WEBVTT 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.919 Welcome to the Preaching the Cross Radio Podcast. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.080 We bring the radio ministry of Pastor James W. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.800 Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of African. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:25.039 Our prayer is that these half-hour Bible study programs bring the lost to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the Saved to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:27.359 Now here's your host, Pastor James W. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:28.079 Knox. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.439 All right, thank you so very much for that kind word of introduction. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:46.799 Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in today to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:54.320 I'm Brother James, and I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:58.240 It's our great privilege to preach to you over this radio station at this time. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:02.000 We come your way just as often as God makes it possible. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:18.159 As the Lord provides the funds, we purchase this radio time and do our very best to preach the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to those that are lost in their sin, bound for eternity in a lake that burneth forever with fire and brimstone. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:34.719 We try our best to tell you that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and the third day Jesus rose from the dead, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life through the finished sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for the payment of all your sins. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:45.760 We also do our best on this program to instruct and encourage those that are saved in the ways of God, that they might know the ways of God more perfectly. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.439 God is known through his word. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.680 We understand how to live a life that is pleasing to God by the teaching of his word. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:02:03.439 And we try our very best to teach you all this broadcast the Bible, not just preach to you or at you or give you rules or regulations or opinions or standards. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:05.280 We try our best to teach you the Bible. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:21.120 Now, I realize that many, many of God's dear people who love the Lord and live for the Lord are actively engaged in that most important occupation, seeking to win others to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:44.800 When you do so, one of the great arguments with which you are confronted is that the Bible is not scientific, and that because of all of our modern scientific knowledge, all that we have learned down through the centuries, it would be ridiculous to look to such an old and ancient book as the Bible for one's guidance and one's instruction, because after all, look how far we've come. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:48.240 And so we've prepared for you this series of messages. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:54.319 This will be number 23, 22, 23, something like that in the series. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:56.479 On the Bible is science. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:14.159 We have shown you in the course of this study, we have proven to you throughout the course of this study that modern science, where it is true and where it is accurate, matches the revelation of the Holy Bible exactly. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:23.120 We have shown you how things that were not discovered until until recent decades are written as factual. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:30.719 In the Bible, 4,000 years ago, 3,000 years ago, 2,000 years ago, these things were known to the Bible writers. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:38.000 And we showed you how this could not come from the knowledge of the day, but must have been given them by the revelation of God Himself. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:50.240 Now, we've noted and studied some of the great argument and objections, I say great not in the sense that they have any merit or value, but great in the in their magnitude. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.919 The great arguments raised against the Bible by those that think they are scientific. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:00.800 We have debunked those who would object to the story of Jonah and the whale. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:08.479 We have shown the folly of those who would reject the biblical teaching about the Ark. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:18.160 We have given you the briefest of considerations, but sufficient to prove that science does indeed testify to the fact of a flood. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:32.959 And there is one more point of contention that comes up over and over again when the those who trust in science object to the Word of God. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:36.959 And that is the long day of Joshua. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:39.519 The long day of Joshua. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:58.000 Now I want to read you this little uh poem here that I think is uh a great blessing, and then we're going to look at this long day of Joshua on the program today, next time and and probably a third time, it'll probably take us three broadcasts to get through the material on this matter of Joshua's long day. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:00.160 But I like this. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:15.199 We've traveled together, my Bible and I, through all kinds of weather, with smile or with sigh, in sorrow or sunshine, in tempest or calm, thy friendship's unchanging, my lamp and my song. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:28.000 We've traveled together, my Bible and I, when life has grown weary, and death ain't was nigh, but all through the darkness of mist and of wrong, I found thee a solace, a prayer, our song. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.720 So now who shall part us, my Bible and I? 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:34.720 Shall Ism or Sism, or new lights who try? 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:41.759 Shall shadow for substance or stone for good bread, supplant its sound wisdom, give folly instead. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:54.720 Ah no, my dear Bible, revealer of light, thou sword of the spirit, put error to flight, and still through life's journey until the last sigh, we'll travel together, my Bible and I. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:04.639 I have been reading and studying God's Word for many, many years now, at the time of these recordings, nearly nearly twenty years. 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:16.240 I've read all kinds of material, I've heard all kinds of arguments, I've got books in my library put out by skeptics and unbelievers and critics of God's Word of every stripe and color and sort. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:18.319 I'll stay with the Bible. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:24.800 I've never found any reason yet to lay aside the wonderful, wonderful holy Bible. