★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Courage – Part 5 ★

I hope that you have been enjoying the series about men and women in scripture who consistently chased after God and faithfully worked at building His Kingdom, overcoming adversity because of a particular trait.  So far, we covered:

★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Character ★

★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Faith – Part 2 ★

★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Perseverance – Part 3 ★

★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Loyalty – Part 4 ★

These (8) men and women as well as the other “OVERCOMERS” we will study lived out our anchor verse from Joshua 1:8 (NLT) that we have been reviewing each post:

“Study this Book of Instruction continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” 

This truth is as applicable to us today as when it was spoken thousands of years ago, but I thought today we would look at the context of this verse through our next two Overcomers: Joshua and Caleb, who did so through courage! 

I will forever beat the drum that “context is everything.”  I truly believe that we do a disservice to ourselves and to God when we just à la carte the Bible, cherry-picking verses to build our theology upon.  So, in keeping with that, let’s look at the events of when this word of encouragement was spoken.  The nation of Israel was at a preverbal crossroad in their history.  They had just finished (40) years of wandering in the wilderness because of their lack of faith that God would deliver them.  For those who may not know or remember. Moses has sent 12 spies into the Promise Land to see what the land was like.  After 10 of the 12 spies gave a bad report about how hopeless their odds were to actually overcome the giants that lived there, the people rebelled against Moses and his brother Aaron and as a result God punished them, (see Numbers Chapters 13-14 and Numbers 33-38).  I did want to point out the other 2 spies who gave a good report to the people were our Overcomers spotlighted today.  In Numbers 14:6-9 (NLT):

“Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!””

Amazing huh?  In the previous verses, the 10 spies whipped the people into a fear-full frenzy about the inhabitants of the land, but these 2 courageous men stood in the gap for God and boldly testified that regardless of their size, “They are only helpless prey to us!  They have no protection, but the Lord is with us!  Don’t be afraid of them!”  It is not easy standing up for what is right, especially when the vast majority is opposed to you.  In today’s world we see that too, that what is wrong is right and what is right is wrong.  Calling yourself a Christian or Christ-Follower is a label that many see as intolerant and hateful to what the world celebrates.  Persecution of Christians is rampant all over the world and though in America Christians are not out rightly being imprisoned or executed for their faith, there is still consequences for standing for God.  Numbers 14:10-12 (NLT) records the reaction the people have to Joshua and Caleb’s faith in the God, who mind you had delivered them from Egyptian Slavery 40 years earlier …

“But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. 

Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle.  And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt?  Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?  I will disown them and destroy them with a plague.  Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!” 

Have you ever heard of such an insane reaction to a word of encouragement?  The whole community wanted to kill Joshua and Caleb!!  That has always baffled me, what did they say that deserved to be stoned to death?!  I love how God stepped in and saved his courageous servants with a threat of His own!  As the story unfolds, Moses interceded for the people and God relented from killing them on the spot but there were consequences for their sin as Numbers 14:28-30 (NLT) recounts:

“Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.”

If you are curious, in Numbers 14:33-38 it gives the justification that the Israelites would wander in the wilderness for forty years as payment for the community’s faithlessness, until everyone of that generation would die off.  The number of years of wandering was because the spies explored the land for forty days, so they had to “wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of [their] sins…Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.”  If you want to dig into this some more, here are some key passages to look at: Numbers 14:20-24, 14:33-38 and Numbers 20:6-13.

So fast forward to the time of when our anchor verse was spoken to Joshua.  Moses, the great prophet and deliverer of the Israelite people from Egyptian slavery is dead (see Deuteronomy 34:5).  Before his passing, Moses announced to the people in Deuteronomy 31:1-3 that Joshua would be his successor and that he would lead them across the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  But before that was to happen, God visited with Joshua to give him encouragement and to let him know that it was time for them to enter the Promised Land (see Joshua 1:1-4), in verse 5, the Creator of the Universe says:

“No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.  For I will be with you as I was with Moses.  I will not fail you or abandon you.”

