DCLM Daily Manna 2023: DCLM Daily Manna 5 December 2023: Reward for Peacemakers

KEY VERSE: “There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.” – (Joshua 11:19) 

TEXT: Joshua 11:10-23 (KJV)

And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.

11 And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.

12 And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.

13 But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.

14 And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe.

15 As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;

17 Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.

18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.

20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses.

21 And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.

22 There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.

23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

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Onetime prime minister of England, Ramsey MacDonald, was said to be discussing with another government official the possibility of lasting peace in the world. The official considered the PM’s viewpoint too idealistic and cynically remarked, “The desire for peace does not necessarily ensure it”. The PM admitted this but quipped, “Quite true. But neither does the desire for food satisfy your hunger, but at least it gets you started toward a restaurant”. The peace move made by the Gibeonites alluded to in today’s text paid off eventually.

Israel’s effort to possess the land of Canaan that was divinely willed to them did not come without stiff oppositions and wars. One of the notable wars they had to fight was with a confederacy of northern Canaan’s crowns headed by Jabin, king of Hazor. As happened in previous wars, God fought for Israel and discomfited all the hostile countries and handed Israel, under Joshua, a decisive victory. Even the Anakims (a race of giants) were routed and a remnant of them took refuge in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod, cities of the Philistines.

Only the Gibeonites were spared because they pursued peace with Israel. It pays to tread the path of peace at all times and everywhere. The pursuit of peace is generally misunderstood as a sign of weakness; but the Christian is enjoined to “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

< span style="font-size: x-large;">True believers are not only followers of peace; they are also peacemakers. Their presence, words and actions help to douse, not inflame, quarrels, fights and uproars. We must equally observe what was said about Joshua’s obedience to divine instructions originally given to Moses. We cannot hope to have the Joshua kind of victory without absolute obedience to God’s word.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The ultimate turning-point for lasting peace is knowing the Prince of peace.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Hosea 10-14

Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Reward for Peacemakers – by Pastor W.F Kumuyi