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.879 Now let's look at this matter of Joshua's long day. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:41.199 One of the most difficult tasks that face the instructor is that of correcting a false impression which has become deeply rooted in the mind of the student. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:57.199 It's a lamentable fact that the present generation of college students has been so indoctrinated with the false idea that modern science and the word of God are at hopeless variants, that it's a constant struggle to make the truth known to them. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:03.839 Some of the most childish ideas are offered as evidence and accepted by the credulous without investigation. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:14.879 Some of the most ignorant errors are joined with some of the most fallacious scientific fables, all to be presented as unquestionable proof, and they're received in this way. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:28.079 Now the purpose of this mass of misinformation, I started to say information, but it's misinformation, is to demonstrate that modern science has proved the Bible to be a book of folklore and myth. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:35.920 We've always been ready and eager to answer all questions at any time, as far as our knowledge will permit. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:45.439 In student conferences and meeting with those that would argue against the Bible, we often meet the same questions over and over again. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:55.839 But there's no question that we have met oftener, if that's a word, more often, than the questions that concern the long day of Joshua. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:05.360 This is perhaps the last and most frequently used argument, which is directed against the authority, credibility, and scientific accuracy of the Bible. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:15.600 This record of the long day of Joshua has given rise to more argument and debate on the subject of inspiration than has any other single factor of the problem. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:31.600 Yet, when Joshua's record is properly studied, and all the evidence is weighed and considered, there is no chapter of the book, the Bible, that is more valuable in establishing the truth and infallible character of the scriptures than this one. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:43.039 Many questions about this miracle occur, no doubt, because of the very few details that are given in Joshua's account of the Battle of Beth Horan. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:47.360 This ancient battle was one of the greatest that is recorded in the annals of history. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:09:00.320 The significance of this fact is largely overlooked, but there was no single battle in the recent world wars that could compare with this one in far-reaching significance and results. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:13.120 Nothing that took place in World War II, nothing that took place in Korea or Vietnam was as important to the future events of mankind as this battle of Beth Horon. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:23.919 To some extent, every nation and every land under the sun has been affected by Joshua's victory at Beth Horon. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:35.039 In this battle, Joshua crushed the powerful league which opposed the people of God in their entrance into the land where Messiah must be born. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:49.919 The crushing victory resulted in the way being opened for prophecies to be fulfilled regarding the Lord Jesus Christ and fulfilled in the most literal fashion. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:57.759 This victory was the means of the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham that gave this land of Canaan to Israel. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:08.320 And from this time on the various battles of the Israelites might be referred to as mopping up operations, for this was the end of organized opposition. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:16.000 The most powerful alliance of which the enemy was capable opposed Joshua on the plains of Beth Horan. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:25.120 When the five kings died there, and the army of the Allies was smashed, the entire land was open to the possession of the children of Israel. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:30.559 As a result of that battle, entire nations were exterminated. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:39.840 The citizenry, the government, the culture, and destiny of a great land were changed forever in that hour of victory. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:49.360 Through the Hebrew conquest of the land of Canaan, even the destiny of the United States of America, then undreamed of, was definitely shaped. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:11:00.559 For as a result of this battle, Jesus Christ was born, in accordance with the prophecies, and he was born in the land that then and there changed ownership. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:05.200 This battle may be likened in its far reaching effects to the Battle of Waterloo. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:18.879 Yet the entire account of Joshua's victory, from the setting forth of the army on their forced march from Gilgal, until their return in triumph, is given in just two hundred and seventy-one words. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.559 Isn't the Bible a remarkable book? 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:32.559 Isn't it strange how God will devote entire chapters to things that seem to be of little significance, at least they seem that way to you and I? 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:42.720 And then God will take something as important as this battle at Beth Horan and give us just two hundred and seventy-six words on the whole thing. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:59.840 Imagine God writing writing the Bible, inspiring men to record his words in the Holy Bible, and devoting only one chapter to all the incredible splendor of the creations of the heavens and the earth and all that in them is. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:20.559 And then giving dozens of chapters to the recording of names of people who did nothing but live and die in these lists of genealogical records. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:24.879 The Bible, you've got to admit, the Bi there's no book in the world like the Bible. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.679 It certainly is not a book of religion. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.600 Anybody sent out to write a book of religion wouldn't write that way. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:44.240 There have been more more than 271 volumes written about the Battle of Waterloo, or the invasion of Normandy at D-Day. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:51.279 And yet the details of this account are necessarily meager. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:13:07.919 Every word in this record must be studied carefully, and the casual and careless reader will certainly think this record in the Bible is highly improbable without realizing that it is his own ignorance that makes it seem that way. