CHAPTER 10

(1451 B.C.)

THE AMORITE CONFEDERATION

¹Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedec king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it (this is the first mention of Jerusalem in the Bible, as a proper name; it was mentioned first, about 500 years earlier, as Salem); as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;

²That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.

³Wherefore Adoni-zedec king of Jerusalem, sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,

⁴Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Children of Israel. (When anyone makes peace with the Divine Joshua, he brings upon himself the anger of his companions. Thus it was with Gibeon; however, Joshua was able to protect and deliver the Gibeonites. Our Lord is able to deliver from our enemies those who know Him as their Peace.)

⁵Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.

THE APPEAL TO JOSHUA

⁶And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not your hand from your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. (Let the Believer understand that it is our Heavenly Joshua Alone Who can help us. No one else can. He does so by us evidencing Faith in Him and what He has done for us at the Cross. Then, and then alone, the Holy Spirit can work mightily on behalf of us against the powers of darkness. To be sure, He has never lost a battle [Rom. 6:3-14; 8:1-2, 11; Gal. 6:14].)

⁷So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

⁸And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not (the keynote of Joshuas life and ministry, as of the keynote of every soldier of God): for I have delivered them into your hand; there shall not a man of them stand before you.

⁹Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

HAILSTONES

¹⁰And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah (a distance of about 25 miles).

¹¹And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the Children of Israel slew with the sword (the Power of the Lord is not limited respecting those who have Faith in Him; however, such Power is available only if we go according to His Direction, and not from the position of presumption).

THE SUN

¹²Then spoke Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the Children of Israel, and he (Joshua) said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

¹³And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the Book of Jasher? (A book no longer in existence, nor any of its copies.) So the Sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. (It is said that this is confirmed by State documents of Egypt, China, and Mexico, which record this double-day. It is said that Herodotus, and Lord Kingsborough, in his history of the Mexicans, and the Chinese philosopher Huai-nan-Tzu quoted these records. The hill of Gibeon, at the moment when Joshua spoke, was behind him to the east, and the sun was setting in front of him to the west. It was evening, and a continuance of the daylight was needed in order to complete the victory.)

¹⁴And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel. (God is a miracle-working God. The Bible opens with miracles, continues with miracles, and concludes with miracles, i.e., proclaims them into the eternal future.)

VICTORY OVER THE ENEMY

¹⁵And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal (returned in victory).

¹⁶But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.

¹⁷And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.

¹⁸And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:

¹⁹And stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand (they were not to be diverted from the purpose of annihilating the enemy by the important news that the heads of the confederacy were in their hands).

²⁰And it came to pass, when Joshua and the Children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities (under guard).

²¹And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the Children of Israel. (Who would be so foolish as to speak negative things against ones being used so mightily by God? Regrettably, the modern Church seems to have little learned this lesson.)

²²Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.

²³And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

²⁴And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the Captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. (There is but one way to deal with sin, and that is to place the triumphant foot of Faith upon its neck, and put it to death. It is impossible to improve sin, just as, in the Judgment of God, it was impossible for Israel to improve these five kings. Man, in his folly, tries to improve what is opposed to God; but the failure of his efforts ever reveals its foolishness. There is no such thing as moral evolution. The Cross of Christ is the only answer for sin, and, to be sure, sin is the problem.)

²⁵And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom you fight. (This great Promise, and even greater, is to us as well. Paul said, Sin [the sin nature] shall not have dominion over you [Rom. 6:14]; however, there is only one way that such victory can be assured. The Believer must understand that all things come to us from God by the Person of Christ, with the Means being the Cross [Rom. 6:3-14]. The Holy Spirit, Who Alone can bring about these victories, and Who works exclusively within the parameters of the Finished Work of Christ, will then do great and mighty things for us [Rom. 8:1-2, 11].)

²⁶And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. (As stated, victory over sin, of which all of this is a type, can only come about by it being utterly destroyed within our lives. This was all made possible at the Cross, and only at the Cross. There sin was dealt with, as it regards its cause and its cure [Jn. 1:29].)

²⁷And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the Sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the caves mouth, which remain until this very day.

COMPLETION OF THE CONQUEST

²⁸And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls who were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho (this king was not with the five listed in Verse 23).

²⁹Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah (due west of Gilgal, about 40 miles):

³⁰And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho.

³¹And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it (about 40 miles southwest of Gilgal):

³²And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were therein, according to all that He (the Lord) had done to Libnah. (If it is to be noticed, it was not the stratagem of Israel that won these victories, but rather the Lord, Who told Joshua what to do. If we seek the Face of the Lord as we should, as well, He will give us guidance and direction. Jesus said so [Jn. 16:13-15].)

³³Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining. (No sin of any nature is to be left remaining in our lives. But let us say it again, because it is so very, very important. Victory for the Child of God can be obtained only by looking exclusively to Christ, understanding that everything He gives us is by the Means of the Cross; consequently, the Cross must ever be the Object of our Faith. Then the Holy Spirit will gloriously work on our behalf [Rom. 8:1-2, 11; Col. 2:14-15].)

³⁴And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it (about 45 miles southwest of Gilgal):

³⁵And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.

³⁶And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it (about 35 miles south of Gilgal):

³⁷And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls who were therein.

³⁸And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it (about 45 miles southwest of Gilgal):

³⁹And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.

⁴⁰So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all who breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. (To get every enemy out of our lives with the exception of one is not sufficient. The one that remains can cause us tremendous problems and difficulties; so all, as it pertains to sin of any nature, must be destroyed, as these victories of Joshua symbolize.)

⁴¹And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.

⁴²And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.

⁴³And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. (True strength is always to be had at Gilgal; there self is judged and mortified, and God and His Power realized and enjoyed. The repeated mention, therefore, of Gilgal in this Chapter expresses an important principle which must be true in the experience of the Christian, if he is to win victories over sin. Gilgal was the place of circumcision, which, in a sense, is a Type of the Cross. Separation is made, and blood is shed. This is the only manner in which self can be properly addressed at the Cross [Jn. 5:1-9].)