JOSHUA CHAPTER 10:1-28,
“Defending The Gibeonites”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. In our last study, we looked
at Joshua and the children of Israel fail again just after another glorious
conquest in battle: They failed to seek
the Lord’s counsel for wisdom and discernment and were deceived by a group of
Gibeonite men who came to them seeking an alliance claiming that they had
traveled from a far distant place to make peace with them.
1.1.1. We looked in our study at
the importance of always being prayerful and asking the Lord for discernment
and wisdom and not being led by our own reasoning.
1.1.2. We looked at the two ways
that the Devil comes to us as Christians:
the roaring lion, and the subtle serpent who deceives.
1.1.3. We saw that there are
Gibeonites that come into our lives as Christians in two basic ways.
1.1.3.1.
External to us.
1.1.3.1.1.
They come into our churches, Christian businesses, personal lives, and
our home lives.
1.1.3.1.2.
They come trying to get us to make an alliance with them, an alliance
which would make us unequally yoked with them.
1.1.3.2.
Internal from within our own hearts.
1.1.3.2.1.
As if the Devil himself whispered in our ears, we Christians many times
find ourselves being deceived by the craft and cunning of the Devil and his
wiles.
1.1.4. We considered various ways
in which the Devil deceives God’s people
1.1.5. We saw yet again how that if
we as His people will let Him, that the Lord will turn all of our failures into
good in our lives.
1.2. In our study today, we are
going to see that now having made an alliance and a covenant of peace with the
Gibeonites who came to them in deception saying they had come from a far away
land to make peace with them, Joshua and the Israelites find themselves having
to defend the Gibeonites when some of the kings in the land join together to
attack Gibeon. In the battle that
ensues, Joshua and the children of
1.2.1. Remember in our previous
study, we looked at the two ways that the Devil comes to us as Christians: the roaring lion, and the subtle serpent who
deceives.
1.2.1.1.
In that study, we concentrated primarily upon Satan as he comes as the
subtle serpent to God’s people to deceive them.
1.2.1.2.
We saw though in that story that some kings began to plan to unite and
come against the children of Israel to attack and that this symbolized Satan as
he comes to our lives as the roaring lion.
In our story today, we see that Satan again comes as the roaring lion as
another federation of kings, those close to Gibeon, unite to attack Gibeon, the
new ally of the children of
1.2.1.2.1.
Note in this story that Satan tries lots of different ways to attack
God’s people. This attack from this new
federation is not a direct one upon
1.2.1.2.2.
We Christians must realize that when Satan’s attack comes into our
lives it will come in an area and at a time that we least expect it, for he is
a cunning adversary.
1.2.1.2.2.1.
Thus, we must always be on the alert and never let our guard down.
1.2.2. We will see that the Lord
fights for the children of
1.2.2.1.
First, He dismays their enemies before them.
1.2.2.2.
Then, He works in a completely miraculous way by throwing down huge
hail stones upon them and killing more with the hail stones than the children
of Israel themselves slew.
1.2.2.3.
Then, Joshua by faith commands the sun and the moon to stand still, and
miraculously the Lord performs this miracle so that Joshua and the children of
1.2.2.3.1.
Concerning this miracle, Warren Wiersbe has remarked, “When God’s
people are obeying God’s will, everything in the universe works for them, even
“the stars in their courses (Jud. 5:20).
When we disobey God’s will, everything works against us (Read Jonah 1
for a vivid illustration of this truth.)”
1.2.3. In the book of Joshua, we
are reminded that the Christian life is just one battle after the other, and
the sooner we come to grips with the fact that we have an enemy, that we are in
a war, and that we need to get vigilant and be on the offensive, the better for
us and the more we will be used by the Lord in the lives of people in this
world.
1.2.4. To repulse this offensive
attack of these 5 kings against the city of
1.2.4.1.
In the next study after this one, we will see that after this battle
Joshua continues on the offensive as he begins to divide up and conquer the
1.2.5. We are going to look at the
fact that we as Christians need to make a full scale attack plan against the
Devil, and not just live our lives putting out the fires of the attacks of the
enemy.
1.2.5.1.
Alan Redpath describes what the church today should be like, “I
believe with all my heart that God’s purpose for His church today is the
same—to make it a church to be feared.
Speaking of the church for a moment in terms of a building it should be
a place to which people almost fear to come lest they be converted. A church as a fellowship should be composed
of people who are uncompromising in their testimony, courageous in their faith,
and holy in their lives. In the church
services there should be the awe and reverence demanded by the presence of God.”
1.2.5.2.
