Joshua 9–11

If you were to ask me what the Book of Joshua is all about, I would have to really answer the question in a two-fold sort of a way. First of all, it's obviously about the nation of Israel coming into the promised land the battles that ensued as they went in and began to clear the land of the Canaanites. And of course it was God's judgment upon the Canaanites as we've learned. It was not just the Israelites coming in there and bullying their way in and saying, we're going to take over this place or whatever. They were executing the judgment of the Lord. There's no question about that. But beyond the physical description of what the Book of Joshua is about, there is the, frankly, more applicable to you and me the spiritual element of the directives, the wisdom, and the insights that we gain from this book as it relates to our own spiritual battles, our own spiritual warfare. We've mentioned several times in this study so far that so much of what this book portrays for us has a figurative picture, or gives us a picture of our own lives. What it is to walk out the realities of being a Christian and entering into the promises of God. Living and walking out those promises. Because if you don't walk out the promises of God, then you're a wilderness Christian. You're just hanging out in the wilderness. And some people can— Israel was there for a total of 40 years. And there are Christians who live in the wilderness and they never begin to take hold of God's promises. They're just content to have sand in their teeth I suppose and go with just the basics. But there are so many wonderful promises that God gives us to embrace and to walk out in our lives. But once we do, that's when the battles begin. You can live that life of just hanging out in the wilderness, or you can begin to walk out God's promises. But when you do, the enemy's going to come against you, and he's not going to want to give up territory to you. Because this is territory in your life that he has dominated up to this point and he's not going to be very pleased with you for encroaching on this area where he has been able to rule and reign as it relates to your life. But when you begin to say, you know what, God's promise to me is such and such and I'm going to take it up. I'm going to— it's when the battles begin. We're going to learn, even as we go through the chapters that we get through tonight, about some of the dangers that lie along the path of walking out the promises of God. Chapter 9 begins this way, saying,

Well, when it says, they gathered together to fight as one, we're going to find out not all of them did that. Because we're told in verse 3 that,

And these are Hivites, okay? We call them Gibeonites because they live in Gibeon, but they're Hivites. How do you like that? We're just doing this to be confusing, by the way. In case you wanted to know. It says, when they

I don't know, I like crumbly. I do, I just, Sue bakes this, I should, I mean, I should tell you about that. Sue bakes this great sourdough bread, and I like it crumbly, and chewy, and stuff like that. So, I don't know, I would have said, hey, give me some of that. Anyway, goes on here, it says in verse 6,

Stop there for a minute. We don't understand at face value what this means. This statement that they're making to the Israelites, “We are your servants,” is full of meaning. Far beyond just, we will serve you. To say “We are your servants” is to basically say, allow us to be a vassal state of Israel. Now we don't, again, we don't use the term, vassal very often. It was used in Britain. The British, they, they were big on vassals and vassal cities. And people who were vassals of the king, or a landowner, or a baron, it was a big deal in Britain. We don't talk about it much in the United States of America. Let me put a definition up on the screen for you. A vassal state is essentially, Vassal state — noun. a state with varying degrees of independence in its internal affairs but dominated by another state in its foreign affairs is potentially wholly subject to the dominating state. Also, the dominating state is required to offer assistance to the vassal state in times of war. A vassal state is essentially a state with varying degrees of independence in its internal affairs but (it's) dominated by another state in its foreign affairs and (it is) potentially wholly subject to the dominating state. (and the last part there that's) Also, (going to be interesting in this chapter is that it is required) the dominating state (that is) is required to offer assistance to the vassal state in times of war. It's more than just saying, hey, let us be your servants. They're saying, we want to come under you as a vassal city state. You're going to hear about a lot of kings and you might read all the names of these kings and go, were there really that many kingdoms in the in Canaan? No, they were city states. And so a city could have its own king. Get that, right. I don't know, something like the mayor, I suppose, but, he's a little bit more of a big wig than that. You've got all these city states with their kings and this particular city state which was Gibeon, came to Joshua and the elders of Israel and said, we want to be a vassal state, right? But we've come from a long distance. We're in the middle of verse 8. “And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from? (and) 9 They said to him, (well, I noticed they're very vague) “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, (isn't that interesting, that word got around) 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, (that means on the other side of the Jordan) to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.”

