To Sum It Up

Patience: what took you so long?

North, south, east, and west — a broad picture is painted, and verses 16-17 serve as a summary of all the land.

Then we get to Josh.11:18 “Joshua waged war with all these kings for a long time.” Why is this significant? It’s a reminder that even though the account in Scripture is relatively brief (it took us about a month to cover it on Sundays and reading it is even quicker), it was no short skirmish. Most scholars seem to think it was about seven years at war.

For reference:

Vietnam War: 1955-1975 - 19+ years

American Revolutionary War: 1775-1783 - 8+ years

American Civil War: 1861-1865 - 4 years

American Involvement in WW2: 1941-1945 - almost 4 years

American Involvement in WW1: 1917-1918 - 1.5+ years

Joshua/Israel’s War with the Canaanites: 7+/- years

It’s important for us to remember that even when God might seem slow concerning His promises, they are not null and void. There’s always a purpose and a reason.

2 Pet.3:8-10 “Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.” Here, God’s patience reveals that He intends to bring the full measure of the saved into His fold!

Neh.9:17 “They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, and you did not abandon them.” Concerning Israel’s constant rebellion, they are reminded of God’s patient dealing with them. The whole testimony of many of the prophets is God is patient and offering you repentance…but soon it will be too late.

It’s actually God’s patience and kindness that leads His people to repent. Rom.2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

And God graciously withheld the flood in Noah’s day until the completion of the ark: 1 Pet.3:20 “who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people—were saved through water.”

Further, in the grand scheme of God’s redemptive plan, keep this in mind: God was not in a hurry to bring about the fullness of His plan of salvation, nor has He moved quickly to bring about the end of the history of the world. Rather, Christ came at just the right time, and the end will come at just the right time as well.

What should we take from this? God is often at work in the slow and drawn-out walks of faith.

The Christian life is a life lived in continual surrender, and it is in this slow and continual surrender that we are transformed. You’ve probably heard it said…I’ve even said it before…the Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint.

God can work in quick flashes of divine display, but we shouldn’t expect this to be the norm. In Josh.10:8, God hurled hailstones down on the southern armies, but in Josh.10:26 Joshua executed the five allied southern kings, and in Josh.11, YHWH used His people to accomplish His will. Finally, we find here that it took seven years for the Land to be taken.

If you’re looking for an answer to prayer, be patient and persistent, daily pleading your cause. If you’re looking for spiritual victory, keep your eyes on Christ, cherish His grace when you fall, repent, and keep moving forward.

The name of the game truly is perseverance.

Hardening: why did they keep on fighting?

We find a verse that can be a bit troubling here. Josh.11:20 “For it was the Lord’s intention to harden their hearts, so that they would engage Israel in battle, be completely destroyed without mercy, and be annihilated, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” Some will level the accusation that God is unfair — how can He punish someone when He’s the one that made them stubborn and unrepentant?!

First, the conquest of the Promised Land did not occur in a vacuum…it’s not an isolated event. Consider first Gen.15:16 “In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” The iniquity of the Amorites has no reached its full measure, and a just, holy God will now punish the iniquity.

Second, a reminder about the nature of sin. It is mankind’s default position. Naturally, man is in opposition and rebellion against God. There’s an important distinction even now that we should make: God does NOT send anyone to Hell. That is their own doing. Hell is man’s default destination because of our sinful nature.

Third, God making the hearts of the Canaanites hard (or “strong” or “seized by force” or “supported,” etc.) What happens is that God is giving them over to what they desire. The wickedness they have wallowed in, the lie that they’ve preferred above the truth, God has handed them over to it and removed the opportunity for repentance.

Fourth, what right does God have to do this? Every right. He is sovereign. He is just. He is right. The Canaanite day of grace has passed. Mercy is no longer extended. And here, we would be much better served to not reason and question YHWH, but to rather remember that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of an angry God (Heb.3:12-13 “Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.” Heb.10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”)

I’m not big on scare tactics, but sometimes we do need to wrestle with what the text says. There was a time where grace and mercy was extended for the Canaanites, and there also came a day when that chance was removed.