In the same quote, Alan Redpath goes on to talk about the fact that the
church always needs to be on the offensive rather than the defensive, “There
was no battle at all until Joshua took the initiative, and started to
attack. The Lord Jesus once said that
the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church; He never suggested that the gates of hell
would suddenly somehow become uprooted and begin to march towards God’s people
on earth. What He said was rather that
the gates of hell would never be able to stand against the onslaught of a
Spirit-filled company of His people. In
the light of His Word, it is God’s plan that His people should always be on the
offensive, never on the defensive. Too often
we retreat, run away, hide from the devil, instead of launching a full scale
offensive in the name of Jesus.”
2. VS 10:1-6 - “1 Now it came about when
Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had
utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had
done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace
with Israel and were within their land,2 that he feared greatly, because Gibeon
was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than
Ai, and all its men were mighty.3 Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent
word to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Jarmuth and to Japhia king of
Lachish and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,4 “Come up to me and help me, and
let us attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of
Israel.”5 So the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of
Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon,
gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and camped by Gibeon
and fought against it. 6 Then the men of
Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your
servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of
the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.”” - The kings in the area surrounding Gibeon join
together to attack Gibeon after they find out that the people of the city have
made a covenant of peace with the children of Israel, then the Gibeonites send
to Joshua to come and help them
2.1. In the previous chapter, we
saw that
Joshua and the children of
2.1.1. We saw in that study the
promise for wisdom that the Lord gives us as Christians in James 1:5-8 if
we will but just ask Him in faith for it, “5 But if any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without
reproach, and it will be given to him.6 But let him ask in faith
without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven
and tossed by the wind.7 For let not that man expect that he will receive
anything from the Lord,8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
2.2. Now in this study, we see
that Joshua and the children of
2.2.1. It is true for us Christians that whenever
we make an ungodly alliance with people in this world, it isn’t too long before
we find ourselves having to defend them!
2.3. At the beginning of chapter
9, we saw that just after the Israelites conquered Ai that there were at least
6 kings who
were laying aside their differences and prejudices to form an alliance to
come against the children of
2.4. Note that it says here that
all of these kings lived in the ‘hill country,’ thus their cities would be the
most protected and formidable of all.
2.5. We know that it was the case
at this point in time that
2.6. We can definitely say that the
actions of these kings who came together to attack Gibeon reveal that they
realized that the children of Israel and their God were now a formidable force
that was going to have to be reckoned with.
Therefore, they undertake this desperate plan to attack Gibeon.
2.7. We can only speculate upon
the motives of these kings in deciding to attack
2.7.1. They were angry at Gibeon
who had now become an enemy since Gibeon had formed an alliance with the children of
2.7.2. They may have wanted to make
an example of Gibeon and thus threaten any other cities from trying to make an
alliance of peace with the children of
2.7.3. They were perhaps
considering that great booty might be gained by attacking the city at a point
in time when it might be considered weakened.
2.7.4. Perhaps they were trying to
pull the children of
2.8. In the previous chapter we
looked at the Gibeonites as symbolizing ungodly people of this world who come
to God’s people wanting to make alliances with us. However, the Gibeonites had now become true Jewish
proselytes, something they would remain throughout the generations, so in
this chapter we see that they symbolize new believers in Christ.
2.8.1. Symbolizing new believers in
Christ, we see that this story symbolizes for us in the church many things,
including the fact that it is always not too long after a person
becomes a Christian before the Lord allows the enemy to come to them for the
purpose of testing the genuineness of their commitment and resolve to trust in
Christ.
2.8.1.1.
At this juncture, many new Christians fall away because of temptations or
the shallowness of their soil to receive the word of God into their lives. Some of these who fall away eventually
return back to the Lord, many more show that their commitment was not genuine by
never returning to following Christ after falling away.
2.9. Notice here that the
Gibeonites in their time of trouble come to this one who is a type of the Lord
Jesus
Christ Himself and that Joshua immediately comes to their aid, and does this
just in the way that Jesus would do in
the days of His fleshly life, as we see in the gospels. Jesus never turned anyone away who came to
Him with a genuine plea for help, He helped every single one.
2.10.
Not only did the Gibeonites cry out for Joshua’s help, but they cry a
cry of urgency to come “quickly” to their defense. They needed immediate assistance.
2.10.1. The Psalmist often cried out
to the Lord in time of trouble, many times he was needing immediate help as
well. For instance:
2.10.1.1.
Ps. 38:22, “22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”
2.10.1.2.
In Ps. 50:15 the Psalmist gives us the following promise that we can cling
onto, “15 And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.””
2.11.
It has been noted that concerning this story here that Joshua
immediately comes to the defense of these Gibeonites with all of the force of
resolve and might he would have had if they had been one of the 12 tribes
of
2.12.
These Gibeonites teach us the lesson that we Christians must learn to
depend upon Jesus and not look to the arm of the flesh for our help in time of need.
