11 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard these things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings who were from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, 3 to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, and the Hivite below Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And when all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
Jabin and his northern coalition of darkness must have thought that all the southern kings had gone about it all wrong. Surely this coalition could stand against God's people, after all there was a multitude of them with many horses and chariots. No army could stand against this! Or at least it seemed that way to Jabin and company.
6 But the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire." 7 So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them. 8 And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, to the Brook Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. 9 So Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
The battle was won before it started because they were serving the Lord. It wasn't a battle of numbers or chariots or skill. But it was a spiritual battle won by faith and following The King of all kings.
Was there ever a thought by a military minded man, "We could keep these chariots and horses and strengthen our army!" Maybe, we don't know. How many of us would fall into that trap. The battle wasn't won according to these things. They held no value, in fact they harmed their cause because people would trust in chariots and horses instead of the Lord.
10 Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.
12 So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing. 15 As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
Joshua apparently had the freedom to make exceptions and he did so for Hazor. This was the largest city in the area and prominent in the ancient trade routes. This city was wiped away.
Joshua acted by the commands of the Lord and was successful in his campaign to conquer the land. The cities built on mounds were taken as cities for themselves. They looted these cities and because of being built on hills were militarily strong.
16 Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain-the mountains of Israel and its lowlands, 17 from Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, and struck them down and killed them. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle. 20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
This wiping away of a people in this nation may seem harsh or cruel in our minds. Genesis 15:16 says; 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. These people had sinned until a time when the Lord considered it complete. God didn't cause them to sin, he allowed them to do what was in their heart. God was righteous to judge them.
This hardness of heart is the completeness of sin. It's a willingness to shake their fist at God and all His people and make war on them. It's a confidence in the flesh that leads to destruction.
See Romans 1:24-28 and Romans 9:14-18.
21 And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.
The Anikim were the giants. Goliath would rise from the Anikim and face a little runt of a shepherd with a slingshot in the future years.
23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
The war lasted 7 years, another interesting parallel with Revelation.
©2015 Doug Ford
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