Joshua 5-10 - Principles For Entering a New Season
* God’s way of leading is through seasons.
* Noun: A period of time associated with an activity.
* In agriculture, the activity is “growth.”
* In sports, the activity is football, basketball, etc.
* Verb:
* To give more flavor to food (make things taste good).
* To treat so as to prepare it for use (make wood suitable for use as timber by adjusting its moisture content to that of the environment in which it will be used).
* To make fit by experience (a seasoned veteran).
* It was time for the Israelites to enter a new season where they would experience blessing like never before.
* But they would have to fight in order to get it.
* These fights taught them a lot, and “seasoned” them to handle the new opportunities that would be available in their new land.
* We’re going to look at the first four battles and the principles they learned.
* Before any fight, the first principle was:
* Principle of the Past - Don’t rely on what worked in the past - allow God to change things for the present (no more manna).
* Principle of Provision - Provision is made possible through work (not called to live in the miraculous).
* Battle #1 - Jericho (Joshua 5-6)
* Principle of Purity - Circumcise first - get rid of the junk in your life.
* Principle of the Plan - Follow God’s plan (no matter how crazy).
* Principle of the Priest - Let your “priest” take the lead.
* Principle of Power - Worship precedes warfare.
* Principle of Protection - If you do what’s right, God will protect (Rahab).
* Principle of Piety - Giving God your first and best shows your devotion to Him.
* Battle #2 - Ai (Joshua 7-8) * they only sent 3k men and 36 died *
* Principle of Decision - Before you act, ASK!
* Principle of Discernment - Your lack of discernment is pointing to something you need to get right.
* Principle of Defeat - Sin renders you powerless in life (root it out).
* Principle of Direction - Upon repentance, God will turn things around for your benefit (He’ll use your past failures for present victories - ambush).
* Principle of Delayed Gratification - Good things come to those who wait (Achan).
* Battle #3 - Gibeon (Joshua 9) * Gibeonites tricked Joshua *
* * He failed the Principle of Decision “again.” He didn’t ask God.
* Principle of Peace - You can’t make friends with those who are enemies of God.
* Principle of Partiality - God’s justice doesn’t play favorites (Lev 19:15).
* Principle of People - People will always complain, but good leaders want grumbling today rather than later.
* Principle of the Pivot - Make your mistakes work for you (slaves)
* Battle #4 - Five Kings (Joshua 10)
* Principle of Fight - Enemies unite when you’re on God’s side (When you fight God’s battles, He joins forces with you).
* Principle of Faithfulness - The miraculous follows faithfulness (hailstones & sun stood still).
* Principle of Fatigue - When you’re tired, watch what God does (hailstones).
* Principle of Fortification - The things that kill others won’t touch you (hailstones only hit the enemy).
* Principle of Faith - Prayer of faith lines up w/God’s will (sun stood still).
* Principle of Authority (Joshua 11:15) Joshua did everything Moses commanded, who did everything God commanded (he stayed under authority and therefore maintained power)
* Result - They defeated 31 kings! (Joshua 12 - mentions Sihon and Og first!)