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.440 The setting of the battle is of tremendous importance. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:24.480 If you are familiar with the book of Joshua, you'll recall that the book contains the record of the conquest of the land of Canaan by the army of Israel. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:36.480 It would be of value at the outset of this study to refresh your memory with a summary of the account of the conquest as given in the book of Joshua. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:47.679 Chapters 1 to 5 deal with the entrance of the people into the land, their preparation for the great conquest, and the consecration of the nation to this task. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:54.559 The story of the conquest really begins in chapter 6, which deals with the capture of Jericho. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:06.799 The strange incidents in connection with that event have long been a source of delight to the skeptic, who has imagined that the falling in the walls of Jericho constitutes a quaint fable and has no historical value. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:18.720 But the light of archaeology once again has illumined the events that transpired at Jericho and has established the record of the sixth chapter of Joshua as being historically unquestionable. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.000 The great Marston expedition, under the leadership of Dr. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:35.440 Garstang, has not only established the historical accuracy of this sixth chapter of Joshua, but has brought to light details of the conquest that prove the book of Joshua to have been written by an eyewitness of the fall of Jericho. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:37.840 Maybe we'll talk about that sometime. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:50.639 But the ableist archaeologists of the 20th century have proved beyond question that the events of chapter six happened exactly as they were written by the pen of Joshua. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:54.799 The seventh chapter deals with the defeat of Israel at Ai. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:58.000 The sin of Achan was then discovered and purged. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:05.440 As a result of the eighth chapter, the record is given of the capture of Ai and the extermination of its populace of some twelve thousand. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:13.279 This recapitulation brings us to the stirring events of the ninth and tenth chapters in the book of Joshua. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:19.519 In the path of Joshua's march of conquest, there were six great and powerful nations. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:29.759 These nations are named as the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Jebusite, Perizite, and Hivite peoples. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:36.080 One of the most important for the purposes of the narrative is the nation called the Hivites. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:41.360 Their capital city was Gibeon, and numbered about 30,000 inhabitants. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:48.879 This city of Gibeon was next in Joshua's line of march and was a walled city, well defended and skillfully protected. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:16:00.879 Among the reigning monarchs of these six nations was a crafty and able statesman whose name was Adonai Zedak, Lord Zedak, if you will. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:06.320 He was a man famed in his day not only for political craft, but for military genius. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:18.159 He had been observing with deep concern the advance of Israel, and as he saw their invincible progress, he realized that no single nation of Canaan would be able to stand before them. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:30.559 So he called together the other five reigning kings and proposed a League of Nations, a united nations, if you will, a union of republics, a uniting of states, if you will. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:39.600 This league was to be composed of the six remaining nations of Palestine, of which League Adonai Zedek was to be the head. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:45.600 The nations of Palestine eagerly accepted the proposal, and the League of Defense was formed. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:51.919 Now let me pause here to remind you, these ancients were real people. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:17:01.519 Sometimes hard to understand that the people and nations that occur as names and old records were actual men and women of flesh and blood as we are. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:09.920 They had the same ambitions, the same passions, the same pleasures, the same sorrows, if you will, that stir our feelings today. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:18.799 They lived and they died, they laughed and they wept, they worked and they rested, and they had the same problems to face that any nation faces today. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:27.200 So the Hivites stirred with concern behind their massive walls. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:36.880 They were as excited by the thought of the coming siege and battle as would your city be today if an alien army suddenly appeared on the horizon, threatening to loot and destroy your habitations. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:45.119 The history and records of the Hivite people appear in the findings of archaeology where they are known as the Hovite nation. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:54.720 Adonai Zedek, the head of this ancient League of Nations, was informed of the overthrow of the city of Jericho and was possessed of the details of the capture of Ai. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:58.559 He knew that he faced a tremendous power. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:02.799 His strategy called for the sacrifice of the Hivites. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:13.920 He desired to use the city of Gibeon as a buffer between Israel and the rest of the League, while the army of the League took time to prepare for the defense of the rest of their territory. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:27.599 Now, you may think this record would be a comfort to those men that formed a League of Nations or a United Nations after the Second World War. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:31.359 There's nothing new in the idea of the Leagues of Nations. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:34.880 Here's one that dates back almost four thousand years. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:40.000 This League was organized to frustrate the people of God. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.039 It was organized to frustrate the plan of God. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:52.720 It was headed by a man of worldly wisdom, who knew nothing of God, nothing for God's will for the land wherein he dwelt. 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:59.039 It almost sounds identical to the modern United Nations, doesn't it? 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:15.839 This land, this land of Canaan, was fouled with the most unnatural sins, and the only way the land can be purged was by the removal of the source of infection, which was the entire utterly degenerated populace. