A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

JOSHUA:
From Victory to Victory
(Joshua 9:1-24:33)
Joshua’s name means “Jehovah saves,” and his life characterized his name. He was born
in the bondage of slavery in Egypt, and Jehovah saved him physically, mentally, and emotionally,
delivering him along with over 1 million Israelites. During the forty years in the
wilderness he witnessed the continual salvation of the Lord. As “Moses’ assistant” (Num. 11:28),
he learned the lessons of leadership. As a spy, he relied on God’s help to faithfully bring back the
accurate report and back it with faith that God would give them the land. As a soldier, Joshua
saw the miraculous crossing of the River Jordan and capture of Jericho. As a saint, Joshua was
filled with the Spirit (Deut. 34:9), enjoyed the presence of God (Josh. 1:5; 6:27), was influenced
by the Word of God (1:8), was obedient to the will of God (Num. 32:12; Josh. 5:14) and when he
died, was deeply mourned.
But great pioneers and generals do not make great statesmen and rulers. Some only win
the first battle, then fall in the constant heat of pressure. But not Joshua. After he won the
decisive battle of Jericho and Ai, he followed his military instinct and divided his enemy. He
next plunged south and defeated the Amorites. Next he swept north defeating the Canaanites. In
all, he defeated thirty-one city-states and so conquered the Promised Land. Then he divided the
land and was to the end of his life, a spiritual leader to Israel.
With the initial success of Joshua in the central campaign, the kings of various city-states
in the south began forming alliances in the hope that together they might defend themselves from
the invading Hebrews. While most of the Amorite city-states agreed to fight together against
Joshua, one of the largest and most influential of the cities opted to form a separate peace with
the Hebrews.
The people of Gibeon and three neighboring cities sent a delegation to the battle camp of
Israel at Gilgal. Though it was only a three-day journey from their cities to Gilgal, they began the
journey in worn clothing with stale bread and old wine among their provisions. They were
planning to deceive Israel into a peace pact. Their clothing and stale provisions were designed to
support their story that they had come from a long distance. They appealed to Joshua to form an
alliance with them, and they were successful.
The Gibeonites were successful in their deception because Israel “did not ask counsel of
the Lord”‘ (9:14). Had they prayed, they would probably have been able to avoid entering into
the alliance. But three days later, when Joshua realized he had been deceived, he remained a man
of his word and preserved their lives while forcing the men of Gibeon to be servants,
“woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God” (v. 23). They did this for generations.
THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN
(Josh. 9:1-10:43)
It was the alliance which was formed between Gibeon and Joshua that led to the major
battle of the southern campaign. When the Amorite kings realized Gibeon had made an alliance
with the Hebrews, they themselves attacked Gibeon. The war alliance against Gibeon was
headed by five kings of five major cities, but may have included other smaller cities. According
to the archeological evidence gathered from the sites of each of the five cities identified with this