RETAIN THE LIGHT AND
DEFEAT THE ENEMY
REV. MIKE BLUME
October 27, 2002 pm
Genesis 15:7-18 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out
of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. (8) And he
said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? (9) And he
said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three
years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
(10) And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and
laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. (11)
And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
(12) And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and,
lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. (13) And he said unto Abram,
Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not
theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
(14) And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward
shall they come out with great substance. (15) And thou shalt go to thy
fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. (16) But in the
fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of
the Amorites is not yet full. (17) And it came to pass, that, when
the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning
lamp that passed between those pieces. (18) In the same day the LORD made
a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from
the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Joshua 10:1-14 Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek
king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed
it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her
king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and
were among them; (2) That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great
city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and
all the men thereof were mighty. (3) Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem
sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto
Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, (4) Come
up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace
with Joshua and with the children of Israel. (5) Therefore the
five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron,
the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves
together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon,
and made war against it. (6) And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to
the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up
to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites
that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. (7) So Joshua
ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the
mighty men of valour. (8) And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not:
for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand
before thee. (9) Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up
from Gilgal all night. (10) And the LORD discomfited them before Israel,
and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the
way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
(11) And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the
going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven
upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones
than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. (12) Then
spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites
before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand
thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
(13) And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged
themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher?
So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down
about a whole day. (14) And there was no day like that before it or after
it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought
for Israel.
Four generations in that time were four hundred years as men lived much
longer lives.
- Moses lived 120 years and
Joshua lived 110 years.
Joshua 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon,
that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
Moses wrote this as follows:
Deuteronomy 11:22-24 For if ye shall diligently
keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the
LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; (23) Then
will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall
possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. (24) Every place
whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness
and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost
sea shall your coast be.
The Amorites were noted to Abram as being wicked, but God would not bring
Israel to this land of Abraham's until their wickedness was full.
Israel eventually did indeed suffer affliction at the hands of Egypt
for four hundred years.
- As soon as Joseph died and
another Pharaoh arose, Egypt afflicted Israel, having been guests by the
previous Pharaoh
Abram's vision of a smoking furnace
was mirrored by Moses after the Exodus:
Deuteronomy 4:20 But the LORD hath taken you,
and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be
unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
The burning lamp that Abram saw in the smoking furnace was the pillar
of fire that came to deliver Israel!
And eventually, Israel came to Canaan, the land Abram stood upon when
Melchisedek gave him bread and wine.
- Joshua led Israel.
- They defeated Jericho, then
Ai.
- And then the king of Jerusalem
stirred up in fear.
- Adonizedec.
He found four more kings to fight
Gibeon, a city who joined with Israel.
- Joshua came down and God
told him...
Joshua 10:8 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have
delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before
thee.
Joshua did not hesitate after he heard God's word.
- He marched on and went after
the armies in the night!
Joshua 10:9 Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from
Gilgal all night.
Suddenly, with no waiting around.
God then troubled the armies and Israel slaughtered them.
- As some escaped, God shot
down hailstones killing more than Israel slew.
- But that was not all.
Joshua knew he was to destroy
these people.
- Joshua's method was to slay
the kings and hang them on trees as a display.
- He did that with Jericho's
king and Ai's king.
Joshua 8:25-29 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and
women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. (26) For Joshua drew
not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly
destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. (27) Only the cattle and the spoil
of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word
of the LORD which he commanded Joshua. (28) And Joshua burnt Ai, and made
it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. (29) And the king
of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down,
Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and
cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great
heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
Joshua would not quit until he defeated the enemy!
- And if he was going to hang
the enemy on a tree, the bible said clearly that a body shall NOT hang after
sundown.
- It would defile the land.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed
a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on
a tree: (23) His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou
shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed
of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee
for an inheritance.
Joshua saw the sun going down that day.
- He knew he had to slay the
king of Jerusalem still and the four others who joined him.
- He had to wipe out all the
enemies.
When God gives you orders, then
you can rest assured that you wil be able to carry them out.
- He does not ask us to do
things that are too much for us to do.
- We need to keep this in
mind when we face situations that tend to intimidate.
- God will not let nothing
come upon us that we cannot bear, carry and deal with.
So Joshua suddenly spoke in such
absolute faith, surely because God reassured him everyone who stands before
him will come down, and commanded the sun and the moon to stand still, and
for time to cease!
- He remembered the law of
hanging.
- Time was against him.
- No hanging would be done
and the king would escape if the battle was not completed DURING THE LIGHT.
And we read that there was never
a day like it before or since.
- And God fought for Israel!
Joshua 10:12-14 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered
up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight
of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley
of Ajalon. (13) And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the
people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in
the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted
not to go down about a whole day. (14) And there was no day like that
before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man:
for the LORD fought for Israel.
Word returned that the kings fled into a cave.
- Joshua commanded huge stones
be laid before the mouth of the cave.
- He arrived and demanded
they remove the kings.
