I started reading Joshua 10 and couldn’t get past the 2nd word. Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem…v. 1. Adoni is a word for God meaning My Lord. This king of Jerusalem was not the Lord. He was upset that Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and so he convinced 4 other kings of surrounding cities to join him in attacking Gibeon. The Gibeonites sent word to Joshua to help them. So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” v. 7-8.

Imagine the whole army of Israel marching toward armies of surrounding kingdoms. God was with them. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! v. 11-14.

We know the sun doesn’t revolve around the earth. We know the earth revolves around the sun…understanding they hadn’t yet been aware of in their time. God, the Lord, caused something to happen that long day because God is ruler of a Kingdom. Do we think of God in that way? We pray Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…do we believe that? Joshua did.

Adoni, the Lord our God is ruler of His Kingdom. We are His. All of creation is His. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:13-15.

He disarmed the powers and authorities of the Amorites that day, and He forgives them and us and all people of all of our sins. No human king of Jerusalem or any other place can do what Adoni, our Lord God can do. After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. Mark 1:14. The good news of God. Can we let that sit in our hearts? The good news of God’s love for all mankind. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15. The kingdom of God was indeed near them…He was standing right there speaking to them. What about today? What about us? But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. John 16:7-13.

God guides us into Truth. He is the only One who can. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8. The prince of this world is condemned. The good news of God’s Kingdom is His love for us. Adoni, our Lord God will guide us into His love and into His truth and it begins one heart at a time. It’s personal. Let Him guide your heart and find His peace, a peace this world can’t yet understand but one day will with His love helping us.