Front matter (continued, part 34)
God made it clear that it was Israel that had sinned and not just Achan alone (Josh. 7:1, 11). Why would God blame the whole nation for the disobedience of only one soldier? Because Israel was one people in the Lord and not just an assorted collection of tribes, clans, families, and individuals. God dwelt in the midst of their camp, and this made the Jews the Lord's special people (Ex. 19:5–6). Jehovah God walked about in their camp, and therefore the camp was to be kept holy (Deut. 23:14). Anyone who disobeyed God defiled the camp, and this defilement affected their relationship to the Lord and to one another.
His fourth mistake was to think that he could get away with his sin by hiding the loot. Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin and run away and hide, but the Lord discovered them (Gen. 3:7ff.). "Be sure your sin will find you out" was originally said to the people of God, not to the lost (Num. 32:23), and so was "The Lord shall judge His people" (Deut. 32:36; Heb. 10:30). How foolish of Achan to think that God couldn't see what he was doing, when "all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Heb. 4:13 nkjv).
God's people today are one body in Christ. Consequently, we belong to each other, we need each other, and we affect each other (1 Cor. 12:12ff.). Any weakness or infection in one part of the human body contributes to weakness and infection in the other parts. So it also is with the body of Christ. "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it" (1 Cor. 12:26 niv). "One sinner destroys much good" (Eccl. 9:18 nkjv).
Achan's sin becomes even more odious when you stop to realize all that God had done for him. God had cared for him and his family in the wilderness. He had brought them safely across the Jordan and given the army victory at Jericho. The Lord had accepted Achan as a son of the covenant at Gilgal. Yet in spite of all these wonderful experiences, Achan disobeyed God just to possess some wealth that he couldn't even enjoy. Had he waited just a day or two, he could have gathered all the
The sin (vv. 20–21). Achan heard his commander give the order that all the spoils in Jericho were to be devoted to the Lord and were to go into His treasury
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spoils he wanted from the victory at Ai! "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt. 6:33 nkjv).
mortified. If some of your best plans have ever been dashed to pieces, then you can identify with Joshua and his officers.
Remorse (v. 6). The hearts of the Canaanites had melted when they had heard about the conquests of Israel (2:11). But now the tables were turned, and it was the Israelites whose hearts were melted as water! The general who had not known defeat spent the rest of the day prostrate before the ark at Gilgal and his leaders with him. They tore their garments, put dust on their heads, lay on the ground, and cried, "Alas! Alas!" This is the way Jewish people behaved whenever they experienced great distress, such as a military defeat (1 Sam. 4:12) or personal violence and shame (2 Sam. 13:19). It was the prescribed course of action whenever the Jews turned to God in times of great danger or national sin (Neh. 9:1; Est. 4:1). Had Joshua humbled himself before the battle, the situation would have been different after the battle.
A defeated army (7:2–5) Like every good commander, Joshua surveyed the situation before he planned his strategy (Num. 21:32; Prov. 20:18; 24:6). His mistake wasn't in sending out the spies but in assuming that the Lord was pleased with His people and would give them victory over Ai. He and his officers were walking by sight and not by faith. Spiritual leaders must constantly seek the Lord's face and determine what His will is for each new challenge. Had Joshua called a prayer meeting, the Lord would have informed him that there was sin in the camp, and Joshua could have dealt with it. This would have saved the lives of thirty-six soldiers and spared Israel a humiliating defeat.
It's impossible for us to enter into Joshua's mind and fully understand his thinking. No doubt the impressive victory at Jericho had given Joshua and his army a great deal of self-confidence, and self-confidence can lead to presumption. Since Ai was a smaller city than Jericho, victory seemed inevitable from the human point of view. But instead of seeking the mind of the Lord, Joshua accepted the counsel of his spies, and this led to defeat. He would later repeat this mistake in his dealings with the Gibeonites (Josh. 9).
The ark of the covenant was a reminder of the presence of God with His people. The ark had gone before Israel when they had crossed the river (Josh. 3:11ff.), and the ark had been with them when they had marched around Jericho (6:6–8). God hadn't told them to carry the ark to Ai, but God's presence would have gone with them if there had not been sin in the camp. Without God's presence, the ark was simply a piece of wooden furniture, and there was no guarantee of victory just because of the presence of the ark (1 Sam. 4).
The spies said nothing about the Lord; their whole report focused on the army and their confidence that Israel would have victory. You don't hear these men saying, "If the Lord will" (James 4:13–17). They were sure that the whole army wasn't needed for the assault, but that wasn't God's strategy when He gave the orders for the second attack on Ai (Josh. 8:1). Since God's thoughts are not our thoughts (Isa. 55:8–9), we'd better take time to seek His direction. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:18 nkjv). What Israel needed was God-confidence, not self-confidence.
Reproach (vv. 7–9). In his prayer Joshua sounded like the unbelieving Jews whenever they found themselves in a tough situation that demanded faith: "Oh, that we had stayed where we were!" They said this at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:11), when they were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness (16:3; 17:3), and when they were disciplined at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 14:1–3). The Jews had frequently wanted to go back to Egypt, but Joshua would have been willing to cross the Jordan and settle down on the other side.
"But read his prayer, and you will catch a strange note in it," wrote George H. Morrison; "Joshua reproaches God."1 He seems to be blaming God for Israel's presence in Canaan and for the humiliating defeat they had just experienced.
Ai was in the hill country, about fifteen miles from Jericho; and one went up to Ai because it was situated 1,700 feet above sea level. The Jewish army marched confidently up the hill but soon came down again, fleeing for their lives and leaving thirty-six dead comrades behind them.
When you walk by faith, you will claim all that God has for you, but unbelief is always content to settle for something less than God's best. This is why the epistle to the Hebrews is in the Bible, to urge God's people to "go on" and enter into the fullness of their inheritance in Christ (Heb. 6:1). God sometimes permits us to experience humiliating defeats in order to test our faith and reveal to us what's really going on in our hearts. What life does to us depends on what life finds in us, and we don't always know the condition of our own hearts (Jer. 17:9).
Moses had warned Israel that they couldn't defeat their enemies unless the nation was obedient to the Lord. If they were following the Lord by faith, one Jewish soldier would chase 1,000, and two would put 10,000 to flight (Deut. 32:30)! Three Jewish soldiers could have defeated the whole city, if the nation had been pleasing to the Lord (Josh. 8:25). "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear" (Isa. 59:2).
Repentance (vv. 8–9). Now Joshua gets to the heart of the matter: Israel's defeat had robbed God of glory, and for this they had to repent. If the people of
A discouraged leader (7:6–15) The leader who had been magnified (6:27) was now
Joshua 7
in secret places that I shall not see him?" (23:24). Whether sinners run to the top of the mountains or dive to the bottom of the seas, God will find them and judge them (Amos 9:3). "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccl. 12:14).
the land lost their fear of Israel's God (2:8–11), this would make it difficult for Joshua to conquer the land. But the important thing was not Joshua's fame or Israel's conquests, but the glory of the God of Israel. Joshua's concern was not for his own reputation but for the "great name" of Jehovah. Joshua had learned this lesson from Moses (Ex. 32:11–13; Num. 14:13–16), and it's a lesson the church needs to learn today.
