Joshua 11:1–8a (ESV) — 1 When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to
Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the
Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west,
3 to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the
Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country,
and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like
the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together
at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
6 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow
at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall
hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the
waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 And the Lord gave
them into the hand of Israel, …
NOTE: This is one of
the last major battles that secures the central and northern areas. It is also
the hardest, because all the forces of the area recognized their mutual
interest in destroying Israel. The old saying, "the enemy of my enemy is
my friend" applies well to this group of kings. Israel completely destroys
the entire population as God has commanded as judgment against Canaan for their
evil and their sins. They burn all the cities except for those on hills (the
most defend-able). For the next six years, Israel continues to wage war,
probably during the summer, until all the large cities are defeated. The entire
operation takes seven years. It is probably that after this battle, the
division of land and cities occurs with the Army of Israel regathering every
year to continue the seven-year conquest. Very small pockets remain afterwards.
Most likely, the Philistines were a very small pocket at the time, but grew to
be a formidable opponent over the next 300 years. Israel will struggle with
these small pockets for the next three hundred years because the individual
tribes fail to finish the job. It is also possible that at the time the
conquest ends, all the remaining enemies have left the area, and only move back
in after Israel settles. So, the blame would not fall on Joshua, but on the
tribes for not protecting their inheritance from enemies. The latter suggests
an application. Sin is a little like those small pockets. We think we have won
a victory, and then we let ourselves slip back into sin in very small steps
because "it won't hurt us" and then we end up back in defeat because
we did not maintain our spiritual defenses.
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