The Bible by David Alley

The Bible by David Alley

por David Alley
Temporada 1

Joshua 13 - Land Still to be Taken | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 13 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 13 the land began to be divided, despite the fact that it was not totally conquered. This is also the Lord’s method for us. He doesn’t just give us what we want without having to work for it, but rather we inherit through working and serving. Just as some famous billionaires do not hand their children wealth on a platter, but make them work to learn its value, so God does the same with our inheritance. So we are given work to do in God’s kingdom and as we pray and serve, we come into our inheritance. Joshua set them up, but it was to be a generational thing that others carried on. But sadly the next generation did not take up where the initial generation stopped. As a footnote, we learn the fate of Balaam in verse 22. Previously when they attacked Sihon king of the Amorites East of the Jordan, Balaam was there and killed as recorded here. This was how they knew the inside story of what happened, as recorded back in Numbers. Moses was a part of the defeat of the two eastern Kings, and this was recorded by Moses. Three of the tribes inheritance is described, and then finally the Levites are said to not be given any because the Lord is there inheritance. While this sounds disappointing, this is the most exciting of all. THat God is their inheritance is what should motivate us too. Earlier in Genesis, the Lord spoke to Abraham saying “I am your shield and your very great reward.” More than money, wealth, legacy or anything, God is the prize above all others. Nothing else can satisfy.

Joshua 12 - Conquest of the North | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 12 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 12 it lists all the defeated king. It lists 31 kings west of the Jordan, but there were the two (Sihon and Og) east of the Jordan too making it 33 in total. This list is a tally of the victories of Joshua which took at least about 7 years to complete, based on an understanding of Joshua 14:10. There are a number of atonement models for Jesus death at Calvary. One of them, the Christus Victor model focuses on Christ’s defeat of Satan and his obtaining ofo good things for us. Here we see the demonstration of Joshua as the Christus Victor, the one who overcome evil and opened up the good things for God’s people. Scripture tells us in Colossians 2:15 that “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Christ is our Joshua having conquered all the kings that fought against us.

Joshua 11 - Conquest of the North | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 11 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 11 there is now a battle with the northern cities. Jabin (a title) king of Hazor was the leader. Hazor was the third city that the bible verifies was burnt by fire, and the archaeology verifies this showing a burn layer. In Judges 5 is another King Jabin - which some thought was confusing because they thought the bible was mixing narratives. The Associates for Biblical Research have discovered that Jabin was not a name but a title given to all the kings of Hazor, just as Pharaoh was given to all kings of Egypt. Joshua once again employs a surprise attack at Merom. Merom is about ten miles north of Galilee. The alliance of northern kings is defeated and Joshua now has control over the entire land, although not every enemy is yet defeated. Previously the land was a conglomeration of city states, but now it is under the control of one entity, being Israel and its tribes. So despite loose pockets that were not controlled, Israel had control over the area, the trade routes, travel, language and more. In our lives once we have overcome all the major strongholds of the evil one we will have rest too, and yet there will always be pockets of resistance that remain, while we are in the flesh. Our tendency is to become lazy once the major part of the work has been done.

Joshua 10 - Defeat of the Southern Kings | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 10 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 10 the sun stands still during the famous battle at Gibeon. Joshua marches his army about 30 kilometres through the night for a surprise attack against an alliance of five kings. Unlike Rahab and the Gibeonites who chose humility, nobody else does, and this southern alliance is defeated here at Gibeon, speeding up the campaign for Canaan. In Sunday school pictures we see the sun standing still, but in reality the battle was fought during an almighty hailstorm which killed many of the enemy combatants. The sun, despite standing still, was not visible. And of course God would have stopped the earth’s rotation to make the sun stand still, but if that happened normally, the coriolis effect would destroy all life on earth instantly. So this was a supernatural event of the highest order, effectively freezing not just the earth, or the sun, but everything in an instant which time continued for a day. God is the author and sustainer of life, so this is not a challenge for him, because he sustains life every single day. The chapter finishes with victory, and then Joshua systematically conquering a number of cities one by one. This symbolises our spiritual life where we are to overcome strongholds of the evil one in our lives one by one.

