Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Joshua chapter 9 as we continue our study through the Word of God. As we have seen, the children of Israel have begun to do battle against their enemies in the Promise Land. The first enemy they faced were the people of Jericho. And there God instructed the children of Israel on how to defeat them and they were obedient to what God told them. The result is that God gave them a great victory at Jericho, wiping out their enemy

            Next up in their battle was the small city called Ai. Here we see Joshua send some spies to check out the land.  When they returned they basically told Joshua that this is a piece of cake, we don’t even need all the men of war for this battle, maybe some 3,000 men. So the first mistake was they did not seek the Lord and secondly, there was sin in the camp. One of his men, Achan had taken some spoils of this victory in Jericho and God had specifically told them that the spoil of this battle belonged to Him, all of it!

            Thus, because they did not seek the Lord in this battle, they went in with their own plans and they were unaware of the sin that was in the camp, they were not victorious. They were not only defeated but 36 men lost their lives in this battle and that was 36 more than at Jericho were the enemy was bigger and stronger. You see, at Jericho they walked in obedience and Ai they did not and the results of those battles give us the end result of walking either way.

            Once they dealt with the sin, God did give them the victory, which was according to His battle plan and not Joshua’s or the children of Israel! It is after this we see the children of Israel gather in the valley of Shechem, in the heart of the land, just as Moses had instructed them to do.

            In this valley the priest stood and on either side of them were the children of Israel.  Six of the twelve tribes of Israel stood on Mount Gerizim and six of the twelve tribes of Israel stood on Mount Ebal. When the priests called out the curses, those on Mount Ebal would say, “Amen!”  Picture in your mind what they saw. Mount Ebal was a rocky, barren mountain and this is where the altar of sacrifice was set up and the sacrifices made. You see, when there is sin there needed to be sacrifices made for the sin. And on Mount Gerizim, which was lush, beautiful, this is where the people would call out “Amen” when the blessings were spoken. You don’t need an altar of sacrifice here.

            Why did they do this? It was an act of obedience to what the Lord told them through Moses in Deuteronomy before they even entered the land.  And think about it. They did witness what happened when they were disobedient at Ai and now they were affirming their willingness to be obedient to God’s Word. Again, this is an important lesson for us, that as we obey the Lord there are great blessings that flow and in disobedience there truly are cursings that we will find.

            Now as we move into Joshua chapter 9, the children of Israel are back at Gilgal, which is their base camp. And Satan does have strategies. We are going to see first a frontal assault against the children of Israel and that works at times. But he also uses a more subtle approach that will catch the children of Israel off guard. Yes, Satan walks about like a roaring lion to seek to devour people, but don’t forget that he can transform himself into an angel of light to deceive us. Thus, there are some very important lessons for us this evening as we walk by faith and fight against the enemy. With that said, let’s begin reading in Joshua chapter 9, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us as we study His Word.

VERSES 1-2

            As word spread of the victories the children of Israel had at Jericho and then Ai, fear caused the Canaanite kings to join forces to defeat them. They figured there was strength in numbers. Once again, this is a frontal assault by the enemy, pretty straightforward. And, as I have said, Peter tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  The Amplified Bible puts it like this, “Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.”  I Peter 5:8.

            Now for some Christians that is as far as they go. They see the enemy as this roaring lion and they are fearful and yet, do nothing. Others are not watchful at all and they can be easily devoured. But Peter does not just tell us about the enemy, but he goes on to tell us where our victory is found as we do battle with this roaring lion, the Devil!. Peter says, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” And again The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this; “Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset — rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.” I Peter 5:9.

            Yes the battle is intense but we have the victory as we stand in the faith, upon God’s Word, in His strength and not ours. The children of Israel learned this one but they were not ready for the subtle scheming of the Devil as we shall see!

VERSES 3-6

            The inhabitants of Gibeon realized they were no match for the children of Israel, even if they joined forces with the other kings. Now please understand that the Gibeonites were not weak people, just a push over. We are told in Joshua 10:2, “that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.” But they saw the handwriting on the wall and felt they could only win this war by surrendering to the children of Israel. A kind of “Better red than dead” mentality!

