In part one of this series, we saw God commission Joshua to take the Israelites over a miraculous crossing of the Jordan River and prepared them for conquering the land of Canaan. (See part 1).
6.War:
The first battle in Canaan would be against the city-fortress of Jericho:
Now Jericho [a fortified city with high walls] was tightly closed because [of the people’s fear] of the sons of Israel; no one went out or came in. The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty warriors. Now you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do this [once each day] for six days. Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets [made] of rams’ horns ahead of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall cry out with a great shout (battle cry); and the wall of the city will fall down in its place, and the people shall go up, each man [going] straight ahead [climbing over the rubble].” Jos. 6:1 – 5. AMP
Joshua and the priests and the Israelites did exactly what God instructed, and the outcome manifested precisely as Jehovah predicted. (See Jos. 6:6 – 21.)
The people ransacked the city, killed all living things, and brought any precious metals into the treasury of God’s house. Any paganistic items were to be destroyed. The exception to the extinction of the people of Jericho was Rahab and her family:
Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and everything that she had; and she has lived among Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers (scouts) whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Jos. 6:25 AMP
Finally, the Israelites burned Jericho to the ground.
However, one Israelite man by the name of Achan, did not follow God’s instructions:
But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully and violated their obligation in regard to the things [off limits] under the ban [those things belonging to the Lord], for Achan…took some of the things under the ban [for personal gain]. Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites. Jos. 7:1 AMP
(Make a note. We’ll come back to this.)
Joshua now sends men to spy out the next city, (Ai), that his army was meant to conquer. They came back and told Joshua that the people were small in number, and to only sent a small fraction of the army to conquer them.
However, the people of Ai routed the small army, killing 36 soldiers, and the Israelites fled from the city. Chastened, they began to doubt God’s promise of total victory. Joshua fell on his face to ask Him why He allowed this to happen. Jehovah answers Him:
Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction. Jos. 7:11, 12. NLT
God tells Joshua that all the people must present themselves to Him on the following day, and that He would point out the guilty party. When they got to Achan, he confessed to stealing clothing, silver, and gold.
Achan and his family were put to death. Severe? Yes. There are no gray areas when it comes to obeying God. An example had to be made to the thousands of Israelites, to encourage discipline and obedience.
And the Lord’s righteous anger was abated. He tells Joshua to attack Ai once more with an ambush and annihilate it, promising that they will conquer them:
“Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land. You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king.” Jos. 8:1, 2. NLT
And so, they did, impaling the king of Ai on a pole as well.
Joshua built an altar to give thanks to God for their victory, and he copied the laws from Deuteronomy upon the rocks of the altar and read them to all the people. Their covenant with God was restored…
Five of the kings of the pagans living in Canaan formed a coalition to fight against Israel. However, one small tribe of ‘Hivites’ deceptively approached Joshua dressed in tattered clothing and carried moldy bread to make themselves appear as paupers. They told him that they came from a distant land to make a peace treaty. (See Jos. 9:1 – 6.)
Moreover, the Hivites claimed to come because of the fame of their God, His deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and for Jehovah’s favor in their conquest of Canaan. They said that they wanted to serve Israel.
So, the men [of Israel] took some of their own provisions [and offered them in friendship], and [foolishly] did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant (treaty) with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation [of Israel] swore an oath to them. Jos. 9:14, 15. AMP
Not good. Three days later the Hivites were found to be close neighbors and were specifically ordered by God to be destroyed.[1] The Israelites were angry with Joshua for entering into this treaty, so he confined the Hivites to labors associated with the Tabernacle.
The five-king coalition became angry at the Hivites and attacked their homeland, called Gibeon (thus, the Hivites are also called Gibeonites). They turned to Joshua for help. Joshua turned to God, who said:
“Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.”
Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy…the Lord destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven… Jos. 10:8 – 11. NLT
During the day of Israel’s victory over the coalition, Joshua prayed to God to stop the motion of the sun and the moon, so that there would be extended light for finishing his battle. And He did![2]
Joshua and his army went on to kill all five kings and annihilated all their armies. (See Jos. 10:40) In so doing, all the southern region of Canaan was defeated.
In response, the northern region of Canaan formed a coalition as well, amassing a large army of 330,000 (according to the historian Josephus).
God speaks to Joshua:
“Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” Jos. 11:6 NLT
Jehovah fights for His children, leading them on to total victory! The entire land of Canaan is now theirs:
So, Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war. Jos. 11:23 NLT
Joshua apportioned the land to each of the tribes of Israel, except for the tribe of Levi, who were given cities to live in. (See Jos. Chapters 12 – 22.)
Goodnight and God bless.
[1] Dt. 20:17
[2] Jos. 10:13