Joshua chapter 10. And just to catch us up a little bit with the story of Joshua, I'm sure very familiar to many of you. But the whole book of Joshua begins on this really momentous high note as the Lord tells Joshua to begin entering or to prepare to enter that land that he had promised them nearly 450 years earlier, back all the way in Genesis 12, as the Lord promises Abraham this land. And so now the Lord's saying to Joshua, get ready because I'm going to bring you into this land. And so it's a huge, momentous, climactic note that this book begins with. It's an exciting book of conquest and of the Lord's faithfulness to his people. So the Lord brings them through the Jordan River, and brings them into that land, going before them, even by his word. And the Lord provides for them as they go about, and the Lord goes before them in battle, as Joshua encounters the commander of the army of the Lord, that really epic scene there. And how this army, this soldier, this divine warrior is going to go before them. And he goes before them to Jericho. And as they march around, the Lord takes down the walls and gives them victory. He goes before them as they conquer Ai, that city, with a little bit of a mishap because of Achan. But they recover from that. And then also the Lord works upon this city Gibeon. as we're going to read about in our chapter, chapter 10, how Gibeon was this city that was nearby and recognizing that Israel's pretty tough and they're not going to be able to stand against Israel. And so Gibeon comes to Joshua and they formulate this plan to pretend like they're coming from far off, if you remember your Bible stories, and they pretend to be from far away and they try to make a covenant or a treaty with the Israelites. And the Israelites are fooled, they're tricked by it, because they did not consult with the Lord, they simply went by their own wisdom and what they saw with their eyes. And so Joshua then is put in a predicament, and the elders as well, and they're like, well, do we honor this covenant with Gibeon, even though they fooled us and tricked us? And they decide that they will honor the covenant, that they're not going to put Gibeon to death, but they're going to honor it. And now here in chapter 10, that covenant treaty with Gibeon is going to be tested once more, as now not only are they going to decide whether to honor the covenant or put him to death, but they're going to decide, should we come to Gibeon's rescue as the southern kings in the land look to punish Gibeon for their defecting from their alliance? And so that's a little bit of the background here as we come to chapter 10, and we'll read the first 15 verses. So the Word of the Lord reads, Now Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and were living near them. He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like the one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. So, Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, appealed to Hoham, king of Hebron, Pyram, king of Jarmath, Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debir, king of Eglon. Come up and help me attack Gibeon, he said, because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites. Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmath, Lachish, and Eglon, joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it. The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, saying, Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us, help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us. So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The Lord said to Joshua, do not be afraid of them. I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you. After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great victory at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makeda. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky. And more of them died from the hailstones and were killed by the swords of the Israelites. On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel, O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the valley of Ajalon. So the sun stood still and the moon stopped till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the book of Jasher. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There's never been a day like it before or since. A day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel. Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal. We'll end our reading of God's Word there. So brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you've read the Old Testament, the question might have come to your mind being, why is Israel always getting into these fights? Now, why is Israel always getting into these conflicts? Can't they just get along with these people around them? Why are there always battles and fighting and all the stuff going on? And you might answer, as some people have in the past, saying, well, you know, there's these geopolitical reasons behind it, or these economic reasons, or these social factors that are at work here. And while that might be true on some surface level, we recognize that the conflict that Israel engages in throughout the Old Testament, throughout its history, isn't rooted in some of these human factors ultimately, but that this conflict is ultimately rooted in what we see happen and what the Lord does in Genesis 3.15. As the Lord pronounces this curse upon the serpent as he had tricked and fooled the woman into eating of the forbidden fruit, and that he curses this serpent saying that he's going to put enmity violence, aggression between you, your seed, and the seed of the woman. So from that, what ensues is this conflict, is this clash between two kingdoms. Between the kingdom of God, the seed of the woman, and the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of