DEVOTION - TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

“WHEN HE SPEAKS”

BY

BOB COY

Imagine you’re Joshua. You were specifically groomed and chosen to finish that task that Moses wasn’t allowed to. Your mission is to cross over into the territory that God had promised to your Hebrew ancestors several centuries earlier. Before you is a land flowing with milk and honey, but it’s also filled with kings and kingdoms that don’t plan on going anywhere!

Initially, you experience swift success. A series of victories puts you on the map—as well as on the collective radar of everyone else who is left standing in your way. The consensus among them is clear: “We need to join forces in order to defeat these Hebrews or we’re going to get picked off one at a time.”

So the opposing kings pooled their power and came against Joshua and the rest of Israel. According to the ancient historian Josephus, this coalition army consisted of 300,000 soldiers on foot, 10,000 soldiers on horseback, and 20,000 war chariots. That force is all the more formidable when you consider that Israel didn’