The LORD Fought for Israel.

1. Fear unites the region

Joshua 10:1–2 “As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 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 warriors.”

2. The planned attack was against the perceived traitors

Joshua 10:3–5 “So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” Then 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 their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.”

3. Israel joins the fight

Joshua 10:6–7 “And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.”

When World War I erupted in Europe in 1914, the 28th U.S. president pledged neutrality, in sync with prevailing American public opinion.

In early April 1917, with the toll in sunken U.S. merchant ships and civilian casualties rising, Wilson asked Congress for “a war to end all wars” that would “make the world safe for democracy.” A hundred years ago, on April 6, 1917, Congress thus voted to declare war on Germany, joining the bloody battle—then optimistically called the “Great War.”

While unrestricted submarine warfare is, of course, the textbook answer as to why the U.S. entered the war, there’s also the infamous Zimmerman telegram.

Mexico would be given Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico as spoils, according to the German plan.

Germany formally surrendered on November 11, 1918. In those 19 months of U.S. engagement, more than two million American soldiers served on the battlefields of Western Europe—and 50,000 of them lost their lives.

4. God promises victory

Joshua 10:8 “And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.””

5. The Lord physically joins the fight

Joshua 10:11 “And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.”

6. The sun stands still and Israel is victorious

Joshua 10:13 “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.”

JASHAR, BOOK OF (סֵפֶר הַיָּשָׁר, sepher hayyashar). A now-lost book of Israelite epic poetry quoted at least twice in the Old Testament (Josh 10:12–13; 2 Sam 1:19–27;

Also known as the “book of the upright.”

Joshua 10:14 “There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.”

7. The cave at Makkedah

Joshua 10:16-28

8. Conquest of Southern Canaan

Joshua 10:29-43.

They return to regroup at Gilgal

9. Conquest of Northern Canaan

Joshua 11

10. The list of victories

a. By Moses

Joshua 12:1-6

b. By Joshua

Joshua 12:7-24