darkness. And we see throughout Israel's history, why all this conflict, we see these two kingdoms. clashing, coming into skirmishes throughout the Old Testament as Israel enters into these conflicts. And as the Old Testament progresses, we see a progression also in the intensity and the scale of these conflicts. Earlier in Israel's history, they're often fighting against a single nation or a single city, even as we see in the book of Joshua, as that's unfolding, as a single Jericho or a single Ai or a single Gibeon. But now, as we see and we come to Joshua 10, we recognize and see that Israel is now up against the biggest and largest scale military conflict of their life, of their history. that Israel is now encountering the biggest challenge so far in her history. Joshua, as we read about, had cut a sort of swath across the midsection of Canaan, Jericho and Ai being these center cities. And by doing so, he split the northern kingdoms and the southern kingdoms. And now we see these southern kingdoms coming together as a sort of coalition, these five kings, led by Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem. We see these kings coming together as the most formidable foe of Israel's history as that conflict again shows itself between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness now intensifying its attack against Israel. And what we see also though, and comfortingly we see, is that in the midst of this conflict, in the midst of this life and death challenge that Israel is about to encounter, we see the King of Glory step forward as a divine warrior to fight on behalf of his people. And so we see then, as a theme statement, we see that from heaven he fought to save her. And if you're familiar with the hymn, Church's One Foundation, it's a sort of play on the words there. There we sing about, from heaven he came and sought her, but here we see from heaven he fought to save her. From heaven he fought to save her. The story opens, you can say, with a heavenly challenge being waged. And into this heavenly challenge, the divine warrior steps forward as Israel's heavenly champion. And as this heavenly champion makes light work, as we read about, throwing hailstones and other things we'll get to, as he does that, God's people receive a heavenly confidence. So everybody loves alliterations, right? So we have the heavenly challenge, heavenly champion, and then lastly the heavenly confidence in God's people. And we'll look at those three points. So first, a heavenly challenge is waged. And we see in the opening eight verses here that these two appeals go out, right? We see two appeals going out, and they're very much paralleled. And the way it's structured, we're supposed to see the parallel here between these two different appeals or cries for help. One of them, the first appeal, goes out to these four royal figures in the land, these four kings. And the other appeal goes out to a single name, goes out to a single Joshua. And so these two appeals are going to set the stage for that large-scale conflict, that large-scale war for the southern territory of Canaan. And so let's think about these two appeals. The first, again, comes from the king of Jerusalem, Adonai Zedek, his name meaning Lord of Righteousness. And we'll see whether he really is the Lord of Righteousness in this story. And as Adonai Zedek, he sits in his Jerusalem palace and on his throne, he hears, and if you read the book of Joshua, the idea of hearing is always very important, as many people have heard, and the way they react is important as well. But he's heard of Jericho, the walls being torn down and collapsing miraculously. He's heard of Ai being devoted to destruction. He's heard of the royal city Gibeon with all those great fighting men submitting themselves and bowing their necks to Israel as her servants. And you see that as we hear, as Adam and Isaac hears, and hears of these things, we recognize then that the Lord himself, that God himself has already encountered the king. Before Israel even gets into this conflict, the Lord himself has already encountered the king by his word and by the word of his mighty deeds and of his impending judgment upon him. The Lord has already encountered him. And again, as I said before, the way in which people hear things throughout the book of Joshua is very important. And so you think back to Rahab, for example, Joshua chapter 2, as the spies go into the land, and they come and they meet this prostitute Rahab, and they speak to her, and Rahab's like, we heard of Israel coming, we heard of what the Lord did in rescuing you out of Egypt with this mighty power and these plagues and splitting the Red Sea and crushing Pharaoh's army, we heard all of that. In fact, the entire land has heard of these mighty deeds of God. And what does she say? She says that in response to their hearing, they're absolutely terrified. They're trembling as Israel now comes through another water ordeal, comes through another water, the Jordan River, to enter the land. They're absolutely terrified. They're shaking. And the same thing with Gibeon, as Gibeon reveals and comes to Israel and says, we heard of these mighty deeds. And think about the ways in which Gibeon and Rahab responded to this word of God, to this word of impending judgment. Rahab humbles herself and seeks refuge in Israel. She recognizes that to stand against the Lord is not something she wants to do. And so she submits herself to to Israel and seeks refuge and seeks mercy from them by hiding those spies and then being incorporated into Israel and being incorporated into the genealogy of Jesus. Gibeon, as they hear of this word, what do they do? They submit themselves. They humble themselves before the Lord's word and submit themselves and therefore are brought