Text: Joshua 10
Theme: God blesses the walk of faith.
Intro:
- In chapter 9, we saw Israel’s leadership deceived by the Gibeonites into making a peace covenant with them.
a. This covenant revealed a failure in the leadership of Israel described in Joshua 9:14b, “…and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.”
b. The league resulted in the Hivite cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim being made servants to Israel and the house of God, but they were not destroyed as God had originally intended. - In chapter 10, we will see how the covenant Israel made with Gibeon stirred up the rest of the Canaanites to come against the Gibeonites and destroy them.
a. We will break the chapter down into the following main divisions.
i. Gibeon Comes Under Siege (Vs 1-8)
ii. Israel Rescues Gibeon (Vs 9-15)
iii. Israel Slays Five Kings (Vs 16-43)
I. Gibeon Comes Under Siege (Vs 1-8)
- The reason for the siege (Vs 1-4)
a. The destruction of Ai and the covenant will Gibeon had made Israel an immediate threat to Adoni-zedek.
i. Jerusalem was only 6 miles down the road from Gibeon. This means that Adoni-zedek would have been fully aware of the threat he was under, as he would likely be the next on the list of kings to fall to Israel.
ii. Up until this point, Adoni-zedek had the comfort of Gibeon as a buffer between himself and Israel, but the peace covenant had removed this buffer, and so it became necessary to pre-emptively strike Gibeon, to deprive Joshua of the ability to use this city as a launched pad for further invasion of the territory.
b. The dread inspired by the rapid conquests of the Israelites had been immensely increased by the fact of a state so populous and so strong as Gibeon having found it expedient to submit to the power and the terms of the invaders.[1] Robert Jamieson, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Joshua–Esther, vol. II (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 26.
i. He saw that there must be a desperate struggle, not only for independence, but for life. A combined attack, therefore, was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not only to punish its people for their desertion of the native cause, but by its overthrow to interpose a barrier to the further inroads of the Israelites.[1]This confederacy among the mountaineers of Southern Palestine was formed and headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his territory was most exposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles distant, and because he evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence over his royal neighbours.[1][1] Robert Jamieson, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Joshua–Esther, vol. II (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 26.
b. Gibeon is described as being a great city, like one of the royal cities, and having mighty men of war.
i. The fact that such a large city would give up without a fight would be discouraging to others in the region, who might also be inclined to give up without a fight.
ii. There is also the fact that Israel might call on the Gibeonites to fight with them against the rest of the kings. By taking out Gibeon first, the kings hoped to deal with the smaller of the two problems first. Get rid of Gibeon, then worry about Israel. - The armies in the siege (Vs 5-8)
a. The Gibeonites
i. Gibeon was not going to fall easily, since they dwelt in a walled city and we are told that all the men of the city were mighty men.
ii. As much as they were a strong city, it is clear from the passage that they knew they were no match for the combined forces of the 5 kings attacking their city.
b. The 5 Kings
i. Jerusalem, at this time, was already a major fortified settlement. The king of Jerusalem would likely have had a fairly large army.
ii. Hebron was a major hill-country stronghold. It was also of significance because it was in Hebron that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelled. Hebron was also the location of the cave of Machpelah.
iii. Jarmuth was also a strong military presence in the region. Excavations of the site’s massive fortifications and palace complex reflect its administrative and military significance.
iv. Lachish was one of the strongest cities in southern Canaan. It was so well situated that it became the second most important city, after Jerusalem, in the kingdom of Judah.
v. Elgon was another fortified city, which no doubt had a sizeable army for its own defence.
c. Gibeon sent word to Joshua to come and protect them from the enemy coalition.
i. The same army that Gibeon had been terrified of just a short while before, was now the army they would depend on for their defence.
ii. Joshua was with the camp of Israel at Gilgal when he received word of the siege being made against Gibeon.
iii. Verse 8 clarifies that God had given Joshua the command to go up immediately because God would deliver the enemy into their hands.