God's approach was methodical. First He singled out the tribe of Judah, then the family of the Zerahites, then the household of Zabdi, and finally the culprit Achan. Perhaps the high priest used the ephod to determine God's direction (1 Sam. 23:6, 9; 30:7–8), or Joshua and the high priest may have cast lots. It must have been frightening for Achan and his immediate family to watch the accusing finger of God point closer and closer. "My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes" (Jer. 16:17 niv). Read Psalm 10, especially verses 6, 11, 13 to see what may have been going on in Achan's mind and heart during this tense time of scrutiny.
Rebuke (vv. 10–15). The Lord allowed Joshua and his leaders to stay on their faces until the time for the evening sacrifice. He gave them time to come to the end of themselves so that they would obey His directions, and then He spoke to Joshua. There is a time to pray and a time to act, and the time had now come to act.
Since Israel had sinned, Israel had to deal with its sin. God told Joshua that the nation had stolen that which belonged to Him and had hidden it among their own possessions as if it were theirs. Note the repetition of the word "accursed," which is used six times in this paragraph. The nation had been sanctified in preparation for crossing the Jordan (3:5), but now they had to be sanctified to discover an enemy in the camp. They had to present themselves to God so He could expose the guilty man.
When Joshua singled out Achan as the offender, the people watching must have asked themselves, "What evil thing did he do that the Lord was so displeased with us?" Perhaps the relatives of the thirty-six slain soldiers were angry as they looked at the man whose disobedience caused the death of their loved ones.
What the Lord said to Joshua helps us see Achan's sin (and Israel's sin) from the divine point of view. What they did was sin (7:11), a word that means "to miss the mark." God wants His people to be holy and obedient, but they missed the mark and fell short of God's standard. It was also transgression (v. 11), which means "to cross over." God had drawn a line and told them not to cross it, but they had violated His covenant and crossed the line.
The confession (vv. 19–23). The phrase "Give glory to God" was a form of official oath in Israel (John 9:24 niv). Achan had not only sinned against his own people, but also he had grievously sinned against the Lord, and he had to confess his sin to Him. When he said "I have sinned," he joined the ranks of seven other men in Scripture who made the same confession, some more than once, and some without sincerity: Pharaoh (Ex. 9:27; 10:16), Balaam (Num. 22:34), King Saul (1 Sam. 15:24, 30; 26:21), David (2 Sam. 12:13; 24:10, 17; Ps. 51:4), Shimei (2 Sam. 19:20), Judas (Matt. 27:4), and the prodigal son (Luke 15:18, 21). Before he could execute the Lord's judgment, Joshua had to present the evidence that substantiated Achan's confession. The messengers dug under Achan's tent and found "the accursed thing" that had brought defeat to Israel. The stolen goods were spread out before the Lord so He could see that all Israel was renouncing their hold on this evil treasure. The confession and the evidence were enough to convict the accused man.
This sin involved stealing from God and then lying about it (v. 11). Achan had taken the forbidden wealth but pretended that he had obeyed the Lord. Achan had done a foolish thing (v. 15) in thinking he could rob God and get away with it. Israel couldn't face any of her enemies until their sin had been put away. The tribes could never claim their inheritance as long as one man clung to his forbidden treasures. Everything God had done for His people up to this point was to no avail as long as they couldn't go forward in victory. What a lesson for the church today!
That evening Joshua sent word throughout the camp that the people were to sanctify themselves and prepare for an assembly to be held the next morning. You wonder whether Achan and his family got any sleep that night, or did they think they were secure?
The judgment (vv. 24–26). Since a law in Israel prohibited innocent family members from being punished for the sins of their relatives (Deut. 24:16), Achan's family must have been guilty of assisting him in his sin. His household was judged the same way Israel would deal with a Jewish city that had turned to idols (Josh. 13:12–18). Achan and his family had turned from the true and living God and had given their hearts to that which God had said was accursed— silver, gold, and an expensive garment. It wasn't worth it!
A discovered sinner (7:16–26) The investigation (vv. 16–18). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" asked the prophet (Jer. 17:9), and he answered the question in the next verse: "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."
At the beginning of a new period in Bible history,
Nobody can hide from God. "Can any hide himself
Joshua 7—8
Life, like war, is a series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian nor the best general who makes the fewest false steps. Poor mediocrity may secure that; but he is the best who wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes. Forget mistakes; organize victories out of mistakes.1
God sometimes revealed His wrath against sin in some dramatic way. After the tabernacle had been set up, Nadab and Abihu invaded its holy precincts contrary to God's law, and God killed them. This was a warning to the priests not to treat God's sanctuary carelessly (Lev. 10). When David sought to restore the ark to its place of honor, and Uzzah touched the ark to steady it, God killed Uzzah (2 Sam. 6:1–11), another warning from God not to treat sacred things carelessly. At the beginning of the church age, when Ananias and Sapphira lied to God and God's people, the Lord killed them (Acts 5:1–11).
Henry Ford would have agreed with Robertson, because Ford defined a mistake as "an opportunity to begin again, more intelligently." Joshua would also have agreed, because he is about to "begin again, more intelligently" and organize a victory out of his mistakes.
The death of Achan and his family was certainly a dramatic warning to the nation not to take the Word of God lightly. The people and the animals were stoned, and their bodies burned along with all that the family possessed. The troubler of Israel was completely removed from the scene, the people were sanctified, and now God could march with His people and give them victory. The name Achor means "trouble." The Valley of Achor is mentioned in Isaiah 65:10 and Hosea 2:15 as a place where the Jews will one day have a new beginning and no longer be associated with shame and defeat. The Valley of Achor will become for them "a door of hope" when they return to their land and share in the blessings of the messianic kingdom. How wonderful the Lord is to take Achor, a place of sorrow and defeat, and make it into a place of hope and joy.
A new beginning (8:1–2) Once the nation of Israel had judged the sin that had defiled their camp, God was free to speak to them in mercy and direct them in their conquest of the land. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand" (Ps. 37:23–24 nkjv). No matter what mistakes we may make, the worst mistake of all is not to try again; for "the victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings" (Alexander Whyte).
You start with the Word of God. We today don't hear God's audible voice as people often did in Bible times, but we have the Word of God before us and the Spirit of God within us, and God will direct us if we wait patiently before Him.
The heap of stones in the valley would be a reminder that God expects His people to obey His Word, and if they don't, He must judge them. The heap of stones at Gilgal (Josh. 4:1–8) reminded them that God keeps His Word and leads His obedient people to the place of blessing. Both memorials are needed in the walk of faith. God is love (1 John 4:8, 16) and longs to bless His people, but God is also light (1 John 1:5) and must judge His people's sins. It had been a trying two days for Joshua and his leaders, but the situation was about to change. God would take charge of the army and lead His people to victory. When you surrender to the Lord, no defeat is permanent and no mistake is beyond remedy. Even the "Valley of Trouble" can become a "door of hope."