Could you imagine getting that promise directly from the LORD?  What a way to start a book and to prepare to go into battle.  I often wish that I could get an audible message from God like that, but we live in different times.  Today, we have God, the Holy Spirit living inside of us as 1 John 4:4 (NLT) says:

“But you belong to God, my dear children.  You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”

Notice the capital “S” which is for the Holy Spirit and then the second reference with the lowercase “s” which represents the satanic forces that are coming against us daily.  When you look at 1 John 1:1-4, it is clear that the passage is referencing the Holy Spirit who lives inside us!  So, we have to listen for that “small, still voice inside us” where Joshua needed to be visited by the Lord and look what He says to him in Joshua 1:6-9 (NLT):

“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.  Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.  Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left.  Then you will be successful in everything you do.  Study this Book of Instruction continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.  This is my command — be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

What a great passage telling us that even when we WILL face adversity, that God will always be with us through the storms of life!  In (4) verses God says, “Be strong and courageous” (3) times!  That tells me that Joshua (and myself) need to work out our faith and trust God regardless of circumstances!  In the post ★ Thought for the Day – Be Strong and Courageous ★, we unpacked this passage thoroughly, so I’d recommend you go check it out for more context but something that you don’t typically see is an instruction repeated three times in the same passage of scripture.  But in Joshua 1:6-9, we find that the Lord saw the need to repeat Himself.  In my Monday Bible Study we have been going through the book of Ezekiel, the LORD felt the need to repeat Himself 3 times in Ezekiel 2:6 (NLT) to encourage his Prophet to the people of Judah with the command to “not be fearful, afraid or dismayed.”

““Son of man, do not fear them or their words.  Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions.  Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels.”

It is interesting that though there are over 800 years separating these mighty men of God, the same Holy Spirit was speaking through them to His servants!!  I thought how interesting that Ezekiel who we just unpacked in the post ★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Perseverance – Part 3 ★ was in need of some encouragement just like Joshua, just like you and I do!  We all have seasons of doubt and fear, but we must remember that God is always with us, we just have to trust Him!  I thought how perfect this is that though written centuries apart, Ezekiel 2:8 and Joshua 1:6-9 are perfect companion verses.

• Do not fear = Be strong and courageous.
• Don’t be afraid = Be strong and very courageous.
• Do not be dismayed = Be strong and courageous!

We don’t have time to get into all the stories but if you have not read the Book of Joshua lately I would check it out because after this encouragement from the Lord, Joshua gives the charge to the Israelites that they were going into the Promised Land and ultimately one battle after another they saw God come through for them.  Today regardless of what you are facing whether it be isolation because of your faith, persecution, illness, or unemployment, follow the example of Joshua and Caleb and be strong and courageous!

Stay tuned for the next post in the series…

★ ★ ★ DIG DEEPER ★ ★ ★

★ Thought for the Day – What’s Your Blanket? ★

★ Thought for the Day – Chain Reaction Catalyst ★

★ Thought for the Day – Stand Up for What is Right ★

★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Loyalty – Part 4★

We have been in a series about men and women in scripture who consistently chased after God who faithfully worked at building His Kingdom and overcame adversity because of a particular trait.

• In the first post ★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Character ★, we looked at the life of Daniel and how his character literally impacted the entire world.
• In ★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity through Faith – Part 2 ★, we saw how Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (also known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) boldly stood their ground and did not worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol while simultaneously giving us a great example to not lose faith if our prayers are not answered the way we expect. We need to trust that there is a reason for everything that happens and that God’s “PLAN A” may have a higher purpose.
• In the last post in our series ★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Perseverance – Part 3 ★, we studied the ministries of Jeremiah and Ezekiel who were major prophets like Daniel, living at the same dark time period in Judah’s history — from the decline of the nation and during the Babylonian Captivity, yet in very different situations. Both men of God had difficult assignments to stiff-necked obstinate people who God used as “object lessons” to convey His plans.  Each of them overcame significant persecution, threats, and personal loss but persevered, nonetheless.

These (6) men as well as the other “OVERCOMERS” we will study lived out our anchor verse from Joshua 1:8 ( which you can read for yourself by clicking here).  Today we will be looking at a power couple who you may never have heard of before, but before I reveal their names, let me ask you, how intently have you studied the books of 1 and 2 Kings in the Old Testament?  Some of you may be like “oh yeah, I love it,” but I would guess by and large most probably “phone it in” when it is time to read these historical books as part of a Bible Reading plan.  I know I did for years and years.  I dreaded it until 2015 when I felt the Holy Spirit convict me and challenge me with this question…“Why don’t you try to get something out of it?”  I prayed for Him to open my eyes and I have to tell you it was incredible!!  I have such an affinity for these under-read books now.  If you don’t know, they record the history from King David’s old age when he passed the baton to his son Solomon, the reign of Solomon and then the history of Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah until the Babylonian exile.  If you are curious 1 Kings 11:1-13 gives the reason why God divided the land into the northern and southern kingdoms.

