Thursdays with Joshua

Read Joshua 11:6-9 – The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots. (NKJV)

The bloody battles of the book of Joshua can be quite startling to process. After all, God’s specific command was the complete annihilation of the cities of Canaan. All its inhabitants were to be put to the sword. And, in this passage, that’s exactly what Joshua did. Now, we may wonder at the evil their societies had committed that made such thorough judgment necessary, but we have little doubt about the importance of such complete obedience to Israel’s spiritual survival. In every case, when they formed treaties with their enemies, they were ultimately drawn into the same evil behavior that had necessitated judgment. You can’t partner with evil. You can’t afford to compromise or be careless with choices of whom to trust or whom to follow. Joshua’s determined obedience opened the way for an era of great blessing. But the compromises that would follow sent Israel toward a lengthy era of never reaching their potential.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.