“Heartless Invaders or God’s Chosen People” Joshua 10:29- 12:24

Is the Penn Mightier Than the Sword? This month, Penn State opened a new chapter in the fight over religious censorship. After decades of keeping the Bible in campus lodging, officials announced that they'd booted Gideon Bibles from rooms after threats from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) -- the same organization that pressured the U.S. Navy to pull its books from hotels on base.

In a wild misrepresentation of the Old Testament, FFRF claims the Bible calls for "killing nonbelievers, apostates, gays, 'stubborn sons,' and women who are not virgins on their wedding nights." According to the Foundation (not bothering with the actual context of the Scripture they're distorting), the Bible is "inappropriate" and "obnoxious" reading material that shouldn't be available in "state-run lodges." Penn State eagerly complied, snatching the books from rooms and relegating them to the library -- without taking the time to actually look up the law on the subject.

“God is perpetually at war with sin,” said G. Campbell Morgan. “That is the whole explanation of the extermination of the Canaanites.” Never think of the Canaanites as helpless ignorant people who knew nothing about the true God. They were willfully sinning against a flood of light. Warren Wiersbe

Leviticus 18:25-28 Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out. 26 You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native- born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

Leviticus 18 6 sexual relations with a close relative; 7 with your mother; 8 with any of your father’s wives; 9 with your sister or half-sister; 10 with your granddaughter; 11 with your stepsister; with your aunt; 15 with your daughter-in-law;

16, 18 with your sister-in-law; 17 with both a woman and her daughter or her granddaughter; 19 with a woman during her menstrual period; 20 with your neighbor’s wife; 21 children offered as a sacrifice to Molech; 22 practicing homosexuality; 23 having sex with an animal

Leviticus 18:25-28 So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now. 27 “All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you (the Canaanites), and this is how the land has become defiled. 28 So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.

Ephesians 5:5–6 (ESV) 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–10 (NKJV) 1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober... 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

10:29 29 Then Joshua and the Israelites went to Libnah and attacked it. 30 There, too, YaHWeH gave them the town and its king. He killed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. Then Joshua killed the king of Libnah as he had killed the king of Jericho. 31 From Libnah, Joshua and the Israelites went to Lachish and attacked it. 32 Here again, YaHWeH gave them Lachish.

Joshua took it on the second day and killed everyone in it, just as he had done at Libnah. 33 During the attack on Lachish, King Horam of Gezer arrived with his army to help defend the town. But Joshua’s men killed him and his army, leaving no survivors. The Israelites killed only the king of Gezer and his armed force, not the entire population of Gezer. This is consistent with comments in 16:10 and Judges 1:29 that Gezer’s population was not entirely dislodged or killed. Faithlife Study Bible

10: Then Joshua and the Israelite army went on to Eglon and attacked it. 35 They captured it that day and killed everyone in it. He completely destroyed everyone, just as he had done at Lachish. 36 From Eglon…to Hebron…They did the same thing to all of its surrounding villages. 38 Then Joshua and the Israelites turned back and attacked Debir… leaving no survivors. He did to Debir and its king just what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.

10: So Joshua conquered the whole region— the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills, and the mountain slopes. He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no survivors, just as YaHWeH, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua slaughtered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and from the region around the town of Goshen up to Gibeon.

42 Joshua conquered all these kings and their land in a single campaign, for YaHWeH, the God of Israel, was fighting for his people. 43 Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal. “But beyond inflicting immediate loss, this campaign achieved little else by itself—it was a sweep, not an occupation. Occupation of the land, to live in it, keep livestock and cultivate crops in it, etc., was a far slower process, visible in part later in Joshua and in Judges.” Kitchen

11:1-3 1 When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent messages to the following kings… 2 all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee (“Kinnereth”); the kings in the Galilean foothills… 3 the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

Hazor was the leading city in northern Canaan with an area of 175 acres and a population of 30,000 to 40,000 people. Archaeologists calculate the population of walled cities in Canaan as about 200 people per acre. Tom Constable

11:4-5 4 All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. 5 The kings joined forces and established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel.