            The only problem was that the children of Israel were to wipe out all the inhabitants of the land. Only those who lived outside the land and wanted to surrender to them would be spared. So these representatives from Gibeon will use deception to fool the children of Israel into thinking they came from a land far, far away!

            We as Christians need to be as wise as serpents but as gentle as a dove. God has given us wisdom and we need to exercise it. Yes, Satan will use a frontal assault against us and he will also be subtle and use deception to devour us. It is a kind of Trojan horse mentality. Outwardly it may look good, but inwardly there is death that will come forth! In other words, if he can’t defeat us by a frontal assault, then he will try with subtle things that cause us to have a false sense of security! We are not on guard for these things because we are looking for that frontal assault!

            Paul warns the Ephesian elders of this very thing and he is also warning us in Acts 20:29-30, “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”  You see, there will be a direct assault upon believers but there will also be a subtle assault from within as leaders bring forth damming heresies into the church!

            In II Corinthians 11:13-15 Paul warns us how deceptive the enemy is. He wrote, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”  Notice the deception as these leaders pretend to be “ministers of righteousness” when in reality they are leading people to Hell!

            Listen to this story form the Herald Times Reporter, Sunday, August 13, 1995. It is a story about a teacher who becomes a lay preacher and goes from church to church preaching sermons. What does this man believe? Listen, I think you might be surprised! “Mathes said He was not a fundamentalist when it comes to his own philosophy of religion. ‘I don't know who or what or whether God is,’ he said. ‘Although I preach about it, I don't know anything about that really.’ Bothered by his questions and doubts, he sought his pastor's counsel. In a sermon, she explained, ‘Some of the people with the greatest amount of faith are the people who are absolutely uncertain about everything.’ That, Mathes said, set his mind at ease.”

            Who would let a man like this speak from their pulpit, to fill their sheep with this garbage? Obviously there are many out there who would, which is very sad to me. And folks, we see a false Gospel, a false Jesus, false doctrine being taught from the pulpits across America and people are taking it in like it is Gospel truth. Many are not using the wisdom, the discernment that God has given to them. They don’t hold these teachings up to the Word of God to see if they are true or not but trust a man rather than the Word of God!

            In I John 4:1-6 we are told about our truth tester to see if what someone is telling us is true or not. John tells us, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”  Test what is being spoken against the Word of God and with the Holy Spirit’s help you will clearly see if it is of God or not!

            Now some would argue that the church is growing today, we have more mega-churches now than ever before. That may be true but the numbers are not growing, Christians are just moving from one church to another, usually to a larger church. And the state of the church in America may be 3,000 miles wide but it is only an inch deep! Jesus warned us in Matthew 13:31-32 in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.’”  In other words, the church will grow, but it is an abnormal growth, a false growth, as many attach themselves to the church and they are not believers. Jesus makes that point as He speaks of the birds in this bush that is a tree, the abnormal growth, and the birds are represented in the Scriptures as ministers of Satan!  May we learn the lesson from the Trojan horse incident, that what may look good, look right outwardly may not be good inwardly. It may bring forth death!

VERSES 7-10

            These guys are good. You see, they don’t speak of the victories the children of Israel had at Jericho and Ai, not even their crossing over the Jordan River.  All they talk about is how the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt and defeated the kings on the east side of the Jordan River. Why was this so important? Because they said they came from a far away land and thus, this recent news would not have reached their land yet! I told you they were good. Interestingly enough the word “Hivites” means serpents and how cunning they were in their deception just as Satan is!

            Now, why would the children of Israel spare them because they said they were from a far away country?  I thought they were to wipe out all the inhabitants of the land as Deuteronomy 7:1-6 tells us, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”

Thus, it seems very clearly to me that they were to wipe out everyone; they were not to make a covenant with any of these people. But that is not exactly true. In Deuteronomy 20:10-20 we are told, “When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies' plunder which the Lord your God gives you. Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God. When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man's food. Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.”

            In other words, those that did not live in the land God gave to Israel, they could make a covenant with them if they surrendered to the children of Israel and that is what the Gibeonites were trying to do by deceiving the children of Israel into thinking they lived in a land far away!

