You should never ever vote on the will of God. Dr. Tuni Evans says when God declares His will, it's settled. End of discussion. stated his will.
The vote has been taken. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Having a promise from God doesn't mean the journey will be easy, but it does mean He'll walk with you through the battles. In today's message, Dr.
Evans reveals how God's power isn't limited by numbers or resources, and how faith plus obedience is the key to unlocking His provision and purpose in our lives. Let's listen. Joshua is a book about God's fulfilling his promise to his people. God had promised them a land. A land flowing with milk and honey.
They've been waiting 40 years to experience this. And now Joshua's generation has entered the land And God is guiding them in taking over the land that he has promised to them. We've explained that the promised land is not heaven. Because there were enemies in the promised land. They were Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites.
And many other enemies. There are no enemies for us in heaven. This is As far as you and I are concerned, fulfilling God's purpose in our lives. experiencing God's promises for our lives, As we follow God in addressing the challenges of life that we face. And just as Israel, even though they had a promise, concomitant to that promise of those promises were Challenges, the Jericho AI.
and the many challenges we've seen.
So they're in the process of conquering. the land of promise that was promised them by the Lord. Beginning in chapter 11, We have now this attack on the northern part of the promised land and the campaigns. that were associated with it.
Well, obviously, all these kings, now knowing that the South have been defeated, are a little nervous. Because Joshua is on the march.
So they all come together. In the first Five verses. Verse 4. They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore. with very many horses and chariots.
So this is like those boxing shows where you say, let's get ready to rumble. Yeah. They say, man, look, we got to stop. We got to stop Israel. We got to stop Joshua and his army.
So all these armies come together in the north. For the purpose of stopping Joshua, and they bring everything but the kitchen sink. Everybody's coming. It says they got an army like the sand of the sea. Far as you can look, they are soldiers with their horses and with their chariot.
And this is a good one. I like this one. Oh.
So all these kings, verse five, agreed to meet. to fight Israel. They're outnumbering Israel, and they're about to stop them from inheriting or seek to stop them from inheriting the promise. Verse 6. Then the LORD said to Joshua, Do not be afraid.
No. Whenever the Lord tells you not to be afraid. That's 'cause something is scaring you.
Okay. In this case. He's grossly outnumbered. They got the chariots, they got the equipment, they got the stuff.
So, when God tells you, don't be afraid, that's because you're scared. You know, something is shaking you up. And so he tells him, as he's told him a number of times, don't be afraid. For tomorrow at this time, I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. Don't be afraid because I got you.
Yeah. And I watch this. You shall hamstring. They're horses. and burn their chariots.
To hamstring the horses means to lame them. You are to lame the horses so they can't run. Ham string the horses and and burned their chariot.
So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Mirom and attacked them. The Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel. that they defeated them and pursued them as far as Great Sidon. Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots With fire.
Now what was all this about the horses and burning the chariots.
Well, very simply. God wanted to show them. His power of giving them victory. Over and above the human elements, they were dependent upon. See, they had soldiers and they were dependent upon their horses to carry them and their chariots.
And God was going to give them victory. Through conquering what they were depending upon to give them victory. Yeah. In other words, Sometimes God wants to show you how big he is. And he will show that.
By limiting Your enemy's ability to use the expertise at their disposal. They may be smarter than you, bigger than you, richer than you, more powerful than you. They may have more background, more contacts. They may have more of this world stuff. But when God wants to show off and show out, When God wants to let you see.
That it's not by might, not by power, it's not by horses, it's not by chariots. It's by the will of God. Then he will he doesn't mind hamstringing. What the enemy is dependent upon. to bring them victory.
Then Joshua verse 10. turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all these, Kingdom.
So cut off the head of the snake.
Okay, he was the lead guy, so he went down.
So he made an example of that particular city.
So So we're going to find out now that Joshua, having made an example of them, Joshua is now on the march. And taking the spoils of the city, verse 14. Verse 16: Joshua took all the land and the hill country, he's in the north now. Verse 18: Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings.
Now watch this. There was not a city which made peace with the sons of Israel except the Hevites living in Gibeon. They took them all in battle.
So Josh was defeating everybody.
Now What brought about this defeat from God's perspective? We know from Joshua's perspective because he's doing what he's been told to do. But let's look at it from God's perspective. He says in verse 20, for it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. To meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them.
that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them just as the LORD had commanded Moses. There's a whole lot there. Whole theology about the hardening of the heart. Romans chapter nine talks about God hardening hearts, even in the New Testament. It talks about God hardening.
the heart of Pharaoh, just as it happened with Moses.
So the question is: why does God hidden a height. Force a heart to be unresponsive.