- Out came Adonizedec with
the four others.
Joshua 10:24-27 And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto
Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the
captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet
upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon
the necks of them. (25) And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed,
be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies
against whom ye fight. (26) And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew
them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees
until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of
the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and
cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones
in the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day.
He had to hang the men.
He had to finish the battle.
- But night would end that
possibility, for no hanging can occur after darkness.
- So he demanded time to stand
still.
DAY AND NIGHT are spiritual terms,
also.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 Ye are all the children of
light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-9 But let us, who are of the
day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet,
the hope of salvation. (9) For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but
to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
We are appointed by God to WIN.
- To be delivered!
- So we must put on ARMOUR
and FIGHT!
- We are of the day!
John 1 says the LIGHT is Jesus,
who was IN THE BEGINNING, in Genesis when God SPOKE and said LET THERE
BE LIGHT.
- Light shone in darkness and
the darkness comprehended it not.
- We who received light were
given power to become sons of God.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
We have POWER when we are OF THE DAY.
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent
me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
But we can only work in DAY.
Having light is having revelation.
- It is word from God.
- God speaks and THERE IS
LIGHT.
- He shone in our hearts AND
THERE IS LIGHT.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
AND WHILE WE HAVE LIGHT, we have faith and revelation, and we will conquer
the enemies!
- We have LIGHT when we know
who we are.
- Its as though God says to
us, "Be strong. You are my people. I am with you. Nothing can stand
in your way."
- WALK IN THAT LIGHT!
- Live like it.
- WALK IN FAITH.
- And you will destroy all
enemies in that kind of faith by the POWER CHRIST GAVE YOU THROUGH THE CROSS.
- The cross is the TREE.
- When you HANG ENEMIES ON
THE TREE you are actually applying the work of the cross as victory against
the devil.
Maintain your faith.
- Believe God and see the LIGHT
CONTINUE.
- You can only work while
it is day.
- When night comes, when you
lose your revelation and your faith, you cannot defeat the enemy.
- He escapes.
- You were worn out.
- Your faith dwindled.
You will not apply the work of
the cross to the enemy, but you will slip into trying to deal with circumstances
in your own way.
- When we lose spiritual sensitivity,
we grow carnal and lose sight of faith.
- We do not even think to
pursue the enemy because God is with us.
- We remain worried.
- We lose that understanding.
- Its not like riding a bicycle
that you never forget to do.
God said everything we place our
feet on is our's.
- DO WE BELIEVE THAT?
- If we do, we have great
faith.
- If we do we know we can
take the enemy in any manner God wants us to.
One cannot be left hanging after
sundown.
- In other words, you will
not be able to apply the cross when you lose your faith and YOUR WALK IN
LIGHT.
Ephesians 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the
sun go down upon your wrath: (27) Neither give place to
the devil.
We all know about Jesus becoming angry and casting out moneychangers.
- There is a time for righteous
anger.
- We simply must ensure we
do not sin.
- But notice that these verses
talk about being angry without sinning, which is good, and then mentions
not giving place to the devil.
- PLACE is ROOM or OCCUPANCY
or GROUND.
God told Moses and Joshua the
GROUND was their's!
- Every footprint of Israel
was a note of ownership!
- In other words, whatever
ground you can reach and stand on, is your's for the keeping.
- We need to run as fast as
we can over all the ground we can step on, if that is the case.
- And there were enemies on
that GROUND.
- Give no ground to the devil.
We give ground to the devil when
we don't get enraged at him and pursue him and run him down!
- He is let off to do more
wickedness.
- The Church of the living
God should be so stirred in anger at Satan, that we chase him down and not
let him get by another moment.
With this in mind, thinking in
those kinds of terms, read that again.
Ephesians 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let
not the sun go down upon your wrath: (27) Neither give place to the devil.
DO NOT LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON YOUR WRATH.
Don't let that sun go down!
- In other words, get angry
at hell, and chase it down and deal with Him before the LIGHT GOES.
- Stay in the LIGHT.
- Stay lit up in faith and
revelation!
- Do not let your revelation
dwindle.
- Keep your faith and light
shining and walk in the light of faith until you finish the devil off from
whatever mess he is causing.
This Adonizedek BROUGHT TROUBLE.
- He stirred up.
- And Joshua became ENRAGED.
Joshua 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people
had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book
of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not
to go down about a whole day.
AVENGE yourself upon the devil!
- When you lose faith and revelation
and light, you will not think to use the works of the cross, since that
is a very spiritual truth that we must keep in our hearts.
- We will try to fight in
carnal ways in our own thoughts.
- We need to stay in light
of revelation and utilize the power of the cross.
JOSHUA is JESUS in Hebrew.
Jesus is telling us to always remember that THIS is how we will defeat
every enemy that ever comes our way!
Joshua 10:25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not,
nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD
do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
Do not let the devil get by ONE DAY of this fuss with you.
God spoke and said He is with
you.... FEAR NOT!
