Word for the day “You must prepare for Victory”

Joshua 3: (KJV) 9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.

WHEN THE LORD IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR LIVES, WE WILL EXPERIENCE THE ULTIMATE VICTORY IN OUR LIVES.

Please consider with me the irony, as we are experiencing continual battles of police brutality, post-Covid-19, political unrest, and world concerns of great proportions. Joshua 3:10 illuminates this amazing truth beautifully.  Each of these 7 "enemies" of Israel represents some dangerous or ungodly area of our lives that must be conquered. These enemies of Israel that existed thousands of years ago are enemies of ours today. Each of these 7 “enemies” represents some weakness or even sinful area of our lives that must be conquered. And they can be eradicated from our lives with God's help.

I will give a small sample size for your consideration of each enemy in today’s reading passage with definitions one by one:

 THE FIRST ENEMY IS THE “CANAANITES”, WHO WERE PEOPLE WHO DEALT TREACHEROUSLY WITH MONEY.

They were salesmen, merchants, men of commerce.  But always in a godless or a pagan manner. They were as the Apostle Paul would have said: "lovers of money" (I Timothy 6:17). If God truly lives in a human heart, one thing that will be driven away is the spirit of the old Canaanites. The spirit of transactions over the well-being of all people. The obsession with money and all that it involves is the root of evil and a destructive force in our world/nation that must be driven out.

Jesus added in (Matthew 6:24) "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The term "mammon" is one meaning treasure or riches. Please remember money is not evil, it is the love of money over God, and at the expense of people that is the root of all evil.

 THE SECOND ENEMY IS THE “HITTITES”, WHO HISTORICALLY WERE A PAGAN GROUP THAT WORSHIPPED VILE GODS.

But what do the Hittites represent to you and me today? The "root" word from which it is derived means "to prostrate oneself."  To fall down on one's face either by violence or by confusion and fear. This "root" stem ("chathath") in the King James Bible is translated in such ways as terrify, beat down, scare, discourage, or dismay. Yes, definitely the spirit of the "Hittites" must be conquered in our world, nation, and lives. One cannot be a success in growing in God or life if overwhelmed with constant fear, worry, and anxiety.

Neither can one live for God genuinely if he or she is always dismayed or discouraged. Many of us today, in particular, people of color are in fear of our lives. The child of God may get discouraged but, not stay discouraged. Remember when God is in our lives, we must learn to do what King David did. In (I Samuel 30:6) the bible says "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: BUT DAVID ENCOURAGED HIMSELF IN THE LORD HIS GOD." David encouraged himself- I encouraged you to learn this victorious lesson on how to contribute to your own rescue.

The enemy spirit of the Hittite will be driven out by the Lord and must be conquered by us. So, continue standing against every injustice that limits your humanity and inalienable rights of freedom, justice, and the pursuit of happiness.

 THE THIRD ENEMY IS THE “HIVITE” ANOTHER DANGEROUS TRIBE AND ADVERSARY WHO LIVED UNGODLY LIFESTYLES.

They were worshippers of other gods, not Jehovah's God. It seems that little is known about them even unto this very day. Their name is spelled "hivviy" in Hebrew.  It seems to mean "villager."  One who lives in a village. Yet the dictionaries continue with the word, connecting it back to its very root which is the Hebrew verb "to live." When these thoughts are combined the "Hivite" is one whose very life depends upon the village where he or she lives. This is someone who is so linked to the world around them that they cannot live without it. We the family of God cannot live by the dictates of this world empire completely and we have to be careful of who and what we hold as intimate friends, especially those who do not hold God in high esteem.

  The dictates of the world can be social media obsessions, money obsessions, wrong motivations, etc. The question may arise for all of us, why is the world dangerous? It’s who runs the world empire read (II Corinthians 4:4) Paul is speaking of the world leader as the devil. "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." God will drive out the Hivites and we must conquer them.

THE FOURTH ENEMY ARE THOSE PEOPLE KNOWN AS THE “PERIZZITES”.

We read in (Joshua 17:5) as related to “Perizzites” that some wicked people appear as giants in the eyes of the followers of the Lord. They must be conquered. The world today certainly portrays certain of its "heroes" as giants and icons to be revered. In fact, many of us revere and hold in high esteem these icons. Now, in the Bible city walls speak of protection. Remember walls in scripture keeps the enemy out. We sure do need some walls built into our Christian lives. This crowd of Perrizites does not believe in such walls of safety or security. They want to mix and mingle with the wicked world around them and represent this to the people of God.

Walls also speak of "separation" from the world and its influence. Obviously, an "unwalled" village is open to any influence that comes along to do harm. Our current administration uses walls for the separation of immigrants and families, the Lord has placed walls in our lives to protect his people from influences that lead them away from his intended purpose for their lives (Jeremiah 29:11). The spirit of Perrizites will be driven out and must be conquered.

