This is a brutal and violent part of the Old Testament. As brutal and violent as it gets I would imagine. It horrifies me that so many would be killed and completely exterminated by God through Josue but that is the way is was in those biblical times.
I am grateful that in most of the world today that is no longer the case. I am grateful that God’s revised covenant of love and the New Testament is the way of the world for the most part, or can be on a person-by-person basis if one so chooses.
But there are spiritual principles to be learned even in the Old Testament’s brutality.
Trust in God and fear not:
So the five kings of the Amorrhites being assembled together went up… and camped about Gabaon, laying siege to it…
Lord to Josue: “Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thy hands: none of them shall be able to stand against thee.
…the Lord cast down upon them great stones from heaven as far as Azeca; and many more were killed with the hailstones than were slain by the swords of the children of Israel.
God controls the heavens and the earth and there was one day that God obeyed the voice of a man:
Josue spoke to the Lord: Move not, O sun, toward Gabaon, nor thou, O moon, toward the valley of Ajalon. And the sun and the moon stood still, till the people revenged themselves f their enemies, is not this written in the book of the just? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down the space of one day. There was not before not after so long a day. There was not before nor after so long a day, the Lord obeying the voice of a man, and fighting for Israel.
Josue to all the men of Israel and the chiefs of the army: “Fear not, neither be ye dismayed, take courage, and be strong: for so will the Lord do to tell your enemies, against whom you fight.”
And Josue struck, and slew them (the five kings of the Amorrhites), and hanged them upon five gibbons, and they hung until evening.
Josue did as the Lord commanded and history, as directed by God, continued and somehow brought us to this day. I am intrigued to find out how our world civilizations evolved in the remainder of the Old Testament.
Josue had more kings to fight and more land to conquer as the Lord promised, commanded, and directed:
And they all came out with their troops, a people exceeding numerous as the sand that is on the sea shore… and these kinds assembled together… to fight Israel…
Lord to Josue: “Fear them not: for to morrow at this same hour I will deliver all these to be slain in the sight of Israel…
And Josue came, and all the army with him… on a sudden, and fell upon them. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel… He slew them all, so as to leave no remains of them, and he did as the Lord had commanded him…
As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Josue, and he accomplished all: he left not one thing undone of all the commandments which the Lord had commanded Moses.
For it was the sentence of the Lord, that their heart should be hardened, and they should fight against Israel, and fall, and should not deserve any clemency, and should be destroyed as the Lord had commanded Moses.
So Josue took all the land, as the Lord spoke to Moses, and delivered it in possession to the children of Israel, according to their divisions and tribes. And the land rested from wars,
The land rested from wars—peace!
The bibles accounts for the number of kings slewed by Moses and Josue:
Kings destroyed by Moses… These are the kings, whom the children of Israel slew and possessed their land beyond the Jordan… I counted three…
These are the kings of the Land, whom Josue and the children of Israel slew beyond the Jordan… all the kings numbered thirty and one.
Josue, as time goes by, is not getting any younger:
Lord to Josue: Thou are grown old, and advanced in age, and there is a very large country left, which is not yet divided… I am he that will cut them off from before the face of the children of Israel. So let their land come in as a part of the inheritance of Israel, as I have commanded thee… And now divide the land in possession to the nine tribes, and to the half tribe of Manasses…
But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possessions: but the sacrifices and victims of the Lord God of Israel, are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.
But to the tribe of Levi, he gave no possession: because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their possession, as he spoke to them.
More dividing up of the Promised Land to the children of Israel. And another spiritual principle to be extracted from this part of the Old Testament:
Trust in God and fear not and God will fulfill any and all of His promises.
Here he fulfills his promise to Caleb. Remember Caleb and Josue were the only two of the spies that Moses sent to see the Promised Land as directed by God that came back inspired by what they saw and obedient to God’s Word that it is destiny to be theirs as the children of Israel. They were not afraid of the giants they saw or the size of the conquest to be had. Josue and Caleb were God’s warriors and the only two people from that generation of more than a half million people to not only see but enter the Promised Land.
Caleb to Josue: Thou knowest what the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and thee…to view the land, and I brought him word again as to me seemed true. But as my brethren, that had gone up with me, discouraged the heart of the people: and I nevertheless followed the Lord my God… this day I am eighty-five years old, as strong as I was at that time when I was sent to view the land; the strength of that time continueth in me until this day, as well to fight as to march… and Josue blessed him (Caleb), and gave him Hebron in possession… And from that time Hebron belonged to Caleb… until this present day; because he followed the Lord they God of Israel.
What is ‘the Sentence of the Lord’ for You and Me?
Hopefully to trust in God, to have Jesus in our hearts and to love and be loved, and fear not and God will fulfill any and all of His promises to us.
Day 75: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; What is ‘the Sentence of the Lord’ for You and Me?.
Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Josue Chapters 10-14
Bible Notes:
This Book is so called, because it was written in large part by Josue and is a history of the Jews under his rule. It records the Jewish conquest of the Promised Land, its final distribution, and the last address and death of Josue.
