Loading...
21 illustrations — Lessons from history, biography, and world events
First, God's kindness (*chesed*) embodies tenderness toward the God-fearing.
SermonWise.ai generates complete sermon outlines for any passage across 17 theological traditions. Try it with Joshua.
For six days, Israel performed what appeared utterly useless—a silent, circular procession around an impregnable fortress.
Yet YHWH's charge to him rings throughout Scripture: 'Be strong and courageous.' Maclaren observes that Christianity has elevated gentler virtues to unprecedented prominence, yet it has not erased the necessity of heroic strength.
Achan's sin was not mere theft; it was *maʿal* (breach of trust), that treacherous departure from God described throughout the Pentateuch.
He will turn"—was no empty threat, but a statement of divine justice grounded in Israel's own experience.
This doubled command demands a total mobilization of human capacity for worship.
Are speech and purpose truly allied, or do they drift apart like summer brooks in drought?
Yet Maclaren finds in this incompleteness not defeat but a divine principle.
Yet the narrative turns without hesitation from that lonely sepulcher to the bustling camp and a new leader.
why tarry the wheels of his chariots?" This language of Sisera's mother—hopeful yet half-despairing—echoes through multitudes in the stern fight of existence and the moral campaign of consecrated life.
The *goel*, or kinsman-avenger of blood, represented 'blood for blood'—the justice appropriate to Israel's stage of civilisation.
Rather than dismiss these prayers as expressions of unholy personal malice, Exell proposes a principle: examine what Yahweh Himself declares about such utterances.
While Israel hurried across—their 'industrious speed and mannerly quickness' flowing from eagerness to avoid prolonging God's miracle—the ark remained motionless in the riverbed, a silent sentinel through all the hours of crossing.
Abimelech ruled by usurpation, not divine appointment, yet the Almighty permitted his dominion briefly so wickedness might mature and be recognized for what it was.
Those who serve Elohim must continue their gleaning from morning through evening, not merely offering a morning of service before turning to pleasure.
Though biblical records highlight only the most striking features, Joshua's campaign likely spanned six years—not the instantaneous victory Jehovah could have granted.
The valley held layer upon layer of sacred memory—the very ground where Abraham had received the divine pledge, 'unto thy seed will I give this land,' and erected his first altar to Yahweh beneath the oak of Moreh.
Naomi's question to Ruth—"Where hast thou gleaned to-day?"—invites us into three vital truths about our stewardship before Yahweh. First, the *sphere* of life's opportunities. Labour is the law of life itself. The Lord has "set before thee an open door"...
In the higher regions dwell principles of innocence, hope, love, justice, trust, kindness, purity, and tenderness—the angels of the soul.
When we deduct thirty years for Joshua's leadership, thirty for Samuel's judgeship, and forty for Saul's reign (Acts 13:21), we arrive at 140 to 160 years for the events of the Book of Judges.
Bonar, who lamented: "This year omissions have distressed me more than anything." His confession mirrors our own painful consciousness—we sense that more remains undone than accomplished.