Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

One King Victorious

Bryan Schneider · April 23, 2022

Joshua 10:28

sharonrpc.org/sermons/one-king-victorious

Summary

Joshua 10:28-12:24 records the southern and northern campaigns and the defeat of thirty-one kings, but the controlling truth is that the Lord is King and gives the victory.
Israel must not imagine that its own righteousness earned the land; God judges entrenched wickedness and fulfills his merciful promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The severity of the conquest confronts hearers with the ugliness of sin, the righteousness of divine judgment, and the mercy by which any sinner continues to live.
The Lord delivers Israel's enemies into its hand, yet Joshua must obey every command and refuse to place confidence in captured horses or chariots.
God strengthens Joshua against fear when the northern coalition appears as numerous as the sand and when Israel faces the Anakim who terrified the previous generation.
The repeated list of conquered kings displays one divine King overcoming every rival rather than celebrating Israel as self-made heroes.
Jesus is the better Joshua: the faithful servant and King of kings who conquers sin, Satan, and death and leads his redeemed people toward a greater inheritance.
Because Christ reigns and remains with his people, believers can stand firm without fear even when nations rage or enemies oppose them.

What repeated statements identify the Lord as the true source of Israel's victory?
Why must Israel refuse to interpret possession of the land as proof of its own righteousness?
How does Deuteronomy 9 explain both judgment on Canaan and mercy toward Israel?
Why should the violence of the conquest make hearers reckon seriously with sin and judgment?
How do Joshua's obedience and God's sovereign action belong together?
Why does God command Israel to disable horses and burn chariots rather than trust captured military strength?
What does the defeat of the Anakim reveal about fear and God's faithfulness?
Why is it mistaken to cast ourselves as the natural heroes of this narrative?
In what ways is Jesus a better Joshua and greater conqueror?
How does Christ's reign give courage when nations rage or believers face opposition?

Conquest: Israel's divinely commanded campaigns in Canaan through which God judged wicked nations and gave the promised land.
Divine judgment: God's righteous sentence against sin, displayed historically in Canaan and finally in Christ's return as Judge.
Hardening: God's judicial giving over of sinners to resolute rebellion, here resulting in Canaanite kings coming against Israel.
Election: God's merciful choice of a people for his glory, not a reward for their superior righteousness.
Anakim: Formidable inhabitants of Canaan whose presence had frightened Israel's earlier spies but who fell under God's promised victory.
Covenant promise: God's sworn commitment to the patriarchs that he fulfills by giving their descendants the land.
Better Joshua: Jesus Christ, whose name corresponds to Joshua and whose saving conquest surpasses Israel's military victories.
King of kings: The title expressing Christ's supreme rule over every earthly power and all enemies of God and his people.