The word of encouragement (v. 1a). Discouragement over the past and fear of the future are the two reactions that often accompany failure. We look back and remember the mistakes that we made, and then we look ahead and wonder whether there's any future for people who fail so foolishly.
The answer to our discouragement and fear is in hearing and believing God's Word: "Fear not, neither be thou dismayed" (v. 1). I recommend that you take your Bible concordance and study the "fear not" statements of the Bible. Note that God spoke these words to different kinds of people in various circumstances, and His Word always met the need. Be sure to check the "fear not" statements in Genesis, Isaiah 41–44, and the first eight chapters of Luke. God never discourages His people from making progress. As long as we obey His commandments, we have the privilege of claiming His promises. God delights "to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect [wholly devoted] toward Him" (2 Chron. 16:9).
Notes 1 George H. Morrison, The Footsteps of the Flock (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1904), 106.
CHAPTER EIGHT Joshua 8 TURNING DEFEAT INTO VICTORY T
The word of instruction (vv. 1b–2). God always has a plan for His people to follow, and the only way for us to have victory is to obey God's instructions. In his first attack on Ai Joshua followed the advice of his spies and used only part of the army, but God told him to take "all the people of war"(v. 1). The Lord also told Joshua to use an ambush and take advantage of Ai's self-confidence stemming from Israel's first defeat
he following quotation runs contrary to what most people today think about life, including people in the church. It was said in a sermon preached on August 12, 1849, by the famous British preacher F. W. Robertson.
Joshua 8
ministries to dig their way into administrative ruts that eventually become graves, simply because the leadership fails to discern whether God wants to do something new for them. The American business leader Bruce Barton (1886–1967) said, "When you're through changing, you're through."
(7:1–5). Finally, God gave the soldiers the right to claim the spoils, but they were to burn the city. Had Achan waited only a few days, he could have picked up all the wealth that he wanted. God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. When we run ahead of the Lord, we usually rob ourselves and hurt others.
The strategy for Ai was based on Israel's previous defeat, for God was organizing victory out of Joshua's mistakes. The people of Ai were overconfident because they had defeated Israel at the first attack, and this overconfidence would be their undoing. "We did it before, and we can do it again!"
The word of promise (v. 1c). "I have given" was God's promise (see 6:2) and Joshua's guarantee of victory as long as he obeyed the instructions of the Lord. "God never made a promise that was too good to be true," said evangelist D. L. Moody, but every promise must be claimed by faith. Unless the promises of God are "mixed with faith" (Heb. 4:2), they accomplish nothing. Because Israel acted presumptuously in their first attack against Ai, they failed miserably. The promises of God make the difference between faith and presumption.
At night Joshua and his army marched fifteen miles from Gilgal to Ai, and, using 30,000 soldiers, Joshua set up an ambush behind the city from the west (vv. 3–9). He put another 5,000 men between Ai and Bethel, which was about two miles away (v. 12). This detachment would make sure that the army from Bethel wouldn't make a surprise attack from the northwest and open another "front." The rocky terrain in the highlands around Ai made it easy for Joshua to conceal his soldiers, and the whole operation was done at night.
You can never exaggerate the importance of the Christian soldier spending time daily in the Word of God. Unless daily we take the sword of the Spirit by faith (Eph. 6:17), we go into the battle unarmed and therefore unprepared. Spiritually minded believers are victorious because they allow the Word of God to "saturate" their minds and hearts. The Spirit using the Word controls their desires and decisions and this is the secret of victory.
The plan was simple but effective. Leading the rest of the Jewish army, Joshua would make a frontal attack on Ai from the north. His men would flee as they had done the first time and by fleeing draw the self-confident people of Ai away from the protection of their city. At Joshua's signal the soldiers lying in ambush would enter the city and set it on fire. The people of Ai would be caught between two armies, and the third army would deal with any assistance that might come from Bethel.
No matter how badly we have failed, we can always get up and begin again, for our God is the God of new beginnings.
A new strategy (8:3–13) God is not only the God of new beginnings, but He's also the God of infinite variety. Remember the words of King Arthur that I quoted in chapter 2? "And God fulfills Himself in many ways/Lest one good custom should corrupt the world." God changes His leaders lest we start trusting flesh and blood instead of trusting the Lord, and He changes His methods lest we start depending on our personal experience instead of on His divine promises.
Being a good general, Joshua lodged with his army (v. 9). He certainly encouraged them to trust the Lord and believe His promise for victory. The Captain of the host of the Lord (5:14) would go before them because they obeyed His Word and trusted His promises.
The work of the Lord requires strategy, and Christian leaders must seek the mind of the Lord in their planning. Like Joshua, we must get the facts and weigh them carefully as we seek the will of God. Too often, the work of the Lord only drifts along on the tide of time, without any rudder or compass to give direction, and the results are disappointing. Our English word strategy comes from two Greek words that together mean "to lead an army." Leadership demands planning, and planning is an important part of strategy.
The strategy God gave Joshua for taking Ai was almost opposite the strategy He used at Jericho. The Jericho operation involved a week of marches that were carried on openly in the daylight. The attack on Ai involved a covert night operation that prepared the way for the daylight assault. The whole army was united at Jericho, but Joshua divided the army for the attack on Ai. God performed a mighty miracle at Jericho when He caused the walls to fall down flat, but there was no such miracle at Ai. Joshua and his men simply obeyed God's instructions by setting an ambush and luring the people of Ai out of their city, and the Lord gave them the victory.
A new victory (8:14–29) Ai emptied (vv. 14–17). When morning dawned, the king of Ai saw the army of Israel positioned before the city, ready to attack. Confident of victory, he led his men out of the city and against the Jews. "They are the most in danger," said Matthew Henry, "who are least aware of it." Joshua and his men began to flee, and this gave the men of Ai even more assurance of victory.
It's important that we seek God's will for each undertaking so that we don't depend on past victories as we plan for the future. The World War II song "We did it before/And we can do it again!" doesn't always apply to the work of the Lord. How easy is it for Christian
According to verse 17, the men of Bethel were also involved in the attack, but no details are given.
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king of Ai under a heap of stones, there must have been a new sense of faith and courage in Israel, for they had won another victory. The people saw that not one word of God's promise had failed. The disgrace and defeat caused by Achan had now been erased, and Israel was well on her way to conquering the Promised Land.
Whether they were already in Ai or arrived on the scene just in time, we aren't told, but their participation led to the defeat of their city (12:16) as well as Ai.
It was careless of the people of Ai to leave their city undefended, but such are the follies of self-confidence. When a small army sees a large army flee without even fighting, it gives them a feeling of superiority that can lead to defeat.