3. VS 10:7-10 - “7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal,
he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors.8 And the
Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands;
not one of them shall stand before you.
9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from
Gilgal.10 And the Lord confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a
great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of
Beth-horon, and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.”” - Joshua immediately comes to the Gibeonites
defense and in doing so receives the Lord’s affirmation of victory over all of
their enemies and an encouragement not to be fearful
3.1. This affirmation by the Lord
of victory in battle is a confirmation that Joshua and the children of
3.2. The Lord had promised Joshua
in chapter 1 that none of the people of the land would be able to stand before
them and that they would have victory every place that their feet trod. These verses and this promise are just a
reconfirmation of that promise.
3.3. Notice in these verses that
Joshua brought with him this time all of the children of Israel as he has
realized the importance of following the Lord’s pattern for the battle. This is unlike what Joshua did with the first attack
against Ai in which being over confident and trusting in their own might
instead of the Lord’s he sent up only 3,000 men against that city, and then
they were soundly defeated and humiliated.
3.3.1. I believe that it is
reasonable to assume that a small contingency guard of the fighting men of the
children of
3.4. Notice that to gain the
advantage of attacking when the people were not expecting it that Joshua and
the children of Israel set out and marched uphill all night the 25 miles from
Gilgal to Gibeon and then attacked the city and slew the people with a great slaughter.
3.4.1. Being willing to march all
night before then attacking the city showed the people’s zeal for the Lord as
well as their self-denial. Both of these characteristics
are essential in the life of anyone who would desire to be victorious for the
Lord.
3.5. As He had promised, the Lord
is fighting the battle here for the children of
4. VS 10:11-15 - “11 And it came about as they
fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, that the
Lord threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died;
there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel
killed with the sword. 12 Then Joshua
spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the
sons of
4.1. These are some of the most
incredible scriptures in all of the Bible. The
Lord literally moves heaven and earth to assist Joshua and the children of
Israel in their victory over the enemies of their land who had united
against them to fight. There are
several respects in which this account shows God working miracles in assisting
the children of
4.1.1. In a timely fashion, huge
hail stones heavy enough to kill a man fell from heaven and assisted them in their
victory.
4.1.2. The hail stones were not
only big but discriminatory as they fell only upon their enemy, and not one fell upon the
children of
4.1.3. “By faith” in the Lord’s
promise to give them complete victory, Joshua commands both the sun and the
moon to stand still in their course across the sky so that the day can be extended and
they can have a complete victory over their enemies, and so it is done.
4.2. I believe that Joshua must
have had a word of knowledge come to him from the Lord so that he knew that he
could command the sun and the moon in this way and it would obey.
4.3. The Lord has in the past
rained down upon His people’s enemies in judgment, and He will yet in the
future, and in every case only the unrepentant enemies of God were and will be
killed, because our God does not judge the righteous with the wicked:
4.3.1. In Gen. 19:24, we read that
the Lord poured down fire and brimstone upon the wicked cities of
4.3.2. In Exod. 9:22-23, we read
that one of the plagues upon the nation of Egypt was that hail fell from heaven
upon the land, hail that killed many Egyptians.
4.3.3. Here in Joshua chapter 10
the wicked and unrepentant people of the
4.3.4. In Rev. 16:21, we read that
with the pouring out of the seventh and final Bowl judgment that giant
hailstones are going to fall upon the men who refuse to repent and turn to the
Lord.
4.4. It is truly miraculous that
the sun and the moon would stop in their position in the sky in order for Joshua and the
children of
4.4.1. Create the entire universe
and all that exists by merely speaking it into existence.
4.4.2. Bring about the mighty
miracles that occurred at the hand of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and other of the Old Testament prophets.
4.4.3. Our Lord Jesus Himself
healed all who came to Him who were sick or demon possessed, no matter how ill they
might be, and on three recorded occasions He even raised the dead.
4.4.4. Our Lord Himself was raised
from the dead on the third day and raised up to the right hand of God.
4.5. Off and on for the past 50
years or so there have been urban legends develop which have stated that
scientists had proven that the sun and the moon stopped in their motion for the
period of most of a day and that this could be proven by various scientific means. The latest urban legend that came out said
that some NASA scientists had charted the relative positions of the sun and
moon over the past few thousand years and that they discovered that they
should actually be about 1 day in position ahead of where they are right
now. NASA however has itself denied
these rumors and also stated that we do not have any reliable benchmarks for
determining accurately where the sun and moon have been at times in history
past, especially a few thousand years ago.
4.6. When the Lord created the
heavens and the earth, He created it to run according to certain laws and
principles. For instance, He created the law of gravity
which we all are familiar with and experience.
However, we should never assume that the Lord who created these laws
cannot in His sovereign determination choose whenever He likes to supercede any
or all of these laws He has created.
