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Caleb is boastful in verse 12 because he has faith in God and the promises he has made to them to go and take possession of the land. This is not a character flaw in Caleb, he knows God will help him in taking the city of Hebron and the surrounding area just as Moses had told him. God promised the choice of land for him and his family. He most likely claimed the Hebron city for his inheritance because it was well fortified and Caleb wanted to rid it of the giants. A strong leader is humble because he has placed his faith and trust in God and is obedient to him. Fe knows the Lord and wants to please him, thus he has no self pride. Some leaders are tempted towards pride because they forgot the Lord they serve. They begin to believe that it is their own wisdom that has got them where they are forgetting about the Lord.

To follow the Lord wholeheartedly means to have faith and be obedient to him. Caleb and Joshua were different from the other 12 tribes because they had seen and remembered the miracles God had done for the Israelites to bring them out of Egypt and care for them in the desert. They had faith in God, the others had only fear in their hearts and were not depending on God to bring them into the promised land. Fear in peoples hearts keep them from having faith in God, they do not know how to have and depend on him for their needs. If this fear is in the leaders hearts they will not be able to do the Lords will. God was angry at the Israelites because they rebelled against the Lord by not having faith and taking possession of the promised land. Therefore he said they would wonder in the wilderness until all the rebellious ones were dead.

Bob Menger's "My heart, Christ home" explains the process of surrender to Christ. He explains his experience of coming to Christ and allowing Christ to see the different rooms of his heart and the things in them that displease the Lord. When we allow Christ to see the ugly things in our lives and that they offend the Lord, we throw out, for we do not want to offend him but please him. We want to live our lives according to his will. This effect we have when we allow Christ to see our inner lives and that we are not living the holy life he wants us to live, we repent and change our mind, morals and character so we can worthy of his life. This may take a life time to accomplish, called sanctification. One day we will as he is, filled with his love and by his grace we will live eternally with him.

like the Israelites who did not drive out all the inhabitants of the promised land, the enemy became squatters and would not leave. In our lives if we do not allow the Lord to root out our old habits, they become squatters in our lives that belongs to the Lord. By not ridding our selves of the old habits we had before coming to the Lord, we eventually compromise with these old habits. Thus, we can not live totally for the Lord, we have kept junk in our lives. To end this compromise with our old selves we must totally submit to the Lord so he can rid us of these pockets of old habits.

God told the Israelites to drive out the occupants of the land of the Canaanites because the people would eventually become accustomed to their gods and worship them instead of the true God. The short term of not driving out all the inhabitants was that the people would eventually return to their homes and some groups could then attack the various tribes that took possession of that area. The long term result was that they made slaves of the remaining Canaanites.

In the battle of the Five Kings, God did his in the fighting the kings by keeping the soldiers of Israel fit for fighting even after ab all night march of 21 miles over rough terrain. God also did his part by raining down large hail stones that killed more of the enemy than the soldiers of Israel did. Also the Lord stopped the sun from moving so the Israel army had more time to finish up the defeat of the armies of the Five Kings. God had fulfilled his promise to Joshua by the fact no one had defeated the armies of Israel as long as Joshua lived as long as they obeyed the Lord and done things his way. god told Joshua that everywhere he placed his foot that it would be theirs. As believing Christians God expects us to fight our enemy the Devil by dawning our spiritual armor. To gird our waist with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword which is the word of God.

By not consulting God before making decisions Joshua brought defeat at "Ai" and making a covenant with the enemy, the Gibeonites. Jesus always consulted with God the Father before making decisions or doing acts of healing. For he said "he only did that which he saw the Father doing". Jesus spent many hours in prayer before acting on his own. We must take time in prayers to the Lord before doing anything that would have a serious effect on our lives or the lives of others. Praying about decisions that we get no answers for are those that we must depend on the Lord to guide us.

