I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings before you, but not by your own sword or bow. I sent the hornet ahead of youThe phrase "I sent the hornet ahead of you" is a vivid metaphor used by God to describe the divine intervention that preceded the Israelites' conquest of the Promised Land. The "hornet" symbolizes fear and panic that God instilled in the hearts of the Canaanite nations, causing them to flee or become disorganized even before the Israelites arrived. In the Hebrew context, the word for "hornet" (צִרְעָה, tsir'ah) can also imply a supernatural agent of God's judgment. Historically, this reflects the psychological warfare God employed, ensuring victory for His people without them having to rely solely on their military might. and it drove out
The phrase "and it drove out" emphasizes the effectiveness of God's intervention. The Hebrew root for "drove out" (יָרַשׁ, yarash) conveys the idea of dispossession and conquest. This action was not merely a passive removal but an active expulsion, underscoring God's sovereignty and power in fulfilling His promises. Theologically, it highlights the concept of divine providence, where God orchestrates events to achieve His purposes, ensuring that His chosen people inherit the land He promised to their forefathers. before you
The phrase "before you" indicates that God's actions were preparatory and anticipatory. It suggests that God was actively working on behalf of the Israelites, paving the way for their success. This reflects the biblical theme of God as a guide and protector, who goes ahead of His people to prepare the path. Historically, it reassures the Israelites of God's faithfulness and His commitment to their covenant relationship, reminding them that their victories were not by their own strength but by His divine intervention. the two Amorite kings
The mention of "the two Amorite kings" refers to the specific leaders of the Amorite tribes who were defeated by the Israelites. These kings, Sihon and Og, were significant adversaries due to their strength and the strategic locations of their territories. Historically, their defeat was a crucial turning point in the conquest of Canaan, demonstrating God's power over formidable enemies. Scripturally, it serves as a testament to God's ability to overcome any obstacle in the fulfillment of His promises to His people. not by your own sword or bow
The phrase "not by your own sword or bow" underscores the divine nature of the Israelites' victories. It highlights that their success was not due to their military prowess or weaponry but was entirely the result of God's intervention. This serves as a humbling reminder of the Israelites' dependence on God and the futility of relying solely on human strength. Theologically, it reinforces the biblical principle that true victory and deliverance come from God alone, encouraging believers to trust in His power and provision rather than their own abilities. Persons / Places / Events 1. JoshuaThe leader of Israel after Moses, who is delivering his farewell address to the Israelites in this chapter. 2. The IsraelitesThe people of God who have been led into the Promised Land and are being reminded of God's faithfulness. 3. The Amorite KingsThe rulers of the Amorite people, who were inhabitants of the land before the Israelites took possession of it. 4. The HornetA metaphorical or literal agent sent by God to drive out the enemies of Israel, emphasizing divine intervention. 5. The Promised LandThe land of Canaan, which God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Teaching Points Divine InterventionRecognize that God often works in ways beyond human understanding or capability. Our victories are not solely by our efforts but by His power. Faithfulness of GodTrust in God's promises and His faithfulness to fulfill them, as He did for Israel. Humility in SuccessAcknowledge that our successes are not just due to our abilities but are gifts from God. Spiritual WarfareUnderstand that spiritual battles are won not by physical might but through reliance on God's strength and provision. Gratitude and RemembranceRegularly remember and give thanks for the ways God has intervened in your life, just as Joshua reminded the Israelites. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the concept of divine intervention in Joshua 24:12 challenge our understanding of personal achievement and success? 2. In what ways can we apply the lesson of humility from this passage to our daily lives? 3. How does the account of the Israelites' conquest of the Promised Land encourage us to trust in God's promises today? 4. What are some modern-day "hornets" that God might use to drive out obstacles in our lives? 5. How can we cultivate a heart of gratitude for God's interventions, both seen and unseen, in our lives? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 23:28This verse also mentions God sending hornets to drive out the enemies, reinforcing the idea of divine intervention in Israel's victories. Deuteronomy 7:20Similar to Joshua 24:12, this verse speaks of God sending hornets to aid Israel, highlighting God's active role in fulfilling His promises. Psalm 44:3This verse emphasizes that Israel's victories were not by their own strength but by God's power and favor. Hebrews 11:30This New Testament verse reflects on the faith required to see God's promises fulfilled, as seen in the conquest of Jericho. People Aaron, Amorites, Balaam, Balak, Beor, Canaanites, Egyptians, Eleazar, Esau, Girgashite, Girgashites, Hamor, Hittites, Hivite, Hivites, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jebusites, Joseph, Joshua, Nachor, Nahor, Nun, Perizzites, Phinehas, Seir, Serah, Terah, ZipporPlaces Canaan, Egypt, Euphrates River, Gaash, Gibeah, Jericho, Jordan River, Moab, Red Sea, Seir, Shechem, Timnath-serahTopics Ahead, Amorite, Amorites, Bow, Casteth, Drave, Driving, Drove, Hornet, Kings, Presence, SwordDictionary of Bible Themes Joshua 24:12 4660 insects
