great river – Praying Pint

53.a. Joshua 1:1-8

Jos 1:1-8 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

God made a covenant with Abraham, which was passed on to Isaac, which passed on to Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons and Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. Joseph was blessed by God and became very promenade and important in Egypt. A famine in the land of Jacob orchestrated a move of the family to Egypt where the family found favor and prosperity. Over time they went from prominence to slaves and remained in this status for 400 years.

God heard their cries and brought forth Moses who after 40 years of age fled Egypt and for another 40 years remind away. At 80 years of age, he was called to lead his people out of slavery. God performed signs and wonders that set the Israelites free from the bondage of the Egyptians.

In the wilderness, God made His covenant with Israel, the Law, the system of sacrifice, and the choice of blessing or cursing for Israel. There were many signs and wonders performed by God to display His awesome power, unlimited might and all-knowing unlimited abilities. His Holiness was demonstrated as well as His justice, grace, mercy, and love.

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God spoke to Joshua and initiated the move from the wilderness to the promised land.

The Land of Promise

The confidence of God’s power

The confidence of God’s promise (I will never leave you or forsake you)

The encouragement – Be strong and courageous

Meditate on the Book of the Law

Do not let the Book of the Law depart from your mouth

Be careful to follow the Book of the Law – All of it

I will make you prosperous and you will have success

And so we start the journey of the Israelites into the promised land.

7.z. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs

Revelation 16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

It is hard to see how the 1700 mile long river Euphrates could dry up. But in the scope of what we are reading this is the easiest to understand. The trilogy of the dragon, beast, and false prophet spew out three unclean spirits that perform signs and can convince the whole world to do battle against Israel. We are given another glimpse of something in the future that is hard to wrap our minds around. With all the division and isolation between countries how in the world can they be convinced to all join together for a war against the Israelites who have listened to God’s witnesses, repented, and have come to saving grace knowledge of Jesus Christ. Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” Israel will realize what has happened and will mourn for Jesus Christ because of the way the nation treated Him when He first came to earth. They now know Him as Savior, Redeemer, and Coming King.”

Those who follow the demonic spirit’s lies will come against Israel with a single focus and purpose. They want to rid the earth of anything and anyone who God has called. Anyone who has come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Anyone who has not taken the mark of the beast. Anyone who has not worshipped the beast. The whole world will come against the Almighty God with the thought that with their numbers they can surely put an end to Him and those who follow Him.

Once again this prophecy is given with a message of hope too. Blessed is the one who stays awake! The ones who are looking for and believing in the pending return of Jesus Christ. This same message of hope right now is during a time of the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ. The difference between now (grace, mercy, and love) and the time of Tribulation (wrath, anger, and judgment of God) are not very great. People reject living for Jesus now as they do then. People reject repenting of their sin now as they to then. People reject the surrender of their whole heart, mind, and soul to Jesus Christ now as they do then. There is no real difference in the intentional choice people are making now and as they do then. Denying Jesus Christ with unrepentant hearts whether now or then has the same eternal consequences – eternal damnation.

7.e. You will not know what hour I will come upon you.

Revelation 9:12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come. Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound. The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Make no mistake about the timing of God. He has set a time for His wrath, anger, and judgment on those who do not and did not repent (But of this be assured, that if the master of the house had known the hour at which the robber was coming, he would have kept awake) and (Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.). It is not as though He has not given promises of blessings and warnings of judgments. Yet the heart of stone and unrepentant heart of many will experience the wrath of God in ways that unleash a flood of torment on their soul and physical bodies. We have already read of 1/4th of the earth’s population dying previously and now we read of another 1/3 dying. This equals a total of 1/2 of the world’s population (3 to 4 billion) people dead. No one with half a brain would want to experience the wrath and anger of God and yet they still reject His witnesses He sealed to proclaim salvation, redemption, and eternal life. Can you imagine seeing an army of 200 million coming at you with intent to kill and torment you? What chance would you have to withstand this force? Remember this, an army of 200 million is nothing but an ant compared to the power, might, and strength of Almighty God. If you understand and realize that you could not withstand an army of 200 million then how much more so standing up against God and rejecting Him. Luke 17:28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Repent, believe, and cling too, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ. Live to humbly serve, honor, glorify, worship, follow, and obey Him. The only thing that is keeping you from this right now is your heart choice to live for self rather than living for Him, thinking you do not need His redemption, thinking you are good enough, thinking you are not good enough, and thinking there will be time to do this later. “For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”