Great Battles of the Bible

The Conquest of Northern Palestine

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

The trail of dead bodies went on for miles. Birds hungry for carrion circled in the air above the endless path of lifeless soldiers. Among the dead were men from a variety of kingdoms. There were Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Hivites and a host of others. The burned remains of chariots dotted the landscape as well. Wandering amongst the carnage were crippled horses that had been hamstrung, their hind-leg tendons cut to disable them from further use. What army had utterly destroyed this countless number of able-bodied men so thoroughly? If you know your Biblical history your first guess would be that God was very likely involved in some way and you would be correct.

 

Word gets around when amazing things happen. Joshua was leading God’s chosen people to victory over their enemies because He was following God’s guidance and fully obeying what he was told to do. He had conquered most of Palestine except for the north and the kings inhabiting this region knew they were next. Concerned for their territory, numerous rulers of various provinces in the north came together to do battle against Joshua. Included were Jobab, the kings of the northern hill country, the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Hivites. The description in Joshua 11 tells us the combined armies of all these kings were made up of soldiers as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach. They were confident that with their superior numbers they would be assured of victory. They were not going to wait for Joshua to attack; they were going on the offensive. They combined forces and camped at Merom to prepare to fight against Israel.

 

Joshua knew of this buildup of enemy forces, either through scouts or through divine knowledge from God Himself. From a human perspective it must have seemed overwhelming to consider doing battle against such a force. But of course we are talking of Joshua here, a man of God who trusted his Heavenly Father completely. In verse 6 of chapter 11 God encourages Joshua to trust His Lord for the outcome of the battle and by this time tomorrow he would have a victory over this massive enemy that had gathered for battle. God then continues with some specific instructions. He tells Joshua to kill everyone in the army, to hamstring the horses and burn the chariots with fire.

 

It is interesting in this passage, not so much what is told of Joshua’s response to this knowledge and instruction, but the lack of what is said. There is no debate or request for details from Joshua. There is no questioning by Joshua of how God plans to give him this victory. There is simply obedience to God’s commands and trust that God will grant the victory guaranteed.

 

Joshua takes his army and attacks this huge enemy force. He proceeds, empowered by God, to annihilate Israel’s enemy. He completely and thoroughly obeys God by killing every single soldier, hamstringing the horses and burning the chariots. Joshua is so thorough with his obedience that he pursues the army for miles across country continually slaying soldiers along the way. The description in scripture is very vivid. It states, “Nothing was spared that had breath.” Nothing that breathed was left living in this battle. The reward for obeying God was of course the victory over this enemy but also the plunder that was gained from the cities conquered in the form of wealth and livestock.

 

Over time Joshua continued to do battle with these groups of people until he eventually conquered all of Palestine and the land was allowed to rest from war.

 

We can learn many lessons today from Joshua’s trust and obedience. As Christians we face temptation in our lives and evil in the world. Many times the struggles we face in living a holy life can seem overwhelming just like the awesome military forces that Joshua faced. We can look at our own skills and abilities and run in fear or we can seek our all-powerful Lord God and listen for His instruction. The life of a Christian cannot be lived in the flesh. It requires trust in God and empowerment from the Holy Spirit.

 

Even if we listen to what scripture says and the guidance of the Holy Spirit we may still be tempted to question God. Joshua did not question God about the feasibility of defeating this huge army, he simply obeyed utterly and completely everything that God told him to do.

 

Sometimes when we are faced with a temptation we debate how we should respond when we already know what God would have us do. We know better but we often do not do what is best. We obey partially and obtain a partial blessing from our incomplete obedience. When we only slightly obey we gain only a slight victory. Joshua is a good example for how to lead the Christian life.

 

Sometimes rather than hamstringing the horses of sin in our lives we allow them to roam free so that one-day they can return to do battle with us. We must obey the lord and hamstring those sins that can disable us in the Christian’s call to holy living.

 

Sometimes we fail to burn those chariots of sin in our lives and we simply park them along the roadside of life and assume they will remain there. Unfortunately our motives for parking such chariots are often so that we can come back later, hook up the horses of our hearts to them and ride them around some more. Burnt chariots are unusable and unless we deal with sin completely and sufficiently we will return to partake of it again.

 

Two scripture passages come to my mind as I think of Joshua’s obedience and our call to holy living.

 

Psalms 20:7

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

 

1 Samuel 15:22

“To obey is better than sacrifice”

 

Are you facing struggles or sin in your life that seem to be overwhelming? Are you in the midst of a battle that seems impossible to win? I suggest if you look at Joshua’s as a role model, seek guidance from scripture, listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit you will see what needs to be done and do it. While willing to obey you must seek the power of the Holy Spirit to follow through as you seek to serve your Lord and Savior.

 

If you do not have a relationship with the Savior of the world, there is no way you will be able to overcome the enemies you will face in life. I suggest you seek the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.