5236 bow and arrow Joshua 24:11-13 4438 eating Library February the Tenth Registering a Verdict
"The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey." --JOSHUA xxiv. 22-28. Here was a definite decision. Our peril is that we spend our life in wavering and we never decide. We are like a jury which is always hearing evidence and never gives a verdict. We do much thinking, but we never make up our minds. We let our eyes wander over many things, but we make no choice. Life has no crisis, no culmination. Now people who never decide spend their days in hoping to do so. But this kind of life …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling YearA Summary of Israel's Faithlessness and God's Patience
'And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 3. Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision B. At Jacob's Well, and at Sychar. ^D John IV. 5-42. ^d 5 So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 and Jacob's well was there. [Commentators long made the mistake of supposing that Shechem, now called Nablous, was the town here called Sychar. Sheckem lies a mile and a half west of Jacob's well, while the real Sychar, now called 'Askar, lies scarcely half a mile north of the well. It was a small town, loosely called …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Meditations for Household Piety.
1. If thou be called to the government of a family, thou must not hold it sufficient to serve God and live uprightly in thy own person, unless thou cause all under thy charge to do the same with thee. For the performance of this duty God was so well pleased with Abraham, that he would not hide from him his counsel: "For," saith God, "I know him that he will command his sons and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Promise to the Patriarchs.
A great epoch is, in Genesis, ushered in with the history of the time of the Patriarchs. Luther says: "This is the third period in which Holy Scripture begins the history of the Church with a new family." In a befitting manner, the representation is opened in Gen. xii. 1-3 by an account of the first revelation of God, given to Abraham at Haran, in which the way is opened up for all that follows, and in which the dispensations of God are brought before us in a rapid survey. Abraham is to forsake …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
"So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). In our last chapter we considered at some length the much debated and difficult question of the human will. We have shown that the will of the natural man is neither Sovereign nor free but, instead, a servant and slave. We have argued that a right conception of the sinner's will-its servitude-is essential to a just estimate of his depravity and ruin. The utter corruption and degradation of human nature is something which …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God And for Your Fearlessness against them Hold this Sure Sign -- Whenever There Is...
43. And for your fearlessness against them hold this sure sign--whenever there is any apparition, be not prostrate with fear, but whatsoever it be, first boldly ask, Who art thou? And from whence comest thou? And if it should be a vision of holy ones they will assure you, and change your fear into joy. But if the vision should be from the devil, immediately it becomes feeble, beholding your firm purpose of mind. For merely to ask, Who art thou [1083] ? and whence comest thou? is a proof of coolness. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Moses and his Writings
[Illustration: (drop cap W) Clay letter tablet of Moses' time.] We now begin to understand a little of the very beginning of God's Book--of the times in which it was written, the materials used by its first author, and the different kinds of writing from which he had to choose; but we must go a step farther. How much did Moses know about the history of his forefathers, Abraham and Jacob, and of all the old nations and kings mentioned in Genesis, before God called him to the great work of writing …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making "The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Gen. xxxi. 11
Of no less importance and significance is the passage Gen. xxxi. 11 seq. According to ver. 11, the Angel of God, [Hebrew: mlaK halhiM] appears toJacob in a dream. In ver. 13, the same person calls himself the God of Bethel, with reference to the event recorded in chap. xxviii. 11-22. It cannot be supposed that in chap xxviii. the mediation of a common angel took place, who, however, had not been expressly mentioned; for Jehovah is there contrasted with the angels. In ver. 12, we read: "And behold …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Joshua
The book of Joshua is the natural complement of the Pentateuch. Moses is dead, but the people are on the verge of the promised land, and the story of early Israel would be incomplete, did it not record the conquest of that land and her establishment upon it. The divine purpose moves restlessly on, until it is accomplished; so "after the death of Moses, Jehovah spake to Joshua," i. 1. The book falls naturally into three divisions: (a) the conquest of Canaan (i.-xii.), (b) the settlement of the …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Joshua 24:12 NIVJoshua 24:12 NLTJoshua 24:12 ESVJoshua 24:12 NASBJoshua 24:12 KJV
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