⚔️ Joshua 11 — Main Summary: ๐ “He gave the land as an inheritance according to the tribes of Israel, and then the land had rest from war.” (?) ๐
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In Chapter 10, we saw:
the people of Gibeon, who did not merely save themselves through their own cleverness, but actually received salvation through the grace of God;
and the record that all those who came against Gibeon were completely destroyed according to the command of the Lord.
⚔️ The Main Point of Joshua 11
The Formation of a Massive Coalition
Joshua 11 begins with Hazor, the leading city among all the kingdoms of Canaan, hearing about the destruction that had taken place in Chapter 10 and forming a massive military coalition.
the king of Madon, the king of Shimron, and the king of Achshaph;
the kings of the northern hill country, the southern Arabah, and the western lowlands;
the peoples from the east and west: the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Hivites.
The Bible describes the size of this army as being “like the sand on the seashore in multitude.”
They also had a great number of horses and chariots, and they gathered together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
⚔️ The Lord’s Command, Directing the War
The Lord said to Joshua:
“Do not be afraid because of them, for ๐tomorrow at this time I will give all of them over to Israel, slain. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” (v. 6)
So Joshua went with all his fighting men to the waters of Merom and attacked them suddenly. (v. 7)
➡️ Because the Lord gave them into the hands of Israel, Joshua defeated them completely.
Not one survivor was left.
And Joshua did exactly as the Lord had commanded him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. (vv. 8–9)
๐ That enormous army, compared to the sand on the seashore, was completely destroyed without a single survivor, exactly as the Lord had said in verse 6.
→ And it happened the very next day, at exactly that same time!
### The Overall Situation of the War
1. Hazor was the head of all the kingdoms of Canaan. (v. 10)
→ Joshua burned Hazor.
However, the text says:
“But none of the cities that stood on their mounds did Israel burn.” (v. 13)
๐ Why were the cities built on the hills not burned?
Perhaps because they were difficult to build and, strategically, served as important military strongholds? ๐
2. Not one person who breathed was left alive.
→ Yet the text records that Israel took all the livestock and possessions as plunder.
3. There was no city that made peace with Israel except the Hivites living in Gibeon.
This seems to indicate that, apart from them, all the others were destroyed.
Individually, Rahab and her family escaped destruction;
as a community, the people of Gibeon escaped destruction.
4. None of the Anakim remained in the land of the Israelites.
→ Yet the Bible specifically records that some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. ๐
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๐ A Record Showing That the Destruction of Everyone Except Gibeon Was God's Intention
“There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle.” (v. 19)
Then immediately afterward:
“For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.” (v. 20)
๐ The Bible clearly records that their coming out to fight against Israel → was something the Lord caused to happen.
Then I began to wonder:
Could the fact that the people of Gibeon were excluded from this destruction also indirectly show that their preservation was part of God's intention?
๐ After all, these two events are explained one immediately after the other, as part of the same passage.
๐ Conclusion — 1
๐ While writing this, I suddenly thought of Goliath of Gath. ๐
When the giant Goliath appeared among the Philistines during the time of King Saul, the army of Israel trembled in fear.
But here, in the account of the conquest of Canaan, the Bible says that the Anakim were eliminated from the land. (v. 21)
Except for one very specific record:
“Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain.” (v. 22)
๐ This precise record is interesting because many years later, Goliath of Gath appears.
๐ The specific mention that some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod provides a background for the later appearance of Goliath and, in my view, also adds to the historical consistency and reliability of the biblical record.
๐ Conclusion — 2
At the very end of Joshua 11, verse 23, I noticed something interesting: the order of the events seems to be reversed.
“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 according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.”
๐ Normally, we would expect the order to be:
First, the war ends → then the land is distributed as an inheritance according to the tribes.
But the verse records it in the opposite order:
→ The land was given as an inheritance according to the tribes → and then the war ceased.
๐ Why was this order recorded this way?
✔️ It seems to suggest that the distribution of the land according to the tribes was determined first;
✔️ and that the war would only come to its complete conclusion afterward. ๐
In fact, throughout the Pentateuch, God repeatedly spoke about giving His people rest and about the place where He would establish His name when they had entered into a time of peace and security.
This can be understood as an indication that the war would not end immediately.
๐ It is fascinating to see how the Bible sometimes changes the order of events in order to foreshadow what will happen later, in the future. ๐
✔️ Perhaps this is also teaching us not to read God's Word too casually or superficially.
๐ Ranking of the Treasures
๐ฅ The salvation of the people of Gibeon
๐ฅ The final verse — Joshua 11:23
๐ฅ The Anakim who remained in Gath
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