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:30.400 So, this League recognized no law save the law of expediency, and when its leader thought it desirable, he did not hesitate to sacrifice one entire nation to save his own neck. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:35.599 Now you may be sure that the nation elected to the sacrifice was not his own people. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:42.240 Adonai Zedek's strategy called for the fortification of his capital city, Jerusalem. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:51.759 In that region, he intended to mass the combined army of the League, in the hope that he could crush Joshua in a pitched battle. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:59.039 So he called a secret meeting of his League, and failed to inform the Hivites that the meeting was being held. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.279 Very thoughtful of him, wasn't it? 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:16.000 With skillful oratory, he told the fellow members something like this It is better that one should die for all than that we should all perish together. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:24.000 We realize the seriousness of this decision, but it is necessary that somebody be sacrificed for the good of the League. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:31.519 The walls of Gibeon are strong and high, and they will delay Joshua long enough for us to complete our plans and fortifications. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:41.599 Therefore, we will betray our allies, the Hivites, and toss them to the lions to delay the onrush until we are ready for battle. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:50.160 Ask not what you can do for Adonai Bizak, but ask what Adonai Bizek can do for you. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:21:02.079 Government of Adonai Bizak, for Adonai Bizek, and by Adonai Bizek shall not perish from the earth. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:03.680 Bravo, applause. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:06.000 Everyone is thrilled and excited. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:23.519 The rest of the league were sympathetic with the Hivites, but they understood the brilliant strategy of Adonai Zedek, and after all, it didn't matter who had to pay for the president's programs, as long as the individual thought he might benefit, he was all for it. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:30.079 As long as they were not themselves to be the victims, they voted to have it that way. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:34.400 The Hivites, however, refused the role of martyr. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:42.640 They apparently had their spies at the Conference of the League, and when they learned that they were to be offered as a sacrifice for the rest of the League, they acted first. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:48.640 Promptly, they betrayed the pact before the pact could betray them. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:22:00.799 They perpetrated one of the shrewdest stratagems of all history, and as a result, they gained a secret pact with Israel that made them the servants of the God of Israel in return for protection and security. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:08.240 Now it's not too much to say that the Hivites were probably the shrewdest people who ever lived on the face of the earth. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:17.599 In defense of that statement, I want to offer the ingenious stratagem perpetrated by the Gibeonites, the story of which is told in the ninth chapter of Joshua. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:19.680 That's the chapter we're now discussing. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:26.240 Somewhere in their city, these Gibeonites found some old gentlemen with frowzy hair and ragged white beards. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:31.599 They dressed them in worn-out garments, put upon their feet clouted and broken shoes. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:38.720 They provided these impostors with patched and mended wineskins, in which they put a few pints of sour vinegar. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:44.160 They gave them some moldy crusts of bread and sent them forth as ambassadors of their mighty power. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:53.920 Into the camp of the children of Israel, these humbugs limped, saying as they came, We become from a far country that is very far removed. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:23:01.119 We have heard of the might of Israel and the power of thy God, and we have come to make a pact with thee. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:09.279 Well, the princes of Israel replied, How do we know that you do not belong in this very land that we are set out to conquer here? 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:14.720 You look an awful lot like the Canaanite peoples, you've got to admit. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:22.079 But these skillful actors humbly replied, You see our worn out shoes and clothing. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:27.279 These were our newest and best suits when we started on this long and hard journey. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:34.240 These wineskins, now patched and broken, were new when we left home, and they were filled with sweet grape juice. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:35.920 Who smell them now? 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:46.559 And displaying their moldy crusts of bread they shook their heads with sorrow and said, Gentlemen, these were hot biscuits right out of the oven when we started on this trip. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:24:01.440 Well, the record states that the princes of Israel were convinced by the victuals, and they fell into this trap, and they swore by the honor of God that they would never lift a sword against the city of these ambassadors, but made them a compact of peace forever. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:09.039 Well, I had the audacity to maintain that the Hivites were the shrewdest people that ever lived. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:19.920 I think you have to agree this seems reasonable in the face of the fact that they were the only people of history who have ever beaten all the Jews in a bargain at the same time. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:21.680 You've got to admit. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:29.440 If you don't think that requires brains, try to get in on one child of Abraham and see how far you get. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:31.519 Much less the whole nation. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.920 Well, anyway, uh you want to know how this story turns out? 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:37.119 It's real interesting. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:38.799 I'll be glad to tell you. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.279 But I'm not going to tell you today. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:25:00.240 For hundreds of hours of in-depth expository Bible teaching, please visit our YouTube channel, James W. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:07.519 Knox Sermons, our sermon audio page, Bible Baptist Land, or our website, Bible Baptistland.com. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:12.240 Until next time and throughout eternity, may Jesus Christ be praised.