ISRAEL CONQUERED ALL THE KINGS OF CANAAN

Joshua 11:1-23
Key Verse: 11:12

    "Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them
     to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant
     of the Lord had commanded."

     Now, we are going on with the study of the book of Joshua. In
the last passage, General Joshua and his army defeated five kings and
General Joshua's army commanders were all summoned to put their feet on
the necks of the kings one by one. It was to plant a sense of victory
in the commanders under General Joshua. General Joshua had brought the
kings out from the cave and hung them on trees until they were eaten by
crows and vultures. This means that those who are against God will be
eaten up by crows and vultures. This also tells us that punishment is
so severe to those who are against God; they are punished even after
death. We do not see God, so many don't revere God. This is exactly
described by a child who covers his eyes with his fingers and says,
"I don't see the sky." This is also unfaithful man's wretchedness. They
say, "I don't see God, so it's okay to commit sin against God." They are
liars. God's divine quality is in them, but still they pretend that they
do not know God. Self-deception is the most miserable element in human
life. It may be good to deceive another in order to gain some benefits
out of his selfishness. But to deceive oneself is the most stupid thing
in the world. Those who do not see God and deceive themselves will be
like the five kings whose necks were trodden by commanders under General
Joshua and who were hung on the trees to be eaten by crows and vultures
and all kinds of flying snakes.

     In this passage we learn that General Joshua confronts the entire
war against all the kings in Palestine. In army strategy, gunpower and
well-trained soldiers are the crucial elements of victory. But even
General Joshua was not well-trained. It is seen in his lack of prayer
before fighting with enemies. His soldiers all had slave mentalities
after 400 years in Egypt. But they were God's chosen people. God was
with them. Anyway, this war of all the enemy kings against Israel was
totally inconceivable. But General Joshua did not hesitate to fight
this war against the entire enemies of his people Israel. Let's see how
General Joshua defeated all the kings of Palestine.

First, the enemies as numerous as the sand on the seashore (1-5).

     Verses 1-5 describe what was called the Palestine region or Canaan.
At that time the king of Hazor was the leading figure over the Canaanite
kings. Look at the first part of verse 1. "When Jabin king of Hazor heard
of this...." What did he hear? He heard that General Joshua completely
crumbled and destroyed the fortress of Jericho, which was known as the
first fortress and the strongest fortress in the land of Canaan. Next,
he heard that the people of Ai were defeated. What made him mad was that
the Gibeonites, great fighters, surrendered to General Joshua as their
survival strategy. Next, five kings of the third fortress of Canaan
were hung on trees, and the king of Hazor's anger burned his head. His
heart was completely frustrated. Moreover, his fear smeared in his heart
more and more. Without any strategy, the king of Hazor summoned all
the Canaanite kings. As the last part of verse 10 says in parentheses,
"Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms." We come to know that
there were many kingdoms. But the king of Hazor was the commanding figure
at that time. He was beside himself. Let's look at the second part of
verse 1 through verse 5. "...he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the
kings of Shimron and Acshaph, and to the northern kings who were in the
mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and
in Naphoth Dor on the west; to the Canaanites in the east and west; to
the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and
to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah. They came out with
all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots–a huge army,
as numerous as the sand on the seashore. All these kings joined forces
and made camp together at the Waters of Merom, to fight against Israel."

     The king of Hazor had the backing of such a mighty army from
subordinate kings and he himself had a great army. He had to fear nothing,
but send tidings to the king of each country. His voice was completely
gone. Next, he brought a map and pointed with his commander's baton
at which king to whom each messenger must run. Finally, he got them
all together. The author of Joshua says they were like a huge army, as
numerous as the sand on the seashore (4). They had enough army power to
destroy one nation Israel and its general, Joshua. But fear crept in. The
king of Hazor remained in his palace; only subordinate kings and armies
were sent to fight against General Joshua's army. The king of Hazor went
to dig a tunnel in which he could hide, with a ventilation shaft so he
could breathe, like Stalin, who had a Hitler phobia and lived in a tunnel
residence for four years. Their tragedy was fear. But there is more. They
were without God. God is Spirit. God is power. God is victory. They had
soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. But from the beginning,
the king of Hazor was like a dead man. When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded
Russia, the Russian people did not fight against Napoleon's army. They
all ran away. So Napoleon's army won the victory before fighting. After
that, the French government made a beautiful and huge memorial arch for
Napoleon. Still it is there. One characteristic saying of people of the
world is, "I am smart. I am making a lot of money."  Or, "I have a lot
of money." But paper money does not give them spirit; instead, it gives
unquenchable fear in their hearts. Recently, we bought a building. The
grandmother landlady did not leave a will out of fear that she was going
to lose. She wished to live with her old, but very handsome boyfriend
forever in the world. But she died. The widow landlady should have
depended on God rather than a leechlike boyfriend, who is also dying
day by day.

