The Conquest of Canaan Completed, Part 1

Joshua chapter 11 is where we are this evening. Joshua chapter 11. And this will bring us to the conclusion of the conquering of the land of Canaan. Joshua chapter 11 is a great chapter because it talks to us about. How the northern kingdoms were conquered. We've already seen how Joshua has conquered the middle part of the land. We saw the last few weeks how he conquered the southern part of the land. And now we're going to see how he conquers the northern. Part of the land of Israel. And the way he goes about this battle is the way he went about his previous battle against the southern kingdoms.

And that is These people gathered together to fight against Joshua and the nation of Israel. And as I read the story, I am taken into the future to realize it's the kings of the world that gather together against the true Jehovah. Of the world, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Remember, Joshua is a type of Christ. Joshua is Jehovah is Savior. And so Joshua as a type of Christ demonstrates to us as he gains victory in the land of Canaan what it's going to be like when the Messiah comes as the ultimate victor and he too wins the victory.

In the land of Israel. If you read Revelation:, remember it talks about how the great Euphrates River is dried up. So the kings of the east, or literally the kings of the rising of the sun, are able to gather together in a valley called. Called Meg, and they gather there that they might fight against God. And then you read Revelation 19, verse number 19. And what do you have? You have the kings of the world gathering together. Because they want to make war against God. And of course, the Lord defeats them.

Well, in Joshua chapter 11, you have the kings of the south gathering together to fight against Israel, and now you have the kings of the north gathering together. To fight against Israel. And Joshua, of course, is that victor. Remember, he only lost one battle. That was at AI the first time.

All the rest of his battles, he won. He was a man of great victory. So he paves the way for us to understand how it is we win the battles we face every single day. We're going to look at three things with you this evening.

We're going look at the setting for this conquest. Then we're going to look at the success of the conquest.

And then the summation. The conquest. Let me read to you Joshua chapter 11, and then we'll make some comments about it.

It says in verse number 1, then it came about when Jabon, king of Hazor, heard of it. that he sent to Job king of Mad, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Aks, and to the kings who were of the north, in the hill country, and in the Ereb south of Kid, and in the lowland on the heights of Dor on the west, to the Canaan on the east and on the west, and the Amorite and the Hittite, and the Periz and the Jebus in the hill country, and the Hiv at the foot of Herm in the land of Mitzpah. And they came out, they and all their armies with them, as many as the sand that is on the seas.

with very many horses and chariots. So all these kings having agreed to meet, came and encamped together at the waters of Mer to fight against Israel. Then the LORD said to Joshua, Do not fear because of them, or be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Maram, and attacked them and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel.

so that they defeated them, and pursued them as far as Great Sid, and Miz Ma'im, and the valley of Mitzbah, to the east. And they struck them until no survivor was left to them. And Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him. He hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire. Then Joshua turned back at the time, and captured Hazar. and struck its king with the sword for Hazar formerly was the head of all the kingdoms and they struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them.

There was no one left who breathed. and he burned Hazar with fire. And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings and all their kings and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded. However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazar alone, which Joshua burned. And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder. But they struck every man with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them.

They left no one who breathed. 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. Thus Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negev. all that land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arab, the hill country of Israel, and its lowland, from Mount Halak that rises towards Seir, even as far as Baal, in the valley of Lebanon, at the foot of Mount Herm. And he captured all their kings, and struck them down, and put them to death.

Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings. There was not a city which made peace with the sons of Israel, except the Hiv living in Gibeon. They took them all in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to meet Israel in battle, in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Then Joshua came at that time and cut off the An from the hill country from Hebron from Debir from An and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.

There were no An left in the land of the sons of Israel, only in Gaza, in Gath, and an ashdod some remained. 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. acc to their divisions by their tribes. Thus the land had rest from war. Let me talk to you, number one, about the setting for the conquest.

And look with you at number one, the enemy. their encampment and the encouragement that Joshua would receive. Let's look first at the enemy.

You need to understand King Jabin. He was the leader. Like the kings of the south, there was Adon Zade. He was the leader of the kings of the south. So too, there was a leader of the kings of the north. But I want you to notice very specifically what the Bible says, because this is a repeated phrase.

For the sixth time in the book of Joshua. And that is this: it says that it came about when Jaban, king of Hazar, heard of it. The king of Jabon, or Jabon, king of Hazar, heard about Israel. Heard about the Lord God of Israel. Just like Rah did back in chapter 2, verse number 10. Just like the Amorites did back in chapter 5, verse number 1, just like Gibeon did back in chapter 9, verse number 1, and chapter 9, verse number 9, just like Adam the deck in chapter 10, verse number 1. Every single one of the enemies of God had heard about God.

