QT 21 Dec 16, Josh 10:29-43, Stay focused on the main task

Joshua 10:29–43 (ESV) —

29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. 30 And the Lord gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. …

31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. 32 And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, …

33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.

34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. 35 And they captured it on that day, ...

36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it 37 and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, …

38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and fought against it 39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; …

40 So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. 41 And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. 42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

NOTE: This is the essence of the southern campaign, from one city to another; Joshua destroyed the inhabitants of all the cities. Interestingly, is that Joshua returns to Gilgal with all Israel, and remained encamped at Gilgal. This is important because they still had to capture the rest of the central and the northern cities. It does mean that inhabitants, stragglers, and other cities not attacked could move in to the newly emptied cities, but that the bulk of the armies in the southern region had been destroyed. To have settled the cities now might have jeopardized the whole endeavor causing the tribes who would inherit the northern area to be angry that the southern tribes got their inheritance before the job was finished. Joshua keeps the army together for the next part of the campaign. Later he will release the tribes and the individual tribes will have the responsibility of reclaiming the land and finishing off smaller elements. What is the application? Stay focused on the overall goal. Complete the main task before trying to enjoy the benefits of a partially completed task.