Transcendence 4

Five: Strategy for War

When God said it was time Joshua and the Israelite army moved on from Makkedah to Libnah. They attacked Libnah and with God's help they overtook the city. Everyone in it was put to the sword. They left no survivors. They moved on from there to Lachish, taking up positions and then attacking it as well. The Lord handed it over to Israel and it was completely overtaken by the second day. During that seige Horam, king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, but Joshua and his army defeated him and his army until no survivors were left. (Battle after battle God protected the Israelites and fought for them. God wanted the evil cities defeated, he wanted to put a stop to the corruption and replenish the cities with a group of people set apart as good. With people who followed Him and loved him!)

From Lachish they moved on to Eglon. They took up positions and attacked it. They totally destroyed it, just as the cities before. From there they went to Hebron and attacked it. They put everyone in it to the sword, including the king, and all the villages. Just as with the others they left no survivors. Next, Israel attacked Debir. Again they totally destroyed the city, the king and everyone in it, leaving no survivors. 

At this point Joshua and his army had subdued the entire southern region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills, and the mountain slopes. He left no survivors just as the Lord had commanded him to do. Joshua did as the Lord told him and for that the Lord fought for them. They won battles and were blessed with God's protection during this time. After these battles Joshua returned with his army to their camp at Gilgal. 

When Jabin king of Hazor heard of all that had been happening with the Israelites he was afraid. He sent word to all the neighboring cities of the Northern region to come out and join forces with him to fight against Israel. With these cities joining up the group was massive. The huge army grew to be as numerous as the sands on the seashore, with horses and chariots, all gathered together in a camp near Waters of Merom. (They joined forces in an attempt to outnumber Israel's great army. What they didn't take into consideration was the size of Israel's God! They were numerous, no doubt, too many to count. Strong men, with horses and chariots - most definitely more skilled and armored than Israel! BUT GOD! )

The Lord told Joshua he should not be afraid because He was going to hand them over to Israel, slain. He told him to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots. So Joshua and his army headed out against the massive northern region who was gathered together. Maybe they thought Israel would flee, but quite the opposite, Joshua's plan was to attack them suddenly. The Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and then pursued the ones who fled all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah, until no survivors were left. Joshua did to them just as the Lord directed and hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots. ( War-horses and chariots were advanced weaponry, which were worthless to the Israelites who had never had any experience using them. Crippling the horses ensured they would not fall into enemy hands again. Israel was no doubt up against nations who were more sophisticated than they, still they won wars, due to the Lord's mighty hand.)

When Joshua found out that Hazor was the head of all the kingdoms who were joined up, he put him to the sword. He spared no lives and then burned the city of Hazor. Israel continued destroying all the royal cities and the kings who had come together against them. They took the hill country, all of Negev, the whole region of Goshen, then the western foothills, the Arabah and Mount Halak to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. Battle after battle the Israelites captured all their kings and struck them down. 

The wars raged on for a long time, and as the cities were defeated the Israelites were allowed to carry away all the plunder, but they left not one person breathing. Joshua continued to be very careful to obey the commands Moses had put forth concerning the battles, as God had directed him to do. Not one city made a peace treaty with them except for Gibeon. All the others were exterminated without mercy just as the lord had commanded Moses.

As Israel defeated the cities, the Israelites took the land as their inheritance according to their tribal divisions.

(At this point many wars and battles had been fought, thirty-one kings had been killed, and around seven years had passed by since the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan. Israel was living for God, being blessed by God and taking the promised land bit by bit as God gave it over to them. Still ahead there were lots of battles left to be fought and a lots of land left to be taken.)

God told Joshua, "You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over. The land that remains is all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites, all the land of the Canaanites, the region of the Amorites, the area of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon to the east from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath. As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you, and divide it as an inheritance among the nine tribes and the other half tribe of Manasseh." ( As a reminder Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh each got a full portion of the inheritance. Manasseh had divided up their tribe, half of that tribe took land east of the Jordan, the other half would need to receive their inheritance once the land was divided west of the Jordan. Both the Reubenites and the Gadites had also chosen to receive their inheritance east of the Jordan. The tribe of Levi did not received a portion because their inheritance was the offerings made by fire to the Lord.)

When Joshua and the priest were making decisions about the division of the land Caleb, one of the original pilgrims from Egypt spoke up first. He said to Joshua, "I was forty years old when Moses sent me to explore the land as a spy and report back to him in the desert. I followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly, where as the other spies brought back fearful news and had the people too scared to move forward. It was then that Moses told me I would inherit the land I had walked upon for myself and my children, and their children forever. I am now eighty-five years old and I am still strong and as willing to go out to battle as I was then. The Lord has helped me." Joshua then blessed Caleb and gave him the land of Hebron as his inheritance.

Next Joshua gave the tribe of Judah the territory of Edom, stretching to the Desert of Zin. The land extended far and wide with boundaries near the sea, the foothills, the hill country and the desert. Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites who were already living in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites continued to be neighbors with the people of Judah as they moved in and took over the territory. ( Here is one example of where Canaanites - in this case Jebusites - remained in the land. There were others. Little by little there were remanites scattered throughout. The Israelites failed to dislodge them or drive them away. At the time tt didn't seem like a big deal to allow them to stay, but it wasn't what God commanded them, and in the years down the road these unconquered people became thorns in Israel's side.)

(Life Question: Following God's commands can sometimes seem trivial. A little thing here and there won't seem like a big deal. Accidentally leave something in the buggy without paying for it at the store, buying yourself a new dress rather than giving tithes at church, telling a small lie just to avoid hurting someone's feelings - it all seems so small. It won't hurt anything we think - but it hurts God. He knows, he sees and it hurts Him! Do you follow all His commands both big and small? It is so important that we do! )