A leader has to fake it, even when he doesn't feel it. Inside, the leader is often scared to death. But it helps a leader to know that he is not alone.

Joshua was called to conquer a land. We have been called to conquer the world. Our calling is to make disciples of every nation. Our weapons are different, for we do not fight against flesh and blood. But the need for strength and courage is no less.

A lot of Christians have trouble accepting the fact that there is a prostitute in the Bible. Not only that, but in the New Testament she is praised.

Not only is she praised, her name is found in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). She is said to be the mother of Boaz and the wife of Salmon.

Some commentaries have tried to suggest that Rahab was only an innkeeper. But that isn't true. This woman was a prostitute. She was an ISHIH ZONAH - a woman of harlotry.

There is a lesson here. It is that the church is not a gathering for good people. The church is a hospital for sinners. We say we believe that, but our actions often show that we don't. We become proud of our own righteousness.

Rahab lied through her teeth. And yet, she is praised in the New Testament and held up as an example of faith. How can we reconcile this?

Rahab is never commended for her lying. She is commended for her faithfulness. The heros (and heroines) of the Bible are real people who had real problems just like you and me. They are not stained-glass saints. They are real people.

We live in a fallen world. That means that sometimes decisions are grey. Sometimes it is not a decision between good and bad. Sometimes it is a decision between two bad things. Sometimes you have to decide which is the worst.

This does not mean that I believe in situational ethics. The Bible does not teach that the end justifies the means. Wrong is still wrong. But it DOES teach that I live in a fallen world. Sometimes I may have to choose between what is bad and what is worse.

However, it is important when making such a gray decision to never call it anything less than sin.

The Exodus from Egypt had taken place 40 years earlier. But it had not been forgotten. It was still the topic of discussion in Canaan. They recognized that the God of Israel had devastated the greatest and most powerful nation on earth.

Rahab had come to believe in the God who divided the Red Sea and who preserved the Israelites in the wilderness.

And so, she seeks to join herself to the covenant community. She asks for salvation both for herself and for her family.

Joshua had picked his spies carefully. He had learned form his previous experience. Forty years earlier, 12 spies had been sent into to land of Canaan. Only 2 had returned with a positive report. This time, only 2 spies are sent. I can't help but wonder if 10 others were interviewed and told, "Don't call us, we'll call you."

The land of Canaan had not changed. The people were not any shorter. The walls of the cities were not any lower. But these spies knew that they could win. Sometimes we need to be told that we can win. We look at our situation and it seems to be hopeless. That is when we need a word of encouragement. That is when we need to be told that we can win.

They came to the Jordan.

It was flooded.

God stopped the waters.

They crossed over.

Notice that the passage does not say that the waters were parted, but that the upstream waters stopped flowing (the downstream waters continued on their way, leaving dry land).

What is more, the location at which the waters stopped is the city of Adam. This city was located 16 miles upstream, near the point where the Jabbok flows into the Jordan.

At this point, there are high clay banks reaching some 40 feet over the river. This area is subject to landslides. During an earthquake in 1927, these banks collapsed, damming the river for a period of nearly 24 hours.

As the Israelites crossed through the dry riverbed of the Jordan, Joshua had two groups of stones set up. They were a group of memorial stones. They were to be a constant reminder of the power of God which was able to stop the waters of the Jordan so that they could cross over.

Remembering is important. Nostalgia can be good. It is good to remember God and His faithfulness. We need reminders.

The Lord's Supper is such a reminder. The real danger in Christianity is that we forget. That is how we fall into sin.

Every time a Jew walked past that stack of rocks, he would be reminded of the power and the goodness of God.

There were actually TWO stacks of rocks. The first group is seen in verse 8. They are twelve stones taken from the riverbed and placed outside the river.

But there is also a second group. This group is seen here in verse 9. This group is also composed of twelve stones. But they are not placed outside the river. They are placed "in the middle of the Jordan."

Seems like a funny place to place memorial stones, doesn't it? After all, who is going to see them at the bottom of the river?

Let me suggest that, in the same way that the first group was to remind the Israelites of the faithfulness and the power of God, so also this second group of stones would also be a reminder to the Israelites.

But when would they see this second group? Only in the dry season when the level of the river lowered. During the dry season, when the crops were in danger of dying and the people were praying for the coming rains, these stones in the middle of the river would become visible. They would be a reminder that God is faithful - even in the dry season.