And that was, Egypt was 40 years ago. The kings of the Amorites, that was just recent. But they're saying, we heard about all this and all that your God has done. They go on to say in verse 11, “So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”’” In other words, again, we want to be a vassal state. And they said, look, “12 Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. (they're cracked and stuff with age) And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” Okay, verse 14 is critical. “So the men took some of their provisions, (in other words, they checked them out, but then this next statement is probably the most critical of all) but did not ask counsel from the LORD. (boom, there you go) 15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.” In other words, they basically swore an oath saying we won't lay a finger on you guys. In fact, we'll protect you. We'll protect you. That's what they're saying. Let's talk about this here a little bit. The Gibeonites they obviously recognized there was no way they could defeat this army of Israel. And we're going to find out that they were not just a little tiny town. And we're going to find out that they didn't have just a little tiny army. We'll find that out later. But they decided that it wasn't going to happen. It doesn't matter what we do, how many men we do have, we're not going to be able to defeat YAHWEH, the God of Israel. And so they devised a battle plan of a different kind. Rather than going out fully armed with all of their men, and swords, and shields, and horses, and chariots, or whatever, they decided to use cunning and deception. And they were banking on the fact that Israel wasn't going to ask too many questions. And they were only going to allow their investigation to go so far when they investigated their provisions, and look at my sandals, they're falling apart, we've been walking for a long time, and on, and on, and on. And you'll notice in verse 4, if you look back with me in verse 4, I want you to see this. This is how the ESV renders it. It says, “they on their part acted with cunning…” And that word, cunning is translated different in different translations of the Bible. It all means essentially the same thing, but I looked it up in the Hebrew. Here's what's interesting. Did you know that this word that is translated, cunning can mean both, craftiness and prudence? And the reason that's significant is because we tend to think of craftiness as a negative thing. The enemy, Satan, is literally considered crafty in all that he does. But prudence is something that is usually given to us in a more positive light. It's prudent to do certain things. It's prudent to take cover when the weather gets bad, and on, and on. Isn't it interesting that this word can mean both a negative or a positive action depending on the motive of the heart? Okay? Depending on the motive. Well, the motive here is pretty clear. The motive is deception. The motive is to get the Israelites to agree to something that they otherwise wouldn't agree about and while we see their actions as definitely negative as it relates to what they're doing to Israel, I mean, they're deceiving them. You got to admire their determination. I mean, you know what? Every time I've ever read through the Book of Joshua, I got to tell you something, I like the Gibeonites. I really do. I like these people because they knew and understood, there's no beat in this God. This God of the Israelites, He's too big, He's too powerful. There's no way we're going to get the upper hand on this God so we've got to resort to other means. Now again, we can't subscribe to their means. But when you think about it, there are some similarities between the Gibeonites and Rahab the prostitute from the city of Jericho. You remember how that whole thing went down. She used deception too. Now, she didn't use it for herself, she used it for others, frankly, to help others. But it was still deception. But like Rahab, the Gibeonites heard all these reports about the God of Israel and the response was the same. Rahab feared God, the Gibeonites feared God. They said, no, He's too big, too powerful. And they both ultimately, and you're going to see this as we get through the chapter, a little spoiler alert here, but they both found a place among the Israelites. Rahab, we found out, not only married an Israelite, but ended up being in the line of David, which ultimately led to Messiah. The Gibeonites are not going to have nearly as a profound existence within the nation of Israel, but it's an existence! They didn't cease to exist, sort of a thing.

--- Anyway, it goes on, look at verse 16. It says, “ At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived (right there) among them. 17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were (and it wasn’t just Gibeon, it was) Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.” Okay. 18 But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.” You know why? Because it's really easy to murmur against leaders. It's true. It is. It's very easy to murmur. When you weren't the one in the decision making process, and you probably would have made the same mistake they did. But you know what? Let's murmur anyway. “19 But (it says) all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, (obliviously) because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them. I got to tell you, I find this interesting. The Gibeonites made a decision at some point along the line that they would be willing to take whatever role was given to them. And I think when they came along, when the Israelites said, okay, guys, you're going to be woodcutters and water bearers. I think they were like, hey, sweet. Better than death. Right? And, and so, yeah, we'll do it. We'll take it. I can't say that I blame them for their attitude. I mean, as much as it appears, this whole thing appears to be a failure for Israel, it was a victory for the Gibeonites. Right? I mean, think about it. And although, again, we can't concede to their methods, I see this same attitude borne out in the Psalms. Let me show you a Psalm on the screen from Psalm 84.