            And please keep in mind, the Gibeonites were not repenting of their sins, turning to the Lord at this point, but were messengers of Satan who came to influence the children of Israel into making a mistake. I think this is an important lesson for us to understand, that we don’t make a covenant with the enemy. Paul warns us in II Corinthians 6:14-18, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.’”

            In regards to dating or marrying an unbeliever, don’t make a covenant with them!  Yes, they will go to church with you when you are dating them but once you make a covenant with them, once you get married, that is probably not going to last. In fact, it will be the last time they will go to church. You see, light and darkness do not mix. May we learn the lesson!

            Now, in verse 7 the men of Israel are questioning these people and I believe God was giving them discernment about this situation. In verse 8 Joshua is also questioning these people but tragically they brushed this aside and they walked by sight instead of listening to the Lord. Folks, if God has placed something in your heart about a situation, listen to Him, don’t rush in and make a foolish decision as the children of Israel are about to do! Listen to that still small voice and don’t be fooled by the scheming of the Devil!

VERSES 11-13

            The Gibeonites sense there is some reluctance in Joshua and the children of Israel in believing what they are saying to them. So they pile it on. “Look at our provisions, they speak of us being on the road a long time!  Look at how raggedy our clothes are, we must have been on a long journey! Hey, smell my clothes, that has to tell you we have been on a long journey. Listen with your ears to what we are telling you. Look with your eyes to what you are seeing. Taste and see that this is true.  Touch and feel that we are not lying to you. Smell with your nose and you will see this is true!”

            Here’s the thing folk’s, you can’t always trust your human senses. What looks good on the outside may be rotten on the inside. Look at wax fruit, it looks very good, good enough to eat as you look at it but when you take a bite out of it, well, it is bad! For the children of Israel, we will see where they failed, where we fail and may we learn the lesson from this.

VERSES 14-16

            Here is the mistake that Joshua and the children of Israel made. They did not seek council from the Lord. You see, some things are spiritually discerned and if they had brought it to the Lord instead of just using their human senses, God would have shown them. Paul tells us of this in I Corinthians 2:10-14, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 

            Sometimes the obvious is the wrong thing to do. Again, the Scriptures tell us that we are to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6. We need Godly wisdom, Godly instruction in all that we do. God wants to direct our steps if we will only seek Him, acknowledge Him!

            Three days after making this covenant with the Gibeonites they find out that they were neighbors and did not come from a far away country. In fact, the Gibeonites where only some 25 miles from Gilgal!

            It is as the song goes, “Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer!” Again, do not rush into a decision, but seek the Lord, wait for His direction. If they only waited they would have found out about these Gibeonites before they made a covenant with them.  In Isaiah 40:31 we are told, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

            You see, peace, strength as we learn to wait upon the Lord instead of running on ahead of Him and wasting our strength! Also, Isaiah 30:15-16 we are told, “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’ But you would not, And you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses’ — Therefore you shall flee! And, ‘We will ride on swift horses’ — Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!”  God is telling them to repent, to turn back to Him and as they do they will find rest, peace through the storms of life, the things they were going through. He wanted them to place their confidence in Him, but sadly, they refused, and verse 16 tells us why they refused to trust in God. Notice the arrogance of their speech. Instead of resting in the Lord, they were ready to jump on the Egyptian warhorses and defeat the enemy. But God says that they are sadly mistaken. Instead of pursuing the enemy, the enemy will come after them and they will flee! So are you going to rest in the Lord and see the victories He will bring or trust in your own strength and be defeated?

            And folks, the bottom line is this. We are to be lead by the Lord and not by our will or our senses. That is not only important for the leadership here at Calvary Chapel, but for every one of us!

VERSES 17-18

            Now the children of Israel did not attack the Gibeonites and they were mad at the leaders of Israel because they would not let them. Why didn’t they attack the Gibeonites since they lied to the children of Israel? This is interesting as we read on why they did not attack them.

VERSES 19-21

            The people are complaining and wondering why they can’t wipe out these evil, lying people? And Joshua tells them that they made a covenant with them not to destroy them and now they can’t go back on their word. You can’t take a mistake you made and try to correct it with another mistake or as the saying goes, “Two wrongs don’t make a right!” Yes, there was pressure upon them to wipe out the Gibeonites but to do what was right was more important than giving in to the pressure. That is an important lesson not only for leaders but also for all of us.