When the Israelites saw the miracle of the Jordan River, they were impressed. They thought that the reason God had done this was so that they could cross over. That was one reason. But there was also another. It was so that the other nations would see the miracle and they would fear the Lord.

Do you see the application of this? WE are some of the nations who have heard of that miracle. And WE should fear the Lord as a result.

Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" (Joshua 5:13).

And he said, "No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?" (Joshua 5:14).

Now it came about when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were within their land, that he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. (Joshua 10:1-2).

And it came about as they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descend of Beth-horon, that the Lord threw large stones from heaven on them, as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. (Joshua 10:11).

(1) These stones were MIN-HaSHAMAIM - "from heaven."

(2) They were thrown by Yahweh.

(3) This phenomenon took place "as far as Azekah."

(4) These stones caused a great loss of life upon the enemies of Israel. We are not told whether any Israelites were killed by the falling stones.

Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

Furthermore, the passage goes on to explain its terms by describing how that the sun "did not hasten to go down for about a whole day" (literally, "did not hurry to go for a complete day").

If we adopt the literal interpretation, then we are still left with another question: Is this a localized phenomenon, or was it caused by a stopping of the rotation of the entire planet?

And there was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:14).

The first two chapters form an introduction to the book, setting forth what are to be the overall themes and patterns of this period of Israel’s history.

The central chapters set forth the history of the judges in a series of cycles of apostasy, repentance and deliverance.

The last five chapters form an appendix which portray the darkest days of the period of the Judges.

The Moabites and the Ammonites were descendants of Lot. The Israelites had in the past deliberately avoided military conflict with Moab and Ammon for this reason. But this did not stop these two kingdoms from invading Israel.

Eglon, the king of Moab, formed an alliance in order to invade Israel. It involved three kingdoms:

a. Moab.

b. Ammon.

c. Amalekites.

The "city of the palm trees" is a designation for Jericho (Deuteronomy 34:3). Though the city had been destroyed by Joshua and remained uninhabited, the site remained an important one due to its control of the important trade route through the center of Canaan.

The site of the Old Testament city is a mound rising up 50 feet above the surrounding bedrock of the southern Jordan valley (Jericho is 825 feet below sea level). It is located about 10 miles to the NNW of the mouth of the Dead Sea and directly west of fords which make it possible to cross the Jordan except during the rainy season.

The site held a strategic position at the hub of four major roads radiating outward to Gerazim, Jerusalem, Hebron, and westward to the fords across the Jordan.

Judges 3:15-26 tells the story of Ehud and his premeditated murder of Eglon, king of Moab (perhaps "assassination" is a better word).

Ehud is the hero of the story. It was the Lord who raised him up to be a deliverer for the Israelites (3:15). This act would serve as an impetus for an uprising against Moab.

Ehud was a "left-handed man," literally, "a man bound in his right hand." There is a play on words here. He was a "left handed man" but he was also a Benjamite -- a "son of the right hand." The fact that Ehud was left-handed was significant.

In that culture, a left-handed man was considered something of a social misfit. You see, the right hand was normally the social hand (we still speak of extending the "right hand of fellowship"). The left hand was used solely for matters of personal hygiene. It was considered the unclean hand. That is why in matters of judgment, the condemned would be placed at the left hand of the king (remember this the next time you look at the judgment of the sheep and the goats and see what happens to those whom Christ places at His left hand).

And yet, it was this social misfit that God chose to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors.

There is a lesson here. It is that God uses the unusable. Even Jesus was described as "the stone that the builders rejected."

The very thing that made him a social outcast was utilized by Ehud in carrying out his execution of the king.

Ehud makes his escape while the servants wait outside the king’s room, thinking that he is merely taking his time in matters of personal hygiene ("he is only relieving himself in the cool room" - 3:24).

Ehud did not stop with the assassination of the Moabite king. In this, he was not like the Israelites who had taken the land but who had failed to take the opportunity to completely drive out the Canaanites. He escaped only to rally the Israelites. While he had previously gone against the enemy alone, now he walked at their head.

Perhaps there is a principle here. It is a principle of leadership. It is that if you will do the right thing when you are alone, then when you are not alone, others will follow.

Ehud’s military strategy was as cunning as his assassination ploy had been. He first marched to the fords of the Jordan on the east side of Jericho, captured these, and thereby cut off the retreat of the enemy. By doing so, he denied them any attempt to rally and return.