Well, if you go back, because he uses just as he told Moses, so that takes us back to Pharaoh. He says, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. But when you look at the story, God only hardens Pharaoh's heart after Pharaoh hardens his own heart.
So when you look at the history, Pharaoh hardens his heart. That is, he takes a strong refusal. No, God, I don't care what you say. I'm going to do what I want to do when I want to do it. And he became hard-hearted.
You probably know people like this with hard hearts. They are cold, they are determined to not do right. They're not struggling to do right, they're determined to do wrong.
So When a person hardens their heart against God, God basically says, oh, that's how it is.
Okay, well why don't I just make it harder? Since you already got a hard heart. We're going to make this baby stone. We're gonna make this brick rock. We're going to harden it.
We're going to make you so hard since you're already hardened. We're going to make you hard. In your heart, and there will be no mercy.
So, God hardens the heart when you have crossed the line. With your rebellion. Not struggle, but rebellion. And when you cross that line of a hard heart, that is, a heart that's stubbornly determined to rebel against God. then God cooperates with your hardening.
And he hardens it now toward his purpose. doctor Evans will return shortly to show us how the Egyptians' hardened hearts set the stage for their dramatic downfall.
Well, as we're learning in this series, the book of Joshua is full of stories where God works through both victories and challenges to fulfill his promises. Today's lesson reminds us that God's plan always moves forward, even when obstacles look overwhelming. To help you dig deeper into these powerful truths, we're offering Tony's complete nine-part audio series on the Book of Joshua as our gift when you support the ministry of the alternative. And for a limited time, we'll also include the Kingdom Family Devotional, written by Dr. Evans with his son, pastor and author Jonathan Evans.
It's a 52-week journey through important topics like prayer, forgiveness, and spiritual growth, crafted to help your family walk closer with God and each other every day of the year. Don't wait to take advantage of this special double offer. Visit us today at tonyevans.org to make a request or call our friendly team at 1-800-800-800-8000. 800 3222 any time of the day or night. That's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
Well right now, let's rejoin Dr. Evans for more on Conquest and Division. from the book of Joshua. You would have thought That when Egypt saw that Red Sea open, And two million people going across on dry land. You would have thought.
If you were in your right mind. I ain't going in there. But because they were hard-hearted They were driven by hard hearts. to their own death. And so Joshua verse 20.
Three took the whole land according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. and joshua gave it for an inheritance to israel according to their divisions of tribes Thus the land had rest from war.
Now, chapter 12, we won't spend much time here because chapter 12 is merely a catalog. Of 31 kings, 31 kings listed. who were defeated By Israel. But we do want to go to chapter 13.
Now, Joshua was old and advanced in years. He's close to 100 years old when this takes place. When the Lord said to him, you are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed.
So we still got more territory to conquer. You're getting old at 100 years old.
So He tells them to apportion out the land and in verse Fourteen to the tribes. He says only to the tribe of Levi, he did not give an inheritance. the offering the fire to the Lord The God of Israel are their inheritance as he spoke to them.
So each of the tribe is a portion, their parcel of land in the promised land. except the tribe of Levi. Because that was the priestly tribe. They were set aside uniquely for special ministry in the tabernacle. And because of their special ministry calling, They were not allotted land in the same sense that the other tribes were.
Because they were to be the religious servants. to the people. They were the clergy, if you will. to the people and therefore because of that unique responsibility they were not given land. But he marshals out the rest of the land to the tribes.
Again, it's stated in verse thirty-three. But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance. the Lord the God of Israel. is their inheritance. as he had promised to them.
So God would have a special relationship. With the Levites because of their special purpose and calling for ministry to the people that they were to have.
Now chapter 14. It's a story about a man named Caleb. Verse 6: Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua and Gilgal and Caleb. the son of Jephani, The Kenizzite said to him, You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me. in Kadish Bar near.
I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadish Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren went up with me may the heart of the people melt with fear But I follow the Lord my God fully.
So Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land on which your foot is trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children for ever, because you have followed the LORD my God fully.
Now behold, the Lord has let me live just as he spoke these 45 years. I am still strong today as I was the day Moses sent me.
Now then. Give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day. For you heard on that day the Anakim were there, they were great fortified cities. Perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken.
So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebram. to Caleb. As an inheritance. Caleb is 40 years old. He's one of the 12 spies sent to spy out the land in Numbers 14.
They spied out the land. The twelve spies came back. They said, yes, the land is exactly what God said it was, a productive land flowing, just oozing with milk and honey. They brought back some of the fruit of the land, and it was just spectacular. But they said, 10 of them said, but they're giants in the land.