     Once, the South Korean army pursued the North Korean army from
Seoul to Pyongyang and the Am Nok River. Even President Dr. Lee went to
Pyongyang to see the victory of the South Korean army. But President
Dr. Lee had to hurriedly come back to Seoul. It was because Chinese
soldiers, who looked like sand on the seashore, were progressing forward
against the Korean and American joint army. The joint army was greatly
scared. The entire joint army of Americans and Koreans was ordered to
retreat. It was because the commander of the army was frightened. Some
valiant unknown fellows among Koreans remained in Pyongyang and fought
against the Chinese army. They saw a funny thing:From each Chinese soldier
who was shot, first, money from a money belt carried around his waist,
burst out. What a tragedy! In China in the past those who had money
could have as many wives as they could afford, by giving a dowry. Those
who did not have money could not have a dream to marry.  So half were
married and half were unmarried. But at the time, the Chinese army was
supporting the North Korean army. Each of the soldiers carried his dowry
money in a money belt around his waist. We felt more sorry that South
Korea retreated back to Seoul than that the Chinese soldiers' dowry
money was all blown up when they were shot.  The Chinese soldiers said,
"Oh, my money! Oh, my marriage! Oh, my possible fianceé!" And they
died, bleeding from their mouths and noses and stomachs. The Chinese
soldiers were as numerous as the stars in the sky at that time, about two
million. Frankly speaking, they were not like soldiers, because unmarried
people treasured dowry money more than fighting. The main reason was
that they were not fighting for themselves, but fighting as mercenaries
against South Korea, contrary to Confucius' training and teaching. Anyway,
so many Chinese soldiers died by machine gun fire and bombing from the
air and the resistant South Korean army. The northern kings under the
command of King Hazor were comparable to the Chinese soldiers who fought
to support North Korea without any meaning of fighting. But the kings of
Palestine wanted to keep the land and survive. Because of their fear,
they got together. In the past, they had never gotten together because
of political differences and benefit differences. But this time, to
overcome their fear, they got together and they were ready to fight
against the army of Israel under the command of General Joshua.

[Map of the Promised Land]      [Map of the Northern Campaign]
   By destroying 31 kings, Joshua conquered the promised land


Second, General Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed (6-11).

     General Joshua and the whole Israelite army came against them
suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. General Joshua
was fearless. And General Joshua was God's general. General Joshua's
rock-like confidence was that they won the victory before fighting. So
General Joshua was ready to fight against them. He tapped his right arm
with his left hand and checked to see if his right arm was strong enough
to slay the enemies, who were as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

     At that time God spoke to Joshua thunderously. Look at verse 6.
"The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them, because by this
time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain. You are
to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.'" Here, we learn
that General Joshua, because of his experience in many victories, was
overconfident. But fighting is fighting. In a boxing match, even if
the opponent is far inferior, the champion's fear is still great. That
is the responsive fear of all men. So God said to General Joshua,
"Do not be afraid of them." The enemy strategy was the ‘human sea wave'
strategy. Therefore, it must be that General Joshua thought about the
number of their army forces and that after the battle with the five kings,
they had to confront the entire united Canaanite army. He must be ready
to fight a life and death battle and thus render glory to God. But the
Lord said, "Do not be afraid, little Josh, because by this time tomorrow
I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain."  In other words, God
would kill them. God's order continued, "You are to hamstring their
horses and burn their chariots." We have to think about God's command
a little more, later. As soon as Joshua heard God Almighty's command,
General Joshua's heart was filled with power and spirit. He felt that
his left arm was like a steel arm. He also felt that his commanders'
left arms were rocky arms. In other words, after receiving God's command
he became mighty strong.

     So General 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. General Joshua and the army of Israel 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 (7-9). Horses are very important supporters of the army. But
Joshua hamstrung all the horses of the kings of Canaanites united under
the king of Hazor. Not only did he hamstring the good weapon-like horses,
he also burned their chariots.