By taking the Lord's name in vain we are breaking the 3rd commandment, also when used as a curse word we are saying the the Lord's name is insignificant or worthless, thus we have used his name in vain. We are usually tempted to take the Lord's name in vain when we get frustrated at what we are doing or use it when in a crowd of unbelievers. We rend to take God's promises lightly because we do not have reverence for him or his name or he will never honor his own word. By not relying on God's promises shows that we are self content, depending on ourselves instead of honoring God and relying on him.

Whether rich or poor, covetousness is greed. No matter how much material things we want and acquire, these things will not do us good. Material things will not determine our life once we have passed away. Material wealth can not benefit the Kingdom of heaven, instead we have robbed God, because our greed has put our wealth in the place of God. These things have replaced our spiritual life and kept us in bondage. American's are indeed captives of greed, we had developed a society of luxury and material things. Because of our wealth we want every convenience we can imagine. We even purchase things that represent our status in society, freely we buy things but refuse to refuse to give God that which is His. Unless we repent by confessing our sins of greed to God, our congregations will never be released from this burden sin. The Lord does want us to live free, not to be burdened with material things. These things will require all our attention and thus we ignore God.

One man's sin can affect a whole country because he has gone against God's will, especially a leader of the country. If the people of the country do not reconcile on this sin by repenting praying for forgiveness. God will hold the whole nation guilty because they have not dwelt with this sin. As above the same may be said about a congregation. They must deal with this sin of transgression. Our congregation deals with this sin by confronting the individual with the elders. If the person has not repented if their sin they must be excommunicated. Then the church will pray for forgiveness. We deal with these sins in a love that Christ has for us, we are not to judge or condemn. We deal in a spirit of the Lord, he is the judge of all. The importance of confessing of sins, where a congregation, denomination or nation, we must deal with these sins, confess, repent and ask for forgiveness.

God ordered the full slaughter of all the people in Jericho was because their sin had come to it's full measure. God ordered the full destruction of Jericho because he did not want his people to be contaminated with the sins of the Jericho people. I am devoted to the Lord by obeying him and doing the ministry he has given me at our congregation. Metaphorically we are to deny ourselves and follow Christ, to take up and bare our cross. We were purchased with a price and we are his, the Holy Spirit dwells in us to help guide and lead us.

The meaning of the seven days of marching with the army of Israel and the Ark represent the perfect entrance of the King into the city. The Ark, in the procession, represented the throne of God. Most likely the method God used to bring down the walls of Jericho was an earth quake. For the Lord does use natural means to accomplish his will. He is the Lord of all creation and can use what ever means to accomplish his plan.

The significance of the Commander of God's army being with me gives me great relief and faith that he has not abandoned me in time of trouble. When the Lord of the Host fights my battles for me, than my job is just a mop up operation.

Joshua's challenge question to the unknown warrior was "are you for us or for our enemies?" It would seem that the unknown warrior was at least an angel as a high representative of the Lord God. The unknown warrior was on no one's side, he was in command and Joshua was to get in co-ordination with the warrior. I'm on the side of the Lord, he is in charge and I'm to follow his plan. To have an encounter with the Lord will cause us to humble ourselves when we realize who it is we are to follow and obey. It is hard for us to follow the Lord and humble ourselves because we are full of pride and would rather do things our own way.

Manna ceased the day after the Israelites crossed over the Jordan and ate from the land of the Canaanites. They were to eat from the land of promise, the Lord no longer needed to provide for them. There are times in our lives when the Lord provides for us and thus we have plenty, this is his way of blessing us. Sometimes the Lord's blessings cease, because he wants us to provide for ourselves, not being totally dependent on him. This helps us to increase our faith in him as we go along in life. In my life I'm still simi-dependent on the Lord. I have more burdens than I can bear alone at times. Perhaps one day the seeds of faith will produce a great crop. I must have enough faith to wait and see.