in, incorporated into Israel and therefore find salvation, they find rescue, they find mercy. But Adam and Isaac, Adonai Zedek hears of this Word, hears of this impending judgment, and what does he do about this? What is his response to the Word of God? I really want to ask the question, in what will he trust, or better, in whom will he trust to save him from the Lord's coming judgment and anger? Who is he going to trust to find salvation? Well, foolishly, he thinks that there is strength and there's protection in numbers. And so he thinks, okay, let me make a few phone calls to the other kings in the area to get them together. And now he doesn't just simply call the JV players inland, he goes straight for those varsity players to come to his aid. And they even get mentioned by name, these kings that he calls. And it gets mentioned to highlight their impressiveness. If you've ever watched maybe a football game or something, as they go through the roster before the game starts, they'll usually put a picture of these linemen that are usually tough and big and strong, and these pictures are just as intimidating. These intense pictures of these guys that are playing the game. Well, in one sense, you kind of get the roster laid out here of Adonai Zedek's team. It's the roster here as it lists them. Hoham, king of Hebron. Piram, king of Jarmath. Japhia, king of Lachish. And Dabir, king of Eglon. So Adonai Zedek is gathering and really stocking his roster with the strongest, and to use improper grammar, the baddest in the land to make war against Gibeon and ultimately to make war against Israel. And so that's the first appeal, the appeal of Adonai Zedek to these four apparently impressive kings. But now, contrasted with that first appeal, another appeal goes out, and that's the appeal of Gibeon. Gibeon had, as I said before, they had defected from that southern alliance with those kings, and they had in a sense betrayed them as they came under Israel's protection. And so while Adonai Zedek appeals to these four kings, these four royal cities of the land, Gibeon appeals to a single name. While Adonai Zedek brings in four kings of the land, Gibeon calls on the one name of Joshua. It's the one name he calls out for, Joshua, to come to his rescue, to find salvation in. And both appeals are ultimately for salvation, Adonai Zedek with the kings, Gibeon with Joshua. These two appeals then, the one of Gibeon, the one of Adonai Zedek, is going to set the conflict. It's going to set the stage for the Lord to answer a question. And I think the question that this battle is going to answer for us, and the question the battle is going to answer for the people of God in all times, is this. Is it better to appeal to four kings or to a single Joshua for salvation? Is it better to trust in the kings of the earth or to trust in the one mediator of the God of heaven and earth? It's in that question where the challenge ultimately lies. As you saw even this morning, as you see again, it's again another sort of Psalm 2 scenario with these kings plotting against the Lord. And we recognize and we read there, even in Psalm 2, as we read about the rulers taking counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their courts from us. It is these kings trying to defy the Lord, trying to set themselves up against the Lord. And as we're going to see, that of course is never the wise thing to do. But this tactic, this tactic of Adonai Zedek to stalk his roster with the strongest people, to gain the majority, to go for those royal looking figures of the land is so typical of the way in which the world thinks. this past summer or last summer i was uh... doing internship out in uh... messiahs out there and some people from there so uh... glad they can join us and uh... one of things we did me and this guy kelvin he serves as a deacon out there is that we would set up a table to do evangelism out there and the table just had a sign that said free books and people would stop by to see what we had there and so we had bibles and tracts and all those other things and we met any crazy person you could think of they stopped by and uh... one guy we had seen walking uh... towards us or at least walking in the area and he just sort of stood out of time the people that we stood out he's got this sort of selfie stick with a camera facing him and he is uh... talking to it and we're like what is he doing and he walks by and he sees us and he comes by to us and he stops by and he points the camera at us and he's like hey i'm joe from the joe show uh... you know and then he started asking us some questions but then uh... he noticed that there was stuff, Bibles and all that, on the table. And to give you some more information about Joe, Joe was a part of the gay population in the city, and that his talk show was mostly geared towards them as well. And so as he sees those Bibles, he looks at us and says, oh, you're those kind of people. and i was like i guess i guess we aren't so we ended up having uh... a good conversation actually wasn't very intense or anything uh... but eventually could you get a little frustrated because you just kind of going back and forth and talking and every said something to me that really stick and i think it it we see that principal at that and i said i could getting played out again As he says to me, out of frustration, saying, well, don't you recognize that your stand here is set up on one of the highest gay population streets in New York City? Now, why does he say that to me? Well, it's sort of to be intimidating, right? There's so many of us here. There's such a majority here. Shouldn't you be terrified right now? Shouldn't you be afraid? Shouldn't you maybe question your position here? And, you know, you never think of the right thing to say at the moment, but