Joshua 11-12 - More Battles to Fight

Beginning at Joshua 10:29 through Joshua 12:24, this section of the Book of Joshua summarizes Israel's conquest of the southern (10:29-43) and northern cities (11:1-15) in Palestine, and closes with a list of the names of some of the kings whom Israel defeated (11:16-12:24). Since there is probably a map of the conquest located in the back of your Bible, it would be very helpful as you read these chapters.   Two things stand out in this record: It was the Lord who gave the victory (10:30, 32, 42; 11:6, 8). “But the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel” (Joshua 11:6). “And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon…” (Joshua 11:8). Also, Joshua obeyed the Lord by utterly destroying the enemy, just as Moses had commanded. “As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.” (Joshua 11:15). The only exception was Gibeon.   Joshua's strategy was to cut across the land and divide it, then conquer the southern cities, then the northern cities. On more than one occasion, he made a surprise attack on the enemy (10:9; 11:7); and the promises of the Lord encouraged him (v. 6; see 1:9; 8:1). In 10:29-35, you have the record of the army fighting in the foothills; but in verse 36, the campaign moves to the mountains. The northern coalition of kings was unable to defeat Israel even though their army was much larger than that of the Jews (11:1-9).   The Anakim mentioned in Joshua 11:21-22 were a race of giants, descendants of Anak, who were greatly feared by the ten unbelieving men who had spied out Canaan (Num. 13:22, 28, 33). The two believing spies, Joshua and Caleb, didn't fear them but had trusted the Lord for victory. Joshua's victory over the Anakim is recorded in Joshua 11:21-22 and Caleb's victory in 14:12-15.   Thirty-three kings are named in Joshua 12, beginning with Sihon and Og whose lands were east of Jordan and had been conquered under the leadership of Moses (vv. 1-8; Num. 21:21-35). The sixteen kings defeated in the southern campaign are listed in Joshua 12:9-16 and the fifteen northern kings in verses 17-24.   From these chapters we are reminded that crossing the Jordan and entering Canaan, the Promise Land, is not a picture of entering heaven. When we get to heaven there will not be any more battles to fight. John tells us in Revelation 21:1-4, “…And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." While we are still here on earth, we will have battles to fight with the “evil one”, the flesh, and the world. But we can take courage and “not be afraid” (v. 6, 8), because we are promised that the LORD has already determined that the enemies will be conquered by His power when we obey and follow Him by faith!   And finally, Paul reminds us in Romans 8:31-39 “…If God is for us, who can be against us? …Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   God Bless!