Life Learning Series

In addition to custodianship over Israel, Joshua was destined to link Israel with the other nations of the world.  To set this in motion, the LORD instigated a candidate connection.  The candidate connection is the type that would be formed in reaction to fear.  The LORD gave Joshua some practice in being that kind of intercessor for a certain one of the other nations; starting here.

And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.

(Joshua 9:1-5)

The candidate connection was not, just for a confederation.  What is a confederation?  Here is an example of an interaction in a confederation, as might be applied to international affairs.

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– Explore Collateral Damage and the Heart of God: Part Ten –

To reach someone’s intellect, we must have a component to which they can relate.  In the beginning of the LORD God’s introduction to the peoples of the world, God extended the following portion of His Self; a portion of interaction, to which the world would relate, from that time, forward.

And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:  And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

(Exodus 4:21-23)

In the beginning of the LORD’S introduction to the broader population of the world of Moses’ day; the people of the world formed only a very cautious connection to the people of Israel.  That connection was based on fear, primarily.  This atmosphere went forward, across the wilderness journey, and onward, into the adventures in the land of Canaan.  In the time of Joshua, fear was a powerful parameter in the other nations’ assessment of Israel.  We see this, clearly, in the following interaction.

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– Explore Collateral Damage and the Heart of God: Part Nine –