Luke 23- Joshua 11-12

Joshua 11-12
6 The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."

Having God on your side saying, don't be afraid, what peace and assurance that must have given Joshua and his men.

7 So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them,8 and the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. 9 Joshua did to them as the LORD had directed: 15 As the LORD commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses. 16 So Joshua took this entire land:

Joshua was obedient and God was faithful to fulfill His promise of inhabiting a great land!

20 For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel,
God chose what people would be saved and what kingdoms would be destroyed.

23 So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.

Vs 23 I love how it says "then the land had rest from war." We know that till the end of the earth, there will be wars till Jesus comes back!

12:24 Joshua's army ended up defeating 31 kings!

Luke 23-

5But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."

It's so sad to see that Jesus was put on trial by his teaching! "He stirs up the people!" Instead, the crowd wanted a murderer and opposer of the law to be released!

8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle.

Herod wasn't interested in believing that Christ was the Son of God, he just wanted to be amused. This reminds me of the passages 2 Timothy 4:3 says people won't put up with sound doctrine, they just want to have their ears tickled Matt. 16:4/Luke 11:29 says that a wicked generation seeks after signs and none will be given!

We see here too that Pilot sent Jesus to Harod who then sent him back to Pilot!

34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
In all His pain and agony, He endured it all and asked for forgiveness for me, a sinner. Thank you God for sending your Son to die on the cross so that we might live for Your glory! 1 John 4:9 This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

35The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
Again, here the people just wanted to see a sign. Christ had the power to save Himself!

47The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."

Here's one person who was affected by Christ's crucifixion. Jesus showing mercy and asking for forgiveness for others while on the cross had an impact on the centurion.