Heb.3:15 “As it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Isa.1:18 “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.”

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.”

Fear: what about those giants?

There’s one last group that the Scripture makes sure to mention, and that’s the Anakim. It would be easy to loose them in the names and cities mentioned, but this is actually a big deal.

I don’t know if you have a thing that freaks you out…sends chills up your spine. I know that as a dude, I’m not supposed to have anything like that…but I hate spiders. Story about one landing near my head…taking vengeance on banana spiders with a b.b. gun!

Well, the Anakim at one point were the big, hairy wolf spiders for the Israelites when Moses sent spies into the land. When the 12 returned, 10 of them said they’re like giants, and we’re like grasshoppers next to them. Those guys, the Anakim, are the ones that scared the Israelites and left them disobedient and wandering in the desert for 40 years! And here, Josh.11:21 “At that time Joshua proceeded to exterminate the Anakim from the hill country—Hebron, Debir, Anab—all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them with their cities.” It’s a reminder that with YHWH on their side, Israel never had anything to worry about.

We would do well to remember that God alone is worthy of our fear. And, at the risk of oversimplifying things, this serves as a good reminder that God’s grace is SUFFICIENT for everything we face.

Sometimes that means we overcome difficult situations in life. Through Christ we are more than conquerors. Every spiritual adversary we face in life, every battle with sin, every stronghold of enemy, every oak tree of unrighteousness…the Lord’s ax lays the root, poised to strike. He will indeed see us through.

And God’s grace is sufficient for every task He calls us to. It’s an old preacher quip, but it’s true. He’s not interested in your ability, just your availability. God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. That’s all catchphrase ways of saying that you can do every single thing He’s called you to. You have what it takes because God goes with you.

And finally, God grace is sufficient even when the road is difficult. This is the soil in which that verse, 2 Cor.12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.” was rooted in. God said no to Paul when Paul asked Him to remove the trial/tribulation in his life. Instead, just a promise that by God’s grace, Paul would make it.

One scholar sums it up like this: “In Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan describes Christian’s approach to the Palace Beautiful where he hoped to get lodging. He began to walk down a very narrow passage leading to the porter’s lodge. Then he saw two lions in the way. Bunyan adds parenthetically: ‘The lions were chained; but he saw not the chains.’ That is frequently our case—we fear because we don’t see the chains. Yet the fact that Christ sits at the Father’s right hand ‘far above all rule and authority and power and dominion’ and has ‘all things under his feet’ (Eph. 1:20–22) means that every power that would destroy us is chained. But, sometimes, we don’t see the chains.”

In the words of Zac Williams,

“When he told you you’re not good enough / when he told you you’re not right / when he told you you’re not strong enough / to put up a good fight.

“When he told you’re not worthy / when he told you you’re not loved / when he told you you’re not beautiful / you’ll never be enough...

“Fear, he is a liar / He will take your breath / Stop you in your steps.

“Fear, he is a liar / he will rob your rest / steal your happiness

I’m here to tell you this morning, our fears are needless when our lives are held in the hands of the God who is a Consuming Fire and Righteous Warrior. The same God who the giant Anakim into the hands of the Israelites fights our battles as well.

Peace: how much longer, Lord?

Finally, there’s the last note of vs.23 — “After this, the land had rest from war.”

Israel had a real rest, but it wasn’t final.

Hebrews 4:8-11 “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.” reminds us that the rest of Joshua’s day was not all that was intended. There remained a rest that awaited God’s people, and Josh.11, like much of the OT prophecies, had a present realization that pointed to a fuller and final fulfillment. That rest is ours and will be ours. Briefly, let me explain:

The rest IS ours through the finished work of Christ on the cross. (Quickly preach the gospel!)

The rest WILL BE ours when Christ returns. The spiritual battle will continue to rage until Christ our King and Conquering General returns. Until that day, make ever effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience that persisted throughout Israel’s history and that we see even today. It’s a reminder that just as the Israelite’s fought for seven years, so too must we continue and persist in the faith until the battle is over, either Christ returning or calling us home. To that end we pray, “How much longer, Lord?”