Joshua 10:1-43

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Joshua

Brian Rowlands

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Chapter 10

The *Israelites defeat the Amorites – Joshua 10:1-28

v1 The king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek, heard what Joshua had done to the people of Ai and Jericho and their kings. He heard that Joshua had killed them. He also heard that *Israel had promised not to kill the people from Gibeon. They lived near to the *Israelites. v2 The king and his people were very afraid, because Gibeon was an important city. It was like a king’s city and bigger than Ai. All its men fought well. v3 So Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, asked some other kings to join him to attack Gibeon. They were called:

• Hoham. He was the king of Hebron.

• Piram. He was the king of Jarmuth.

• Japhia. He was the king of Lachish.

• Debir. He was the king of Eglon.

v4 Adoni-Zedek said to them, ‘Gibeon has promised not to fight Joshua and the *Israelites. Please help me to attack Gibeon.’

v5 Then the 5 kings of the Amorites joined together. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. They took their soldiers near to Gibeon, and they attacked it.

Verse 1 This may be the first mention of Jerusalem in the Bible. However, Salem in Genesis 14:18 might be the same city. Jerusalem became a very important city. King David made it his capital city. Jesus died on a cross outside Jerusalem.

Verses 1-5 When you make an agreement with the enemy you can expect trouble. The Gibeonites realised that they were in trouble. The trouble was not from their former enemies. Their enemies had been the *Israelites. But now the Gibeonites’ former friends were attacking them. Now their neighbours were attacking them. They did not know what to do.

v6 Then the Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal. ‘Do not leave us alone. Come quickly and save us. All the Amorite kings from the hills have joined to attack us. We need your help’, they said.

v7 So Joshua marched with his whole army up from Gilgal. He included all his best fighting men. v8 The *Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them. I will make sure that you win the fight. I will not let anyone stand against you.’

v9 They marched all night from Gilgal, and Joshua surprised his enemies. v10 The *Lord made the enemies confused when they saw *Israel. *Israel won a great fight at Gibeon. *Israel pursued their enemies on the road to Beth Horon. *Israel continued to kill them all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. v11 The *Lord attacked them as they ran from Beth Horon to Azekah. He caused large *hail stones to fall on them from the sky. The *Lord killed more men with the *hail stones than the *Israelites killed in the fight.

v12 On that day, Joshua stood in front of *Israel and spoke to the *Lord. On that same day, the *Lord gave them power over the Amorites. Joshua spoke to the *Lord and said,

‘Sun stand still over Gibeon.

Moon stand over the valley of Aijalon.’

v13 So the sun stood still.

And the moon stood still

until *Israel had punished its enemies.

These words are in the book of Jashar. ‘The sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and it did not go down for about a whole day. v14 The *Lord has never listened to a man like this before or since that day. So, we are sure that the *Lord was fighting for *Israel! v15 Then Joshua and all the *Israelites went back to the camp at Gilgal.’

Verses 6, 7 The Gibeonites asked for help from the *Israelites. The *Israelites were the only ones that could help them. Joshua had made a promise to the Gibeonites. He could not disappoint them now.

Think about this. Whom do we go to when we need help? The Gibeonites went to Joshua. The name Joshua means ‘The *Lord is my *Saviour.’ We have a *Saviour. We can always go to him when we need help.

Verse 8 When the Gibeonites first came to Joshua he did not ask God about them (Joshua 9:14). Now that the Gibeonites had asked Joshua for help, God spoke to Joshua. He told him not to be afraid. God had already won the battle for him!

God has won the battle for us. He sent Jesus to die for us. He suffered the punishment for our *sins. This was a great *victory!

Verses 9-13 God did three things to help Joshua.

• He made the enemies confused.

• He sent *hail stones to kill the enemy.

• The sun stood still until the *Israelites had defeated the enemy. Joshua asked God to do this.

Verse 14 This is a wonderful statement about Joshua! God listened to his prayer. Joshua had *faith that God would answer his prayer.

God will always listen to our prayers. We should pray to God often. Like Joshua, we too should have *faith in God.

v16 Now the 5 kings had run away. They had hidden in a cave at Makkedah. v17 Joshua heard that they were hiding there. v18 He said to his men, ‘Cover the front of the cave with big stones. And put some men there to guard them. v19 But do not stop. Continue to run after your enemies. Attack them from behind, and do not let them reach their cities. Remember that the *Lord, your God has promised to give power to you over them.’

v20 So Joshua and the *Israelites killed them. Nearly all the enemies died. But the few who were alive reached their strong cities. v21 The whole army returned to the camp at Makkedah where Joshua was. All the people in the land were too afraid to say anything bad about the *Israelites.

v22 Then Joshua said, ‘Take away the stones from the cave. Bring the 5 kings out to me.’ v23 So they brought out the kings. These kings were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. v24 They brought the kings to Joshua, and he told the men of *Israel to come to him. ‘Put your feet on the necks of the kings’, he said to the officers who had come with him. They did as he told them to do.

v25 Joshua said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Be very strong and brave. This is what the *Lord will do to all your enemies.’ v26 Then Joshua killed the kings. The *Israelites hung the dead kings on 5 trees until the evening.

v27 At sunset, Joshua told his men to take the kings down from the trees. ‘Throw them into the cave where they were hiding’, he said. They put big stones over the front of the cave, and the stones are still there.

v28 That day Joshua attacked Makkedah and he took it, with its king. He killed everyone in it. He did not leave anyone alive. He killed the king of Makkedah, just as he had killed the king of Jericho.

