"I (Yahweh) gave [your enemies] into your hand. I sent the hornet (that is, terror of you) before you, which drove the two kings of the Amonites out before you, but it was not by your sword or by your bow. I have given you a land for which you did not labour, and cities you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat from the vineyards and oliveyards you did not plant. Now therefore [reverently] fear Yahweh, and serve Him in sincerity and emet (truth)" (Joshua 24:11-14a, Amp.V.).

Yahweh promises to send the sir'a or hornet before those who are really owned by Him. The hornet is a large colonial wasp whose sting is very painful that can sometimes be dangerous.

I don't know if you've ever seen a hornet. They can be up to 5½ cm or just over 2 inches long. Of course, you're familiar with wasps, we all are. Wasp stings are bad enough. Indeed, the friend of an uncle in Scotland was was stung on his earlobe by an ordinary wasp and it killed him. Hornet stings are much more painful because their venom contains acetylcholine, and like wasps but unlike bees, hornets can sting you multiple times. The toxicity of the venom depends on the species, the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia japonica) being the worst.

An acquaintance of our family in Malaysia, in an act of foolish dare-devilry, was stung by a hornet in his mouth and it killed him. The reason hornets are able to kill some people is because their victims are allergic and go into anaphylactic shock. If they are not treated promptly with adrenaline (epinephrine), they've had it.

In today's passage, Yahweh gives a stern warning to anyone who tries to stand in the path of His people by using the hornet's powerful sting as a metaphor: don't oppose them or you will receive terror for your insolence and you are putting your life on the line.

I have experienced this in my own life, several times - or to be more exact, those who have sought to come against me or harm my family have experienced it and met their own hornets, both atheists and pretended 'believers'. Their lives have, in the words of one such opponent who eventually relented, "come apart" as they have sought relief in psychiatry but found none.

In today's passage, as elsewhere (Ex.23:28; Dt.7:20) the principle antagonists are kings or their governments. Yahweh makes no distinction between individuals or states as is shown by His attitude to the superpower of the day, Egypt, and all the minor kingdoms that the Israelites overwhelmed.

We're told in the Bible that the final exodus and gathering in the very last days is going to be even more dramatic than the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the Promised Land, so much so that in future celebrations at Pesach the deeds of Egypt will be all but forgotten, replaced by more recent miracles and wonders. One can only suppose that the 'hornets' will be even more terrifying than they were to Pharaoh and the Canaanite kings:

"I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you..." (Ex.23:27-28, NKJV).

Therefore I admonish you to follow Elohim (God) to the minuest detail of His will, clinging on to Yah'shua (Jesus), not waivering, and so witness His deliverance! Amen.