A new commitment (8:30–35) At some time following the victory at Ai, Joshua led the people thirty miles north to Shechem, which lies in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Here the nation obeyed what Moses had commanded them to do in his farewell speech (Deut. 27:1–8). Joshua interrupted the military activities to give Israel the opportunity to make a new commitment to the authority of Jehovah as expressed in His law.
Ai captured (vv. 18–20). Conscious that the battle was the Lord's (1 Sam. 17:47; 2 Chron. 20:15), Joshua waited for further instructions. God then told him to lift up his spear toward the city (Josh. 8:18). This was the signal for the other troops to enter the city and burn it, but the signal had to be given at just the right time. The men of Ai and Bethel were trapped, and it was a simple matter for the army of Israel to destroy them. Joshua held up his spear until the victory was won (v. 26), an action that reminds us of the battle Joshua fought against Amalek when Moses held up his hands to the Lord (Ex. 17:8–16).
Joshua built an altar (vv. 30–31). Since Abraham had built an altar at Shechem (Gen. 12:6–7), and Jacob had lived there a short time (chap. 33–34), the area had strong historic ties to Israel. Joshua's altar was built on Mount Ebal, "the mount of cursing," because only a sacrifice of blood can save sinners from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:10–14).
Ai's army and people destroyed (vv. 21–29). Seeing the smoke of the city, Joshua's men stopped fleeing, and they turned and attacked the army of Ai that was pursuing them. After the Jewish soldiers in Ai left the city, they joined in the battle. The enemy was then caught between two armies. "Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives" (v. 22 niv).
In building the altar, Joshua was careful to obey Exodus 20:25 and not apply any tool to the stones picked up in the field. No human work was to be associated with the sacrifice lest sinners think their own works can save them (Eph. 2:8–9). God asked for a simple stone altar, not one that was designed and decorated by human hands, "that no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Cor. 1:29). It's not the beauty of manmade religion that gives the sinner forgiveness, but the blood on the altar (Lev. 17:11). King Ahab replaced God's altar with a pagan altar, but it didn't give him acceptance with God or make him a better man (2 Kings 16:9–16).
Once the army was annihilated, the rest of the population of the city was destroyed, just as at Jericho (vv. 24–25; 6:21, 24). Keep in mind that this was not the "slaughter of innocent people" but the judgment of God on an evil society that had long resisted His grace and truth.
Ai's king slain (vv. 23, 29). This was the final symbolic gesture of complete victory on the part of Israel. The king had no army, subjects, or city, for the Lord had destroyed them all. It was total victory on the part of Israel. Joshua killed the king with a sword and then ordered that the corpse be humiliated by hanging it on a tree until sundown (Deut. 21:22–23). The body was then buried under a heap of stones at the entrance of the gate of the ruin that had once been Ai. The previous heap of stones that Israel had raised was a memorial to Achan who had caused their defeat at Ai (Josh. 7:25–26). But this heap of stones at Ai was a memorial of Israel's victory over the enemy. By obeying the Word of the Lord, they had organized victory out of mistakes.
The priests offered burnt offerings to the Lord as a token of the nation's total commitment to Him (Lev. 1). The peace offerings, or "fellowship offerings," were an expression of gratitude to God for His goodness (3; 7:11–34). A portion of the meat was given to the priests and another portion to the offerer so that he could eat it joyfully with his family in the presence of the Lord (7:15–16, 30–34; Deut. 12:17–18). By these sacrifices, the nation of Israel was assuring God of their commitment to Him and their fellowship with Him.
Joshua wrote the law on stones (vv. 32–33). This act was in obedience to the command of Moses (Deut. 27:1–8). In the Near East of that day it was customary for kings to celebrate their greatness by writing records of their military exploits on huge stones covered with plaster. But the secret of Israel's victory was not their leader or their army; it was their obedience to God's law (Josh. 1:7–8). In later years, whenever Israel turned away from God's law, they got into trouble and had to be disciplined. "And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?" asked Moses (Deut. 4:8 nkjv).
Ai's spoils claimed (v. 27). Since the firstfruits of the spoils of war in Canaan had already been given to God at Jericho, He permitted the army to claim the spoils at Ai. Furthermore, at Jericho, the victory was theirs because of a miracle of God; while at Ai, because the men actually had to fight, they earned their reward. (For the laws governing the distribution of spoils, see Num. 31:19–54.) We aren't sure that these rules were strictly followed in every situation, but they give you an indication of how Israel handled the spoils of war.
When at the close of the day the men buried the
Joshua 8—9
ligence. By shouting "Amen" to the statements that were read, the people admitted that they understood the law with its blessings and curses, and that they accepted the responsibility of obeying it. This included the women, children, and the "mixed multitude" (sojourners) who had joined Israel (Ex. 12:38; 22:21; 23:9; Deut. 24:17–22; 31:12). If they wanted to share in Israel's conquest, they had to submit to the law of Israel's God.
Believers today have the Word of God written on their hearts by the Holy Spirit of God (Rom. 8:1–4; 2 Cor. 3). The law written on stones was external, not internal, and could instruct the people but could never change them. Paul makes it clear in the epistle to the Galatians that while the law can convict sinners and bring them to Christ (Gal. 3:19–25), it can never convert sinners and make them like Christ. Only the Spirit of God can do that.
God's people today stand in a valley between two mounts—Mount Calvary, where Jesus died for our sins, and Mount Olivet, where He will return in power and great glory (Zech. 14:4). The Old Testament prophets saw the Messiah's suffering and glory, but they did not see the "valley" between their era and this present age of the church (1 Peter 1:10–12). Believers today aren't living under the curse of the law, because Jesus bore that curse "on a tree" (Gal. 3:10–14). In Christ believers are blessed with "every spiritual blessing" (Eph. 1:3 nkjv) because of the grace of God. For them life means the blessings of Gerizim and not the curses of Ebal.
This is now the fourth public monument of stones that has been erected. The first was at Gilgal (Josh. 4:20), commemorating Israel's passage across the Jordan. The second was in the Valley of Achor, a monument to Achan's sin and God's judgment (7:26). The third was at the entrance to Ai, a reminder of God's faithfulness to help His people (8:29). These stones on Mount Ebal reminded Israel that their success lay only in their obedience to God's law (1:7–8).
Joshua read the law (vv. 34–35). The tribes were assigned their places in front of the two mounts, according to Moses' instructions in Deuteronomy 27:11–13. Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali were at Mount Ebal, the mount of cursing; and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), and Benjamin were at Mount Gerizim, the mount of blessing. The tribes at Mount Gerizim were founded by men who had either Leah or Rachel for their mother, while the tribes at Mount Ebal were descended from either Zilpah or Bilhah, handmaids of Leah and Rachel. The only exceptions were Reuben and Zebulun, who belonged to Leah. Reuben had forfeited his status as the firstborn because he had sinned against his father (Gen. 35:22; 49:3–4).
