Joshua 10:1-11: "Our God, the More Powerful One"

Joshua 10 is complicated, and I'm not sure how to teach it. Normally, the way stories work, is that there is a flow to them-- an order. One thing naturally leads to another, which leads to another. Stories look like life looks. Everything happens in order. In chapter 10, AJ bends the rules. The first 11 verses flow like we'd expect. It's a great story. It will make us praise God, and make us think about how Yahweh is a Warrior. It's powerful. I'm excited to teach this, to be honest. In verses 12-15, AJ backs the story up, because Yahweh does a ridiculous wonder in the middle of this. There's a huge surprise-- a shocking miracle. A very cool story, gets even cooler. I can make that work. I think I understand what AJ is doing, and why he tells the story like he does. But verses 16-28 are attached to all of this awkwardly, if we are expected a story that has chronological order. The easiest way to think about chapter 10 is that it's like looking at a really nice car. You go to your loacl Chevy dealer to buy a new sedan. And while you're in the lobby, waiting for a salesman to smell the blood in the water, you see it. The Corvette. You walk over to it, and you admire it. You look at it from one angle, and admire the lines, and the way it looks. Then, you walk to another side, and then to another. And it's a beautiful car, regardless of where you stand-- or, if you're lucky, regardless of where you sit. But regardless of where you stand or sit, it's the same car. What AJ wants to do in chapter 10 is tell this story from three different perspectives, to help us see it from different angles. You could combine these three, and make it all fit. But there's no way to do this without wrecking the story. We are supposed to hear this story from three different perspectives, to learn three different things. It's a great story. But it's not the kind of story you can fully appreciate, without coming at it from different angles. So what I'm going to do this week, I think, is just work through the first 11 verses. We will just try to hear the first thing AJ wants us to leave us with. Next week, we will spin the story around, and look at the same events from a different perspective. (Read vs. 1-11) (1) And then, as soon as Adoni-Tsedeq king of Jerusalem heard (A) that Joshua took Ai and had kheremed it, just as he did to Jericho and its king, thus he had done to Ai and to its king, and (B) that the inhabitants of Gibeon made peace with Israel-- and they were in their midst-- (2) they feared very because (A) a great city [was] Gibeon, like one of the cities of the kingdom, and (B) because it [was] greater than Ai, and all its men [were] warriors, (3) and Adoni-Tsedeq king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Yarmut and to Yaphia king of Labish and to Davir king of Eglon, saying, "Come up to me, and help me so that we may strike Gibeon because they made peace with Joshua and the sons of Israel," (5) and they gathered, and the five kings of the Amorites went up-- the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Yarmut, the king of Lakish, the king of Eglon-- they, and all their camp/army-- and they camped before/opposite Gibeon, and they made war against it, (6) and the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, saying, "May you not abandon your hands from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us, because they are gathered against us-- all the kings of the Amorites, the inhabitants of the mountain," (7) and Joshua went up from Gilgal-- he and all the people of the camp with him, and all the great warriors-- (8) and Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, because into your hand I have given them. A man from them will/shall not stand before you," (9) and Joshua came to them suddenly. It was all night that he had gone up from Gilgal, (10) and Yahweh confused/routed them before Israel, and he struck them a great blow at Gibeon, and he pursued them on the road going up to the house of Kharon, and he struck them up to Azekah and up to Makkedah, (11) and then, while they were fleeing from before Israel-- they [were] on the descent to the house of Kharon--, Yahweh threw on them great stones from the heavens up to Azekah, and they died. It was many more who died by the stones of hail than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahweh is a powerful God. He has shown his power over and over in the book of Joshua, and I hope I've been able to lift your gaze upward to God and his glory. Yahweh stopped the waters of the Jericho River during flood season while all of Israel crossed over. Yahweh caused an earthquake, that led to the walls of Jericho collapsing, and its defeat. And last week, Yahweh showed his faithfulness and his power by helping Joshua and Israel conquer the city of Ai. At this point in the book of Joshua, everyone knows who Yahweh is. Everyone has heard what he is doing. We see Yahweh's name being honored. We see his kingdom coming. For us, when we hear these stories, it makes us worship God, and revel in his power. We know that this God-- Yahweh-- is our God. But most people in Joshua, when they hear what Yahweh is doing, are terrified. If you're a Canaanite or an Amorite, Yahweh coming in power, keeping his promises, is nothing but bad news. And if you're an Amorite king, you know that the fate waiting for you is a brutal, humiliating death. What I've just described is one of the main themes in the book of Joshua. Yahweh is coming in power, and in judgment on Canaan. Everyone has heard what he is doing, and understands why he is doing it. The question is, how will you respond? What will you do when you hear? What I'd like to do is read the verses where this theme has popped up so far. Joshua 2:9, Rahab's speech as a citizen of Jericho: (ESV) "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. Joshua 5:1-2 (ESV) 5 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. Last week, we worked through Joshua 9. There, AJ started the story like this, in verses 1-3: (1) And then, as soon as the