The period of peace that ensued was 80 years - the longest of any period during the days of the judges.

Ancient Hazor is located nine miles north of the Sea of Galilee. The site is made up of an oval-shaped tell of about 25 acres and a much larger plateau covering an area of 175 acres. This made Hazor one of the largest cities in Canaan.

What made Hazor so formidable was the fact that it boasted a chariot corps numbering 900 chariots. It must be remembered that chariots were to the ancient world what the armored tank has been to the modern world.

Throughout most of antiquity, women had a fairly low standing in society. And yet, this woman was known as a prophetess and a judge. She was a housewife and a mother (Judges 5:7 mentions that she was a mother in Israel). But that did not stop the Lord from speaking through her.

Here is the principle. Women are not excluded from ministry. I am not advocating that women should hold offices within the church (though Deborah certainly did hold an exalted office in the nation of Israel). But I am saying that women have an important ministry within the church.

Barak said that he would go, but only on one condition. He would only go if Deborah would come along.

Barak believed that the Lord was with Deborah. He wasn't so certain that the Lord was with him. And so, he wanted to bring someone along who would guarantee the presence of the Lord.

By insisting that Deborah come, Barak was showing true faith. But he was also showing weak faith.

If I gave a quiz in the average Sunday school class, quite a few would recognize the name of Deborah. But not that many would remember the name of Barak.

As the battle commenced, the forces of Sisera consisted of a large chariot corps mobilized "from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon" (Judges 4:13).

We know the location of the river Kishon - it runs in a northwesterly direction along the southern part of the Valley of Jezreel, emptying out into the Mediterranean just north of Mount Carmel.

What is interesting is the other plan-name mentioned. It is Harosheth-hagoyim. As near as I can make out, it seems to mean "the cutting of the nations." The key city of this valley, although not mentioned in this text, is the ancient walled city of Megiddo. It is from this that we get the Hebrew "Armageddon" (HAR-MEGIDDO - "Mount of Megiddo" - the problem being is that Megiddo is not on a mountain, it is in the middle of the valley).

In the historical account of the passage, we read that "the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army" (4:15). The passage makes it quite clear that the instrument which the Lord used to accomplish this was Barak and the Israelites.

Judges 5 follows up the battle with a song of victory.

In this song, Deborah says that "the torrent of Kishon swept them away" (5:21) - seemingly a reference to the Kishon River overflowing its banks, although whether this is simply poetic imagery or whether it actually happened in the course of the battle is difficult to tell.

As I read this account, I am struck by the "coincidence" of its echoing repetition in the book of Revelation.

It seems as though the imagery for the spiritual battle of Armageddon is drawn from this historical battle.

How did Barak and his 10,000 under-equipped foot soldiers manage to defeat a chariot corps of 900 war chariots? This was like having a bunch of Indians defeat a modern mechanized armor division. And what is more, they did it in open terrain. They were on the valley of Megiddo. This was perfect territory for chariot warfare. The Israelites had no right to win.

But God was bigger than Sisera's chariot corps. In her song of victory, Deborah says that "the earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, even the clouds dripped water" (Judges 5:4). Furthermore, she says that "the torrent of Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon" (Judges 5:21 - this torrent of Kishon is also mentioned in Psalm 83:9).

If this is not merely figurative language, then it is possible that the Lord brought about a rainstorm and a flooding of the Kishon River to turn the valley floor into mud, thereby immobilizing Sisera's chariot force.

The Israelites were unaffected by this adverse weather and attacked their enemies, routing them.

As Sisera flees on foot, he will come into contact with another woman who will be used of the Lord. It is noteworthy that this woman was married to a man who had rejected the Lord.

Heber had come from a distinguished family. He was a descendant of the father-in-law of Moses. But he had long since disassociated himself from his fellow Israelites. Instead of living with them, he had parted from their company and had pitched his tent in the area of Kedesh Naphtali on the southwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.

He had also made an alliance with the Canaanite city of Hazor and the enemies of the people of God.

This man had made peace at a time where there ought to have been no peace.

Is there a lesson here? Perhaps there is. Perhaps it is that there are certain alliances into which we ought not enter. Though I believe in the unity of the church, there are certain people with whom we should NOT be united.