However, because Christians "are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14; 7:1–6), it doesn't mean that we can live any way we please and ignore the law of God or defy it. We aren't saved by keeping the law, nor are we sanctified by trying to meet the demands of the law, but "the righteousness of the law" is "fulfilled in us" as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4). If we put ourselves under law, we forfeit the enjoyment of the blessings of grace (Gal. 5). If we walk in the Spirit, we experience His life-changing power and live so as to please God.
Let's give thanks that Jesus bore the curse of the law for us on the cross and that He bestows all the blessings of the heavenlies on us through the Spirit. By faith we can claim our inheritance in Christ and march forth in victory!
In the valley between the two mountains stood the priests and Levites with the ark, surrounded by the elders, officers, and judges of the nation. The people were all facing the ark, which represented the presence of the Lord among His people. When Joshua and the Levites read the blessings of the Lord one by one (see Deut. 28:1–14), the tribes at Mount Gerizim responded with a loud united "Amen!" which in the Hebrew means "So be it!" When they read the curses (see Deut. 27:14–26), the tribes at Mount Ebal would respond with their "Amen" after each curse was read.
Notes 1 Frederick W. Robertson, Sermons Preached at Brighton, First Series (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1898), 66.
CHAPTER NINE Joshua 9:1—10:28 WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS OUR NEIGHBOR A
God had given the law through Moses at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19—20), and the people had accepted it and promised to obey. Moses then repeated and explained the law on the Plains of Moab at the border of Canaan. He applied that law to their lives in the Promised Land and admonished them to obey it. "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God" (Deut. 11:26–28 niv; note vv. 29–32).
n anonymous wit reminds us that a dentist's mistake is pulled out, a lawyer's mistake is imprisoned, a teacher's mistake is failed, a printer's mistake is corrected, a pharmacist's mistake is buried, a postman's mistake is forwarded, and an electrician's mistake could be shocking. The novelist Joseph Conrad wrote, "It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes."
Joshua now reaffirmed the law in the land of promise. Since the area between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim was a natural amphitheater, everybody could hear the words of the law clearly and respond with intel-
In Joshua's case, however, doing nothing was his
Joshua 9
(Josh. 9:6, 9) when they actually lived twenty-five miles away. Then they lied about their clothing and food. "This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is" (v. 12 niv). They also lied about themselves and gave the impression that they were important envoys on an official peace mission from the elders of their city. They also called themselves "your servants" (vv. 8, 9, 11), when in reality they were the enemies of Israel.
mistake, and this chapter explains what happened. It records the three stages in his second failure (after Ai) in the conquest of the Promised Land. It also tells us how Joshua turned his mistake into a victory.
Believing the enemy (9:1–15) While Israel was at Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, reaffirming their commitment to the Lord, the kings in Canaan were getting ready to attack. They had heard about the defeat of Jericho and Ai and were not about to give up without a fight. It was time for them to go on the offensive and attack these Jewish invaders. The city-states in Canaan were not always friendly with one another, but local rivals can often come together when they have a common enemy (Ps. 2:1–2; Luke 23:12).
These four lies were bad enough; but when the visitors said they had come "because of the name of the Lord" (v. 9), it was blasphemous. Like the citizens of Jericho (2:10), the people in Gibeon had heard about Israel's march of conquest (9:9–10), but unlike Rahab and her family, they didn't put their faith in the Lord. These men were wise enough not to mention Israel's victories at Jericho and Ai, for that news couldn't have reached their "far country" that quickly. Satan's ambassadors can lie more convincingly than some Christians can tell the truth!
After an experience of great blessing, God's people must be especially prepared to confront the enemy, for like Canaan, the Christian life is "a land of hills and valleys" (Deut. 11:11). But Israel's greatest danger wasn't the confederation of the armies of Canaan. It was a group of men from Gibeon who were about to enter the camp and deceive Joshua and the princes of Israel. Satan sometimes comes as a devouring lion (1 Peter 5:8) and sometimes as a deceiving serpent (2 Cor. 11:3), and we must be alert and protected by the spiritual armor God has provided for us (Eph. 6:10–18).
Satan knows how to use "religious lies" to give the impression that people are seeking to know the Lord. In my pastoral ministry I've met people who have introduced themselves as seekers, but the longer they talked, the more convinced I was that they were sneakers, trying to get something out of me and the church. They would make their "profession of faith" and then start telling me their sad tale of woe, hoping to break my heart and then pick my pocket. Of all liars, "religious liars" are the worst. If you need to be convinced of this, read 2 Peter 2 and the epistle of Jude.
What the Gibeonites did (vv. 3–5). Gibeon was located only twenty-five miles from the camp of Israel at Gilgal and was on Joshua's list to be destroyed. In Deuteronomy 20:10–20, God's law stated that Israel must destroy all the cities in Canaan. If after the conquest Israel was involved in other wars, they could offer peace to cities that were outside the land. (See also 7:1–11.) Somehow the Gibeonites knew about this law and decided to use it for their own protection. Since the enemy knows how to use the Word of God for their own purposes, God's people must keep alert (Matt. 4:5–7). The Gibeonites assembled a group of men and equipped them to look like an official delegation from a foreign city. Their clothing, food, and equipment were all designed to give the impression that they had been on a long and difficult journey from a distant city. Satan is a counterfeiter and "masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14 niv). He has his "false apostles" and "deceitful workmen" (v. 13 niv) at work in this world, blinding the lost and seeking to lead believers astray. It's much easier for us to identify the lion when he's roaring than to detect the serpent when he's slithering into our lives.
Why they succeeded (vv. 14–15). The reason is simple: Joshua and the princes of Israel were impetuous and didn't take time to consult the Lord. They walked by sight and not by faith. After listening to the strangers' speech and examining the evidence, Joshua and his leaders concluded that the men were telling the truth. The leaders of Israel took the "scientific approach" instead of the "spiritual approach." They depended on their own senses, examined the "facts," discussed the matter, and agreed in their conclusion. It was all very logical and convincing, but it was all wrong. They had made the same mistake at Ai (chap. 7) and hadn't yet learned to wait on the Lord and seek His direction.
The will of God comes from the heart of God (Ps. 33:11), and He delights to make it known to His children when He knows they are humble and willing to obey. We don't seek God's will like customers who look at options but like servants who listen for orders. "If any of you really determines to do God's will, then you will certainly know" (John 7:17 tlb) is a basic principle for victorious Christian living. God sees our hearts and knows whether we are really serious about obeying Him. Certainly we ought to use the mind God has given us, but we must heed the warning of Proverbs 3:5–6 and not lean on our own understanding. If this group of men had been an authentic official
What the Gibeonites said (vv. 6–13). Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), and human nature is such that many people find it easier to tell lies than the truth. With tongue in cheek, the American political leader Adlai Stevenson said, "A lie is an abomination unto the Lord—and a very present help in trouble." The Gibeonites told several lies in their attempt to get out of trouble.
