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, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. 9 And Joshua did to them just as the Lord said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. 10 And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction;[a] there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15 Just 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. 16 So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses. 21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.
Our text gives us a very interesting perspective upon the sovereignty of God. First look at verses 6-7. God promises victory and even goes into some detail about it. He tells them to hamstring the horses and burn the chariots. So certain is the end, because God has determined it. And to make this more clear look at verse 20: “For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle that he might utterly destroy them and that they might receive no mercy.”
We remember the Lord saying the same thing of Pharaoh, that the Lord would harden his heart, for divine purposes. Paul says a similar thing in Romans when he speaks of God giving the wicked over to their sin. He simply let them have their sin and lets sin have its way and the hearts of men become all the more rebellious and wicked. And the reason is that it is God’s purpose to destroy them, to show them no mercy, for the Lord has mercy on whom He chooses to have mercy. And the verdict of man, that this is not fair, had just better remain stuck in our throats. And we must not let anyone think that they can escape this God by running to the NT, because you will of course meet the same God there too.
Right after verse 6 where we are treated to the Sovereignty of God we find Joshua and the army going to battle, hamstringing the horses and fighting with swords. In other words, a correct understanding of the promises of God, a correct understanding of the sovereignty of God, that the end is certain, that it is held out there for us, does not negate our activity rather, it stimulates it. The sovereignty of God, creates confidence, it excites our faith, it is a truth that does not chain us, rather it liberates us to hope-filled faithfulness.
We know of Sovereignty incarnate. Jesus showing his power over all things…commanding creation and it hears and obeys…calling forth men from the dead…extinguishing the wrath of God by his perfect life and perfect sacrifice. We know the power of Jesus over the grave, over death and sin…and that He has bound himself, life for life, with us. His very existence, bound in covenant to those for whom he has died.
How is it that we can doubt, or be filled with anxiety and fear? How can we live in such practical atheism, in acting as though none of this were true??? It is this knowledge of who God is and what He has done in Jesus that gives us confidence to face the vast foes that are drawn up against us, both inward and outward. And this truth of the sovereignty of God is freeing! It gives us boldness…there is no need for us to fear, but to live boldly in the face of the world!
I have mentioned twice the hamstring of the horses and maybe you wondered about this as I have. Why did Israel not keep the horses and use them for themselves? Why did they not take the chariots and put their own fighting me on them? I think it is for the same reason that the Lord trimmed back the army of Gideon. You remember that in the time of the Judges, Gideon was chosen of God to lead an army against the Midianites. God whittled down the army to a meager 300 men to face a mighty army so that no one could doubt that God gave Israel victory.
The hamstringing of a horse makes the animal completely useless for battle. The Lord didn’t want His people depending on themselves or even the weapons or horses that they might have appropriated. The psalmist says: “No king is saved by the size of his army, no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance, despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him on those whose hope is in his unfailing love…”
Here it is: The Lord does not want you to depend on anything but Him. And He is going to remove whatever prop is in your hands or in your heart that might cause you to trust in anything or anyone other than Him.
I have watched the Lord touch folks’ checkbooks, family, business, athletic careers, even something as silly as a car…because He will make sure that our trust, our hope is in Christ Alone. Those things are not bad, but if we are not careful even good things can become a snare, and if they do, the Lord will reach out and touch it.
For example, Gideon’s ephod, the ark of the covenant, and even the Temple itself. These were good things, tools given by God himself, but to the people they became a false hope, even superstition…and so God took them away…not because he doesn’t love His people, but because He does.
This is what the Lord impresses upon Joshua and the people of God, it is what the Lord impresses over and over again upon us. And what is our response to be? Well, what was the response of the leaders in our text?
Verse 12: “So all the cities of those kings and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.”
Verse 15: “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.”
This might sound a bit bland, not all that exciting of a way to conclude this morning, but often this is the way of God, simple, to the point, without fanfare, just calling us to faith. Joshua obeyed God. What marks a child of God is not the size of his army or the amount of money in his checkbook, not the amount of material possessions, or his play with the movers and shakers of the cultural elite…Not the magnetism of his or her personality nor the number of letters lined up behind his or her name. Joshua was told to destroy everything and or expel all the Canaanites. This is what God’s holiness required and it is what Joshua did.
Our response, often, is to question what God says, or mitigate it, water it down, or figure out why this particular text doesn’t apply to me…Or my favorite, choose to obey 4 things for the one thing we won’t obey. How often do we debate what God says, argue and explain away the commandments of God and the responsibilities that the covenant places on us?
And we are proficient at coming up with spiritual sounding reasons as to why we do not do what the word of God sure seems to be calling us to. Joshua did not argue with the word of God. He did not think God was unkind and so he would soften things up a bit, he didn’t come up with a better idea, a new plan, he simply followed the word of God.
Jesus, the true Joshua, (Jesus’ name, in Hebrew is Joshua) himself said that he always does what pleases the Father. ALWAYS. And THAT is our standard, even as Paul said, I make it my aim to please HIM, in everything. That does not mean that everything is quick and easy and falls into place without perseverance. Even for Joshua, as verse 18 says, this took a while. Some conjecture that this war was carried on for about 7 years. But the Lord has spoken to this as well, all the way back in Exodus 23 and Dt. 7. “I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out…”
In our battle we must be those who persevere. Often we battle once, we attack and find victory over our sin, once and think, there, give me my medal and bring out the wine, it’s over, it’s done! But it is not done, and it will not be done, until the day of Christ Jesus.
God’s power is still at work and our victories may at times come in large sections of ground taken from our enemy, but our battle, your battle, in the world and in your heart is one in which the enemy is removed little by little. Be grateful, rejoice in those little battles, rejoice in all the victories of this day and prepare for the onslaught that is to come on the day following.
One last comment, a quick note from the text that you may or may not have even noticed. In verse 21 we read of Joshua defeating the Anakites, do you remember who these people were?
When Israel first went into Canaan to explore the land and the spies brought back a report that said there were giants in the land, large armies and the spies were fearful and the people became fearful. Numbers tells us that they not only were giants but the worst of giants, Anakites were there. Just the mention of the Anakites would strike fear into the hearts of any Israelite.
Here, and with little mention this great and mighty people, the Anakites are quietly removed from the land by the power of God. There really are no reasons for fear. Our greatest obstacles are no match for the power of God. His arm is great, His power is unmatched, his love for us, His love for you is endless. There is nothing, no circumstance, that can take you away from your God and all our fears vanish in light of the greatness of the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer: Father, while I confess that I have You to flee to, I often think that another refuge will be a resting place. I am always disappointed for there is no place for me to find solace, peace and comfort but under the shadow of Your wings. Forgive me. I know that the giants in my life are small when compared to You and all fear and anxiety will flee when I am found trusting in the Rock that is truly, higher than am I. In Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: Here is one hour of gospel songs and hymns with an acoustic guitar.