afterwards you reflect on it, of course. And I was like, yeah, that's such, that's so typical of the way in which the world thinks. As long as I have the majority, as long as I have more people on my side, then I should be okay. I'm safe. I'm protected by this majority. And yet, as we're going to see in this story, and as we see applied throughout history, is that that's never the right position to be in. And that there is salvation, and there is protection, only in a single name, and we'll get there. And so I think each of us, though, are caught up in this ultimate challenge, this challenge between trusting in the world and its strength and what it puts forth as impressive, and also, on the other hand, trusting in the Lord, trusting in the means that He has set up. Is our trust in the world? Is our trust in the wisdom of this world? Is it in princes and kings and earthly leaders? Is that to whom you appeal when things are difficult and things seem to be pressing on you and there's stress and there's anxiety and uncertainty? Do you appeal to those things? the world sets up, or is your trust, again, is it trust in the Lord? Is your appeal made to Him in the darkness? Is your appeal made to Him when the enemy closes in, when you're in a tough situation, when there's pressure? And that question, and we'll flesh that out more as we continue along to see, well, what is the better, as we asked before, what is the better appeal? What is the better appeal in these situations? And so the challenge has been issued, that heavenly challenge has been issued as these two appeals go out. And I think before we move on, we need to recognize that ultimately this challenge isn't against Gibeon, because they're simply the pawn or the bait in this whole thing, and nor is it really ultimately against Israel. But that Adonai Zedek and his forces and these four other kings with him ultimately have their fists pointed towards heaven right at God. That's where the conflict ultimately lies. And again, as we said before, we see those two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan coming together, clashing for another skirmish. That's what's ultimately at stake here. And so in one sense you can say that what's also at stake, or coincides with that, is whether or not Psalm 118, as we even read part of it this morning, Psalm 118 verse 9 is true, which says it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. Is it? Is it better to take refuge in the Lord or to trust in princes? And that question is at stake here as this battle is about to take place. So the heavenly challenge has been issued, and now into that heavenly challenge, the heavenly champion is going to step forward. He's going to arise in power. So these two appeals, as they go out, they're heated. The four kings unite their forces with Adonai Zedek against Gibeon, and they make war, as it says in verse 5. And Joshua, on the other hand, as the other appeal goes out, Joshua and all the people of war and all the, as he says, all the mighty men of valor, all the mighty soldiers, everyone, he can muster together. Joshua gathers them. He's holding absolutely nothing back. He's getting every fighting force. And Joshua is getting every possible force that he can get to march to defend Gibeon, to be faithful to that covenant promise, and ultimately really to fight for the glory of the Lord. Now Joshua mobilizes his army at full capacity and strength, and it's possible that he's actually unsure whether the Lord is actually going to come to his aid here. Interestingly, in chapter 9, which we didn't read, but as Israel is fooled by Gibeon earlier, we recognize that, well, there's a sort of eeriness to that whole chapter because a book in which the Lord's speaking as sort of a commander over Israel, telling them where to go and how to attack, chapter 9 is eerie because the Lord is absolutely silent. There's no word from the Lord in chapter 9. And that's the main issue there as well. And so Joshua is possibly unsure. Is the Lord going to come to my rescue? The Lord has been silent to his people, to Joshua. Is he going to come to my rescue? But then in verse 8, we see that the silence is then broken up. And so Lord says there to Joshua these very comforting words. He says, do not abandon your servants. Come up to us. I'm sorry, not verse 8, 6, verse 8. It says, do not be afraid of them. I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you. And so here we see that as Joshua gets his army all ready together, mobilized at full capacity, that Israel's real champion comes forward. Israel's divine warrior, in a sense, you can say, steps in front of Joshua, sort of puts his hand in front of him and says, I got this. Don't worry. Don't fear. I got this. I will go before you. So Joshua, again, he mustered his whole army together, gets his full capacity, and really, they're going to end up being a non-factor in this whole battle, really, as the Lord is going to fight for them, as the Lord is going to valiantly lead his people into battle, and as he's going to fight against their enemies with his power and his might. And He's going to put, as He does so, as He defends Gibeon, as He defends Israel's name, He's going to put His power and His glory and His strength on display, marvelously on display, so that nobody can miss it. Lord, it will put His power on display. And He is going to definitively answer the question we asked before, whose appeal is better? In whom should we find our help? In whom should we trust? He's going to definitively answer that as He extends the battlefield, you can say upward, and joins from His heavenly battle station. And He will be glorified as He flexes, you can say, His divine muscles on behalf of His people. now sorry is another sports thing but if you're watching a football