This is what happened here on this day for Joshua. The Lord superceded the normal passage of
time and/or the subsequent movements of the earth, sun, and moon, and the
result was pleasing to Him: a glorious
destruction of His enemies in the conquering of the
4.6.1. Arthur Pink writes the
following, “As the Westminster confession so admirably expresses it, “God in
His ordinary providence maketh use of means, yet is free to work without [Hosea
I, 7], above [Romans iv, 19], and against [II Kings vi, 6; Daniel iii, 27] them
at His pleasure.” It must not be thought
that the Creator has brought into existence a system or instituted such laws as
tie His own hands.”
4.7. Warren Wiersbe points out
that Gleason L. Archer has written that the Hebrew phrase in verse 13 does
not indicate a complete cessation of movement of the sun and moon but rather “a
retardation of the movement.” So
this was the way in which the day was lengthened by the Lord for this battle.
4.8. I want to encourage you
today who are God’s people that as you step out and claim the land that the
Lord has given to you, as you claim His promises for victory in your life, and
as you step out to reach people in this world for Christ, that just as He did
for Joshua that the Lord will move heaven and earth if need be to give you
these victories. The Lord will back you
up as you step out for Him!
5. VS 10:16-25 - “16 Now these five kings had fled
and hidden themselves in the cave at Makkedah.17 And it was told Joshua,
saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”18 And
Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and assign men
by it to guard them,19 but do not stay there yourselves; pursue your enemies
and attack them in the rear. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the
Lord your God has delivered them into your hand.”20 And it came about when
Joshua and the sons of
5.1. We see here in these verses
again how that Joshua deals with the kings of the cities which he conquers in
such a way as to make examples of them, and in doing so build up and inspire the
confidence of his men for future battles that they will fight in conquering the
land of Canaan.
5.1.1. Joshua has his five chief
commanders come and place their feet on the necks of these kings and then as
they do so he tells them not to fear or be dismayed and to be strong and
courageous!
5.1.2. Joshua tells these chief
commanders that in the same way that they have done to these five kings and
their armies, so they shall do to all of the peoples in the land of Canaan, all
of their enemies.
5.2. Warren Wiersbe has written
about what this placing of their feet upon the necks of these five kings
symbolizes for us Christians today, “Since Joshua is a type of Jesus Christ,
we can apply this scene and these words to Christ and His people. Jesus has defeated all His enemies and will
one day return and destroy them forever.
No matter how they may rage and rebel (Ps. 2:1-3), our Lord’s enemies
are only the footstool at His feet (Ps. 110:1;
1 Cor. 15:25). Through Him, we
can claim victory and put our feet on the necks of our enemies (Rom. 16:20).”
5.2.1. Romans 16:20 is a promise that we as
Christians and as a church can claim for ourselves, “And the God of peace
will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
5.3. We Christians must learn
from this that we are never finished conquering the enemies that we have of the
world, the flesh, and the devil until we have aggressively brought every
thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ and mortified every element of our
sinful fleshly nature!
5.4. We Christians need to go on
the offensive and mount a full scale attack upon on all of our enemies of the
world, the flesh, and the Devil, and not relent in this until every one of them
is eradicated from our lives, or the Lord returns for us!
5.5. Notice in verse 21 that it
says that “all” of the children of
5.6. Notice that it is said in
verse 21, ‘No one uttered a word against any of the sons of
6. VS 10:26-28 - “26 So afterward Joshua struck
them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees; and they hung on
the trees until evening.27 And it came about at sunset that Joshua commanded,
and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they
had hidden themselves, and put large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this
very day. 28 Now Joshua captured
Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he
utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus
he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.” - Joshua hangs the 5 kings who attacked
6.1. This was a complete victory
Joshua tells us in these verses:
6.1.1. There were no survivors left
of the armies of the 5 kings, except just a few who fled to the fortified
cities.
6.1.2. The 5 kings themselves were
killed.
6.1.3. The city of
6.1.4.
6.1.5. We saw already in verse 21
that everyone single one of the children of
6.2. We see here that this large
pile of stones which the children of Israel placed over the cave where they had
thrown the bodies of the kings that had they had conquered in this battle was
yet another memorial for all of their generations, this one to remind them and
their children of how the Lord fought for them so mightily in giving them this
glorious victory over the 5 kings who attacked Gibeon.
7. CONCLUSION:
7.1. Are you on the offensive
against your enemies of the world, the flesh, and the Devil? Or, are you just running here and there
trying to dodge your enemies?
7.2. Have you come to that place
to where you are now committed to seeing that every enemy of your soul has its
foothold in your life conquered by the Lord?
7.3. Have you committed yourself
to a full-scale offensive against your enemies that you will maintain until you
are delivered from the very last one of them?