Joshua had men from each of the 12 tribes to gather a large stone (bolder) and place them one upon another to represent a memorial as a witness for generations to come that would remind them that at this place the Lord had stopped the Jordan so the Israelite's could cross over it and enter the promised land. The effect of this memorial was to remind the future generations as to what the Lord had done for the Israelites in crossing the Jordan river. Faith monuments to this day are to remind us of the miracles the Lord had performed in past generations. The dangers of these monuments are that some people begin to worship the monument instead of what it was supposed to represent. Our church has no monuments to the past that would indicate God's past working. Our congregation relies on the word of God in the bible instead of erecting monuments, which could later be mistaken for an object of faith.

Joshua was able to announce the miracle of the Jordan stopping because the Lord had told him what he was going to do when the priest feet touched the water. Joshua had delivered to the people the revelation of the miracle to the people just as he had received it from the Lord. This required great faith on Joshua's part, he had to believe God's word of what he was going to do before Joshua could see it happen himself. This miracle was a great test of Joshua's leadership. He had to have faith in God and the people had to have faith in Joshua as their leader.

The Israelites needed to consecrate themselves because they would be on a mission for the Lord by crossing the Jordan and taking position of the promised land. To personally consecrate myself for the Lord I would first pray that the Lord would lead me and give direction of his will. To be consecrated for the Lord's mission I would pray and ask the Lord to forgive my sin's that I had committed against him and my neighbors. Fasting would be a great help in my preparation for his will. In order for our congregation to reconsecrate itself for a mission of the Lord, we would fast and pray for his guidance and lead us to accomplish what he has for us to do.

The Israelites had to break camp because they had perhaps became to comfortable or complacent where they were at. They need to be ready to move again because Joshua is going to lead them into the promised land. Being settled here I have become to comfortable in my surroundings and every day responsibilities. But it appears as usual the Lord keeps things kind of stirred up so we don't get too comfortable and for our need to depend on him. To make myself ready to move for the Lord I must keep myself in prayer and always ready for his guidance.

God does not honor Rahab for lying to the kings men about the spies. In this case her lying about the spies does save their lives and this could possibly be justified. It may never be permissible to lye, for God is a God of truth, but do we lye to save life or do it for a greed of our own?

A prostitute is honored three times in the New Testament because it shows God is a God of second chances. He forgives one's sins that have repented and turned to him. God hates prostitution and it is punishable by eternal punishment. A prostitute is looked down upon as a sinner by God and though it is a sin, God loves the sinner who repents and turns to him for forgiveness. Jesus treated prostitutes as a person who sins, but they are forgiven if they repent and sin no more. God hates the sin but loves the sinner who repents and trust him.

The fact that Rahab confesses "that the Lord your God is God in heaven above and earth below" indicates she has faith in the Hebrew God Yahweh. She believes Yahweh is the true God of heaven and earth. Her faith in God is deep enough that she risk her life to hide the spies. For someone to be saved from the destruction of their city their faith in God must be deep and true. To have this faith in God and his redemptive work of sending his only begotten son to die for our salvation is all that is necessary to keep from eternal punishment. The demons know God exist and tremble only because they are doomed to eternal punishment.

The spies were sent out to do reconnaissance of the town of Jericho. They sought to lay over at the prostitutes house because this is were the spies would most likely not go to. God probably sent them to the prostitutes house because she was fearful of the Israelite's and their God. Their renown had proceeded them and she probably had faith that the God of Israel would spare her and her family if she co-operated with them.

To strengthen Joshua's faith, God has promised to always be with him. This is why God's promise is so important to him, he must lead the Hebrew's into the promised land. In my present situation it is helpful and encouraging to know that God's spirit is always present with me. If God is with me, then there are no limitations to me as long as I remain steadfast in my faith and remain obedient to him.

To meditate on God's word means to ponder, think about and consider his word. Christians meditate in God's word by pondering, studying and considering his word gives us wisdom and helps us understand who God is. Eastern meditation wants us to assume a lotus position and clear our minds of all thoughts, so we can merge with the great beyond of nature, universe etc. God's work through his word helps us to renew our minds, getting the old world of things out and his will in our heart and minds