Lesson 5 God Fights for You
Lesson 5 God Fights for You
(Genesis 15, Joshua 8, Leviticus 18, Deuteronomy 20)
Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
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but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
Introduction: Are you surprised that one of our lessons on
Joshua contains almost no readings from Joshua? That is our
situation this week! Why is that? When my wife and I moved
to the Virginia Beach area, she pointed out that we were now
a prime target in a nuclear war because the world's largest
naval base, and home to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, is here in
Virginia Beach, Virginia. Frankly, I felt safer here than
when we lived in the Washington, D.C. area. Terrorists would
target a civilian area like Washington, D.C., not a military
area like the Atlantic Fleet. Professional soldiers fight
other soldiers, they do not target women and children,
right? And that is the reason why we need context to explain
what we are reading in Joshua. Let's plunge into our study
of the Bible!
I. Devoted to Destruction
A. Read Joshua 8:24-26. The next city to fall after
Jericho is the City of Ai. Are the Hebrews killing
women and children? (Yes. They are killing
everyone in Ai.)
B. Read Joshua 8:28-29. Is anything left of Ai? (No.
The king is hanged and the city burned.)
1. Consider the introduction to this study. Is
this what professional soldiers would do? Is
this ethical? Or is this what terrorists would
do?
II. Judgment or Terrorism?
A. Read Genesis 15:13-16. God tells Abram the future
of his descendants. What is the good news and what
is the bad news? (The bad news is that they will
be "afflicted" as "servants" of another nation for
four hundred years. The good news is that they
will become rich and will enter the land promised
to them by God.)
B. Look again at Genesis 15:16. What point about
timing does God make to Abraham? (The four hundred
year delay is somehow connected to the completion
of the "iniquity of the Amorites.")
1. Why would anyone want complete iniquity? (Our
last lessons explore the spiritual side of
life's problems. A reference to complete
iniquity is a reference to a spiritual
matter.)
C. Read Leviticus 18:21-24. These verses refer to
child sacrifice, male homosexual sex, and
bestiality. What is the connection to the "nations
I am driving out before you?" (The people the
Israelites are defeating, like those living in
Jericho and Ai, are "unclean" because of their
"abominable" actions.)
D. Read Leviticus 18:25-29. When Israel defeats these
cities and nations, is it merely a military
contest? A fight over property? (No. It is
punishment for iniquity. It is judgment. It is the
land "vomiting" out the unclean.)
1. What is the punishment for a Hebrew that
engaged in those actions? (They "shall be cut
off" from the people.)
E. Read Ezra 9:10-12. What practical reason is given
here for killing all those who lived in these
pagan cities? (Their influence is bad. They must
be banished.)
III. Authority to Judge
A. Read Romans 6:23. Do you accept that the death
penalty is appropriate for sin?
1. Do you accept that for yourself?
2. What way out of the death penalty is given
here? (Accepting the free gift of eternal life
in Jesus.)
3. Do you think that God owed us the sacrificial
death of Jesus on our behalf? (Hopefully you
answered that God owes us nothing. Jesus' gift
is truly a gift, not an obligation.)
4. If you agree that Jesus' coming on our behalf
is not an obligation, would you also agree
that Jesus' sacrifice did not have to be
offered to the pagan nations defeated by
Israel?
IV. Two Tracks
A. Read Deuteronomy 20:10-11. What does God command
His people here? (That they must offer peace to an
enemy city.)
B. Read Deuteronomy 20:12-14. If we go back to our
introduction, this seems how professional soldiers
would fight. They would not kill women and
children. How can God give these instructions?
Isn't this inconsistent with what Joshua is told
to do to the cities in Canaan?
C. Read Deuteronomy 20:15-16. This is the key to
God's plan for conquest. How do you understand it?
(If a city is "very far" then it is given the
opportunity for peace. But the cities where the
Hebrews were to live must be completely destroyed.
We discussed earlier the problem about influence
and the need for judgment, but this text in
Deuteronomy clearly spells out God's thinking in
Joshua.)
D. Read Jonah 3:1-4 and Jonah 3:10. What does this
reveal about the attitude of God towards a very
evil people? (He allows them to repent.)
E. Read Jonah 4:1-2 and Jonah 4:10-11. What does the
story of Jonah and Nineveh teach us about God, our
Judge? (He is a compassionate judge and He acts
righteously.)
F. Read Matthew 12:41. In this verse Jesus is
speaking to Israel a thousand years after the time
of Joshua. Jesus tells His people that they are
worse than the Ninevites because the Ninevites
repented. How would this apply to us today? (We
would be more guilty if we rejected Jesus because
we have generations before us who believed that
Jesus was God.)
V. Separation From Evil
A. Read Exodus 23:23-24 and Exodus 23:28-29. These
verses contain two ideas. First, that God will
"blot out" the Canaanites. Second, that God will
"drive out" the Canaanites by sending hornets. Are
these two ideas consistent?
1. Would they fit into the "Two Tracks"
explanation found in Deuteronomy 20?
B. Read Deuteronomy 7:20. This combines the idea of
hornets driving out the Canaanites and destroying
those who do not leave. Does this suggest an
answer to the prior question? (Yes. God's
preferred plan was to have the pagans leave so
that Abraham's descendants could occupy the land
and not be corrupted by their abominations.
However, if they would not leave, then they must
be destroyed.)
1. Is this answer consistent with the texts we
studied that informed us the destruction of
the Canaanites was judgment for their sins?
a. Could running and hiding have kept the
Canaanites from judgment? (The real issue
is the character of God. God would let
them avoid immediate judgment by leaving.
But if they would not leave, then total
destruction was justified because they
deserved judgment.)
VI. The Path to Peace
A. Read Isaiah 9:6-7. Who is this Child? (Jesus.
Jesus brings peace between us and God. He paid the
penalty for our sins so we could live forever with
Him.)
B. Read Isaiah 60:18-21. Where is this that the sun
and moon provide no light to the earth? (It is
where God will be our light. This prophecy of the
earth made new reflects Revelation 21:23.)
C. Friend, are you involved in evil? Are you
entertaining evil and allowing it to change you?
As we studied in this lesson, this is a serious
problem. Jesus gives us the path to eternal life.
Don't be drawn away from Him to follow other gods.
Will you commit to asking the Holy Spirit to help
you leave evil behind? Why not do that right now?
VII. Next week: The Enemy Within.