June 11, 2019: Day 45 – Joshua 11

At the end of this chapter, finally, we have a rest from war.  But before we get to the end of this chapter we see a whole lot of war still in front of us.  We find another alliance of enemies who tried to join together to defeat Israel, but once again the Lord was with Joshua, and let him know.   This time, instead of throwing rocks from heaven, the horses were hamstrung and their chariots were set on fire.  Keep in mind, that those who had chariots back in those days had a distinct advantage.  So, at face value the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites all had a distinct advantage over the Israelites because they were countries with chariots.  But no matter how much of an advantage people may think they have, if they are going up against the Lord, your advantage becomes a disadvantage.

We see that once Joshua really begins to win battle after battle you would think that people would surrender and that some kind of truce or treaty would be created.  But just like God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so he hardens the heart of the kings of the lands that Israel overtakes.  This was done to Egypt so that the glory of God could be revealed.  This was done here, it says in vs. 20 so that these nations would be: “exterminated”.  This is what we would call genocide.  It is frowned upon today.  For good reason.  I am so glad I serve a risen Savior who says: “Love your enemies”.  I think I would do better loving my enemy than exterminating them.  I’m not good at exterminating people.