According to Josephus the combined armies of the Canaanite tribes totaled 300,000 armed footmen, 10,000 horsemen, and 20,000 chariots. “The northern coalition was Israel’s most formidable foe in terms of both numbers and weaponry. Each successive battle that Israel fought was more difficult than the last.” Tom Constable

11:6 6 Then YaHWeH said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” 7 So Joshua and all his fighting men traveled to the water near Merom (Lake Hulah) and attacked suddenly. 8 And YaHWeH gave them victory over their enemies.

Deuteronomy 20:1–4 (NASB95) 1 “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for YaHWeH your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 “When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. 3 “He shall say to them,

‘Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, 4 for YaHWeH your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

11:8-9 The Israelites chased them…until not one enemy warrior was left alive. 9 Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as YaHWeH had instructed. Psalm 20:7–8 (NASB95) 7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of YaHWeH, our God. 8 They have bowed down and fallen, But we have risen and stood upright.

11: Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of all these kingdoms.) 11 The Israelites completely destroyed every living thing in the city, leaving no survivors. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city. 12 Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of YaHWeH, had commanded.

11:13-15 But the Israelites did not burn any of the towns built on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 13 But the Israelites did not burn any of the towns built on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14 And the Israelites took all the plunder and livestock of the ravaged towns for themselves. But they killed all the people, leaving no survivors. 15 As YaHWeH had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that YaHWeH had given to Moses.

The archaeology of Hazor attests several violent destructions by fire, including in c. 1400, 1300, and 1230 B. C. The ESV Study Bible

Joshua was both a military genius and a spiritual giant. Militarily, his tactics were skillful: (1) His battles were all offensive. When he learned that an attack was impending, he preceded it by an attack of his own. (2) He used the element of surprise. (3) He sent his soldiers to harry the retreating enemy, to prevent them from reaching their cities. Donald Campbell

11:16-18 waging war for a long time to accomplish this 16 So Joshua conquered the entire region— the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills…Joshua killed all the kings of those territories, 18 waging war for a long time to accomplish this.

seven years after the start of the conquest. Though some mistakenly assume the conquest under Joshua to have been a blitzkrieg, in fact it took a long time, perhaps about seven years. This number is calculated from information provided for Caleb, Joshua’s fellow spy. Caleb was 40 years old when Moses sent him as a spy. From that time to the entry into the land of Canaan was another 38 years, making Caleb 78 years old at the beginning of the conquest. Caleb receives his allotted territory at age 85 (Josh. 14:10), seven years after the start of the conquest. The ESV Study Bible

11: For YaHWeH hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as YaHWeH had commanded Moses. 19 No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated. 20 For YaHWeH hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as YaHWeH had commanded Moses.

11:21-22 though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 21 During this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns. 22 None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

11:23 23 So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as YaHWeH had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes.

This note must be understood in a limited sense. The author refers to the massive confrontations of armies and bloody sieges of cities. Certainly he does not mean that once the territory was divided there was no more conflict, for that would contradict what he relates in subsequent chapters. He means that the enemy’s chief resistance was now broken. The united effort of “all Israel” was now over. From this point on it would remain for each tribe to remove remaining pockets of Canaanites from their inheritance. ESV Study Bible

Exodus 23:27–33 Please Turn In Your Bibles 29 “I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 “I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.

12 1 These are the kings east of the Jordan River who had been killed by the Israelites and whose land was taken… 6 Moses, the servant of YaHWeH, and the Israelites had destroyed the people of King Sihon and King Og. And Moses gave their land as a possession to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Deuteronomy 7:22–24 (NASB95) 22 “YaHWeH your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you. 23 “But YaHWeH your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24 “He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.

12:7-24 (13–22) This summary concludes the record of the conquest of the land (1–12), Joshua’s first major responsibility. He will now be able to divide the land among the Israelites (13–22), his second great work. Tom Constable Joshua 1:6 (NKJV) Joshua 1:6 (NKJV) 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.