'Appreciating God's Love'
A) Conquest of Canaan Land
Deu 11:22-24 "For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory."
Though God had given a very large piece of land to the Israelites; covering Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel, only the areas that they had trodden upon would be their inheritance.
The first place the Israelites conquered in the Promised land was Jericho known for its high walls.
The last place they conquered was the land of the Philistine after King David had established Jerusalem as the capital of the kingdom of Israel.
The conquest of Canaan land took about 550 years, for God gave the Promised land to them bit by bit from fear that the wild beasts would multiply fast.
God promised that He, Himself, would drive out the Canaanites out of the land.
Deu 7:22-23 "And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed."
B) Conquest of Jericho
Jos 6:2-3 And the Lord said to Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days."
The conquest of Jericho was described in great detail. For six days the Israelites marched round the wall of Jericho once daily. On the seventh day, they walked round Jericho seven times and at the sound of the trumpets of the priests all the people shouted loudly.
Immediately, the walls of Jericho collapsed and the Israelites entered Jericho to take the spoils, for God delivered Jericho to them.
Children sing songs of the walls of Jericho in Sunday schools.
Jos 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
PLO-Israel Peace Treaty
Surprisingly, President Yitzhak Rabin of Israel signed the abominable PLO-Israel Peace Treaty (or Oslo Accord promoted by President Clinton of US) on 13th September 1993, which demanded the immediate ceding of Jericho to the Palestinians was unanimously approved by all members of UN.
C) David and Goliath the Philistine
I Sam 17:40, 45 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
The young lad David came against the giant Goliath in the Name of the Lord of hosts with only the sling and smooth pebbles from the brook.
God helped David killed Goliath the Philistine from the Gaza Strip (the land of the Philistines) using a smooth pebble.
Children in Sunday School remember this great miracle by singing the song of David killing the giant Goliath.
I Sam 17:49-50 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David.
Gaza Strip - the Last Conquest
2 Sam 21:19,22 Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
Gaza Strip the land of the Philistines, was the last piece of Canaan land conquered by the Israelites during King David reign of the kingdom of Israel in Jerusalem.
PLO-Israel Peace Treaty
The faithless President Rabin signed the abominable PLO-Israel Peace Treaty, which demanded the immediate ceding of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians.
