there. It says that He is going to reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. And the last enemy, notice verse 26, the last enemy, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So death is our enemy. And God Almighty, through Christ Jesus, has death underneath His foot and is crushing death. Have no fear. God has crushed death through Christ Jesus. Verse 27, for he hath put all things under his feet. All things are under his feet. Satan's under his foot. The demons are under his foot. The universe under his foot. Death is under his foot. Sin is under his foot. There isn't anything that isn't under God's foot. Everything. in the same way that one of those princes, those captains, those battalion commanders, those brigade commanders at that moment right there could crush them to death through the power of a stamped foot and their very larynx and their throat system will collapse until they suffocate. God Almighty is ruling and reigning on His throne and is going to destroy all His enemies. You don't like that? Get on the right side and you'll love it. Everybody wants to be on a winning team? Repent and believe the gospel today and you'll get on the right side. Ephesians 1 20 says when God that when he wrought in Christ when he raised Christ from the dead He set Christ on his right hand in the heavenly places and that Christ is far above all Principalities and Christ and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not in this only in this world But also in that which is to come and he hath put all things under his feet You know you understand the picture here Now you understand the picture here. This has nothing to do with five kings. This has nothing to do with Joshua's princes. This is a tiny little snapshot of the future. Hebrews 2.8, Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. Psalm 110. You should know this psalm. This is the single most quoted psalm in the entire New Testament. More authors quote this psalm than any other psalm in the New Testament. And the psalm says that Jehovah said to the Messiah, God said to the Son of God, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool. Notice this word footstool right here. Let me teach you something for just a moment. This word footstool comes from the Hebrew. The Hebrew root word here is to pound or crush with a heavy instrument. To pound or crush with a heavy instrument. It means to strike or beat forcibly with the bottom of the foot. It's like you and your house, man, when you see a cockroach, man, you're not going to let that thing live, man. You're chasing that thing down. It's not living. And you crush that thing underneath your foot. That's the idea. That's the idea right there. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. That's not the God I like. I know. I know. The God you've created is a kind, loving, merciful God. That's fine. He is all that and then some. It just depends on what side you're on. Hey, if you're an Israelite, you love the fact that God's casting down hailstones. Get them, God! It's only when you're an Amorite that it stinks to be you. So what about this verse? Pastor, can I get this verse and apply it to myself? I mean, these guys on television take these verses all the time out of context, and they turn them into everything. You know, your small business, your battle against cancer. I mean, can I do that and make God fight for me like Joshua did? Can I count on the Lord to fight for me the way He fought for Israel? Let's answer the question with the Word of God. How about if you make sure that what you're asking for is in His name? Then you'll be alright. You see, those television preachers, they never add that part. They never add that part. You know why? Because they want your money. They don't give a rip about who you are. You are nothing but a Visa card to them, or a MasterCard, or a debit card. That's all you are. You're not a soul that Christ saved, died for. You're not a person that they're seeking to disciple in Christ. You see, this is how it goes. And whatsoever you ask in my name, that will I do. That doesn't mean in Jesus' name, like we close when we're praying, that's not what that means. That means you get on God's side and you'll be fine. You figure out what God's working and get on God's side. He doesn't get on your side. You see, if you're praying about something that you know for sure the Father may be glorified in the Son, you're on target. But I doubt that God gets much glory in your new pink Cadillac because you're a Mary Kay distributor. I don't think that's where we need to go with that. Now you start praying about somebody's salvation and expect God to fight for you. I don't know what you're going to say about physical things because we have Christians that die of cancer all the time. So it may not be God's will to heal someone with cancer. It may not be. You don't know that. Can you ask? Sure, you can ask. But you're not going to go around, healed! Because you don't know that. You don't know that. But you can look somebody in the face and say, I know for sure it's the will of the Lord that you repent and believe the gospel. You can declare that unequivocally. And you can pray towards that end. So the Mosaic law prohibited the hanging after dark. So they hang them up and they string them up on trees, five of them in a row, kings hanging for all the Israelites to see. And then according to the Mosaic law, the dead body needs to come down at sunset. So Joshua issues the commandment to remove the bodies. All right, we're almost done. Give me one more minute. So I wanna ask one final question. Because once again, I wanna make sure that we declare the word of God the right way around here. This chapter is often all about Joshua's faith and we turn Joshua into the great hero, but I'm afraid I've missed the context of the chapter. Let me show you what I mean and we're done. Verse number 8, the Lord delivered them into. Verse number 10, the Lord threw them in a panic. Verse number 11, the Lord threw down hailstones. Verse number 12, the Lord gave them the Amorites. Verse number 12, the Lord spoke to the Son and moved. Verse 14, the Lord listened to a man. Verse 14, the Lord fought for Israel. Verse 19, the Lord has given them. Verse 25, the Lord will do. This is not about Joshua. Joshua's dead. This is about God. This is about a giant God that you can depend on. This is about a huge God that's more than capable of knowing the hairs on your head. More than capable of hearing, answering the prayers of multiple people simultaneously. This is a giant God. This is a God who rules and reigns and He has determined the end from the beginning and you can count on Him. That's what this chapter is about. Did Joshua have some awesome faith? You better believe he had some awesome faith. But that awesome faith was predicated upon a big God who had demonstrated Himself more than sufficient prior to that. Let's pray. Father, in this church, no doubt the number of people that we have assembled, there are a lot of people that are hurting. There are people that are struggling and they need a healthy reminder this morning that the God they're praying to, the God they're worshiping, the God they're singing to, the God that they're serving is a giant God. all-powerful, more than capable of intervening in their needs and ruling and reigning sovereign in their lives and in the lives of this nation and this world, and that He, you, O God, have all things under control You're not panicking and struggling with the economy or health care or the budget collapsing or combat deployments or anxiety. You are ruling and reigning and that you will remain doing that until every enemy, including death, has been crushed under your foot. God, help us to have confidence in who you are. to be the kind of Christians that when it's in your will and according to your will and when you will be glorified, that we can call unto you with big requests, giant requests, requests that glorify your name and proclaim the gospel and exalt who Christ is. Requests like, save my son's soul from hell, dear God. Requests like, put our marriage back together, God. Requests like, give me an opportunity to proclaim your name, God, and I'll do it. Requests like, give me the strength to conquer the sin in my life, Lord, so I can better glorify you with the life I live. God, crush my poor attitude so that my testimony can be better. Church, let's work hard on getting our prayer life conformed to the will of God. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.