Joshua 10:1-39
When the people of the land found out that the Gibeonites had made peace with the children of Israel after their victories at Jericho and Ai, they feared greatly. They now seemed to realize that it was useless to attack the people of God, so they decided to unite and make an attack upon the Gibeonities and destroy them. This, Joshua could see, was but an attempt to weaken their hands, and so, when called upon by the Gibeonites to help, he went out from Gilgal, against this great force. This time, however, it was not without a word from the Lord, for the Lord said to him, “Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.” He went out with confidence, therefore, being assured of victory. How different this was to the uncertainty with which they spoke when they made the agreement with the Gibeonites. (Joshua 9:7.) There is always uncertainty when acting upon our own wisdom, but what joyful confidence when we can say, “Thus saith the Lord.”
How marvelously the Lord undertook in this battle. It was His battle and He rained hailstones from heaven upon the enemy, so that there were more killed by the hailstones than were slain by the Israelites. Usually the battles ended with the end of the day, but when God undertakes to deliver His people He manifests that all power is His. How often we forget this! The Lord Jesus told His disciples after His resurrection, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth,” Matthew 28:18, and yet, many times, we act as though everything depended upon us. May we never forget that we “trust in the living God.” 1 Timothy 4:10. And so here, something that had never taken place before nor since, took place that day. Joshua called upon the sun and the moon to stand still, and the Lord heard his voice, so that the sun did not go down for almost a whole day, until their victory was complete. Surely we can say, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. Let us never look at the difficulties, but at God who is always above them. “He is able.”
While the children of Israel were chasing their enemies, the five kings who were leading them hid in a cave, and Joshua heard of it. He therefore told the people to roll great stones to the mouth of the cave, and continue the pursuit of the enemy until they were defeated.
It is a great thing to continue in conflict until there is victory. There is always a tendency to stop short in our efforts as soon as we begin to see some results, but let us not forget the exhortation, “Continue thou.” 2 Tim. 3:14. As soon, therefore, as the children of Israel had put their enemies down, they came back and took the five kings out of the cave, and Joshua hanged them upon a tree. Then, at the going down of the sun, he took their bodies down and put them back in the cave where they had been hiding, again rolling the great stones over the mouth of it which are there until this day. The very devices of the enemy but turn against them when we, as the people of God, go forward in obedience to the Word.
No longer confident in themselves, but in the Lord, the people go forward, having one victory after another. They fulfilled the Word of God too, in utterly destroying their enemies, as they took each city. How good it is when we learn to “trust and obey” at all times.
ML 04/26/1953