Joshua 10

Last week our lesson focused on Joshua 10, but you can’t focus on Joshua 10 without reading Joshua 9. Joshua 9 tells about a pagan people called the Gibeonites, who occupied land in Canaan. These people had heard of these dessert people called “Israelites” and how they were conquering and destroying cities in Canaan. They had also heard that the Israelites had a great and powerful God. The Gibeonites were fearful that they would also be destroyed, so they came up with a ruse to make a treaty with the Israelites. It is clear in reading Joshua 9 that the Gibeonites knew quite a bit about the mission of the Israelite people. They knew how God had freed the Israelites from Egypt. They knew Israel was intent on conquering Canaan, and could not make a treaty with any people occupying the land. If you haven’t read Joshua 9, go back and read the elaborate scheme the Gibeonites came up with to save themselves. It is quite brilliant.

Joshua and the leaders of Israel fell for the trickery of the Gibeonites, and made a peace treaty with them by swearing an oath to the Lord. The Bible tells us Joshua and the leaders did this “without inquiring of the Lord.” So, basically a big decision was made, and the leaders did not pray and ask for God’s guidance.  Big mistake.

After Joshua and the Israelites learned of the Gibeonites deceit, they, of course, were not pleased with the Gibeonites and made them servants of the Temple for the rest of their days. However, the Gibeonites were also under their protection, whether the Israelites liked it or not.

This brings us to Chapter 10, which was really the heart of the lesson last week. In Chapter 10, five kings of the cities in the hill country of Canaan got very upset that the Gibeonites had made a treaty with these dessert people taking over the land. So these kings formed a coalition and went and attacked the city of Gibeon. The Gibeonites then appealed to the Israelites to come and save them. Because the Israelites had sworn an oath to the Lord, they did indeed come to the rescue of their servants in Gibeon.

This was not an easy battle for Israel because of their proximity to Gibeon. Israel was camped at a town called Gilgal. It was located about 20-25 miles away from Gibeon, and due to the topography of the land, the route to get to Gibeon was all uphill. The scripture says, Joshua and his entire army marched all night long to get to the battle. This is where our lesson focused. By all accounts Israel found themselves in an uphill battle that could have been avoided if they had only asked God for His guidance about making the treaty with the Gibeonites.

Have you ever found yourself in an uphill battle that could have been avoided? How do you handle really hard situations that are a blend of someone else’s fault and your own?

2 things to watch out for….

1. Can you keep from falling into self-condemnation?
It is so easy to say “if I only I had done this or that. If only I had not gotten involved with him/her. If only I had hung up. If only I had said no or yes.” There are so many “if only(s),” right? The truth is we do make mistakes, and life is hard enough without you piling doom on yourself. That is what self-condemnation is dooming yourself. We do need to accept responsibility, and repent sometimes, but remember our Lord is forgiving, and loving. Self-condemnation is never from Him.

2. Can you keep from spending energy on blame?
Blame and resentment are blinding, and suck the energy out of you. We are called to forgive. If we carry unforgiveness in our hearts, there is no way the love of Christ can flow through us. It just cannot. If we spend our energy placing blame on someone else, ultimately, we do not have the energy to fight the actual battle before us, and we miss who the real enemy is. We do not have flesh and blood enemies, and we can lose sight of that.

In Joshua 10, the Lord tells Joshua not to be afraid that the Israelites will indeed win the battle. Do you see it? The Lord did not abandon Israel because they made an error in making the peace treaty. Israel had sworn an oath to God, and they were faithful to their word; God also was faithful to them.

In the actual battle, the Lord fought for Israel in 2 ways. He threw the enemies into confusion, and as they fled He hurled hailstones at them. More fell from the hail than were destroyed by the sword. Even though the Lord fought for Israel, Joshua still asked for more daylight for the battle. What was the reason for this? If the Lord has said “you’re going to win,” and He fights for you. Why did Israel have to fight? Why did they pursue them as they fled?

Israel had to fight because they had to know they could. It is through our fights that we become someone we never thought we could be. It is through our fights we do things we never thought we could do. It is how our faith grows and matures. Ultimately, we are all soldiers. Scripture tells us this in 1 Timothy. We are called to fight the good fight of faith. When God calls something forth from you that you did not know you had, you are going to shine the light of God’s glory, and that is what we are here to do.