Joshua 9 - Deception by the Gibeonites | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 9 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 9 we find the third of the mistakes made by the Israelites. First was the taking of the dedicated thing at Jericho, second was presumption in the battle at Ai, and now is the failing to enquire of the Lord, resulting in the deception of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites are close to Joshua, yet send a delegation pretending to be from afar, and make a treaty with the Israelites. This treaty ends up saving their lives, and the Israelites grumble against their leaders for having made this deal. This is the only time we see grumbling in Joshua, unlike the previous generation who grumbled regularly against Moses, and in this case the grumbling is justified. In today’s litigious worlds, the treaty with the Gibeonites would be overturned on the basis of their lies, but Joshua is a man of integrity. Despite having made the mistake he honors his word. These type of mistakes are typical of Christian believers who allow the world into their lives and accept it willingly and live with it.

Joshua 8 - Conquest of Ai | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 8 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 8 Ai is conquered and the city destroyed. The city of Ai is one of three cities destroyed by fire in the Canaanite conquest. The first Jericho, and the last Hazor. Many of the other cities were probably not destroyed but preserved for use as is the normal way in battle. Joshua hid a second force in the Wadi Sheben between Ai and Bethel and lured the army of ai out of the city with an initial preliminary force, then sacked the city. It was a strategic move that Joshua obtained from the Lord. At this point we see how simple the victory was, when done the Lord’s way. It is not only that the instructions came from the Lord as to how to fight, but that the Lord was also fighting for them as commander of the Lord’s army. We have often talked about the battle in the heavenlies. When the Lord makes it possible in the spiritual realm, it looks like we are conquering on earth, but the reality is that without God’s help there isn’t progress. We must never be proud of our own abilities, or we may soon find that everything we do starts to turn to dust. On the other hand, for the humble hearted person who trusts God, it is amazing how his feeblest sincere effort for Christ produces fruit that lasts.

Joshua 7 - Achan's Sin | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 7 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 7 we consider some of the spiritual lessons of the book of Joshua. The book of Joshua teaches us about the importance of overcoming in our own lives. We are called to be overcomers, and there are strongholds in each of us that must be torn down. The last chapter contained the first major stronghold in Canaan, that of Jericho. Each of us have strongholds that seem so invincible that only the Lord can tear them down, and we must wait on the Lord for his method. But if we don’t follow the Lord’s plan we can be led to defeat as happened in this chapter. People presumed that God was with them, as they went up to attack in their own strength. We cannot defeat strongholds in our own lives, even small ones with presumption, or trusting in our own abilities. Even the smallest sin in our own lives render us entirely powerless. In Chapter 7 the Israelites were defeated at the city of Ai because of their own presumption, and failing to hear and obey the Lord. This chapter also outlines the sin of Achan, who touched the devoted thing, and removing the Lord’s help in battle. His greed cost the lives of many people. What is the devoted thing? Is this a danger to us today Finally this video will briefly consider the archaeology of Ai.