First, they said they were "from a very far country"
Joshua 9—10
Gibeonites and their neighbors might influence the Jews with their pagan practices and lead them away from the Lord. Moses had given Israel stern warnings against compromising with the people of the land (Deut. 7), and now they had foolishly made a covenant with the enemy. However, we wonder what decisions the common people would have made had they been in the place of the leaders. It's easy to criticize after the fact!
delegation, it would have comprised a much larger company bearing adequate supplies, including sufficient provisions for the trip home. Real ambassadors would have thrown away their "dry and moldy" bread because their servants would have baked fresh bread for them. As officials, they would have packed the proper attire so that they might make the best impression possible as they negotiated with the enemy. Had Joshua and his leaders paused to think and pray about what they saw, they would have concluded that the whole thing was a trick. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5 nkjv).
That wasn't the end of the story. Joshua and his associates teach us an important lesson: If you make a mistake, admit it, and then make your mistake work for you! The leaders put the Gibeonites to work hauling water and fuel for the service of the tabernacle, where both water and wood were used in abundance. In later years the Gibeonites were called the Nethinim ("given ones" = given to assist the priests) and labored as servants in the temple (1 Chron. 9:2; Ezra 2:43, 58; Neh. 3:26). In Joshua 10, we shall see that God overruled Joshua's mistake and used it to give him a signal victory over five kings at one time.
True faith involves exercising patience (Heb. 6:12). "Whoever believes will not act hastily" (Isa. 28:16 nkjv). Moses had told the Jews, "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you" (Ex. 34:12 niv). But in their haste Joshua and the Jewish leaders broke God's law and made a covenant with the enemy. Since their oath was sworn in the name of the Lord (Josh. 9:18), it could not be broken. Joshua and the princes of Israel had sworn to their own hurt (Ps. 15:4; Eccl. 5:1–7), and there was no way to revoke their oath or be released from their promise.
Of course, the Gibeonites would rather submit to humiliating service than be destroyed as were the inhabitants of Jericho and Ai. There's no evidence in Scripture that the descendants of the Gibeonites created any problems for the Jews.
Like Joshua and the nation of Israel, God's people today are living in enemy territory and must constantly exercise caution. When you believe the enemy instead of seeking the mind of the Lord, you can expect to get into trouble.
It's likely that their service in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, influenced them to abandon their idols and worship the God of Israel. The fact that over 500 Nethinim returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity (Ezra 2:43–58; 8:20) suggests that they were devoted to the Lord and His house.
Enlisting the enemy (9:16–27) How did the leaders of Israel discover that they had made a big mistake? Knowing that they were now out of danger, perhaps the "ambassadors" openly admitted what they had done. Or maybe the Gibeonites were overheard rejoicing in their success. Did some of Joshua's spies return to camp after reconnaissance and recognize the enemy? Perhaps the Gibeonites overheard the plans for Israel's next attack and had to inform the leaders that a solemn oath now protected those cities. However it happened, Joshua discovered that he and the princes had blundered, and no doubt they were humbled and embarrassed because of it.
Defending the enemy (10:1–28) When you make agreements with the enemy, expect to end up paying a price and having to defend them in order to protect yourself. This is why God's people must remain separated from the world (2 Cor. 6:14–18). I wonder whether Paul had Joshua in mind when he wrote, "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Tim. 2:4 nkjv).
B.The Southern Campaign—10
The king's call to the armies (vv. 1–5). The king of Jerusalem, whose name means "lord of righteousness," heard what the Gibeonites had done and announced that these traitors had to be punished. If a great city like Gibeon capitulated to the Jews, then one more barrier was removed against the advancement of Israel in the land. It was important for the Canaanites to recover that key city, even if they had to take it by force. Four other Canaanite kings allied with Adonizedek, and their combined armies encamped before Gibeon. The poor Gibeonites had made peace with the invaders and were now at war with their former allies!
We must give the leaders credit for being men of their word. To violate their oath would have been to take the holy name of Jehovah in vain, and this would have brought about divine judgment. Years later King Saul violated this oath, and God judged the nation severely (2 Sam. 21). Military leaders of lesser character than Joshua might have argued that "all's fair in love and war" and forced the Gibeonites to divulge information that would help him conquer their city. Instead, when the Jewish army arrived at Gibeon and the neighboring cities, they didn't attack them.
As this confederation of armies and kings assembled, God in heaven must have laughed (Ps. 2:1–4), because unknown to them He was using these events to accomplish His own purposes. Instead of having to defeat these five city-states one by one, He would help
Why did the Jewish people grumble at what their leaders had done? Because this covenant with Gibeon would cost the soldiers dearly in plunder they would never get from the protected cities. Furthermore, the
Joshua 10
greater miracle was the fact that the stones hit only the enemy soldiers. God took His special "ammunition" out of His storehouse and used it to good advantage (Job 38:22–23). When God's people are obeying God's will, everything in the universe works for them, even "the stars in their courses" (Judg. 5:20). When we disobey God's will, everything works against us. (Read Jonah 1 for a vivid illustration of this truth.)
Joshua conquer them all at one time! Just as God used the defeat at Ai to form a battle plan for victory over Ai (Josh. 8), so also He used Joshua's mistake with the Gibeonites to protect Gibeon and accelerate the conquest of Canaan.
The mistakes we make embarrass us, especially those mistakes that are caused by our running ahead of the Lord and not seeking His will. But we need to remember that no mistake is final for the dedicated Christian. God can use even our blunders to accomplish His purposes. Somebody defined success as "the art of making your mistakes when nobody's looking," but a better definition would be "the art of seeing victory where other people see only defeat."
The prayer. But the miracle of the hailstorm was nothing compared to the miracle of extending the day so that Joshua could finish the battle and secure a complete victory over the enemy. His men were weary and the task was great, and if night came on, the enemy could escape. Joshua needed a special act from God to enable him to claim the victory the Lord had promised.
The Gibeonites' call to Joshua (vv. 6–7). In spite of their paganism, these Gibeonites are a good example for people to follow today. When they knew they were headed for destruction, they came to Joshua ("Jehovah is Savior") and obtained from him a promise of protection. Would that lost sinners realize their plight and turn to Jesus Christ by faith! When the Gibeonites found themselves in danger, they believed Joshua's promise and called on him for help. That's what God's people need to do when they find themselves facing the battles of life. The Gibeonites turned the whole burden over to Joshua and trusted him to keep his word, and he did.
This is the last miracle recorded in Joshua and certainly the greatest. Joshua prayed for God's help, and the Lord answered in a remarkable way. This event is questioned by those who deny the reality of miracles and look only to science for truth. "How could God stop the rotation of the earth and extend the length of a day," they ask, "without creating chaos all over the planet?" They seem to forget the fact that days are normally of different lengths in various parts of the world without the planet experiencing chaos. At two o'clock in the morning, I read the newspaper by sunlight in Norway.
