In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it. And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king”, and in chapter ten and verse forty of the book of Joshua, we learn how, “Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings” where we read,
So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
The verse reads, “So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings:,” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “So Joshua” which means “wherefore and therefore Joshua whose name means Jehovah is salvation” “smote all the country” or “struck, hit, beat and killed each, every and the whole of the territory, region and district” “of the hills” which means “belonging to the risings above the plain or mountains”, “and of the south” or “and belonging to the southern direction”, “and of the vale” which means “and belonging to the lowland and plain”, “and of the springs” or “and belonging to the foundations or mountain slopes”, “and all their kings” which means “and each, the whole and every one of their, the cities’, royal rulers and leaders”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Joshua” struck and killed every one of the mountainous areas, the locations in the southern direction, the lowlands and the mountainous slopes along with every one of their royal rulers.
The verse goes on to say, “he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.” Joshua or the writer continued with the words, “he left none remaining” which means “he, Joshua, did not allow a single person to continue living and breathing”, “but utterly destroyed” or “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover completely exterminated and annihilated” “all that breathed” which means “each, every and the whole of the people who had spirit, soul and breath in them”, “as the LORD God”or “even and indeed like Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name of the One True God who is the Supreme Deity” “of Israel commanded” which means “belonging to Israel, whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob, charged and ordered”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Joshua” did not allow anyone who was alive to remain breathing even as the Supreme Deity of Israel, Jehovah God, ordered them to do.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how “Joshua” and the people of “Israel” obeyed the orders of Jehovah God to completely destroy all these cities and the people within the promise land. Not one person was to be left breathing among them. This may seem extreme upon first glance, but as we discover these were wretched and pagan people whose influence was to be completely removed from God’s chosen people Israel. In like manner, God desires to remove every area of sin in our lives that keeps us separated from Him, and because those sins lead to death, He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and empower us to live according to that truth so that we too will have every area of sin and paganism removed as we live to be His witnesses in this world. (See John 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:2; 1 John 1:9)
Next time we learn how, “Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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