Iron Chariots (4-10-13)

Joshua 17:16 - "The sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”"

The book of Joshua tells about the children of Israel entering in to the land of Canaan after wandering in the desert for forty years, and taking possession of the land that the Lord God promised to give them. Although God promised to give them the land there was still an effort on the part Israel, an action that they had to take. As you read through the book of Joshua you see God working on behalf of His people time after time, but never without them being obedient to what He told them to do. In chapter 6 the Lord told them to walk around the city of Jericho for seven days. They were obedient to His instructions and He caused the walls to fall down and the city was delivered into their hands. In chapter 8 the Lord gave Joshua a very strategic plan for defeating the city of Ai. He told Joshua to pretend to be defeated before Ai in order to draw out the soldiers of the city to pursue them. Once the army left the city part of Israels army which had been hiding entered the city and set it on fire and then began to pursue the army of Ai surrounding them and ultimately defeating them because they had nowhere to go. We come to chapter 10 and the Lord sends Israel up against five kings and their armies. But 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." Over and over again in this battle we see the Lord intervening on Israels behalf. In verse 10 we read - "And the Lord confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon." Verse 11 says - "As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword." God even stopped the earth from spinning in order that the sun wouldn't go down so that Israel would have more time to defeat their enemies. Verses 13 and 14 say - "And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 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." I could go on, but the point is that God obviously fought for Israel as they were obedient to do their part. It's obvious that God was helping them. Think about who they were and where they had come from. Israel was not a mighty army, they had just been wandering in the wilderness for forty years. And before that they were slaves not soldiers. And even the nations that they were coming against recognized that it was God who was fighting for Israel. Before Jericho was destroyed two spies were sent into the city and they were sheltered in the house of Rahab. And she said to them in Joshua 2:9-11 - "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." These events that she mentions happened forty years earlier and yet the people of the land still remembered what they Lord had done for Israel and they trembled before Him. In chapter 9 the Gibeonites tricked Israel into making a treaty with them, and when Joshua asked why they had deceived him they answered by saying - "Because it was certainly told your servants that the Lord your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and have done this thing." It almost seems as though Israels enemies remembered the works of God better than Israel did.

I say all that as an introduction to the verse that I began with from Joshua chapter 17. When the twelve tribes were entering their territories to possess them the tribe of Joseph came to Joshua and asked for more land. They said that they were a numerous people whom the Lord had blessed and said that the land allotted to them was not enough. So Joshua told them to go up and clear the forests that bordered their allotment and drive out the Canaanites that lived in the land. And even after everything that the Lord had done for His people we read in Joshua 17:16 - "The sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”" They basically said "We can't go there, they've got iron chariots." They got their focus off of God and put it on their circumstances. Remember, they weren't trained soldiers. They probably didn't even have horses, much less chariots. Could they defeat these people who had iron chariots? Humanly speaking, no. But they weren't looking at the situation through the eyes of faith. All they could see were iron chariots. And that's difficult, that's hard, I can't imagine how intimidating it must be to enter into the land that God has promised to you after wandering in the wilderness for years only to be met by an opponent that was so far advanced. But in verses 17-18 we read this - "Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, “You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have one lot only, but the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong.”" Joshua knew about the chariots of iron and even so he confidently told the people that they would drive them out in spite of the fact that they had iron chariots. How could he speak with such confidence? They were both looking at the same situation, the difference is that Joshua was looking at it through the lens of what God said. God had already said that he would drive out their enemies before them, even thought they were greater and stronger. We read in Deuteronomy 7:1-2 - "When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them." Notice that it says "when" not "if". It was already a fact that God was going to drive out the inhabitants of the land. It was 100% certain even though it hadn't happened yet. God had spoken it and He would surely bring it to pass. In verse 9 of the same chapter we read - "Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments." In Deuteronomy 7:17-19 it says - "If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid." This was the exact scenario in Joshua 17. The people were saying that they couldn't drive out the Canaanites because they had iron chariots, but God already made provision for them. We read in verse 21 - "You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God." He is the one doing the fighting, He will take care of the iron chariots, they don't concern Him in the least. We go on to read in verses 23-24 - "But the Lord your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them." Over and over again in Deuteronomy chapter 7 God told His people that they would enter and possess the land. He told them again and again that He was the one who would fight for them. He pointed to what He had done in the past, He declared truths about His own character, and yet when the tribe of Joseph saw the iron chariots of the Canaanites they said "We can't go there, they've got iron chariots." They forgot what God had said, who He is and what He had done for them in the past. They forgot all this in light of their present circumstances. But how many times do we do the same thing? How many times when we're faced with opposition do we come up with excuses why we can't do what God wants us to do? "I can't share the gospel with that person, I might lose my job.", "I can't show that person respect, they don't deserve it.", "I can't give anything to them, I'm barely making it by as it is.", "We can't go there, they've got iron chariots." The issues in our lives may not be iron chariots, but is there something that God wants you to do that your not doing because it seems impossible? The Israelites were able to drive out the Canaanites even though they had iron chariots, not because Joshua said they could, but because God said they would. Gods commands are His enablings. He will never command you to do something that He will not also provide you with the strength and the ability to do. When He says "go into all the world and make disciples of every nation." He enables us to carry that out. When He says "Love one another just as I have loved you." He enables us to do it. When He says "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." We can do it, only through His power. In John chapter 15 the Lord Jesus said "Without Me you can do nothing." But the opposite is also true for we read in Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I don't know what iron chariots are in your life but in the context that the apostle Paul wrote these words he was talking about learning to be content in all things. He said that he had learned the secret of being filled and of going hungry. Both of having abundance and suffering need. Maybe you're in a similar situation. It's hard to go without something you're used to having. But in whatever impossible situation we find ourselves we can take comfort in the fact that God is bigger and the problems that we are facing don't overwhelm Him. He knows what He's doing. And He will provide the strength and the ability to go against iron chariots. May we forsake our excuses and simply follow His commands.
 
Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."