JOSHUA LESSON 11
We will begin this lesson in Joshua 10:23 "And they did so, and
brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of
Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of
Lachish, [and] the king of Eglon." Joshua 10:24 "And it came to pass,
when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for
all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war
which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these
kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them."
Verse 23 is repeated to show who the kings were and where they
had been. It also brings us up to date about them being brought before
Joshua. The kings had to be lying on the floor in front of these
captains. To put their feet upon the necks of these Amorite kings,
shows them that God has put their enemies under their control. This
was to inspire the captains to go ahead and win all of this land.
Joshua 10:25 "And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be
dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to
all your enemies against whom ye fight."
This was to encourage them to have faith in God's ability to put
their enemy into their control. Christians should share their
victories over the devil with other Christians to encourage them to
have more faith.
Joshua 10:26 "And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and
hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until
the evening."
This does not say they died from hanging. We do not really know
the method they were killed by. Joshua hung them out for all Israel to
view. The entire army would be encouraged that God would kill their
enemies before them.
Joshua 10:27 "And it came to pass at the time of the going down
of the sun, [that] Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the
trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid
great stones in the cave's mouth, [which remain] until this very day."
At the end of the day they had served their purpose, and Joshua
had them cut down and buried in the cave they had hidden in. Joshua
was strictly keeping the law in Deuteronomy, as well. Deuteronomy
21:23 "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou
shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged [is]
accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God
giveth thee [for] an inheritance."
Joshua 10:28 "And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it
with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed,
them, and all the souls that [were] therein; he let none remain: and
he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho."
Makkedah is not mentioned as one of the cities of the evil
confederacy, but was friendly toward them because the kings hid there.
All the people were killed male and female. Joshua 6:21 "And they
utterly destroyed all that [was] in the city, both man and woman,
young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the
sword."
Joshua 10:29 "Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel
with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah:"
All Israel, is speaking of all the able bodied soldiers. Libnah
became one of the Levitical cities in the tribe of Judah.
Joshua 10:30 "And the LORD delivered it also, and the king
thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the
sword, and all the souls that [were] therein; he let none remain in
it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho."
The troops of Israel totally destroyed Libnah. They killed
everyone, as we read about Makkedah, above.
Joshua 10:31 "And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with
him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it:"
The army of Israel moved from Libnah to Lachish. They seemed to
be going from one city to the next destroying them.
Joshua 10:32 "And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of
Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of
the sword, and all the souls that [were] therein, according to all
that he had done to Libnah."
This is unusual, to take a city in just two days, but we must
remember that Israel had a very large army compared to these towns. In
each case God had told Israel to leave no one alive. All the souls,
means men, and women were killed.
Joshua 10:33 "Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish;
and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none
remaining."
Gezer was reported to have 14 foot wide walls surrounding it. The
destruction of Gezer's army here is at Lachish. They came to help
Lachish and were killed. This does not mean there were no inhabitants
of Gezer who survived. It means the army that came to help Lachish
died.
Joshua 10:34 "And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all
Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it:"
Joshua did not go to the city of Gezer from Lachish. He passed on
to Eglon which had been part of the evil confederacy. Lachish and
Eglon, had been part of that confederacy.
Joshua 10:35 "And they took it on that day, and smote it with the
edge of the sword, and all the souls that [were] therein he utterly
destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish."
God was with Joshua, and it took only one day to destroy Eglon.
Again, there was no one spared. They killed them all.
Joshua 10:36 "And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with
him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it:"
Hebron was another of the confederacy. Joshua had killed their
men in their army at Makkedah. He now kills the rest of Hebron.
Joshua 10:37 "And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the
sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the
souls that [were] therein; he left none remaining, according to all
that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls
that [were] therein."
This, too, was totally destroyed. Joshua takes Hebron here. We
will find in a later lesson that Caleb will retake it.
Joshua 10:38 "And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to
Debir; and fought against it:"
This had been a frontier fortress of one of the five kings of the
Amorites.
Joshua 10:39 "And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the
cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and
utterly destroyed all the souls that [were] therein; he left none
remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the
king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king."
God had commanded that they totally destroy the people of these
cities, and make examples of their evil kings so no others would rise
up in their place. Debir was destroyed as the other cities had been.
Joshua 10:40 "So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and
of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their
kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that
breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded."
This seems cruel, but we must remember that all of these people
had their opportunity to turn to God and they did not. They also could
leave no women living besides the men, because they would intermarry
with those who worshipped other gods. We can see the purpose in this
is that God wanted them to be a holy, separated people to Him. The
lands they took, and the cities they destroyed had been given to them
as part of the promised land. God had given it to them as long as they
remain obedient to His commands.
Joshua 10:41 "And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto
Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon."
This is an explanation of how far the land reached that they had
taken in this war. We also must remember they were acting under orders
from God to do this. God fought for them and they were able to take
the land God had promised them.
Joshua 10:42 "And all these kings and their land did Joshua take
at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel."
"At one time", means during this one campaign. It probably
happened over a period of a few weeks. We remember one city was taken
in two days and another in just one day. It seemed they went from city
to city while they were fighting. God was with them and they won
without much difficulty.
Joshua 10:43 "And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto
the camp to Gilgal."
It seems, from this, that Gilgal was home base. This was a holy
war, commanded by God, Himself.
Joshua 11 Questions
1. What did Joshua tell the captains to do to the five kings?
2. What does this show?
3. Why did Joshua tell the captains to fear not?
4. Why should Christians share their victories over the devil with
other Christians?
5. What did Joshua do to the five kings?
6. Where did he bury the kings?
7. Quote Deuteronomy chapter 21 verse 23.
8. Where did Joshua attack that day?
9. Whose life was spared?
10. Quote Joshua chapter 6 verse 21.
11. Who is all Israel, in verse 29, speaking of?
12. What was the second city destroyed?
13. Lachish was taken in ________ days.
14. What does "all the souls" mean?
15. Who came to help Lachish?
16. How wide were the walls at Gezer?
17. What did Lachish and Eglon have in common?
18. Joshua takes Hebron here. Who takes Hebron at a later time?
19. Where does verse 40 say they took?
20. Why was it important to leave none of the women living?
21. What does verse 42 mean by "at one time"?
22. How long did the campaign last, probably?
23. One city was taken in _____ days and another in _____ day.
24. Where did Joshua return after the fighting was finished?
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