Great
Battles of the Bible:
The Conquest of Northern Palestine
By Michael
K. Farrar, O.D.
© November
15, 2005
The trail of
dead bodies went on for miles. Birds hungry for carrion circled in the air
above the endless path of lifeless soldiers. Among the dead were men from a
variety of kingdoms. There were Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Jebusites, Hivites and a host of others. The burned remains of chariots dotted
the landscape as well. Wandering amongst the carnage were crippled horses that had
been hamstrung, their hind-leg tendons cut to disable them from further use.
What army had utterly destroyed this countless number of able-bodied men so
thoroughly? If you know your Biblical history your first guess would be that
God was very likely involved in some way and you would be correct.
Word gets
around when amazing things happen. Joshua was leading God’s chosen people to
victory over their enemies because He was following God’s guidance and fully
obeying what he was told to do. He had conquered most of Palestine except for
the north and the kings inhabiting this region knew they were next. Concerned
for their territory, numerous rulers of various provinces in the north came
together to do battle against Joshua. Included were Jobab, the kings of the
northern hill country, the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Jebusites and Hivites. The description in Joshua 11 tells us the combined
armies of all these kings were made up of soldiers as numerous as the grains of
sand on a beach. They were confident that with their superior numbers they
would be assured of victory. They were not going to wait for Joshua to attack;
they were going on the offensive. They combined forces and camped at Merom to
prepare to fight against Israel.
Joshua knew
of this buildup of enemy forces, either through scouts or through divine
knowledge from God Himself. From a human perspective it must have seemed
overwhelming to consider doing battle against such a force. But of course we
are talking of Joshua here, a man of God who trusted his Heavenly Father
completely. In verse 6 of chapter 11 God encourages Joshua to trust His Lord
for the outcome of the battle and by this time tomorrow he would have a victory
over this massive enemy that had gathered for battle. God then continues with
some specific instructions. He tells Joshua to kill everyone in the army, to
hamstring the horses and burn the chariots with fire.
It is
interesting in this passage, not so much what is told of Joshua’s response to
this knowledge and instruction, but the lack of what is said. There is no
debate or request for details from Joshua. There is no questioning by Joshua of
how God plans to give him this victory. There is simply obedience to God’s
commands and trust that God will grant the victory guaranteed.
Joshua takes
his army and attacks this huge enemy force. He proceeds, empowered by God, to
annihilate Israel’s enemy. He completely and thoroughly obeys God by killing
every single soldier, hamstringing the horses and burning the chariots. Joshua
is so thorough with his obedience that he pursues the army for miles across
country continually slaying soldiers along the way. The description in
scripture is very vivid. It states, “Nothing was spared that had breath.”
Nothing that breathed was left living in this battle. The reward for obeying
God was of course the victory over this enemy but also the plunder that was
gained from the cities conquered in the form of wealth and livestock.
Over time
Joshua continued to do battle with these groups of people until he eventually
conquered all of Palestine and the land was allowed to rest from war.
We can learn
many lessons today from Joshua’s trust and obedience. As Christians we face
temptation in our lives and evil in the world. Many times the struggles we face
in living a holy life can seem overwhelming just like the awesome military
forces that Joshua faced. We can look at our own skills and abilities and run
in fear or we can seek our all-powerful Lord God and listen for His
instruction. The life of a Christian cannot be lived in the flesh. It requires
trust in God and empowerment from the Holy Spirit.
Even if we listen to what
scripture says and the guidance of the Holy Spirit we may still be tempted to
question God. Joshua did not question God
about the feasibility of defeating this huge army, he simply obeyed utterly and
completely everything that God told him to do.
Sometimes
when we are faced with a temptation we debate how we should respond when we
already know what God would have us do. We know better but we often do not do
what is best. We obey partially and obtain a partial blessing from our
incomplete obedience. When we only slightly obey we gain only a slight victory.
Joshua is a good example for how to lead the Christian life.
Sometimes rather than hamstringing
the horses of sin in our lives we allow them to roam free so that one-day they
can return to do battle with us. We must obey the lord and hamstring those sins
that can disable us in the Christian’s call to holy living.
Sometimes we fail to burn those
chariots of sin in our lives and we simply park them along the roadside of life
and assume they will remain there. Unfortunately our motives for parking such
chariots are often so that we can come back later, hook up the horses of our
hearts to them and ride them around some more. Burnt chariots are unusable and
unless we deal with sin completely and sufficiently we will return to partake
of it again.
Two scripture passages come to my mind as I think of
Joshua’s obedience and our call to holy living.
Psalms
20:7
“Some
trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we
trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
1 Samuel
15:22
“To obey is better than sacrifice”
Are you facing struggles or sin in
your life that seem to be overwhelming? Are you in the midst of a battle that
seems impossible to win? I suggest if you look at Joshua’s as a role model,
seek guidance from scripture, listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit you
will see what needs to be done and do it. While willing to obey you must seek
the power of the Holy Spirit to follow through as you seek to serve your Lord
and Savior.
If you do not have a relationship
with the Savior of the world, there is no way you will be able to overcome the
enemies you will face in life. I suggest you seek the King of kings and Lord of
lords, Jesus Chris.