     General Joshua's obedience to God's word had grown; he was a
matchless general in the sight of God. His people were like the strong
soldiers who might conquer the whole Canaanite territory. Their spirit,
and the power of God in their hearts was indeed great. When we see a
useful thing, we want to pick it up. One boy was very poor. He had never
had money. But on the street he discovered a bundle of money. So he picked
it up and sent it to his elder brother in Japan during World War II.
It is human sinful nature. What a surprise that General Joshua hamstrung
their horses and burned their chariots! As a general, he knew that horses
run fast and are the best animals in charging the enemies. General
Joshua knew this very well. But he only depended on God Almighty,
and with weeping, obeyed God's command and hamstrung their horses,
which were almost the same in number as his army. A chariot is indeed a
good weapon, as we know. But he also burned the chariots to the ground,
not saving one even for himself. I agree that General Joshua deserved
a chariot as the commander of the whole Israelite army. But he remained
as a foot soldier and destroyed innumerous enemy chariots.

     We can say that General Joshua obeyed God's command absolutely,
no matter what the future might be, victory or defeat. He gambled his
victory in obedience to God. It is a story. So it is easy to hear. But
in practice, this obedience is so difficult and very difficult. The
other day Dr.  Lee asked one lady to lend us her computer in the midst
of typesetting our newsletter. She refused. She is a woman of obedience
to God. But she did not know obedience to her senior. So Dr. Lee learned
that she was lonely and attached to her computer so much. Then he thought
he was rude to ask to borrow her computer. Dr. Lee deeply repented
that night.

     Since Dr. Lee cannot live forever, he has been looking for a
successor for the last ten years. Because of his favor as a successor
candidate, one person became an enemy of God. Another one was a Korea
Military Academy professor and a one-star general candidate. Dr. Lee
invited him and helped him get a green card. The problem was that he
had been teaching students and he had too many ideas about UBF. He was
not going to learn Dr. Lee's direction. He said many things, such as,
"Well, if I take over UBF, I will make American UBF the same as Korean
UBF." That's nonsense. Korean UBF imitates American UBF from one to
ten. So the professor didn't know what was going on. In order to win
others' favor, he was listening to all the complaints, staying up late
so many nights. He agreed with the complaints. So he was dismissed as
a possible candidate to be Dr. Lee's successor. He needed forty years
of wilderness training under Jethro. But he did not attend UBF during
his college years. Suddenly he jumped into UBF after marriage with a
woman who was a UBF member. He was only honored and served by Korean UBF
people. In the past, Dr. Lee wanted to teach one shepherd to speak a few
words during meal time. It took three years. He is now a leading messenger
in Chicago UBF. These days Dr. Lee is helping a Russian born American
to speak a few words during meal time. It has taken two years already,
but it doesn't work. But Dr. Lee wants to train him to be the best table
talker, like Queen Elizabeth, Billy Graham, and Winston Churchill.

     Obedience is so difficult. Joshua desperately needed many horses and
chariots for his army to defeat all the kings and residents of Canaan.
But according to God's command, he hamstrung the horses so that
they could not run at all. He also burned their chariots, which were
comparable to modern German tanks. Obedience is not easy. There is no
one who has inborn obedience. Obedience should be learned. Even our Lord
Jesus Christ learned obedience through much suffering. Hebrews 5:8 says,
"Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered...."
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God Almighty. He didn't
have to come down to this cursed world and lay in a manger when he was
born. But according to the world salvation plan, he came to this world
where there are only sorrowful people and fatalistic people and wicked
people, tormenting themselves with guilt and shame. Especially, he came
to this world to be friends with people who are very fatalistic because
of their sins, like French people.

     Look at verse 10. "At that time Joshua turned back and captured
Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these
kingdoms.)" As we studied, the king of Hazor was the most powerful king.
And he was the leader over all the other kings. After absolute obedience
to God's command by hamstringing horses and burning chariots, only by
faith in God, General Joshua attacked the king of Hazor and his army and
put its king to the sword. The mighty army under the king of Hazor was
put to the sword. The army of Israel totally destroyed them, not sparing
anything that breathed, and burned up the city of Hazor itself. General
Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed.

Third, General Joshua was a man of learning mind (12-13).