kings heard who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the Shephelah and in all the coast of the great sea opposite of Lebanon--the Hittites and Amorites, the Canaanites the Perizzites the Hivites and the Jebusites-- (2) they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one accord, (3) while the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho to Ai, (4) and they acted-- also they-- with wisdom/cunning, Near the end of the story, when Joshua demands an explanation for why the Gibeonites deceived Joshua, we read this, in verse 24: (24) And they answered Joshua, and they said, "Because it was certainly told in detail to your slaves/servants that Yahweh your God had commanded Moses his slave/servant to give to you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from your face/presence," and we were very afraid for our lives from your face/presence, and (then) we did this thing, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone in the promised land has heard the bad news about Yahweh, and his plan for them and for their land. God's judgment is coming, right now. The question everyone must answer, in response, is what will they do. How will you react? What are you going to do? Will you be like Rahab and the Gibeonites, and cunningly take the tiniest opening and run through it for mercy? Will you let yourself be driven out of the land? Or will you fight? Throughout Joshua, it's been very clear that anyone who stays and fights is without excuse. No one is forcing them to fight Yahweh and his people. They've heard the story; they understand what's going on. And yet their hearts are hard; they refuse to submit. They refuse to see reality, for how it actually is. Why? Why are these people-- and these kings-- so determined to fight Yahweh and his people? Is it simply because they don't want to lose their land? Or are have they deliberately set themselves against Yahweh as his enemies? Is there something more going on? Last week, in chapter 9:1-3, AJ introduced us to a group of kings who heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, and decided to band together to attack with Joshua and Israel together. Individually, they have no shot at victory--only certain defeat. But together? Maybe if join forces, they can defeat Yahweh and his people (1 Sam. 4). Here, in chapter 10, AJ reintroduces us to these kings who decided to fight Joshua. Only, here they change their plans because of what the Gibeonites have done: Verses 1-2 (1) And then, as soon as Adoni-Tsedeq king of Jerusalem heard (A) that Joshua took Ai and had kheremed it, just as he did to Jericho and its king, thus he had done to Ai and to its king, and (B) that the inhabitants of Gibeon made peace with Israel-- and they were in their midst-- (2) they feared very because (A) a great city [was] Gibeon, like one of the cities of the kingdom, and (B) because it [was] greater than Ai, and all its men [were] warriors, If you're Adoni-Tsedeq, king of Jerusalem, the news about Joshua just went from bad to worse. It's bad enough knowing that your fate is to be defeated, and to personally hanged like the kings of Jericho and Ai. But now... the news about Gibeon is a like a sucker-punch. Gibeon is your neighbor. It's a powerful city, like a royal city, and its men are true warriors. We read this, and our impression of Gibeon shoots up. When the Gibeonites came in cunning and deceit in chapter 9, with an understanding that they were doomed, we maybe pictured Gibeon as being a weak people, living in a vulnerable little city. But this is a people who had every right to have confidence in their own power. So when Gibeon understands Yahweh's power, and knows He is stronger than them, it's truly an expression of faith. And now Gibeon is allied with Joshua. If you're Adoni-Tsedeq, how can you go out and fight, knowing that you have a powerful neighbor ready to crush you? You're crippled. You can't have an enemy that close. You can't go and fight Joshua, and leave a powerful army on your doorstep when you're vulnerable. And so Adoni-Tsedeq, hearing this news, will do what? He's in the same situation as people have found themselves throughout the book of Joshua. You hear about Yahweh, and Joshua, and you do what? Verse 3-5: (3) and Adoni-Tsedeq king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Yarmut and to Yaphia king of Labish and to Davir king of Eglon, saying, "Come up to me, and help me so that we may strike Gibeon because they made peace with Joshua and the sons of Israel," (5) and they gathered, and the five kings of the Amorites went up-- the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Yarmut, the king of Lakish, the king of Eglon-- they, and all their camp/army-- and they camped before/opposite Gibeon, and they made war against it, If you're Adoni-Tsedeq, hearing this news, you respond by calling for your Amorite allies. It's a really big deal that all these kings are described as Amorites. I'll explain this very soon, but AJ is giving us an enormous clue here for why these kings are so stubborn. Amorites are Yahweh's mortal enemies. They will never retreat. They will never surrender. They will fight to the death, because they completely oppose Yahweh's plans for the world. So these five kings, all Amorites, attack Gibeon. You can't leave a city that powerful in your midst. You have to attack it. Verse 6: (6) and the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, saying, "May you not abandon your hands from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us, because they are gathered against us-- all the kings of the Amorites, the inhabitants of the mountain," When we see the men of Gibeon ask for help, we can't help but hear it as an echo. There is an artful symmetry between the requests. The Gibeonites and Adoni, in the face of danger, need assistance. They both ask for their allies to (1) come up and (2) help. But there are differences. (1) When the Gibeonites make their appeal to Joshua, they do so on the basis of the covenant they've made. The Gibeonites are Israel's servants, so Israel has