Some big people out there. And we can't defeat them. That's when Joshua and Caleb spoke up. They said, hold it. God has given us this land.
God has promised us this land. Let us go up and take the land because God told us it was ours. God didn't send us there. to debate Whether it was our land, he already told us it's our land. He just sent us there to spy out how we're going to take it.
Not whether it was ours.
So let's go get it. But you know what they did? They did something. You should never, ever, ever do. And that is Vote on the will of God.
Now, you can vote on a lot of stuff. But what you don't do is take a vote. On something God has clearly said. Yeah. If God has clearly said it, the vote has already been taken.
So they voted. Ten to two. Ten spies said no, two said yes. And the Bible says, and God was hot. and wanted to destroy the whole nation.
Because they did not believe.
Now, there is a whole lot in the New Testament, particularly in the book of Hebrews, about this. That they did not enter God's rest, it's called. God's provision for them. Hebrews 6 talks about this. Hebrews 4 talks about this.
Hebrews 2 talks about this. They did not enter God's rest. Because of their disobedience. And you know why they disobeyed? Watch this.
Because of the size of the problem. They said they're giants in the land. It's too big. When God has clearly stated his will. The vote has been taken.
I'm going to say this. It's a true statement, but I'm going to say a little bit. Uh in jest. Although it's totally true. You know why we don't believe and why the Bible doesn't teach congregational rule?
Where the congregation gets to vote? 'Cause you got too many Carnell people voting. You got people who don't know God, don't love God, don't walk with God, don't obey God, don't talk to God, but they got an opinion. And when it comes to the will of God, you want spiritual people. People who know God and Trust God and believe God and And follow God.
He says, I wholly follow. Followed. The Lord. In other words, I didn't go, I didn't go with the crowd. Hmm.
And I didn't watch this. compromise my convictions for convenience. I did not compromise my convictions for convenience. It would have been easy. to go with the crowd.
Because then You know, I would have been like everybody else. But my con Fictions. Spiritually. took precedence. Over popularity.
acceptance and playing the numbers game.
So I fully followed the Lord.
So that's the Then he says, God made a promise. Because you were willing to follow me. I'm going to give you and Joshua one day this land. Dr. Tony Evans.
Highlighting how God honors those who follow Him in faith, and reminding us that His promises always unfold right on time, according to His perfect plan. Dr. Evans will return in just a moment to share how you can experience those promises in your own life. Before he does, though, I want to remind you that today's lesson on conquest and division comes from Tony's powerful series on the book of Joshua. It's an inspiring journey through how God leads his people into victory, even when they're facing overwhelming odds, unexpected challenges, or impossible obstacles.
And as we've mentioned, when you make a donation to help keep Tony's teaching on this station, we'll send you the complete nine-part audio series on Joshua so you can dive deeper into these life-changing truths. And for a limited time, we are also including the Kingdom Family Devotional, written by Dr. Evans and his son Jonathan. It's a 52-week guide that helps families grow closer to God and to each other, covering topics like prayer, forgiveness, spiritual warfare, and more. With daily readings simple enough for kids, yet rich enough to challenge adults.
Don't miss this special double offer. It's only available for a short time. Visit us today at tonyevans. org to request your copies, or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
What?
Well, Dr. Evans is back now to talk about the promises of God on a personal level. When you're going through tough times, a job loss, a breakup, or maybe financial stress, Having someone who loves you unconditionally is a game changer. And no one can do that better than Jesus Christ. He proved it long ago when He made the ultimate sacrifice for each of us, and He proves it again and again each day in the lives of those who've already acknowledged His incomparable love.
When you embrace Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you not only receive an eternal home with Him, but you also unlock extra courage and hope for today, helping you face life's challenges with confidence. Invite him into your life right now by saying this simple prayer with me. Dear Heavenly Father, I recognize Jesus Christ as your Son, who died on the cross for my sins and rose again. I invite you into my life. to be my Savior and Lord.
Wash away my sins, lead me in your ways. Thank you for your unconditional love and your gift of salvation. I trust in you and place my faith in your promise of eternal life. In Jesus' name, amen. We encourage you to follow up on that prayer at tonyevans.org.
Click the link at the top of the homepage that simply says Jesus. Dr. Evans has posted a video that explains God's plan of restoration. And you'll find some additional follow-up resources there as well. Again, that's tonyevans.org.
Yeah. Sometimes God's commands in the Old Testament can seem harsh to us, but Dr. Evans explains that even his judgments carry a purpose rooted in grace and protection. Tomorrow, we'll discover why experiencing God's promises requires not only faith, but also decisive action on our part. Be sure to join us.
