Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

The kings of the hill country (including Adoni-zedek or ádoniy-tzedeq of Jerusalem, who is perhaps a descendant of Melchi-zedek of Genesis 14:18-20) got together and decided to make war against Gibeon because they had made a treaty with Joshua and the Israelites. This is foolishness. What are they going to accomplish? Nothing but a lessening of their own resources. They were going motivated by feelings. All the territories these men ruled were in the inheritance given to Judah. The best they could hope for was the destruction of Gibeon, being reduced by how many men they lost, and being away from the cities that they ruled.

Gibeon heard about it and cried to Joshua for help. Joshua had a covenant with them, so he responded. First, he consulted God. God told him not to fear them because God had already delivered them into Joshua’s hands. Joshua got all the fighting men together and left Gilgal, matched throughout the night, and fell on the allied kings. They routed them and chased them a looong way. God sent hailstones to fall on the enemies (but not the Israelites) – which is pretty cool. And then, the miracle.

It is a miracle in one of two ways. The english translations of Joshua 10:13 say that the sun and the moon stood still (or rather the earth and the moon, since it is the earth moving around the sun and not the other way around). This would be an AMAZING miracle not because it stopped – conceivable as miracles go – but because when it started moving again everything on Earth would fall off unless held down all at once by God. In the Hebrew, it says the sun and moon ‘stilled’. That doesn’t mean motionless, but rather they ceased doing what they do. Meaning they stopped giving light, or light and heat, or SOMETHING. All of which is fairly impossible as impossibles go. Some researchers are saying it was a total eclipse of the sun (which would make it the earliest recorded) BUT Joshua 10:14 clearly states (in both languages) that it was the ONLY time that God listened to a human male and heeded him. The reason God heeded was because the Lord was fighting for Israel, but that isn’t the point. If God only did this because Joshua said something, that would make it a SPONTANEOUS solar eclipse. Now, knowing the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), God COULD have set the rotations of the sun, earth, and moon in motion in just such a way that at that exact moment in time a solar eclipse happened – but that is a HUGE miracle in and of itself whether you believe in a short life of creation or a long one (think of the calculations!). No matter which way you think of it, which way God performed it, or when it was set in motion, you have one of the greatest miracles ever all because a man asked God for help in routing his enemies and GOD LISTENED TO HIM. What a GOOD God!

Minor note. The text looks to the Book of Jasher which also records this event as happening. This was a well-known text at the time. No copy of it exists any longer. A copy of “A” Book of Jasher was found with the Dead Sea Scrolls, but it is not the same as the original. It is a newer book with no relation other than name. There is at least one other version written in 800 AD which ALSO has no relation to the original. The Book of Jasher is mentioned twice in scripture, has never been itself considered scripture (by Hebrews or the early church), and the original has been LOST.

The five kings who were routed hid in a cave and Joshua had them guarded so they couldn’t escape while the men recuperated. Remember, they had marched all night, fought all day, had the day extended, and then blocked the cave. It had been a LONG day and they needed rest. The kings were locked in, the Israelites chased down their forces, and when it was all over the only foes who escaped had fled to fortified cities and locked themselves in. The Israelites went back to camp to rest. The victory had been so complete that no one dared to speak against the Israelites at all.

Joshua and the captains of the men went back to the cave and Joshua ordered it open. They brought out the five kings and had his captains put their feet on the necks of the kings (symbolic of their total defeat by the ordinary men of the army). Think of the picture that would give them in the coming years. Then the kings were killed and hung on the nearby trees (also a symbol of total defeat and humiliation). At evening, Joshua took them down (Deuteronomy 21:22-23), tossed them back into the cave, and had it closed up with large stones. God had given them complete victory, and they honoured that by honouring His Law about dead bodies.

Next, Joshua led the people in attacks against the cities and territory of those kings and the others in the South. This is where a pattern came to be where they did to one city what they had done to the last. First they came to Libnah, destroyed it, and did to it as they had done to Jericho. Then they fought Lachish, and did to it as they had done to Libnah. The king of Gezer came to help Lachish, but he and his forces were also destroyed. Then Elgon, where they did as at Lachish. Then Hebron, where they did as it Elgon. Then Debir, where they did as at Libnah. In this way, they conquered all the mountain country, the lowland, and the wilderness slopes. They conquered from Kadesh Barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen as far as Gibeon. Other than the five kings that attacked them, they took these territories one at a time. EXCEPT Jerusalem. Joshua never took Jerusalem. It didn’t fall until the time of David (2 Samuel 5:6-7). Joshua and his men returned to their camp at Gilgal.

Each city was taken like the one before. And it started with Jericho. The implication is that they did each one the way God said, with God leading them. Their first attack on Ai showed what they could do in their own strength – nothing. It was ONLY when they were doing things God’s way and letting God fight their battles for them that they had ANY success. Joshua learned from that defeat at Ai and did everything afterward as God directed. It is important to learn from our mistakes ESPECIALLY when it comes to being corrected by God.

“They came out, they and all their armies with them, as a great army like the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.” (Joshua 11:4)

The kings of the North heard about this and THEY weren’t going to take it lying down. So they got together all their armies in one place – and made it all the easier for God to defeat them. Yup. Their emotional response to the defeat of half of Canaan made it easier for the rest to be conquered. People lost in sin do stupid things. People set against God do REALLY stupid things. God turned what they meant for evil into a HUGE blessing for His children.

They gathered together a massive force and camped together at the waters of Merom (somewhere north of Jerusalem and west of the Jordan). God told Joshua not to be afraid – notice Joshua was still consulting God before ANY serious move. God told him that the next day God would deliver them all slain and Joshua would hamstring their horses and burn their chariots. Why not keep them? It would be a smart move to capture them and use them. But then the people might get to thinking it was THEIR strength getting the victory and God wasn’t interested in that. God was the ONLY one giving them the victories. They didn’t NEED more stuff to win. They’d ALREADY won.

It happened just like God said – surprise, surprise. When we do what He says, in the way that He says it, we ALWAYS get the victory that He tells us He’s given us. That is the way it has worked since the beginning. Why is it that we can’t get that into our heads? Especially since we have the record of the people of Israel and all the times they learned that lesson. It goes to show you how selfish the flesh is. It BREEDS stupidity when we listen to it instead of God.

Joshua turned around and went to all the cities and territories the kings had come from and conquered them too. Hazor, which they burnt to the ground, Madon, Shimron, Achshaph, and in the mountains, the plains, the lowlands, and the heights of Dor. Only the inhabitants of Gibeon were spared (they had a treaty with them). They did it all. Not one city tried to make peace. Not one city left the land peacefully. They chose to dig in and be hard hearted right up until they were dead.

Next, Joshua did something momentous, as far as Israel went. Verses 21-22 show how Joshua came against the Anakim from the mountains. From Hebron, Debir, Anab, all the mountains of Judah and all the mountains of Israel. Joshua took them ALL out. When they were done they were all dead except a few from Gaza, Gath (where Goliath was from), and Ashdod. These were the giants that had so scared the ten spies forty years ago. God gave them the victory and they took them out. They did it now, and they could have done it then. When God is giving the victory, it doesn’t matter how tall you are.

Joshua took the whole land (more on that tomorrow) according to what the Lord told Moses (remember that) and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribes. And then the land rested from war.

Summary

Key Players: God, Joshua, the Israelites, the kings of Canaan

Key Themes: Possession, God’s Way, Remembering Lessons

Key Verse(s): Joshua 10:1-2, 6-7, 13-14, 25-27, 42-43; 11:1-4, 8-9, 16-18, 21-23