Closer To Heaven
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What are the lessons from the manner in which Jericho was taken? Join the Hit the Mark Sabbath School panel as they discuss Lesson 4 – The Conflict Behind All Conflicts. It’s the fastest hour of the week!
(0)Daily Lesson for Thursday 23rd of October 2025
The first time Israel fought after the Exodus is recorded in Exodus 17:1-16, where the Israelites defended themselves against the Amalekites. Israel had witnessed God’s almighty power in both afflicting the Egyptians and leading the Israelites to freedom. We have seen that God’s initial plan for Israel did not include fighting against other people (Exodus 23:28, Exodus 33:2).
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But shortly after their deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites started to murmur on the way (Exodus 17:3), even questioning God’s presence in their midst. It was at this moment that Amalek came to fight against Israel. This was not by chance. God allowed the Amalekites to attack Israel so that the Israelites might learn to trust Him again.
Without compromising His principles, God comes down to the level where His people are, continually calling them back to the ideal plan: complete and unreserved trust in divine intervention. In fact, the law of warfare (Deuteronomy 20:1-20) was given only after the 40 years of wilderness experience, which was also caused by Israel’s unbelief. New circumstances demanded new strategies, and it was only then that God required Israel to completely annihilate the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 20:16-18).
Besides the reality that war became a necessity for the children of Israel, it also turned out to be a test of their allegiance to Yahweh. God did not give up on them but allowed them to witness His power by experiencing total dependence on Him.
The participation of the Israelites in the conquest is evident from the conclusion drawn by Joshua at the end of the book. Here the Canaanites are said to have been fighting against the Israelites (Joshua 24:11). While the collapse of the walls of Jericho was the result of a divine miracle, the people of Israel had to be actively involved in the battle and face the stubborn resistance of the city’s inhabitants.
Israel’s participation in armed conflict became a way to develop unconditional trust in Yahweh’s help. Yet, the people were always reminded (Joshua 7:12-13; Joshua 10:8) that the outcome of each battle ultimately lay in the Lord’s hands, and the only way they could influence the outcome of a military conflict was through their attitude of faith, or unbelief, toward the promises of the Lord. The choice was their own.
(0)Daily Lesson for Wednesday 22nd of October 2025
In that moment of crisis, when the people of Israel were forced into a physical impasse, “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.
Image © Jeff Preston at Goodsalt.com
The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still’ ” (Exodus 14:13-14, NIV). According to the biblical narrative, even the Egyptians themselves understood that reality: “ ‘Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians’ ” (Exodus 14:25, NKJV).
God’s miraculous intervention for the helpless Israelites, untrained in military skills, becomes the pattern. The Exodus constituted the model, the paradigm, for God’s intervention on behalf of Israel. Here, not only is the battle fought by Yahweh, but Israel is required not to fight (Exodus 14:14). God is the warrior; the initiative belongs to Him. He establishes the strategy, defines the means, and conducts the campaign. If Yahweh does not fight for Israel, they have no possibility of success.
Ellen G. White interprets this as an expression of the fact that God “did not design that they should gain the land of promise by warfare, but through submission and unqualified obedience to his commands.”—Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, September 2, 1880. As in their deliverance from Egypt, God would fight their battles for them. All they had to do was stand still and witness His mighty intervention.
History demonstrates that whenever Israel had sufficient trust in God, they did not need to fight (see 2 Kings 19:1-37, 2 Chronicles 32:1-33, Isaiah 37:1-38).
In God’s ideal plan, the Israelites never needed to fight for themselves. It was a consequence of their unbelief, expressed after the Exodus, that God permitted them to have a part in the war conducted against the Canaanites. In the same way, they did not need to raise a single sword against the Egyptians during the Exodus; it would have never been necessary for them to fight in conquering Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:17-19).
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“If the children of Israel had not murmured against the Lord, He would not have suffered their enemies to make war with them.”—Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, p. 134. How might murmurs impact our lives today? |
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Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dr. Barna Magyarosi, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson.”
(0)View an in-depth discussion of The Conflict Behind All Conflicts in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.
Click on the image below to view the video:
With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.
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