Joshua 6 - Fall of Jericho | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 6 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 6 the first siege in the conquest happens, at Jericho. Twentieth century excavations of Tell es Sultan (Tel Jericho) show us that Jericho was well fortified. Multiple cities were built on top of each other, and the city of the Joshua period is called city 4. It had an outer wall of stone, with a wall of bricks on top of the stone wall extending its height further. The stone wall was also found to have had dwellings build into it, so that people also lived in the wall. Joshua gave instructions to march around the city daily for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day. The strange instructions that Joshua gave also made little sense. They were in some ways also a step of faith, just as the stepping into the Jordan was while it was in flood stage. As the army marched around the city it would have produced a lot of speculation within the city as to what was happening, and no doubt a lot of anxiety. Rahab’s testimony in chapter two gives an insight into the feeling inside. Interestingly, because they marched for seven straight days, one of these days coincided with a Sabbath. However the entire seven days seems to have happened during the week of the feast of unleavened bread. The removal of Jericho from Canaan as a devoted object seems to match the theme of removing leaven from bread, that is removing the evil from among them. The city was the firstfruits of the land, and considered devoted. They Israelites were to completely give the city and all of the spoils to the Lord by utter destruction. This was not the pattern typical of ancient warfare where all the spoils were kept to pay the army, or for the benefit of the occupying force/nation. This would have especially been so for the grain which was a source of food. In the archaeological record there is a burn layer several feet thick, including the burning of grain. This matches the complete devotion to the city to the Lord. In Hebrew it says the walls fell beneath themselves. Interestingly of the four major excavations in the 20th century, the most biblically sceptical of them all was Kenyon, a british archaeologist. She noted that the mud brick wall had collapsed down in front of the stone wall creating a ramp. Thus the Israelites could have easily “gone up” into the city.

Joshua 5 - Circumcision at Gilgal | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 5 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 5 describes how the Amorites melted in fear in the face of the impending invasion. As Hitler swept across Europe in WW2 the people in the nations before him were afraid. They sensed the inevitability of what was ahead, and so too the Amorites. So why continue to resist? This is sadly what people do, continuing to resist Christ. The smart Amorite would have realised something different was called for, and we find in coming chapters that the Gibeonites did endeavor to do something different. As people it is repentance which is called for. Psalm 76:7 says, “who can stand before the Lord?” We realise that repentance is our only hope. Next a surprising thing happens. The men of Israel are all circumcised at Gilgal. Verse two describes a hill of foreskins. The circumcision of 600000 men would have indeed created a hill of foreskins. The timing of such an event was also not something any sensible human would have chosen. We saw in Genesis 34 the story of Dinah and the Shechemites and how the circumcision of the men of Shechem rendered them unable to fight, and they were defeated. However God sees spiritual rightness with God as more important than military preparedness. God is no doubt teaching them to trust him through this. The men of Jericho could have attacked at this point, it was their opportunity, but because of fear they never took it, and most likely did not know to take it. In verse 9, the Lord told Joshua that after the circumcision, the reproach of Israel was now removed. There is something about being uncircumcised which brings reproach. We are of course talking of spiritual circumcision, not the physical as the book of Galatians makes clear, yet the physical as in this story is where we learn about the significance of genuine circumcision. This is the Lord of hosts, none other than Jesus. It is clear that Jesus is not on our side, but rather that we choose to join his side. Even though he is the servant of all, it is us who are called to lay down our lives and serve Him. He was the Lord of hosts here, and remains the Lord of hosts today. He leads the army of God, which is not Joshua’s army, but rather His army. The Lord was fighting with, for and before Joshua.

Joshua 4 - Twelve Stones | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Joshua 4 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Joshua 4 After they had crossed over, the water still hadn’t gone back yet, they were able to go in and take twelve big stones and build a monument. Once the blockage upstream was removed it would have still taken a significant time for the water to flow down, giving them ample time to collect the stones. And, they also built a second twelve stone monument in the river, which ended up being covered over. Some commentators think that the double monument is a picture of the believers' experience in Baptism, both being buried in Christ, and being risen in Christ. That’s probably right because the monument in the water makes no sense at all as nobody would see it. The book of Joshua notes that these monuments are “there to this day” which is the day that Joshua wrote these words, being within living memory of the event. Today (the year 2021) the monument outside the water no longer seems to be there, but there is no doubt it happened. Other monuments such as the one on Mt Ebal which is large and harder to remove are still there, so this much smaller, easily moved monument could have had any number of things happen to it over time. Interestingly this chapter mentions the number of fighting men from Rebuen, Gad and Manasseh who crossover, which is about 97000 less than was counted in the second census in Numbers 32. This video explains why. They finally get across the Jordan and have their first day in the promised land on the 10th day of the month of Nisan, which is four days before Passover, and the day on which the Passover lamb is selected. This video talks about how selecting Christ leads you into promise.
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