Please read Joshua 9:1-27 in preparation for today’s lesson:
In this chapter, we see the enemies of God’s people banding together against the Lord’s anointed, Israel. Those who were previous enemies to each other, now band together as friends to come against and destroy Israel.
Joshua 9:1-2 (ESV) the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.
It’s possible that the writer of the Psalms had this very event in mind when he wrote:
Psalms 2:1-2 (ESV) Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed...,
It is the common stance of the world to band together against God and His people. They hope by their many numbers to silence the truth, stop the plan of God from going forward, and defeat the people of God forever. Is anything more foolish than this?
In this union of enemies, rival kingdoms banding together against God and His people, we see the preview of the events surrounding the cross. Indeed, this is the very way in which the New Testament tells us to interpret the Psalm 2:1-3 passage. After quoting Psalm 2:1-3, Peter prays:
Acts 4:27-28 (ESV) for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Question 1. What parallels do you see between the events recorded in Joshua 9: 1-27 and the crucifixion of Jesus? Please explain your thoughts here:
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Kelly writes, "There were several groups of people that were either enemies or opposers of one another that joined ranks together to destroy Jesus. The Pharisees and Saducess. The nation of Rome and the nation of Israel. The Gentiles and the Jews. All these groups that usually opposed one another and hated one another united on a common ground, their hatred of God, in their attempt to stop Jesus."
Carol writes, "People had heard things about Joshua and God’s chosen people and former enemies worked together against them. They were scared and banded together against them. When Jesus enemies heard things about Jesus and His people and they banded together and this time though they killed Him. People hear things they don’t understand and fight against it. They are doing that today against Christians. People are banding together, groups that usually would not be friends, uniting against Christians. Little do some of them know they are tools of the devil."
Karen writes, "In Joshua 9, the people were scared and instead of turning to God, turned to deception. When Jesus was crucified, the people did the same thing and got into the group mentality and chose to take a life that did no wrong, out of fear and deception."