Had heard about how God used Israel, had heard about how Israel defeated their enemy, they knew, friends, that's the grace of God. That's the mercy of God. That's the loving kind of God. That in itself is the patience of God. And that shows us that God gives His enemy many opportunities. to hear about him and to hear about who he gives the victory to. It's that constant reminder that when people hear, they have one of two options, either to reject what they hear or to repent because of what they have heard is absolute Truth.

And these people didn't repent. In fact, in spite of overwhelming evidence. Because of the miracles of the walls of Jericho, because of the miracles of crossing the Jordan, because of the miracle of the hailstones that came down. Because of the miracle of the sun standing still and receiving another full day, in spite of all those miracles, all seen by the people of Israel, they did not turn from their sin. It's that constant reminder of Revelation chapter 16 when it says this: And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with fire.

Fierce heat, and they blaspheme the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give him glory. When you get to the end of the tribulation, and there have been all these supernatural effects taking place on earth, when man is scorched with fervent heat, he still does not repent. And yet, he knows where it all comes from. He knows the source of all the plagues. And yet, because of his hard heart, he refuses to repent of his sin. And then in verse number 10 of chapter 16, it says, And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain.

And their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds. Here are all these people on planet Earth who are unbelievers. Who are in such pain that they chew off their tongues because that somehow helps them refocus the pain of their bodies. And yet they refuse to repent, but they blaspheme the name of God. Folks, let me tell you something.

God is so long-suffering, so merciful, so patient that He allows man to continue on in His sinful ways so that man, when He stands before the judgment seat, will end up condemning him. Himself because he did not repent of his sin. Think about King Jabin. He heard. He heard what had taken place in Jericho. He heard what had taken place down south. And he still had the gall to fight against Israel. He still thought he could beat the God of Israel. He still thought he could win the battle. Yet he could not, but he believed he could.

In spite of all that he had heard, in spite of all that he had seen, he still reject the truth. It was Rah who believed way back in chapter 2. She had heard. She believed in the Lord God of Israel. Because of all the things that he had done in the sight of the people in the land of Canaan. Second thing I want you to notice is the encampment of the enemy.

You know, the most valuable commodity in the land of Israel is water. You got to have water. Don't have water, you're going to die. Don't have water, you can't water the horses. Don't have water, you can't water the cattle. Don't have water, you can't grow crops. Don't have water, you can't survive. And the Bible says here in Joshua chapter 11 that the number of the army, the number of the enemy, was as the sand.

Of the seashore. Now you've been to the beach. We live in Southern California. We live at the beach. And we know about the sand on the beach. And he ever pick a handful of sand and then try to count the grains of sand? That's a good project for you and your children one day the next time you go to the beach. It'll help pass the day, make the day go a lot faster. But can you imagine looking at this encampment and realizing all these horses, all these chariots, all these soldiers? Numbering as the sand of the seashore.

It had to be overwhelming for Joshua. It had to be overwhelming for the people of Israel. But it once again is that reminder. That reminder. I said to you last time, remember Psalm 20, verse number 7? Some trust in horses and some in chariots. But we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They shall be brought down and fall, but we shall rise up and stand firm. And God doesn't want man to trust in his own creation. He doesn't want man to trust in anything other than him. And it's kind of like a reminder to Joshua: they can have all that they want, but they can Can't beat me.

They'll never win. But sometimes, when we look at the enemy, sometimes it looks like they have all the advantages, doesn't it?

Sometimes we as Christians look like we are at the disadvantage. People are now are up in arms about the new legislation that's going to be passed in America and in California concerning churches and what churches can and cannot do. Somebody asked me this past week, are you worried about that? I said, not on your life. I don't worry about the laws that legislature passes about the church and what the church can and cannot do. I answer to God and I answer to his word. And God's on my side. He's not on their side.

He's always against the enemy. And that's why I love what the Bible says in Proverbs 11, verse number 21.

Assuredly, the evil man will not go un. But the descendants of the righteous will be delivered. I'm not worried about my kids. I'm not worried about my kids' kids, if they ever have any. Why? Because the righteous, the descendants of the righteous, will be delivered. The evil will not go unpunished. So, I'm not worried about the evil man. He is going to get his due. He's going to spend his time before God, and God will deal with him. I don't have to deal with him, I don't have to go on some kind of rally or some kind of legislative effort to change the law.

I don have to do that. I just got to preach the word. That's all I got to do. I got to be faithful to God. That's it. God will take care of the enemy. God will deal with him when he's ready to deal with them. And here is Joshua looking at the enemy. He's at the disadvantage. They have all the horses, they have all the chariots, they got all the water. And Joshua's got his easy little group of people that are going to fight against this great ar. So there had to be some tinge of fear in Joshua for God to say to him in verse number 6, Joshua, do not.

