Day 6: Intimacy Beyond That of Other Men

Do you want to do great exploits for God that have never been done before, and may not be done again after you? If so, make it your desire to cultivate intimacy with God beyond the level of your intimacy with other people.

As we will learn from Joshua today, great exploits are possible when the Lord fights for you.

Related: Click here for the 21 Days of Great Exploits FREE blog series table of contents, so you can read all the other articles in this series as well.

The great exploit we are studying today for Day 6 of 21 Days of Great Exploits comes from Joshua 10:7-14.

In this passage, the Lord not only fights FOR Joshua, but also heeds Joshua’s voice and actually stops the sun and the moon in the sky on Joshua’s behalf–all so Joshua can defeat his enemies.

This passage says:

“So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.”

Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 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 10:7-14 NKJV).

This whole passage is remarkable, including:

• How the Lord promised victory to Joshua, and that no one would stand before him;
• That He gave the Israelites strength to march all night to get to the battlefield and STILL fight FOR DAYS as conquering warriors;
• That the Lord killed their enemies on their behalf;
• That the Lord worked a miracle of sending murderous hailstones down from Heaven on the enemies of Israel; AND, perhaps most shockingly …
• That the Lord actually STOPPED the sun and moon in place in the sky, and for a whole day’s worth of time the sun and moon DID NOT MOVE so that Joshua would have enough daylight by which to defeat his enemies.

All of those things are amazing, in and of themselves.

However, the things that make this such a powerful passage to study are not simply Joshua’s use of his authority (assigned to him by God) and his own personal faith in God, but rather the backstory that is not explicitly mentioned in this passage … but which IS mentioned in other passages.

What backstory is that?

I’m talking about the level of intimacy with God that Joshua had–a level of intimacy that permitted him to stop the sun and moon in the sky, and to defeat his enemies by the hand of God.

How do we know that Joshua and God were close?

Well, we read about their relationship in Exodus 33, as follows:

“And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door.

So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle” (Exodus 33:9-11 NKJV, emphasis mine).

Moses had a direct, in-person, close relationship with the Living God.

The passage above says that “the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” How incredible is that! But after their conversations, Moses would depart from the tabernacle of meeting. And do you see who he left behind?

Joshua.

Yes, Joshua somehow did not depart from the tabernacle. That means he was very dedicated to the presence of the Lord–perhaps even moreso than Moses was.

“But Moses saw God personally!” you might say. Well, Joshua did too. In Joshua 5, the Lord appeared to Joshua:

“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so” (Joshua 5:13-15 NKJV).

We know that this encounter was with the Lord Himself because angels do not accept worship. This Man was the Angel of the Lord, also known as the Pre-Incarnate Christ. God Himself appeared to Joshua personally. Why? Because they were close. They knew each other.

Joshua had an intimate friendship with God, to the point where the Lord Himself wrote in His Word that:

“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).

Beloved, do you want to know God so well and love Him so much–developing that much intimacy with Him–that the halls of history will also record about YOUR life “that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for [you]”?

I know I do.

I want to be that close to God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and His sweet Holy Spirit at all times. I want to know Him so well, have so much faith in Him, and love Him so much that, no matter what I need from Him, I am in lock-step with Him and:

• He can heed my voice,
• trust me to steward His blessings,
• use me on the earth,
• work through me to accomplish great exploits for His Kingdom,
• and work on my behalf … just like He did for Joshua.

Do you want that also?

Friend, if you want to accomplish great exploits that change your world like Joshua’s victory changed their world, you’ve got to be draw close to God.

Not only do you need to draw close to Him, but you need to love Him and desire Him more than anything else. And your level of intimacy with Him needs to go beyond that of other men.

For example:

• Other people may be too distracted with hobbies, friends, or even time-wasters like TV and social media, but YOU are obsessed with loving God and encountering Him in prayer, worship, and the study of His Word.
• Other people may only go to church a few times a year, but YOU want to show God how much you love Him by going out of your way every week to attend church faithfully, and to focus your attention on Him, and on the Biblical community He prescribes.
• Other people may listen to the Word being taught, but not put in the work it actually takes to KNOW God, but you are a doer of the Word–and not a hearer only. You give your all to focus your attention on God every day, and to live holistically in His presence, abiding in Jesus, in His love, and in His Word.

Friend, there’s no such thing as being so heavenly-minded that you’re no earthly good.

People use that phrase a lot to criticize people who love God with all their heart and live like it. But, don’t you worry about what other people say.

God has big plans for YOUR life. He has great exploits planned for YOU to carry out. But if you want drastic, earth-shaking results, your level of intimacy with God has to go beyond that of other men.

God has to be your everything, and you have to be so close with Him that the Lord says over YOU, sometime in the future:

“There was only one other time in the past, with My servant Joshua, that I heeded the voice of a man like I did for you today.”

Beloved, God Himself is the prize. The great exploit is only a byproduct.

The great exploit is not the prize; God is. But, the great exploit is a byproduct, and an important one.

God will use you to shake the world around you by doing great exploits for His Kingdom. But you have to first know Him and love Him more than anything else. And if you want the crazy level of power operating in your life that Joshua experienced, your intimacy with God must go beyond that of other men.

Do you want this today? If so, pray this prayer:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus’ name.

Abba Father, You are good, and Your mercy endures forever. Thank You for being my Lord, Savior, and Friend. Thank You for being a Friend Who sticks closer than a brother.

Lord God, I thank You for telling us the story about Joshua in the Bible. This story inspires me, Lord. I see how close Joshua was to you, and I want to be close like that–and even closer.

Therefore, Abba Father, in Jesus’ name, I ask You today:

• Please draw me closer to You by Your Holy Spirit than I have ever been before.
• I pray that we would be so close together in intimate relationship that You can and do listen to me and heed my voice as I carry out Kingdom works on the earth.
• Please change my heart so much that I never think of or embrace anything that is not of you.
• Make me holy, Lord, so that the only thing going out of my mouth and thoughts is holiness. That way, You will be able to listen to my voice–for I will only say what You say and do what You do.

Only You can help me with this, Father. But, please help me to do the work it takes to know You:

• Help me to answer You when You woo me into the prayer closet to spend extra time with You.
• Help me to seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, so that all these things can be added to me.
• Help me to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind, so that I can prove what Your good, acceptable, and perfect will is for my life.
• Help me to hide Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Thank You, Abba Father. I want to be more intimate with You than anyone else on earth.

I want to give You the attention, time, effort, and worship that You deserve. I want to worship You both in spirit and in truth; in words and intentions, but just as much by ACTIONS of obedience and of seeking You.

Please help me to do all these things, and draw me closer to You than I have ever been–and more than I ever could have imagined. Let my intimacy with You be beyond that of other men, Abba Father.

Thank You. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, amen.”

Friend, is it the desire of your heart to be more intimate with God than anyone else on earth? Not so you can do great exploits, but because He is worthy and deserving of that level of pursuing and closeness? (And by the way, He’ll use you to do great exploits for sure when you do get close to Him like that.)

Leave a comment below if this sums up your heart’s desire!