Josue Chapter 10: Five kings war against Gabaon; Josue goes to rescue Gabaon; Hailstones destroy the enemy; The sun and the moon stand still; Execution of the five kings; Josue captures Maceda, Lebna, and Lachis; Josue lays King Horam; Josue captures Eglon, Hebron, and Dabir; Josue returns to Galgal.
Adonisedec, king of Jerusalem… Hai and Jericho destroyed by Josue… Gabaonites were Josue’s confederates now… he was exceedingly afraid.
Ohan, king of Hebron
Pharan, king of Jerimoth
Japhia, king of Lachia
Dabir, king of Eglon
So the five kings of the Amorrhites being assembled together went up… and camped about Gabaon, laying siege to it…
Lord to Josue: “Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thy hands: none of them shall be able to stand against thee.
…the Lord cast down upon them great stones from heaven as far as Azeca; and many more were killed with the hailstones than were slain by the swords of the children of Israel.
Josue spoke to the Lord: Move not, O sun, toward Gabaon, nor thou, O moon, toward the valley of Ajalon. And the sun and the moon stood still, till the people revenged themselves f their enemies, is not this written in the book of the just? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down the space of one day. There was not before not after so long a day. There was not before nor after so long a day, the Lord obeying the voice of a man, and fighting for Israel.
Josue to all the men of Israel and the chiefs of the army: “Fear not, neither be ye dismayed, take courage, and be strong: for so will the Lord do to tell your enemies, against whom you fight.”
And Josue struck, and slew them (the five kings of the Amorrhites), and hanged them upon five gibbons, and they hung until evening.
Josue captures Maceda, Lebna, and Lachis.
They left not in it any remains.
Horam, king of Gazer… and Josue slew him with all his people, so as to leave none alive.
…and put to the sword all the souls that were in it…
…he left not therein any remains…
…putting to sword all that he had found in it.
…he left not any remains therein, but slew all that breathed, as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded him… for the Lord the God if Israel fought for him.
Josue Chapter 11: League of kings to the north; Josue defeats the kings; Capture and destruction of Asor; Extent of Josue’s victories; Josue annihilates the Enacims; The return of peace.
Jabin, king of Asor
Jobab, king of Madon
Kings of the north
And they all came out with their troops, a people exceeding numerous as the sand that is on the sea shore… and these kinds assembled together… to fight Israel…
Lord to Josue: “Fear them not: for to morrow at this same hour I will deliver all these to be slain in the sight of Israel…
And Josue came, and all the army with him… on a sudden, and fell upon them. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel… He slew them all, so as to leave no remains of them, and he did as the Lord had commanded him…
As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Josue, and he accomplished all: he left not one thing undone of all the commandments which the Lord had commanded Moses.
For it was the sentence of the Lord, that their heart should be hardened, and they should fight against Israel, and fall, and should not deserve any clemency, and should be destroyed as the Lord had commanded Moses.
So Josue took all the land, as the Lord spoke to Mosses, and delivered it in possession to the children of Israel, according to their divisions and tribes. And the land rested from wars,
Josue Chapter 12: Kings destroyed by Moses; Kings destroyed by Josue.
Kings destroyed by Moses… These are the kings, whom the children of Israel slew and possessed their land beyond the Jordan… I counted three…
These are the kings of the Land, whom Josue and the children of Israel slew beyond the Jordan… all the kings numbered thirty and one.
Josue Chapter 13: God commands Josue to divide the land; The territory of Ruben, Gad, and Manasses; Inheritance of the Levites; Territory of the Rubenites; Territory of the Gadites; Territory of the Manassites.
Lord to Josue: Thou are grown old, and advanced in age, and there is a very large country left, which is not yet divided… I am he that will cut them off from before the face of the children of Israel. So let their land come in as a part of the inheritance of Israel, as I have commanded thee… And now divide the land in possession to the nine tribes, and to the half tribe of Manasses…
And the Children of Israel would not destroy Gessuri and Machati: and they have dwelt in the midst of Israel, until this present day.
But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possessions: but the sacrifices and victims of the Lord God of Israel, are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.
And Moses gave a possession to the children of Ruben according to their kindreds… this is the possession of the Rubenites, by their kindreds, of cities and villages.
And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad and to his children by their kindreds a possession, of which this is the division… this is the possession of the children of Gad by their families, their cities, and villages…
He also gave to the half tribe of Manasses and his children possession according to their kindreds…
But to the tribe of Levi, he gave no possession: because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their possession, as he spoke to them.
Josue Chapter 14: Possessions in Chanaan; Hebron is given to Celeb.
Celeb to Josue: Thou knowest what the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and thee…to view the land, and I brought him word again as to me seemed true. But as my brethren, that had gone up with me, discouraged the heart of the people: and I nevertheless followed the Lord my God… this day I am eighty-five years old, as strong as I was at that time when I was sent to view the land; the strength of that time continueth in me until this day, as well to fight as to march… and Josue blessed him (Celeb), and gave him Hebron in possession… And from that time Hebron belonged to Caleb… until this present day; because he followed the Lord they God of Israel.
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