game another football game uh... on t.v. and somebody makes this on the or any sports gaming somebody makes unbelievable player catcher something Well, you're going to see a bunch of replays. But those replays aren't going to show you the exact same angle every time, right? It's going to show you different angles of that one play. So one angle might show his power coming off the line or his intensity off the line. Another might show his acrobatic moves in the air, another his hand-eye coordination. So these different angles of a single catch or a single act These angles help us to see the impressiveness of that one act. You can't capture the whole thing in one picture, one angle. You need different angles to see the majesty and the power of that one move. Well, in the same way as the author here in Joshua 10 narrates the battle for us, he gives us three different camera angles on the same battle. And that's how we make sense of a lot of the chronology here. He gives us three different camera angles on the same battle to highlight for us the different facets of the divine warrior's glory as he fights for his people. It's one battle, but we need these angles to see the impressiveness of it and see the display of God's glory here. And the first camera angle is verses 9 through 10. There it says that after an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. And the Lord threw them, speaking of their enemies, these five kings, threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in great victory at Gibbon. Israel pursued them, though I think I'll say something about the translation here in a second. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makeda. And as I said here, the NIV here translates it as Israel as the subject of those verbs here. So that Israel was the one who chased them and Israel was the one who had cut them down and those things. But I think there's actually a lot of ambiguity here in the Hebrew text. Who actually is doing the chasing and who is doing the cutting down? And I actually think that what is being said here is that it's the Lord himself who is chasing them. It's the Lord himself who is cutting them down and striking them. And that sounds odd, of course, the Lord chasing a people. But I think that's the whole point. That's the whole point, that it sounds a bit strange. That it highlights the Lord's power. It highlights the Lord fighting for his people. He's the divine warrior. He's the fighter. He's the one who obtains the victory for Israel. and he's the one that is at work here chasing, fighting, striking down, cutting down these enemies. So now the second camera angle comes at verse 11. Again, same battle, different angle. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled... such an epic scene here... the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky. So you imagine this scene here that Joshua, again, got all of his forces together and yet it says here that it was the Lord who killed more of them, struck down more of them than Joshua himself. And he did so by sort of launching these hailstones, kind of like laser-guided missiles, out of heaven against these enemies. And what's so miraculous about this is that these hailstones only hit the enemy. So Israel is seeing this and seeing these hailstones being hurled down. Why? To show that it's the Lord who is fighting for Israel. It's the Lord who is going to give them the victory here and we can't miss that point. The third camera angle, again to highlight the same battle, really the most extreme of these angles. Here at verse 12 and 13 it says, And on that day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel. Speaking of sort of a summary of the whole day. Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel, O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the valley of Ajalon. So the sun stood still and the moon stopped, till the nations avenged itself on its enemies, as is written in the book of Joshua. The sun stopped. in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day." Now when we read that, a ton of questions probably spring up in our minds. Did this really happen? Does the sun really stand still? What's the Book of Jasher? So lots of questions and we don't have time to answer them all, but if you have questions, feel free to ask me them afterwards as well. But just say a quick word about two of those questions. So what's the Book of Jasher? And simply, it's just an extra-biblical or non-biblical text of the time. And in one sense, Josh was appealing to it here, saying, well, if you don't believe me, as crazy as this might sound, if you don't believe me, other people have recorded it as well. So he appeals to this non-biblical source of writing as sort of a defense. Now the question, more interestingly, is the question, well, did the sun actually stand still? It's interesting because many good scholars and many even Reformed, Orthodox, confessional people will affirm both, whether it did or it didn't. They'll say, well, here is the only instance, which is true, of poetry being used in the whole book of Joshua. And so there's some type of poetic nature to it, it's not literal. And yet the poetic nature could simply just be highlighting the kind of the bizarre nature of what just took place. And so I personally come out on the side that it did literally stand still, that the sun, as it says here, did halt for a single day. But whether it stood still or whether it's simply poetry here, the point that's being told to us here is that the Lord will, if he has to, literally halt the entire universe for the sake of his people. He'll put the brakes on the sun, he'll tie down the moon, so that his people would obtain full salvation. And so that, by doing that, it's clear that at the end of the day, that it's the Lord