For a day in your court is better than a thousand elsewhere. (you got a song going through your head?) I would rather be a doorkeeper (or, I'll throw in a woodcutter or a water bearer) in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. ---

I don't know, this is the heart. This is the sincere, humble heart of someone who fears God. I'll do whatever. I'll do whatever. You want me to, it doesn't matter. I'll do it. Yeah, I'll take care of anything. Just say it, I’ll do it. I would rather serve the Lord in the most lowly menial way than be outside the kingdom of God. Don't you agree? I'll do anything. I'll do anything. Just tell me. I was telling, I was talking to one of the Calvary Chapel pastors about the fact that Sue and I have made the decision that we're going to be transitioning out of our roles here at Calvary Chapel by June. I was talking to one of those guys and he was asking me what I wanted to do. I said, I'll set up chairs. Serious, and I'm serious, I'll do whatever. I'll straighten chairs. I would love to do something like that for a while. It sounds fun. It really does. Yeah, just, just let me know what needs to be done. “Joshua (verse 22, Joshua) summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? 23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”” And they're probably saying under their breath, fine with us. And they answered And “24 They answered Joshua, (listen to this, listen) “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God (and notice just like Rahab, the word, LORD there is in all caps, they're using the divine name YAHWEH, or however it was pronounced, the LORD your God) had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing.” Now here, stop here. 38 years ago, from this time frame, Israel came to the border of the promised land under Moses. Moses had them send in spies, remember? Spies came back with a bad report, even though God told them, this is your land, I'm giving it to you, I'll make it happen. But they came back and they said, absolutely no way this can happen. What was that? That was unbelief, right? It's unbelief. What do you have from the Gibeonites? You have belief. You have the opposite of unbelief. You have people who heard that Moses had been told by God that he was giving the nation of Israel this land and the Gibeonites believed it! They believed it! I believe that's why they are being rewarded with their lives because they responded in faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

I just, this is the deal, and this is one of the reasons I like the Gibeonites.

And then look at their attitude in verse 25. “And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” Just go for it. Isn't that something? Isn't that an incredible attitude? Just whatever, whatever you guys think is good and right and best, we trust you. Go for it. And again, we're going to find out in just a minute, this was not a measly peasly town or group of towns there in Canaan. They had resources. Verse 26, “So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. (and that's because the people of Israel, they wanted to kill them, but Joshua wouldn’t let them) 27 But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, (look at this) to this day, in the place that he should choose.” Alright, so then you think you heard the last of the Gibeonites. Not really. Chapter 10 begins by saying, “As soon as Adoni-zedek,…” And by the way, his name means, King of Righteousness, and it's very similar to Melchizedek Alright? But he's the king of Jerusalem. Remember, these are city states. Jerusalem is not going to be under Israeli control until the time of David. Okay,. It's David who took Jerusalem. Anyway, this guy “…heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, (now I want you to pay close attention to verse 2) he feared greatly, (but this is a different fear, listen to this) because (look) Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and (look what else it says about Gibeon) because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors.” I want you to notice this because this is important. Gibeon was a great city. It was like one of the royal cities, meaning it was a very important city. And the men were warriors. Now that's a pretty good description of a place that you might think would consider their odds fairly good going up against this Israeli army. It's like, hey, we got a big town here. We got a lot of warriors. These guys are not puny wimps. These are people who know how to handle a bow and a sword and they know what they're doing. They're seasoned warriors. Hey, we can go up against these Israelites. Not a big deal. I mean, that's the attitude most of the other kings have had and will continue to have. So why didn't the Gibeonites? Because you see, it didn't matter how big and strong they were and how many warriors they had and how seasoned they were or anything like that. They knew the God of Israel was bigger still. That's the point. They had belief and faith that God was bigger. So you can see this is, this really gives some further dimension to this whole thing. But so now we're going to get back to this Adonai Zanek character who also is fearing, like the Gibeonites did, but rather than fearing Israel's God, he's simply fearing being conquered for his own life. So we'll see what he's going to do about it. “3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon.” (notice he wants to attack Gibeon first) For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” 5 Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.” By the way, these are all kings of the southern region of Canaan, so they've all come together in this confederacy. And it's like, well, we got to get rid of Gibeon first because number 1., they betrayed us. Number 2., they are a strong army all by themselves. We can't, we have to get rid of them before they gather with Israel and make Israel even stronger. This is their idea. So, we're going to knock them off first and then we'll gather together and we'll go after Israel. Alright. Notice in verse 6 it says, “And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.”” Remember what I told you about a vassal state? They have the right to go to their master, their dominating state, in this case Israel, and say protect us. You made an agreement. You made a covenant so protect us. And so what we're going to find out though here is this whole attack against Gibeon by these 5 kings in the southern area of Canaan is actually going to work to Joshua's favor because rather than having to go out and attack these kings one by one traveling to all of their areas, all they've got to do is go to Gibeon and they can come against 5 nations or kingdoms, city states at once because they're all gathered together right there. And in fact, that's not going to be the only time groups amass to do that.

