And the Lord Gave… — KEN D. MILLER

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.

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. 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. – Joshua 10:29-43 ESV

These verses chronicle the efforts of the Israelites as they wrapped up their defense of the people of Gibeon. After having defeated the combined forces of the five city-states and executed their kings, Joshua led his troops in a series of attacks on their cities. As you may recall, there had been four kings from southern Canaan who had alligned themselves with the king of Jerusalem, in order to attack the Gibeonites. This was all as a result of an alliance Joshua had made with the king of Gibeon.

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. – Joshua 10:5 ESV

But in spite of Joshua’s ill-advised and God-forbidden alliance, he was given victory over these kings because he had sworn an oath in God’s name to protect the people of Gibeon. So, God had given the people of Israel a great victory over them. But now, they had to do what God had commanded them to do and destroy all the nations of Canaan. While they could do nothing to harm the people of Gibeon because of their oath, they had no such alliances with the other cities of southern Canaan, collectively known as the land of the Amorites. So, beginning with Makkedah, the place where the five kings had sought refuge in a cave, Joshua and his forces began a methodical march through the land, conquering one city after another.

One of the most important factors behind these conquests is the obvious references made to God’s involvement. Repeatedly, the author tells us that God gave these cities into the hands of the Israelites. The victories were God-ordained and orchestrated. In fact, verse 42 tells us that “Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.” By obeying the will of God, Joshua and the people of Israel experienced the blessing of God. He fought on their behalf and their victories were evidence of His presence and power. Beginning at Libnah and ending at Debir, the Israelites made their way through the land, doing exactly what God had commanded them to do.

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. – Joshua 10:40 ESV

There were no compromises made or treaties signed. No cities were arbitrarily spared or kings allowed to live. Joshua seems to have learned a valuable lesson. He had discovered that things go so much better when you do things God’s way. With each victory, he was witnessing a miracle, because the nation of Israel was not a well-trained, well-equipped military force, but a rag-tag group of people who had spent the last 40 years wandering in the wilderness. Their blitzkrieg-like march through southern Canaan was the work of God. In just days, they defeated seven different kingdoms. Through simple obedience to God’s will, they were experiencing the benefits of God’s divine assistance. God gave them victory because they gave Him honor through their obedience.

As always, it’s important that we not view these events as some kind of land-grab as one nation attempts to illegally dispossess the rightful occupants. This is a spiritual endeavor, ordained by God and intended to set up the Israelites in the land so that, one day, He could send His Son to be not only the Jewish Messiah, but the Savior of the world. One of the cities that Joshua and his forces defeated was Jerusalem. This would become the capital of the Hebrew nation, where David reigned and where Jesus would die. And one day, Jesus will return to the city of Jerusalem, where He will set up His kingdom and reign for 1,000 years. God has a much larger, grander plan in mind than the defeats of a series of seven city-states. He is preparing the way for something far more important: The coming of His Son as the Savior of the world. In his gospel account, John describes Jesus as the light of the world.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:4-5 ESV

When Jesus came into the world, it was a place of darkness. It was filled with sin and its people were marked by a spirit of rebellion against God. The same thing was true in Joshua’s day. The land of Canaan was a place of spiritual darkness, filled with people who worshiped false gods and whose lifestyles were marked by open rebellion to the one true God. Paul describes their spiritual state in stark terms:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. – Romans 1:19-23 ESV

It is important to remember that the spiritual darkness of Canaan was palpable and real. These nations were under the curse of God because they lived in rebellion against God. And while we may find God’s methodology of destruction and devastation difficult to comprehend, He was establishing Himself as the one true God and the people of Israel as His chosen possession. As we have already seen, the victories of Israel over their enemies were leaving an indelible impression. Those Canaanites who were not living in the cities Israel destroyed, were undoubtedly impressed by the power of Israel’s God. They were convinced that Yahweh was far greater and more powerful than their own gods. They had no doubt pleaded with their deities to give them victory. They had made sacrifices at their altars and begged their gods for divine intervention. But their gods had failed them.

Like the plagues brought on the people of Egypt, God had a purpose in all of this. He was displaying His power among the nations through His chosen people, Israel. He was letting everyone in Canaan know that there was a new God in town. He was great and greatly to be feared. He was holy and demanded of His people that they live obediently and in keeping with His revealed law. As long as they obeyed Him, they would enjoy His power and presence. All the way back at the Jordan River, when God dried up the waters so the people could cross over into the land of promise, Joshua told the people, “He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the LORD’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the LORD your God forever” (Joshua 4:24 NLT). God was displaying His power through the lives of the people of Israel. They were His light in the darkness. They were revealing what happens when a nation lives in relationship with the one true God and in willing obedience to His will.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Ken Miller