The events of this great deliverance pass into Biblical use

V.8 Unlike the earlier matter of Gibeonite deception, it is clear that Joshua consulted Yahweh at this time, and that Yahweh responded favorably.  Yahweh's willingness to help Joshua fight the Amorites, on behalf of the Gibeonites, shows that He was willing to abide by Joshua's oath towards them.  Of course, destroying the Amorites was in keeping with Moses' command (Deut 20:17).

V.13 The Book of Jasher (upright, just) is only mentioned in two places in the Bible (2Sam 1:18).  It seems to have been a poetic book that chronicled heroic events which were probably celebrated in song.  No other information is available.

10:4      Maybe the kings who joined together – Amorites – saw this as an opportunity to settle some un specified score with Gibeon – who were Hivites Josh 11:19.

10:1      We tend to think of Jerusalem as a major city. Indeed it had a long history – right back to the time of Abraham – but the ‘king’ of Jerusalem is afraid. Ai is only a few miles down the hill into the Jordan valley. News would travel fast, Indeed his guards on the hill tops to the East of Jerusalem could even have seen the smoke.

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V.28 Here we have an example of ["souls" (KJV), "everyone" (NIV)] being put to the sword and utterly destroyed by Joshua.  When looking up the word used for "souls" (KJV) or "everyone" (NIV) we find the Hebrew word "nephesh" (5315) thus "soul" in its primary meaning stands for creature, a breathing creature man or animal and it is rendered in the Old Testament as: life, person, self, creature, soul, etc. When original words used are looked up meanings tend to become less confusing or mysterious.

V.1 The name of the king of Jerusalem was Adonai-zedek.  His name means Lord of Righteousness.  It is not a stretch to think that this name is a hold-over from Melchizedek (King of Righteousness) who ruled Jerusalem in Abraham’s time (Gen 14:18).

V.5 The term Amorites is used here to signify people of the Canaanite tribes who are living in the Promised Land.

V.10 Yahweh honored the oath that Joshua had given to the Gibeonites, and helped Israel. This was despite Yahweh’s will that the Gibeonites should have been destroyed by Israel in the first place. This shows the magnanimity of Yahweh.

Joshua took the cities of the Amorites one after another in quick succession. This was because their men of war had left their cities defenceless in order to fight with Isreal at Gilgal (v3-5). They had then been mostly struck down as they fled. This was why Joshua felt it so important to persue these soldiers and strike them before they reached their fortified cities, and why he took the unusual step of asking God to extend the daylight (v12-14).

We can see from 9:1-2 that the call had already gone out to the five other nations to gather armies against Israel. So Joshua had a short length of time to fight with the Amorites before these all came down, and he would be attacked from all sides. Because of his quick victory Israel was prepared for these armies as they came down, numbering "as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude" (11:1-5).

10:28,29,31,34,36,38 Having detailed Israel’s victories the record now provides a summary of other cities that were taken by Joshua and the nation.

Zechariah echoes language from this period to raise Israel's expectations.

V.12 There are some people who contend that Lucifer is a fallen angel who is synonymous with the devil and Satan. 

Lucifer means morning star, and this chapter is clearly talking about the demise of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.  From being a luminary in the political heavens, where his pride and ambition overtook him (vs.13,14), he is now cast down to insignificance (v.15). People shall see this fall and remark upon the fate of this man (vs.16,17).                                                                          

The idea of Lucifer, as being Satan the fallen angel from heaven, came about only in the 4^th century AD. It began with Jerome in the mistaken linkage of Babylon as being the empire of Satan as described in the Apocalypse (Revelation).

14:28 This is one of the few direct details which dates things that Isaiah says. As this vision was seen ‘in the year that Ahaz died’ we see the destruction of Babylon before Hezekiah came to the throne and before the Assyrians had taken Israel captive and taken the fenced cities of Judah.

How is it that, though Babylon is destroyed, it re-emerges again in the prophecy of Revelation?

I think the answer is that Babylon is more than just a city. In this Prophecy, the city named Babylon initially refers to Nineveh whose army was destroyed by God in Isa 37:36-38. History* tells us that the city was then completely destroyed by an army of Babylonians and Medes, fulfilling Isa 13:7. Nineveh remains destroyed.... or does it?

Esarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib (king of Nineveh) actually built the city of Babylon before Nineveh was destroyed. So we can see that the influences and culture of Nineveh just shifted to Babylon. God in His wisdom, saw these events before time and saw fit to name the whole culture Babylon, no matter which city held the balance of power. We see in the book of Daniel how Babylon was simply handed on from one empire to the next.

When God wishes to destroy a city, it isn't the bricks and mortar He wishes to destroy. It is the culture of wickedness and Godlessness. Culture is something which is passed on from generation to generation, learned from father by son, and as such is virtually impossible to stamp out. When God prophecied of the utter destruction of Babylon He had the impossible in mind. The culture of Babylon which is now rampant in our whole society, worldwide, will be finally erased at the coming of Jesus.

* "The History of the World", Plantagnet Somerset Fry, 1994, Dorling Kindersley.

14:25 Whilst the last two chapters have been speaking of the destruction of Babylon it should be remembered that when Isaiah was speaking these words Assyria was the real threat. Therefore the comment about the removal of the Assyrian is not out of place at all. The Assyrians were broken in the days of Hezekiah.

V.4 The golden city (KJV) is a reference to the tribute money that Babylon imposed upon the nations it subdued.  The latter-day Babylon (ecclesiastical Rome) has become rich with the tribute it has garnered over the centuries (Rev 17:4). And, like ancient Babylon, Rome will come to a calamitous end (Rev 14:8).

14:7 the idea of the breaking forth into singing is seen elsewhere in Isaiah when speaking of Israel’s response to deliverance. (Isa 44:23, 49:13, 52:9, 54:1, 55:12)

The Allure of The 'Strange Woman' is a warning which draws on the language of the book of Proverbs

Continuing last year's theme here are a couple more links with Proverbs 6

Timothy is being exhorted to avoid the 'strange' woman.

ch 5,6 - GETTING RICH

When the stock market crashed some years ago the sudden loss of the fortunes of thousands of people disappeared in an instant. There were also many Christians who had gotten very rich from the share market who were devastated when everything was taken from them. They thought that because they were Christians God had blessed them and they had become rich. Paul spoke of them as teaching false doctrines, who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. The problem with getting rich is that it can all be taken from you in a moment, but more than that, it becomes a temptation, a trap and even a god to those possessed with riches. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

To get better value for your riches we should leave the love of money and store up with the riches of God. We read that "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Let us be content with what God has given us, whether it is much or little, and be rich in the true riches of godliness, contentment and peace.

6:3-6 Notice the threefold use of godliness. Whereas godliness should be achieved through belief and practice some thought it was achieved through material acquisition. There is always the danger of presuming that a brother or sister who is wealthy is also godly. Paul is saying that actually the reverse may be the case!

6:2 There is always the danger, when brethren work for brethren that the employee might feel that as the employer is a brother then special treatment should be given. This is not the case. In fact, if there are other employees whoa re not in Christ it is even more important to remember this and be willing to receive less favour from the employer lest the unbeliever feels that there is favouritism shown because the employer and employee are brethren in Christ.

6:4-5 Simple isn’t it? Any of us who seeks to purvey his own ideas is ‘proud’ – often we think of brethren who come up with innovative expositions as ‘interesting’ .

V.7 The truth of this verse reminds me of a funny observation.                                                        There were two Jewish gentlemen, Cohen and Shapiro, who attended the funeral of their friend Goldberg.  Cohen said to Shapiro: You know Goldberg was a very wealthy man - how much did he leave? Shapiro turned to Cohen and coolly replied: All of it!

6:6 Are we satisfied simply with becoming Godly? Do we view developing the mind of Christ as ‘gain’? The natural man views such activities as worthless and pursues material things. The spiritual man seeks to become more like Christ.

V.10 This verse is generally misquoted by the world when it says that: Money is the root of all evil.  Money is inert and can be used for either good or evil (See vs.17,18).  It is the love of money which is the problem.  If a person loves money, he or she can make its means of acquisition justify the ends.  More often than not, these means are evil.

V.11 Compare the list for the fruit of the spirit in Gal 5:22,23.

6:13 As Jesus gave a ‘good confession’ before the gentile Timothy, by his upholding the things Paul had taught him, would also be giving a ‘good confession’. The same, of course, is true of ourselves also.