Verse 7 says, “So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. 8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.”” And I believe this was a very important statement for Joshua to receive from the Lord because this is the first time the army of Israel has come against a unified army made up of 5 different city states. God knows when there— He knows what our buttons are. We can have faith and we can have really good faith until something pushes our button because whatever it is, it's just it just sounds to me like, that's just that just went over the top. I got faith for this and this, and this, and this, but boy you get me up to here and I'm going to lose it. I think this is one of the reasons why the Lord speaks to Joshua at this point. I know, I know Josh, you got 6 armies coming against you here. I know, I get it, and I know that this can freak you out a little bit. I just want you to know, I've given them into your hands, and you will conquer them, down to the last man. Verse 9 says, “So Joshua came upon them suddenly, (first of all it says) having marched up all night from Gilgal.” And by the way, that was not a small thing. To go from Gilgal to this area of Gibeon was a track of about 20 miles on foot, but it was uphill. Elevation wise, it's going about 3,000 feet higher in elevation than Gibeon. So you're not only marching all night for 20 miles, you're marching uphill all night. Right? And then you've got to fight! Then you've got to fight a battle after marching all night, 20 miles, uphill. But I want you to see how the Lord met them. “10 And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. (and it says here) 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, (so now they’re going down- hill) the LORD threw down large stones (we're going to find out those are hailstones) from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. (in fact it says) There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.” So that's nice to have. It's like, wow, we've been marching all night. It was uphill, 20 miles. Look at this. God brought some hailstones along to help the battle here a little. Thank you, Lord. Right? More guys taken out by hailstones. Those are big hailstones. I mean, I've seen some pretty good size hail in my life. But to have, to be struck with a hailstone and killed, it's got to be a good size piece of ice. Okay. Verse 12. “At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?” We wouldn't know. That book was lost to antiquity although it is mentioned twice in the Bible. Not just here, but also in 2 Samuel, so it was obviously a book that people knew and understood, recognized then, but it's been lost. Middle of verse 13, “The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel.” That's an important statement. “15 So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.” I've heard criticism of, come against the Bible for this passage saying, it says here that the sun stopped. Well, the sun doesn't move at all. We move around the sun. So this is obviously a… Good grief, we still call it sunset today. We still call it sunrise today because it appears like the sun is rising and it appears like the sun is setting. And it did then too. And they weren't trying to make scientific scientifically accurate statements. They were making statements that were just common to the day, just like we do today. I always tell people when they criticize the Bible for this, it's like, well, you better call your local meteorologist too. Tell him he's being terribly unscientific every time he calls it sunset. Anyway, as we saw here in verse 15. “…Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. 16 These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19 but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand.” 20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. 22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. 25 And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”” This picture of the foot on the neck is a picture of dominance, frankly. But it's, and although it's an ancient picture of warfare dominance. And we might read it and kind of go, oh, wow. I mean, our American sensibilities have sometimes struggled with stuff like this. Still, it's a picture of dominance that is important for us to see as it relates to how we are interpreting this whole idea of the Book of Joshua being a picture of spiritual warfare. The Bible tells us that Jesus does the same thing to the enemy, that He will crush Satan under your feet. And we see this, one of the very earliest prophecies related to that is, is of the serpent crawling on the ground on his belly, nipping at the heel of the man, but the man ultimately crushing the skull of the serpent. This is a picture of dominance. And even though the enemy is prophetically foretold to be a constant troublemaker, we know that in the end, he is destroyed. He's dominated by Jesus Christ and that domination really began on the cross. And it's a picture. It's a picture of the domination that God wants you and me to have. I think the reason that Joshua brought his generals forward to do this was to give them this picture. Look what the Lord is enabling you to do. You are dominating, just as He told you. But you notice that you're not dominating out of your own physical strength. The Lord has been fighting for us in ways that we couldn't have imagined. And God is on our side and we are moving powerfully through this land of promise and taking the land. And God wants you and me, I believe, to have the same attitude concerning those promises. And taking the land that God wants us to have. Dominate.