Here is a great timeline of the Divided Nation with the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah which makes a great cheat sheet in keeping it all straight.  Okay so now that I have laid a significant foundation let’s reveal who are today’s muse for Overcoming Adversity Through Loyalty…

…Jehosheba and Jehoiada the Priest.  Not familiar characters that you have heard preached but two consistent, God-fearing people of integrity like no other!  I have been going through 1 Kings and now 2 Kings on my Friday morning Virtual Bible Study which has been amazing!  This last one was our 56^th study and we still have (7) more chapters to go!  There is so much to learn in these Old Testament books!  Back in September 2020 we covered today’s Overcomers who have very little mentioned of them.  In fact, Jehosheba only has 3 verses about her (2 Kings 11:2-3 and 2 Chronicles 22:11), while Jehoiada the Priest has 1-1/2 chapters dedicated to his work in 2 Kings 11 – 12 and also in 2 Chronicles 23 – 24.  So, you may ask why not study someone who is more well-known from the list like Isaiah, John the Baptist or Mary and Jesus?  Well for me, I love those who faithfully labor behind the scenes and consistently serve the Lord regardless of the dangers in doing so. And that certainly is the case for this husband and wife duo.  If you look at the timeline above, you will notice an anomaly in the list of the Kings of Judah – There is a Queen in the list named Athaliah.  We are first introduced to her in 2 Kings 11:1-3 (NLT)…

“When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead, she began to destroy the rest of the royal family. But Ahaziah’s sister Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash, and stole him away from among the rest of the king’s children, who were about to be killed. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom, and they hid him from Athaliah, so the child was not murdered. Joash remained hidden in the Temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled over the land.”

Pretty shocking!  Athaliah becomes queen and kills all the rest of the royal family in Judah and attempted to kill her grandson Joash who you see from the timeline becomes King of Judah after her death.  That is in large part thanks to the courageous action of his aunt Jehosheba who saved him from his murderous Grandma!!  How anyone can say that the Old Testament is boring is beyond me!  But I digress…Athaliah reigned in Judah for 6 years and promoted Baal worship, leading the people further and further from God.  Charles Stanley had this great life lesson on 2 Kings 11:2…

“Through Athaliah, Satan tried to wipe out the Davidic line and so frustrate the promise of God concerning the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:8-16).  But no one, not even the devil, can derail any of the Lord’s promises.”

God used Jehosheba to save Joash so that the promise that someone from David’s line would be on the throne forever would not be thwarted.  Unfortunately, this is the extent of what we know of her life as the 2 Chronicles verse essentially says the same thing.  David Guzik had this commentary on her:

“But Jehosheba: This little-known woman had an important place in God’s plan of the ages.  Through her courage and ingenuity, she preserved the royal line of David through which the Messiah would come.  Evil people like Athaliah will begin their work, but God can always raise up a Jehosheba.”

Amen!  Shifting gears to her husband, Jehoiada the Priest was also used powerfully by God to orchestrate the appointment of Joash as the rightful King of Judah.  2 Kings 11:4-11 shows how he planned and mobilized those who were loyal to the throne of David to revolt against Queen Athaliah.  I love Jehosheba and Jehoiada!  Collectively, their loyalty to protect the child who would be king in the face of danger is an example to us all to not allow anyone or anything to stop the work of God.  The other thing that amazes me is that Jehoiada was a Priest, not a general and yet he executed his plan and ousted the wicked Queen Athaliah.  We don’t have time to unpack the whole passage so I would recommend you read 2 Kings 11:4-16 for yourself.  After Jehoiada crowns Joash king and has Athaliah killed, I love what he does next in 2 Kings 11:17 (NLT)…

“Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people.  He also made a covenant between the king and the people.”

There certainly was no “separation of church and state” during the lifetime of Jehoiada the Priest!  Hahaha!  What wisdom he possessed.  Again Jehoiada was not a military leader, but he realized that to prevent further rebellion it was important to restore the covenantal relationship not only between God, Josiah and the people but also the relationship between the young King and the his would be subjects.  Amazing!  Though the focus of this Thought is about Jehosheba and Jehoiada, I did want to cover 2 Kings 12:1-2 (NLT) which gives this overview of Joash’s reign because of the last part of verse 2 (which I put in red):

“Joash began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu’s reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.”