who was fighting on the side of Israel. The Lord is the one who responded to Joshua's word, and gave him a sign, and proved himself, and showed himself to be Israel's shield and defender. But another question, I think, is more helpful here, to see what's going on. Why all this supernatural fighting here? The battles have been pretty regular, for the most part, in Joshua. As they, I mean, walls falling down, that was a bit supernatural there. But for the most part, you have these common battles that are regular battles that are taking place. But why all this supernatural fighting here? Why is creation employed in battle here as a supernatural weapon? Why is hailstone launched from heaven like missiles? Why does the sun not run its course as it has done every day since creation? You know, why all this supernatural fighting? The answer to that question is that all of this shows the cosmic upheaval that accompanies the day of God's judgment upon his enemies. When God's judgment falls, the creation always reacts, as we see throughout the Bible. As God's judgment falls, the creation always reacts, and the natural order is disrupted, and the laws of nature are suspended, and it's sort of as if when the King of Glory comes, even the trees are going to bow down in honor before Him. The supernatural elements here tell us that the day of God's judgment has come upon the southern territory of Canaan. The day of God's judgment has come. And the gauntlet of God's judgment and of his righteousness is going to destroy these kings. that have heard his word, and have hardened their hearts against his word, and have rebelled against his rule and his reign. And so on a limited scale, in a particular location, the day of God's judgment comes, and there's no escape. Later in the story, these same kings are going to be hiding in a cave, and yet Joshua captures them, brings them out, has the elders put their feet over their necks, and crush them. There is no escape for them here. And if you would turn with me to the book of Revelation, last book of the Bible, chapter 6, we see the Lord's judgment also accompanying here, that final judgment with a sort of cosmic upheaval, the world changing. as John sees these seals being opened. In the sixth seal, he sees this great sign. Revelation 6, verse 12. John says, I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair. The whole moon turned blood red and the stars in the sky fell to earth as late figs dropped from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll rolling up and every mountain and island was removed from its places. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" Very solemn words. So as Israel wages war against these kings, the final judgment of God that awaits this world is foreshadowed. Here the kings of the earth are given a foretaste of that dreadful day, a day in which there is no escape. Who can escape? Who can withstand as Christ comes to judge? It's a day in which there is no escape, a day in which Jesus Christ will hunt down all of his enemies and destroy them. Jesus as eternal king, he's the one who made war against these southern kings in Canaan's south. And even then, even as you read about in Joshua 10, it's Christ himself saving his people and judging his enemies. Christ is our conquering king. And so the slaughter of the Canaanites was God's judgment upon a people who knew him. They're not unaware and simply just going about blissfully unsure. They've heard his word. They were fully aware of his coming judgment, and as Rahab submitted, and as Gibeon submitted, the king of Jerusalem and these southern kings rebelled. They stood against him. They sought to oppose him. They were simply just being squatters on the Lord's land. Again, they were repeatedly given opportunities to repent. And while the Gibeonites saw the light, Adonai Zedek refused. So he organizes his army to destroy and to fight against the Lord. And so he ultimately marches to his humiliation and his death. And God gave Joshua that sign in the heavens that there would be no day like it or since. But for the last day, that day would be very much like that on a larger scale, when the Lamb opens up that sixth seal, and the kings of the earth who have rejected Him, the rulers of the earth, the rich and the mighty, who have rejected Him in this day, who have heard His word and rejected it, will once again seek to hide in caves and flee from His wrath, but again, there will be nowhere to escape. And so we see then, as the story unfolds, we see then that the divine warrior definitively answers the question for us, which is the better appeal. In whom should we put our trust? Is it better to trust in the kings of this earth, or the one mediator between God of heaven and earth? The Lord looks upon these threats from these kings, and he looks upon them and simply laughs. That they would even think that they could oppose the Lord and His power. It would be like children with a bunch of super-soakers trying to conquer a team of U.S. Navy SEALs. It wouldn't make sense. It makes no sense. Yet the Lord, again, as we see in Psalm 2, He looks at their futile attempts and He laughs. And so we recognize that the only real salvation, the salvation that comes from God's impending judgment, comes from Himself, comes from the Lord Himself. And that we are to trust in Him and to find our confidence in Him. And for those of us who have not found our trust in Christ, who have not sought out Christ for salvation, then the Gospel promise still stands, and the Gospel offer is still for you. As Peter says in Acts 4, that there is no other name under heaven or earth by which we may be saved. It's the name, it's only by calling upon the name of Jesus Christ, which is the English version of Joshua in the Old Testament. By calling upon the one name