It is as Psalm 15:4-5 tells us, “In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.”  The Living Bible puts these verses like this, “speaks out against sin, criticizes those committing it, commends the faithful followers of the Lord, keeps a promise even if it ruins him, does not crush his debtors with high interest rates, and refuses to testify against the innocent despite the bribes offered him-such a man shall stand firm forever.”

            Now, would God hold them accountable if they broke this covenant with the Gibeonites? You bet He would and He does! You see, some 400 years later, King Saul broke this covenant with the Gibeonites and judgment came upon Israel because of it.  We are told in II Samuel 21:1-9, “Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, ‘It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.’ So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.  Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, ‘What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?’ And the Gibeonites said to him, ‘We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.’

So he said, ‘Whatever you say, I will do for you.’ Then they answered the king, ‘As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord chose.’ And the king said, ‘I will give them.’ But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.”

            His sin, King Saul’s, brought a famine upon the land during the days of King David and he had to deal with that sin before the judgment was stopped. May our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no.”  May we not break the covenants we make with people, especially but not limited to the marriage covenant!

VERSES 22-27

            God takes a bad situation, made because they didn’t seek the Lord and He will use it for good. The Gibeonites understood the power of God and they would come to know this God as they served Him in the temple as woodcutters and carrying the water.  And, interestingly enough, they are willing to serve the Lord not matter what capacity that would be! What a great lesson for us, as David said in Psalm 84:10, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

            We have seen in our study of Joshua how Rahab the harlot was saved, and now we see how these lying Gibeonites also are saved! They both came to the God of Israel as sinners and so did we! As we conclude this chapter listen to what David Guzik said regarding what happened to this group of people known as the Gibeonites. He wrote:

            The Gibeonites became servants at the tabernacle, just as Joshua had commanded.

            Gibeon becomes a priestly city; the Ark of the Covenant stayed at Gibeon often in the days of David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 16:39-40 and 21:29).

            At least one of David’s mighty men was a Gibeonite (1 Chronicles 12:4).

            God spoke to Solomon at Gibeon (1 Kings 3:4).

            Gibeonites were among those who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:7 and 7:25).

            These are examples of the great things God can do with people who are sinners, but come to Him in humility and love.

Now, as we move into Joshua chapter 10, we will see this covenant made with the Gibeonites have to be honored.

VERSES 1-2

            Here we see the king of Jerusalem, in hearing what the children of Israel did to Jericho and Ai, and how the Gibeonites made peace with Israel, going to go after the inhabitants of Gibeon because they didn’t fight against Israel.

            Now, this king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek, is an interesting figure. He was not like Melchizedek, the king of Israel during the time of Abraham and a type of Christ. And yes, his name means the lord of righteousness, as Adoni means lord and Zedek means righteousness, but he is not a type of Christ but a type of the Antichrist. For like the Antichrist, he will come with a federation of nations and attack Israel!

VERSES 3-5

            Why did Adoni-Zedek do this?  Because he feared this covenant that the Gibeonites made with Israel, that other nations might join in and thus, his kingdom would be in more trouble than it already is. And so he gathered 4 other kings and they encircled the city of Gibeon to cut off their food and water supply and they would then open up their gates and they could destroy the Gibeonites!

VERSE 6

            As the Gibeonites saw what was happening, these armies starting to surround them, they sent word to Joshua and the children of Israel asking for help since they made this covenant with them.

VERSE 7

            Think about this situation for a minute. Joshua said that they would not wipe out the Gibeonites. Thus, if they ignored this plea from them, and the Gibeonites were destroyed, it would take care of the problem they had, the mistake they made. And we may rationalize something like this in our minds but Joshua didn’t. He kept the spirit of the vow he made with them. What a lesson for us to follow. We are to love our enemies, pray for them, care for them for it shows the world that we are not of this world but of Christ!

VERSE 8

            Five kings and their armies against Joshua and the children of Israel. No wonder God told Joshua not to fear. You see, fear speaks of unbelief and that causes us to become paralyzed in situations, unable to walk. But faith walks! What will Joshua and the children of Israel do? Let’s read on and see.