Be afraid. You know, we remind you this all the time. Is it not true that whenever there is fear, God always says, don't do that. Just don't do that. You don't have to go there. Why isn't we going to the island of fear? Why is it we like to live in the realm of fear? Why do we do that? Why is it we seem to look at the enemy and think that they have such a great advantage over us that we can't seem to get the victory?

We will lose. We can't win. And God says, do not be Afraid. This is God's encouragement to Joshua in spite of the enemy, in spite of the encampment of that enemy, and the number of horses, the number of chariots, all the advantages that they supposedly have. God says, do not be afraid.

We're afraid of all kinds of things, aren't we? We're afraid of getting cancer for fear we might die. We're afraid of what's going to happen if our kids are outside all by themselves. We were talking about it the other day: you know, what we did when we were growing up, we didn't have cell phones. What do we do? We didn't have cell phones. I went off to school without a cell phone, and then I went to practice without a cell phone, and then I left practice and went to work without a cell ph Phone.

How did my parents know where I was? How did my parents know that I was alive? They didn't. Guess what they had to do? They had to trust God. We trust AT. Singular sprints, whatever it is you got, man, you gotta text them, you gotta call them, you got know where they're at all the time. My parents just did the o-fashioned way, man. They just trusted God. They depended upon God to take care of me. You know, we are so used to modern technology, we can't function. And God comes to Joshua and says, You know what?

You don't have to be afraid, Joshua. Don't be afraid. You know why? Because I'm going to deliver them into your hands. That had to be such an encouragement to this man. Such an encouragement to him. And you know, when God gives a promise, he gives a precept. He says, Joshua, listen.

This is what you got to do. Got to hamstring the horses. And you got to burn the chariots. You got to let them know that no matter how powerful they think their tanks are, they can't win against me. You will note that that's exactly what Joshua did. He hamstrung the horses and he burned the chariots. He did exactly what God said to do. But I want to tell you something about what Joshua did. He believed that what is God said would come to pass. See, that's why he wasn't afraid. Do you want to know why you're afraid?

Because we don't believe that what God said will come to pass. If we believed what he said, we wouldn't be afraid. See, Joshua believed. Way back in Joshua chapter 1, God said, Joshua, do not be dismayed. Do not be afraid, but you be strong. You be courageous. For as I was with Moses, so I too will be with you. But be not discouraged. Be not discouraged. I will be right with you. And God is so good. God could have said, Joshua, remember what I said to you in chapter 1? Don't forget that. No, God said, Joshua, don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid. God is just so good to us. He says this: don't be afraid. I'm going to deliver them into your hands. In fact, I'm going do it tomorrow. But what I need you to do is prove to them that what they trust in is untrustworthy. So, you hamstring the horses. You make it so they are unable to function. You burn the chariots and just let them know that you can't trust in those things. You've got to trust me. Folks, I want to let you know. We talked a little bit about it on Sunday. Remember about the faithfulness of God, how faithful God is?

You know, we need to remember that when God has said something, He is faithful to complete it and to make sure it comes about. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse number 7. Paul says, So that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you. To the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this: God is faithful. You see, one of the ways we learn to gain victory in our lives is to believe what God has already said.

So God says, Joshua, do not be afraid. I will deliver them into your hands tomorrow. Only this is what you need to do. You see, one of the reasons we have a hard time believing what God said is because we're not willing to do something else God has said. And that then begins to cloud the whole realm of what it is we believe in. And so that's the setting for the conquest. That's how it all comes about. And God encourages Joshua and God helps Joshua understand his responsibility. And that leads us to the success of the conquest.

The success of the conquest. Everybody likes to be successful. Nobody wants to be a loser. Nobody wants to be unsuccessful. Everybody wants to be successful, right? Well, Joshua was a man of great success. Why was Joshua a man of great success? Verse number 7. So Joshua and all the people of war with him Came upon them suddenly by the waters of Merom and att them. Here 's the point. The reason Joshua was successful. Is because he quickly followed what God said and thoroughly fulfilled what God said.

Did you get that? Because suddenly, or in other words, quickly, they came upon them. There was no hesitation on Joshua's part. God said to Joshua, Don't be afraid. I will deliver them into your hands, but this is what you got to do. And Joshua didn't sit back and debate what God had said. He didn't sit back and rest on his laurels because of his previous victories. He quickly. Followed what God said and thoroughly fulfilled what God said. That's verse number nine because it says that he hamstrung the horses.

And burned their chariots just as the Lord had told him. Folks, let me tell you something about success.

Success. In the realm of God's kingdom is based on you quickly and thoroughly obeying what God said. That's all what success is. The Bible says it's required of a steward, 2 Corinthians 4.

That one be found faithful. First Corinthians 4, I'm sorry. Verse number 2. It's required of a steward that one be found faithful. Faithful to what? Trustworthy. To what? To what God said. That is so crucial.