THE FIFTH ENEMY ARE THOSE PEOPLE KNOWN AS THE “GIRGASHITES”.

So far all we know about them is that they were very wicked, being descendants of Canaan, son of Ham. (Genesis 10:15-16) They headed a wicked line of human beings according to God Almighty. We also know that if left alone these enemies would be "snares and traps and scourges and thorns" to the people of God. Please be reminded of the times we are living and you’ll see these wicked forces in our world at large.

 It is also understood the "Girgashites" represent the "unknown" elements in this lost world of wickedness. In life many times it’s the unknown things that will destroy our future, families, and the promises of the Lord for our life. The unknown things in our families, friendships, choices, relationships, that has the ability to creep in our lives to ravage us. Let’s learn a little more about what’s not known in our lives that need to be made known. (Proverbs 13:20) cautions us: "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."

THE SIXTH ENEMY ARE THOSE KNOWN AS THE “AMORITES”.

The name "Amorites" is spelled like this in Hebrew: "Emoriy." It is developed from a basic verb, "Amar," which means "to say or speak or tell or answer." The insight is that these folks are real "reckless talkers” The name "Amorites" is found 73 times in the King James Bible and the name (in the singular) "Amorite" another 14 times. They were extremely ungodly people. Read as God describes their lifestyle: "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Genesis 15:16). Here is the insidious nature of the Amorites: Just think of the talk, the language, the vocabulary uses of people today, when speaking of women and men.

Think of their movies often loaded with filth that has become normalized. Think of their literature books with profanity galore, think of their television with empty vain talk. Think of their jokes, vulgar and wicked. Think of their conversation as lustful and suggestive which is the influence of the Amorite spirit. This will be driven out by God and must be conquered for ultimate victory in our lives. Why is this so important? (Psalm 19:14) may say it best of all. The child of God’s goal with their words: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."

THE SEVENTH ENEMY ARE THOSE PEOPLE KNOWN AS THE “JEBUSITE”.

The origin of the name "Jebusite." One source just says, "descendants of Jebus!" That immediately drives one to discover what "Jebus" means, "Threshing place". A "threshing place" is the location where the precious grain (the real wheat) of the field is taken and thrashed and winnowed by being mercilessly beaten and bruised. The times we are living in will thresh you, it will rob you of your peace, and of your victory, and of your relationship with God. Read in (Joshua 11:3) tells us that the Jebusites lived in the "mountains" too.  That makes them even harder to conquer. We need extra leaning on the Lord for this enemy (Read how Caleb said "I want that mountain!" And at eighty years of age, he "took" it too!  Joshua 14:6-14).

Some of these "enemies" are hard to conquer, but the cost is heavy if we don’t, they will "thresh" us all our relationship with each other and the Lord. Lastly, remember that the ancient city of Jebus became the city of Jerusalem, the city of peace. If you don't drive the Jebusites spirit away, you may not enjoy the full peace God has for you, "Threshing" has a subtle way of disturbing one's peace. In today’s reading the Lord promised the Israelites that once they had entered the land of Canaan, He would "Drive out" certain wicked inhabitants. We have the same God as did Israel of the Old Testament (Hebrews 11:8).  We even have our own Joshua and Jesus are from the same word stem. And we are also promised the land of Canaan. That’s why we can prepare for a victorious and Spirit-filled living. Therefore, we can believe that God wants to drive out certain wicked enemies from our lives as well as will.

 Point to ponder

Today’s message and insight into the biblical enemies of God’s people, provides some context to much of what are faced and fighting today. I encourage you to look for parallels in what you may see and perhaps are experiencing in your life today.

Special thanks!

 James Baker, Jr. and our leadership team are especially thankful for those of you who provided financial donations and support in the month of September 2022, by partnering with us in efforts to advance the kingdom of God in this 21st century season: Special thanks to Ms. Annette Straker, Mr. Kenneth Washington, Ms. Itholear Abbott,  Mrs. Barbara Mason, Ms. Jeanette Grant,  Ms. Judith Battle, Ms. Angela Battle, Ms. Cynthia Artis-Waiters, Ms. Michelle Winder Branch, Ms. Angie Scraders-Murphy, Mr. Calvin Jackson,  Mrs. Shakeema Lowe, Mr. Calvin Griffith, Mrs. Angela Harrison,  Ms. Crystal Grant, Ms. Shawna Chester, Ms. Jennifer Sanchez,  Ms. Judy Hendrix, Ms. Evelyn Rosado, Mr. William Wilson, Mr. William Buchanan, and Ms. Gertrude Scott.

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Kingdom Blessings,