an obligation to protect them. (2) When they ask Joshua, they ask him to "save" them. The Hebrew word for "save" is very close to "Joshua." They are asking Joshua to Joshua them. (3) The Gibeonites then wrap up their appeal by telling Joshua WHO is attacking. It's all the kings of the Amorites, the inhabitants of the mountain. The Gibeonites know that Yahweh is determined to wipe out the Amorites (because they know their OT very well). And this is a golden opportunity-- all the kings are together in one place, outside of their protective cities. So Joshua has very good reasons to help. The Gibeonites are still cunning/prudent; they know how to appeal to Joshua in a way that is likely to lead a good outcome for them. But if you're Joshua, there's another way to look at it. The Gibeonites deceived you. They made a covenant with you they never should've made. Last chapter, when you saved the Gibeonites from the angry Israelites, you did the right thing. But if you let these Amorites kill the Gibeonites, you'd be free of your covenant. After all, covenants are only good until the other party dies (Rom. 7:2). So if you're Joshua, do you honor the commitments you made, or do you use this as an opportunity to fix your mistake? Verses 7-8 (7) and Joshua went up from Gilgal-- he and all the people of the camp with him, and all the great warriors-- (8) and Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, because into your hand I have given them. A man from them will/shall not stand before you," Joshua knows his responsibility is clear. He goes, with all the people of the camp, great warriors. And then, Yahweh speaks to Joshua to reassure him. Last week, I talked about learning to seek God's voice, to hear what he wants. But there are times, when what he wants is really straightforward. If you've given your word, you keep your word. If you've entered a covenant relationship-- like with your spouse, or with God-- you honor that covenant. If I was tempted to abandon my wife, or Jesus, for someone else, I wouldn't expect to have to hear a special word from God about it to see if it's ok. Right is right; wrong is wrong. So Yahweh, after Joshua decides to do what's right, speaks to Joshua to reassure him and tell him that the promises from chapter 1 are still valid: "Do not fear them, because into your hand I have given them. A man from them will/shall not stand before you," Verses 9-11: (9) and Joshua came to them suddenly-- It was all night that he had gone up from Gilgal-- (10) and Yahweh confused/routed them before Israel, and he struck them a great blow at Gibeon, and he pursued them on the road going up to the house of Kharon, and he struck them up to Azekah and up to Makkedah, (11) and then, while they were fleeing from before Israel-- they [were] on the descent to the house of Kharon-- Yahweh threw on them great stones from the heavens up to Azekah, and they died. It was many more who died by the stones of hail than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. In verses 9-11, AJ describes the battle for us. Notice how he tells the story-- AJ works very hard to make sure we focus on Yahweh. Joshua surprised them, and unexpected attacks are devastating. We could look at this, and give the credit to Joshua, or maybe to luck. But AJ says that the reason the attack went so well for Israel was because Yahweh confused them. Yahweh routed them. It's not hard to kill an enemy that is running away from you. And Yahweh threw them into a panic. He made them run. The story continues, in verse 10, with the Israelites chasing them, killing them on the road up to Azekah and Makkedah. And then, in verse 11, AJ tells us more about Yahweh. Yahweh joined in the battle. He threw enormous hail stones at them from the heavens. And he killed more of them, than all the Israelites put together. AJ began this chapter by describing the Gibeonites as "warriors." The Israelites were then described as "great warriors." If this is true, then what is Yahweh? Yahweh is The Great Warrior. Most of you, if I asked you to describe God, would say that God is all-powerful. It'd be one of the first things you'd say. But I think, if you're honest, God's power is a doctrine that's head knowledge for you. It's something you view as true in theory, but in real life? I'm not so sure. God's power is for other people. It's not something you view as relevant to you. Instead of talking about Yahweh as being all-powerful, consider this: Consider talking about God as being The More Powerful One. You hear this, and you maybe think, more powerful than who? More powerful than what? And if/when you ask that question, you are well on your way to thinking biblically. Yahweh is more powerful than the Amorite kings. He's more powerful than Satan. He's more powerful than any of his enemies. He's more powerful than us. It's not that no one else in the world has any power. Yahweh doesn't have "all" the power. But no one else can compete. No one can stand against God. Our God Yahweh is a Warrior. He is the one who fights for his people. He's up in the heavens, throwing hail stones the size of what-- cars? houses?-- at the fleeing Amorites. And Yahweh killed more Amorites by hail, than all those great warriors of Israel put together. Yahweh saved the Israelites a little something-- he let them swing their swords-- but Yahweh fights for his people. To be honest, I think it's far more helpful to think about God as being a Warrior, or being The More Powerful One, than to talk about him being all-powerful. Why does it matter that God is strong? It matters because God fights for you. You don't need to fear anyone or anything, because Yahweh has your back. The God you serve, is the God who crushes his enemies. Who laughs at their feeble attempts to fight him. Who throws enormous hail stones to kill tens of thousands. This our God. And when you hear these stories about God, my prayer is that God would use them to encourage your faith, and your courage, and lead you to worship Him. God is a glorious Warrior, worthy of all our praise. Finish with Psalm 2 or no? 9