Apparently, the wife of Heber understood this principle. When Sisera sought refuge within her tent, she at first acquiesced, feeding him and hiding him under a rug within her tent.

In such a way, the prophecy was fulfilled. It was by the hand of a woman that Sisera met his end.

On three different occasions we read that "there was no king in Israel." This is pointing to the problem of a lack of authority in Israel.

The Levite of this story has a concubine who "played the harlot," ending up at her father’s home in Bethlehem. He goes to fetch her and ends up staying in the home of his father-in-law for several days. Finally getting a late start, he leaves with his servant and his concubine and begin their journey home.

Their route takes them past the Jebusite city of Jerusalem, but they determine to bypass this city because it is a Canaanite city. They continue on until they come to Gibeah, a city of Benjamin (19:14).

The name "Gibeah" is Hebrew for "hill." Archaeological finds show the site of this small city to have been only three miles north of Jerusalem. It would be from this city that Saul would come.

It seems ironic that, having avoided Jerusalem because of its pagan inhabitants, that this Levite and his concubine should be awarded with such an inhospitable attitude from those of Gibeah.

Gibeah was not all that big of a city. It did have a fortress with four corner towers and an open square in the middle. Perhaps this is where the Levite and his party prepared to spend the night.

However, at this time, an "old man" from the hill country of Ephraim who had been temporarily working and living in Gibeah came in from the fields and invited the party to lodge at his house.

The description of them as "worthless fellows" is literally "men who were sons of Belial." This is a figure of speech and it is not necessary to view "Belial" as a proper name.

This is markedly similar to the incident with Lot and the two angels in the city of Sodom (Genesis 19:4-8).

In that instance, there were angelic visitors to the city of Sodom who found refuge with Lot. In the middle of the night, men of Sodom surrounded his house in an endeavor to sexually abuse his visitors.

The cutting up of the body of the woman would find its parallel in the actions of King Saul when he cut seven oxen into pieces and sent them throughout the territory of Israel as a call to arms (1 Samuel 11:7).

As a result, representatives of all twelve tribes gather together at Mizpah - a total of 400,000 people.

The word "Mizpah" (it appears each time with the definite article) means "watchtower." The exact location of this place is unknown. Apparently, it was located near Shiloh where the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were kept. It seems to have remained as the place of meeting for the Tribes of Israel from the time of Samuel to the days of the Maccabees (1 Samuel 7:5-12; 10:17; 2 Kings 25:23; 1 Maccabees 3:46).

When the story of the incident is related, the tribes of Israel determine to punish the town of Gibeah. But the people of Benjamin disagree and they even go so far as to go to war against the other tribes over this issue.

In the ensuing battle, Benjamin is victorious and 22,000 men of the tribe of Judah are slain. After weeping and praying before the Lord, the Israelites ask the Lord if they should go up again. The Lord says to go up. They do and this time they lose 18,000 men.

They go and weep before the Lord again and fast and pray for an entire day, offering sacrifices to the Lord. They ask again whether they should go up against Benjamin. Again, the Lord says to go up.

This time, they formulate an ambush, pretending to retreat and drawing the people of Benjamin away from the city of Gibeah while a hidden force enters the city and sets it to the torch.

As the battle became a rout, a total of 25,000 of the tribe of Benjamin were destroyed.

This brings up a question. Why did the Israelites lose the initial two battles? Why did they have to lose 40,000 men before gaining the victory?

We are not told. We are told of no sin on their behalf. We read of no lack of faith. We are left with no reason at all.

There is an important lesson here. It is that you can do all the things you are supposed to and still experience failure for no obvious reason. Remember the example of Job? WE can see the reason for the tragic events in his life, but he was not privy to these reasons.

Here is the lesson. Just because bad things happen for no apparent reason does not mean that there is no reason. And just because things go wrong when I am doing everything right is no excuse to stop doing right.

Those of the tribe of Benjamin who survived the war with Israel numbered a scant 600 men (Judges 20:47). This raised a problem.

The oath against Benjamin was an oath to cut off Benjamin from intermarriage with the rest of the tribes of Israel. And to make matters worse, the Israelites had destroyed all of the Benjamite cities and had either killed or taken captive all of the women of those cities.

In the months that followed, the Israelites pondered their options. They could not go back on their oath to the Lord. They were unwilling to allow the tribe of Benjamin to become extinct. And so, they came up with a twofold plan.