II. Israel Recues Gibeon (Vs 9-15)
- Israel fought for Gibeon
a. No doubt, the 5 kings expected to have the time to defeat Gibeon before they turned their attention to Israel, but that was not to be the case.
i. Joshua force marched Israel’s army across the 28km distance to Gibeon. Although they would have been quite worn out by the end of the journey, their faith in God led them to attack the enemy and trust that God would give them the victory, even though they felt exhausted.
ii. Israel chased the enemy away from Gibeon toward Both-horon, near Jerusalem, and then smote them to Azekah and Makkedah. Azekah being another 30km away from Gibeon.
b. God slew the enemy as they attempted to retreat from the battle.
i. As the enemy fled to Azekah, God cast great hail stones down on them.
ii. God never misses what He is aiming at. - Joshua prayed and God heard (Vs 12-15)
a. When Israel set out to rescue Gibeon it was at the command of God.
i. God told Joshua to go up and fight for Gibeon and that the enemies of God would be delivered into the hand of Joshua, as seen in verse 8.
ii. We must infer from this verse that Joshua was in some way fearful to God up to the battle, since God commanded him not to be fearful any longer. This would indicate that Israel was facing a hard battle, humanly speaking.
b. Joshua took Israel up to the battle, trusting that God would deliver the enemy in their hands as He had promised.
i. In the Christian life, we must believe that God will do what he has promised to do and live by faith.
ii. If you would live by faith in the promises of God, you will need to know what His promises are. That means reading His Word and finding out His promises. - Joshua finished the battle by faith
a. Joshua finished in the battle through prayer and faith.
i. Joshua made an unusual request, for something that had never been seen before, but he asked in faith with nothing wavering. We ought to be people of prayer.
ii. We often think of men like George Muller, who opened an orphanage and looked after many children with nothing to support him except faith, and we think such people were exceptional people, but the life of faith is a life we are all called to live by, and faith should be the rule, not the exception.
III. Israel Slays Five Kings (Vs 16-43)
- The initial capture of the kings (Vs 16-23)
a. The five kings abandoned the battle.
i. I suggest that the huge chunks of ice falling from the sky might have had something to do with that. Imagine seeing your army in full retreat and then, suddenly, they’re all being hit and killed by huge chunks of ice falling from the sky.
ii. It is no wonder that they took shelter in a cave, where they would be safe from the hail stones that were decimating their armies. It was fine for a few kings to take shelter here, but the rest of the armies would have to fend for themselves.
b. Rather than wasting time on these kings, Joshua sealed the cave and moved on.
i. Joshua was worried that if they spent time trying to extract the 5 kings, probably protected by their personal guard, from the cave, they would waste too much time, and the enemy army would get away.
ii. Have you ever heard of shadow boxing, or fighting where the battle isn’t? As Christians, Pastor’s in particular, it’s easy to be distracted from fighting the important battles. Joshua could have become bogged down with the kings and let the rest of the enemy army escape, but he chose to pursue the battle.
– As Christians, we need to intentionally contend for the areas of the faith that are under attack today and not be distracted from it by pursuits that could easily wait till later. - The humiliation of the kings (Vs 24-27)
a. When the remainder of the army had been dealt with, Joshua returned and dealt with the matter of the captured kings.
i. Joshua made the captains of Israel stand on the necks of these kings. Joshua wasn’t doing this just to be dramatic or for some self-satisfying display of dominance. Joshua very clearly meant for this to be a picture to Israel of the fact that God had promised them victory and had delivered it, and God would continue to give them victory over all their enemies.
ii. As God had commanded Joshua to be strong and of a good courage, now Joshua commanded the captains to do the same.
b. The remainder of the chapter gives us a summary of Israel’s rapid conquest of the land.
i. Joshua went to Makkedah and Libnah slew the kings thereof and utterly destroyed them. Then he passed on unto Lachish, and then Eglon, and then Hebron and Debir, destroying them all.
ii. All these things Joshua did to the kings of the land, at one time, because the LORD God fought for Israel.
Conclusion:
- When you are in a difficult situation, is you first response to pray, or do you often forget to pray? Are you a man or woman of faith, who trusts God for things not yet seen?
- Joshua went from victory to victory because God was with him, and we can do the same today as we go forward by faith. Recently, I heard a preacher say that Independent Baptist Churches are small and that’s just the way it is, but I don’t believe that is the way God wants it to be, I believe God is waiting for his people to get serious about being consecrated to Him and going forward by faith before He will pour out His blessing on us.