VERSES 9-14

            They traveled all night from the lowland of Gilgal, to Jericho, which is slightly higher, and still higher towards Ai, and then over the mountains was Gibeon, in the valley of Beth Horon, where the battle took place.

            Now, there are times when I am exhausted and feel that I can’t fight these enemies.  The reality is, that is true. I can’t do it on my own but by the power of God working in me and through me I can be victorious no mater how tired I am!

            Was there any reason for Joshua to fear? Absolutely not, God gave him the victory just as He said He would do. Folks, we too, as we trust God’s Word can walk by faith and He will give us the victories as I have said. And God gave them this victory in an interesting way. He rained down hailstones, in Revelation they weighed 100 pounds or so, and these may have been that big.  And God is a good shot. He only hit the enemy and none hit the children of Israel! In fact, God killed more of the enemy with these hailstones than the children of Israel did with the sword!

            Now Joshua needed more time to finish this battle and asked God to cause the sun to stand still to give them more daylight hours. And folks, there is historical evidence for this.  In the ancient writings we find records of a long day in the area where Joshua was and on the opposite side of the world there are reports of a long night.  Now how did Joshua come up with a prayer like this? I don’t believe he did, I believe God gave it to him.

Matthew Henry points out regarding the prayer of Joshua, “The prayer had not been granted by the divine power, if it had not been dictated by the divine grace. God wrought this faith in him and then said, ‘According to thy faith,’ and to the prayer of faith ‘Be it unto thee.’ It can not be imagined, however, that such a thing as this should have entered into his mind if God had not put it there. A man would have a thousand projects in his head for the completing of the victory, before he would have thought of desiring the sun to stand still; but even in the Old Testament saints ‘The Spirit made intercession according to the will of God.’ What God will give, He inclines the hearts of His praying people to ask, and for what He will do, He will be inquired of (Ez. 36:37)”

            Now, how did God do this? There are many ideas out there from Venus coming too close to the earth according to a theory by Immanuel Velikovsky in his book, Worlds In Collision to another group of scientists who believe it was the planet Mars. Folks, it was a miracle and I will leave it at that. In fact, Spurgeon hits the nail on the head as he wrote, “How He did it is no question for us. . . . It is not ours to try and soften down miracles, but to glorify God in them.” And all I can say is “Amen” to that! This long day did happen and as Joshua reminds us, “And there has been no day like that, before it or after it.”

VERSES 15-27

            These five kings escape and are hiding in a cave.  But Joshua does not lose focus, he locks them in this cave, has a few men guard them, and the rest continue to fight against the enemy. Don’t lose sight of the battle with the many distractions that are out there. Now, after they defeat their enemies, they return to this cave and kill these five kings and God gave the children of Israel a great victory!

            One more point here. This is similar to what we read in Revelation 6:15-16 as other kings and people hide in caves in fear as Jesus or Joshua comes upon them in judgment. They too refuse to repent and they will not escape the judgment of God!

VERSE 28

            Now the children of Israel are conquering the southern portion of the land and here we see the fall of the Canaanite city of Makkedah.

VERSES 29-30

            Next we see the fall of the Canaanite city of Libnah.

VERSES 31-33

            Next to fall was the Canaanite city of Lachish and when the king of Gezer, Horam comes to help, they destroyed them also.

VERSES 34-35

            Then came the fall of the Canaanite city of Eglon.

VERSES 36-37

            The next Canaanite city to fall was Hebron.

VERSES 38-39

            And here we see the fall of the Canaanite city of Debir.

VERSES 40-43

            Here we see a summary of the southern campaign against these Canaanite kingdoms and how God gave the children of Israel the victory.

            The children of Israel now return to their headquarters at Gilgal after a successful military campaign against the southern kingdoms of Canaan. And they had to be pumped up, even though they were tired, for they had won a great victory. And as they passed by those memorial stones of the crossing of the Jordan River, they must have just been praising the Lord for His love and faithfulness as they were preparing themselves for their campaign against the enemies in the northern areas of Canaan.

            Folks, for us, it is as Paul said in Romans 8:37, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  May we walk in the victory that God has given to us, thanking Him for all He has done for us, is doing for us and will do for us as we walk by faith and not by sight!