36. JOSHUA OVERCOMES THE CITIES OF THE SOUTH

'Yahweh fought for Israel"

Aim

To show how Joshua succeeded in overthrowing the cities of the south only when he asked God for guidance.

Synopsis

When Jericho was taken and destroyed, the Canaanites realized that Joshua and the army of Israel would soon attack and destroy them as well. Five kings in the south of Canaan decided to join together and try to defeat the Israelites. But the Gibeonites had a better plan.

THE GIBEONITES TRICK ISRAEL: Joshua 9

After Ai had been left in ruins, Joshua led the people into the south of the land. Gibeon was on the way south to Jerusalem. The people of Gibeon realized that their city would probably be next in Joshua's line of attack. So, instead of joining with the neighboring kings, they worked out a plan which they hoped would trick Joshua and the children of Israel into making an agreement with them. They sent some of their people to the camp at Gilgal, dressed in old ragged clothes and worn-out patched old shoes. The bread in their sacks was dry and moldy, and the sacks themselves were worn-out, and their wine-skins had burst and been mended. These men came to Joshua and said, € We be come from a far country; now therefore, make ye a league with us" (v6).

Joshua had been commanded that he was not to make any agreement with the people of Canaan. God had said, "thou shalt make no covenant with them" (Deut. 7:2). So he was very wary. He asked the men where they came from and they told him they had come from a very far country "because of the name of Yahweh thy God: for we have heard the fame of Him, and all that He did in Egypt" (v9). As proof they showed Joshua their tattered clothes and shoes worn-out on the long journey. They showed him the dry, moldy bread and the old wine-skins, which they said were new when they first started out. Joshua and the elders of Israel were completely deceived by this trick. Believing the men had indeed come from a far country, they made an agreement of friendship with them, promising to let them live.

This was a great mistake. They had not asked God first, but had made their own decision, because of what the men had told them. "They asked not counsel at the mouth of Yahweh" (v4).

Three days later Israel came within sight of Gibeon and the surrounding cities. It was only then that they found that the strange men "from a very far country" were really inhabitants of the land. When they found they had been tricked the people were very angry. However, once they had made a promise it could not be broken. So the Gibeonites were allowed to live, but as a punishment for deceiving Joshua and the Israelites, they were made bondslaves. They became "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the Israelites. But the men of Gibeon did not mind because at least their lives had been saved (vv 25-27).

THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON: Joshua 10:1-14

Joshua had been successful so far in his campaigns. The whole of central Canaan was in his hands. But now the five kings of the south, headed by Adoni-zedec, King of Jerusalem, gathered in an effort to defeat Israel. First, they decided to attack Gibeon, because the people of that city had made an agreement with Israel. Leading a great army, the kings of the Amorites marched and encamped before the city and the Gibeonites sent urgently to Joshua for help. This time he asked God for guidance first. "Fear them not", God said, "for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee" (v8).

Joshua decided to surprise the enemy. He and his men travelled all night from Gilgal to Gibeon, and early the next morning they came suddenly upon the armies of the five kings. The rising sun shone in the eyes of the Amorites, making it more difficult for them to defend themselves. The battle was soon over and those who were left alive fled in panic up the long rocky hill that led to Beth-horon. The broken army reached the top of the hill and as they began to rush down the other side, hoping to escape from the Israelites, God fought for His people. He sent a terrific storm with great hailstones which killed more of the enemy than were slain in battle. As the day was now drawing to a close, Joshua was afraid that some of the enemy would escape. So he prayed that the sun might stand still and the moon be stayed, "until the people have avenged themselves upon their enemies. So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Yahweh hearkened unto the voice of a man: for Yahweh fought for Israel" (vv12-14).

This was a wonderful miracle and a triumph for Joshua, who through faith and prayer, overcame his enemies.

LESSON FOR US

This lesson teaches us that our thoughts need to be guided by God's Word at all times. We are quite often very wise in our own eyes and think that we do not need to ask anybody what to do. It is easy to be led into doing wrong just because someone else talks about it and makes it sound all right. The wise man, Solomon, said: "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear Yahweh and depart from evil" (Prov. 3:5-7).

QUESTIONS

Short Answers

1. Where was Gibeon?

2. Why did the Gibeonites want to trick Joshua?

3. What had God said about making agreements with the people of the Land?

4. What made the Gibeonites look like people from a far country?

5. When did Joshua find out that they had been tricked?

6. How did Joshua punish the Gibeonites for their trickery?

7. What people came to fight against Israel after they had been tricked by the Gibeonites?

8. How did God help Joshua to destroy the Amorites?

9. What miracle happened so that all the Amorites should be destroyed?

10. Where did the battle between Israel and the Amorites take place?

Detailed Answers

1. When Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan to conquer it, some of the people became afraid. Tell how the Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making an agreement with them.

Additional Answers

2. After Joshua had made an agreement with the people of Gibeon, the Amorites gathered to make war with Israel. Tell how the Amorites were defeated at Beth-horon.