The God who Answers Prayer

God who responds to our prayer.
Joshua 10:1-15
"And the Lord confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon."

Chapter 10 stands in stark contrast to the previous chapter. In chapter 9, Joshua and the leaders of Israel were deceived by the inhabitants of Gibeon. Gibeon, fearful of Israel, hand deceptively acted like they were a distant nation coming to form a peace treaty with Israel. As the vessels of God's judgment upon the inhabitants of the land, Israel was to destroy all the people and not make any peace pact with them. This was not ethnic cleansing in which God favored Israel over them. This was an act of divine judgment. In Genes 15:16, we read that the 400 years of delay from the promise to Abraham to take possession of the land and the conquest was because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete. In other words, their sin had not yet reached the point where the judgment was now required.
      Consequently, in the conquest of Joshua, God was bringing judgment upon them for their idolatry. However, Israel was deceived by the people of Gibeon. Because Joshua did not seek the direction of God but instead acted independent of God, and as a result, was rebuked by God.
                  In Chapter 10, Joshua now must fulfill his treaty responsibilities by coming to rescue the people of Gibeon from their enemies. Now, however, they follow the direction of God before going into battle. In response, God intervenes by fighting the battle for Israel. First, God throws the armies of the Kings of the Amorites into confusion. The word is used to describe how God strikes the enemies of Israel with panic to give Israel victory. Furthermore, it says that "He (that is God) slew them." God not only caused panic among the people, but he fought the battle for them. In verse 11, we find that "the Lord threw large stones from heaven and more died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword." But the most remarkable miracle is recorded in verse 13, that God delayed the son's setting for a whole day so that Israel could achieve complete victory.
                   In this story, we discover several important lessons regarding the nature of God and his relationship with his people. First, God is faithful to his people and his promise to protect and fight for them. God does not abandon us when we are faced with struggles and threats to our well-being. Instead, he actively becomes involved to protect and keep us. For us today, this battle is not physical but spiritual, as Paul points out in Ephesians 6:12. But just as God rescued Israel, God protects us in our spiritual struggle against sin and temptation (vs. 16). When we are trusting in Him he protects us from all harm.
             Second, we see God's response to man's prayer. In verse 13, we discover God's control and power over the universe and the laws of nature. Even the sun and the moon obey God's commands. However, in verse 14, we find that the extension of the day was not what was remarkable but the fact that "the Lord listened to the voice of a man." In the story, we often focus on the miracles of God. But the writer wants us to focus on something else that is even more remarkable. The God of the universe, the God who controls nature and can supersede the laws of nature for his purpose, is the God who responds and acts upon our prayers. When we fail to pray and seek God, we make faulty decisions that bring adverse consequences (ch. 9), but when we pray, God responds favorably. Prayer is powerful, and our prayers do influence God's actions. That is the greatest mystery of all.