of Jesus Christ that there is salvation. So Paul also says in Romans chapter 10, As he says, how will they hear if nobody speaks to them? As he says, everyone, for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It is calling upon the name of the Lord, not upon the kings of this earth or the wealth of the comforts or the securities of this earth. It's only by calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this truth then, this truth comes to us even in Psalm 20. And these words here in Psalm 20 will transition us into our final point here. Where in Psalm 20, the psalmist says, verses 6 and 8, Says, now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. He answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise and stand firm or stand upright. And one of the most remarkable things in this story that we haven't focused on yet is the fact that Joshua spoke to the Lord. Joshua spoke to the Lord. It's actually the first instance in the whole book of Joshua, and the only instance in the book, in which this verb of speaking here is used of somebody speaking to the Lord, of an inferior speaking to a superior. So it's only otherwise used of a superior, the Lord, speaking to, say, Joshua, somebody who is inferior. And the author recognizes and speaks of this day as unique. There's been no day like it before or since. Not because the sun stood still, which is amazing, but because God listened to the voice of a man. God listened and obeyed the voice of a man, as it says there in verse 14. And while there was no day like it before or since, the Lord would again listen to the voice of the man. That would be the voice of His Son, Jesus Christ. And that in the name of Christ, we then have the confidence to speak to God in the same way Joshua does here. We have in Christ a heavenly confidence to pray for His Kingdom to come. And we think about it, that's really what Joshua is praying here as he asks for the sun to stand still and the moon to remain set as well. He's praying, Lord, may your kingdom come, may you advance your kingdom here. And we too can pray, as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, what does it mean when we say, your kingdom come? It says, so rule us by your word and spirit that more and more we submit to you. Preserve and increase your church, destroy. the works of the devil, every power that raises itself against you, and every conspiracy against your holy word. Do all this till the fullness of your kingdom comes, wherein you shall be all in all." This is the heavenly confidence that God gives to us as we look to live obediently before Him. And also as we look to risk, really at all, for the sake of his mission in this world and the advancement of his kingdom. And when we have these sort of popular and soft notions of who Jesus is today, it does nothing to comfort God's people as they live for him in this enemy riddled world. As we face opposition from without, but also our own flesh, we need a strong savior. And one person had said, regarding this popular image of Jesus, that it's almost as if Jesus comes to us so often in the way he's depicted, as reeking of hand cream. He's just kind of this soft guy. And yet again, we need a Savior who is soft, who is tender, who is kind, who's not going to blow out the flickering flame. or snuff it out. We need one who is like that. We also need one who is powerful, who is strong, who can fight for us and protect us and be our shield and our defender. And that's what we find in Jesus Christ. And as we are beset by so much opposition, as the world and the flesh and the devil oppose us, and we want and we pray for God to come in, to grab these proud and self-centered dictators and these false messiahs in Christ that get set up, and we want Him to destroy them. And it's a rightful thing for us to want that. And that Christ Himself, as a powerful King, as He's coming again to judge, He can. and deal with these kings, and conquer them, that they will fear Him when He comes again. And so as Gibeon called the name of Joshua for its salvation, So there is one name in heaven and on earth by which we are saved. That's the name, again, of Jesus Christ. So even if the entire universe, every force and power arrayed itself against you, even then it is still better to trust and call upon the name of the Lord God. And so then we must, as we hear this gospel message and the power of Jesus Christ, we have to set our gaze to heaven and see there, see there our divine warrior who fights for us and who will one day usher us into the eternal glory of his kingdom when he comes again to destroy all of his enemies and ours. It's from heaven that Jesus Christ has fought to save us. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the power of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even as we recognize his tenderness towards us and showing us grace, but also we recognize that we need a strong Savior to protect us. And so Lord, we thank you that we have him as our captain and that he guides and governs his church and protects his church. And so Lord, we pray that he would continue to do so, that he would preserve your church and increase your church and that you would destroy the works of the devil. and that, Lord, we would trust you and march on with the advancement of your kingdom with confidence that comes from knowing him as our Lord and Savior. So may you give us that confidence, especially where we are afraid or where we may be anxious or uncertain, Lord. May we have that great confidence that comes knowing that we belong to Jesus Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords and is coming again. May our trust and our hope always be set in him and may he be the one that we call upon for salvation at all times. We ask you to hear us then in his name. Amen.