Trust & Obedience To God For His Promises
Recently a friend texted me, excited about great news of an upward move in her organization at work. She had been under unjust fire at work, but she felt God telling her to let Him fight the battle and for her to remain still. It took several months and was emotionally painful, but she did just that. And God removed her attackers and opened a window of advancement opportunity greater than she had even imagined. In Joshua 11:6–9, 16–23, the united armies of northern Canaan waged war against Israel to prevent them from possessing the Promised Land. But God assured Joshua He would give Israel the victory and gave Joshua instructions to follow. Joshua did just what the LORD directed. And God gave Israel the entire land. I pray that whatever God has promised in your life, you will trust Him to deliver and be obedient to what He has told you to do. Amen
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. (Joshua 11:6-9)
As Israel worked to take possession of the Promised Land, the LORD directed Joshua to be unafraid of the Northern Kings and their armies, despite the size of those combined forces. He promised He would deliver them into Israel’s hands. God would give Israel the victory and just as they had done in other cities they had gone into battle against, they were to slay all the people. Additionally, God instructed Joshua to make sure all of their horses were hamstrung and their chariots burned. God didn’t want them to be used by any of Israel’s enemies and He didn’t want Israel to trust in these new weapons of war over trusting in Him (see Psalm 20:7). The scripture notes that Joshua was obedient and did just what the Lord told him to do.
So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses. (Joshua 11:16-20)
Joshua and Israel waged war against all of the Northern kings and their people in the Promised Land, except those living in Gibeon. The Hivites who lived in Gibeon were the only ones who made a peace treaty with Israel. God hardened the hearts of all the rest of the Northern kings and caused them to unite and wage war angainst Israel. The extermination of all these kings and their people was at God’s command and in line with God’s plan to eliminate these Canaanites for their egregious sins and to eliminate temptation for Israel to adopt the Canaanite practices of worshiping other gods.
At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive.
So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war. (Joshua 11:21-23)
The Anakites were giants that the Israelite spies had seen and spoken about and caused Israel to fear and abort their first attempt to enter Canaan. Joshua and the armies of Israel didn’t destroy all of these giants during these battles. Some remained in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod. Later, Goliath would come from Gath and challenge Israel’s armies before being slain by David. Scripture says that Joshua took the entire land. In reality, he took major areas in the Promised Land, but there were areas that were not conquered in these battles. God expected the tribes would continue the gradual extermination of the Canaanites. However, that did not happen and the Canaanite peoples would present ongoing conflict and problems for Israel later in their history. Scripture says that the land had rest from war at this point, and God gave Israel the land He had promised them according to their tribes.
Conclusion
Joshua was obedient to God and God gave him many great victories so that Israel was able to possess the land He had promised to Abraham and successive generations of his descendants. What promises are you relying on God to fulfill in your life? Have you been obedient to God and followed His leading for what He has promised? He will give you the victory and remove the obstacles that stand in the way of you possessing your promise. Just trust and obey Him. He will do more than you could ever do in your own power. He gave Israel a great land flowing with abundance. Imagine what will He do for you if you just trust and obey Him?
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.” ~ Psalm 20:7-8