I wonder since Joash took the throne when he was 7 years old (2 Kings 11:21) whether Jehoiada was really running the show in the beginning and influencing the young King.  That piqued my interest to look into it more and I found in 2 Chronicles 24:17-18 (NLT) this nugget:

“But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to their advice.  They decided to abandon the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead!  Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem.”

Idolatry plagued the people of Judah as well as the people of Israel for 100s of years and though Jehoiada had implemented religious reforms (see 2 Chronicles 23:16-21) to root out all the wickedness of Queen Athaliah, clearly the King Joash’s faith had not roots of their own!  In the post called ★ Thought for the Day – Fair-Weather Faith ★, I shared a pun that my daughter told me:

“Do you have ‘fair-weather faith’ or ‘faith that can weather when life isn’t fair?’”

And it is without a doubt that once the influence of Jehoiada the Priest was gone, so was Joash’s faith in the One True God leading to the reversal of Jehoiada’s religious reforms!  Charles Stanley had this great life lesson on 2 Kings 12:2 that builds on this idea that the King’s faith was transitory:

“Jehoash (also called Joash) began well — even restoring the temple (2 Kings 12:4-15, 2 Chronicles 24:4).  But after Jehoiada the godly priest died, Jehoash listened to dishonorable advisors, committed idolatry, and greatly displeased the Lord (2 Chronicles 24:15-22).  This illustrates that we must make our faith our own.  We must each choose to make Jesus Christ our Lord over our hearts, because the faith of others will never suffice.”

Jehoiada’s loyalty and Godly example was not enough to sustain King Joash and instead he went down a dark road that would not heed any counsel to turn back to the Lord.  In fact, in 2 Chronicles 24:21-22 (NLT) after Jehoiada’s son Zechariah rebuked the people for their sin, it says:

“Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and King Joash ordered that they stone him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. That was how King Joash repaid Jehoiada for his loyalty—by killing his son.  Zechariah’s last words as he died were, “May the Lord see what they are doing and avenge my death!””

Wow!!!  That is hard to imagine!  Not only did Jehoiada’s wife and him save and care for Joash for years as well as secure his place as King by organizing a mutiny against the Queen, but Jehoiada even chose the King’s two wives (see 2 Chronicles 24:3)!!  In the end though, Joash meets an untimely end as two of his trusted advisers Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer assassinated him (see 2 Kings 12:20-21 and 2 Chronicles 24:23-25).  Joash’s end is a testimony to the truth of Galatians 6:7-8a (NLT)…

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God.  You will always harvest what you plant.  Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature.”

Joash was loyal to the Lord at a surface level which then disappeared once Jehoiada died and, in the end, Joash reaped the consequences of a sinful life.  Jehoiada the Priest on the other hand according to 2 Chronicles 24:15-16 (NLT)…

“…lived to a very old age, finally dying at 130.  He was buried among the kings in the City of David, because he had done so much good in Israel for God and His Temple.”

Jehoiada is the epitome of the second half of the Galatians passage 6:8b-10 (NLT)…

“But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.  So let’s not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.  Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone — especially to those in the family of faith.”

Jehoiada the Priest overcame adversity through his loyalty to the throne of David and was honored to be buried among the kings in the City of David because of all the good he did and reaped the harvest of blessing for not giving up!  I will close with this final thought from Charles Stanley:

“Jehoiada is a bright light in a dark time.  He demonstrates that we can remain faithful to God and His Word, even when the culture around us decays.”

No matter what dangers are happening around you, GOD IS IN CONTROL and is working in the background and His plans will ALWAYS PREVAIL!  May we all be “Jehoshebas” and “Jehoiadas” who live out Proverbs 17:17 (NLT)…

“A friend is always loyal, and a brother [or sister] is born to help in time of need.”

Click here for the next post in the series…

★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Courage – Part 5 ★

★ ★ ★ DIG DEEPER ★ ★ ★

★ Thought for the Day – Stay the Course ★

★ Thought for the Day – Fair-Weather Faith ★

Looking for a great way to engage the Bible?  Check out the YouVersion bible reading plan called ‘The One Year® Chronological Bible.‘

It is especially helpful to understand the 340 years of history that is covered in the books of 1 and 2 Kings and how they tie into the books of the Major and Minor prophets.  The reading plan gives you a segment of different books of the Bible written around the same time period which is fascinating.