Count God's Promises, Not the Chariots

Devotional

Day 1: When the Enemy Gathers at Miram Waters

The northern kings massed like sand on the shore, chariots gleaming under Galilean sun. Their coalition stretched from Hazor to Sidon, battle-tested warriors choosing terrain favoring their superior weapons. Yet God’s command cut through the clatter of hooves: “Do not be afraid—tomorrow I will give them to you.” Victory began not with strategy sessions, but with choosing to fix eyes on the One who already held tomorrow. [35:41]

“They came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel.’”
(Joshua 11:4–6, ESV)

Reflection: What “Miram moment” are you facing where circumstances scream defeat? How might rehearsing God’s past faithfulness quiet the noise of today’s fears?

Day 2: Hamstringing Horses, Burning Chariots

The smell of charred wood and dying animals lingered after the battle. Israel held torches over Canaan’s war machines, obeying the counterintuitive command to destroy what could’ve been repurposed. God severed their reliance on plundered strength, protecting them from the slow drift of trusting tools over the Toolmaker. Every burned chariot declared: victory comes by dependence, not accumulation. [48:05]

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”
(Psalm 20:7–8, ESV)

Reflection: What modern “chariots” (resources, systems, or securities) do you secretly believe could save you if God’s promises failed?

Day 3: Leaving Nothing Undone

Joshua’s obedience left no loopholes—no salvaged horses, no spared kings, no cities exempt. The checklist from Moses was followed verbatim, not because the commands made tactical sense, but because partial obedience is rebellion in disguise. Complete surrender treats God’s words as non-negotiable, trusting the Commander’s wisdom over the soldier’s limited perspective. [57:54]

“Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.”
(Joshua 11:15, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been negotiating with God’s clear commands, convincing yourself 90% obedience is “good enough”?

Day 4: It Is Finished, So We Obey

Joshua’s obedience foreshadowed the Greater Joshua who would declare “It is finished” from a cross. Christ’s completed work doesn’t eliminate our call to obey—it fuels it. Our acts of surrender aren’t a ladder to earn salvation, but a response to the Savior who already climbed Calvary’s hill to secure it. [01:00:46]

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
(John 19:30, ESV)

Reflection: How does Christ’s finished work free you to obey God today not out of fear, but grateful love?

Day 5: Counting Promises, Not Chariots

The math of faith subtracts enemy chariots to add divine assurances. Every “impossible” situation becomes a ledger where God’s covenant promises outweigh visible threats. To count like Joshua is to audit life through eternity’s ledger—where Christ’s resurrection balance sheet always shows grace overflowing. [01:01:41]

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
(Romans 8:31, ESV)

Reflection: Which overwhelming “chariot count” dominates your thoughts? How would daily reciting Romans 8:31 recalibrate your perspective?

Sermon Summary

Joshua 11 begins with trouble coming in bunches. Joshua has just seen the southern kings defeated, but before Israel has time to settle down and celebrate, a bigger coalition rises in the North. The northern kings gather at the waters of Miram with troops like “the sand that is on the seashore,” with very many horses and chariots. The text wants the weight of that moment to be felt. Israel is not just outnumbered. Israel is facing the best military technology of the day, on ground chosen to give the enemy every advantage.

The Lord changes the whole scene with one sentence: “Do not be afraid of them.” The Lord does not give Joshua a detailed battle plan, a strategy chart, or a troop count. The Lord gives Joshua what he needs most, a promise. Faith lives between the promise and the fulfillment, and Joshua has to trust that tomorrow means the outcome is already settled. Joshua could have counted horses and chariots, but faith means believing God is bigger without pretending the enemy is small.

The Lord then gives Joshua a surprising command: hamstring the horses and burn the chariots. Human logic says to keep them. God says to destroy them. The Lord is protecting Israel, not only from Canaanite armies, but from the temptation to trust what human hands can manage. Horses and chariots become a picture of every visible thing that feels safer than God: money, career, position, retirement accounts, talent, church programs, buildings, equipment, and all the rest. None of those things are evil in themselves, but they can quietly become the place where trust moves away from the Lord.

Joshua’s obedience proves his faith. Joshua does not negotiate, edit, or improve God’s command. Joshua leaves “nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.” Partial obedience is still disobedience, whether it shows up in love that is held back, truth that is only partly told, giving without generosity, confession without reconciliation, or worship without service and community.

Joshua also points beyond himself. Joshua fought a seemingly invincible army, but Jesus fought cosmic powers and the devil himself. Joshua obeyed completely, but Jesus obeyed perfectly. Joshua left nothing undone, but Jesus declared, “It is finished.” Christ’s finished work is the only hope for sinners, and his Spirit gives his people power to obey. Joshua 11 presses one question onto the heart: what is being counted, the chariots or the promises of God?

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Key Takeaways

1. Count promises, not chariots The visible size of the enemy can become the whole story if fear is allowed to do the math. Joshua 11 does not shrink the danger, but it places the Lord’s promise over the danger. Faith does not deny what is standing in the field; faith refuses to let horses and chariots have the final word. [31:26]
2. Faith lives between promise and fulfillment The Lord told Joshua what would happen before Joshua saw it happen. That waiting space is often where fear starts rehearsing every possible disaster. Faith learns to listen to God more than it listens to itself, because the promise carries the outcome before the circumstances confirm it. [42:04]
3. Visible strength can seduce trust The command to hamstring horses and burn chariots was not wasteful; it was protective. God knew Israel could win a battle and then lose its dependence by keeping the very tools the enemy trusted. Every useful resource becomes dangerous when it begins to feel more dependable than the Lord himself. [49:35]
4. Partial obedience remains disobedience Joshua did not keep part of the command and call it wisdom. The heart often edits obedience in ways that still sound reasonable: truth without full honesty, confession without repair, worship without service, love without sacrifice. God’s commands are not suggestions to improve, but directions to follow. [57:40]
5. Christ finished what Joshua foreshadowed Joshua left nothing undone in battle, but Jesus left nothing undone in redemption. Joshua’s complete obedience points toward the perfect obedience of Christ, who fulfilled the Father’s will all the way to the cross. The Christian’s confidence rests not in a promised victory that might happen, but in a finished victory already won.