Joshua's call to the Lord (vv. 8–15). Three factors combined to give Joshua success in this attack: believing a divine promise (v. 8), using sound strategy (v. 9), and calling on the Lord in prayer (vv. 10–15).
But how do you explain a miracle, any miracle? Of course, the simplest answer is the answer of faith: The Lord is God and nothing is too hard for Him (Jer. 32:17, 27). Day and night belong to God (Ps. 74:16), and everything He has made is His servant. If God can't perform the miracle described in Joshua 10, then He can't perform any miracle and is imprisoned in His own creation, unable to use or suspend the very laws He built into it. I have a difficult time believing in that kind of a God.
The promise. Joshua's actions here illustrate two important verses: "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23) and "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (10:17). Whenever we believe the promises of God and obey the commands of God, we act by faith and can expect God's help. The Jews didn't have to be afraid because God had already promised them victory. God's promises of victory had encouraged Joshua when he became leader of the nation (Josh. 1:5–9), when he anticipated attacking Jericho (6:2), and when he attacked Ai after a humiliating defeat (8:1). God's promises would be fulfilled because "there has not failed one word of all His good promise" (1 Kings 8:56 nkjv).
An Old Testament expert, Gleason L. Archer, points out that the phrase "hasted not to go down" in verse 13 indicates "a retardation of the movement" and not a complete cessation.1 The sun and moon didn't stand still permanently and then suddenly go down but were held back so that the daylight was lengthened. God stopped the sun and moon and then retarded the rotation of the planet so that the sun and moon set very slowly. Such a process would not create chaos all over the globe.
The strategy. But faith apart from works is dead, and Joshua proved his faith by using wise strategy. He ordered an all-night march and a surprise attack on the enemy army, strategy he had used before when attacking Ai (8:3ff.). It was a long trek from Gilgal to Gibeon, and the road was uphill, but Joshua assembled his troops and made the journey as quickly as possible. No doubt the men were weary when they arrived, but the Lord was with them and gave them victory. What kept the soldiers going? They believed God's promise and knew that the victory was assured.
A corollary to this view is that the sun and moon remained on their normal course and it only appeared that the day was lengthening because of the way God caused their light to be refracted. But verse 13 states twice that the sun "stood still" and once that the moon "stayed." However, these verbs need not describe a permanent situation but only the beginning of the miracle. God stopped the sun and moon in their courses and then controlled their gradual descent, all the while causing the light to be refracted for a much longer period of time.
God assisted the weary Jewish soldiers by killing the enemy army with large hailstones. The timely occurrence of the storm was itself a miracle, but an even
Joshua 10—11
monument in the land speaking of the power and victory of the Lord.
Since verses 13b-15 are poetical in form, a quotation from the unknown book of Jasher (see 2 Sam. 1:8), some students interpret the words symbolically. They say that God so helped Israel that the army was able to accomplish two days' work in one day. But Joshua's words sound very much like a prayer that the Lord would intervene, and the description of what occurred doesn't read like the report of an efficiency expert.
In verse 25, Joshua's words must have thrilled the hearts of his brave soldiers. They echo the words God spoke to him when he began his career (1:6–9). Since Joshua is a type of Jesus Christ, we can apply this scene and these words to Christ and His people. Jesus has defeated all His enemies and will one day return and destroy them forever. No matter how they may rage and rebel (Ps. 2:1–3), our Lord's enemies are only the footstool at His feet (Ps. 110:1; 1 Cor. 15:25). Through Him, we can claim victory and put our feet on the necks of our enemies (Rom. 16:20).
Why try to explain away a miracle? What do we prove? Certainly not that we're smarter than God! Either we believe in a God who can do anything, or we must accept a Christian faith that's non-miraculous; and that does away with the inspiration of the Bible, the Virgin Birth, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Certainly there's room for honest questions about the nature of the miraculous; but for the humble Christian believer, there's never room for questioning the reality of the miraculous. C. S. Lewis wrote, "The mind which asks for a non-miraculous Christianity is a mind in process of relapsing from Christianity into mere 'religion.'"2
As you review the whole episode of Joshua and the Gibeonites, you can't help but be both warned and encouraged. These events warn us to be alert and prayerful lest the enemy deceive us and we start walking by sight instead of by faith. Then we'll find ourselves making decisions that are wrong and getting into alliances that are dangerous. But there's also a word of encouragement: God can take even our blunders and turn them into blessings. This isn't an excuse for carelessness, but it is a great encouragement when you've failed the Lord and His people.
You find seemingly contradictory facts stated in Joshua 10:15 and 21. Why would the army go all the way back to Gilgal when the battle wasn't over? The best explanation is to see verse 15 as the completion of the quotation from the book of Jasher, beginning at verse 13b. The temporary Jewish camp was at Makkedah, which was near Libnah, and the army didn't return to Gilgal until they had established their control over central Canaan.
"And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith" (1 John 5:4 nkjv).
Notes 1 See Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by Gleason L. Archer (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982), 161–62. 2 C. S. Lewis, Miracles (New York: Macmillan, 1960), 133.
C.The Northern Campaign—11 D.Summary of the victories—12
Joshua's call to his army (vv. 16–28). At the end of an incredible battle, Joshua performed a public ceremony that gave encouragement and strength to his soldiers. Their past victories had given them control over the central part of the land, but now they faced campaigns in both the south and the north of Palestine. "Divide and conquer" was Joshua's strategy, and it worked. Joshua wanted to remind his men that the Lord would give them victory throughout the land.
INTERLUDE Joshua 10:29—12:24 T
his section of the book of Joshua summarizes Israel's conquest of the southern (10:29–43) and northern cities (11:1–15) in Palestine, and closes with a list of the names of some of the kings whom Israel defeated (11:16—12:24). Since there is probably a map of the conquest located in the back of your Bible, consult it as you read these chapters.
Knowing that the five kings were trapped in a cave, Joshua temporarily left them and led his men in the "mopping up" operation, which verse 20 describes as "slaying them with a very great slaughter." Only a few of the enemy soldiers escaped to the cities, but since those cities would eventually be destroyed anyway, those fugitives had no hope.
Two things stand out in this record: It was the Lord who gave the victory (10:30, 32, 42; 11:6, 8), and Joshua obeyed the Lord by utterly destroying the enemy, just as Moses had commanded (11:9, 12, 15, 20). The only exception was Gibeon. Joshua's strategy was to cut across the land and divide it, then conquer the southern cities, then the northern cities. On more than one occasion, he made a surprise attack on the enemy (10:9; 11:7), and the promises of the Lord encouraged him (v. 6; see 1:9; 8:1).
Returning to the camp, probably the next day, Joshua ordered the kings to be taken from the cave and put on the ground, their faces in the dirt. This humiliating posture announced that Joshua had won a total victory and their end had come. But there was more. He called for his officers to put their feet on the necks of the kings, symbolic not only of the past victory but also of the victories the Lord would give His people in the days ahead. The kings were slain and the five corpses hung on five trees until sundown. Then their bodies were put into the cave, with a pile of stones closing up the entrance. This pile of stones was another
In 10:29–35, you have the record of the army fighting in the foothills; but in verse 36, the campaign moves to the mountains. The northern coalition of kings was unable to defeat Israel even though their army was much larger than that of the Jews (11:1–9).
