Hi there.  Welcome to Faith Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week.  At least we made it to Friday!

As usual, my weeks been a little crazy and hectic so I went digging through my old devotionals again.

Today I’m going to share one about covenant.

Have you ever read Joshua 10:10-14?

It is a very unusual story.

And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.  Joshua 10:14 (NKJV)

On this day, God actually stopped the sun in the sky so Israel would have longer to fight their enemies!

Why did God do this?  Because of a covenant Israel had made with the Gibeonites.

Covenant is important to God. A covenant is a binding agreement that cannot be broken.  A very intriguing story takes place in Joshua Chapter Nine.  The Bible tells us that the people in Gibeon were frightened by the strength and miraculous power of Israel.  They hoped to make a peace treaty with Israel but knew Israel would not make any agreement with the inhabitants of Canaan.  They sent ambassadors to Joshua wearing worn-out clothing with worn saddlebags and moldy bread, so it would look like they’d traveled a great distance.

Joshua neglected to inquire of the Lord and made a binding covenant with the Gibeonites.

Israel soon discovered they’d been tricked, but instead of breaking the covenant and attacking the Gibeonites.  Israel fought for them.

WHAT?

You would think the Gibeonites’ lying would have angered God and He would have told Israel it was ok to break the covenant.

That’s not what happened.

God always honors His covenants.

Powerful Amorite kings surrounded Gibeon, but the Israelites came to the rescue.  God threw the armies into a great panic and as they fled God destroyed them with a hailstorm.

Covenant always comes to the rescue.

Joshua 10:13 says, “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.”

Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still and it did.

What does this ancient story teach us today?

God is serious about covenant. God always honors His agreements and keeps His promises.

If you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and savior you are in covenant with God. 

No matter what you’ve done or how difficult your battle may be you don’t have to be defeated.

If God would keep covenant with pagans and fight for them, He will definitely hold you in the palm of His hand and fight for you.

Thanks to God for making an everlasting covenant with us through the blood of Jesus Christ?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below and let me know what covenant means to you.