## [60:07]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[27:31] - God’s Word Is Already Relevant
[28:54] - When Battles Come in Bunches
[30:33] - Don’t Count the Chariots
[34:06] - Trust God’s Promises Over Fear
[35:41] - The Northern Kings Gather
[40:50] - The Lord Says Do Not Fear
[46:34] - Trust God’s Power Over Worldly Strength
[48:05] - Hamstring the Horses, Burn the Chariots
[51:17] - Modern Chariots and False Security
[53:04] - Complete Obedience to God’s Word
[57:40] - Partial Obedience Is Disobedience
[60:07] - Joshua Foreshadows the Greater Joshua
[61:41] - What Are You Counting?
[64:04] - Responding at the Lord’s Table

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Joshua 11:1-15
“When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel. And the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.’ So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. And the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. And Joshua did to them just as the LORD said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction; there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded. But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.” [34:35]

Romans 8:31
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” [45:19]

Psalm 20:7
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” [50:36]

John 19:30
“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” [01:00:32]

Observation questions

In Joshua 11:1-5, what details make the northern coalition feel especially overwhelming, and what stands out about where they chose to fight? [40:24]
In Joshua 11:6, what two things does the Lord say to Joshua before the battle begins?
After the victory, what exactly does Joshua do with the horses and chariots, and how closely does that match the Lord’s command? [47:28]
In Joshua 11:15, what repeated pattern is emphasized between the Lord, Moses, and Joshua, and what final statement sums up Joshua’s obedience? [54:26]

Interpretation questions

The Lord answers a massive military threat with the words, “Do not be afraid of them.” Why might that command come before any visible change in the situation, and what does that show about how faith works? [42:17]
The Lord tells Joshua to destroy the horses and chariots rather than keep them. Why would something useful and powerful become spiritually dangerous for Israel? [49:45]
Psalm 20:7 says some trust in chariots and horses, but God’s people trust in the name of the Lord. What kinds of visible strengths tend to compete with trust in God, even when those things are not sinful by themselves? [51:17]
Joshua “left nothing undone,” while Jesus says, “It is finished.” How does Joshua’s obedience point beyond itself to the greater and perfect obedience of Christ? [01:00:07]

Application questions

When battles seem to come in bunches, what do thoughts naturally begin counting first: the size of the problem or the promises of God? What does that look like in real life right now? [43:27]
Faith lives between promise and fulfillment. In what area of life is there a struggle to trust God before there is visible evidence that anything is changing? [42:23]
“Chariots” today may look like money, career, health, talent, security, or control. Which visible source of strength feels easiest to lean on for peace, and how can that trust be gently turned back toward the Lord? [51:17]
Useful things can quietly become false saviors. Has any good gift from God started to feel more dependable than God himself? How would that be recognized? [51:39]
Partial obedience is still disobedience. Where is there a temptation toward edited obedience right now: telling part of the truth, confessing without making things right, attending without serving, giving without generosity, or loving without sacrifice? [57:40]
Joshua obeyed completely, but Jesus obeyed perfectly and finished the work of redemption. How does Christ’s finished work give both comfort for failure and strength for new obedience this week? [01:00:32]
“Count the promises and then obey.” What is one concrete act of obedience that needs to be taken this week in response to God’s Word, even if the outcome still feels uncertain? [01:04:01]

Sermon Clips

45s

#CountPromisesNotChariots

“``So here is Joshua's message to Israel and to us. When life confronts you with overwhelming battles, don't let fear drive you. Don't let worldly strength define you, and don't let partial obedience deceive you. Don't count the chariots. Count the promises and then obey. The battle at Miriam forces every one of us to ask one important question. It's simply this, what are we counting?”

65s

#TrustPromisesNotProblems

“And if we want to experience God's blessing, we must trust him enough to obey him. our greatest, our greatest danger the greatest danger that we would face is is not that our problems are too big. It's that we begin counting our problems rather than the promises of God. Every one of us is tempted to measure our future by what we can see. And we do it far more than you might think. We we count dollars instead of promises. We count diagnoses rather than God's faithfulness. We count our portfolios instead of God's power, our failures instead of Christ's finished work. We count what we can see instead of trusting the God whom we cannot see.”

82s

#NoPartialObedience

“I think it's pretty convicting when you stop and think about all the times and all the ways partially obey. You may not even realize that you're doing it. I don't. We do it when we love God, but not with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We do it when we love people, but not like we love ourselves. We do it when we tell the truth, but not the whole truth. We do it when we attend church services, but then refuse to serve or be in community with God's people. We do it when we give, but not generously or cheerfully. We do it when we confess our sin to God, but not to the person that we've actually wronged. Folks, partial obedience is still disobedience.”

52s

#FaithInFinishedVictory

“You know, during Jesus' earthly ministry, Jesus repeatedly told his disciples, do not fear. Do not fear. It's such a natural thing for us to do. But why does he tell him that? It's because he knew the outcome of the battle was already settled. It was never in doubt. Just as God promised Joshua victory before the battle, God Jesus could tell his disciples do not fear because he knew that he would defeat Satan at the cross and conquer death upon his resurrection. So in many ways, we are more blessed than Joshua because our confidence doesn't rest in a promised victory, but in a finished one.”

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