     Look at verses 12-13. "Joshua took all these royal cities and their
kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses
the servant of the Lord had commanded. Yet Israel did not burn any of
the cities built on their mounds–except Hazor, which Joshua burned." It
is natural that the general who conquered the entire land of Canaan and
all of its kings be proud of himself; he can put one more star on his
shoulder like General Patton, who did so even before his promotion was
passed by Congress. In the last part of verse 12, we find the phrase,
"...as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded." This phrase has
deep background and meaning. Before entering the promised land, where
the Canaanites were living, God taught Moses what to do. Deuteronomy
7:1-2 says, "When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are
entering to possess and drives out before you many nations–the Hittites,
Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites,
seven nations larger and stronger than you–and when the Lord your God
has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you
must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no
mercy." In these verses, we learn that God taught Moses not to compromise
with the Gentiles in the promised land. He did this not one time, but
several times.  Exodus 23:20-23 says, "See, I am sending an angel ahead
of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have
prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel
against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in
him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I
will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My
angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will
wipe them out." In these verses, we learn that the chosen people Israel
should not compromise with the Gentile culture or become greedy, looking
at their fancy gold rings and diamond necklaces and nose rings made in
India. At that time, the land of the Canaanites was frequently visited
by traders from Egypt and China. God clearly ordered his people not to
depend on enemies' weapons or horses. Moses taught this to the Israelites;
Joshua heard this and remembered. But he did not practice it up until now,
not to mention praying to obey Moses' command. But when General Joshua
became stronger and stronger, and became a man who conquered the world,
he remembered Moses' teaching by God Almighty. Regardless of victory or
defeat, he obeyed and fought. He even defeated the chief king of Hazor
and his entire army. We can learn obedience through the word of God. We
can grow in obedience to God to the degree of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who shed his blood on a tree for our sins to be washed away.

     These days, obedience has become taboo to American people. But we
must know that the antonym of obedience is rebellion or rebelliousness.
These days, rebellious people and lazy people corrupt the fibre of this
nation. Those who carry on a rebellious life understand what suffering
means very well. Instead of looking at each other, we must look at God
and hear his word and learn obedience to his word. We must pray that
America may come back to real America, like in the past, and that her
people may be obedient to God and hardworking for God.

Fourth, Joshua totally destroyed them as Moses commanded (14-15).

     Look at the first part of verse 14. "The Israelites carried off
for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities...." When
Joshua obeyed Moses' command from God, his people could enjoy eating
gourmet food. General Joshua also learned from Moses that in the entire
war against Palestine, "After victory, you can bring spoils." Always,
obedience is hard to practice. But after obedience, God's abundant
blessing follows. After great victory, the Israelites carried off for
themselves all the plunder and livestock of the cities. When we read
verse 15, we learn that they carried off plunder, as the Lord commanded
his servant Moses. Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left
nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses. When General
Joshua was inexperienced in generalship, he did not carefully regard
God's words and omitted prayer. But here we learn that when he became
highly exalted he did not become proud. Rather, he became very humble
and very loyal. He also let his people enjoy a lot of plunder, eating
"yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum" and let them wear nose rings from Egypt,
too, made of elephants' tusks.

Fifth, General Joshua conquered the entire Palestine in a day (16-23).

     If we look back at verse 6, we find that General Joshua's victory
would take one day. Even capturing five kings and their inhabitants
took a full two days with no sleep. But when General Joshua grew, by
remembering the word of God and getting more humble, he could conquer the
land of the Canaanites in a day. So General 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 (16). He captured all the kings and struck
them down one by one. The leftover Palestinian nations hardened their
hearts, except one. And Joshua struck them to death.

     General Joshua's victory was thorough. 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. 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. The amazing thing is that Joshua did not try
to build a palace for himself as a conqueror of Canaan, that is, the
promised land. It is natural; in history one who won an entire war was
supposed to have a castle for himself as a symbol of being a leader. But
General Joshua did not. He had a plan to allot all the land to the tribes
of Israel so that they may live in the promised land, learn God's way,
and grow up to be a shepherd nation and Bible teachers with the broken
shepherd heart of God.

     In God we have victory. But like Joshua, we must grow in obedience
to God's word. We must stick to God's word and Moses' training so that
we may be truly useful to God in this wandering generation.


STUDY QUESTIONS

1.  Read verses 1-5. What did Jabin king of Hazor hear? How did he
   react? To whom did he send word? Where did they join forces? How does
   Joshua describe the army that assembled to fight Israel?

2.  Read verses 6-11. What did God tell Joshua to do? What did God
   promise? (6) How did Joshua obey? Why might it be difficult and
   impractical? Describe the battle in detail. What did Joshua do to
   Hazor and its king? Why was he hiding in his city?

3.  Look at verses 12-23. How did Joshua obey Moses (12,15,20,23)? See
   Exodus 23:20-23 and Deuteronomy 7:1-2. How does this show Joshua to
   be a man with a learning mind?

4.  Read verses 14-15. What were Moses' instructions regarding
   plunder? Regarding the Canaanite people? Why was it important not to
   compromise with Canaanite culture? What does Joshua's obedience to
   Moses show about him?

5.  Read verses 16-23. How did Joshua continue the conquest of Canaan? How
   did he continue to follow Moses' direction? When did the land have
   rest from war?