Verses 16-21 Joshua did not have time to deal with the 5 kings. They were hiding in a cave. Joshua put some big stones in front of the cave. The 5 kings could not escape. Joshua came back to them later. He had other things to do. He had to kill his enemies.

Verses 22-27 Joshua told the *Israelites to put their feet on the necks of the 5 kings. (He made the kings lie down first.) This seems a strange thing to do! It was not strange in those days. In 2 Samuel 22:41 we read, ‘You have also given me the necks of my enemies.’ When the *Israelites put their feet on the necks of the 5 kings it showed complete *victory. The 5 kings knew that the *Israelites had completely defeated them. Joshua killed the 5 kings. He hung their bodies on 5 trees. This showed the *Israelites that they had defeated their enemy.

Verse 28 Joshua continued to kill his enemies.

The *Israelites defeat the towns in the south of the country – Joshua 10:29-43

v29 After this, Joshua and his army went on from Makkedah to Libnah, and they attacked it. v30 The *Lord gave them power over that city and its king. Joshua destroyed the city and he killed everyone in it. He did not leave anyone alive. He killed the king of Libnah, just as he had killed the king of Jericho.

v31 After this, Joshua and all the *Israelites went on from Libnah to Lachish. They attacked it from all sides. v32 The *Lord gave them power over Lachish. And Joshua took the city on the second day. They left no one alive, as they had done at Libnah. They killed everyone in the city. v33 King Horam of Gezer came to help Lachish. But Joshua fought and killed him and his army. He killed them all.

v34 Then Joshua and his army went from Lachish to Eglon. They went round it and they attacked it. v35 They took it on the same day. They killed everyone in that city, as they had at Lachish.

v36 After this, Joshua and his army went up from Eglon to Hebron. They attacked v37 and took it. They killed the king, all the people there, and the people in the towns near to it. Joshua destroyed the whole city, as he had done to Eglon. He did not leave anyone alive.

v38 Then Joshua and his army went back to Debir and they attacked it. v39 He attacked it and he took it with all the towns near to it. They killed everyone there. Joshua did to Debir and its king what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.

v40 So Joshua took the whole land. He took the hill country, the hills of the east and the west and the dry country in the south. He took them with their kings. He killed all the people who lived there. He did not leave anyone alive. The *Lord God of *Israel had told him to do this. v41 Joshua had fought from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza. This included all of Goshen as far as Gibeon in the north. v42 Joshua won this long list of battles. He defeated all these kings and their cities. He won the war because the *Lord, the God of *Israel, was fighting for *Israel. v43 After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal.

Verses 29-40 Joshua had defeated his nearest enemies. Now he attacked the enemies who were further away. At first, he attacked the cities in the south of the country. Notice how often we read about the *Lord.

• The *Lord gave them power – verse 29.

• The *Lord gave them power – verse 32.

• The *Lord God of *Israel told them – verse 40.

• He won because the *Lord, the God of *Israel was with them – verse 42.

When God asks us to do something, he always helps us.

We do not know how long it took to defeat the towns and cities in the south.

Israelites ~ people from Israel. They are also called Hebrews and Jews.

Israel ~ all the people born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; the people that God chose; or, the land that the Israelites lived in.
Jew ~ a person who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. It is also a name for one of the Israelites.
Israel ~ all the people born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; the people that God chose; or, the land that the Israelites lived in.

Israelites ~ people from Israel. They are also called Hebrews and Jews.
Jew ~ a person who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. It is also a name for one of the Israelites.
Lord ~ a name for God in the Bible. The original language of the Old Testament is called Hebrew. In the Hebrew language, there are two words that we translate as ‘Lord’. The Hebrew word ‘ADONAI’ means that God rules. God is our master. The Hebrew word ‘YHWH’ means that God never changes. God is always God.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, which the writers wrote before the life of Jesus.
hail ~ ice in rain. Rain can freeze, so that it falls like stones.
saviour ~ the one who rescues people from evil things. A name for Jesus.
sin ~ when we do not obey the rule of God; when we do not do what God wants us to do.
victory ~ success in war or in a struggle.
faith ~ trust, trust in God, belief.