Joshua 11—13
land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants" (Lev. 25:23 niv). Imagine having God for your landlord!
The "long time" of verse 18 is about seven years. Israel's failure at Kadesh Barnea (Deut. 2:14), at which time Caleb was forty years old (Josh. 14:7) to their crossing of the Jordan was thirty-eight years. He was eighty-five when the conquest was over (v. 10), which means that at least seven years had been devoted to the campaign.
The "rent" God required was simply Israel's obedience to His law. As long as the Jewish people honored the Lord with their worship and obedience, He would bless them, make their land productive, and keep their nation at peace with their neighbors. When Israel agreed to the blessings and curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (Josh. 8:30–35), they accepted the conditions of what is called "The Palestinian Covenant." Their ownership of the land was purely the gracious act of God, but their possession and enjoyment of the land depended on their submission and obedience to the Lord. (See Lev. 26 and Deut. 27–30 for the details of the Palestinian Covenant.)
The Anakim mentioned in 11:21–22 were a race of giants, descendants of Anak, who were greatly feared by the ten unbelieving men who had spied out Canaan (Num. 13:22, 28, 33). The two believing spies, Joshua and Caleb, didn't fear them but had trusted the Lord for victory. Joshua's victory over the Anakim is recorded in Joshua 11:21–22 and Caleb's victory in 14:12–15.
The apparent contradiction between verses 11:23 and 13:1 can easily be explained. Joshua and his army did take control of the whole land by destroying the key cities with their kings and people. Israel didn't take every little city or slay every citizen or ruler, but they did enough to break the power of the enemy and establish control over the land. Once this was accomplished and there was rest in the land, Joshua was able to assign each tribe its inheritance, and within each inheritance, the tribes had to gain mastery over the remaining inhabitants who were still there. Even after the death of Joshua and his officers, there was additional land to be taken (Judg. 1–3).
The Promised Land was a gift of God's love, and if the Israelites loved the Lord, they would want to obey Him and please Him in the way they used His land (Deut. 4:37–39). Unfortunately, they eventually defied the Lord, disobeyed the law, and defiled the land, and God had to chasten them in the land of Babylon.
There were four main stages in the distribution of the land, and in each of these stages, you will find spiritual lessons for God's people today who want to enjoy their spiritual inheritance in Christ. As you study these chapters, I suggest you consult a map of the Holy Land that shows the boundaries of the twelve tribes and the cities that are involved.
Thirty-three kings are named in Joshua 12, beginning with Sihon and Og whose lands were east of Jordan and had been conquered under the leadership of Moses (vv. 1–8; Num. 21:21–35). The sixteen kings defeated in the southern campaign are listed in Joshua 12:9–16 and the fifteen northern kings in verses 17–24. Now we turn to the actual assigning of the land to the tribes (chaps. 13–21) to discover the spiritual truths we need to learn and apply as we claim our own spiritual inheritance in Jesus Christ.
The assignments made at Gilgal (13:1—17:18) Throughout the conquest of Canaan, Gilgal had been the center of operations for Israel. Later, Joshua moved the camp and the tabernacle to a more central location at Shiloh (18:1).
We don't know Joshua's exact age at this time in Israel's history, although he could well have been 100. Caleb was 85 (14:10), and it's likely that Joshua was the older of the two. Joshua lived to be 110 (24:19), and the events described in the last half of the book could well have taken over ten years.
CHAPTER TEN Joshua 13—21 THIS LAND IS OUR LAND! J
III. Claiming the inheritance (13—22) A.Territory assigned to the tribes—13—19
The system for assigning the territories in Canaan is given in 14:1–2. Eleazer the high priest, Joshua, and one representative from each of the tribes (Num. 34:13–29) cast lots before the Lord and in this way determined His will (Prov. 16:33). When Joshua relocated the camp at Shiloh, they changed the system (Josh. 18:1–7).
oshua had successfully completed the first half of his divine commission: He had conquered the enemy and was in control of the land and the cities (1:1–5). Now he had to fulfill the second part of that commission and divide the land so that each tribe could claim their inheritance and enjoy what God had given them (v. 6). (See Num. 34–35.)
The two and a half tribes east of the Jordan (13:1–33). Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh had agreed to help the other tribes conquer the land before they returned to the east side of the Jordan to enjoy their inheritance (Num. 32). They had asked for this land outside the boundaries of Canaan because it was especially suited to the raising of cattle. The fact that these two and a half tribes would not be living within God's appointed land didn't seem to worry them. Moses graciously agreed to their choice and let them settle across the Jordan. When we study the twenty-second chapter of Joshua,
The word inheritance is found over fifty times in these nine chapters and is a very important word. The Jews inherited their land. They didn't win their land as spoils of battle or purchase their land as in a business transaction. The Lord, who was the sole owner, leased the land to them. "The land must not be sold permanently," the Lord had instructed them, "because the
Joshua 13—15
19:49–51). Caleb reminded his friend Joshua of the promise Moses had made to them forty-five years before (Num. 14:24, 30; Deut. 1:34–36), that they would survive the years of wandering and receive their inheritance in the land. This promise gave Joshua and Caleb joy and courage as they endured years of wandering and waiting.
we'll learn that while their choice may have been good for their cattle, it created serious problems for their children.
These tribes became a sort of "buffer zone" between the Jews in Canaan and the heathen nations like Moab and Ammon. Of course, their location made them extremely vulnerable both to military attack and ungodly influence, and both of these liabilities eventually brought about their downfall (1 Chron. 5:25–26). The boundaries are given for Reuben in the south (Josh. 13:15–23), and the half tribe of Manasseh in the north (vv. 29–32), with Gad sandwiched between (vv. 24–28).
Lesson #2. Be encouraged in your pilgrim journey! You have already received your inheritance in Christ and can claim "every spiritual blessing" (Eph. 1:3 nkjv). Since you have a glorious inheritance before you (1 Peter 1:3–6), keep looking up! The best is yet to come!
Lesson #1. Don't become a "borderline believer." Enter into the inheritance God appoints for you and rejoice in it. "He will choose our inheritance for us, the excellence of Jacob whom He loves" (Ps. 47:4 nkjv). The will of God is the expression of the love of God and is always the best for us.
Caleb was eighty-five years old, but he didn't look for an easy task, suited to an "old man." He asked Joshua for mountains to climb and giants to conquer! His strength was in the Lord, and he knew that God would never fail him. The secret of Caleb's life is found in a phrase that's repeated six times in Scripture: "he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel" (Josh. 14:14; also see Num. 14:24; 32:12; Deut. 1:36; Josh. 14:8–9). Caleb was an overcomer because he had faith in the Lord (1 John 5:4).