What is dominating you right now? What has its foot on your neck? Are you willing to ask the Lord to turn that one around? Turn that picture around. It's important for us to be willing to say to the Lord, Lord, this thing, this enemy, has its foot on my neck, and it is dominating me. And that's not right because You've given me all the wonderful promises in the Word of God. And I should be the one dominating but I'm not. And I think the reason I'm not Lord is because I've been fighting all this time in my own strength. And I've forgotten that the battle belongs to the Lord and I have not walked in faith as I ought to have walked. And I've allowed the deceptive voice of the enemy at times to deter me and weaken me. So Lord, I need Your help to turn this picture around and I want to put my foot on. And just like Joshua said to these men, don't be afraid. That's a word I think the Lord would give to you and me. Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed. Be strong and courageous. The Bible says in the New Testament that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) Everything we need. The Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight what you've seen here today. Verse 26 says, “And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening. 27 But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day. 28 As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. 29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. 30 And the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. (and) 31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. 32 And the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah."

33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining. 34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. (notice they're visiting all these cities that the armies came against them) And they laid siege to it and fought against it. 35 And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish. 36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it 37 and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it. 38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and fought against it 39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king. 40 So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel commanded. 41 And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. 42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.” One more chapter. “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, 2 and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, (now we’re looking at northern Canaan) and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, 3 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. 4 And they came out with all their troops, (look at this) a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.” Now we've, we've just upped the ante of our of faith, right? Remember how we said that you can have faith for this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and then you get to here and you're like, ah, you start freaking out. Well now we've, we've reached a new high in terms of how many people are coming now against the nation of Israel. This is a horde that can't even be counted, it says. That's what the phrase, the sand and the seashore means. They're beyond numbers. So what does the Lord do? Verse 6,

7

(listen to this) 13

And we're not told why, we're not given any sort of reason for this, which has led some to believe that Joshua thought that maybe these cities that were built up on mounds would be useful to Israel later on. We just don't know. We're guessing.

with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20 For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction (and that really just means that they would be judged by the Lord) and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.” You'll remember it was because the sins of the Canaanites had reached their full measure “21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim (and the Anakim are the descendants of Anak and they were an unusually tall people. A lot of basketball players in the Anakim) from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, (notice that, we're going to see a particularly tall guy come out of Gath later on in the Bible) and in Ashdod did some remain. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.” Now, that doesn't mean all the wars are over. They've basically done the initial coming into the land and taking it. But now the individual tribes are going to be designated in terms of their allotment; their tribal allotment. And when they go into those areas, there's still going to be people to route out from those areas. And we're going to see how that goes. And it doesn't always go great. I'll just tell you ahead of time. But that's where we're going to stop for tonight with 3 chapters and we will pick it up in Joshua chapter 12 next time. Kids are going to be done in about 15 minutes so let's go ahead and close in prayer. Father God, we thank You for the reminder here tonight in the Book of Joshua that speaks to us about things related to spiritual warfare in our own lives and how as we take up the promises of God and the battles ensue, that what we need most of all is to trust You. To trust You that the battle might be won. Father God, we confess to You our weakness. We confess to You that there have been times that the enemy has put his foot on our neck and kept us down. But Lord, we believe that that's not Your plan for our lives, quite the opposite.

And we pray, Father, that You would reverse that and You would allow us to stand up, rise up in victory. Putting our foot on the neck of the enemy, whatever that particular enemy may be in our lives, so that it might be conquered, and that we might walk in freedom. Lord, You have set us free that we might be free, and I pray, Father God, that we would walk in that freedom. But as we do, increase our faith. And we thank You, Father, for the time that You've given us tonight to go through the Scriptures that our faith might be strengthened and encouraged at the deepest level. And we praise You for loving us and caring for us so wonderfully. Be with us, Lord, as we go from this place, and bless our fellowship time as we take some time just to talk together. We ask You to be with us, in Jesus name, amen. Amen. God bless. Have a good rest of your evening.